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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 1h

TV quiz show question: "The word pneumatic means something is powered by what?" My wife and I at the same time: "Pneums." We've lived together for a long time.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 3h

There's a trending post from Vivaldi about them disabling the Google AI API in their Chromium base code, and there's a comment on there from someone saying that only a tiny percentage of people care about this announcement. And I wonder what percentage of people care about that comment, and yet […]

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 8h

Started a re-read of the Jack Campbell Lost Fleet series. It's an annoying series because the tactical space battle bits are superb and the base storyline is a good one, but the characters are appalling paper-thin stereotypes, the dialogue is embarrassing, the alien species are laughable, and […]

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 11h

My mum's side of the family for #ThrowbackThursday this week. This is likely late 1930s, either Mayo, Sligo, or Galway. The woman on the left is Norah Boyle which probably means the young girl in the middle is Anne, my mum's aunt who came across to England ahead […] [Original post on mstdn.social]

Scan of an old black and white photo. Two women and two girls are standing in a field to have their photo taken. The pale sepia tones of the image and possibly some ageing of the picture suggest it's an overcast day but the clothing tells us it's not that cold. The two girls have light-coloured, pale-patterned knee-length dresses on, and the girl on the left has her hands clasped in front of her. The woman next to her has her arms on the shoulders of both girls either side of her and she's wearing a cardigan and striped skirt down past her knees. A similar length but spotted skirt is worn by the woman on the right whose arms are behind her back. Everyone's got a fairly serious face on them.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/10/2026

Over this week's episodes of #Pointless there's been a woman contestant on with two - that's two - degrees. She's got no answers right, and spectacularly so, and described herself as "a woman of many talents". An answer beginning with L? Her answer began with B. A 10-letter word answer? Her […]

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/10/2026

"Presenting the Definitive Special Edition of the Mos Eisley cantina scene. Finally, the scene is exactly as it was always intended to be, until the next release." www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcvue1y9B7o #StarWars #HanSolo #Auralnauts #Video #SciFi

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/10/2026

For #MeerMittwoch here's somewhere we'll be heading back to next month: A Coruña in Galicia, northern Spain. It'll be the last stop back on our cruise down to the Canaries for a couple of weeks and it's a lovely port, so easy to explore on foot and spend money […] [Original post on mstdn.social]

There's not a cloud in the sky and there's barely a ripple on the water's surface of the sheltered harbour we're gazing out across. It feels like early morning, but hot already. The shoreline consists of large rocks gathered to form tidal protection, and it curves around to a long raised wall area that leads outwards to a small, grey-stoned fort on the left, obviously to defend this access point to the city behind us in times past. The water is very clear, a translucent green to the sandy surface of the harbour just in front of us before it gets deeper and the sea gets darker away from the shore. Far away to the right there's more land of this city stretching out and beyond the harbour entrance behind the closer fortifications. Warehouse and small cranes for loading ships hide a more distant city of small tower blocks and houses.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026

Caught up with #GBBO and Nigella is making this series a difficult one to watch. I really expect someone so connected with food to be able to eat it without making me question if this is their first day on Earth as a human every time.

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Reposted by Mark H

Danie van der Merwe @danie10.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026

Map Animator makes animated route maps for travel and adventure videos, right in your browser “It's made for people who film their trips: motorcycle tours, cycling, hiking, road trips and sailing. Draw the route or use your GPX recording, give it a look, and get a video clip that shows where […]

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026

Catching up with some TV quizzes and remarking that there are some absolute fecking eejits who appear on these things. It must be a day of the week ending with Y.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026

For #TrainTrackTuesday here's a vintage locomotive restored to use in Uruguay by amateur enthusiasts. We rode this 35 kilometres from the capital city to a vineyard north of it back in 2016 where we proceeded to get absolutely bladdered on wine. #Photography […] [Original post on mstdn.social]

It's a sunny day with a few patches of white cloud in the sky and one's just covering the sun so the view is bright but flat with few shadows. We're standing on grass, just to the right of a single railway track that's stretching directly ahead of us, sleepers half-buried in the gravel underneath the rails. On the left side of the rail there's more grass, short with dirt patches in places, and with a raised shed of corrugated iron sheeting, mostly white-walled with a rusted red roof. The grass on our side of the rail track is narrower before it reaches bushes that are partly hiding some more buildings further along, and there are at least a dozen people milling about, middle-aged for the most part, in short-sleeved shirts, and quite a few with cameras. The attraction is a vintage steam locomotive on the tracks facing us. It's black with a cylindrical body topped with headlamp and smokestack. There's a pointed cowcatcher at the front just above the rails and a red identification board behind it reads "No. 120". A yellow flag is mounted on the right of the engine and the Uruguayan flag in on the left.

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Saustrup @saustrup.mstdn.dk.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

I fell for the Booking.com WhatsApp scam today. There has apparetly been a #databreach at #bookingcom, which provides a little bit of truth to this "please verify your credit card now" scam. They knew my name, my phone number, the hotel I was staying at and the exact dates. That, a little bit of […]

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

Another twenty minutes and we could have had a close contest. #UniversityChallenge

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

Got 1 in the specialist subject rounds (on the Aztecs) which is 1 more than usual, so that's nice. #Mastermind

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

From this day in 2017, and our first visit to Amsterdam where tourism law dictated we must take a canal ride (amongst many other things). The tower here belongs to the 17th century church, Westerkerk, and it's Amsterdam's highest church tower. #Photography […] [Original post on mstdn.social]

It's a partly cloudy day, the clouds looking like they could be persuaded to rain at some point while the patches of blue sky try to part them. We're on a boat on a canal in Amsterdam so we're low to the water and looking along the length of one of the canal routes. A low bridge crosses the water just ahead of us, supported by four thick brick pillars and with a slight curve to it so that the central part of the bridge has enough clearance for the canal boats here, of which there is one approaching from the other side. Buildings are up on the banks either side of the canal but they're mostly hidden behind trees that crowd in from either end of the bridge, framing the scene along the water. A tall tower of a church rises up further down the right bank, mostly dark brick until the upper parts are in lighter stone with a red clock face low down and ornate crown and globe decorations at the very peak.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

Darker and cooler start to the day. Definitely more difficult to get out of bed this morning. Thankfully, my bladder had some words of encouragement in that respect.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Do I think that was a foul? No. But am I okay with it being called a foul because it was against the Chiefs and therefore both rare and funny? Yes. #NFL

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Well, what a difference a week makes. I was not anticipating a win at the Bills and such an improved performance, but there was some lovely football there today. Way to go, Patriots. #NFL #Patriots

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Great 97 yard opening drive for us with a 4th down conversion in there too. Let's build on that. #NFL #Patriots

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Expectations for a Patriots win against the Bills are about as low as they can be now that we've added key injuries on the defensive side to go with all the injuries on the offensive side. It'd be nice not to get stomped all over. #NFL #Patriots

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Ah, what a damn shame. A close result, but the Roosters deserved that given all their pressure in the second half. A great Knights defence couldn't hold off all that. #NRLGF #NRL #RugbyLeague

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

We have a 1-point game with three minutes to go. Holy crap. #NRLGF #NRL #RugbyLeague

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Two #RugbyLeague grand finals, two days apart, two sides of the world, attended by over 150,000 fans in the stadiums, and we can't even get the upcoming Rugby League World Cup on free-to-air TV over here in the UK.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

#FotoVorschlag - Objekte die mit "I" beginnen oder so aussehen Photo theme - Objects beginning with or resembling the letter I This is the island of Nordfugløya in the far north of Norway. #Photography #Travel #Norway #Island #Snow #Landscape

We're at sea looking across the relatively calm surface to a steep-sided, rocky, mountainous island in the distance. The slopes and upper parts of the blocky, rocky land mass are covered in deep snow and it's clear even from this distance that there are no buildings or signs of human habitation on it. The island and water are in shadow although the sky above is mostly clear and pale blue, dotted with a few small clouds. It has the feel of late evening, perhaps with the sun behind clouds bubbling on the horizon. It's very cold, but fresh and invigorating.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

As neither of our #NRL teams are in the Grand Final it's a bit of a coin toss for who we're going to support. But it's a weighted coin that was always going to land in favour of Newcastle Knights, of course. #RugbyLeague

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

I realise I'm probably the only person who ever mentions #Eurotrash on Mastodon, but it was such a good programme. Sexy bits, of course, great period nostalgia, but such fabulous editing and directing decisions, insane guests and visuals, and Antoine de Caunes was an inspired choice as host […]

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

Quite enjoying the various Harry Potter references to Luke Humphries' forehead injury on the cards held up in the crowd at the #Darts World Grand Prix.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

I've seen a few reviews of the new Tom Cruise film, #Digger, and it's a very Marmite set of reviews so far, with almost every American review I've seen not liking it and every non-American review I've seen feeling the opposite. From the trailer it looks fabulous to me, but then I'm not American.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

YouTube just recommended this video to me for some godonlyknowswhat reason and, honestly, I'm not upset by the algorithm for once. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIfAkOBMf5A #YouTube #Video #Aerobics #1980s #80s #Eighties

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

23-10. Wakefield are the Super League Grand Final champions. A tough second half after a first half that did all the damage. Maybe next year it'll be Warrington's year. #SuperLeague #RugbyLeague #Wakefield #WakefieldTrinity

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

We're looking forward to another great free event in #Portsmouth next weekend too. The Pride march was cancelled this year due to the weather so next weekend there will be a community event at the Guildhall and in the square […]

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

19-0 up. That was an awesome first half for us. Four scores up. I didn't see that coming. #RugbyLeague #SuperLeague #Wakefield #WakefieldTrinity #GrandFinal

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

Finished off the day at #Portsmouth dockyard with some time in nearby Gunwharf for some shopping, a drink in the Old Customs House, then a wander past some of the street art before catching the bus home. #Photography #Gunwharf #SpinnakerTower #StreetArt

Collage of four photos. Top left there's an almost tropical-looking fancy retail outlet with palm trees, old brick buildings, and a stretch of water reflecting it all. People can be seen on chairs near bars. The other three photos are of street art painted into the bricked-in arches of a walled section, part of the historic maritime quarter of the city. One piece is a blue-skinned woman with orange hair and a smirk on her face. One piece is a colourful pink and brown artwork with some flowers and a bearded man speaking in a happy emoji. The last piece looks like Alphabetti Spaghetti in tomato sauce. The words "Choo Choo" can be made out amongst the contents.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

One of the main reasons to come down to #Portsmouth Historic Dockyard today was to see all the lions together. They're been in locations around the city for the last couple of months, all decorated by artists and sponsored by businesses. #Photography #StreetArt #Art #Lion #Sculpture #Dockyard

A collage of four photos featuring identical lion sculptures painted by artists for charitable causes. The lions are lying down with heads raised and all are shot from a similar angle, pointing to the right slightly. One lion is painted in an abstract pattern of orange, blue, and yellow, while another is black and white, both of them geometric. The other two have more artwork on them with one mainly in blue and with the old sailing warship HMS Victory across the chest, while the other features Tudor elements of the design of the local football stadium and the imagery of King Henry VIII.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

Photos from inside Boathouse Number 4 at #Portsmouth Historic Dockyard today. There's a lovely exhibition dedicated to women working at the dockyard here and elsewhere in the country, and a restaurant and bar where a spiced rum-based Espresso Martini found […] [Original post on mstdn.social]

A collage of four photos taken inside a boathouse. It's a vast, cavernous space with yellow girders supporting the roof. In one picture we can see a concrete-walled channel with sliding door that allows boats to be brought inside the boathouse. A view from the upper gantry then shows the size of boathouse with half a dozen boats being worked on next to benches. Photos of women working in the maritime industries decorate a wall in the third photo, and the last shot is of two Martini glasses on an old wooden bar with windows and bottles in the background. The glasses hold some form of Espresso Martini in them.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

We've had a great afternoon down the historic dockyard here in #Portsmouth where a free event has opened it up to everyone for the day. Hazy sunshine and almost zero wind kept the temperature perfect. We've been on boats and pontoons, seen lion sculptures, and […] [Original post on mstdn.social]

We're in a dockyard, looking across still water to a number of vessels berthed either at nearby pontoons or more permanent pier structures behind. There's a haze in the air and the sun's in the sky above, rendered as a pale white glow in a colourless sky as a result. The nearest vessel is a small landing boat with grey and black camouflage paintwork on it. Behind it there are a number of overlapping vessels of different ages, some of them with tall masts reaching into the sky. The more distant view of the Spinnaker Tower fits in well amongst the real masts in front of it.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

For #SchiffsSamstag this is GNV Rhapsody, an Italian cruiseferry in the port of Zadar, Croatia in 2023. In 2012, as Napoleon Bonaparte, she broke moorings in Marseille, hit the dock, and sank. She was refloated and sold. #ShipSaturday #Photography #Travel […] [Original post on mstdn.social]

We're on a cruise ship heading out to sea from a port area. It's a bright day with the only cloud that hovering over very distant mountains and light that suggests it's late afternoon heading into early evening. The sea is calm and our view is back towards a few piers jutting out from the low land of the outskirts of a city. A ship is docked at one of the piers, its bow pointing out to sea and to our left. The ship has a white hull and is quite stocky with two funnels next to each other towards the ship's rear. Large blue lettering GNV is on the ship's side.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

@Jimijamflimflam I thought it was older but yes, an album released last year featuring reworkings of their earlier stuff. Well worth a listen.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

@Jimijamflimflam No. Over The Shoulder is my favourite from their very early period and I love the Squirrely version they released a few years back.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Just played a few Ministry tracks to my wife to prove she had heard some of their stuff even though she claimed not to. Also played To The Hilt by Die Krupps who'll be supporting Ministry next year when we see them. The only track of theirs I know, but I love this song and video. Takes me back […]

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Saw a prompt asking what exciting plans people had for this weekend and I did not reply that we're going to try to book ourselves some flu jabs even though that's true because, after some consideration, we feel that this may not be exciting enough for the prompt.

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Got Jane Wiedlin confused with Lori Petty, looking up which Voyager episode she'd been in - she hadn't - but then discovered she was in Star Trek IV and I'd never realised. So there's that. #TOTP

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Mark H @neonbubble.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

That thing where bands you can't stand will actually put out a tune you can't help but tap your toes to a tad. #TOTP

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