Recent content on Bongo Twisty
Sarah Honeychurch at NomadWarMachine is taking part in Blaugust20026 . Today Sarah published Mandala Madness and extended the invitation to create and share a manadala. A lovely TDC today: Mandala designs — a sort of mirrored gathering of lines in circular patterns — are interesting and rather relaxing to create and to view. Use the Mandala Maker (or some other site or draw one on paper) and share…
It’s getting late. I have been distracted. Wanted to post something today before going to bed. One of the weekly prompts as a fall back seemed in order. Thank you Krikket . Dad to four boys and get on well with them all. Married for 26 years. A registered Mental Health Nurse since 1992 Sibling to one brother and two sisters. Vivid dreams disturb my sleep most nights. Not bad dreams just very…
During today’s partial eclipse. It was a good one. Darkening of the skies, a perceptible drop in temperature and quiet all around. Man Ray Plant Ray Colander Ray
This post is my response to the Blaugust2026 group project for August 10th. I may be a day late but with the application of my chosen super power I don’t think that matters much. Just over a week ago I finished reading the Gone series of books by Michael Grant. The main characters in the stories develop powers. These included light-blasting hands, telekinesis, gravity cancellation,…
Oh my gosh. Out yesterday on my bike to complete a 200km. I have been doing a least one long ride each month for the past couple of years. Occasionally much longer. I did not enjoy yesterdays ride at all. That is quite unusual. Something felt different not even 50km into the ride. It was more of an effort than normal. At first I thought this was down to not having ridden any miles for ten days.…
I have just been looking through some pictures I took yesterday. I came back with a good few from an afternoon session down in Hastings at the Hidden Beach Festival. We’d gone along to catch a few hours of Aba Shanti’s set. I’d been hoping to come away with some decent photos of Aba behind the controls, of Aba looking out into the crowd, of people dancing, of people enjoying…
I read today a piece about digital cameras and wired headphones making a bit of a comeback. It’s not news. I’ve read about this a few times over the past few years. What comes around and all that. However, it struck a chord with me since some of this stuff I have never fully moved away from or have still got tucked away in a draw somewhere until I am minded to have a play or finally…
Bandcamp Friday - 7th August 2026. I only just remembered to to get this one in the nick of time with a little over a hour to go on. This is Violinbwoy’s take on a Belarusian traditional song. A beautiful interpretation by Laboratorium Pieśni remixed for sound system play by Violinbwoy in his laboratory. A tune gathering the ancient spirits - from that time to this time… play it loud and feel the…
I have spent just over a decade on Git Hub. I’m a hobbyist. Very little if anything I’ve had on there has been of benefit to anyone other than myself. Microsoft’s acquisition of GitHub in 2019 did not pass me by. I turned a blind eye. I think it’s fair to say my patronage is of no benefit to Microsoft. Since spring 2025 I’ve used Git Hub to host and publish my Hugo…
A bit of background in case you’re wondering IndiWeb Carnival . The month’s (August 2026) topic is “purpose” and is hosted by Chris Shaw at uncountable thoughts . Purpose A single word that evokes many different interpretations. It can apply to yourself, an organisation, club, community or even humanity itself. Is it fixed for all time, or does it change and adapt to the…
For Blaugust2026 I have anchored to this page published by Krikket on her blog Nerd Girl Thoughts for reminders and ideas on ways to participate. Very helpful when I am feeling inclined to dismiss every idea I have because ( insert any reason that comes to mind ). •• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ •• •• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ •• The first blog I created was in 2000 and on a site called Cosgrove Capers. The name was…
You can find loads of reviews . Mine is mostly the title of this post. I have the X4 . It was delivered on the 25th June. I have just finished reading a series of six books ( Gone - series 1 ). Looking forward to getting stuck into another one. That would not have happened without the X4. It’s made reading regularly very low effort. That suits me. I would miss having it. I use it with the…
What is Blaugust? I had a go last year. Surprised myself and posted something most days. I never gave much thought to what benefit it had beyond the satisfaction of seeing the list of posts I published in August grow. The “community” aspect of it passed me by. Making connections online can feel a bit clunky like I am simply going through the motions. Whether it does again this year…
The 21st Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur is taking place in 2027. When I completed the 2019 event , the support, encouragement and general goodwill of spectators along the route was what stuck with me the most. The challenge of riding the distance (1200km) in under 90hrs and all the rolling hills along the way became little more than a fading memory. I quite fancy having another go at it next year.…
Summer Time, Higham Oh look! It’s another one for the collection . I love em’ all.
Sea Snail, St Margarets at Cliffe Sea Snails Friends, St Margarets at Cliffe I had a feeling I’d find a fresh one at this spot in St Margaret’s at Cliffe. The last time I passed by it was during Easter Easter, St Margarets at Cliffe
Tea and Cake, Shorne Village Cup of tea dear? Happy to find this one while out on my bike this morning. Another one for the collection .
Inspired by Jedda here’s an occasionally updated list of blogs and/or posts I’ve enjoyed reading. A hat tip and thanks to people who took the time to write and publish what they did. I think it’s also possible to learn something about a person by what they like to read so think there’s an element of ‘getting to know me’ in sharing this. photoni.st by a 40…
Digital Dugnad Dump Big Tech Make the Switch Make the switch. The Digital Dugnad campaign highlights four actions you can take - Switch your browser. Switch your search engine. Move your email. Change where you store your files. I’d suggest a fifth - dump MS and/or Apple and switch to a Linux distribution . The campaign suggests that each one takes minutes. That’s very misleading.…
Your website but inhabited. The web is full of content but empty of people. TownSquare brings a little presence back. Visitors can see each other, say a few words, and share the same space. No accounts. No algorithms. Just the present. That’s the pitch on TownSquare , which is where I got the base code for the widget towards the bottom of this page. The widget was created by Cauê Napier who…
Rishabh P. Sharma posed the AI blog question challenge . Rishabh writes about being an “AI Hater”. It seems strange to me to have such intense feelings about AI. I guess that makes me “neutral” by Rishabh’s measure. I think pragmatist is perhaps more accurate. How was your first experience with AI models? I was feeling bored during Christmas 2019 and started learning…
We visited my sister at the weekend and left with her unwanted “Russell Hobbs Breadman Ultimate”. My sister got it from a friend of our mum. It’s pretty big for a kitchen counter top which is why my sister did not want it any more. We have the space for it on a table in our lean to so for the time being I am an artisan bread maker. Plain White Loaf Plain White Loaf Cheddar Cheese…
Continuing with the effort to complete another series of RRtY, I was out yesterday riding the lanes, hills and valleys of Kent from Medway down to Folkstone and back again. Having ridden all those miles in Germany during May, a few things struck me on yesterday’s ride. We have a lot of hedgerows in Kent. The landscape is varied. Road surfaces are generally quite poor. The first two are worth…
Delighted to see that the yarnbomber who regularly adorned this postbox before its recent conversion to a “post box of the future” has rolled with it and moved with the times. Space: Higham Space: Higham Space: Higham If you like these check out this gallery for a load more.
Dunkirk to Berlin via Belgium and the Netherlands. Different route there and back. I remember big open fields of crops; long straight roads; avenues of trees; canal/riverside cycle paths; woodlands; small villages with an intro and outro of frame rattling, bone shaking cobble stones. Great provision pretty much most of the way for cyclists. That’s the infrastructure and the way other road…
In a few hours time I’ll be setting off on my fully loaded steel touring bike (it weighs a ton) down to Dover. I have booked a ferry over to Dunkirk sailing at 6.00 am. When I booked the ferry I was focused on wringing out the most time possible I have off work before coming back on the 30th May. Now I’m thinking a few hours here and there wouldn’t make much difference and only a…
Every fifteen minutes or so, I have my desktop wallpaper changing to a fresh satellite image of Earth. Sometimes it shows Africa and Europe from the Meteosat satellite. Sometimes it shifts to the Pacific and Australasia, seen from Japan’s Himawari-9 . Both are near real-time images from geostationary satellites orbiting above the equator. Here is how to cook it up on Debian 13 (Trixie) with…
Folkstone 200 (Friday) Folkstone 200 (Monday) Book-ended the weekend with a 200 k ride on Friday and Monday. I wanted to get these in early for the two concurrent RRtY series I’m completing. This weekend coming is busy. The following week I’m off cycle touring in Europe till the end of the month. It’s possible I could complete a qualifying ride over there. I may still do.
On the 27th December 2015 I ditched Windows for Linux - Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (“Trusty Tahr”). I acted on impulse. I wrote a short post at the time to mark the occasion - Smashing Windows . The release of each new LTS is a natural opportunity to take stock and consider whether Ubuntu is still for me. It’s been a great introduction to Linux. I have learned a lot. Certainly not an…
The NASA/USGS Landsat program provides the longest continuous space-based record of Earth’s land in existence. Landsat data are essential for making informed decisions about our planet’s resources and environment. Given the myriad of possibilities the project affords, after much thought and deliberation I put it to the best use I could think of - spelling out the name of this blog using the free…
I volunteered to route check and help out at one of the controls on this years Oasts and Coasts 300km audax and so it came to be I completed the helpers ride last weekend. Oasts and Coasts 300 km There’s about 3200m of climbing overall and close enough to 1900m of that is in the first 120km. Regardless it’s the flatter sections of this event I always find more of a challenge. The 40 km…
replacedbyclawd What Leaked I ride absurd distances for fun and then write about them in a tone suggesting this is all perfectly normal, which is obviously a minor character defect. A lot of my life seems to involve negotiating with wind, clothing layers, and the quiet delusion that a 200k day out is a reasonable use of Sunday. I notice sheep, old infrastructure, odd postboxes, tyre inserts, and…
Easter Sunday. Out for the first of this months RRtY 200k DiY brevets. My friend Dave planned the route. He was off out to ride it today. Birthday celebrations for two of our boys precluded me from joining him hence why I went the day before. The weather was decent. I sometimes choose the wrong clothes in spring. Either too hot or too cold. Got it right for this ride. Sunny most of the day. But…
Another postbox wrapped up in black plastic soon to be converted to the solar powered Post Box of the Future variety. Rainbows End, Shorne Village
Two more rides this month for the RRtY award. That’s six months done of this round of the series. The first was a modified version of an Audax UK calendar event I completed back in May 2013, the Hop Garden 200. Hop Garden 200k May 2013 Calendar Event Pruned Hop Garden 200k March 2026 DIY Not sure why but the original ride is logged in my RWGPS account as having been completed in April 2012.…
In November last year either the front or rear tyre on my bike got a puncture on just about every ride. The tyres (Schwalbe Evolution Marathon Supremes 700 x 40mm) were fairly new. Lots of rain, shards of Kentish flint, thorns and broken glass all conspired against me getting home without having to stop at least once to patch a tube and fit the spare. I was getting a bit fed up with it.
I love a postbox topper . A post box I pass by on a regular basis nearly always has one on top. This may be the last of it’s kind on this one - Sea Creatures, Higham The postbox in question is set to become a “postbox of the future”. The adapted post box will accept both letters and small parcels (up to about shoebox size), using a barcode‑activated drawer instead of just a…
Out on a 200k ride last weekend. The second for February to continue with the ongoing RRtY 1 effort. I’m doing two simultaneously this time round — a double year. I started in October 2025 after completing the 2nd consecutive year of rides in September. I’m aiming for a chain of ten. Route Map I baked some tasty little pear pies to help fuel the ride. Had some gluten free dough left…
This put a big smile on my face. Saw it while out on a ride this morning before work. That it was not cold, dark and raining also helped. Sea Creatures, Higham
Nearly missed this one. Tucked away in the bushes just outside of Barham village. Little Piggy, Barham village
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I could not leave good enough alone. I’ve continued to tweak the script that syncs music files between my desktop and Navidrome server. The original script ignored music files that were not mp3s. This was due to the limitations of the CPU in the laptop used as a server. It’s around 14 years old and even when new was not up to much beyond web browsing and playing media files. Having…