{"id":4967,"date":"2024-11-24T14:59:42","date_gmt":"2024-11-24T14:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/?page_id=4967"},"modified":"2024-11-24T15:03:14","modified_gmt":"2024-11-24T15:03:14","slug":"writing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/writing\/","title":{"rendered":"WRITING"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-query has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-query-is-layout-constrained\"><ul class=\"columns-1 wp-block-post-template is-layout-grid wp-container-core-post-template-is-layout-1 wp-block-post-template-is-layout-grid\"><li class=\"wp-block-post post-5052 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/18\/an-inertia-of-ownership\/\" target=\"_self\" >An Inertia of Ownership<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2025-08-18T16:14:36+01:00\">18\/08\/2025<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">There are ponts when you have to stop what you&#8217;re doing (or not doing) and tear everything up and start again. I&#8217;m considering whether or not this blog here needs a complete overhaul. Its current incarnation has been online since 2019 and &#8211; apart from a technical issue about 18 months ago &#8211; it&#8217;s kept&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-5038 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-tech\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/14\/made-an-obsidian-plugin\/\" target=\"_self\" >Made an Obsidian Plugin<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2025-06-14T17:34:11+01:00\">14\/06\/2025<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">For more than five years I&#8217;ve moved all my notes and documents &#8211; personal and professional &#8211; into Obsidian, a super-powerful app for organising and maintaining notes using markdown. I&#8217;m quite fanatical about the app. And now, I&#8217;ve written a plugin that I&#8217;ve just submitted be included in the Obsidian Community Plugins directory. It&#8217;s my&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-5010 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-books category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/20\/riverworld\/\" target=\"_self\" >Riverworld<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2025-05-20T16:14:41+01:00\">20\/05\/2025<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">From time to time I think about the books that I read when I was young. That they still have resonance all these years later and I can remember the profound effect that they had on my thinking and my imagination is testimony to their writing. Of course, novels like The Lord of the Rings&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-5002 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-music\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/12\/10\/autechre-artist-in-residence\/\" target=\"_self\" >Autechre, Artist in Residence<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-12-10T10:27:57+00:00\">10\/12\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Thoroughly enjoyed an absorbing Radio 6 mix by Autechre (the first of four!) which was almost all new to me and has provided a wealth of music and musicians to follow up &#8211; particularly the startling hip hop tracks. The show is described as: Step into the genre-bending world of Autechre, the legendary duo whose&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4820 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/11\/19\/unwelcome-website-woes\/\" target=\"_self\" >Unwelcome Website Woes<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-11-19T18:13:12+00:00\">19\/11\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">THINGS haven&#8217;t been great with my blog over the last week or so. That&#8217;s an understatement. I&#8217;ve spent a great deal of time working out how to save all the content I&#8217;ve put up here for the last five years. I&#8217;ve maintained blogs of some sort or another since the late 1990s and more consistently&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4577 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-books category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/16\/thomas-covenant-the-unbeliever\/\" target=\"_self\" >Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-10-16T13:43:54+01:00\">16\/10\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Another charity shop find! A mere \u00a31 for the trilogy of Stephen Donaldson&#8217;s The Chronicles of Thomas Covenent, The Unbeliever. It&#8217;s a fantasy series started in the mid-1970s in that early wave of post-Toklien novels and I read the first volume way-way-back when I was in my middle-teens (recomended by the owner of Stargate One&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4572 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-books category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/13\/book-evocation\/\" target=\"_self\" >Book Evocation<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-10-13T12:20:54+01:00\">13\/10\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">A discussion about the merits of reading a physical book rather than a digital copy led to considerations about the way that books &#8211; like songs &#8211; are associated with a particular moment in time in memory. There&#8217;s some truth to this. I often recall the first copy of a selection of Thomas Hardy&#8217;s poetry&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4531 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-books category-microblog category-movies-tv\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/06\/the-book-of-alien-1979\/\" target=\"_self\" >The Book of Alien, 1979<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-10-06T11:11:58+01:00\">06\/10\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Another find at our local Oxfam bookshop, The Book of Alien. Published in 1979 to accompany the release of the movie, it&#8217;s a behind-the-scenes account of the production with lots of art (mainly by Ron Cobb but also by Moebius and Chris Foss) and photos. There are sections on spaceship design, sets and spacesuits, the&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4527 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-movies-tv category-on-the-net\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/02\/another-thrilling-star-wars-adventure\/\" target=\"_self\" >Another Thrilling Star Wars Adventure!<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-10-02T10:25:24+01:00\">02\/10\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Love these (fake) book covers for the first three Star Wars movies in the style of sixties pulp paperbacks. Illustrator Russell Walks is amazing! <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4523 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-books category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/02\/the-dead-of-night\/\" target=\"_self\" >The Dead of Night<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-10-02T08:56:38+01:00\">02\/10\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Bought for \u00a31 at the local hospital\u2019s League of Friends bookshop. Onions is one of the great twentieth-century ghost story writers. This volume does include The Beckoning Fair One which Robert Aickmam described as \u201cone of the (possibly) six great masterpieces in the field&#8221;. There\u2019s an intense, manic quality to Onions\u2019 writing that is incredibly&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4516 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-tech\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/09\/28\/2147483648-hours-and-24-minutes\/\" target=\"_self\" >-2,147,483,648 Hours and 24 Minutes<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-09-28T14:39:49+01:00\">28\/09\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Decided to reinstall OSX on the macbook air that I mostly use at home. I bought it in 2012 and, other than upgrading it to Catalina (which is as new as OSX will go without using OCLP) it&#8217;s always worked great. Over the years I&#8217;ve installed a lot of apps, fiddled with the settings and&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4510 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-weekly-notes\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/09\/22\/weeknotes-wb-16-september-2024\/\" target=\"_self\" >Weeknotes wb 16 September 2024<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-09-22T10:24:35+01:00\">22\/09\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">I have to admit that I&#8217;m struggling to maintain these weekly notes (though I will endeavour to do so). Mainly it&#8217;s that I&#8217;m over-thinking the detail and it&#8217;s taking me far too long to put the notes together. So here&#8217;s something shorter&#8230; The &#8220;Season of mists&#8221; is most definitely upon us and I&#8217;m waking to&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4503 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-books category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/09\/21\/radio-time-lord-of-the-rings-cover\/\" target=\"_self\" >Radio Times Lord of the Rings Cover<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-09-21T18:58:48+01:00\">21\/09\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Lovely piece from 2021 by Brian Sibley about the cover to the 7th March 1981 issue of Radio Times. Sibley writes about the illustration, Eric Fraser, and his acquistion of the original artwork. Much like Jimmy Coulty&#8217;s stunning 1976 poster illustration for the novel, Sibley&#8217;s BBC dramatisation which was originally aired between March and August&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4499 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-on-the-net\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/09\/17\/make-something-to-your-taste\/\" target=\"_self\" >Make Something to Your Taste<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-09-17T14:04:09+01:00\">17\/09\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">At the bottom of Jay Springett&#8217;s latest post, Destination Distraction, he&#8217;s added a short video, Make Something to Your Taste, his latest 301 Permanently Moved podcast episode, which caught me at exactly the right time. It&#8217;s a mesmerising video where Springett is convincing in reinforcing the importance of creativity and a call to &#8220;Make a&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4489 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-books category-microblog category-movies-tv\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/09\/12\/the-hartnell-years\/\" target=\"_self\" >The Hartnell Years<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-09-12T14:34:31+01:00\">12\/09\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Picked up a copy of The Doctor Who Production Diary: The Hartnell Years by David Brunt. I&#8217;m in the middle of watching the first season of Doctor Who from 1963-4 and, while I make great use of both the first volume of About Time and The Television Companion &#8211; both of which I&#8217;ve owned for&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4478 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-weekly-notes\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/09\/08\/weeknotes-wb-2-september-2024\/\" target=\"_self\" >Weeknotes wb 2 September 2024<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-09-08T20:24:55+01:00\">08\/09\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Weather&#8217;s changed and there&#8217;s now a definite sense that Autumn&#8217;s begun. It&#8217;s cooler &#8211; almost cold &#8211; and darker during the day and we&#8217;re experiencing sudden showers. By the end of the week the children were both back at school (fairly happily, which is a relief) and I&#8217;m getting to grips with how things seem&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4443 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-comics category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/09\/05\/agatha-a-tale-of-three-witches\/\" target=\"_self\" >Agatha: A Tale of Three Witches<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-09-05T09:41:14+01:00\">05\/09\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">I&#8217;ve just backed Andrew MacLean&#8217;s Kickstarter project, Agatha: A Tale of Three Witches. It&#8217;s a prequel to MacLean&#8217;s fantastic quarterly series, Head Lopper, a comic I&#8217;ve bought from its first issue. (The last issue, #16, was released in 2021.) Anything Head Lopper gets an automatic &#8220;must buy&#8221; from me. There are a range of &#8220;rewards&#8221;&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4427 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-microblog category-weekly-notes\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/09\/01\/weeknotes-wb-01-september-2024\/\" target=\"_self\" >Weeknotes wb 26 August 2024<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-09-01T21:22:56+01:00\">01\/09\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">September has always been the pivot on which the year turns. My birthday is in a couple of days and, as a child, it would be the signal that the return to school would shortly follow (though in those days, the start of school seemed to be about a week after my birthday). And here&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4412 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-microblog category-weekly-notes\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/25\/weeknotes-wb-19-august-2024\/\" target=\"_self\" >Weeknotes wb 19 August 2024<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-08-25T22:15:52+01:00\">25\/08\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">There&#8217;s a definite sense that summer is coming to an end. It&#8217;s feeling cooler in the mornings and grey clouds and rain have dominated many of the days this week. Come to that late-summer point where I&#8217;m genuinely uncertain about which day of the week it is. Doing (or should that be Done?) Another &#8220;summer&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4390 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-microblog category-weekly-notes\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/18\/weeknotes-for-wb-12-august-2024\/\" target=\"_self\" >Weeknotes wb 12 August 2024<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-08-18T22:00:15+01:00\">18\/08\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">This is the first of my attempt at maintaining a weekly &#8220;weeknotes&#8221; used to intentionally review and reflect on the last seven days. I know that the format of this weeknotes isn&#8217;t quite right and will undoubtedly undergo changes. I&#8217;ve enjoyed reading the weeknotes and, after some recent posts by bloggers talking about why they&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4311 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-music\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/04\/husker-du-live\/\" target=\"_self\" >H\u00fcsker D\u00fc Live<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-08-04T16:13:57+01:00\">04\/08\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Spent a couple of hours today listening to some of the live recordings of H\u00fcsker D\u00fc that can be found on the Internet Archive. It&#8217;s a mixed bag: some pretty good ones that sound as if recorded at the mixing desk, while others are just muffled noise with the occasionally recognisable vocal. I can understand&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4308 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-gaming category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/02\/control\/\" target=\"_self\" >Control<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-08-02T18:52:02+01:00\">02\/08\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Eventually picked up a copy of Control, a five year-old game I didn&#8217;t realise I wanted to play until the release of Alan Wake 2 revealed that it was set in a shared universe. Described as &#8220;a solid comedy pastiche of the X-Files, right down to a mysterious smoking man&#8221; by Rock, Paper, Shotgun reviewer&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4305 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/02\/its-the-nameless-non-slop-that-matters\/\" target=\"_self\" >&#8220;it&#8217;s the nameless non-slop that matters&#8221;<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-08-02T08:45:48+01:00\">02\/08\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Wonderful post by John Higgs which ranges from the Trump assassination attempt, the Olympics opening ceremony to &#8220;knobbing about&#8221;. Higgs makes the best analysis of the Olympic opening ceremony I&#8217;ve seen, dscribing it as &#8220;slop&#8221;, which he defines as The ceremony was a lot like modern digital culture. We are bombarded with seemingly unconnected ideas&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4301 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-music\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/07\/27\/love-in-constant-spectacle-jane-weaver\/\" target=\"_self\" >Love in Constant Spectacle, Jane Weaver<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-07-27T10:04:04+01:00\">27\/07\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Have been listening to Jane Weaver\u2019s Love in Constant Spectacle for a couple of weeks now. Such a carefully constructed, intimate and gentle album which builds a fragile melancholic voice over dreamy motorik beats. Weaver\u2019s gentle psychedelic pastoralism (which is the best way I think I can describe it) is something I find incredibly appealing&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4294 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/07\/15\/oclp-and-ubuntu\/\" target=\"_self\" >OCLP and Ubuntu<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-07-15T06:40:48+01:00\">15\/07\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Shock! Horror! Yesterday, I realised that &#8211; and I&#8217;ll blame this squarely on work &#8211; I&#8217;d slipped back into using OSX in that unconscious, it&#8217;s-what-I&#8217;m-used-to way. So I tried booting into Ubuntu on my macbook to find that it just refused to boot up. The boot choice led to a black screen. Then I realised&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4291 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/07\/13\/shakespeare-and-his-world\/\" target=\"_self\" >Shakespeare and His World<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-07-13T18:01:15+01:00\">13\/07\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Found this copy in an Oxfam bookshop today. I used to have a copy years ago but lost it in a move between schools. Originally publishing in the mid-1950s, it&#8217;s essentially a standard version of Shakespeare&#8217;s life though I imagine that some of the historical detail might be dated (ha!) in terms of current scholarship.&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4282 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-music\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/29\/4282\/\" target=\"_self\" >Bob Mould, H\u00fcsker D\u00fc, Sugar<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-06-29T17:43:45+01:00\">29\/06\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">It must be the general mood I&#8217;m in at the moment but among the albums I&#8217;ve been sorting through in my never-ending organisation of my music library have been (last week) H\u00fcsker D\u00fc and (today) Bob Mould and Sugar. I originally got into H\u00fcsker D\u00fc back in in my teens in the 1980s when I&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4272 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-music\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/05\/28\/rock-bottom-robert-wyatt\/\" target=\"_self\" >Rock Bottom, Robert Wyatt<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-05-28T16:39:04+01:00\">28\/05\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">My attention in music recently has shifted again towards the early 1970s to the post-psychedelic stuff produced by musicians loosely grouped as the Canterbury Scene. My tastes in pyschedelia have always been in the slightly-folksy English pastoral strain which has brought me via Soft Machine and Matching Mole to Robert Wyatt&#8217;s stunning 1974 album, Rock&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4267 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-books category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/05\/22\/who-and-hobbit\/\" target=\"_self\" >Who and Hobbit<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-05-22T20:20:36+01:00\">22\/05\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">In other news, I went looking in local charity shops for a copy of Susanna Clarke&#8217;s Jonathan Strange &amp; Mr Norell, a novel I&#8217;ve read twice but don&#8217;t have a physical copy. No luck on that front but I did find a delightful hardback of The Hobbit (I have the paperback version so this is&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4264 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-gaming category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/05\/18\/oblivion-2006\/\" target=\"_self\" >Oblivion (2006)<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-05-18T19:48:05+01:00\">18\/05\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Found a copy of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for PS3 in a secondhand shop for \u00a31. It was released in 2006 (and 2007 for Pas3) and is often included in lists of greatest videogames. I remember my eldest son playing it back then on 360 but I\u2019m pretty sure I didn\u2019t at the time&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4256 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-tech\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/05\/07\/dual-booting-noble-numbat\/\" target=\"_self\" >Dual-booting Noble Numbat<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-05-07T22:11:17+01:00\">07\/05\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Installed the 24.04 LTS release of Ubuntu, Noble Numbat, on Macbook so it dual boots with Sonoma (it\u015b actually a 10 year-old Macbook Pro using OCLP to enable latest version of OSX to run). The only part of getting Ubuntu to dual boot was the actual dual booting itself. All the resizing of partitions and&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4251 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-english-teaching category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/05\/03\/english-ill-thought-through-changes\/\" target=\"_self\" >English: &#8220;ill-thought-through changes&#8221;<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-05-03T16:11:30+01:00\">03\/05\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Brief &#8211; but valid &#8211; Guardian editorial calling for changes to English teaching. &#8220;Too much of what is valuable about studying English was lost in the educational reforms of the past 14 years,&#8221; the paper says and that &#8220;ill-thought-through changes, which imposed a model more suited to science and maths learning on to the quite&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4243 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-music\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/05\/02\/tom-tom-club-1981\/\" target=\"_self\" >Tom Tom Club, 1981<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-05-02T15:00:16+01:00\">02\/05\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">I&#8217;ve been listening to a LOT of Talking Heads lately and &#8211; while I was listening to Genius of Love performed on the live album of Stop Making Sense &#8211; realised that I&#8217;ve never really listened to the Chis Frantz and Tina Weymouth side-project, Tom Tom Club. Got to say that the first eponymously-titled first&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4235 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-gaming category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/04\/29\/fall\/\" target=\"_self\" >Fallout 3<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-04-29T16:04:41+01:00\">29\/04\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">At the same time I brought down my old PS3 and games, I found this copy of Fallout 3 for the Xbox 360. I&#8217;ve not ever played a Fallout game (not sure why and have played Oblivion, Skyrim and Starfield) and really enjoyed the tv series. I assume that it belongs to my eldest son.&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4231 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-gaming category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/04\/29\/play-station-3\/\" target=\"_self\" >Play Station 3<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-04-29T14:04:45+01:00\">29\/04\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Dug out my old &#8220;fat&#8221; PS3 console from the loft today. The plan was to see if Disney Infinity still worked so my youngest son could play using the NFC figures (the piece that triggers the game was missing so we couldn&#8217;t do that). I also brought down the PS3 games I own and it&#8217;s&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4226 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/04\/25\/40k-painting\/\" target=\"_self\" >40K Painting<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-04-25T13:32:18+01:00\">25\/04\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Finished my first-ever Warhammer 40K miniatures. They were part of the 40K starter set my son wasn&#8217;t interested in painting (he was more interested in the alien-like Tyranids). If I&#8217;m honest, I found painting the miniatures difficult and stressful &#8211; but glad I tried it. My only other experience of Warhammer has been reading several&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4216 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-comics category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/04\/24\/brink-book-6-2000ad-prog-2379\/\" target=\"_self\" >Brink Book 6, 2000AD prog 2379<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-04-24T12:22:47+01:00\">24\/04\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Very pleased to see the return of Brink by Dan Abnett and INJ Culbard to 2000AD. I hadn&#8217;t read last week&#8217;s prog and, when I saw Culbard&#8217;s unmistakable cover for prog 2379, I had to dash out to WH Smiths and pick it up. Unbelievably, it&#8217;s Book Six. Brink is a future detective noir &#8211;&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4208 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-comics category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/04\/02\/ed-piskor\/\" target=\"_self\" >Ed Piskor<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-04-02T11:05:01+01:00\">02\/04\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Incredibly saddened to hear of the death of Ed Piskor, comic book artist and co-host of Cartoonist Kayfabe. I&#8217;ve been reading Ed&#8217;s comics since Hip Hop Family Tree came to my attention a decade ago and have followed his work through Grand Design and Red Room. His heartfelt celebration of comics on his YouTube channel,&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4202 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-music\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/22\/three-four-tet\/\" target=\"_self\" >Three, Four Tet<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-03-22T16:05:54+00:00\">22\/03\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">&#8220;It&#8217;s got enough heart that we won&#8217;t accuse it of going through the motions, yet if that was all you ever asked from Four Tet, this is surely a dream come true,&#8221; says the reviewer on Sputnikmusic of Four Tet&#8217;s new album, Four, in a rather passive-aggressive review that calls the album &#8220;solid&#8221; and declares&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4193 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-art category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/16\/bands-as-saturday-morning-cartoons\/\" target=\"_self\" >Bands as Saturday Morning Cartoons<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-03-16T13:55:26+00:00\">16\/03\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">This is an enjoyable site: stuffbymark.co.uk, where Mark Reynolds presents imaginary retro cartoons, movie posters and the like based on songs and bands. I loved the bands-as-Saturday-Morning-Cartoons especially &#8211; but Reynolds&#8217; great at this. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4189 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-music\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/14\/gallagher-squire\/\" target=\"_self\" >Gallagher &#038; Squire<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-03-14T17:33:40+00:00\">14\/03\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Eventually listened through Liam Gallager John Squire, the new album by.. er&#8230; Liam Gallagher and John Squire. Alexis Petridis claims: &#8220;it\u2019s a noticeably better album than anything in Gallagher\u2019s post-Oasis oeuvre, and indeed anything Squire has released since leaving the Stone Roses in 1996. The songwriting is melodically stronger and the performances more vibrant, with&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4185 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-education category-english-teaching category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/13\/reading-and-writing-for-pleasure\/\" target=\"_self\" >Reading &#038; Writing for Pleasure<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-03-13T17:33:23+00:00\">13\/03\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Just read the excellent Reading and Writing for Pleasure: A Framework for Practice and Approaches to Reading and Writing for Pleasure by the Open University&#8217;s Reading for Pleasure programme. Plus the TES interview with Professor Teresa Cremin about how to encourage more children to read for pleasure. The takeaways seem to me to be ones&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4182 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-education category-english-teaching category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/12\/ofsted-try-to-do-literature\/\" target=\"_self\" >OFSTED try to &#8220;do&#8221; literature<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-03-12T20:27:44+00:00\">12\/03\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Amusing &#8211; and chilling &#8211; piece by the wonderful Michael Rosen about part of the recent OFSTED subject report into English. Rosen examines the controversial paragraph 90 of the report which attempts to insist that only texts of &#8220;literary merit&#8221; should be studied in schools and attempts a sleight of hand to conflate &#8220;easy&#8221; texts&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4178 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-books category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/07\/alfred-hitchcocks-psycho\/\" target=\"_self\" >Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s Psycho<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-03-07T15:58:44+00:00\">07\/03\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Found this in a charity shop today: Alfred Hitchcock&#8217;s Psycho, part of The Film Classics Library&#8217;s &#8220;most accurate and complete reconstruction of a film in book form&#8221;. It&#8217;s a comic book-like presentation of the whole of the movie and an absorbing read. I often find that stills from movies (especially old black and white ones)&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4168 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-music\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/06\/philip-glass-solo\/\" target=\"_self\" >Philip Glass Solo<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-03-06T12:02:49+00:00\">06\/03\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">There&#8217;s already a great deal of Philip Glass in my music collection but I couldn&#8217;t resist listening to this latest album, Philip Glass Solo &#8211; though it was Luis Alverez Roure&#8217;s striking portrait of Glass that caught my attention. I first listened to Glass in the 1980s when I bought a copy of Glassworks on&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4163 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/02\/feel-more-again\/\" target=\"_self\" >Feel More Again<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-03-02T16:00:13+00:00\">02\/03\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">There&#8217;s something hits different about Cineworld&#8217;s current slogan. Being told that I can &#8220;feel more again&#8221; by watching an animated movie about anthropomorphised mallard ducks migrating haphazardly to Jamaica isn&#8217;t quite what I&#8217;m going to the cinema with my kids for on a Saturday afternoon. We just wanted to do something and it was raining&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4161 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-education category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/02\/29\/make-children-happier\/\" target=\"_self\" >Make Children Happier<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-02-29T15:53:19+00:00\">29\/02\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">As part of a series arguing for revitalising policies a future Labour government should adopt, Polly Toynbee proposes three key educational reforms: &#8220;Bring back those 1,416 Sure Start centres that have closed&#8221; &#8220;Schools need just one target: make children happier and education a pleasure&#8221; &#8220;kickstart FE, with the resources and respect it deserves&#8221; Toynbee ends&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4157 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-movies-tv\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/02\/24\/endings-night-country\/\" target=\"_self\" >Ending(s), Night Country<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-02-24T16:25:35+00:00\">24\/02\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">LA Times interview with Night Country writer, Issa L\u00f3pez reveals something about her thoughts regarding the ambiguity of the final episode&#8217;s end (and, to be honest, much of the season). In the interview, L\u00f3pez stresses that she was deliberate in creating a story and setting where there can be both rational and supernatural readings of&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4121 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-music\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/02\/22\/future-days-can\/\" target=\"_self\" >Future Days, Can<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-02-22T21:08:12+00:00\">22\/02\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">The latest episode of BBC Radio 3&#8217;s Free Thinking arts programme features a showcase of Can&#8217;s third album, Future Days. The programme is an enjoyable (and informative), presenting Can&#8217;s album in the context of post-Sixties Germany and of the original line-up of the band. I&#8217;m not sure why the programme chose Can&#8217;s third album rather&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4113 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-movies-tv\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/02\/19\/laird-barrons-true-detective-night-country-review\/\" target=\"_self\" >Laird Barron&#8217;s Night Country review<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-02-19T21:33:53+00:00\">19\/02\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Laird Barron is enthusiastic about the fourth season of True Detective, arguing that the writer\/showrunner, Issa Lopez conjures an &#8220;ethereal undercurrent of magical realism&#8221;. He sees many of the artistic (and philosophical) decisions made reflect the lonely, estranged Alaskan setting. He also discusses the show as being within the tradition of &#8220;polar&#8221; horror, though refreshingly&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4109 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-art category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/02\/19\/curations-artuk-org\/\" target=\"_self\" >Curations, artuk.org<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-02-19T09:42:06+00:00\">19\/02\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Curations are a wonderful means of self-organising British art using the Art.org web site.\u00a0 I use an installation of Pinry &#8211; essentially a self-hosted version of Pinterest &#8211; to generally keep and manage images and graphics I want to keep. The Art.org\u00a0 curations makes keeping hold of images of British art I particularly incredibly easy.&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4099 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-music\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/02\/14\/dreamfear-boy-sent-from-above-burial\/\" target=\"_self\" >Dreamfear\/Boy Sent From Above, Burial<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-02-14T18:03:22+00:00\">14\/02\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">&#8220;caustic rave maximalism&#8230; [that] comes across like a forlorn mini cassette mix from the 90s vaults&#8221; according to The Quietus. Some sort of teleological excavation of a lost techno compilation from Ninties compressed into 25+ minutes of realtime aural actualisation. Of the two tracks, I find Boy Sent from Above pleasingly replayable. Pitchfork review describes&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4088 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-music\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/02\/07\/volta-loula-yorke\/\" target=\"_self\" >Volta, Loula Yorke<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-02-07T17:39:56+00:00\">07\/02\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Quietus review says that &#8220;Yorke\u2019s new release Volta is deeply cyclical&#8221; and reflect a period of focused composition rather than Yorke&#8217;s previous improvised recordings. Makes comparisons with Hannah Peel&#8217;s Fir Wave. All seven tracks are great &#8211; though I&#8217;m especially taken with An Example of Periodic Time. Have listened to this album many times now.&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4025 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2024\/01\/01\/new-year-2024\/\" target=\"_self\" >New Year, 2024<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2024-01-01T16:42:18+00:00\">01\/01\/2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">And just like that it&#8217;s 2024. Over on Pixelfed I&#8217;m posting a photo each day as part of my attempt at being more intentional this new year. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4011 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-featured\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/12\/21\/2023-a-year-in-review\/\" target=\"_self\" >2023 A Year in Review<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-12-21T13:38:55+00:00\">21\/12\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\"> <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3957 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-featured\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/12\/18\/nothing-more-than-a-test\/\" target=\"_self\" >Nothing More Than a Test<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-12-18T21:18:54+00:00\">18\/12\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">This is nothing but a test. Let&#8217;s see. . . . . . . . . . . Just looking at stuff visually. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3943 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-11-30T06:49:51+00:00\">30\/11\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Almost a million children don\u2019t have a book in their houses. Most concerning is that this lack of books is concentrated in younger children. National scandal. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3940 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/11\/25\/moons-of-jupiter\/\" target=\"_self\" >Moons of Jupiter<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-11-25T23:35:44+00:00\">25\/11\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Clear sky tonight and it was possible to get a good look at Jupiter in the night sky near a full moon. What was super-exciting was seeing the four Galilean moons of Jupiter &#8211; Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto &#8211; through a telescope. It gives an incredible sense of the physicality and presence of things&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3934 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/11\/07\/60-years-of-doctor-who\/\" target=\"_self\" >60 Years of Doctor Who<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-11-07T11:09:14+00:00\">07\/11\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Incredibly, the first episode of Doctor Who was aired on the 21st November 1963. As I&#8217;ve been a fan of the classic series from childhood, I thought I&#8217;d go back and watch the first season. The adventures of the First Doctor and his companions are the ones I&#8217;ve watched the least and there are some&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3933 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/11\/02\/monica\/\" target=\"_self\" >Monica<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-11-02T17:11:03+00:00\">02\/11\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Alice bought me the new Daniel Clowes graphic novel, Monica, which is excellent and so so SO heartbreaking. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3929 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/02\/kodi-media-centre\/\" target=\"_self\" >Kodi Media Centre<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-10-02T18:35:00+01:00\">02\/10\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Managed to hook up my old PS3 controller to act as a controller for the Kodi media centre I\u2019ve set up on the Rasp Pi 4 I had knocking about in a box upstairs. All working really well. I\u2019ve got longer-term plans to develop this with decent speakers (maybe a DAC) and &#8211; probably wall-mounting&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3925 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-09-19T11:59:53+01:00\">19\/09\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">&#8220;There has to be more to writing in English than this.&#8221; The English &amp; Media Centre identify the chronic shortcomings of the dominant assessment model in English at KS3 which they say &#8220;is at odds with the creative nature of subject English&#8221;. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3922 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-09-04T07:17:25+01:00\">04\/09\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Seriously concerning report by the National Literacy Trust identifying the decline of children&#8217;s reading for pleasure. Seems to me the most important part is the section where children say what would encourage them to read more. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3920 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/31\/russell-hobans-riddley-walker\/\" target=\"_self\" >Russell Hoban\u2019s Riddley Walker<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-08-31T17:04:07+01:00\">31\/08\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Found a secondhand copy of Riddley Walker in our local Oxfam Bookshop. It\u2019s an apocalyptic SF nove set locally here in Kent. This copy\u2019s got an intro by an enthusiastic Will Self. It\u2019ll have to go on my tsundoko for the time being as I\u2019m wirkinh my way through the very enjoyable Murderbot Diaries series&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3918 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/26\/ahh-not-more-repairs\/\" target=\"_self\" >Ahh, Not More Repairs!<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-08-26T23:39:00+01:00\">26\/08\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Somehow our switch was dropped (probably not the first time) and started malfunctioning. The issue seemed to be one connected with power. It was pretty straightforward to open the switch up and take a look inside. I made what repairs I could and cleaned off the dust and\u2026 it was fixed. I have a suspicion&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3916 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/22\/ruins-of-thurnham-castle\/\" target=\"_self\" >Ruins of Thurnham Castle<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-08-22T14:43:28+01:00\">22\/08\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Went for a walk around the ruins of Thurnham Castle today. It\u2019s the remains of a Norman earthworks castle. I enjoyed the ruins much more than I expected and the area around is full of twisty paths through woods and sharply descending steps. Jan and I explored some of the landscape beyond. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3913 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/13\/beating-the-battery-blues\/\" target=\"_self\" >Beating the Battery Blues<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-08-13T18:25:52+01:00\">13\/08\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Phew! Finally put a new battery in my iphone. Made a couple of mistakes &#8211; and lost one miniscule screw &#8211; but all seems well. Phone is working. It was something that HAD to be done as the old battery was lasting about an hour between charges. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3911 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/12\/devils-kneading-trough\/\" target=\"_self\" >Devil\u2019s Kneading Trough<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-08-12T13:38:35+01:00\">12\/08\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Visited the Devil\u2019s Kneading Trough near Wye today which has a lovely view of southern Kent from the Downs. It was exactly the right length of walk for the kids. Alice picked blackberries. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3907 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-08-08T23:02:41+01:00\">08\/08\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Just learned about Russel Hoban&#8217;s Riddley Walker. Set in post-nuclear devastated Kent. Hoban is a writer I know nothing about but seems pretty interesting. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3905 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/08\/the-two-towers\/\" target=\"_self\" >The Two Towers<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-08-08T16:48:44+01:00\">08\/08\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">&#8220;Frodo was alive but taken by the Enemy.&#8221; So ends The Two Towers. My slow read of Tolkien&#8217;s The Lord of the Rings now advances into The Return of the King. Gandalf returned. The Ents laid siege to Isengard. Saruman&#8217;s power was broken. Gollum led Frodo and Sam into a deadly trap in Mordor. Frodo&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3901 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-08-02T12:21:26+01:00\">02\/08\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Coming close to the end of my S-L-O-W re-read of The Two Towers. Having mixed feelings about the book if I&#8217;m honest. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3866 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/07\/31\/fixing-joycons-again\/\" target=\"_self\" >fixing joycons again<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-07-31T14:56:06+01:00\">31\/07\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">I seem to keep fixing joy cons. This time my youngest managed to chew the thumbsticks. Luckily I had some replacement parts. Wonder if Hall Effect thumbstcks might help. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3864 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-07-01T19:19:14+01:00\">01\/07\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Very much enjoyed the Silo tv series. Found myself literally on the edge of my seat for the final episode. That last scene! <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3822 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog category-tech\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/06\/30\/haddit-with-reddit\/\" target=\"_self\" >Haddit with Reddit<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-06-30T14:34:28+01:00\">30\/06\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">After 12 years using Reddit, I&#8217;ve deleted my\u00a0data*. I&#8217;ll give it a few days to check that my comments and posts have been completely wiped and then I&#8217;ll permanently delete my account. Like many other long-term user of Reddit, this is in response to the greed of Reddit&#8217;s management and their despicable treatment of Christian&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3820 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-06-28T17:33:51+01:00\">28\/06\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Excellent TES interview with Professor Robert Eaglestone regarding knowledge and the ways that the teaching of English in schools has profoundly altered &#8211; and not for the better! <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3816 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-06-23T10:48:14+01:00\">23\/06\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">I support the seven actions proposed in the EMC&#8217;s Open Letter to Gillian Kegan, Secretary of State for Education. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3813 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-06-20T18:06:38+01:00\">20\/06\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Geoff Dyer: &#8220;Certain books are held dear because they are also psychic landmarks revealing where and how they helped us come into consciousness. Inevitably, our perception of the world continues to be informed by such texts long after the precise details of their contents have been forgotten.&#8220; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3809 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-06-09T08:33:40+01:00\">09\/06\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Apollo is shutting down on 30th June. Its app developer, Christian Selig, has been treated awfully by Reddit&#8217;s greedy leaders. I&#8217;m going to be deleting my Reddit account on 30th. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3803 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/06\/02\/3803\/\" target=\"_self\" >Excalidraw &#038; Obsidian<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-06-02T14:47:43+01:00\">02\/06\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Spent some time today looking at the Excalidraw plug-in for Obsdian by Zsolt Vicsi\u00e1n. (When online,) Excalidraw is a collaborative whiteboard. Using it within Obsidian, Excalidraw functions much like Obsidian&#8217;s built in Canvas &#8211; but\u00a0importantly &#8211; allows stylus\/Apple Pencil input. Making editable handwritten notes is the only feature I&#8217;ve missed since moving away from One&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3801 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-05-21T23:52:43+01:00\">21\/05\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Reading the Vertigo John Constantine, Hellblazer series this evening. Very much of it&#8217;s time (late 1980s) and engaging. There&#8217;s 300 issues in this run! <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3796 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/21\/tales-from-topographic-oceans\/\" target=\"_self\" >Dance of the Dawn<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-05-21T16:17:40+01:00\">21\/05\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Chance found me listening to the first track on Yes&#8217; 1973 album, Tales from Topographic Oceans and realising that it was a song from my childhood that I&#8217;d been trying to find for a great deal of my adult life. The Revealing Science of God: Dance of the Dawn. The album was one that my&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3799 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-05-20T22:19:26+01:00\">20\/05\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Watched &#8211; and enjoyed &#8211; the Nick Broomfield Arena documentary about the life of Brian Jones. So much about Jones I didn&#8217;t know and now realise what a complex person he was. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3793 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/17\/here-we-are\/\" target=\"_self\" >Here We Are<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-05-17T21:56:49+01:00\">17\/05\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Impressed and enjoying the first season of HBO&#8217;s Perry Mason. Almost at the end of The Two Towers. Have been reading a great deal about the development of the Romance and Spenser&#8217;s Fairie Queene. Started Adrian Tchaicovsky&#8217;s Shards of Earth. Not reading many comics at the moment other than recent X-Men. Listening to: Van der&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3782 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/06\/fellowship-with-the-past\/\" target=\"_self\" >Reading Memories<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-05-06T08:12:32+01:00\">06\/05\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">I\u2019m almost finished reading The Fellowship of the Ring. Alongside the novel, I\u2019m listening to Phil Dragash\u2019s soundscape recording which I highly recommend. The novel has encouraged lots of memories of the copy of Fellowship I read when I was eleven and took with me to school. It was a large hardback copy without a&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3780 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-05-05T13:18:16+01:00\">05\/05\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Unusually bleak commentary on the current state of behaviour in schools by head of ASCL, Geoff Barton. Many school leaders are reporting a core of very challenging students in schools. Barton offers suggestions about the causes but states that \u201cthe truth is that we just don\u2019t know\u201d. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3777 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-05-04T11:42:44+01:00\">04\/05\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Polarisation in teaching in UK schools no better demonstrated than the &#8220;discussion&#8221; between Tom Rogers and Phil Beadle. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3769 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-05-02T15:46:13+01:00\">02\/05\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Reading The Fellowship of the Ring and realising how much I\u2019d forgotten (and how my memory of it has been shaped by the Jackson movies). <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3767 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-04-25T13:02:26+01:00\">25\/04\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Missed this piece in The Guardian yesterday by David Robson about the physical and mental health benefits of writing. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3764 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-04-25T12:49:20+01:00\">25\/04\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Rather than Labour&#8217;s &#8220;Report Card&#8221; for UK schools, I wonder whether looking for approaches outside of the models aping big business would provide a solution. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3760 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/24\/found-out\/\" target=\"_self\" >Found This, Out<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-04-24T13:04:21+01:00\">24\/04\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Found this when out. It&#8217;s an old sign that&#8217;s been quite violently shredded by a vandal. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3753 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-04-24T08:29:55+01:00\">24\/04\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Seems like Johnson&#8217;s vile &#8220;I am the f\u00fchrer&#8221; exclamation as PM reported over the weekend is being completely ignored. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3696 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-04-24T06:21:28+01:00\">24\/04\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Listening to the first season of TANIS again. It&#8217;s great in creating an eerie, disorienting atmosphere. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3676 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-small-posts\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-04-24T00:02:32+01:00\">24\/04\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Already after midnight and I\u2019m still trying to work out how to improve these microposts. Need to save it for tomorrow! <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3672 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-04-23T23:54:34+01:00\">23\/04\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Up too late again! I&#8217;m perpetually bemused how easily I lose track of time. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3647 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-04-23T23:38:10+01:00\">23\/04\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Working out how &#8211; and whether it&#8217;s worth it &#8211; to add micro posts here. Main issue is they look like junk clutter! <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3641 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-04-23T23:31:16+01:00\">23\/04\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Have been reading Gene Wolfe&#8217;s\u00a0The Fifth Head of Cerebus this evening. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3614 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/23\/72-seasons\/\" target=\"_self\" >Metallica 72 Seasons<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-04-23T23:09:34+01:00\">23\/04\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Have to say that I&#8217;m enjoying the new Metallica album,\u00a072 Seasons, a great deal. Metallica are a dangerous band for me musically as they encourage me to listen to thrashy, heavy metal at a time in my life where my inclination is far more still, gentle music or catching up with interesting stuff I really&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3592 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/13\/this-is-lotr\/\" target=\"_self\" >This is LotR<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-04-13T09:58:45+01:00\">13\/04\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">My later primary school days were dominated by LotR and I was given this poster by one of my mum&#8217;s friends who had glued it to a poster-sized piece of heavy wood. It remained propped up in my bedroom through my teenage years. It&#8217;s by Jimmy Caulty who drew it at the age of seventeen&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3586 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/03\/31\/3586\/\" target=\"_self\" >Medway Fifties SF Club<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-03-31T19:35:22+01:00\">31\/03\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Just discovered that a group of SF enthusiasts formed the Medway Science and Fantasy Club in the early 1950s with a bookshop in Gillingham, a fanzine and even hosted its own convention, Medcon. Ron Hansen maintains incredibly interesting pages documenting the history of the group and the FANAC Fan History Project hosts pdfs of their&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-3583 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-books category-microblog\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title has-ysabeau-office-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/2023\/03\/29\/the-best-kept-secret\/\" target=\"_self\" >The Best-Kept Secret<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-03-29T14:42:21+01:00\">29\/03\/2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Being an easy pushover for a good UFO book (something I&#8217;ve not shaken since my childhood), I&#8217;ve just read Jacques Vall\u00e9e&#8217;s and Paola Harris&#8217; Trinity: The Best-Kept Secret. It&#8217;s an account of a hitherto unknown UFO crash in San Antonio in 1945 very close to Ground Zero where the Manhattan Project had tested the first&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4967","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4967"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4970,"href":"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4967\/revisions\/4970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyhollingsbee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}