Learned the meaning of some words today:

Exophthalmic (adj.), from Exophthalmos – a bulging of the eye anteriorly out of the orbit

Impecunious (adj.) – having little or no money

Prurient (adj.) – an inordinate interest in sex

TIL that they’re called “outplacement consultants” or “career transition specialists”. I didn’t meet one. I just had reason to look it up.

Replied to Fesshole 🧻 (@fesshole@mastodon.social) (Mastodon)
It's taken me 35 years and five ZX Spectrums to complete The Hobbit. Feels like a bigger deal than buying my house or having my family. I kept this quest secret for so long, I can only mention it here. Now I'm finally in a comfy tunnel-like hall, feeling like I've won at life.

I felt a bit like that after I finally managed to watch the end of The Godfather. I’d given up halfway through SO many times.

I use the Redirection plugin on WordPress. As a result I am in a constant arms race with spammy 404s, like these:

/page/320/?s
/page/7/?s=δΉε·žι€š2025ζ ‘ε›­ζ‹›θ˜
/page/87/?s=Which of the following can result if an embryo implants close to the internal opening of

Redirection supports regular expressions and this is one of the few regular chances I get to use them. I only use simple Ignore so there’s no real harm if I get them wrong either. I just need to keep the logs clean(er) so I can see the legit 404s.

This is what I got:

^\/page\/\d+\/\?s.*

And the final redirect in Redirection looks like this:

Source URL: ^/page/\d+/\?s.* Title: Ignore spammy page/?s 404s Match: URL only When matched: Do nothing (ignore)

Can’t quite believe that the UK government is in exactly the same position as it was throughout the Sunak years. Completely obsessed with its own appearance whilst, apparently, doing absolutely nothing of note except talking about illegal migration. Pass a Bill or something. Jeez.

Watched The Death of Stalin (2017) by an author from letterboxd.com
When dictator Joseph Stalin dies, his parasitic cronies square off in a frantic power struggle to become the next Soviet leader. As they bumble, brawl and back-stab their way to the top, the question remains β€” just who is running the government?

Oddly enough, this just put me in mind of UK politics in the last decade. Everyone clamouring to be in charge but making zero difference.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…

My review

Watched Road House (1989) by an author from letterboxd.com
The Double Deuce is the meanest, loudest and rowdiest bar south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and Dalton has been hired to clean it up. He might not look like much, but the Ph.D.-educated bouncer proves he's more than capable – busting the heads of troublemakers and turning the roadhouse into a jumping hot spot. But Dalton's romance with the gorgeous Dr. Clay puts him on the bad side of cutthroat local big shot Brad Wesley.

Probably should have caught this a bit sooner…

β˜…β˜…β˜…

My review

Watched Them! (1954) by an author from letterboxd.com
As a result of nuclear testing, gigantic, ferocious mutant ants appear in the American desert southwest, and a father-daughter team of entomologists join forces with the state police officer who first discovers their existence, an FBI agent and, eventually, the US Army to eradicate the menace, before it spreads across the continent β€” and the world.

Wasn’t quite as good as I remembered from watching it on BBC2 while stuck in a waiting room one evening in the mid-90s.

Watching it now gives me serious pandemic vibes of the “it may already be too late” kind…

β˜…β˜…β˜…

My review