OK she's back. And yes, I had fallen asleep.

#Marmite went out about 40 minutes ago and is not back yet. It's raining, so she's probably hiding from it.

I wish she'd hurry up, though - I want to go to sleep!

LOL. Today's AI spammer has figured out that I have a new book out, but not taken into account that it's in Spanish

What's this about? I mean, I *know* Putin hasn't got a sense of humour, so he's not 'aving a larf.

But I bet That Guy over the ocean would go for it in a minute.

#NFWHealth
Good news - the pain hasn't been so bad today. Definitely less severe.
Be nice if it keeps it up.

Rorsplash Challenge. Get the grey cell working - what do you imagine you see tonight?

I've always thought it was a terrible idea - the lobby, I mean.

Newfangled is first attested in 1496. And oldfangled in 1764. So newfangled is older than oldfangled, and oldfangled is newer than newfangled.

Talk about topsy-turvy!

But I very much do appreciate not being talked up as some planetary genius while being spoken to as though I'm 3

Just stop that shit. It's dangerous. Possibly could be lethal even.

One thing I learnt a couple of days ago.

The LLMs I use (seldom) are *not* trained to be sycophantic. I had noticed that but assumed it was because of the way I phrased the prompts.

Oh, vain pride! No, of *course* it's nothing to do with me. 🤣

Oh, I think it's quite a productive process still in English. I don't know of any research on temporal variation, but it might be out there. I'll have a look.

This is very interesting.
Appetite and nostalgia.

That would certainly explain why I haven't been able to get on with it - I've precious little time for either appetite or nostalgia.

By turning it offl and doing the job myself.

Thank you. Yes, if only.
Regarding black cats, in Poland it's the opposite way round - they bring bad luck. Not Marmite, though, obviously. 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛

Reduplicative compounds, they're called. Like chit-chat, dilly-dally, wishy-washy, hurly-burly.

Is this real??

They're actually *briefing* shit like this??

Is there anybody in No. 10 who has a mental age of over 5?

the one gratifying part of this Labour government is knowing that Starmer is clearly living out the dullest possible monkey-paw curse every single day

Haven't met one of these people yet, but I'm absolutely sure they exist.

Yes. I mean, "Putin gets nothing" is the goal.

Some people just *really love* getting hysterical, don't they.

Thank you. It's not that I'm paranoid, I just do seem to have extraordinary runs of bad luck.
I'm being a good boy and doing, oh, 95% of what I'm told, but still I can't get anywhere.
Yes, Marmite's being extremely helpful.

I want to do this. 🐨😍

(I mean train the baby koalas, not climb the tree and chew on leaves!)

You mean the leadership pledges which Keir Starmer is busy delivering?

The media hate him, like any other Labour PM, but with Starmer they fear him, because they recognise his ability, determination & danger to the conservative right. So, they pile in on him extra hard, in an attempt to destroy him & remove the threat. With him, they can no longer get what they want.

Look at these posts and tell me that social media isn't sending people insane. *Keir Starmer* doesn't think he is delivering on the ten pledges he made during the Labour leadership election for goodness sake!

A FROG A GUN AND A SAD MAN فيروس٢٠٢٠ ـ الضفدع ، المسدس و الرجل الحزين, by VIRUS2020 ( فيروس ٢٠٢٠ ) 18 track album

#NowPlaying VIRUS2020 ( فيروس ٢٠٢٠ ) - "A FROG A GUN AND A SAD MAN (يروس٢٠٢٠ ـ الضفدع ، المسدس و الرجل)"
Another gem I pulled out of the Unexplained Sounds Group list. VIRUS2020 is Rami Harrabi, a Tunisian artist.
An absolute highlight this year.
unexplainedsoundsgroup.bandcamp.com/album/a-frog...

The Mandelson affair is about the government’s judgment, not process Discussion of vetting and procedure is part of the excuse but not the core of the difficulty

Ultimately none of the process chatter about the Mandelson appointment really matters, it is all just fluff around 'the PM made a bad decision that became politically untenable':

Oh, that does sound positive. Wonderful!
I really hope it helps.

I have done. 😁

Hi there. Yes, pretty dreich today. How are you doing today?

Just checked - topsy-turvy was first attested in the early 16th century, so that's pretty old.

I'm trying to remember the technical term for those kinds of expressions, but it's gone right out of my head.

#NFWHealth
Also, I just realised last night that I have nothing - no documents, zilch - to confirm that my operation is still going ahead.
Given all the crap that's happened over the past 4 weeks, I'd really like to have that confirmed - I can't take it as a given.