excon

@wtg said: Me, too. Lovely as both of them are, they feel too remote. Good for vacation. Not so much for living in full time. While I'm kind of a hermit in many respects, I still like having people living nearby me. Yes, also I've realised how nice it is to walk to a local shop for a newspaper, and have a doctor/dentist within reasonable driving distance. So not to live in the outer Hebrides, nor London, a compromise.

@chas Thank you I'm also now finishing off a Mendelsohn Op67#2 which I'd almost learnt during covid. This: https://m. Link to video

@jon-nyc said: [image: 1786805318857-screenshot-2026-08-15-at-09.07.28.png] Nah … too perfect, a real Zoom session will have a few attendees who don’t show their faces, company policy notwithstanding.

@wtg said: The Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/the-bombing-of-pan-am-103-cast-guide We watched it. It was really well done.

Good grief.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/world/canada/trump-tariffs-trade-no-deal-carney-canada.html?unlocked_article_code=1.7VA.J3eS.nt1PsIHTWIeC Crucial trade talks between the United States and Canada to stave off punishing new tariffs by the Trump administration on Canadian goods collapsed late Friday, with Canada saying it would retaliate “dollar for dollar.” Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada said he had decided to suspend the talks because the American side had introduced last-minute terms that were “unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.”

They loved their hunting lodges.

@AdagioM Correct, it is not just girls

@Rontuner excellent discovery! I bet that is indeed what it's for! That would make it the correct length, and that would also explain why it's still there!

Bingo.

Tenacity.

Orders from Putin...

@chas Fabulous, love it. Dylan on speed meets the Horns of the Rohirrim. Let's jam riders Oh my goodness the comments this horn guy absolutely left his stove on at home Horn dude looks like a confused time traveler from the 13th century French Horn player is playing air guitar with his eyebrows. That dude's eyebrow position is directly correlated to the pitch of the note he plays dude on the horns looked like he had something reaching inside of him The French horn player looks like he has just received a call from his girlfriend telling him she's pregnant I feel like the horns guy knew exactly what he was doing because he aced it all, but didn't exactly know what he was gonna do until just before he had to do it... Trumpet player looks like he just found out hes his own father, mother, and can solve the pringles can problem How the hell did I get here and when did I start playing the French horn...... or wait, is it playing me? The horn player has this perpetual look as if he farted and wonders if anyone else detects it. Birth of a meme, I was here The french horn guy has killed his wife and see's the FBI pulling up outside Horne man can see the future... 10 years later his sound has evolved exactly not at all... I guess this is where Shaggy ended up after solving all them crimes, I wonder what happened to Scooby?

It’s been warm, but not blazingly hot here, for which I’m grateful. Also dry. We could use some rain, without lightning. The wildfires have been rampant this summer in Oregon, but not close to Portland.

South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham has given opponents fresh ammunition to attack her on her biggest vulnerability: her inexperience. She revealed a major blindspot in her understanding of a critical foreign policy issue, U.S.-Taiwan relations, during Tuesday’s debate for the Aug. 25 snap Senate primary runoff to replace her late brother Lindsey Graham. Her response spread like wildfire on social media, with critics saying it proves she is “unprepared” to take office. Asked whether Taiwan and the South China Sea are relevant national security priorities, Graham responded: “I’m just going to be honest here … I’m not that informed on national security, so.” She added that “national security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.” It was a notable acknowledgement from a sitting senator, as tensions rise between China and Taiwan — and as the U.S. preoccupation with the Iran war calls into question how reliable a supporter it might be amid fears of a possible future invasion of Taiwan. The gaffe exposed the exact weakness that her runoff opponent, GOP Rep. Ralph Norman, has been eager to highlight: the senator’s lack of tenure https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/19/darline-graham-taiwan-flub-south-carolina-senate-01042395

It’s a bit misleading of a story. They’re not systematically buying up rare books, they’re systematically buying up all books. Rare is just small subset. I agree it’s politically tone deaf all the same.

@AdagioM I saw him afterward. He was with his pack. I had to ride miles to get back to my truck. Have not been back to that road.