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Author Archives: Simon
The Handmaiden’s Tale
Yesterday, for the dozenth time, I mistakenly referred to the Korean movie The Handmaiden as The Handmaid’s Tale, causing great confusion. Will this curse ever be lifted?
Posted in Culture, Journal, RSS
Tagged A Handsmaid's Tale, Fingersmith, The Handmaiden
Next Steps
A couple of months ago I realised that my impression of two nineties bands, Sloan and Yo La Tengo, was completely wrong. I had somehow gotten it into my head that Sloan was a jokey version of Weezer and Yo … Continue reading
Orange
I should learn the names of more flowers and plants. For the time being I’m calling these the Orange Flowers.
Posted in Journal, Photographs, RSS
21 October 2024
I listened to Smog’s Knock Knock album through headphones for the first time today it was a revelation. I’d previously only listed to it through speakers at low low volumes. Almost twenty years of living in Japan has me trained … Continue reading
PDA Memories
Just remembering that record scratch moment when I realised that PDA no longer stood for personal digital assistant. Oh, so those celebrities aren’t actually into the latest Palm or Clie or Treo. Makes sense.
Nope – No New iPhone This Year
Phew – after a few days of internal debate I’ve decided that I don’t need the new iPhone after all. The only reason I want one is for the better camera system, but I’d still really want an actual new … Continue reading
8 September 2024
After seven millions listens, the opening bass of Clairo’s Nomad still tricks me into thinking I’m about to hear Tribe’s Can I Kick It? My friend who warned me that my affection for Ben Wishaw would not get me through … Continue reading
Juna
Well, this was not what I expected when I checked to see whether Clairo had made any videos for her new album. Absolutely genius! Of course, it put me in mind of this prior art.
Sandy
One of the perils of walking on the beach is getting sand in your socks, having that sand hang on through the laundry, then discovering it grinding between your toes halfway to work. One of the pleasures is having the … Continue reading
So domesticated
There is a square metre of carpet in my living room that is where my feet end up when sitting on the sofa and also where the cat prefers to sit when the heater is on. Sometimes feet and cat … Continue reading
Homesick
Let’s say I bought an acoustic guitar. Absolutely no experience playing one. How long would it take till I could I could play Kings of Convenience’s Homesick? It doesn’t seem that complex musically. I’ve been practicing the vocals in my … Continue reading
Posted in Journal, Music, RSS
Tagged Kings of Convenience
Water Water Everywhere
Went crazy and made a dhal (dahl? dal?) tonight without checking the recipe. Thought I was doing great till I tasted it after half an hour on the stove. Lentils still tasted and felt like hard bits of chalk. Seems … Continue reading
Speaker, Speaker
If a future historian (of unrealised geniuses perhaps) were to break my life into eras, I would suggest that they start a new one last Thursday, when I bought a new speaker. It’s decidedly not fancy — just the cheap … Continue reading
Saturday morning mid-July
Started this slow Saturday morning with the idea of roasting some lamb for dinner. Can’t seem to find the recipe that delivered perfection to my table last Xmas. None of the recipes on recipe tin eats or serious eats look … Continue reading
Non-contiguous Text Selection
Great news for users of Apple’s word processing app, Pages. Earlier this year Apple finally restored the ability to select non-contiguous text, a victim of the great simplification of Apple’s apps in 2013. I hardly ever use Pages anymore, but … Continue reading
Posted in RSS, Technology
Tagged Apple, Pages
Lids Like Lead
Yesterday, as soon as dinner was done, I started with the hippo-esque super wide yawns. After a short time I fled upstairs to escape the repetitive sounds of my daughter getting smashed by some Elden Ring boss. Such repetitive sound … Continue reading
Park Of Kings
I popped up to Kings Park today to make the most of the dying light. Was quite surprised by the number of people sitting out on the lawn just to watch dusk settle over the city.
Posted in Life, Photographs, RSS
Tagged Cityscape
No Right Turns
I have zero — or negative — interest in the generative uses of so called AI, except when it’s generating a few more pixels to make up for the primitive ISO capabilities of my camera or a bit of foliage … Continue reading
Posted in Life, RSS, Technology
Tagged AI, Driving