Biomedical Scientist & Educator CSci FIBMS Infection science, specialising in Parasitology; plus Tolkien, cats and horror.
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Fostater: i think it's great, dark lord, that you can write and still find time to lead our hate movement Rowling: a lot of people are all 'wow if only hitler had been an artisst insstead of a genocidal hate monger' Rowling: i ssay Rowling: get yourssself a leader who can do both
Yes. What it is this time?
Second rec for Reflecting Skin in two days. It's a sign.
The Leaser Dead had some full on belly laugh moments, often in fraught action scenes, which made it a distracting bedtime read.
I'm visiting Durham for the first time (for work) in a storm. ๐ฉ๏ธ๐ Five minutes after I got off the train, I was like: I love it here ๐ Really curious what the juxtaposition of uni students and locals is in this tiny place? @talkscaredpod.bsky.social
Which circle of hell for people who don't get up and move from 'airline' seats on trains after plenty of free seats become available? what is personal space???
#autumncore
Roots of My Fears is out NEXT WEEK and @barnesandnoble.com are offering 25% off from today through Friday September 5th! Enter PREORDER25 at check out: bit.ly/45QT6Ec Last chance to get it discounted before release day! ๐ฃ๏ธ๐ฃ๏ธ๐ฃ๏ธ๐ฃ๏ธ #BNPreorder
forest spirits
I'm also on strike this week. Three day strike for the biggest healthcare testing provider in the UK. ๐ช
Understandable if they've had it up all year round!
It's Christmas in August ๐
Morning. ๐ผ๏ธ Cormorant, Ohara Koson.
#blanketclub He's using my blanket and I'm using his.
People did the same thing with activities as well, like 'I'm having a better meal/day/walk than you' Kind of disgusting that people can't find joy or satisfaction in anything *unless* they shit on others at the same time.
๐๐๐๐๐
And just like that summer was over. ๐ฅฎ๐๐๐ ๐ซ ๐
Many of us who were GRRM fans going to WC 20 years back gave up on the series getting finished long, long ago.
Well, enjoy an amazing reading experience and then see how you feel about Galadriel and Sauron in the adaptations after that.
Same people Always the same people
Did you say you hadn't read The Sil or LOTR?
We saw #Weapons last weekend. Apart from seeing the trailer at the cinema last month I deliberately saw/read nothing about this film. Loved it. Especially the narrative structure. Scary and funny. #horror
Indeed. I had a checklist of 10 items after my first marriage ended and having read LOTR was one of those items.
Ohhhhh they melded my insomnia and love of The Elements of Style ๐
A bit like mild endemic malaria
Hey, USA, hereโs the leader of Health and Human Services, allowing parasitic lampreys to bite his arms, presumably to let the bad humours out and make him healthier than a normal human. Weโll all soon be issued personal lampreys instead of health care. www.dailymail.co.uk
Which profession?
๐คฃ๐คฃ๐คฃ
Child dies in Liverpool after contracting measles Ben Kasstan-Dabush & Beate Kampmann discuss the threat of #measles, risks of low vaccine uptake & why two doses of the #MMR vaccine is vital to protect children & communities across the UK. #PublicHealth ๐ www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/n...
๐งต1/ Big changes are coming for the occupational group now termed physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs) in England. Our new @bmj.com piece (@trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social & me) unpacks the implications of the Leng Review, commissioned by @wesstreeting. Here are our thoughts. ๐
It's absolutely horrible weather. I was so happy to get a single grey, cooler, damp day for my birthday a week back. #blessed I keep looking at the forecast hoping it will just STOP being hot.
It didn't feel long to me. Also, the performances are all so good that you don't even really notice that at the time. It could feel like different bits of stories... But I personally didn't have a problem with that. I went in with low expectations.
I knew it was in ground squirrels in CA. You basically avoid exposure. You can get antibiotics to treat it.
Uhhh the guy who plays 'the wolf' in The Company of Wolves is the same age as my dad now? Yeah OK the film is from 1984, but whatever.
I was hoping for some fierce AC but no luck there. But I did really enjoy the sound and visuals of this one.
You can hear me tapping fjfjfjfjfjfj ๐
I REALLY need to fast track my touch typing practice now
Off on an adventure, on a sunny Friday. Getting on a train but not to work. ๐
๐ข Nearly 600 heat-related deaths expected in UK #heatwave LSHTM & @granthamicl.bsky.social real-time rapid analysis estimates impact of rising UK temperatures as researchers warn risks set to increase @gasparrini.bsky.social #PublicHeath ๐ www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/n...
What an absolute treat that the longest day of the year is 33C. ๐ญ
I'm still on my Desert Island Discs hobby horse. So wholesome when you listen to an episode with someone and they come across EXACTLY how you thought they would, eg Ken Goodman or Danny Dyer. ๐ Highly recommend this habit as a little escape from drudgery. โค๏ธ
Ahhhhhhh academia. Many's the blind eye turned to someone's repeated poor behaviour when they keep bringing in big research grants.
Yesssss. Tax rebate. Finally, some good news. ๐
Oh, I hope the parasitology is vaguely hand-waved (as a parasitologist). ๐
Best wishes for a rapid recovery. Think of all the reading and watching you can do during your recuperation. ๐
Dangerous if they make it so difficult to opt out of AI search results.
I think it was probably an AI overview. Not even sure we can turn that off, at work. But it's right there at the top and when people are in a hurry...
We got a patient sample with a risk of Zika and I was asked by the person processing samples if it's a group 2 or 3 organism. I said I think it's a 2, check the ACDP list. Instead they googled it and Google told them it was a 'level 3'. But it isn't. ACDP confirmed it's a 2. Thanks, Google! ๐
Andor gives me endless cape/mac envy. I've been 'shopping' for a new mac for about two years now. Still can't find the right one.
That has always been my motto ๐
What a delight to read about the epic job of creating an epic series soundtrack for #TROP. I feel worn out just from reading it. โค๏ธ
Itโs #WorldNoTobaccoDay๐ญ Tobacco causes over 20 types of cancer and kills up to half of its users who donโt quit. Tobacco & nicotine industries use devious tactics to hook users into a cycle of addiction. #TobaccoExposed Donโt let them fool you. Learn more ๐ bit.ly/NoTobacco2025
I think the caffeine kickstarted my appetite! Felt ravenously hungry for the first time since I recovered. ๐
Enjoyed my first coffee today in NINE days post Norovirus (presumed) infection. โ
Blasphemy
I reckon they might be similar but I'd have to measure the volume to be confident.
๐ค
I'd go original RE but your answer is also acceptable
Yes, I think I've actually lent my copy to someone and not got it back yet.
I think this is the third time this week I've got this same alert. ๐ Not that I'm complaining.
Brewery tour guide is waiting for the last member of your group to arrive
I loved this and if you enjoy hairy beasts then you will too.
Beautiful.
Absolutely, if students are banned from using it but staff are not that's massively hypocritical.
And you also have to mute people individually who freely post spoilers about Andor *without* even using the word 'Andor'. Haha how clever of them. ๐
Don't underestimate how stressful it can be for colleagues having to block out the distraction of people talking to themselves so that they can concentrate on their work. It's headache-inducing.
OMG right. Just started S2 last week at exactly the point where people started blurting out spoilers. Couldn't have timed it better if I tried.
I thought I'd give Sweaty Betty yoga pants another try, thinking I must have been unfair to them but NOPE I was right the first time. Why do they put that elastic band in waistband of most of their leggings? It's so uncomfortable. I don't want to have a fight with my clothes when I get dressed?
OMG?
I've only worked three days* this week and I'm shattered. Admittedly, the first two days were hideously busy and the last one extremely un-busy. Is it the remnants of that virus or am I being an old biddy? *my working days are 8.5 hours not counting breaks.
I bought this about oh... 25 years ago and still haven't read it whoops
Agree. Often intentionally used as such.
Or even Annatar's reveal in S2E2. I needed that. I need that.
It could be all kinds of things, e.g script read through. But hmm, food for thought!
I would understand them doing it if they wanted to do a different spin on it. Or tell it differently. But I don't get why it's worth doing and having the dialogue identical for 90% of the film.
I mean, just in general the beast is more interesting than any prince. It's not specifically against this actor. ๐
Yeah, that's what I thought. Less scary in B&W though!
But overall, I don't really get the point of version. It's about 90% the same as the animated one? It's still a disappointment when the beast transforms into a boring man.
I owed it to myself to watch this version because Luke Evans was born to play Gaston. He did not disappoint. Another cool thing was all the actors voicing the 'enchanted furniture' from the castle. I hadn't checked who else was in the film before watching. Some surprises!
A stupid virus has kept me prone this long weekend - even longer as I was home sick from Thursday. But it's been a chance to catch up on reading and watching. Finally got to see the live action version of Beauty and the Beast. The animated version is probably my favourite Disney film but...
Was that part black and white?
Well, I had an interesting Sunday night, how 'bout you?
But what if there weren't only two possible professions (medical doctor or academic scientist)? What if other professional scientists with appropriate qualifications and training existed?
"To think I should have lived to be goodmorninged by Belladonna Took's son"
I download stuff to play offline but it just won't play downloaded episodes. Then it keeps restarting episodes at the beginning instead of just resuming. :/
It's fine on my TV. Paramount + is super annoying on my phone or tablet for not playing stuff I've downloaded.
Nice! ๐
Yes. Wife-swap springs to mind - every angry, non-communitive husband would end up in tears. It was just a question of how long it took.
While working on Something Else (TBA ๐), I ended up exploring an interesting tangent: the road movie as a distinctly American type of folk horror. I started with movies from the 60s and 70s, but it goes beyond that. Are there some films (of any era) that you would add to the list?
Absolutely love it. Especially that second section where it looks like he's chasing her. Imagine a routine using Galadriel and Sauron's themes. ๐
Oh hey, it me.
The winner of this year's Dance Your PhD contest is also a banger about chemesthesisโhow nerves in your mouth respond to chemical signals in food. That affects how we experience food ... and how we dance! ๐งช
These guys are the best at just hanging out in a darkened room with me while I'm feeling rubbish.
Have just watched Years and Years this week. Strange to see Tom Bom and Isildur on screen together in civilian clothing.
Thanks. No vomiting today so it's just rest and rehydration time.
I was actually sick 16 times. Hopefully the anti-nausea meds will allow me to drink some fluids today as I am SO DEHYDRATED.
Just been sick. Thank goodness - nausea is so horrible when it lasts for hours.
Home from work sick. Made the mistake of getting into the bath two hours ago. Now feel too awful to get out of it. Whoops.
Absolutely. But I personally would collect more data/instances from my primary experiments before saying I've made something happen.
Those are little chonks!