ronnie.fyi

No hablo Español

Mon, 25 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT

I’m currently on a family trip to Tenerife - hence the book updates on the site. I can’t remember the last time I finished two books in a week.

Despite it being one of those places to which Britons the length and breadth of the country head, this is my first time on the Canary Islands. If you refocus your gaze beyond the tourist hotels and bars filled with the cast of Benidorm, it’s a beautiful part of the world.

Back in the early 2000s, for work-related reasons, I started learning Spanish. I got to the point where I could have basic conversations and could travel around Spain, buying train and bus tickets and generally get by. I was very far from fluent, but I could hold a basic conversation.

As expected, I did not continue my studies; I haven’t really spoken Spanish with anyone in years. That said, there’s still some residual knowledge kicking around and over the past few days, I’ve tried my best to speak Spanish where I can.

And it makes a difference. I can only assume (and from what I can overhear) that most of the hotel staff speak English very well. If you ask a question in English, that’s how they’ll respond. But if you ask in Spanish, you fall into a conversation that doesn’t seem to happen otherwise. It’s a very stilted, broken-Spanish-based conversation but it happens all the same. And then the next time you ask the same member of staff a question, they remember you and help you with the language.

A lot of this is just down to the professionalism of hotel staff, but I feel a big difference in how easy it is to build up a relationship over the course of a few days if you’re willing to get over the initial embarrassment at not being fluent in a second language, and just give it a go.

We Are The Monument

Sat, 16 May 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Nathan Coley’s We Are The Monument looks like it just sprang up overnight in Glasgow, atop the Glasgow Dental Hospital. Admittedly, there is a Glasgow Life article promoting it, so it’s not like it wasn’t planned.

Innovative illuminated sculpture by internationally acclaimed Glasgow artist shines over the city

Newly installed in Sauchiehall Street, on the roof of Glasgow Dental Hospital and School, the illuminated text-based sculpture displays the thought-provoking phrase, WE ARE THE MONUMENT.

Coley has a bit about it on his Instagram, too.

“The Dead must be Remembered, but the Living are the Monument, the living who coexist in peace in ordinary times, and who save one another in extraordinary times”

I enjoy seeing some new art work in the city, and this one reminds me of Mary Ellen Carroll’s It Is Green Thinks Nature Even In The Dark, which has left Glasgow residents scratching their heads for years now.

Coley studied at Glasgow School of Art, which is directly behind the Glasgow Dental Hospital, so I’m sure the location isn’t an accident.

I also like his work The World Without, seen here installed in Abu Dhabi.

The World Without, installed in downtown Abu Dhabi

Book Shelf

Fri, 15 May 2026 18:00:00 GMT

I recently hired a decorator to paint my living room. Clearing out the space before he started meant all our books had to come down off the shelves and into temporary storage (where they still live, admittedly). That got me thinking about keeping better track of books I’ve read.

So, I’ve added a /shelf page to the site. It pulls my reading data from Hardcover, a book tracking service that seems like a decent alternative to Goodreads (which no longer provides an API for this kinda thing).

The page shows what I’m currently reading and what I’ve read, grouped by year. If I’ve given a book 5 stars, it has a wee “Loved it” badge beside it. If I’ve written a blog post about a specific book, there’s a “Blog Post” link that takes you to it.

Author and series names are clickable filters, so if you want to see only books by a particular author you can do that without wading through everything else. I say that, but I’ve not read anywhere near as much as I’d like to over the past 10-15 years. I blame that on having a kid, and on going back to Uni in 2017.

Hardcover seems pretty new so I’ve no idea how long it’ll be around, but it has an API and it was easy to move over to it from Goodreads, so that was enough for me.

✳ Picture shown is much neater than my actual bookshelves at home.

SFA are back, but Maida Vale is going

Thu, 14 May 2026 20:00:00 GMT

Ten years ago I saw Super Furry Animals at the Kelvingrove Bandstand in Glasgow. It was the first time I’d seen them and they paid me back by not appearing on stage again for another 10 years.

They’re are one of my favourite bands but the electronic nature of some of their songs didn’t fit with what I listened to when I was younger, so I initially disregarded them for too long. Funnily enough, songs like Slow Life and (A Touch) Sensitive are now two of my favourites.

I saw them again last week at Glasgow’s Barrowlands. It was great, but I’m not convinced they’re back for anything more than a bit of a financial leg up; it’s difficult to put my finger on it, as they’re not the most effusive bunch on stage, but it was quite a low-key show.

Getdown Services were the support act and they sweat enough for 3 or 4 bands so it all evens out, I suppose.

They were also at the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios this week; their session for fellow Welshman Huw Stephens is on the site now. The amount of classic music recorded there must be incredible. Someone should list that somewhere, especially as it was recently sold:

In August 2023, the studios were sold to a partnership between Tim Bevan & Eric Fellner, and Hans Zimmer & Steven Kofsky.

50 Days Until World Cup 2026

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Today marks 50 days until the 2026 World Cup. Matches will take place across Canada, Mexico and the USA - and Scotland have qualified for the first time since 1998, when they faced a Brazil side with the original Ronaldo in their line-up.

If nothing else, we’re going to look great. The new away kit is superb. So much so that I bought it the day it was released, the first time I’ve done that with any kit in probably 30 years.

Ryan Christie models the new Scotland away kit

Beyond that? Well, the USA seems to be having a moment, and with the costs of attending rising daily, I really wouldn’t thank you for a ticket to any of Scotland’s games. With the exception of a visit to New York City in September 2001, I cannot think of a worse time to be a tourist in the USA.

All that said, I did ask Claude about traveling to the World Cup as a Scotland fan, and it confidently informed me that Scotland hadn’t qualified. So maybe I should stop worrying.

A: “First, worth noting that Scotland didn’t qualify for 2026 — they were eliminated in the UEFA qualifying play-offs. So this is more of a hypothetical, or perhaps you’re going as a neutral football fan to soak up the tournament!”

Anyway, 50 days until the World Cup starts, and 52 before Scotland’s first match against Haiti in Boston - presuming that goes ahead.

After that, we’ll play Morocco and Brazil, before returning home with our tail between our legs.

Brutal Scotland

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 23:02:00 GMT

Simon Phipps’ Brutal Scotland is another in his series looking at brutalist architecture in the UK. See also Brutal London, Brutal North, Brutal Wales etc. Man likes his concrete.

The work featured is currently being exhibited for free in Glasgow’s Street Level Photoworks gallery.

If that’s your thing, you should also check out Nebo Peklo’s work. I have this print on my wall at home.

Nebo Peklo's Wyndford

Grateful Gallery

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:00:00 GMT

Grateful Gallery is a small, independent art gallery in Glasgow.

It’s owned and curated by Glasgow artists OhPandah, Conzo and Ciaran Globel.

The image at the top of this post is by Conzo and is available to buy on his site. If you buy it, you can forego shipping and collect it directly from the gallery. Which is what I did, as it gives me an excuse to go visit for the first time.

I was reminded of the gallery as I watched this recent video by OhPandah, painting one of his Big Heids on the Custom House Quay Legal Wall.

He has more information towards the end of the video but, it seems, with the proposed regeneration of this area, the legal walls may not be there beyond the next year or two.

Bad Website Club

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 20:00:00 GMT

Starting on Friday 24 April, and with daily lessons at 3PM UTC, the folks at badwebsiteclub.com are offering to teach you how to build a website.

Bad Website Club has been running free and online developer education programs since 2020. It’s run by a small volunteer team (Jessica Rose, Carmen Huidobro, and Eda Eren – also thank you to wonderful Kiri who made all the art!).

Seems like a cool way to get involved in a growing community and working through the hundreds of lessons on Free Code Camp.

Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 09:00:00 GMT

On Sunday 26 April 2026 I will be taking part in The Kiltwalk Big Stroll. I’ll be walking with my family to raise funds for The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow, Scotland.

We’ll be raising funds on behalf of my mother-in-law, who passed away at the hospice in October 2025.

Every year, the hospice needs £9m to provide palliative care to the people of Glasgow. It receives £2m from Government funding and the shortfall comes from fundraisers.

If you’re able to donate, here are links to our fundraising page, and to the hospice’s own site.

Fundraising page

Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice

Oslo Transit Diagram

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 22:00:00 GMT

Torger Jansen is a Norwegian designer working under the name T2 Design.

In 2022 he redesigned the Oslo transit map and he walks through the process in this short YouTube video.

You can download a PDF of the map from his site.

Skoda Bike Bell

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 22:00:00 GMT

Car manufacturer Skoda have designed a bicycle bell that can be heard by people wearing noise-cancelling headphones.

The promotional video itself is quite dry, but the design that Skoda have come up with is cool. And a couple of surprising things are mentioned.

I was not aware that Skoda’s first product was a bicycle; and
The research behind the design is being given away for companies to use as they wish.

RAMS

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 18:00:00 GMT

RAMS is a graffiti artist from New Zealand, probably most famous for the creating murals on each of the 4 sides of the abandoned 45 Park Place, NYC a few years ago.

RAMS is one of the best graffiti writers in the world right now—every time I see RAMS do something, I’m always like ‘what’s he going to do next?’ And it’s always something bigger and more ambitious, daring, and stylistic. Roger Gastman

More recently, RAMS has been out in the Middle East rappelling down buildings near the Pyramids to produce a kind of work that’s not often seen in the area.

Right now I’m focused on the Middle East. The risk is high, but so is the potential. Every country is different, but many haven’t had much exposure to this Western art movement. Graffiti has appeared there before, often politically — especially during the Arab Spring in 2010, which makes things dangerous.

The results are on his Instagram.

Glasgow's Burning Problem

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Matt Loader from Glasgow-based architecture firm, Loader Monteith in Dezeen magazine talking about Glasgow’s old buildings and their tendency to catch fire: Glasgow’s burning problem is a symptom of a greater failure

These fires are … the consequences of a system that lacks the teeth to protect buildings before fire, decay or neglect take their toll.

[It] is not misfortune, it is the absence of meaningful accountability for owners who allow listed buildings to remain unoccupied and deteriorate. It’s the absence of adequate policy that compels action before catastrophe strikes.

The entire article is worth a read, and I can find very little to disagree with. He mentions the failings of local Government and their lack of a plan for the city as a whole, which definitely rings true to me.

We don’t have a cohesive vision of what Glasgow is. Without a clear direction, much of our built heritage has fallen into ownership of absent organisations and individuals, often without the skills, awareness of their perilous condition, or funds to renew them.

The Golden Z project is mentioned, scathingly. A project for three streets in the city. Not mentioned is the Avenues project. In fairness, this has made parts of the city easier to navigate by bicycle, but those bits are islands to and from which cyclists must navigate through the ever-present motorised traffic. And to what end? To which of the many closing pubs and restuarants are these people headed?

If ever you wanted to understand how Glasgow treats its buildings and legacy architecture, you only need to read about The Egyptian Halls, a building which has been listed since 2019 as one of the most endangered buildings in Europe.

Braga Municipal Stadium

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 20:30:00 GMT

Architecture & Design site Dezeen have a short video about Souto de Moura and his time working on Braga Municipal Stadium, home of SC Braga.

It’s a beautiful stadium, appearing to emerge from the granite cliff-face by its side. Although my favourite detail might be how the roof is angled to collect and reuse the rainwater on the grass.

Dezeen’s video is the second part of a series on the architect, with the first focusing on how de Moura became an architect.

As a bonus, here’s my football team, Rangers, beating SC Braga at this very stadium back in 2020!

Tobacco Merchant's House

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 22:00:00 GMT

The Tobacco Merchant’s House in Glasgow’s Merchant City is 250-year old building, owned and maintained by the Scottish Civic Trust, who work from the building. They are currently running a Just Giving page to help raise £250,000 for its upkeep.

The building at 42 Miller Street is the last of the Georgian villas known as the Virginia Tobacco Merchants’ houses to remain standing in Merchant City of Glasgow.

This area of the city was once the playground of the Glasgow “Tobacco Lords”, a group of slavers whose names still adorn many of the streets and buildings in the area.

In fact, back in 2020, there was a campaign to have them renamed - I would still like to see that happen.

Anyway, just because the original proprietors were problematic doesn’t mean it’s not a building worth looking after. Visit the Scottish Civic Trust’s JustGiving page and donate if you can.

War Crimes

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 21:00:00 GMT

Sharon Zhang from Truthout on Trump’s latest: Trump Uses Same Language Cited by ICJ in Genocide Ruling Against Israel.

On Tuesday, Trump threatened to destroy the entirety of Iran and its population of 93 million people.

Referring to the threat, Oona Hathaway, Professor of International Law at Yale Law School said,

This will be exhibit A in future war crimes trials if he carries out his threats

If that were to come to pass, Trump would join a long list of present and former heads of state charged with war crimes, including both Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu.

Vladimir Putin, for his contribution in the illegal abduction of children from Ukraine and deportation into Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of war crimes in the Gaza war including starvation. Both he and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have been said to use “starvation as a method of warfare.”

Trumps threats have been condemned by a number of public figures including Pope Leo XIV and the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres.

Guy Delisle

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 22:00:00 GMT

I recently picked up a couple of Guy Delisle books, doing what you’re not supposed to and literally judging them by their covers.

Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City and Muybridge are superb, the latter especially. Who knew the story of Eadweard Muybridge needed to be told?

Delisle’s illustrations are so good. Every panel feels like it has just enough pen strokes in it to give it the weight and movement that it needs, and no more.

Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City is a journal of Delisle’s time spent in the city while is wife worked for Médecins Sans Frontières, while Muybridge is a much more dramatic story of one of the early pioneers of moving pictures.

Muybridge himself deserves so many more stories to be written about him. Unfortunately, the recent documentary, Exposing Muybridge doesn’t seem to be available in the UK, so I’ll have to track it down elsewhere.

Oxide Ghosts

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 10:59:00 GMT

Chris Morris’ cult classic (all Morris’ work comes into that category I feel) Brass Eye first aired in 1997.

20 years later, Oxide Ghosts: The Brass Eye Tapes was a behind-the-scenes movie made by director Michael Cumming and screened only during a short run of of live dates in 2017, and again in 2022.

In January this year, the YouTube channel Oxide Ghosts was created and several videos have been published since.

I’m going to assume that these videos are part of those tours. Either way, it’s great to see hear Cumming’s thoughts on the show all these years later.

Here’s the latest one, Brass Eye Hidden Secrets | Ep 1.

Eastwood Microtonal Bass

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 20:25:00 GMT

The Angine de Poitrine zeitgeist will probably lead to an increase in the purchase of microtonal guitars and basses. But where to buy them?

I can’t remember even seeing an off-the-shelf microtonal bass until Eastwood Guitars came out with the Warren Ellis Microtonal MT Bass Guitar last week.

I also know very little about Warren Ellis so I can’t vouch for his microtonal credentials. The bass is very nice, though.

I have a birthday coming up if someone wants to buy me it.

personalsit.es

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 18:07:00 GMT

personalsit.es

That’s it. There’s not much more to it than that. Other than to say it was originally built by Andy Bell of piccalil.li

This site was built to share and revel in each others’ personal sites, and is currently home to ~937 of them. Witness these in wonderment and awe. Immaculate. Stunning. How did they do that? Yes, you should definitely get around to redesigning yours soon.

I submitted ronnie.fyi a couple of days ago and it’s up there now. I’ve been having a nosey around and here are some sites I’ve enjoyed.

These are all super maximalist styles, not a bootstrap framework in site. Love to see it.

Modular synth magic

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 21:54:00 GMT

Jonathan MacKenzie has put together a modular synth cover of Angine de Poitrine’s Sarniezz. As a synth luddite, this is basically just magic.

The Nerve

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 17:00:00 GMT

The Nerve is new to me. Seems like it might only have arrived this year. It’s a UK-based news outlet, formed by 5 women from across the Guardian and Observer newspapers.

We are the team behind the 2018 Cambridge Analytica investigation that shifted the world’s understanding of Silicon Valley.

I first heard Stewart Lee talking about his role as a contributor on Nish Kumar and Coco Khan’s podcast, Pod Save the UK. The Nerve team as a whole looks pretty strong.

Pretty strong design aesthetic they’ve gone for. Maybe they’re trying to carve a more zine-like niche, away from the other independent news outlets, like Byline Times?

John Taylor & Co. Bell Founders

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 23:11:00 GMT

2 years ago, YouTuber Tom Scott hung up his video-making boots after a decade of making weekly content for the platform. His videos were always educational and presented with such enthusiasm that it was hard not to engage with him talking about stuff he’d learned, or the experiences he was having.

He’s back now with a new series. Travelling less but still telling the same kind of stories in his very own nerdy manner, this time focused on highlighting something from each of the counties of England. First up is the story of John Taylor & Co. Bell Founders, the last remaining bell foundry in the UK, found in Leicestershire.

Taylor’s have their own YouTube channel, focusing on their work and providing a wealth of information on the history of the company. They’ve even got a short “behind the scenes” video of Tom’s visit.

Check out more of Tom’s work at tomscott.com.

Mad CSS

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 20:18:00 GMT

It’s been a while since I’ve listened to their podcast but Wes Bos and Scott Tolinski’s Syntax FM have recently been in my YouTube algorithm with their riff on March Madness, Mad CSS.

16 of the best CSS players in the world.

Each round, two developers face-off in a 15-minute CSS battle, with the winner progressing to the next round. No spoilers, but the final takes place next weekend, so go watch the early rounds at the Syntax YouTube channel if you’re interested.

I think I could get close to 100% on each of the challenges, but I’d be clocking in at significantly over the 15-minute deadline. So credit it where its due to those participating. I’m not sure my stress-levels could cope with the pressure of timed, live coding.

Here are Wes and Scott talking last month about the creation of the platform their using to host the competition:

The List magazine archive

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 12:53:00 GMT

Kottke.org recently posted a link to an archive of the NME magazine, found on the Internet Archive site.

Scotland’s very own The List magazine has a similar archive, linked to from their own website, at list.co.uk/magazine-archive.

Both magazines were a staple as a teenager, although it was only as a slightly older, pub-visiting teen that I started to read The List as frequently.

Since around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result of resulting financial issues, The List is now an online only magazine. And it only currently exists as a result of a successful crowd funder, relaunching in 2022.

Some progress

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:30:00 GMT

I spent some time figuring out what I’d like ronnie.fyi to look like and, ultimately, went back to a Figma layout I’d come up with about a year ago. It’s simple, but I like it. Until I don’t.

I’ll keep this post pinned to the top of the homepage for a while and make a note of anything new I add.

For example, I’ve just added an RSS feed. Go add it to ~~Google Reader~~ an RSS reader of your choice.

New things

Bluesky integration

I’ve added some Bluesky integration to the homepage. In theory, it should regenerate every few days and land in the middle of the regular posts.

Changelog

For my own benefit, I’ll try and keep a note of what I’m up to in a changelog.

What kind of Irish is your grandad?

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:25:00 GMT

I wouldn’t call it an unqualified success, but the new SNL UK was much better than I thought it would be. I really enjoyed the weirdness of George Fouracres’ show closer.

Angine de Poitrine and more

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 23:33:00 GMT

Angine de Poitrine

Their whole KEXP set.

Getdown Services (ft. The Bug Club)

The Bug Club

Their whole KEXP set.

The George Washington Sketch

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Jesse David Fox for Vulture sat down earlier this year for an 90-minute conversation with Nate Bargatze, and writers Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell. They talked about one of the most popular Saturday Night Live sketches in recent years, “Washington’s Dream”.

I’m a big Bargatze fan, so I’ll watch pretty much anything he appears in but this is a super-detailed insight into how it was brought together over the course of an SNL week by Day, Seidell and the rest of the crew.

I should say, if you’ve not seen the sketch, you should probably watch it first. Then watch Washington’s Dream 2.

Recent media diet

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Some media I’ve consumed recently:

Hitler: The Rise of Evil (Part 2), continuing the recent deep-dive into the WW2-universe
Race, see above
Taskmaster, seasons 1 to 4, rewatching since my daughter is newly obsessed with the show
LSD by Cardiacs
Shredded: Inside RBS, the Bank that Broke Britain by Ian Fraser
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Watching Rangers has been the choriest of chores this season (and beyond, tbqfhwy) but on we go

Cardiacs, March 2026

Sat, 27 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

After a little bit of scrambling about this morning, I managed to get 2x tickets for Cardiacs at Saint Luke’s, Glasgow. I’ve never been to the venue, so I’m looking forward to seeing the band, and in new surroundings.

Also got tickets for me and the family to see The Last Dinner Party at Edinburgh Corn Exchange, next month. That’ll be my daughter’s first real gig, so we’re all looking forward to that.

Anyway, back to Cardiacs. This is the first video of theirs I saw and it had me hooked from the start: Cardiacs - Tarred and Feathered.

Transitioning From Being a Developer to a Manager

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

I’d initially thought this was written by Andy Bell, head honcho at Piccalilli (where the article is hosted), but it was written by Liam Egan, whose work I wasn’t familiar with. His piece on Transitioning From Being a Developer to a Manager would’ve been incredibly helpful if I’d been able to read it 20 years ago.

Many modern tech organisations now offer a dual-track career path for developers. One path is for management, and the other is the Individual Contributor (IC) path. Think of it as a fundamental shift in your job’s purpose. As a developer, your primary goal is to solve complex problems. As a manager, your primary goal is to build and support a team that solves complex problems.

This is the case in my workplace, where you’re able to follow a developer path (Associate thru Senior, Lead, Senior Lead to Architect, and beyond) vs a managerial path (Associate, Senior, Manager, Senior Manager, Director etc.) but it wasn’t the case when I was younger.

I just fell into being a people manager. I had no idea how best to do it and made many (so many) mistakes along the way. It was only well into my managerial career that I eventually managed to shift some of the imposter syndrome. It took a while before I felt that I was able to help manage peoples’ workloads and, more importantly help manage their careers and lead them in their own chosen direction.

Incidentally, Liam is Director of Technology for We the Collective, and they have a lovely site.

Vibe Coding

Sat, 20 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Vibe coding is an emerging software development practice that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to generate functional code from natural language prompts, accelerating development, and making app building more accessible, especially for those with limited programming experience.

What is vibe coding?

It’s not a term I like, I’ll admit. Probably too old for it. But it’s something that’s come up in work recently, and as such, is something I’ll need to get used to.

With that in mind, I installed Github Copilot and gave it the task of making this site more usable. Here’s what I (we?) implemented over the course of a couple of evenings.

new centred layout
dark and light mode
spotify integration
bluesky integration
contentful CMS integration
several iterations of each of these

I might put down my thoughts on the experience a bit later, but I’ll also do some more to the site as I gather any cohesive thoughts. In short, for now, it was very helpful but also a tad frustrating.

More site updates to come, not least because this layout and colour scheme is awful.

Two Decades in the Making

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

English rock band (although the term “rock” is selling them short), Cardiacs have been around since 1977 with albums and EPs being released throughout the 1980s and 90s. By the time I became aware of them, in the early 2000s their output had largely dried up.

In 2008 singer Tim Smith suffered a heart attack and stroke. Over the course of the following decade, he focused on his recovery, before ultimately passing from a second heart attack in 2020.

Throughout the 2010s, the rest of the band were always up to something. Their music would be added to Spotify, and then pulled, and then re-added. Albums would be available on their Alphabet Business Concern website (now cardiacs.net) periodically, and then there were some gigs, featuring a host of different vocalists. Most of which were created as fundraisers to help pay for Tim’s care and convalescence. One of those new singers was Cardiacs superfan Mike Vennart, previously of Oceansize, co-founder of Empire State Bastard, and part of Biffy Clyro’s touring band.

Earlier this year, Cardiacs restarted work on the songs that Tim had been working on before his initial health scare. Led by his brother (Cardiacs’ bassist) Jim, and guitarist Kavus Torabi, Cardiacs’ latest album, LSD started to come back to life.

And then Mike Vennart was announced the new lead singer of Cardiacs.

All of which brings us to today, and the release of Cardiacs’ latest album, LSD. An album that’s been in the pipeline since Tim started work on it back in the 2000s.

Although many years have passed since their original conception, the songs sound shiny and new yet are still instantly identifiable as the work of Tim Smith.

Posthumous LP of the Week: Cardiacs’ LSD, The Quietus

It’s great, you should go listen to it.

The World War 2 Universe

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

World War 2 is my Roman Empire

“Women have no idea how often the men in their lives think about the Roman Empire”

Or, so the meme goes.

I watched a couple of World War 2 movies recently and fell into a bit of a rabbit hole. I assume it’s my age.

Recent media diet

Ghosts ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Slow Horses ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Adolescence ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Wonka ⭐⭐⭐
Dunkirk ⭐⭐⭐
Darkest Hour ⭐⭐
Hitler: The Rise of Evil ⭐

While watching Dunkirk and Darkest Hour I realised both movies are about the same subject; the rescue mission to save around 300,000 soldiers from the beach at Dunkirk. In the case of Darkest Hour, Gary Oldman (as Winston Churchill) is at the centre of the story as the British government scramble to pull together a workable plan, and then put it in place.

Anyway, when I realised this, I thought, “I wonder if someone’s created a list of World War 2 movies, and the chronological order in which to watch them, in the same way that people have done for Star Wars and the Marvel Universe?”

Well, they have. I found it on Reddit.

As a result, I’ve also watched Part 1 of Hitler: The Rise of Evil, featuring Robert Carlyle as a young Adolf. It’s always odd to see actors voicing what we know are German people, with US accents.

I can’t say that I recommend it.

Make Computing Personal Again

Fri, 01 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMT

For a while—in the ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s—it felt like nerds were making the world a better place. Now, it feels like the most successful tech companies are making it worse.

The PC is Dead: It’s Time to Make Computing Personal Again, Benj Edwards

I was one of those nerds. I still am.