Notes

8018 sparkline

Thursday, January 15th, 2026

A man playing flute accompanied by a man playing Greek bouzouki in a nicely decorated pub.

Thursday session

Tuesday, January 13th, 2026

There should be a German word for the slightly smug warm feeling you get from using an obscure HTML element like dfn in your most recent blog post, like wot I did.

Elementenrichtigkeitsgefühl

The dramatic poster for Paul Thomas Anderson's film but the title now reads: Wombat Laughter An Udder.

The best film I saw in the cinema in 2025 was definitely…

Friday, January 9th, 2026

Replying to a post on snarfed.org

Happy birthday, Bridgy!

Thursday, January 8th, 2026

Replying to a post on chrisburnell.com

Check out Babes In Toyland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCjufvdq_1c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMmnO34saOQ

Babes In Toyland - Bruise Violet (Video)
Babes In Toyland - He's My Thing (Video)

Wednesday, January 7th, 2026

A selfie in a row of musicians.

Sessioning

A fiddler, an accordion player and a mandolin player round a table with a fiddle on it.

Wednesday session

Tuesday, January 6th, 2026

A man playing tin whistle and a man playing fiddle.

Tuesday session

(Tá sé ag cur sneachta anois—go bog—i mBrighton)

His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.

— James Joyce, The Dead

An ornate poster with multiple fonts that reads: Concerns about...Harms of AI?...Corruption and big tech?... Social media and mental health?... Surveillance? Come speak and listen at Brighton Ludd Club Every first and third Friday of the month 7.45pm at the Cowley Club 18+, members and guests welcome brightonluddclub.org With skill-sharing, book-sharing, speakers, meet-ups and events.

I may have found my people.

Monday, January 5th, 2026

Two concertina players and a guitarist playing at a pub table in the corner.

Monday session

Saturday, January 3rd, 2026

Three fiddlers. Flute and two fiddles. Fiddle and two concertinas. Guitar, flute, fiddle, and another flute.

Playing tunes in a kitchen on a Saturday night.

The past is a foreign country that we should impose tariffs on.

— Matt Webb

Friday, January 2nd, 2026

A smiling woman playing fiddle next to a man playing banjo at a pub table with a fiddle on it.

New year’s day session.

Thursday, January 1st, 2026

It’s surreal to see my name on this list:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DS7VZUqiImo/

2026: The Year The Bubble Bursts

Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh, a cairde!

A modern hand-crafted oval-hole mandolin made in Australia. A classic bowl-backed mandolin from eastern Europe. A red wall covered with Italian bowl-backed mandolins of different sizes. A classic F-5 mandolin from Gibson with its distinctive scroll.

More mandolins

Reading Daughters of Sparta by Claire Heywood.

Buy this book

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