I’m pretty sure I didn’t. Comics weren’t really part of my world. But I’m not really fussed how it happened.
Word-whore • Write 'em, Talk 'em • Cybers, politics, media • I have a podcast, obviously • Ph/Signal +61407623600 • All hail Eris! Vive les poissons rouges sauvages! • Based in Wentworth Falls NSW AU. https://stilgherrian.com
5,234 followers 1,500 following 30,408 posts
view profile on Bluesky
I’m pretty sure I didn’t. Comics weren’t really part of my world. But I’m not really fussed how it happened.
Without “Outback Crystal Hunters”, “Deal or No Deal”, and repeats of “Seinfeld” and “Frasier”, Australian society will crumble.
Good news about the cutting-edge AI tools from the $3-trillion-dollar company.
[CUE MUSIC: “IN THE ARMS OF AN ANGEL” PLAYING SOFTLY] [FADE IN BACKGROUND SOUND: A solemn voice reads names] Nate Silver. Matthew Yglesias. Megan McArdle. Mark Cuban. [FADE IN: SALLY STRUTHERS sits on a stool in a pool of light on a minimalist set. She looks SAD.] /1
Particularly given the word origins, yes.
Tue plan, an update: I’ve arranged for someone else to run the errand in Katoomba, so I’ll just work from home today. As a treat, therefore, here’s some hedgehog wattle (Acacia echinula) which I photographed yesterday on Wattle Day. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia_...
And then he became Prime Minister! What a career!
Tue plan: Triage the inbox; continue my planning for the new season, some of which I’ll do in the library at Katoomba; an errand I forgot to do on Sunday, annoyingly; podcast pre-production, which I’ll tell you about later. As usual there’s further alleged plans in the Weekly Wrap.
TIL that one of Keir Starmer’s classmates at Reigate Grammar School was the musician Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim), with whom Starmer took violin lessons.
It’s certainly a nostalgic word, for a time and place that I never lived in. Which is weird.
Only for Wattle Day. :)
Today, Tuesday 2 September, is World Coconut Day. www.daysoftheyear.com/days/world-c... Also, Calendar Adjustment Day. www.daysoftheyear.com/days/calenda... And it’s happy 63rd birthday to clean-shaven lawyer Sir Keir Starmer. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keir_St...
It's a very ordinary day in the Blue Mountains, with the temperature some 2°C above average.
Tuesday. Tread carefully, or the momentum will trap you by the gate. Plead innocence. Repeat the fabrication. Tuesday.
They started as king, I think.
I’ve just checked on the tracker. What a fantastic set of flights!
I’ve only seen that kind of country from 38,000 ft and such, so seeing it from lower down is very cool. Well, we did drive to Woomera once, but ground level is just Mars, basically. :)
On quite a few occasions.
I mean, they could be imports too. But yeah I have king parrots flying into the house demanding to be fed separately.
South of William Creek and the Painted Hills
This is beautiful stuff, Helen. Thanks for posting.
Excellent. :)
Surely the logistics for this could be sorted out during the off season. There’s plenty if islands available.
Btw he scores a solid 4.72 on wikiFeet. men.wikifeet.com/Reece_Walsh
Some research suggests this would be an unobjectionable project.
They have not, although to be fair on them I don’t live in an urban environment.
A quick check confirms that this phrase and close equivalents are very much a thing there, yes. When writing for ZDNet Australia (RIP) my regular column always referred to Senator George Brandis as “Australia’s favourite attorney-general”. Google is a little confused, however.
Why it’s worth befriending your local parrots.
My cat kept opening cupboards and ripping open food packets while I was at work. So I installed CCTV in the kitchen with a speaker so I can tell her her to stop from my desk at work. After 12 days she learned to knock the camera away first so I couldn't see. Clever girl.
You know that’s going to encourage me to use it even more, right? :)
Ghost boffin turned space boffin!
I have questions, mostly for Birmingham Live.
Whether the actual space boffins in my circle of friends agree or not remains to be seen.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The Register’s style guide insisting on the word “boffins” is pure joy.
Imagine their reactions to Lidl!
Yeah the whole flag thing I just don’t understand. Your mates, yes. The nation, sure. But the flag? Oh well, the indoctrination worked I guess.
And as usual some of them can’t be arsed even standing up.
With one’s hands tied behind one’s back. And a guard pushing one’s face down into the trough.
Not a fan of universal suffrage then?
I guess this is what that guy in Mosman would’ve preferred for his $35 breakfast.
I am so shocked to hear this. Shocked I tell you.
Excellent. :)
I’m not sure. I can’t tell their relative sizes unless I see them together. And even then they can be fluffed up or not.
Mon plan, an update. My 1400 AEST meeting has been pushed back to 1600, so here’s another picture of a kookaburra.
You’re assuming that the rules were written by someone who knows about video hosting. :) Or more likely, requirements are written to support what democratic process they’re after, independent of the technology. (Should meeting videos have ads in them, for example?)
They should set up a 6 o’clock swill situation again in this country by turning off the internet at 6pm every night
Yes. There’s a bunch of reporting in terms of it being a “green light” for the technology, but that’s only if you gloss over all the things that weren’t tested and the sloppy margins of error that were deemed acceptable.
Scimex (the Science Media Exchange) has started to post some “expert reaction”. I daresay more will be added later in the day. www.scimex.org/newsfeed/exp...
shoutout to this iNaturalist user who appears to be an ROV pilot in the gulf of mexico and posts occasional biological observations, including A GODDAMN TANINGIA ATTACKING THE ROBOT ARM OF THE ROV www.inaturalist.org/observations...
How about we abolish all local governments and set up a state-wide Department of Local Services?
Local government has been solved! (In NSW. A bit.) “New model code to reset NSW council culture in 2026” www.themandarin.com.au/298587-new-m...
I just watched the video for what I assume is the main single from the album. Not my style, but it certainly has an energy! Gloria Estefan - La Vecina (No Sé Na') (Official Video) www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mVC...
I’ll read it properly later, but for now @daedalus.eigenmagic.com has a brief run-through at eigenmagic.net/@daedalus/11.... It seems particularly odd.
I am shocked to hear this, obviously. Anyway, here’s the full Age Assurance Tech Trial report. ageassurance.com.au/report/ And yeah the Graun has reported on it if you want a brief version. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Mon plan: Today is a day of organising things as I kick off my Spring Surge of work. I have a brief client meeting at 1400 AEST too, but that’s just to sort out some technical things. A busy day, but not a hectic day. There’s further alleged plans, including some changes, in the Weekly Wrap.
Today, Monday 1 September, is Wattle Day. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wattle_... Aso, World Letter Writing Day. www.daysoftheyear.com/days/letter-... And it’s happy 68th birthday to the magnificent Gloria Estefan. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_...
It's another sunny day in the Blue Mountains, with the temperature 3°C above average. Delightful.
Monday, A shaky recoding leads to litigation. It is your duty to commit the standard fraud. An award? What a notion! Monday.
When I was a child I thought a wet dream was basically a nightmare. Now I can understand why people were confused when I told them I had a wet dream that my goldfish had died
Gorn.
Rock on!
Yeah I knew some of them, back a ways. Quite... odd.
Yeah that’s another whole thing lol.
Oh I dunno, I’ve had... encounters. But that said you’re probably right.
NEW BLOG POST: “Weekly Wrap 796: Beating the lurgi and scheduling new work” stilgherrian.com/weekly-wrap/... Covers 25–31 August 2025 and contains links to the usual Interesting Things.
I am going to bold and say that nearly all people are not Thom Yorke.
I just saw a guy whose t-shirt read, in small print on the back, "I am not Thom Yorke". As I passed him, I turned around and saw his face. Fair call.
Day with a Y in it?
Hello.
ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia (CDC Buses) is currently recruiting drivers in the Blue Mountains, per their destination display. cdcbus.com.au/careers/jobs/
Oops, you said “down”, so I guess you’re not in Australia. Indonesia is “up” from here. ;)
Yep, get a random gunman and some Trump speculation in the media, and our nearest neighbour having major dramas just... disappears.
Yes and no. Sometimes it ends up intruding on one’s civilian life. But that’s all I can say.
If you need a quick primer on what the fuck is going down in Indonesia, “friend of the pod” @erincook.bsky.social has supplied one. “Indonesia shakes as protests turn to police violence and death” darimulut.substack.com/p/indonesia-...
As someone who hasn’t served I have remarkably strong opinions about military culture. ;)
It’s a great photo, but it’d be more convincing if that bottle was Stoli. ;)
Or anything, really.
I see that the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) is doing another bulk recruitment of APS4 Tribunal Officers across eight cities. m-art.bigredsky.com/page.php?Adv... I‘m told it’s a good place to work, both the conditions and in being part of the process of challenging government decisions.
Events have made this quaintly nostalgic. Some good work in it though. “RUSSIAN CYBERPUNK FARM // РУССКАЯ КИБЕРДЕРЕВНЯ” (2020) www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HZ4...
I’m still thinking about this.
"Tradition"
K-town.
Lol don’t worry, I’m reasonably tough. :)
Something in my head says it’s relevant in pottery or something, but I can’t remember what and I can’t be bothered putting up with it.
With luck that’ll be our last one for the season, but I have my doubts.
I am not familiar with this at all.
Ah, memories!
Nah, if it were going to snow it would’ve been yesterday morning, and it was nowhere near. I’m at 850 metres and the snow rarely comes down this low.
He’s currently only Crown Prince.
Sun plan: Ease into the day; ponder the week ahead and emit the relevant communications; errands and shopping, Katoomba; quiet evening, to prepare for a busy week ahead; meals interspersed as appropriate.
Today, Sunday 31 August, is (Inter?)National Diatomaceous Earth Day. www.daysoftheyear.com/days/nationa... Also, International Day for People of African Descent. www.daysoftheyear.com/days/interna... And it’s happy 40th birthday to Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamme...
It's sunny in the Blue Mountains today and the temperature will be 2°C above average. Delightful.
Sunday. Undertake the hot assignment to climb the rotten career ladder? No, drift. Rely on the foundations, but be a pioneer. Sunday.
My theory is that everything has always been stupid but this was kept from us by the mainstream media gatekeepers. :)
"Whose cock have I got to suck to get a pint around here?" I muttered in exasperation whilst waiting to order at a crowded pub. Turns out it was the assistant manager - I get priority service every time now.
And not just any notorious astrologer, but “the internet’s most notorious astrologer”!
And that Court ain’t a fan of Thaksin. Hmmm. I’m loving the phrase, and note that it’s a been a while since we’ve had, “a precedented event”.
Presumably that depends on how many protectors he’ll still have in government after whatever is about to happen?
True. But here we are, as the cycle kicks off once again. :)
Mark Robertson 