Martin

@concretebadger

Amateur writer/musician, cat dad, autistic, general geek, he/him

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Martin@concretebadger· 20d

There are serious questions to ask about journalistic rigour, and why the arguments against something as innocuous as *reduced bus fares* are so desperate, but it reminds me of this. There's always a dril tweet

The dril tweet that lists an implausible list of household expenses and reads, "someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. my family is dying"

Martin@concretebadger· 22d

It finally arrived: Hikaru Masai (of Kalafina and occasionally FictionJunction fame) has released her latest solo album, "Singularity." She wrote all the lyrics herself, and I had to jump through a lot of logistical hoops to import a copy. Looking forward to listening to this one

The CD case and front cover artwork for Hikaru Masai's solo album, titled "Singularity"

Martin@concretebadger· 23d

Here's hoping that this account isn't fake though...

I think there’s some crossed wires here, Tony. I fully support Thames Water coming back into public ownership. Renationalisation relates to the entire water system and that would only be possible over a longer period of time.

Martin@concretebadger· 24d

As far as I'm concerned, *this* is Manchesterism. 🐝🎙️ This album deserves to be heard more widely. I miss Denise so much. She was one of the good ones 👑💔

The front cover of the "Where Does It Go" vinyl LP by Denise Johnson

Martin@concretebadger· 28d

*Tilly enters the chat, starts squeaking hangrily*

A white cat with a tabby striped tail, with her mouth open mid-meow while facing the camera

Martin@concretebadger· Jul 11

Rewatching this, and unlocking some core memories from my childhood. It's very much a Product Of Its Time (for the benefit of TV history geeks: it's a contemporary of the original SDF Macross) but in some ways it still holds up. Kids' adventure shows aren't often as imaginative as this

The front cover of the DVD collection of the "Mysterious Cities of Gold" animated TV series

Martin@concretebadger· Jul 1

Happy Canada Day to my mutuals across the pond 💖🇨🇦 TIL that you guys were still technically British within my own lifetime 🤯 What the actual hell? History never ceases to amaze and surprise me

A screenshot of Canada's Wikipedia page, specifying a patriation date of 17 April 1982 (so technically within my own lifetime, at least by a few days)

Martin@concretebadger· Jun 28

With alt text, for those who might need it source: www.madoka-magica.com/wr/music/

ずっと心待ちにしておりました「ワルプルギスの廻天」。ついに音楽を作らせていただける時が来たと喜び勇んでおりました中でいただいた主題歌のお話。
この美しく、懐かしく、切なく魅惑的な映画の音楽を全て紡がせていただけるなんて、そんなに光栄なことはありません。
脚本と絵コンテと、そして動き始めた凄まじい映像と、ドキドキワクワクしながら取っ組み合うように紡がせていただいたBGM、そして「彼方」という曲。答え合わせになるような曲にはしたくなく、ただ長く付き合わせていただいた作品の大ファンの一人として、彼女たちのこれからを華やかに、見送りたいと一音一音大切に紡ぎました。
「ワルプルギスの廻天」に皆様が浸り惑う、彩りとなることができれば幸いです。

Martin@concretebadger· Jun 19

Good morning. Happy Friday. Tilly is waiting for the chip shop to open #proofofcat

A white cat with a tabby striped tail lying on a rug in the sunshine

Martin@concretebadger· Jun 16

Why does it bother me when a manager or the CEO of my employer boasts about using Copilot to write their emails? This. This is why

A post by "rederiswrites" (with a photo of who I assume is Adam Conover in the background) that reads: "Just watched Adam Conover (of Adam Ruins Everything) make such a solid point that I think we should spread far and wide. Yes, having AI write your emails is lazy, sure, but people love being lazy. We need to really emphasize that sending AI emails (or using AI responses on social media, or publishing AI flyers, or or or) is *rude*.

It's rude. You're making someone take their time to read something you couldn't be bothered to write. You're telling them they were so unimportant you couldn't be bothered to actually take the time to say something yourself. And frankly, you're lying about it while you're at it.

It's rude."

Martin@concretebadger· Jun 2

Steady on DHL, that sounds really rather ominous

DHL delivery tracking information, stating that the parcel journey started at 11:47, that I'm stop number 50, accompanied by the text "you're next"

Martin@concretebadger· May 24

The repair has gone well. Aside from gluing some of the stained glass into place, I vacuumed out the dust and cat hairs that had settled in over time. This part is nearly finished now, except for a few bits of the vaulted ceilings. It's a magnet for dust though

A view of the apse of a Lego gothic church

A view of the exterior of a gothic Lego church

Martin@concretebadger· May 24

Committing the grave sin of sticking Lego pieces together with glue, because there's no other way that I can realistically move this thing around without the "cheese slope" pieces falling out

A close-up of a Lego stained glass window, using various transparent red, blue and clear pieces

Martin@concretebadger· May 20

This is a cat checkpoint. Relinquish your most recent cat picture on your phone.

A white cat with a tabby striped tail napping in the sunshine on a red sofa

Martin@concretebadger· May 10

A white cat with a tabby striped tail sitting on a desk. She is in the way of the keyboard and clearly doesn't care

Martin@concretebadger· May 10

I wonder whether the writer of that article is one of those hypocritical "pull the ladder up behind them" types who went to university themselves- AND THERE IT IS

It took me 17 years and seven attempts to pass my test: A diagnosis of dyspraxia at the end of her university career helped Sybilla Hart understand why she'd struggled to learn to drive

Martin@concretebadger· May 10

Like many of the band's early releases, the photography and design of the sleeve was done by Brian Cannon and Michael Spencer Jones. It's really cool and inventive, in a similar way to the stuff that Hipgnosis did for Pink Floyd in the 1970s and 80s

The interior gatefold artwork for the Verve's "A Storm in Heaven" album

The rear sleeve artwork for the Verve's album "A Storm in Heaven"

Martin@concretebadger· May 10

This was the record that made me start playing guitar, but the other reason why I keep coming back to it is because it's such a cool thing on its own terms: quite far-removed from what was fashionable at the time (britpop, grunge, shoegaze, etc.). It's its own thing

A vinyl copy of The Verve's 1993 album "A Storm in Heaven"

Martin@concretebadger· May 7

Seriously, they all look like this: angry thumbs, plus the occasional former Tory who's promoting her latest book or something

Peggy, Grant and Phil Mitchell from the EastEnders TV show. Reform candidates often look uncannily like this

Martin@concretebadger· May 7

A white cat with a tabby striped tail, caught mid-meow while demanding her second breakfast

Martin@concretebadger· May 6

I admire Clements a lot, so I had to find out what, if anything, he had to say about the book's cover. All I could find was this FB comment that implies that 1. the cover art wasn't his decision and 2. he's not happy about it. Disappointing to see how little influence authors have on this stuff 😐

A Facebook comment that reads, "I like that you have a new book, and I like Tuttle...but did Tuttle really do AI art for the cover of this?" Another comment reads, "I was wondering that too!" Clements, the author of the book in question, replies, "I'm afraid they did."

The other two commenters' names are clumsily, yet hopefully successfully, redacted by me for privacy reasons

Martin@concretebadger· May 6

What a weird article. Perhaps it's telling us that would-be parents should be offered therapy before having a child? Or be careful about our choices of friends? Maybe I'm naïve, but none of this seems like normal, healthy behaviour

In some circles, having a boy was seen as a misfortune, best not to dwell on it, better luck next time. Certain friends had expressed relief in the past when they’d had girls and joked that none of us could have sons, because boys weren’t allowed at our get‑togethers. More than once, I was asked: “And how are you feeling about that?” as if we were in a therapy session and I’d just disclosed a minor trauma. A couple of people, trying a bit harder, said: “I can so see you as a boy mum.” In a slightly veiled way, this felt like an insult.

Martin@concretebadger· May 4

I was unemployed around the time that Kalafina's Red Day and Blue Day concert DVDs were released, so I never bought them. Luckily, my fiancée let me borrow her copies ❤️💙 iirc, they weren't very well-received (in the Anglosphere part of the fandom) at the time, but I'm really quite impressed...?

The Blu-ray case for Kalafina's "the Best 2015: Red Day"

Martin@concretebadger· May 4

I don't know (nor do I particularly care, really) what fellow Lego purists think of the Botanicals sets, but the Plum Blossom looks really pretty. A nice easygoing build for a bank holiday Monday afternoon, with an old Kalafina concert playing on the TV in the background 🌿🏵️

A Lego Botanicals plum blossom set, completed on a table, with the bonsai tree, Saturn V Rocket and lunar lander in the background

Martin@concretebadger· May 3

Batch cooking ftw. Trying to get the whole "married life" practice in ahead of time 😁

A freshly-cooked beef lasagne in an oven proof dish on a kitchen countertop, ready to be sliced up and served

Martin@concretebadger· Apr 28

"When witness to an unfair eviction, it is appropriate to release the bees."

The painting "Freedom of Speech" by Norman Rockwell. It depicts a town hall meeting in which "[a] blue-collar speaker wears a plaid shirt and suede jacket, with dirty hands and a darker complexion than others in attendance. The other attendees are wearing white shirts, ties and jackets." He looks like the sort of person who would approve of bees being released in order to prevent an unfair eviction

Martin@concretebadger· Apr 17

DIY "Bilinda-stang" project is finished 🥳 I swapped the bridge for a "roller saddles" type to make the vibrato move more smoothly, added a Mustang pickguard and control plate, filed and smoothed the ends of the frets, and replaced the pickup selector switches. I think that it turned out great!

A modified Harley Benton guitar, with a new pickguard and control plate that make it look more similar to a standard Fender Mustang

Martin@concretebadger· Apr 8

Me reposting myself

Timothy Dalton, as Simon Skinner in the movie Hot Fuzz, posing in front of a photograph of himself

Martin@concretebadger· Apr 8

It looks like a really cool place. The US president should totally book a trip there

The login screen of a Windows 11 PC. The background photo is that of The Hague in the Netherlands

Martin@concretebadger· Apr 1

Happy birthday! 🥳🎂 I hope that your birthday today was as fun as hers (which has been spent eating, snoozing, and watching someone else do all the work)