Willie is Well

Alternate Title - North Queensferry Daily Photo: A bit like Minas Tirith and Minas Morgul from LOTR, North Queensferry and South Queensferry look across those cold northern waters at one another comparing fortunes, favours and an uncertain future. I doubt that it'll ever come to an all out fictional war though, not even in this troubled and sleazy century.

Whatever else might be going on we can also take comfort from the fact the Willie is well, if a little ignored as a tourist attraction. To be honest NQ is a bit ignored overall but I imagine that those living there are quite happy with that. Peace of any kind is precious. 

Rankine's cafe is a nice, friendly spot, good coffee but the hot food is served on cold plates, something I've come to expect in Scottish eateries. I take this as a sign of the times and a measure of the slow decline of civilisation and one which people seem to put up with. The photo below is clearly not one of Rankine's cafe either. Everything in the shadow of the famous bridges isn't clean and pristine.

Dunfermline Daily Photo

 

Groan: This was a grand and important house once, now it seems to be abandoned. That's pretty much of how most of the centre of Dunfermline looks on a grey February morning. There's something very wrong happening in small towns and villages that's working itself out in the gradual ruin and abandonment of places. Structural decay is rife. No I don't have an answer. Nobody does.

In Search of Kerning

In typography, kerning is the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result. Kerning adjusts the space between individual letter forms while tracking adjusts spacing uniformly over a range of characters. In this video some numb-skull makes a simple kerning error early on, once seen it can't be unseen. It is however forgivable and frankly I'm not really bothered. Perfection is only for those who can afford it. Always good for the soul to own up to mistakes though.

Meanwhile George volunteers to put an M&S paper bag through it's paces. I'm glad to say that both cat and bag survived the crazy ordeal.

Why?

Why me? For the first time in a while I'm almost excited about the release of new music that's fairly conventional and obviously made by some relatively older guys. OK it's really about the guitar playing of John Squire more than the Gallagher drone and his overplayed dumb attitude but I'll be giving it a robust listen come March 1st. Not on that golden vinyl over priced shit either but in it's purest form; the bright, spinning, whizzing laser read CD format. I'm old but not fully ready to be old school yet.

Meanwhile from the twitter poetry library:

Perth and Kinross Daily Photo

 

"Something can't be truly representative of everything": Discuss and agree or disagree if you will using no more the 2000 words. You have two hours and thirty minutes to complete this task. 40 Points are on offer.

Unspoken Truths

Some people can't go through a single day without thinking about the Romans (gods, roads, cement, sanitation etc.). Some others perhaps find that the Vikings (rape and pillage, tattoos, axes and long-ships) occupy their minds at times. Others will see a cow somewhere every day; in a roadside field, as a design on a milk carton, a bar of chocolate or maybe a label on a leather item. Perhaps every day you hear a Beatles song or there's some reference to them, a lyric, a photo or an item of iconic 60s fashion maybe. I understand that whilst I get some of these thoughts, mostly regarding the Romans, I also find that in any room I happen to enter where there are people I know, I always think about the elephant. 

Today is the Day

From the Manchester Guardian: Today may be the day when, if the calculations are wrong, a rather large lump of E.T. rock biffs the earth. If the calculations are correct we're OK but if they are a bit fuzzy then it's going to be tough. That "if" is doing a lot of heavy lifting. I hope it wasn't just AI that checked the figures.

So perhaps no more anything for while then. No jury duty, no nice lunches, no self service petrol pumps, no beach holidays, no Dr Pepper cold from the fridge, no product placement. Also nobody reading this, but that's actually nothing to do with what the asteroid actually does.

Imagine if it missed us and just moves on through space and many light years later crashes into some small planet, right there in the creation zone's sweet spot, that's just forming and breeding primitive life as earth did billions of years ago. 

The Book of Screams Etc.

 It's not just any book, it's THE BOOK. YIIII!!

🠝Meanwhile in other news 🠝:

Turns out these are the two most common disabilities.

Unexpected TV brilliance but with a few bumps along the way: Season II of Traitors Australia is a crazy ride and it doesn't seem to overstay it's welcome either. Stick with it for some proper TV gold. Evolution is definitely running backwards there.

The Reluctant Juror's Day Off

A whale oil and deep pastel based study into human emotion and bigoted resolve painted in 1947 by the legendary American artist and hair stylist Hugo Einstein-Oppenheimer. The same Einstein-Oppenheimer who vanished into thin air at a champagne reception in a black and white New York gallery in a monochrome 1950. The painting was said to be the silent inspiration for a major Hollywood movie that has become a household name after winning various awards and honors for a load of trumped up actors and tedious film people. For many years this piece of work was considered to be lost but then one day it just sort of turned up somewhere and that was that so it was declared to be "found after all". 

It's value has been set at a sum of money that so far has not been disclosed by whoever set it but it has been described as uninsurable by insurers. It was voted to be Cultural Item of the Year and an International Treasure in 1948 by the then Chinese and Mandalorian Governments. It is instantly recognizable by most intellectual types everywhere and has been used as a test piece. The artwork remains a stiff, solid but slightly vague and rubbery enigma for a variety of reasons that I'm unable to disclose due to personal ignorance and privacy issues. If you want to see it or download a copy then the best place to do so is here. There will be no charge at this time but then again you never know who's going to come after you.

Apple

I was checking our material on what's a fairly sluggish Apple Music account. Somewhere I rarely go. It's a mysterious on line place where you can stream or even buy music for a small fee. Incredible I know. I was then offered the chance to create a "promotional" tool so obviously I took it. Somehow I imagined that as it was Apple they might construct something wonderful with their vast resources, something slightly more sophisticated than the above MP4 file which does next to nothing. It doesn't even come with a sound clip or anything, other than you can add your own link to Apple Music as you see fit. I wonder what they are currently ploughing their profits into? Here's the link they didn't bother to add. (End of the low key rants for the time being).

Fundamental Facts for the Freak Bros.

Apart from Fat Freddy and of course Fat Freddy's Cat who I can both remember, I can't recall the names of the other two Freak Bros. Did the other two actually have names and why don't I know them? I could just do a Google but sometimes a spirited level of ignorance without the extra burden of holding onto unnecessary facts and snippets of useless information is the best way to be. If I was the spiritual or cod-philosophical type I might even say something along the lines of "but the scriptures tell us ... the longer you live the less you need to know" (unless it's guitar chords). 

Bite the Hand

Nothing new here: A common enough pastime around here is how we regularly bite the hand that doesn't actually bother feeding us, the music business. There's no money in music because it's all a one way traffic system in favour of everyone expect the musicians. Our music has been on various platforms for years and has some decent numbers, there have been plays and sparks of interest but never any real money. Now I'm just relaxed or maybe comatosed  about making progress, just swim away in your own personal lane. Also, to all the Bot factories selling the 5000+ plays con trick; no sensible person's up for that but I admire your confidence.

In my experience and opinion the likes of Spotify does nothing to help promote or support the creation of music and  really the platform offers little extra for the customer other than the music that it pushes. But what does the customer / consumer really want? I'd say Robo-pop, Rap and Hip-Hop if I'm being honest and I guess Spotify know that better than me otherwise they'd not be operating. They say that streaming is the way ... but it's not the best way forward for creators.

But look 👀 it let me make up some free artwork ...

Educational Advice

From elsewhere in the purple ether: Say what you want about Rick and Morty but the line "Nobody exists on purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere. Everybody's gonna die. Come and watch TV", is something they should teach in schools to stop everyone developing main character syndrome. Then show an image where a "main character" is clearly featured but all alone. That'll confuse them all nicely. Educational direction isn't ever about factual certainty after all, it's only about learning the best most expedient version of anything available at the time.

Extra Large

Amazon; forever on the Instagram push with odd and ridiculous suggestions. Other than caterers doing industrial sized portions of cheesy toast who would actually buy this? Perhaps you can power through on painting temporary henna tattoos with it or do over the garden fence? Suitable for intravenous drip feeding following a Pizza Hut salad overdose? Sauce junkies? Maybe it's now a greener alternative to motor oil? Four of your European Litres would certainly fill the average internal combustion engine though hardly lubricate it. I won't be shopping now, never, not enough of a need, no storage space or enthusiasm. Why am I even seeing this? (It has four and a half meaningless stars).

Impydomps Revisited

After a twenty year absence the fearsome but fabulous Impydomps have returned to this blog. Created back then by my youngest daughter (who was really young) they are now realised and rendered thanks to the scurrilous and controversial works of various AI gremlins (often featured here in various guises). So thanks to the progress of some sort of technical thing we can now see the little rascals as they probably are wherever they are. 

Edinburgh Daily Photo

A wet and windy January Monday, Edinburgh still looking pretty scruffy after all the end of year mayhem and activity. I have a sense that nobody really has any clear vision for what Edinburgh's (once) public spaces should be used. There are too many contradictions, pressures and little in the way of positive financial interventions. It's all a bit tired out. Perhaps a year of actually just doing nothing might help?  Let the tourists eat cake.

Had a nice meal in what a food critic might describe as an "unpretentious" French restaurant while the weather tried to rage against brave, scurrying members of our civilisation trapped outside. Now we float in a sea of relative calm awaiting the next highly anticipated big wave. It has a name, they all do now. This of course is all perfectly normal for the time of year but these forecast methods of dynamic risk assessment rule over all our lives now so we remain duly warned and quietly obedient. Close your eyes and think of nowhere.

Arctic Zombie Viruses

I can't be the only one who read about this over the weekend and thought: "This is almost exactly how it should all end. A proper blast from the past and finally Mother Earth get's her revenge on those stupid, greedy homo sapiens". (Well it's a bit better (?) than the ending  forecast according to Biblical interpretations. All that trouble and tribulation in the Middle East and battles all round Jerusalem and thereabouts before Jesus returns in fire and terror and we're all sent off to our final eternal damnation. Don't really see any actual signs of that happening 😳.)

"Humanity is facing a bizarre new pandemic threat, scientists* have warned. Ancient viruses frozen in the Arctic permafrost could one day be released by Earth’s warming climate and unleash a major disease outbreak, they say. Strains of these Methuselah microbes – or zombie viruses as they are also known – have already been isolated by researchers who have raised fears that a new global medical emergency could be triggered – not by an illness new to science but by a disease from the distant past."

*Always it's those pesky scientists and experts, no wonder politicians hate them.

The Monkees - What Am I Doing?

The chorus from this somewhat obscure old song (as above) has been going around within the tiny circumference of my head for most of this week. Not so much annoying as persistent. This morning I blundered into Blue Sky, an app I've only recently started to use - you need a special code 😉. One of the first entries I read is "What am I doin' hanging round ...?" Neil Gaiman responds as you might expect. So I am probably caught in the universal flow of something or other. That's all I know. I didn't feel the need to add any further comments.

KIng Charles' Enlarged Prostate

*The prostate of King Charles III has grown to truly regal size

And if you're unfortunate enough to witness it

You'll not believe your eyes.

The Daily Mail says "let us pray for the royal family's health"

For they matter more than you.

The eventual downfall of those parasites

Would be the best thing to pursue.

But as a fellow sufferer I know a little bit

How a king size feckin' prostate will make you really sick

And frustrate and annoy your personal rhythm stick

(Please note for future comment: I avoided saying prick).

One day you piss against a wall

One day you just piss blood

One day you cannot piss at all

Prostate like a Jersey spud.

They'll insert tubes and pipes and drains

You just want rid of it

With surgery and lasered pain

You'll really feel like shit.

Even though it's technically a urology problem.

*My unofficial bid to become Poet Laureate for 2024.

From China Eventually

 

Going out with a whimper followed by a surgically reduced bang. So I could've had an all electric Chinese Volvo but you know I just thought that maybe that's too much too soon. Assuming the trade routes remain open, in a decade or so we'll only have Chinese cars on the roads so maybe best to stick to the second hand market and buy up the old European tubs before they fall apart and rust away. I think that's more ethical than adding to the (insert widely misunderstood issue here ...) by using up things that are already made and that have a chance of being recycled. Fossil fuels will either dry up or be unaffordable too, so the slow death of our old and unsustainable 20th century lifestyles will be complete. With that in mind I'll continue with Porsche tech till whenever. 77% of all Porsche cars ever made are still running. That's a good statistic. Welcome to my cosmic soup.