iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Spent the weekend so far painting walls and ceilings, as I'm now firmly middle aged. Undercoat and first coat now done, so will wait for it to dry before putting the final coat up...

A room with everything other than big wardrobes taken out for paining, a stepladder with a tin of paint on it, window in background, painted walls.

Freshly painted walls and ceiling, a roller leaning against it.

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Reposted by JoeBurnsMCR

David Wilcock @davidtwilcock.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

BREAKING: Daniel Thomas, aka Danny Tommo, has been arrested by Hampshire police over boat slashing incident in the Channel.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

This is really good advice, and I've emailed my MP this afternoon when I've had a bit of time free, asking how we've got to a place where masked thugs can intimidate RNLI volunteers without anyone in power seemingly caring. As the OP says, if enough people do kick up a fuss, it can only help!

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Watched City be on the right side of an eight goal thriller, united barley avoid embarrassing themselves, Arsenal lose and Spurs *comprehensively* embarrassing themselves. Good weekend of football that.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Desmond, clearly starving to death, waits at our neighbour's back door in the hope that they will take pity and feed him.

A white and black cat stares intently at a white door.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The FT not afraid to ask the big questions plaguing the common man this morning I see. (My main takeaway is how bright Worcester College formals look, certainly in comparison to Corpus' vaguely medieval dinginess)

An FT article - "Oxbridge's formal dinners have had a reboot". The article itself then suggests that... They've not really. They've changed since c. The 70s, but over the last decade or two, not so much.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

My local in Chorlton for the football charges under £5 for two pints, and I always wonder how this place can possibly turn a profit, it's like stepping back to the early 00s.

Two pints on a pub table - overall price for both? £4.70. £4.70!!!

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Reposted by JoeBurnsMCR

Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 17/09/2026

1. I usually like you but I think you're being mental! Embers - Sandor Marai absolutely haunting, just a beautiful and perfectly formed novel, arguably marked the beginning of my obsession with early(ish) 20th century European history

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

As the news is, you know, depressing, please enjoy photos of Vinny and Desmond being adorable together.

Two cats snuggle up together sleeping on a bed, having their mid afternoon siesta.

Two cats snoozing next to each other, facing in opposite directions, living their best lives.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I know we all know delivery firms are useless these days, but DHL's tracking is useless. "We're sorry, your delivery seems to be delayed". I know lads, it's 7 hours late now that's why I'm trying to find out when it'll arrive. No, "we reckon it'll be today, but maybe not" isn't an acceptable answer.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

One thing to look out for, I reckon, with the football. In our footy WhatsApp chat I'd jokingly said De Zerbi will the 1st manager to be fired (cos they've bought terribly, Savio is crap), but Carrick could be in trouble too - were it not for the fact that united will keep him far too long.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

On the tram home from the pub and finally able to enjoy that Manchester derby now. Elliot Anderson - good lord, that boy is quite the footballer.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

God bless you united, you're the gift that keeps on giving. Makes up for the childhood of mine you ruined.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Having a bit of a lazy Saturday so far and finished off this history of the Scythians, which I'd got from the local charity shop as it's not a bit of history I know at all. And the main thing it has reminded me of is the old Goodness Gracious Me sketch about all famous people being Indian...

The front page of The Scythian Empire, by Christopher Beckwith

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Takeaway Tuesday treat for my partner's birthday, and Desmond was very, *very* keen on having some takeaway too...

A white and black cat's face is visible from the eyes up at the edge of a table with plates of takeaway on it.

Desmond, a white and black cat, has jumped up paws on a table, leaning in to sniff and try to get to some takeaway.

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Reposted by JoeBurnsMCR

Laura Gordon @lauragordon.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

This government reminds me of Joe Biden. Biden didn't want to be the prosecute Trump president, he wanted to pass an infrastructure bill. Burnham doesn't want to be the take on the hard right PM, he wants to do social care reform and devo. But you have to do the task you're set or face disaster.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

A highlight when listening to the post-Coventry Let Me Talk episode was the discovery that me and my partner aren't the only ones whose Samsung TV defaults automatically to the Robot Wars channel... (All Robot Wars, all the time!)

A classic 90s episode of Robot Wars, shown on the Robot Wars channel.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

About to enjoy one of the best Chinese restaurants in Chinatown...

The menu for A Plus Oriental, Manchester, on a table.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Wow, City were awful in that 2nd half. One to avoid on MoTD I'd say, a team with a bit more about them than Coventry would've won today.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

"City's best players have been Chico and Anderson today" - half time analysis from my dad there, who I think meant Cherki. After a very dodgy opening spell where City could've been 2 down due to their own stupidity, things have since improved.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

At the football today, and the main thing I'm excited for is seeing Frank Lampard's excellent comb over...

Frank lampard sits in the dugout. He has a comically poor comb over with his remaining hair.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Desmond, mate, you aren't helping here.

A white and black cat sits on a work laptop, making further work impossible

As if to really rub it in, said white and black cat has now fully laid over the laptop, really making any work even harder to do.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Spent a large portion of the Bank Holiday stripping back wallpaper and pulling up carpets to expose the old floorboards, as I'm now middle aged. Ably supervised by Desmond, who spent most of his Bank Holiday watching us hard at work from his perch on the bed, making sure all went to plan.

A shot of a bedroom with the wallpaper pulled off exposing the knackered plaster underneath, and floorboards that're seeing the light of day probably for the first time in 30 years or more.

Desmond, a white and black cat, sits on a bed where hes been watching all the hard work going on around him.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Me and my mates always do a start of the season prediction and, as a *joke*, I picked Spurs to go down but... Maybe they actually will get relegated this time?! Can't see how some of their buys (Savinho for all that money) really help them, and De Zerbi is crackers.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

I've put my top 5 in the replies, but Manchester is so well served by pubs and local breweries (such as the big 4 of Hydes, J W Lees, Robinsons, Holts), as shown by @totalcurtis.bsky.social's guide to Manchester's best pubs (mine now very well thumbed!), it's hard to pick just 5!

The front page of Matthew Curtis' guide to Manchester's best pubs, featuring cartoon-ised images of the stockport railway viaduct, glass pyramid, marble arch pub, pevril of the peak, and lower Turks head.

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Reposted by JoeBurnsMCR

👻 Jack Djinn Wail 🧞 @jacktindale.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I don't think you can get a better measure of Dolly than how she was brought up in a house were some of her siblings couldn't read, so she set up a foundation where literally anyone could sign-up to have a curated, age-appropriate book, delivered to their children until they entered kindergarten.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

1. There's a-doings a-transpiring! 2. I'm not going to lie to you Marge... So long! 3. "Oh come on Homer, you liked Rashomon." "That's not how I remember it!" 4. Oh, everything looks bad when you remember it. 5. I am familiar with the works of Pablo Neruda.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

That's a decent debut album, that.

A record and insert on a table - Westside Cowboy's debut album it goes on.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Well that (eventually) went better than expected. Anderson looked very good when he was on.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Good to be back, even if the team does not fill me with confidence at all.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Hair of the dog ahead of the first game of the season.

A pint of Timothy Taylor's in a Manchester pub.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Well that was nice of United to provide a distraction from what I think will be a poor start to the season from City tomorrow.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Post a photo that should be an album cover (continuing the animal theme here...)

A monkey in Gibraltar sits on a stone outcrop and stares away into the distance, staring off camera of course.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

The book didn't lie, that really was a very hungry caterpillar that's been at work here...

Leaves on a plant that's been growing in our back garden, completely decimated by a swarm of caterpillars.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Just heading home from a Pasni Celebration for a friend's firstborn, where (amongst other things) it was all you can eat Nepalese food at a fantastic Nepalese restaurant in South Manchester, so this has been a good Sunday so far, even if I sort of feel like I need to be rolled home now.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

One area where we do pretty well in Manchester is each of the main local breweries all have a bitter on tap in their pubs (our local is a Hyde's and theirs is very good, will usually have that or the Dark Ruby, a mild). Lots of the smaller breweries do them too (such as Marble's Manchester Bitter)!

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Been stripping down wallpaper and coving ahead of all the walls/ceiling being re-plastered, and I now firmly understand the electoral appeal of Homer Simpson's "Can't someone else do it" election slogan.

A hallway looking into a room, ripped down coving and wallpaper blocking up the doorway.

The corner of a room with wallpaper stripped and coving taken down.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Picked this up from Piccadilly Records before pub yesterday so time to give it a listen. Only the standard version cos I'm cheap - some of the fancier versions cost over £40, which I simply will not pay for one (1) record! Accompanying booklet is fancy.

The new Phoebe Bridgers album "Lost weekend" on vinyl - black with her face in a sort of hologram styling, and black accompanying booklet.

The open booklet, lyrics for songs on a sort of faux medieval manuscript styling.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Some twats near us were letting off fireworks earlier today (at 4pm! It was light! Why?!). So I guess on that basis I'm pro the alert we all got, because some people are, well, twats, and we need to do all we can to give them no excuse. Was a surprise for us all in the pub, mind.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

International Cat Day you say? Well then, enjoy these photos of Vinny and Desmond displaying their very different personalities...

A white and black cat is sat on a folded over laundry basket, looking into camera, his collar has a green bow tie.

A white and black cat has rolled over onto his back to allow belly rubs, and he's looking very pleased with himself.

A black and white cat bites on, grabs and kicks a cat nip filled banana toy.

A black and white cat and fully stretched out as he played with a cat nip filled banana toy.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

I always enjoy the deranged overreactions you get from 'concerned locals' in stories like this - no, having a music festival taking place down the road is *not* akin to living in Nazi Germany, can you not see how mad and out of proportion that sounds? manchestermill.co.uk/you-live-in-...

manchestermill.co.uk

You live in a sleepy village, then a ‘face melting’ festival arrives

Some residents say life is akin to living in ‘Nazi Germany’. Others say it’s just a bit of fun

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Desmond seems annoyed that "fussing over Desmond" isn't in my to do list in my notebook, and so has taken matters into his own hands...

A white and black cat sits on a notebook and pen, making it impossible to use without moving him...

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Just had one of the most ludicrously good meals I've ever had, entirely due to good fortune. Me and my partner are just back from The Walled Garden, run by chef Eddie Shepherd. And we got our place there because a neighbour booked, then realised she couldn't go - so we got to go instead!

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Just had a radicalising moment getting my haircut, as my barber of 13 years explained how his rent from September goes up £3k, no negotiation from the landlord, and the woman in the next unit is seeing hers go up £4k, take it or leave it. Absentee landlord, all comms through a letting agent...

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I have to say, sometimes I'm extremely jealous of Desmond's life, as I look over from my work laptop to see what he's up to.

Desmond, a white and black cat, is lay on a bed, snoozing. His face looks like he's smiling, and whilst you can't see this in a photo, he is snoring contentedly as well.

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Well, just seen The Odyssey, and I can confidently say Christopher Nolan has read a book about, or possibly listened to a podcast about, the Sea Peoples... (Maybe the In Our Time about the Bronze age collapse from a few years ago)

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JoeBurnsMCR @joeburnsmcr.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Current status - full of sushi

A mixed platter of various types of sushi and sashimi on a wooden table.

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