Recently updated blogs

1. Paris, 1957A random selection of photographs found on <a href="https://humus.livejournal.

OMG, this is such great news! My favorite newsletter Sidebar is back from its break. Designer Fabricio Teixeira is taking over the duties. He explains the spirit of Sidebar: Sidebar has always felt different. It has advocated for a healthier web ecosystem and has always prioritized links pointing to small, curated digital gardens around the web. Links that come from the makers and doers out there. Sidebar was a signal …

The Existential Cubicle What am I doing here? Is this all to life? These thoughts occasionally cross my mind as I sit in my work cubicle. Struggling with the daily routine of work and family life, my mind tends to wander off toward fantasy. I think part of it stems from a desire to escape my mundane situation. Reading fantasy allows me to attain that escapism while remaining in the …

War Horse (Tour)New Victoria TheatreWar Horse returns to the stage with all the emotional resonance and technical mastery that have solidified its place as an iconic theatrical experience. Directed by Tom Morris, with revival direction by Katie Henry, this production feels especially poignant in today’s world, where themes of resilience, connection, and hope resonate more profoundly than ever.The centrepiece of this production is the breathtaking puppetry, crafted by the visionary …

A mere two months after Batman/Punisher: Lake of Fire, a second DC/Marvel crossover featuring the two characters hit the stands, this one featuring the actual Batman, Bruce Wayne, rather than his temporary fill-in, Jean-Paul Valley. I thought it was the better of the two comics, and not simply because of the fact that it was what a reader might expect from a crossover of the two characters. The creative team …

by Siobhan Carroll Professor Siobhan Carroll recounts her disappointment watching the contentious Star Trek: Voyager character Chakotay, and describes how the missed opportunity he represents helped inspire “In the Splinterlands the Crows Fly Blind,” her story from our [January/February issue, on sale now!] The roots of “In the Splinterlands…” can be traced to my youthful hobby of Getting Mad at TV Shows. Specifically, it can be traced to 1995, and …

More films. Sub-zero temperatures, icy lanes. Back to PT. Panda Prop progress. Spare Bedroom / Office revamp in progress. Good walks. Yellow garden furniture. Family treat at The Angel, Abergavenny. With hindsight, quite a busy week. GVWC: Ewyas Harold – Abbey Dore – Dulas Court Circular On Tuesday morning it was down to the gym for my first PT session for yonks. Good to be back at it. The sleet …

"Being Alive Is Hard," 2025, by Connie Sun. Ink & watercolor on paper.Life can be unimaginably difficult. Whatever is hard for you at the moment, I wish you strength and solace. May the days ahead be kind. - Connie--Since relaunching my cartoon blog, I'm back on Ko-fi, Instagram, and you can sign up to hear from me directly. Thanks for reading.

Casio brings PAC-MAN to your wrist with four new digital watches. The collection marks 45 years of the iconic arcade game through designs that blend gaming elements with Casio’s classic digital watch styles. Two models, the A168WEPC ($79.95) and F-91WPC ($59.95), feature PAC-MAN and all four GHOSTS – Blinky, Inky, Clyde, and Pinky – on their faces. These watches use bright neon colors that pop against the display. The A168WEPC …

I run some lightweight privacy-respecting self-hosted analytics for my blog, so I know what my most popular posts were in 2024. It's hardly surprising that many of these were also published last year, but they include one from 2013 and another from 2018. Having a quick peek at my stats reminded me that the blog content that is most appreciated, shared and read is often not what you might think …

Chris Armstrong, advocating for a digital garden over a blog structure: A blog structure places the highest emphasis on ‘what’s new’… but what’s new has had the least scrutiny and little authority. Robin Rendle linked to Armstrong’s post recently and reading it reminded me of my 2011 post The blog format is ready for disruption. In that post, which is now nearly 14 years old, I argue that the structure …

I was reminded of this book while reading the short story The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury, by Neil Gaiman, which was reprinted in Trigger Warning. I realized I’ve read very little of Ray Bradbury, the greatest sci-fi writer in history, and I thought I should fill this void a bit. Given the crazy amount of stuff he wrote, I would have been troubled to choose. Likely, this one has …

This year we got a new Solar Pons collection from Belanger Books that finally takes him to the United States: The American Adventures of Solar Pons. Edited by David Marcum the collection features a dozen stories by various authors. I’ve posted on Solar Pons before, recently doing a re-reading of both the original stories by […]

Restless Dolly Maunder – Kate Grenville Kate Grenville tells her grandmother’s story; family history and historical research enriched with a storyteller’s gloss. I loved it. Author’s page: Restless Dolly Maunder – Kate Grenville

I had been lacking books from the Snoopy Museum in Tokyo, so when I saw one one for sale on eBay, I chunked up some money and ordered it. It was a bit more than I like to spend on one book… which is why I was so happy when it turned out to be two! It isn’t a boxed set per se, because what they were in was open …