Shorter posts, links, or thoughts. No schedule, not heavily considered.
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Crucial Track – 25 July 2026
What’s a song you associate with your favorite holiday? My wife has family on Staten Island. We were over for a family wedding, the first time I’d been to New York. We’d had a few days up at Cape Cod and Boston before we headed down and into Manhattan. As cliched as it was, all…
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Cairngorm wildfires
They’ve been burning for over a week, mostly in a remote area, but the fire still needs dealt with. The wind changed yesterday and so did the fire, and the town of Nethybridge was evacuated last night. The town where my brother-in-law, his pregnant partner, and their 1.5yr old son live, and where my in-laws…
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Cycling is the thing
Busy at work, little time to collate any cohesive thoughts into a post. The Commonwealth Games has started in Glasgow. I volunteered in 2014 and had a wonderful time, but the lack of free-to-air TV coverage, and the curtailed list of sports has made it a quiet kickoff. Jack and I might head up tomorrow…
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Crucial Track – 24 July 2026
Share a song that feels like it has healing powers. One of my favourite songs, both from KT and in general, I love the soft build of this, the simple refrain, it is within itself a comfort blanket of a song. But where it really hits me is how it pulls me together, taking all…
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Words always matter
When I focus on my words I take care with them, I choose them deliberately, sometimes to soften things, sometimes to provoke, but it’s rarely by accident. Since I started being a bit more considered with the things I posted here, in particular the longer Musings, it’s been part of the joy of writing. Trying…
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Crucial Track – 23 July 2026
What song makes you think about the future? I am hopeful of the future being better, always optimistic —the best you can do is good enough?— but it’s hard to keep that mindset with the dystopian terrors unleashed seemingly every single day —there’s no country left, to love and cherish. But if we lose hope…
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Crucial Track – 22 July 2026
What’s your favorite song to listen to while doing chores? Do you dance like no-one’s watching? Or do you dance more freely when you are alone, when you are dancing to escape the boredom of the everyday, a way to make your chores fun? I am definitely the latter, as much as I enjoy dancing,…
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A boring blog post
Bring back the silly.The quick and easy.The nonsense.Make procrastination a reason. Note: this post is for me, it will bore you, it’s about this blog, which is really only of any interest to me as a whole. Perhaps you are interested in a post here and there, but it’s different for me. This is me.…
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Crucial Track – 21 July 2026
Share a song that sounds like your favorite childhood memory. We had a large back garden. The shade of the house only extend as far as the edge of the grass, so it was there we placed our big scratchy wool travel blanket before lying down to do precisely nothing. My Mum loved the sun.…
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A New PM, again
This time it’ll be different, they say. This time it’ll be about the people, they say. This time it’ll be a change for the better, they say. This time the system won’t win, they say. Colour me apathetic. Another PM we didn’t vote for —I know, we vote for the party not the person— in…
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Crucial Track – 20 July 2026
What’s a song you’d want your best friend to hear for the first time? So so many songs. Music is such a huge part of my life this feels like an impossible task. One song? One! I’d have to go with something special, likely well known, but knowing my best friend (who is my wife)…
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Week 29
Life Notes Wednesday morning I took Jack to his swimming lesson. We enrolled him in a week-long course, and Becca has taken him so far, so it was wonderful to watch him actually listening and learning. He loves being active, loves being in the water, and he will need to be able to swim for…
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Sunday in the sun
A lovely quiet day. Car washed. Front and back grass cut. A picnic blanket in the shade for a snacky lunch. Some games with Jack. Glorious. The type of day I’ll try and etch in my memory, the softer moments of life are so welcomed and deeply held. It’s how I keep going. For Jack,…
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Crucial Track – 19 July 2026
Share a song that captures the feeling of being homesick. It rarely comes on the radio but it’s one of a handful of songs that make me yearn for a Scotland I know and love. “Caledonia” by Dougie Maclean Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. Listen to Gordon McLean's…
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Crucial Track – 18 July 2026
What song makes you feel like you’re part of something bigger? I’ve stood in a sun drenched field in Glastonbury, alongside thousands of my fellow humans, and as this track came on. It was a quiet moment between bands on the main stage. I was sitting on the grass. The song began, knowing heads nodded,…
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Big Blogger 2005
Ahh those heady days of the internet, blogs were everywhere, some were about to get book deals and TV series, and there I was on the periphery (as always) quietly commenting on the sites of many of those who were making waves. It was a different time, and the UK blog scene was in a…
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Crucial Track – 17 July 2026
What’s your favorite song about friendship? With apologies to my Toy Story loving son, but for me this just pips Randy Newman’s song. Friendship is such an odd thing at times, certainly amongst my closest friends where we can go months without speaking but we all know, at least I hope we do, that we’d…
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Just watch the movie
Matt creates and designs some great apps, they are thoughtful, and considerate of the user. The fact his latest Micro app is called ‘That Guy’ suggests, with a subtle wink and a nod, some knowing on his part about what he has created and, whilst I laud the thinking behind it, I can’t help my…
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Bye bye Gravatar
I’ve had my Gravatar account for a long time —18th January 2017, something I managed to find by exporting my data and querying the JSON file included (which only gives the UNIX timestamp)— but I’m about to close it. Why? Because it serves me no purpose. At BEST it was a quick way to get…
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Radio Toggle App
I’ve made a few tweaks to the Mac menubar app I vibe coded the other day. Sidenote: I really ick on the term vibe coded. But what else would I call it? Largely driven by a change to the BBC Radio 2 lineup with Sara Cox now (finally) getting the breakfast gig. It does put…