Recently updated blogs

MPLS Coffee is now available for both iOS and Android to help everyone find top coffee shops in Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

I think this has been long overdue. I will be discontinuing the Mahabharat review series that I started more than two years ago. Despite promising multiple times that I will keep going on, I have come to a realization that I won't be able to. There are multiple reasons for that but the primary reason is that I do not have the time for it. If by some miracle I …

As a kid, I never liked M*A*S*H. That melancholy theme tune and the khaki-and-sand visuals switched me right off. What a stupid kid! I’m watching the show now, at last. I can’t believe (a) how good it is, (b) how much of it there is, and, (c) where Hawkeye has been all my life. I think I’m a little bit in love with him. As well as actually finding him …

For a good overview of Dora Hall musical career, see The World's Worst Records. Not all her records are bad, as Darryl Bullock readily admits : The difference between Dora and other similar artists is that Dora could actually sing. When she sings kid-friendly songs such as Tony the Pony she’s actually quite charming. Her failings, if you will, become most apparent when she tries to sing pop songs; her …

Building an unlikely brand from the ground up Unlikeliest, for sure. Luckiest, definitely. Since returning from the UK I’ve worked methodically to put together Hold Fast Bespoke LLC. It hasn’t happened over night, but piece by piece the blocks have fallen into place. I think it’s fair to say that I owe my success to my winter white coat. The coat that’s opened many doors. The Dream Collaboration Yes, it …

GALSWORTHY ? WELL WORTH SEEING With late Victorians, there’s plenty to bite on: a rising bourgeoisie aflame with parvenu ambition, piety , pannier skirts ,patriarchs, an empire nobody can grasp the idea of losing, and under it all the fresh energy of women deciding they have had enough. Then roll it on a decade or two and everything changes, WW1 leaves old certainties grasping at straws, and cue the roaring …

This will be one of the most boring blog posts I've ever written, but bear with me as it's mainly an aide memoir for me. A few years ago we bought a light fitting for the landing that has ten (yes, ten) individual lights, and hence needs ten individual lightbulbs. Not a problem, I thought, as we have been led(!) to believe that LED lighting lasts years and years where …

Happy Friday <3 made it through another week, huh? Now stop being a pussy... This is 160, featuring: Dagur, Angela Schilling, Piana, Beck, MIDI Janitor, Claire Rousay, Moin, L'Rain, Lyndsie Alguire, Automatic, JooJoo

A post on the Transit Toronto Facebook page here has revealed that two cars from Toronto's Scarborough RT rapid transit line, which closed in 2023, have found their way to the Halton County Radial Railway. The cars are TTC 3026 and TTC 3027, a married-pair set of "people mover"-type automated cars built in 1986 by UTDC. Not only were these cars built for automated, or driverless, operation, but they were …

I was in town for some shopping but it I couldn't resist visiting a pub which only opened yesterday, so I headed up Seel Street to 1936 Pub Co's newest outlet, St Peters Tavern:Wow! 1936 have outdone themselves with this one. The interior on three floors is stunning. Almost all fake, I think, except for the stained glass windows which look original. The usual stag's heads (Where do they get …

I have a new, open access article published in Finance & Society, on the legitimation crisis of contemporary wealth-based capitalism and the existential unease that results.

When I heard that Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded was coming out, I was genuinely excited. Hitman in 3 in VR? Sign me up for sure. After all, Hitman is known for its immersive environments and complex gameplay, so bringing it to virtual reality had all the potential to be a game-changer in the VR space… But it’s not that great unfortunately. First off, let’s talk about the visuals. If you’re …

Fig. 1: Elder female couple gaze out in Thelma and Louise (Ridley Scott, 1991, USA) This blog considers the psychological conundrum of ageing within the academic workplace, offering an autoethnographic approach, reflecting upon passing moments from film and TV, that are both treasured, and engrained in the author’s psyche. “Drive Louise! Drive! Drive the car!” Gena Davis shouts at Susan… Source

This is a guest blog for Silent London by Maria Wyke, professor of Latin at University College London. Worn out from watching Paul Mescal battle with CGI baboons, rhinos and sharks in the Roman arena? Or trying to avoid the Marvel-style struggle for the future of the Roman empire playing out in a cinema near you? Then you … Continue reading Beyond Gladiator: the ancient world on the silent screen …

Kingsley wasn’t above trying this sort of thing herself: in 1912, she wrote a funny article about her attempts to sell her play (it was “as long as Hamlet and just as exciting.”) She had no more success than aspiring film writers. One hundred and ten years ago this month, Grace Kingsley wrote two articles that demonstrated how eager people in Los Angeles were to break into the movie business—just …