iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Thankfully, a "strict quarantine" which is "not voluntary" is a very gentle way of describing how FUNCTIONAL totalitarian regimes respond. It's not a curfew that'll be broken by folks having parties because "y'all can't tell me what t'do…FREEDOM!" Here's A 20-year map of Lab-Acquired Infections:

2157

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Wait, people are still using American mapping technology? In the Free World, we have German-Dutch provider Here Technologies. wego.here.com To be fair, Google Maps isn't lying to Canadians about the lake's name yet (see below). Like the administration, maybe it starts by lying to Americans first.

010

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Observations that only make sense to the humans of #cats (right, #CatSky?): According to science, clean, unseasoned roast chicken is made up of 60% frenzied acrobatic joy, and 40% cat poop. It's going to be hard to finish my own chicken sandwich while my roommate is illustrating this principle.

A black bombay cat, quietly turning chicken into pure joy... well, pure joy with one other byproduct.

040

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

I'd say your pictures tell the whole story, but you have to zoom in a little more on that upper left one to see the totally demolished East Wing lying smashed to rubble while the *checks notes* Ultimate Fighting arena consumes the South Lawn. In the words of Childish Gambino... this is America.🗽🇺🇸

1332

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

I expect them to have written notice the deal was defunct as of Thursday, yet sit on that info during a very profitable Friday and most of the weekend. It convinces me that an #EnglishLIt prof has no place in Finance. The next time I hear "Marvell" & "Poet" in the same sentence, I expect this guy:

Details about the timing of the Marvell/Poet deal collapse. Courtesy of Investing.com.

The Works of Andrew Marvell. From the Wordsworth Poetry Library—which is to say, the most affordable edition after the #POET/#MARVELL pump-and-dump disaster.

000

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

...Because nerding out means I can't stop following a lead, I worry about the relationship of "HL+FH." The photographer, Dr. Cowbourne, posted in reverse chronological order. Her photo must be closer to Annie Cambridge's ~Dec.2025: Their love is fresh. Rubbed off ~12w ago—yet "Gina+Dom" weren't.

Posted 12 weeks ago by Dr. Cowbourne: Only the faint traces of HL+FH remain, but "Gina+Dom XXX" still remain a hot item, as do "F+C" just below and to the right of their heart.

That suggests to me that it wasn't a caretaker or official person cleaning the graffiti off—just a bitter lover who wanted those two gone in particular.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/DTH5xVyjICx/

000

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

I just got back from a convention where a hot topic was the "bad AI" accusations tanking the careers of #indieauthors. I nerded out not in anger but with curiosity: There might be some AI colour filtering(?) but Google Maps produces the same arch (facing NE, not the path SW) with the same graffiti.

Google Maps view from St. Michael's Tower, Glastonbury Tor, UK.
Source (I'm so sorry for the ridiculous URL!): https://www.google.com/maps/place/Glastonbury+Tor/@51.144444,-2.698611,3a,75y/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sCIABIhA9N4N8PxDw6supsJcBCUe3!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2Fgps-cs-s%2FAPNQkAGJaZqR5uC7GTlw6dBpoS1xItia-_Q_mhteraGF5HasaPht-lPzy2WjLRVn8yQP0oOV-qbCyrkNtzSg1JnQt1rB6LA7MRmkQZFmKIOkivOKbvN16OGvbXTU8xOM8RMBvKXF7PQ1RAO2EgI%3Dw203-h360-k-no!7i2268!8i4032!4m7!3m6!1s0x48721788de2da81f:0x1a10895db78accda!8m2!3d51.144444!4d-2.698611!10e5!16zL20vMDEzN3Fw?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDQxNS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Photo (c)Annie Cambridge (I think), borrowed under Fair Use for commentary. Taken, per her comments, some time in the third week of December 2025.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CVqW9HtGD/

270

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

This was the day I learned that you can, in fact, make a fantastic pie using pears tossed with cinnamon instead of apples... 🇿🇦🇨🇦

Four different types of apples, all marked "Product of USA," and pears, marked "Product of South Arrica."

030

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

It was a perfect, masterful delivery of what should have been an impossible line. Completely baffled, not without hope, but just exhausted by the whole damn business.

020

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

That's one "benefit" to this horror. The other is that Americans' top-secret weaponry is like my cat: bigger & scarier if you don't know what or where he is. Hegseth gives me "lookit all my toys" vibes. The more he reveals as a brag & flex, the better we become at protecting our kids from it.

In the the bedroom at night, Alfie is a truly menacing creature.

Alfred the cat, in the light of day, is not so menacing after all.

010

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

I'm pretty sure that's exactly where you started: Within less than a year, the White House took on a 33% housing cut, after all: it looks pretty austere from the sky

110

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

"Excuse me... did someone say 'Fatal Polling?'"

110

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

I knew one day there'd be a reason to keep this meme on file...

000

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Given that they deploy from unmarked vehicles with masks and no badges, has anyone tried just calling ICE to warn them that Tren de Aragua gang members are gearing up to counter-attck them, and just let them show up to take out the masked armed "hostiles" who have taken steps to NOT be identifiable?

054

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Yeah, I can't imagine who'd think this is okay. Maybe someone at #Discord should tell their new hire, "Jeff from Human Resources," that a U.S. company asking for a list of "fresh 13-17-year-olds" for a special Teen Council is a little sus, even without the "signing bonus" of a van full of candy…

000

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

YEARS ago, in the Hilary/Bernie primary, I thought we might one day see the Democrat Primary as the REAL U.S. election: "the libs" would become lefty Democrats (Bernie &c.) and OG Republicans would rally behind Democrats sliding to the right (Hilary &c.). The winner easily defeats the Molester Cult.

A map of the United States at the time of the 2016 Democratic Primary presidential election. Hillary Clinton's wins are concentrated throughout the American South, particularly the former Confederacy.

A map of the American Civil War, 1861-1865

000

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

That's the exact movie I cite whenever I remember that it can take 2,000 people a year or more to make a feature-length film: for every contributor who dropped the ball or delivered subpar work, there are hundreds of folks who brought their "A" game EVERY DAY. Any film is good if you look for them.

The Shadow, from the 1994 film of the same name.

040

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

That bass line was the work of Jamaican-born bassist Phil Chen, who played with Rod Stewart from 1978-80 and was a much in-demand session player for everybody from Jeff Beck to Brian May's short-lived "Star Fleet Project."

120

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

It takes guts to waltz into the #WorldSeries at age 22, six weeks into your major-league career, and beat a record that Sandy Coufax has held since 1963. But it takes guts on a whole different level to waltz into #SandyCoufax's house, #DodgerStadium, and do it while he's SITTING RIGHT THERE.

000

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

In the immortal words of Malcolm Reynolds, "Might've been on the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one." This one's for you, #BlueJays fans. And you, #Watchmen fans, in case you're jealous the #MLB jocks get more love than us comic nerds during the #WorldSeries. See you in 17 hours!

030

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

If it helps at all, we now have a 24-hour Denny's here in Toronto. The restaurant unites us even in these tough times: if you want to feel like an American, it's a comforting taste of home. If you want to feel like a Canadian, you too can get a Grand Slam anytime you want, day or night.🍳😉⚾

010

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

These are times when tempest-tost boats from Venezuela are getting bombed because they allegedly belong to drug cartels. Times when Trump's $100,000 H-1B fee pretty much bombs the phrase "give me your poor." And as far as I can see, "the huddled masses yearning to breathe free" "are made in USA":

010

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

Here in Toronto, on his last tour, Paul Simon said something shocking introducing "America": "It's about two young people in search of a country they couldn't see anymore. After 50 years, I'm pleased to report I've found America. It's here in Canada." Really makes me rethink OUR commitment to this:

110

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

To be fair, his "teeth" are actually freakishly unnaturally white, both uppers AND lowers, since he has the money to get dental implants & crowns cemented over drilled-out tooth stumps instead of removable dentures.🦷 Most vain cadavers only do the uppers, leaving their lower jaw a tooth graveyard.

Rudy Giuliani, in earlier times when he was more coherent.

A psychotic old man about to waddle into his ninth decade, with the teeth of a 20-year-old supermodel.*

*where the rest of the supermodel is, who knows? He owns a lot of golf courses.

4101

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

After coming all the way from France, little #Madeline is going to be awfully disappointed. Though there's something about all this, though I can't quite put my finger on it, that gives me the sinking feeling the end of tours isn't the loudest cause for alarm in America right now...

The cover of John Bemelmans Marciano's "Madeline at the White House," revisited after MAGAmerica's return to power.

Interior art from John Bemelmans Marciano's "Madeline at the White House," slightly retouched to reflect MAGAmerica's rise to power.

110

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

There's always a little girl in red, isn't there?

100

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

6/x …Demi Lovato began their public singing careers with "I Love You, You Love Me" opposite Barney the Dinosaur, by way of example. God help the folks who decide at age 15 that they're going to make it as popstars. That's like deciding to start your career as an Olympic gymnast at age 40. It has…

100

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

Meanwhile, in the sovereign nation, ICC founder, NATO & Commonwealth member state of 🍁Canada, which will never be the 51st state… (yes, I know this GIF is slightly behind the times, but I feel Americans don't yet know our new PM Dr. Carney as well as they know the very-TV-friendly Mr. Trudeau...)

Animated GIF of former Canadian President Justin Trudeau, smiling and laughing as he eats from a big bag of popcorn, thoroughly entertained.

000

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

2/2 …new original music with other talented people. After I left the scene for grad school I've never been professional ever since. I'm never seen or heard. I can't ever "plug in" with no backup. Music's a lonely meditation for me now. I overdub myself (see below), and make music for myself alone.

Desolation Sound (2018), my only album, was an 80-minute double album. With zero support, I made it all on my home computer, playing every instrument since no one knew me anymore and no funding body would front me the money to hire strangers and keep them employed.

It sounds "okay" but it's not near the quality I could have had with other human beings involved:
https://lukemaynard.bandcamp.com/album/desolation-sound

I wonder sometimes what I'd sound like, how good I'd be, if I had been born into an area when doing this for a living was viable. The truth is that trying to sneak a couple of minutes a week here and there to make little recordings for no one is not going to carry me anywhere near the talent of the people who make this their day-job and never stop exploring music.

I live in a smaller world now. I'm not sure why, or for whom, I keep going. I'm getting sicker over time. I'll lose the ability to do this soon.

TL;DR I made sounds for a while. I'm mostly silent now. But it feels like I didn't give up music: music just gave up on me.

000

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Now I see it: The picadores in the press like have done their job. The banderilleros in the House have got his anger up. Even the rodeo clowns of late night have done their part to goad the beast. We come now at last to the most dangerous stage, and the most thrilling: #JackSmith's sword-dance.

In the Tercio de muerte, the final act of the corrida, a cunning matador lures an overweight orange bull towards the estoque de verdad, the sword of truth.

020

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

And not that any of us should take our geopolitics from Lex Luthor, but the release of a new #Superman reminds me of the other effect a three-nation MexCasCan alliance would have: "Bye bye, America. Hello new West Coast, OUR West Coast." (A 4th nation that also make sense: NY and all states east).

0100

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

There are LOTS of good apolitical stories out there. People who need a break from politics can go enjoy them. But as long as the political landscape is dominated by a ruler whose God complex is second only to his Zod complex, then NO, #Superman movies are the LEAST likely to avoid political themes.

Donald Trump & co. as General Zod & co., invading the White House, from "Superman II."

061

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

I just try to look on the bright side: other than the smog (and the wildfires), LA has the best weather in the world. When is it NOT a beautiful day for kite flying? 😉🪁🌤️

Hot tip: with a breaking force of over 360 pounds, stainless steel aircraft wire is a lightweight but strong way to ensure that no matter how powerful or cruel the prevailing winds get, your kite will never blow away on you!

Hot tip: Kites bearing the flag of a forever sovereign country that will never be conquered by diaper-wearing gangsters (in this case, Canada) is a great way to remind people who sends their best wishes.

010

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

It ran from Chicago to LA, straight through Albuquerque until the Interstate highway system in the '70s. Until 1937, it ran through downtown N-S. That year, the alignment of the highway was changed to E-W, so the intersection of Central Ave. & 4th St., became the corner of Route 66 and Route 66.

Cenral Ave. & 4th Street, Albuquerque, NM (Google Maps). Today it looks like just another developed downtown intersection.

The restaurant "On The Route" exists on the corner, but it's not clear WHICH version of the Route they think they're on.

Around 1940, this is what the hightway system looked like. The I-25 and the I-40 were both highways that made up part of Route 66. So if you were headed west to LA, you were headed to Flagstaff AZ (like the Bobby Troup song says). On a sunny afternoon you might drive 300 miles in the wrong direction, and only recognize you were in the wrong place when you suddenly arrived back in Oklahoma city, or on the Mexican border (as in "Bully for Bugs," perhaps) when the sun started setting on the wrong side of you.

Actually, plotting it out, this is the first time that I realized that's the whole POINT of the joke in its original context: the fact that he ended up in a bullfighting ring is specifically a reference to taking the exact wrong turn he mentioned, and ending up in Mexico rather than at Coachella (which was a far older festival than I realized).

061

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

It's hard for modern drivers to appreciate that in pre-freeway America, c.1940, if you were headed west to LA and turned around on the 66/66 interchange around noon, you wouldn't know you were going the wrong way until you hit the WRONG major city, or the sun started setting on the wrong side.😖

A map of the US highways surrounding Albuquerque, NM c. 1940.

151

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

Now, now... the idea that Trump is going to enter into a sinister pact with an even more powerful, hidden evil so he can spy on everyone using one of the lost Seeing Stones is a lit...ohhhh.... oh no

020

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

That's not a contradiction at all.🌈🍁 Mr. Trudeau likes being straight, and yet...

Candian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau marches in the Toronto Pride Parade in 2016, shown here prancing and frolicking in a shower of glitter and rainbows, surrounded by 25,000 strangers on Canada's largest public street.

The Canadian Parliament does not have a Secret Service for his protection. He's just there, celebrating love with 25,000 of his friends.

Meanwhile at left, the ONE GUY they send out as his plainclothes security detail follows him through the parade, looking decidedly uncomfotable about just how very unsecured the location is.

000

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

If the Emoluments Clause didn't stop this from happening, not even this time, but the first time, then I'm beginning to doubt whether the Consitution of the United States of America—that country we loved & stood by, in spite of it all—has any vestigial relevance to whatever country you live in now.

The interior of the golden jet of Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud (الوليد بن طلال آل سعود) of Qatar, probably not unlike the mobile airborn throne room the Qataris had planned for Emperor Donald I of MAGAmerica, the 21st-century country succeeding the United States.

Artist's depiction of the future Mobile Command Palace of Emperor Donald I.

000

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

4/x …people were paying scalpers for obscured-back-corner-of-the-highest-balcony seats. I'll never get this lucky again. And it felt nice to see that Paul-the-already-rich-guy wasn't gouging us. It was all the celebrity profiteers that stand between him & the people who just like music. All that…

Paul Simon (2nd from left, signature red cap) with his Seven Psalms band. Massey Hall, Toronto, 27 May 2025.

Paul Simon, live at Massey Hall, Toronto, 27 May 2025.

110

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

What a master. One of my lifelong #guitar heroes. I'll never get tired of hearing just how clean, how superb #ChetAtkins was. It's funny; just tonight I was going through old basement tracks & found this " #OverTheRainbow "—just fooling around on 3 guitars—so obviously a tribute to Chet's style.

010

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

If I'm ever old & successful, I'll grab a friend's grandkid who's old enough to speak a full sentence, and write a song with her. I'll do 99% of the work; but a kid WILL independently rhyme "heart" & "apart." If I have to split the rights with her, cool! My heirs will have my share for 150 years.

An elderly man and a young girl holding a battered acoustic guitar, smiling together.

020

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

"Ten dollars, two credit cards, a hairbrush and a lipstick?"

Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder as Clark Kent and Lois Lane in "Superman: The Movie (1978)."

010

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

It does give Woody Guthrie's song "Old Man Trump" a little bit more mileage, even two generations later... Repression of the arts brings me one small comfort: even in this age where the Arts & Humanities have been devalued, they're still terrified of the power of poetry and song—as they SHOULD be!

010

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

2/2 …you play an acoustic instrument in a GIANT STADIUM, you WILL get uncontrollable feedback unless you dent your magazine-cover perfect look with this ugly $8 Guitar Center add-on. It's not ugly to me. It's the most beautiful part of her kit because it means #TaylorSwift is doing this for real.

120

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

For most of my recording life, all I've had was two AKG C1000s mics I inherited from my Dad. The box says "Dynamic Mic" but they're actually small-diaphragm condensers. They're great on a budget, but more like a Bowie knife than a Swiss army knife: all you ever need if you only ever need one thing.

An AKG C1000S from an older generation (pre-1998 at least). This is the generation of mic I have, at least 2 or 3 generations back from what they call the C1000S now - but they're still in better condition than this one.

All I've ever had to do is replace the foam windscreen that goes over the capsule—after 30 yeas it just sort of rotted off, and exact replacements, if you're persnickety about such things (I was) are tough to find.

They do everything, though. Acoustic instruments, great for that. Vocals, great for that both live and in the studio, if you keep them on a mic stand. The EQ difference when you're a variable distance from the capsule can be too much to use this as a handheld vocal mic, I imagine.

210

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

One thing we often forget in a US-driven age is just how powerful MPs can be in our parliament system as MORE than just a vote for the PM. Elizabeth May has made that abundantly clear. So has NDP-Timmins MP @charlieangus104.bsky.social of Grievous Angels fame (photo of Woody Guthrie not unrelated.)

Woody Guthrie, with one of his (at least two) guitars to bear the same iconic message, as if the songs he wrote didn't say this loud enough already.

I guess when you're born hollerin' in protest, and immediately given the name Woodrow Wilson, you're pretty much destined to tie your music to politics for the rest of your life.

020

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

2/2 …from within, despite repeated self-soothing insistence that "we're doing all we can." People don't recognize that not everybody's resistance role looks the same. Joe Soldier on the Normandy Beaches was fighting the Nazis—but so was Ethel who babysat Rosemary's kids so she could go make rivets.

0150

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

If that's the case, I wonder if it'd be better strategy to give it a month to populate before you tell the slow movers. My welcome post was one of the first 9000 posts there. Another big selling point is their fix to Facebook's frustrating "whatever-we-want-you-to-see" newsfeed problem:

000

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

ME: " #Trump has hit a new low. Never in history has a head of state lowered himself to the level of shilling for a wealthy automaker who throws #Nazi salutes, all to shore up and distract from his nation's collapsing economy." HISTORIANS: "Well, actually, there was that ONE time..."

Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, shilling for Ferdinand Porsche's "Volkswagen" in a decidedly Trumpian way.

Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in 1936, shilling for the makers of Ferdinand Porsche's "Volkswagen" in a decidedly Trumpian way.

3185