iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

This happened to me the one time I used a laptop actually for "work". I was invited to do a day of Duke Ellington with the jazz band of the Queen's Division regiment. For some reason I needed to access something I hadn't printed off beforehand, so I switched it on...It was all downhill from there.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Confronted with, not subjected to - I misquoted you, but I'm sure you understood that.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I told you I donated money to people actually fighting fascists. You nevertheless describe me as “non-committal” because I don't make political speeches at jazz concerts. You have an absolutist view that every performer must denounce evil publicly, and ludicrously apply it equally to me & Sheeran?

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

We're all subject to monstrosities. The world is awful. I've given money to help Georgian volunteers eject Russians from Ukraine. But I certainly don't air my views on Russia & Israel at concerts of my jazz orchestra. Is there some arbitrary threshold of fame above which you think I should?

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Sheeran has been apolitical for years without anybody caring, surely? The “consequences” arose because another artist deliberately used Sheeran's tour to make a political intervention, thereby forcing his stance into a controversy it hadn't previously been part of.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

For the Telegraph to say he should be "applauded for putting music first" is just as stupid as the opposinf view which says he is obliged to take a side. There is no moral superiority in either position, and Sheeran is simply entitled to choose to be political or to not be political, full stop.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

This is absolutist nonsense, effectively saying that no performer is moral unless they publicly take a side on a genocide, a conflict, abortion rights, etc. Am I obliged to air my hatred for genocide at concerts of my jazz orchestra? How unfamous do I have to be for the rule not to apply?

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I'm afraid your attempt to get lots of people to drive up the Burberry share price so that you can predict the point at which to sell them later, is far too transparent.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Some years ago I tried to fool people into thinking that Cherry Hinton, in Cambridge, was very well-to-do and was actually pronounced "Charnton". I've always been disappointed I couldn't make it stick.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

DON'T TOP POST. It's bloody irritating. Someone just added me to an email conv. on Duke Ellington, with a question about the Togo Brava Suite. I don't understand the question because the whole thread is upside down, unintelligible. At ARM I learnt to reply /after/ the quoted email. Common sense.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

6/ The case bottom and lid top are 4mm plywood and I'm keeping them, so digging in to gouge out the legs of the rivets isn't helpful. Instead, I'm carefully drilling off the heads of most of them and pushing them through. I've sourced new rivets - 11 gauge with a 7/32" head (5.5mm), nickel plated.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

5/ good news: the old 3/8" plywood can be replaced by 9mm structural plywood of which I have plenty left over from lining my workshop. Next, then, was removing all the braces and corner brackets. Everything is riveted in using bifurcated rivets, folded over into the plywood rather haphazardly.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

4/ It didn't take long to see that the back piece, which suffers repeated load when the lid is thrown open, was almost completely delaminated. I could pull it apart easily.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

3/ Then the long process of dismembering the case, and working out what I need, began. The lining is a fabric-backed plush mostly glued inside, apart from the accessories compartment which was nailed in. Once that was out I could start examining the construction properly.

Removing the lining from a saxophone case.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

2/ It didn't take too long to find an appropriate material, "leathercloth" from Ratchford.co.uk in Manchester. I got an A4 sample then bought a 6m roll, enough for two baritone sax cases, because my original Conn case from my other baritone is not exactly tip-top either.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

1/ Call me mad, but I decided to undertake a restoration of this old baritone saxophone case. The leatherette is half gone and the plywood carcass is falling apart.

Disintegrating baritone sax case, at least 60 years old, I believe.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

The 10x jeweller's loupe is set in thermoplastic and is just beyond the focal length of the cheapo magnifying glass. I stopped the magnifying glass down to about 20mm and made a screen with a hole in it to put the whole thing in the shade.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Apparently, we'll get about 90% of the eclipse in South Cambridgeshire, so I improvised this projector using a magnifying glass, a jeweller's loupe, some thermoplastic, two microphone stands and a load of cardboard.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

There's a good argument for saying Parliament's right to conclude an investigation uninterrupted and to sanction an MP is more important than whether the MP is forced to continue getting the salary, etc. Also, it pressures the inquiry to be timely, but also maintains innocent until found guilty.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

I think you chose the wrong sort of language there, even if the idea is spot on. We didn't need hyperbole about Farage's misdemeanours. We just needed to say that Parliament should complete its investigation. Simple point of principle.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

There are no "less wholesome" precedents. The only precedent was this one in which Lord Chelsea was prevented from resigning because of an ongoing bribery investigation. Convention stands well here and is not being abused, even if it was over 150 years ago.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

What's remarkable is how straightforward progs were in presenting science/tech in those days. Anything like that these days would be twice the length, full of unnecessary CGI, repeating the basic facts in case we forgot what was said two minutes ago, all with loud epic music in the background.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Nigel Farage has both offered to pay for an unnecessary by-election and, barely two hours earlier, claimed that he couldn't be bothered to make an insurance claim on a vehicle that had to be written off. Being so blase about money is something the electorate should worry about. #NigelFarage

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

No, he's trying to pretent that a renewed mandate overrides the law and the rules of Parliament. Fascist playbook?

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

I'm afraid that's not at all a realistic scenario for Clacton.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

If Farage loses his self-inflicted by-election, he could, in a year's time, vie to become chairman of FIFA. That's a role very much suited to a grifter, I gather.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

If the people of Clacton believe that by re-electing Farage to Parliament they will show that their mandate locally is more important than the laws of the land, then they really all can fuck off. They would be showing just what they think of democracy and the rule of law.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

So, do I take it that Farage genuinely believes that a mandate from the electoral overrides the rules of the Parliament? Parliament can sod its rules because he's got a mandate? Wow.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

"People vs the establishment by-election"? No, it's just a by-election, and the Standards Committee investigation will continue regardless.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Oh, guess what? He's back to the "men can't wear watches in London" trope again.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Witter, witter, witter, witter, witter. Just get to the point, you grifting liar. I already know the outcome as I'm watching on a short delay...but seriously...witter, witter, witter, witter.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Why is he referring to Charlie Kirk but not to actual British MPs who were murdered?

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Farage is such a grifter that he can afford to have a car written off without making an insurance claim. That is subtley disturbing.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Is this frog-faced grifter going to ramble on for half an hour trying to justify his multiple income streams and pretend that personal donations (err, do I mean for security?) simply aren't relevant in the 12 months before an election?

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

He's a twat, and he's still talking about "the establishment" as if weren't the prime example.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

No, he keeps talking about devolution and mayors. Has he once said that powers given to subnational bodies would be constitutionally guaranteed? Only the Lib Dems have a real federalisr policy (what I partially wrote) although the party establishment seem to want to bury it.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

No it's not. You have to build them high and also strong enough to withstand a vehicle impact. Masses of steel and concrete. Retrofitting solar to car parks is nonsense.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Directly elected officials just shouldn't exist anywhere in the UK. Horrible idea. Pluralistic elected assemblies, with cabinet government, should be the norm for /all/ tiers of government.

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Reposted by Michael Kilpatrick

East Anglia Bylines @eastangliabylines.co.uk · 06/06/2026

You can read this in under a minute: After Rupert Lowe spent days criticising a Pride flag, one Great Yarmouth resident posted a pithy response.

eastangliabylines.co.uk

A constituent’s pithy message for Rupert Lowe

After reading a post on Facebook from his MP, Rupert Lowe, Great Yarmouth resident Karl Sherwood felt compelled to reply

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

If the hippo were supposed to be an elephant then it wouldn't be one of the thirteen mistakes because nobody would be wanting to talk about it.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

8/ Ah, the switch carrier actually comes out, so it may be easier to glue it. I also found the Start microswitch is dying. I'm going to unsolder it and swap it with one we don't use. I've got no idea what the P, kg, M1 and M2 switches do. And here is a good use of staples as reinforcement!

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

7/ But the switches that are temperamental are the ones that have broken off at the two rather small connection points at the ends of the arms:

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

6/ Hmm. The switch tops are supposed to be attached to the moulding by two little springy arms...

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

5/ Will the switch internals all fly across the room when I remove the PCB? Is there a membrane? It feels too mechanical for that...

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

4/ Now I just need to find out if I can actually access the switch internals and if they are actually serviceable.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

3/ Making sure I photograph everything, although it's straightforward, just the colour-coded relay plugs could get mixed up.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

2/ This 25yr old microwave has got progressively worse - the Start and most-used 900W button are almost inoperable. So, out it comes from the housing.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

1/ Wish me luck, @breakintoprogram.co.uk. It's microwave switch repair time!

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

I went to the Kennedy Centre last Thursday, as my friend Maureen Kerrigan was performing in Shear Madness and the couple in front of me on my flight from Heathrow were performing on the Millennium Stage earlier the same night. Didn't look at all decaying, the bits I saw.

Set of Shear Madness at the Kennedy Centre.

Lily Neill and Clive Carroll performing at the Kennedy Centre.

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