October 29th, 2025
vivdunstan: Part of own photo taken in local university botanic gardens. Tree trunks rise atmospherically, throwing shadows from the sun on the ground. (Default)
posted by [personal profile] vivdunstan at 05:45pm on 29/10/2025 under , , , ,
It's that time of year when I change from my lighter wraparound robe (worn around my pyjamas) to my thicker long dressing gown. I have also this afternoon ordered me some new pairs of bed socks - machine washable, soft and fluffy, and the right length and size. I'm far too frozen in bed, despite an electric blanket and central heating. My nose is also currently cold which is just too much! To be fair I have a long-standing disease of the blood vessels, though it's usually more affecting the blood vessels in my brain, reducing the blood supply there. But peripheral chills can be a problem.
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Today's second arrival (very good day!): new paperback copy of the Kickstarter-funded "Shakespeare vs Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come" interactive fiction gamebook from Jonathan Green. Looks fantastic! Very happy to have this in my hands at last, and very much looking forward to playing it.

A paperback copy of the ACE GAMEBOOKS "Shakespeare vs Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come" book. The cover features the head and upper body of Shakespeare surrounded by a mass of tentacles. Sitting beside the gamebook on a red sofa are a matching bookmark and a number of postcards with old-style illustrations featuring Shakespearean scenes/things related to the gamebook.
vivdunstan: Part of own photo taken in local university botanic gardens. Tree trunks rise atmospherically, throwing shadows from the sun on the ground. (Default)
posted by [personal profile] vivdunstan at 12:48pm on 29/10/2025 under , , , , , , ,
Something wonderful just arrived from Felted Friends. A hand felted White Rabbit from Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" film. A favourite literary character from one of my all-time favourite books. And so very well done.

A cardboard box with wrapping paper and bubble wrap. Inside it stands a cute felted White Rabbit figure, in red coat, yellow shirt, burgundy bow tie, blue trousers, and a white watch with a yellow chain clutched in his left paw. He has white fluffy bits beside his cheek and his pink in white ears stand up tall. Beside him is a leaflet for the shop Felted Friends, www.feltedfriends.shop, also on Facebook and Instagram.
andrewducker: (Default)
October 28th, 2025
andrewducker: (Default)
vivdunstan: Part of own photo taken in local university botanic gardens. Tree trunks rise atmospherically, throwing shadows from the sun on the ground. (Default)
posted by [personal profile] vivdunstan at 11:44am on 28/10/2025 under , , , , ,
Very sad to hear that Prunella Scales has died. A wonderful actress, but most of all Martin and I enjoyed her charming canal trip programmes with husband Timothy West. I'm downloading (on demand in the UK) some of her past canal trips to rewatch, including the Leeds & Liverpool canal and Venice.
October 27th, 2025
vivdunstan: Photo of some of my books (books)
Took an earlier screenshot of this than planned as I was just checking my new USB-C to USB-C cable works with my Kindle + OpenMTP for data transfer. So much more convenient to have direct USB-C to USB-C than the provided USB-C to USB-A cable then needing a USB-A to USB-C dongle to plug it into my USB-C Mac laptop port ...

andrewducker: (Default)
vivdunstan: Photo of my 72 bass accordion (accordion)
posted by [personal profile] vivdunstan at 11:30am on 27/10/2025 under , ,
Pleased managed more accordion practice despite my worsening neuro illness. Not too light headed just now, though my usually automatic bellows control was a bit challenged! Focused on 5 tunes (*), including Windmills of Your Mind. Which on my 72 bass box required jumping from the top of the bass side to the bottom and back! Though, amazingly, that wasn't as tricky as expected. Here is a recording of Windmills of Your Mind.

* The other tunes were Pirates of the Caribbean "He's a Pirate" music (so piratey!), Speechless from live-action Disney Aladdin, Thank You For The Music by ABBA and a My Fair Lady medley.

Oh and Martin had a teleconference going on in the next door study while I played in the lounge. I tried to play a bit quieter than I might have. He said afterwards it was fine 😜
October 26th, 2025
andrewducker: (Join Darth)
posted by [personal profile] andrewducker at 08:07pm on 26/10/2025 under
There's research that if you leave people in a room with an electro-shock shock device long enough to get bored they will deliberately shock themselves.

In other news I took Sophia's phone away from the kids while they were in the bath and now they're repeatedly pouring cold water over themselves while shrieking like baboons.
andrewducker: (Default)
posted by [personal profile] andrewducker at 01:45pm on 26/10/2025 under ,


One photo every year
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

andrewducker: (Default)
October 25th, 2025
mark: A photo of Mark kneeling on top of the Taal Volcano in the Philippines. It was a long hike. (Default)
posted by [staff profile] mark in [site community profile] dw_maintenance at 08:42am on 25/10/2025

Good morning, afternoon, and evening!

We're doing some database and other light server maintenance this weekend (upgrading the version of MySQL we use in particular, but also probably doing some CDN work.)

I expect all of this to be pretty invisible except for some small "couple of minute" blips as we switch between machines, but there's a chance you will notice something untoward. I'll keep an eye on comments as per usual.

Ta for now!

andrewducker: (Default)
posted by [personal profile] andrewducker at 10:29am on 25/10/2025 under ,


One of these children won at Ticket To Ride: First Journey, the other...did not.
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

vivdunstan: Photo of little me in a red mac at Hawick (hawick)
posted by [personal profile] vivdunstan at 03:09pm on 25/10/2025 under , , , , , ,
Advance reading something, and passed the words "high heid yin". One of my all time favourite Scots expressions, especially when used in the plural, that I still say regularly, including just a week ago when talking to Martin about something in our kitchen. I've also deployed it when asking an audience question 20+ years ago at a history research seminar at Dundee University, though I then felt the need to translate it for the visiting Welsh prof! For non-Scots friends it means someone in authority, a leader.

Checking back here I have mentioned this expression in a friends-locked post before, but it's well worth repeating!
andrewducker: (Default)
October 24th, 2025
andrewducker: (Default)
October 23rd, 2025
vivdunstan: The 15th Doc swirling round on the dance floor in his kilt (ncuti gatwa)
Just finished my 50th book of 2025, Liz Duffy Adams's Born With Teeth, the two-hander play featuring Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. I wish I'd seen the current RSC production with Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel. But reading the play script was great fun.

It does help enormously knowing both actors from past TV productions. So I can visualise them really well performing the roles. And as a two-hander it's also more approachable as a play script to read than a play with a much larger cast. Very readable anyway, and I enjoyed it immensely.
andrewducker: (Default)
October 22nd, 2025
vivdunstan: Test card (tv)
posted by [personal profile] vivdunstan at 09:21pm on 22/10/2025 under ,
Ridiculously pleased with the return to Brookside Close tonight in Hollyoaks. I fast forwarded to just watch the Brookie bits. So many familiar faces. So many warm feels. Also a very heartwarming cameo. And socially aware script.

Decades ago I used to watch Hollyoaks occasionally. But nowhere near as much as Brookside, even if I didn't see all of that. But we did watch Brookie a lot.

I think there's more Brookside content on late tonight and in future Hollyoaks eps too.

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