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Neil Pferd

@dasneilpferd.bsky.social
452 followers 376 following 9.3K posts

Berlin Irish. Bad speller. Worse proof reader. Here to enthuse about my niche interests and watch you enthusing about yours.

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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 12h
Don't usually do posting about work on here because, more than anything, why the feck would I want to talk about work when I'm not at work? But today, my first ever PhD student submitted their thesis and that's so fucking cool, I think it's worth breaking the no-work-posting habit.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I’m really not on here for politics, more than anything because my work is too much “Serious Stuff” and I like somewhere to go where I can be silly and engage in totally unserious stuff but…
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Away at a big get-together of my mother-in-law’s family. 20 of them. It’s mad. They all appear to genuinely like each other. Good chat. No one casting up a perceived slight from 30 years ago. Zero chance of a fist fight. Maybe my family are the outliers but this is like being in a Hallmark movie.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Bring back the Murphys! 😳
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
On the plus side, just the sort of win that keeps Sean in a job, eh, Edinburgh pals? #ULSvEDI
Mr Burns stands beside a framed picture on the wall. It says, “Don’t forget, you’re here forever.” It’s crudely updated to say, “Foreveritt,” a play on words of the name of Edinburgg’s rugby coach.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
There’s a world where we never talk about the first 46 minutes again but the playoffs are so tight, there’s another one where they are the difference. With respect to Edinburgh, who deserved the win, no excuses good enough for most of that against a team missing almost 20 players #ULSvEDI
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I like to hope I don’t get too carried away by sport and try to avoid the histrionics often associated with it but that’s the single worst half of rugby I remember seeing Ulster play and I was a fan back when Matt Williams was our coach and Niall O’Connor our starting outhalf… #ULSvEDI
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
When it’s a home game, the first night of the season is the closest I get to homesickness. C’mon, Ulsterrrrr! #ULSvEDI
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Off on a big extended family weekend. #MrsPferd reading the kids everything there is “Playground; swimming look; go-karts; zip wire,” all met with cheers by the kids, then, “Biergarten,” and #WeePferd goes, “For Papa!” Jeez, that’s eye opening 😂
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
12 minutes of Big Stu being Big Stu is exactly what I need to whet the appetite on the eve of the new season!
youtu.be
Stuart McCloskey is Built DIFFERENT!
YouTube video by Andrew Forde
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Finished up The Faraway Tree with #BabyPferd last night and she's wanting to start in on The Hobbit. Seems today is definitely the right day to do so.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Instead of letting me nap, they convinced me to spend the time making a pumpkin pie because they just know I’m the biggest sucker in the world. Never had pumpkin pie crack like that while setting before but it looks how I feel.
A pumpkin pie. It has cracked slightly of the top for some reason.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
#MrsPferd blew a knuckle at tennis and spent the night tossing and turning; then #WeePferd came to “snuggle”, which mostly involves kicking me. Properly awake since 5am. Invested long morning in doing a stack on pancakes, mostly in hopes I can leverage it for peace and quiet for a nap, later.
A stack of pancakes on a red plate.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Watched Tommy Tiernan’s “Epic West” there. Some lovely moments and it all looked beautiful but much of it felt self-indulgent to me. And that's a pity. All for personal storytelling of broader themes but I don't think this ever hit that. Much too much about Tommy himself than the west or its people.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Wee midweek spanakopita, so.
A load of crispy golden puff pastry on an oven dish. You can see some green of spinach of the spanakopita.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Slowly working through the classic Peanuts cartoons and it's so heartening that the #MiniPferds get a kick out of them, too. Probably my age showing but they're so different to contemporary kids' shows that flash and jump all over the place. Gentle pace. Gentle pace. Actual stories. Lovely.
static.klipy.com
Peanuts Snoopy Wizard Experiment
ALT: Peanuts Snoopy Wizard Experiment
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Worse ways to bring the curtain down on aubergine season than doing a massive fuck off moussaka!
A massive fuckoff moussaka.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Nothing captures the excitement of the onset of autumn quite like the five minutes of excitement after finding Federweißer down the supermarket and remembering the taste of Federweißer.
A glass of wine, the bottle of which is shown behind. You can probably tell by the label that it isn’t great wine.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Feck sake, it’s only pre-season and I’m having to break this out already… #ULSvOSP
Eomer from LOTR. He says, “I’d cut off your head, dwarf, I’d it stood but a little higher from the ground.” Dwarf has been scrubbed out and replaced with Mike Lowry.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Our wee tree is still tiny and only seems to produce apples every other year, so we’re lucky if we get more than a dozen every two years but going outside, plucking an apple from the tree and eating it right away never, ever, loses its charm.
A green Apple with a leaf still attached to its stalk.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Went to Ulster's website to see if they're streaming tonight's game (they are, it's £7.50, more than group stages of Europe cost), and I've just been battered by this hellish marketing gibberish. Good. Grief. Annoyingly, kit is decent, but I can't encourage this nonsense by getting one, can I?
A screen grab of the Ulster Rugby website. It says, "Ulster Rugby Unveil 2026/27 3rd kit." as the headline, then in smaller text, "Inspired by the enduring strength and natural beauty of the Giant's Causeway, Ulster Rugby's new 2026/27 Third Kit celebrate the landscapes, communities and resilience that define the province."
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Wee bit of the women’s basketball World Cup to get the blood flowing. C’mon, Germany!
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Been tinkering with my wee pizza oven for a couple or years now and while the pizzas have always tastes great, they haven’t always looked the best… Slowly getting there, though. Slowly.
A home made pizza. It has sweetcorn on it and cheese and tomatoes.A home made salami pizza.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
#BabyPferd woke up and came in and asked what I was watching and I pretty much have the explanation below and now she’s insisting on watching with me. It’d be wrong to say no but now we’re gonna have to explain all or this to #MrsPferd in 15 minutes or so…
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Combat sports do nothing at all for me. Quite the opposite. But you damn well better believe I love women's sports. And it's very cool to see something like this happen in front of 80,000 people. Gonna do what I can to enjoy this (and to try to understand what the hell's going on).
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
#Minipferds logic: “We made plum crumble when the plums came off the tree, ergo we must make apple crumble when the apples come off the tree.” Not sure if I’m a sucker, or their logic is faultless.
An Apple crumble in a roasting dish.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly find him any more hateful than I do, there he is openly admitting that he drinks black velvets…
Marge Simpson looks grumpy. She's said, "You've ruined a perfectly good drink." Behind her is a crudely edited in set of black velvets.Homer Simpson is holding up a jacket with two large holes cute out of the back of them. A glass of Guinness is crudely edited on top of one, a glass of champagne on the other. He says, "Ah, incorrect, Marge - - two perfectly good drinks."
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Time to put the autumn foliage on Lego Schloss Neuschwanstein, so.
A Lego Neuschwanstein with red brown and yellow trees, instead of the free ones.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Diet Tom Scott and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Tom Scott have gone to that Lidl Pub in Belfast and made a video about it and of course I’m bloody going to watch it despite myself.
A screenshot of the thumbnail of a YouTube video by Christ Spargo and Luke O'Sullivan visiting the Lidl pub in east Belfast.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Nine years married today. Goodness knows how #MrsPferd puts up with me but I'm glad she does.
The Tommy Bowe "Ten siblings!?" meme. It reads, "Nine years?!"
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I lived in a place too rural to sustain an actual video shop. Instead, a lad with a converted horsebox would come around on a Friday and you could choose what you wanted from his expansive range of about 55 VHS.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Ahhh, jeez, #BabyPferd is started in full on wanting a dog and I'm not sure I'm strong enough to say no. Please, give me your takes of woe and general nightmares of dog ownership, please!
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Midweek plum crumble for no reason other than, for the first time, plums are coming out of the tree faster and in greater quantities than we can simply eat normally.
A crumbly cake. It has dark red juices from the plums leaking out over it from the sides.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
On an objective level, Ludwig is a terrible program. Worst kind of 2D TV. But it requires no effort, no input, no concentration from the viewer. Which speaks so well to where are right now, as all our energy goes to herding two tireless kids, that naturally it’s become a favourite thing to watch...
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
#MiniPferd's favourite new snack just dropped. Frozen peas. From frozen. Taken individually. Each sucked on like a lollipop. You do what you can, etc...
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Fortnight back home is a lovely way to spend a holiday. In many ways, I’m a different version of myself there. Easy to be more relaxed, conversationally, with strangers. Yet always aware of identity and, thus, also more self-censoring than I would prefer. The strange duality of the place, I guess.
A view from the wee island over the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge towards Rathlin. Some grass in the foreground, blue sea in between, and a rocky island in the background. Mostly blue sky above with some white and grey clouds in it.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Ahhhhhh!
An espresso in an Orange espresso cup.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Nice wee surprise returning home to a wee crop of almost-ripe plums in the tree.
Plums growing on a plum tree.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Two weeks in Ireland and I didn’t even post a picture of a pint or stout…
A pint of stout, shot at a weird angle.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I liked The Economist. Not because I agree with it. I prefer to read something I don’t agree with by default. It was that the editorial line was set by the literature and thus less prone to expedient manipulation. Makes the Acemoglu piece even odder. Takes an editorial position on the field, itself.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I’m not exactly tech illiterate, yet for the third time in the last few weeks, I’ve had to search how to log out of an app because I couldn’t figure it out and in none of the cases was it in the slightest bit intuitive. A perfect example of the problem of the modern internet.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Lads, since when has biscoff been in *everything* back home? Just had a biscoff rocky road. All wrong. Wrong colour. Wrong taste. Wrong texture. Who’s demanding this?
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Major gaps in my travel CV are Greece and anywhere east of India, so one of Athens, Hanoi and Bangkok I reckon.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Alright, the #MiniPferds’ definitive Tayto ranking for our 2026 visit is in. Asked if they prefer the yella or blue: #BabyPferd: “I like both but I could eat more of the yellas.” #WeePferd: “Both!” Sorry, followers, the experts have spoken.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Two minor gripes: 1) Whole day in Donegal and we didn’t see one fairy house in a garden. These people should know better.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Another wee thing knocked-off the list: take the wee ferry from Magilligan over to Donegal.
A view to Binevenagh and behind it the Mussenden Temple, shot from a small ferry. Most of the foreground is water. There is a bit of railing and some boat to show it’s from a boat.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The weather, and the associated potential that the #MiniPferds might be disappointed, is the main reason why we tend not to do our visits home in summer. Seems we didn’t need to worry.
Three absolute clowns swimming in the sea on the north coast of Ireland in a hail storm. The sky is grey and moody, the sea equally so. The waves are big. An adult and two kids are, nonetheless, having a great time in the water.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
I have the feeling everyone eventually grew up enough and became secure enough to admit Donnie Darko was awful and made no sense so I’m about 15 years out of date by saying Donnie Darko but fuck was it awful and made no sense.
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The Smurfs Go Pop! 🤘
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Neil Pferd @dasneilpferd.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
There’s a wee village up here called Ballybogey and I told the kids today as we drove through that they needed to watch out for the Ballybogeyman and then we saw a Ballybogeyman it was was pandemonium…
A road sign pointing towards Ballybohey.
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