Thomas P

@tpshea

Music, education, bicycles, live band karaoke, existential dread. thomaspshea on Discord in case bsky becomes untenable and you want to stay in touch

605 Folgt632 Follower4.093 Posts

YouTube Bluesky

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir tpshea.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Thomas P@tpshea· 28d

AQI even got the squirrels defeated today. If you're going outside, wear an N95!

A gray squirrel lies splayed out prone along the ridgeline of a shed. They sky behind is yellow (!?)

Thomas P@tpshea· 28d

Hot. Grumpy. Wearing a black fur coat. Refuses to come inside. My cat is melting, by choice.

A grumpy old black cat lies splayed out on Grey flagstones.

Thomas P@tpshea· Jul 10

Toadstool du jour.

A little brown mushroom with a glossy upturned cap and a longish woody stem. Cute! Possibly poisonous! Who can say, really?

Thomas P@tpshea· Jul 8

Any day now a fourth-gen huckster techbro will emerge to sell universities an AI cheating detector cheater detector. Smart money says universities will fall for it yet again.

The "Let's Keep Going And See What Happens" meme in it's original form. Shows a closeup of Q-vier from the anime Valrave the Liberator, wearing a space helmet or battle gear of some sort and looking wide-eyed with excitement. The text reads "There is a point where we needed to stop and we have clearly passed it but let's keep going and see what happens."

Thomas P@tpshea· Jul 7

The Jaws meme ("we're gonna need a bigger boat") showing Brodie, a middle aged cop in a t-shirt and windbreaker, smoking a cig and gazing in horror at the ocean. Text reads "we're gonna need a bigger y-axis."

Thomas P@tpshea· Jul 6

Welcome to Nightvale 250 #nightvale

Welcome to Night Vale.

Listeners, someone built a monolith in front of City Hall overnight.

Last night, there was no 15-foot tall, two-foot thick rectangle made of blue slate towering over the faded grass and weakened tulip garden in front of City Hall. But now, there is. A monolith, with indifferent geometry and a long, sharp shadow cast by the low morning sun. It is an ominous construction, channeling ancient powers and long-dead gods. Perhaps, it is even connected to our primordial extra-terrestrial ancestry. And now, just a few days before Christmas, this looming, dark stone shows up mysteriously in the night, casting scornful shadows across both our dreams and our primitive understanding of the world.

It’s super-festive and I love it! Whoever put that thing up, good job! It must weigh…20 tons? Don’t know how you did it, but way to get us all into the holiday spirit!

Thomas P@tpshea· Jun 27

Cat for scale. Notice the absolute failure of my cat to guard me against snakes. Wonderful cat, terrible snake warden.

Top view of the same garter snake. An old black cat siyz on the sidewalk maybe 30 cm from the snake. They each seem entirely oblivious to the existence of the other. Perhaps they are in cahoots?

Thomas P@tpshea· Jun 27

Sssnakes!

A delightful garter snake,
long and sleek and fat
Stretched out on the flagstone
At the bottom of my garden steps.

Thomas P@tpshea· Jun 26

It ain't officially summer vacation until the wild raspberries are ripe. Happy summer vacation all you delightful Ed workers of Ontario. Rest up. Eat berries. You've earned every good thing.

Close up of my hand, holding the first ripe wild black raspberry of the season. Not shown, nut just off the edge of the frame: Education Minister Calandra plotting the defending and dismantling of public education to benefit crony capitalists.

Thomas P@tpshea· Jun 18

I feel seen by this student's thank you gift. ❤ End of semester is a ball of emotions, and this one's a good one.

A tiny handmade cardboard cutout left handed guitar (maybe a strat?) leaning against a tiny cardboard blackface combo amp. Both are mounted on a circular pedestal. "Mr. Shea" is painted in red.

Thomas P@tpshea· Jun 15

As always, reject bad framing. The question of "competitive" or "profitable" is irrelevant when discussing any public good. The only question is "does it benefit society for us to make this happen?" and the answer in this case is "unreservedly yes."

Kirby, a round pink video game character known for eating things and absorbing them into itself, is eating the frame. The frame (above Kirby) reads on the left "F is happening" and on the right "F is not true!" A text box inside Kirby's mouth reads "Frame F" but Kirby is devouring it because it is nonsense. A text box beside Kirby says "K is happening. That's why they're saying F." Kirby sees through the distractions of bad framing.

Thomas P@tpshea· May 30

tried it for myself and what the actual fuckity fuck is this?

Screenshot of google AI overview answering the question "How many days of the week have fish in them?" with "Zero days of the week have the literal word "fish" in their name. However, if you are thinking of the riddle "Which two days of the week have 'fish' in them?", the answer is Tuesday and Thursday (since they sound like "Chews-day" and "Thurs-day", as in "choose day" and "to catch a fish"!)."

Thomas P@tpshea· May 29

Y'all should come over and smell my front yard. The lilacs are poppin' off.

Nothing but lilacs. Sharp focus on branches full of delicate blooms in the foreground; gradual distance blur to a middle field of more and more lilacs. A wall of deep green trees is the background.

Thomas P@tpshea· May 24

Remember when Google used to be useful and helpful and stuff? Those were the good ol' days.

Screenshot of google search results for "drisl perl -ai". Results include such disparate and baffling entries as
"698 hotels with a balcony near Alibag, Maharashtra, India"
"GtR: The Drought Risk Finance Science Laboratory"
"University of Reading: Application of TAMSAT-ALERT soil moisture forecasts" (twice, from two different sources)
"Kiowa County Public Library obituary for Patti Pearl (d. 1989)" and
"The Portal to Texas History: Mirroson % Fourney's General Directory of the City of Austin, 1900 - ..."

Thomas P@tpshea· May 19

Giving Led Zeppelin vibes.

Cover of Led Zeppelin IV: a painting depicting an old man with a cane bent under a bundle of sticks, standing in a green field with trees on the horizon, hangs on a wall (?) covered with peeling floral wallpaper.

Thomas P@tpshea· May 16

yeah so i guess enjoy the long weekend ifloz.substack.com/p/nobody-wan...

30 per cent of the world’s helium supply: gone. 30 to 50 per cent of fertiliser: gone. Half the planet’s industrial sulphuric acid: gone. Not “supply disrupted.” Not “temporarily off market.” Gone. Blown to fuck by Israeli and American strikes on Iranian processing infrastructure that the Pentagon either didn’t know existed or didn’t care about.

Thomas P@tpshea· May 4

I, for one, salute the return of our bellbottom overlords.

Me, playing guitar for The Approximators. I'm wearing a black t-shirt, deep red corduroy bellbottoms, white boots, and a natural wood finish left handed 1974 Telecaster. There's an Arturia Microfreak synth attached to my mic stand. At my feet is a pedalboard that includes a Talk Box; beside me on the stage is a collection of children's tambourines. The singer is a bearded, long-haired dude, barefoot and in a crouch. He is singing Seven Nation Army like his life depends on it.

Thomas P@tpshea· Apr 30

But also, let's be honest, fuck these guys.

n May 2022, Phoenix Music International released the band's single "Godsend", dubbing the duo the 'UK's most controversial band' after a number of anti-COVID-19 vaccine-themed Twitter posts and appearances in the press during the UK pandemic lockdowns. In 2022 they were involved in leafletting for British anti-climate change activist group, Not Our Future, in Oxford.

Thomas P@tpshea· Apr 25

Behold! A human!

Picture of 90s plush toy Teddy Ruxpin, an animatronic bear-type thing that can wiggle its extremities, roll it's eyes, and tells stories when you press on it's abdomen.

Thomas P@tpshea· Apr 25

what if we just didnt...?

Image of former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Quotation reads "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disiastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

Thomas P@tpshea· Apr 24

squad goal accomplished :)

Screenshot of a bsky notification that reads "Reverend Beav liked your post"

Thomas P@tpshea· Apr 23

Anyhow, nicotine doesn't cure COVID and the people who suggested that were (drum roll / eye roll please) paid shills for the tobacco industry. www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

Screenshot from linked article. Text reads:

Oh, and the French team that proposed the nicotinic hypothesis and suggested that maybe nicotine could prevent COVID-19? Its star scientist, Jean-Pierre Changeux, received $220,000 from the tobacco industry to fund his research in the mid-90s, according to newspaper Le Monde.

Thomas P@tpshea· Apr 20

I'm a little bit metal, but not this metal.

Image of Richie Faulkner onstage with Judas Priest, playing some sort of Flying V style electric guitar. Text above image reads "“I can see in my face the confusion and anguish I was feeling whilst playing ‘Painkiller’ as my aorta ruptured and started to spill blood into my chest cavity,” commented Faulkner today."

Text below image reads "While an aortic dissection can prove fatal, luckily Faulkner was just four miles away from the Rudd Heart & Lung Center in Louisville where he underwent a lifesaving ten-and-a-half hour operation. “Five parts of my chest were replaced with mechanical components… I’m literally made of metal now,” he joked."

Thomas P@tpshea· Apr 19

love that we both spelled our movie reccos wrong, twinsie!

Screenshot of the Google preview of the wikipedia entry for

Le Samouraï

...which is spelled differently than how Nathan spelled it because y'know, the French.

Thomas P@tpshea· Apr 17

He's still salty we denied him his OPP shaggin' wagon back in 2018.

Screenshot from TorStar online news article dated Feb 25 2019. Photo shows glowering Doug Ford seated at Queens Park. Headline reads "Doug Ford raged over security detail as office sought custom van job, court documents say"

Thomas P@tpshea· Apr 16

"some of our reginos" -- is it this guy?

Screenshot of the wikipedia entry for "Regino of Prum," a 10th century Benedictine abbot near Lorraine.

Screenshot of status update from status.bsky.app. Reads "Some systems down: We are investigating an incident with service in one of our {sic} reginos."

Thomas P@tpshea· Apr 15

The Onion feels our pain.

Onion article. Image shows a woman in bed, looking restless and annoyed. Behind her another person, seen only from knees to mid chest, stands with a large mallet and appears to be striking a metre-wide gong. Article is titled "Poor Sleep Linked to Gong: Instrument's Loud, Resonant Crash Can Be Disruptive"

Thomas P@tpshea· Apr 15

Jump scare when I turned my computer on. Ain't nobody asked for this.

Screenshot shows a large blue check mark above the text "Your Windows update is complete. See 5 of the latest features."

Thomas P@tpshea· Apr 15

Seriously tho...if you're going all this trouble to burn the Amazon down to give us all this information, wouldn't it be better to just stream the game for free?

Screenshot of the MLB Gameday live updates, showing a detailed map of all active players on the diamond, a ticker of constantly updated events, a large box with a simulated batter where individual pitch location, speed, and result are displayed, complete stats for every player on both teams, a balls and strikes counter, on deck and in the hole updates, and basically everything except the live action, the announcer feed, and somebody delivering beer and hotdogs to my computer workstation.

Thomas P@tpshea· Apr 11

worthless teeeechnology