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Gareth

@trying2makeitwork.bsky.social
46 followers 217 following 162 posts

Deep into midlife; still trying to figure it out and make it work. In Japan for 30 years and counting.

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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Ba-dum tsh!
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Maybe it's just me, but I thought this juxtaposition of posts by @jonbois.bsky.social and @atrupar.com (via @missingthept.bsky.social) was pretty funny.
A screenshot showing a post by Jon Bois saying, "reply to a post with a time you tried to use a button and it didn't work" immediately followed by a post from Missing The Point quoting Aaron Rupar quoting Trump having a tantrum because his hand-picked US Attorney for the District of Columbia didn't do his bidding.
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Learning basic music theory renders you unable to hate a whole genre of music. Even if you hear a song and it's of a genre that you don't enjoy, you just start noticing things WITHIN the song ("Picardy 3rd!" "Oh, they resolved to iv-minor instead of the root!") and you never get around to hating it.
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
I'm listening to Randy Newman (the I Love LA album) and... is it just me or does he sound like Tom Hanks?
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Currently test driving @zen-browser.app. First impressions positive.
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Spotted in Osaka today. Yeah… I think I’ll just have the chicken if it’s all the same to you.
A sign for a yakiniku barbecue restaurant in Osaka, Japan has a spelling mistake; the sign is inadvertently advertising “glass-fed beef.”
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Best music video I've seen in ages.
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Hello, @proton.me. New user here. The setup process was very quick and intuitive, and it's all very easy to use - I like it! If you'll allow me to make a request... A public holiday calendar for Japan would be very, VERY handy. Thanks!
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Just got back from seeing @thebeths.bsky.social in Osaka. A thoroughly enjoyable show. Unfortunately placed pillar was no problem as Jonathan peeked round a few times to say hi. I really wanted to hear Best Laid Plans, but oh well, maybe next time.
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
There's some debate at work about whether or not the phrase "turn a blind eye" is ableist. Is it?
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Where in Auckland can someone go to hear some good jazz, funk, RnB?
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
あまりにも個数問題が多く、あまりにも「知らんがな! 」の問題が多く、諦めていた宅建試験、なんと合格した。 なんか複雑な気分。
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Talking with a mate just now, I was reminded of that time in the 80s/90s Hamish Keith sued McPhail and Gadsby for defmation over a skit where they parodied him with a character called Beamish Teeth. But it's so long ago now... did that actually happen or is my memory just making things up?
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
This evening in a tiny park in Tennoji, Osaka. #CatsofBluesky
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
That horn hit after Aretha Franklin sings "People walking 'round every day playing games, keeping score" slays me every time.
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Seen in very southern #Osaka yesterday: A hitchhiker. A lone, female, caucasian, 20-something(?), smiling, backpack-laden hitchhiker. It's been many, MANY years since hitchhiking was common in #Japan... I wonder if she got her ride.
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
ユーチューブにアップされているラジオ体操動画から、NHKのものが消えている!昨日までふつうにあったのに。なんで?
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
I dreamed last night that there was a story on the TV news, which said that the International Cricket Council had announced new a support package for test nations outside the top 3 to weather the blow of rained-out tests, and the support was primarily funding for "hilariously obsecene performances".
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
On the train in #Osaka #Japan Four university cheer squad members: two chattering like sparrows, two asleep. The train reaches Juso. "Wake up! Aren't you getting off here?" The sleepyheads jolt awake, rush for the door, but return for a fistbump with their squad sisters - a solemn act of solidarity?
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
I wonder what a Split Enz album produced by Brian Eno would have sounded like?
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
On the Metro in #Osaka, #Japan: Amid the businessmen, tourists, shoppers, and a flamboyant youth with a guitar, two tiny schoolkids, a boy and a girl, play a hand game. It's not rock-paper-scissors; maybe it's one of their own invention. Totally engrossed, they almost miss their stop at Umeda.
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Line from a dream last night: "We're all just food for animals and drinks for future robots."
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
You make up songs about your cats, right? It’s not just my household that does it, is it?
A white cat lounging on the cover of a bathtub. The cover is warmed by the hot water in the tub.
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Hospital waiting room: Two 70-something strangers have discovered they were once neighbours, their kids went to the same school. Suddenly, they feel free to discuss their families' histories - births, marriages, minor scandals, the lot - with historical local events included for temporal reference.
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
Can you think of any songs where the lyrics start with "and"? I can think of 3: (1) Talking Heads, And She Was ("And she was lying in the grass...") (2) Hoodoo Gurus, What's My Scene ("And another thing I've been wondering lately...") (3) U2, A Sort of Homecoming ("And you know it's time to go...")
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
New Year's Day at a shrine in Wakayama: A family (60-something mum with three 20s/30s kids) approaches the Seven Gods of Fourtune. Mum knows exactly what she wants: Peace? Prosperity? Health? Nope: "Tickets! TICKETS! Which one should I pray to for better luck getting concert tickets?"
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 31/12/2024
Any Chinese speakers out there? I have a question. I read the news about the hack by "Salt Typhoon" and, I dunno, that name... it doesn't exactly strike terror into the heart, does it? So, I was wondering: does "Salt Typhoon" have a different connotation in Chinese? Is it intimidating or something?
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 27/12/2024
On the train in Namba, #Osaka: Mum is trying to mend her little boy’s grumpy mood with sweets and a Pokémon card. Her multiple Takashimaya bags suggest the boy is grumpy at having been made to follow Mum around a department store on a shopping spree.
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
At a ten-don place in #Osaka: A 60-something lady had a grain of rice go down the wrong way and a long coughing fit ensued. "It's right there," she said to her companion, "but I can't dislodge it!" The 7 or 8 other diners were ALL doing that watching-but-not-looking thing and the poor lady knew it.
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
At the mall in southern Osaka: 30-something mum and dad, two little boys and a girl. Dad and boys had matching really short bowl cuts, like the friar monks of old but without the shaven tonsure. And man, they were rocking it - unshakeably confident in the righteousness of their chosen style. Yeah!
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
"Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn’t Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice in Chains" is doing the rounds. Can't decide between these two:
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
In my very first post on Bluesky, I wished that Threatening Music Notation (among others) would come and join us here. Now, just a couple of days later, I read this…
A screenshot of a post on Threatening Music Notation’s X account, announcing they are leaving that platform.
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
A white cat lying in the foreground; a TV showing a Japanese mystery drama in the background.
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
I’ve been on Bluesky for a few days now but it’s only just occurred to me: There is almost no engagement baiting here. I like it!
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Gareth @trying2makeitwork.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Hello! New arrival here. I'm glad to find many accounts I followed over at that other site (and many I follow on Threads) are already on Bluesky. Some others I wish would join us here are... Threatening Music Notation People Mad at Opera DPRK News Service King Charles III (parody) Adrian Edmondson
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