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UncleRobin

@unnclerobin.eurosky.social
187 followers 58 following 7.9K posts

ये दुनिया है या आलम-ए-बदहवासी? ہم دیکھیں گے۔ ne sais rien, non sono qui. Victoria Concordia Crescit manaakitanga #Arsenal #linguistics #Aotearoa #Mysteries robinwalter31.blogspot.com 10 FAVOURITES: photos.app.goo.gl/qZL1zKgFuaZzEreX9

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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 22h
"You rate Sara Woods' reflective, slower-paced mysteries at the very top of your range—higher than almost anything else you read" - @thestorygraph.com 's LLM nailing it. 50% through book 10, can't wait to give @deanstpress.bsky.social an early Xmas present of 5 more purchases in December 😀
Cover of the Dean Street Press edition of "Let's Choose Executors" by Sara Woods, book 10 of her Antony Maitland series
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 23/10/2026
Of course, none of it will be of much use if/when we get a repeat of the Oruanui eruption, about 160km away as the ash flies. Or when Hikanui and/or the Alpine Fault(s) deliver the 9+ they're both expected to Not even turning it off then on again will help then. 😁
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 23/10/2026
Post the Last movie you saw 🎬 Last game you played 🎮 Last show you watched 🖥 Last song you listened to 🎶 (aka, tell me your're an antique flatus without saying so)
Poster for the 1970s  Hindi film Amar Akbar AnthonyA carrom board setup ready for playPoster for the TV series Signora VolpeHuw Montague Rendall & Elisabeth Boudreault sing "Pa-Pa-Pa-Papagena" (Mozart: Die Zauberflöte)
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 23/10/2026
Ah. Just a teensy bit jealous 😊
Text, as follows

My father and his mother (whose mother was Panjabi) were both born in UP,  his father was born in Lahore and my dad basically lived at a boarding school near Murree as a kid, until a couple of years before they fled Partition. As a kid in the 70s, my little sister used to write semi-regularly to a great-aunt in Kolkata. Up until my 20s, before they changes the eligibility rules, I could have got OCI.
So I've long wanted to go, and when circumstances finally seemed to make it possible, we were planning to go in... April 2020😱
As much as I would love to visit the land where my father was born AND the one that he called home, and give my relatives and Bengaluru a big surprise, visiting the subcontinent is sadly not possible any more. My wife's asthma plays up badly if the AQI goes over 50, it can take her a couple of weeks to recover from a weekend of dodgy air.  So, any stay of any duration in any major city on the subcontinent would represent a serious risk to her life. 
On the upside, it spares me the hassle of trying to explain to officials in a corrupt, anti-democratic theocratic-nationalist dictatorship why I also want to visit the NEIGHBOURING  corrupt, anti-democratic theocratic-nationalist dictatorship😁
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 22/10/2026
On the linguistic note, it's long fascinated me that there's a calligraphic font for Gurmukhi that looks to me A LOT like the font used on The Ring itself. Since ~10% of my city's population is Panjabi, I see this cool font a bit. Here's the "One Ring" bit in Panjabi and in that font
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 21/10/2026
Just about as far from the Atlantic as it's possible to get, but these Caspian terns on Onetahua/Farewell Spit a fortnight ago do fit the alt #Colourful tag for #BirdOfTheDay any bird with 3 or more colours. As did their neighbours in the adjacent gannet colony #Aotearoa
Two Taranui/Caspian Terns on Onetahua/Farewell Spit, Te Wai Pounamu, Aotearoa
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 18/10/2026
It REALLY irks me when people insist that non-standard spelling = incorrect/questionable grammar. It saddens & disappoints me when a skilled writer does so in a book I'm enjoying #Reading, Vaseem Khan! The spelling's non-standard. There is nothing questionable about the grammar #Booksky
Text on an e-reader as follows.

Though he had once bought a t-shirt with the slogan, FITE DA POWA, he hadn't actually worn it because, A, he hated the questionable grammar, and B, he looked a bit of a tit in it.
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 17/10/2026
YRCH! Happy we have none here (on land) but your husband's reaction made me think of my wife's when I asked if she'd like to do the tuatara encounter at a Zoo here. She saw this photo (zoo staffer's hand) & said "eww, like a snake!" When I said "no" she said "same thing, a lizard" again, "no"🙂
A tuatara sitting on a zoo staffer's hand
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 17/10/2026
TFW you look at the books pinned in your currently #Reading list and realise that (a) 30% of them have something very specific in common and (ii) one of your mutuals will instantly recognise what the commonality is 😁 #Booksky #Mystery #Romance #LangageLearning
Covers of ten ebooks
Humsafar: The World of Urdu Poetry
Quantum of Menace
Waltzing With the Earl
Slightly Married
The Foolish Gentlewoman
A Fatal Crossing
The Grave Tattoo
Black Agent
Let's Choose Executors
Teach Yourself Beginners' Urdu Script
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 17/10/2026
You KNOW your wordplay addiction is 1000% outta control when LITERALLY the very first word that popped into your head when seeing this Indian restaurant's name was . Status🤦‍♂️😀 (also, seriously sounds like a must-vist for you if you ever visit Kirikiriroa, @totallyfilmi.bsky.social )
A sign saying "Mallus corner" - the name of a Malayali restaurant in Kirikiriroa, Aotearoa
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 16/10/2026
It really is - I might soon be able to use ANOTHER 'dictionary' I've had for ~15yrs and barely even opened 😂
Cover of an Urdu-Hindi word list
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 16/10/2026
I've paused my Urdu lessons with a tutor because learning to read is taxing both neurons to the max AND she would INSIST these two are not the same at all (spoiler: they're ~identical ) So, a quick poll: Which version of this one phrase (describing me after 15 hrs work today) looks prettier? 😊
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 16/10/2026
Due to my CP, I read only digital books, except for 20 or so (mostly Indic) dictionaries & language textbooks. One of them has sat unused for 20 years because while ’2 out of 3 ain't bad', the 1 I can't read is the 1 that the entries are listed in. 🤦‍♂️ I now feel like I might FINALLY get to use it💪🏾
A  copy of
 A Dictionary of Urdū Classical Hindī  and English by John T. Platts
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 16/10/2026
Tell me you're an old Arsenal fan without telling me you're an old Arsenal fan 😆
Text as follows 

Thinking about hoisehold cleaners what comes to mind when you think about Ajax?


Dennis Bergkamp
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 16/10/2026
For this ullu da pattha learning to read Urdu is VERY hard. So being able to grok all but 2 of the words on this list by reading enough letters to see words I know in Hindi was exciting. That the key to deciphering the other 2 was in a book gifted to me by an award-wining translator? Priceless!🙏😍
a list of words in Urdu
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 15/10/2026
ost a character you think is really cool and give no explanation why
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 15/10/2026
TFW you can strike a blow against The Algorithm (redundancy?) with a playlist: If the last 2 years are repeated, my next YouTube #Music quarterly review of my listening will get both the language and consequently the country of origin of most of these WRONG. A small win for meatsack wetware🙂
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 15/10/2026
For a #MusicChallenge post today someone recommended Nessun Dorma as a song that deserves a rock interpretation. So here's a version that rocks, along with a reminder that #kDrama #kMovie actor Oh Jeong Se NEVER sleeps in his performances.
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 15/10/2026
Before I get back into my #cDrama #kDrama #jDrama PTW I'm crowdsourcing my Hindavi PTW priority list: I'd love recs for top 3 choices in each of the two categories shown (bonus points if sung to the tune of la cucaracha) #Hindi #Urdu #Movies
A list of 20 South Asian films, 10 labelled first watch, ten labelled rewatch
FIRST WATCH
Daawat-e-Ishq
Chupke Chupke
Aar Paar (1954)
Hamraaz (1967)
Shatranj ke khiladi
Hindi Medium
Noorie
Shakespeare Wallah
Kaagaz ke Phool
Golmaal (1979)

REWATCH
Aaja Nachle
Seeta aur Geeta
Waqt (1965)
Hum Kisi se Kum Naheen
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro
Jodhaa Akbar
Salaam-e-Ishq
Mughal-e-Azam
Tere Ghar ke Saamne
Swades
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 14/10/2026
Drop a door 🫠
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 11/10/2026
Plenty of Oxbridge sleuths in my library, not many of their #Mystery stories set there for #MurderEveryMonday this week. Loved this one, need to read its sequel. #Booksky #Reading crossexaminingcrime.com/murdereverym...
Cover of "Guilty by Definition" by Susie Dent, showing an open book in front of a bookshelf
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 09/10/2026
The ebook edition I read back in February had a cooler cover 😁 but what was REALLY cool is that she responded to an email query I sent about a reference she made. She told me the source, and I bought IT too. Also I just found out, she's on bsky, and quite activer
Proto: How One Ancient Language Went GlobalCover of Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction by Benjamin W. Fortson IV
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 08/10/2026
I try not to bleat too much about my disability, but I was born with a crippling case of congenital laziness. That's why when I saw FIVE new Sara Woods from @deanstpress.bsky.social show up for pre-order at Kobo, I smiled at these two: First, my life's motto. Then, my epitaph😱😁 #Reading #Booksky
Cover of the Dean Street Press edition of "Tarry and be Hanged" by Sara WoodsCover of the Dean Street Press edition of "Past Praying for" by Sara Woods
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 08/10/2026
Cats are in the top 3 mass murderers of the irreplaceable fauna of #Aotearoa so I ain't never gonna post "aww, cute" cat stuff. "aww, that's cute" stuff OF the irreplaceable fauna of #Aotearoa otoh, yes. The kekeno dives deeper & longer than any other fur seal, earning a good back scratch😁
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 07/10/2026
I love that a State Highway number has become a badge of geographic and cultural identity, a statement recognisable ~1000km away on a different island #Aotearoa #TeIkaAMãui #TeWakaAMãui #Waiata
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 07/10/2026
With my answer I cheated, and bought the script, in 2 languages and 4 scripts😁 (the most beautiful book I own, too)
Cover of "The Dialogue of Pyaasa" by Nasreen Munni Kabir
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 06/10/2026
🎶We're never going to survive unless 🎶 #TooEasy #SorryNotSorry #Aotearoa
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 04/10/2026
When I first saw this @deanstpress.bsky.social release, I thought it was ABOUT a will, making it a fit for this week's #MurderEveryMonday but since the title is BY a Will, that's close enough, I think 😁 #Reading #Booksky #Mystery crossexaminingcrime.com/murdereverym...
Cover of the Dean Street Press edition of "Let's Choose Executors" by Sara Woods
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 01/10/2026
Updating Steinem: In #Aotearoa, the first country to give women the vote, woman needs a man like a penguin needs a bicycle 😁
A road sign showing a bicycle and a penguin
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 30/09/2026
You know you're in #Aotearoa when on the way to this little beach you see literally as many road signs warning of penguins as for pedestrians. The absence of penguins possibly explained by the VERY large and clearly well-fed seals swimming close to shore 😁🦦
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 21/09/2026
...this is a dance off If you see this, post a dance...
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 20/09/2026
I was almost clueless for this week's #MurderEveryMonday but, as is so often the case, @deanstpress.bsky.social came to the rescue, supplying the ONLY qualifying title I have - they'te definitely a ten star team. #Mystery #Reading #Booksky crossexaminingcrime.com/murdereverym...
Cover of the book "Ten Star Clues" by E.R. Punshon
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 20/09/2026
For me, it's probably the 4th #kDrama I finished, 6 days after starting my very first. It's a VERY obscure cult classic that almost no one's ever heard of, of that I'm quite sure
Korean actors Lee Sun Kyun, Chae Jung An, Yoon Eun Hye and Gong Yoo
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 19/09/2026
Share a television show that raised you.
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 18/09/2026
This bird is me, always. Whenever I meet Hindi/Panjabi/Urdu people for the first time, I introduce myself as one of these below. The bird revered for wisdom in Europe is contemned as staggeringly stupid in Indic languages. "Owlish male child" am I 😊
a big-eyed owl inside the Panjabi phrase "ullu da pattha"  - literally "song of an owl", actual meaning "dumbass" etc.
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 17/09/2026
Ko Chia Yen, with her second Golden Bell (for #twDrama #SomeDayOrOneDay)
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 13/09/2026
A "Something old, something new" theme for #MurderEveryMonday this week, so I'm pleased I also have something blue. Something @deanstpress.bsky.social too, though that murders any metre. 🤣 #Booksky #Mystery #Reading crossexaminingcrime.com/murdereverym...
Cover of "Comes A Stranger" by E.R. Punshon, book 11 of his Bobby Owen seriesCover of "Death Writ Large" by Susie Dent showing a letter-opener stabbed into a pile of letters and envelopes
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 13/09/2026
My quarterly YouTube #Music recap playing my FAVOURITE song from the great #Hindi film #MainVaapasAaunga but still getting stuff wrong - one of the featured artists not Indian, and his language not Hindi. #Urdu #Hindi #SouthAsia
Poster's YouTube Music genre breakdown, showing Pakistani pop (Urdu) incorrectly labelled as "Indian Indie" and  "Hindi" Poster's top 5 artists played on YouTube Music June-August 2026
A.R. Rahman
Günter Wand
NDR Sinfonieotchester
Diljit Dosanjh
Abdul HannanPoster's top 5 most played tracks on YouTube Music June-August 2036
Kya Kamaal Hai from the film Main Vaapas Aaunga,  AR Rahman &  Irshad Kamil, sung by Diljit Dosanjh
35 by Ka Hao
Title track to the Chinese Drama "The Lead", by Faye Wong
Sisters Are Doin' for themselves - Annie Lennox
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 12/09/2026
#dramatropechallenge2026 Day 23: Found Family A squajillion candidates across #kDrama , #JDrama and #cDrama but this was the first one I thought of. A celebration of sisterhood with no biological sisters involved. #DearEnemy
The three leads in Chinese Drama #DearEnemy
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 06/09/2026
#dramatropechallenge2026 Day 20: Childhood connection I viscerally loathe kindergarten kismet, but when the leads grew up together & grew together (or grew apart THEN together) that's a whole nother thing. For me, the winner is #jDrama asadora #Anpan at least partly based on a true story
poster for Japanese asadora Drama Anpan, showing the 2 leads, the mlae lead eating an anpan
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 06/09/2026
In my eulogy for my dad, I mentioned how he taught me carrom & almost always thrashed me. A friend asked me afterwards, what's carrom, & when I told her, she bought a board. She doesn't have room for it & has left it with me. Now to see if I play better on a 3yo board than on a 100-yr-old board.😟😅
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 05/09/2026
The second song in Malayalam film Premalu reminding me I need to get my new board out and practice 🤦‍♂️
A college class, with the words

A carrom play, each moment a flick?
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 05/09/2026
Starting the Malayalam film Premalu and wondering why this warning came AFTER the "no animals were harmed in the making of this film" message 🤔
The message reads, in English and then in Malayalam,

 violence against women are punishable under law.
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 05/09/2026
Apparently "Bluesky's 38 most influential posters" is trending. At first I thought "why should I care who the other 37 are?" Then I remembered #cDrama and thought. So just 36 to find now 😆
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 05/09/2026
(honourable mention to #kDrama #CapitalScandal - still my FAVOURITE Han Ji MIn role and REAL enemies as in Japanese collaborator/Joseon freedom fighter)
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 05/09/2026
#dramatropechallenge2026 Day 17: Enemies to lovers Giving this to a 9/10 watch of mine this year, the 2022 #cDrama #SeeYouTomorrow for overcoming a VERY clichéd start that pushed one of my biggest buttons.Aptly, I started as its enemy, ended up loving it 😁
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 04/09/2026
Final thoughts on "my age cohort are useless slackers" -(A) scary as hell she's aiming to be a PROBATION officer and (ii) I'm 1000% on board with the slackers in regard to this. It's not just people her age who'd think 'screw this, I'm outta here" if doing that much unpaid overtime
“Early on in my work life I was doing 20 hours of overtime every week that I wasn’t getting paid for, but I kept going because I wanted to do well,” she says. “Whereas I think a lot of people my age would have thought: I’m not being paid enough for this, I’m leaving.”
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 04/09/2026
I expected New England, but we do grow big apples here My "US" dialect😁 mydialect.us/quiz-standar...
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 03/09/2026
You select "content warning" add the label you want & the post is entirely hidden. What I love is that any reply to such a post is also automatically hidden. The screenshot shows this. A user had been posting about #kDrama #MyLiberationNotes and when I replied, my post was hidden too
image shows a thread at Mastodon demonstrating the spoiler feature there
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UncleRobin @unnclerobin.eurosky.social · 03/09/2026
Ah irony! Or, a paradox: My 49th Word of the day was the 46th I've known, so really not very "difficult". Except that I can't read the word AT ALL yet, so actually VERY difficult. I'm torn. 🤔
a word of the day for the hindavi/rekhta word "mushkil" meaning "difficult". The word is spelled in Urdu script and in Roman
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