iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 04/10/2026

Polling day 1966. I definitely recognise this particular anxiety

Everyone I saw going into a polling booth I imagined to be a Tory. (Frederick Ward, anxious Labour supporter, Downend, Gloucestershire)

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 03/10/2026

Here’s a kite spoiling another view in the Vendée twenty years ago

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 03/10/2026

“A little subdued” Kynaston p154

‘Friday was Beatles day: in the nation's record shops, the appearance of Rubber Soul ('a little subdued' for the taste of Melody Maker's Pop Panel); and in Glasgow, the start of the group's only UK tour this year (' no riots', reported NME, but still 'two jam-packed houses, some fainting fits, and thunderous waves of screams that set the city's Odeon theatre trembling'). Sadly for George, as they had travelled north that morning in their Austin Princess, a bumpy stretch of road had resulted in his much-loved Gretsch guitar falling out of the boot and into the path of oncoming traffic. 'About 13 lorries went over it before our chauffeur could get near it, he told a music journalist. "Then one of the lorries stopped and the driver came up with the dangling remains of it and said: "Oy, is this 'ere banjo anyfink to do wiv you?"’

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 01/10/2026

Lol, classic. “The head of the firm is dead at present” – a line worthy of Peter Cook

From Kynaston: “and at a party that evening at the American Embassy, Tony Benn encountered Groucho Marx. I like England and its people but this quaintness has gone too far and has got to be stopped,' he told the Postmaster General. 'I ordered a suit and it was four weeks before the first fitting. I asked about another firm of tailors who had made a suit years ago and they said, "It's still going but the head of the firm is dead at present"? This is how the world looks at us, reflected Benn afterwards”

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 30/09/2026

New Kynaston FINALLY in the house. I’d have had it a week ago if I’d ordered from Amazon 🙄

Two books. Danish folk tales, legends and other stories and deep into the 60s by David Kynaston.

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 29/09/2026

Request for Burnham and his team. No more of this kind of thing. Don't trail a speech in advance. Let the press report on it after you've given it. So sick of this kind of non-news

Guardian headline: Andy Burnham expected to say he will push ahead with electoral reform plans. And a big picture of Andy Burnham mid-speech, but not this speech, because it hasn't happened yet

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 28/09/2026

Tennis ball method? (Also, I have found that riding a bike - which is to say, sitting on a bike saddle - has a similar effect)

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 27/09/2026

492 pages, double-spaced Courier Prime, ready for the typo and grammar check. Title reveal for the sharp of eye!

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 27/09/2026

I might be quite interested in this, but £40 for the Kindle edition? And "available from £109 used"? Fergetabahtit

The Oxford book of Ghost Stories in Late Renaissance France

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 25/09/2026

“Why are you asking me? I’m a fucking CHEF, not your gran!”

Stupid clickbait on Apple News:

News+
*Simply
RECIPES
I Asked 3 Chefs if You Really Need To Poke Holes in Baked Potatoes, and They All Said the Same Thing
1h ago
• • •

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 25/09/2026

Walked across the field as the farmer was busy ploughing up the footpath, lol

A ploughed field under a blue sky. Tractor visible on the left

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 21/09/2026

They've gone too far this time

Marketing image for the Panasonic Multishape unit, which can be a toothbrush, a Beard/Body/Hair & Nose/Ear/Facial trimmer etc

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 19/09/2026

The face of a cat who just had a bird under a bed. Who needs feather dusters?

Black cat with dust, cobwebs and feathers sticking to her

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 18/09/2026

Lol, why is Batman's symbol a pair of black underpants?

It's a Guardian squib with the headline "Zack Snyder is angling to make another Batman movie. Stranger things have happened" next to a picture showing a bat searchlight with the bat symbol, which is like a pair of briefs

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 18/09/2026

I think your jacket is shit and I hate the colour

Screen grab of a Rohan marketing email headed “The Only Insulted Jacket You Need”

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 15/09/2026

Any audio folk on here know how these acoustic (?) panels work?

Private Eye podcast studio, which seems to be lined with wooden panels drilled with holes

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 15/09/2026

Good news about the young tomcat abandoned in our neighbourhood in France this summer. He has now been snipped, chipped and adopted by my niece

A grey and white cat stretching luxuriously on a double bed

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 14/09/2026

Yes, I can see it there on the plate

Misspelled Good Housekeeping recipe on Apple News: “See bass with chorizo and potatoes”

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 14/09/2026

First Apple Fitness rowing session of the season. Just a short one, but heart rate peaked at 138 and my hip didn’t hurt, so winning 💗

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 12/09/2026

Michael Frayn on sub-editing, from “Towards the End of the Morning” Accurate, @archiev.bsky.social ?

"There's nothing to it, really, said Bob modestly.
'It's just a matter of checking the facts and the spelling, crossing out the first sentence, and removing any attempts at jokes.

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 09/09/2026

“Price on application” 😂 If you have to ask, you can’t afford it!

The author Louise O’Neill wearing a jumper in the Times. It says “price on application” while the skirt costs £795

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 05/09/2026

My favourite moment is this. No idea who this geezer is, but you can practically see the $ signs revolving in his eyes

Some bearded dude watching Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton with a frankly evil grin

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 05/09/2026

It’s a really nice neighbourhood, and we could park! Also, she doesn’t live up 15 flights of stairs for once

Orange car parked in front of a house in a leafy neighbourhood

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 03/09/2026

Steak with wedges and celeriac/apple salad. A massive faff to put together, but sooooo gooood

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 03/09/2026

This is me zipped into a fancy cycling waterproof jacket (so-called XXL) I haven’t been able to wear. Still a bit tight, but I suppose that’s more aero or something

Ancient man standing in front of a mirror wearing green trousers and an orange waterproof jacket

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 03/09/2026

Now that's what I call OPTIMAL 🤯🤯

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 01/09/2026

Now that’s what I call “Normal”

Blood pressure monitor showing a reading of 124/79

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 30/08/2026

Okay, here’s a weird one. The baby apple tree has fruit (autumn) and blossom (spring). Assuming it’s a consequence of the drought—or could it be the grey water we’ve been pouring on the garden?

Branches of an apple tree showing white blossom, but also small apples

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 30/08/2026

Interesting sky yesterday evening, and just under 2mm rain overnight. But! The grass is definitely looking greener this morning

Looking south east at sunset, clouds in bands across the sky

Garden rain gauge showing just short of 2mm

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 29/08/2026

Well, look at that. First time this summer the Alps have been visible from the garden. A guarantee there has been a change of air and the weather’s on the turn

View across countryside to a distant mountain range

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 29/08/2026

Last ride this holiday, up to St. Antoine forest to see the nearly dry cascade

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 29/08/2026

This tree sits on top of a well

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 28/08/2026

So it looks like this:

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 28/08/2026

Went the anti-clockwise way around my village walk, for different views. So much harder that way. Relentless climbing, apart from the beginning and the end

A green lane running alongside a field, with a hill under grey clouds in the distance

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 27/08/2026

A dodgy moon pic, last night's third paella of the summer, and a couple of contemplative cats

Dodgy yellow moon photo taken with iPhone on maximum digital zoom

a ginger cat sitting next to a red car looking thoughtful

A black cat at the bottom of a staircase looking up

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 26/08/2026

Beautiful evening, but shockingly autumnal

Photo of some woods across a field, with more trees showing brown than green. The field itself almost looks frosty, but it’s just dry grass

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 23/08/2026

Just looked up the roadworks which have had one of my cycle loops closed all summer, Notice anything unusual about the map? Explanation in alt text

Map of Rue de la Vaivre, Chaux. First house on the right is #2, as you might expect. Then comes #4. And then #8. But #6 is behind #8. Over the river is #12. And then comes #10. Eh? And then comes #14...

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Rob McMinn @robmcminn.uk · 23/08/2026

OH has decided to empty the top barn, which has so far escaped attention. Full of bundles of sticks, firewood, and hand-made beanpoles from copied wood. Been up there 50-70 years

A giant game of spillikins made of beanpoles and other wood

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