iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

"Girl with the pearl earring" flashed into my mind this morning, when I accidentally recreated it in a moment I'm calling "Old man with the urticaria tries to see the hives on his back in a mirror". I will not be painting it at this time. Or any other time.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Morris dancing in 5/4 - The Seven Champions at the @shrewsburyfolk.bsky.social yesterday. As my friend @beardybanjo.bsky.social said, literally the hard times of old England. #takefive

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Wanted to ask Reddit about whether Michael Jackson was just a good singer and sometimes songwriter; or whether he was really involved in instrumentation, arrangement and production; or if it's really eg Quincy Jones to credit for that - but the groups are massively adulatory, so doubt objectivity.

screenshot of list of Michael Jackson related Reddit groups, three of which are massive and adulatory, two small and adulatory (one with apparently hostile name to lure you in and unleash the adulation).

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

The awe-inspiring majesty of this evening's once-in-a-generation eclipse captured by a pinhole camera which Bethan expertly and effectively made out of a Shreddies box, and then photographed by me - and in focus, I'll have you notice.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

For Scottish viewers, also works to the tune of "We're on the march with Ally's Army". bsky.app/profile/adam...

Image contains the post and quoted-post linked to in the post. If I just quote-posted the post, the original quote-post wouldn't appear, and it would all make even less sense than it already does.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

America: See, it's not just us! Rest Of The World: Where do you think our young people get their ideas from? America: See, you only appear to hate our culture because you're jealous of it and you wish you were like us. Yeah, we're Number One!

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

If you look closely you can see the marks of raindrops from the two minutes of rain we had this evening at the Elephant and Castle. Glorious.

My shirt with some barely discernible raindrop marks.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

The perils of embedding links in your website.

What Jin-Da Thai restaurant's customers are saying is, "Unfortunately, the 7-day trial period has expired."

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Hi Stan, it's your brother William here. Let's play some, er, ball?

Alert to original post flagging it as having been written in Japanese.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

A list of combinations of results (according to a Facebook account) that have to happen in four out of nine other World Cup groups for Scotland to qualify for the knockout stage. Ecuador, unfortunately, have just beaten Germany, so now it's four out of eight.

List of combinations of results that have to happen in four out of nine other World Cup groups for Scotland to qualify for the knockout stage. Ecuador, unfortunately, have just beaten Germany, so now its four out of eight.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Jan Struther - author of Mrs Miniver - was quite posh, but sounds quite likeable.

Most of a page from the Mrs Miniver preface with examples of why she sounds quite likeable.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

I love archaeologists, and headline-writers. Headline (above photo of Stonehenge): 'Simpler, older version of Stonehenge found three miles from famous site'. Para 2: 'All that remains of the older structure is two holes in the ground, but the team says...'. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Screenshot of start of article as described.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

I very rarely wake up to a good news top headline on BBC News.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

I have never been in a holiday home whose book stock has contained such a high proportion of books I have owned, read or would be interested to read. I needn't have brought my four (though I did make good inroads into Flashforward on the train here).

A bookcase containing four shelves of books, many of which are right up my street.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Thinking of Don Estelle today for some reason.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

My irony klaxon went off last night when the UK Parliament accidentally sent me a couple of internal emails about information compliance.

screenshot of names of 3 emails in my inbox from UK Parliament, two about information compliance and a third telling me to please disregard the previous two emails.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Have found a very elegant way to play F#7 in my guitar chord encyclopedia. This might be the highlight of my day.

A diagram for an F#7 guitar chord shape involving an open top E string and no bottom E&D strings

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

For those wise Londoners who both prefer to walk on the shady side of streets on awful days like this, and also enjoy folk music, may I recommend the Harrison Singaround, 1-4pm, in a cool, dark pub basement near King's Cross. harrisonvenuelondon.com/events/singa...

snip of weather forecast for this afternoon, hot and sunny

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Countries and people I am most like, apparently (according to a 17-year-old American, of course).

table of historical figures most similar to me

table of countries I am most like and most different from, politically

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Lots of people doing the findmypolitics.com questionnaire in my Bluesky feed. I had a go, did the full 80 question version. Very American (understandable, since it's been made by a 17yo New Yorker), somewhat loaded questions and question explanations. Progressive Realist - fair enough.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

I still have the little list booklets for that and the BBC Big Read one from a few years later. I used to deliberately work through them and tick them off, but I don't torment myself in that way any more.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Recent Private Eye cartoon, showing new local council meeting and someone saying "Right. We've been elected to sort out the Middle East." (If it's not that, it's something else. I think local elections are rarely determined by things local councils are actually responsible for.)

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Southwark Council result: "Labour took 29 seats, a loss of 23 on the last election. The Greens took their first 22 seats, and the Lib Dems took 12, a gain of one on the last election." Who will the Lib Dems go into coalition with? Or is minority governing achievable?

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

(that's Virginia O'Brien. On the right, can't you tell?) Similarly, a good thing to know about TV in 2026 is that in The Other Bennet Sister, Ella Bruccoleri is The Plain One.

Ella Bruccoleri, really not looking very plain at all.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Here's a nice little set of posts from my 'Popular With Friends' feed.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Found it. "We don't hold with Puccini at the Lazy Z", snarled Tex.

Glen Baxter cartoon with that caption, picturing a cowboy putting his hand over a woman's mouth.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

The smallest bird hide I've ever been in, in the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. Cramped, in a terrible state - full of discarded cans, bottles and wrappers - and, worst of all, facing away from the wetlands. 0/5.

A small bird hide - or possibly in fact a wooden structure enclosing a litter bin. I am very funny.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Had basically packed in, as an impractical burden, my little Substack email sharing bits from my diary. But giving it another go, though I'm very far behind. So, come with me, back to April 2025... anotheriain.substack.com/p/bits-of-ap...

cover image of substack in question small red textile heart in the palm of my hand

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

March 6, 2019, 0 years ago? Sometimes it feels like 0, sometimes a million. Of, course a photo taken from the same spot today would look identical, except probably for the tide level. That's the tide for you; always changing, always the same.

Facebook offering me a 'then and now' photo pairing opportunity with a photo of Tower Bridge allegedly taken 0 years ago on 6/3/19.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Passing Clapham Common on the bus. Hopeless snatched photo at the bus stop of a combination of parakeets in the foreground tree and mist in the background trees.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Back cover of my latest Spinners LP purchase from a charity shop. From the old days when records were sold in places like electrical shops (DD Morrison's and MacIver & Dart's in my childhood Stornoway) and chemists (Boots in Epsom).

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Interesting chart from Helen Lewis's Bluestocking newsletter of 16th January. "Highly enjoyed this chart about where big journalism outlets plan to focus their resources in the next year. Sorry, Elon!" I'm sorry Bluesky a bit down and AI a lot up. X rightly way down, Facebook also broke itself.

Table as described. FB, old style Google, X at the bottom; Youtube, AI, TikTok at the top.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Taking a photo of this wrapper to help me remember never to try a Marybake 1890 millionaire shortbread again. It wasn't very nice; especially the shortbread.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Yourself, but as a cartoon. (Never had an easier meme to respond to.)

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Thanks for everything. Hope the solo albums go well, and hoping for a refreshed reunion for more years. x

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Today's purchases. Ida Cox's first 16 recordings, from 1923, most self/co-written, including 2 versions of Graveyard Dream Blues which I've sung at folk club. And Elvis Costello's dad singing folk songs in 1972, all written by him and a couple of pals, apparently.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

This sign, saying don't put toilet paper down the toilet, is in a pretty new building. I've never seen one like it before, even in National Trust cafes with 19th-century plumbing. Can't be right, surely. Paper towels they mean, surely. Surely.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Hitler at the Eiffel Tower, June 1940. The Beatles at the Eiffel Tower, January 1964. It's no time at all, really.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

The most dramatic scene in all of literature. A rabbit, wearing a red hat, and a bear look each other in the eye, in silence.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

You know how some buses have screens rotating through the cctv on the bus? A bus I was on this morning was showing us the driver's foot on the pedals.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Age yourself with gaming. Alt text: A picture of a game of Pong being played (though the version we had was a cheap knock-off, I'm sure).

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

I've not noticed before the list of trending searches I get when I go to Google on my phone. Some of these seem plausible, nationally or internationally; some of them very much don't.

List as per post, swinging from big US sport ones to very parochial English sport ones, mainly.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

Today I joined the very exclusive society of people who have listened to Unfinished Music No 1: Two Virgins twice. (First time online, this time on an actual vinyl copy (US version) that I spent £10 on despite knowing what it sounded like.)

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

"Did you get it?" "I've got it. A lovely little brown one, just like you asked for." "Thank you so much! I can't wait to meet my new therapy puppy!" "Yes, I - wait, what?"

A tub of brown therapy putty. There's been a hilarious/awkward misunderstanding.

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Another Iain @anotheriain.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

It's Christmas! Two months of seasonal meal deals for me.

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