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Today it is my pleasure to send out...

*~*~*~*~*GREAT BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES*~*~*~*~*

To my friend,

bangdrum.

I hope you have a terrific day. :)

AA Happy Birthday 3

Current Mood: hot

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194/365: Old Mill Street Hospital, Kidderminster
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Not quite as warm today, but it still felt hot in the sunshine. I was in Kidderminster for a small part of the day, and that's where I took this photograph. It shows part of the former Mill Street Hospital, built in 1870, which closed about 30 years ago when its operations moved to the more modern building that serves as Kidderminster Hospital today. What you see here is only about half the old hospital, as there's a second, similarly sized (but less striking) building out of shot to the left. This building has now been converted to residential use. It's in a reasonably good place for this, as the town centre and a fairly large Sainsbury's supermarket are only about ten minutes' walk down the hill (off to the right).

Current Music: Velvet Underground

(no subject)

I had the nicest time at Skeptics in the Pub last night, my friend who brings me also brought his daughter who I really got along great with. Now back to home with my dishwasher that doesn't fucking work and my neighbors' screaming baby.

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Egg Harrier

I've been quite slow on modelling, but I recently finished an "egg plane" model, an aircraft shaped like an egg: a Hasegawa "RAF Taxi" Harrier, along with a ground scene including an old codger and his got waiting for the bus or taxi. It was a really old kit, and quite fun, but I had to find replacement decals because the old ones were welded to the paper.

All the build pictures

Current Mood: awake

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A few thoughts on AI. Mostly a memo to self...

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...for whenever I get the time to write in more detail. But I might as well put it here. "AI should go away" (narrator from the future: AI did not go away) is not only unrealistic, it's also simplistic. For a start, LLMs (eg ChatGPT) are a subset of AI, not the whole thing. For another thing, chatting to an AI bot does not have to be worthless, as long as you understand what you're doing and why. And for another, some of the arguments being deployed against it are wildly broad, eg "stop machines doing human jobs". Without qualification? The printing press in the 15th century put humans (calligraphers) out of a job, and I'm assuming most people don't really want to live in 1450.

There are good arguments for being cautious and even cynical about quite a lot of aspects of AI. There are very serious questions about its effect on society, the economy and even our emotional wellbeing. Say that and I'll agree as I'm of that opinion myself, and again I'll try to expand on this on here at some point. But if you want recruits for the army of "AI is all slop, full stop" then I'm afraid I'm not going to enlist.

Current Mood: hot

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Here we go again...

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193/365: Bewdley Auto Services
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It reached 32 °C here today. In terms of daily maximum temperatures, this summer looks likely to come close to the all-time record, set in the legendary summer of 1976, given the forecast for the next couple of weeks. It won't be as dry as summer 1976, but the heat is on, so to speak. My photo was taken while on a walk just out of town to get an ice cream at a local farm shop. This garage has been around for many years, using an old farm building as its workshop. It's an MOT Test centre, hence the blue and white sign out front. The banner on the side is advertising Bewdley Beer Festival, which happens over August Bank Holiday weekend later this month.

Current Music: Paolo Conte

(no subject)

Hoping to hear from a friend about a ride to Skeptics in the Pub tonight, I've already e mailed him a couple of times and he has my cell number. In the meantime I have to mail in my electric bill payment, pick up breakfast stuff and go to PT.

Political Rant.....

Political Rant.....

W.T.F. NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trump Takes Over D.C. Police and Deploys National Guard in Nation's Capital in Unprecedented Power Grab

The president has been insisting that Washington has too much homelessness and crime, despite crime rates dropping substantially since 2023

By Kyler Alvord

https://people.com/donald-trump-takes-over-dc-government-deploys-national-guard-11788370?hid=7f1109a25d2362f31854399df255b82ba78f015e&did=18977911-20250811&utm_source=ppl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ppl-news_newsletter&utm_content=081125&lctg=7f1109a25d2362f31854399df255b82ba78f015e&lr_input=758ad690760192cf49795c3f52223721cac5324e3e862e41c5d4db73a4d43f32&utm_term=midday

Current Mood: thirsty

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Pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap(ish)

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Cheap & Cheerful, Bewdley, 11th August 2025

192/365: Cheap & Cheerful, Bewdley
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A mildly unpleasant day's weather today, with a very warm feel but not a great deal of sunshine, so it felt muggy and close. Even some light rain in the evening, although not enough to do the garden much good. Today's photo is of Bewdley's only real discount shop, Cheap & Cheerful. It's as piled high with stuff inside as it is outside, so despite being a fairly small place it does stock a lot of things! Ironically, it's not that cheap -- in some cases it's better value to go into Kidderminster and visit one of its much larger discount stores or even a supermarket. It's certainly convenient, though, as long as you've remembered your physical money as it's still a cash only shop. The bunting above the sign is in Bewdley Rowing Club colours and is left over from the regatta a couple of weeks ago.

Current Music: Alan Stivell

(no subject)

Got everything done that I needed to get done. Slept like a rock last night.

(no subject)

The Scorpions "Winds of Change" was most recently used in the movie "The Fall Guy".....

Watch on YouTube

Monday At The Movies.....

This Week's Movie Quote...

D.: You know what an older women does for me?
I.: Changes your diapers?
D.: Touché.

Poll #33479

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 4

View Respondents

Which Movie Does This Quote Come From?

View Answers

The Breakfast Club
0 (0.0%)

Pretty In Pink
3 (75.0%)

Sixteen Candles
0 (0.0%)

I Don't Have A Clue...
1 (25.0%)

Last Week's Movie Quote...

Sheik Amar: Tch, secret government killing activity! That's why I don't pay taxes!

It comes from the 2010 action movie, "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time".
It starred Jake Gyllenhaal and was based on a video game.
Sadly, it was a dud at the box office and there weren't any sequels to come.
Which is a shame because Jake was HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hehehe.......

Watch on YouTube

Those Who Knew or Guessed Correctly...

sidhe_uaine42

adminbear

meathiel

seaivy

merlinwon

Current Mood: okay

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Into the woods

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Octagonal structures, Wyre Forest, 10th August 2025

191/365: Industrial remnants, Wyre Forest
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I had a quiet Sunday, which was fine by me, but I did go for a fairly long walk in the afternoon. This took me off the beaten track in the Wyre Forest -- although there were footpaths, I met one person (and his quiet dog) in at least half an hour, and this on a dry Sunday in August. Anyway, I went looking for structures I remembered from several years ago, and happily I found them. These are almost certainly relics of the once-significant charcoal burning industry in the forest, which survived into the early 20th century. The flat light makes it hard to see, but there's a second octagonal, brick-sided structure behind the main one. Perhaps they were part of small kilns, or perhaps they held pools to wash charcoal. I don't know.

Current Music: Michael McGoldrick

(no subject)

I have to do both grocery shopping and laundry today, fixing myself a bigass pot of Celebration tea because I need the energy. God, I wish I had a car.

Current Mood: cheerful

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Music, Maestro, please!

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Austin Maestro van, Kidderminster, 9th August 2025

190/365: Austin Maestro van, Kidderminster SVR station
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I was off to see friends in Worcester again today, but at Kidderminster station I noticed that the SVR was having one of its occasional classic vehicle days. Although there were some much older cars than this on display -- I think the oldest was mid-1930s -- this is the one that caught my eye. An Austin Maestro City 500 van, of which there are only something like 15 left on the road. Indeed, there are fewer than 100 Maestros of any kind still running, remarkable when you consider that hundreds of thousands were made during the 1980s. Sadly the Austin Rover company had awful quality control at the time, and most have simply rusted away. The few that remain are mostly show cars like this one -- the reason I haven't obscured the number plate. You can also see a Morris Minor behind, but those are much more common today.

Current Mood: confused
Current Music: Emer Kenny

(no subject)

Had a great dinner last night and it was so nice to see my friends although I'm still not happy L. cancelled.
Since some of us are big science fiction geeks we were talking about the Twilight Zone and some strange things happened. One of my friends has tarot cards and I asked for a reading and got a really weird one that made no sense. On the way back home my other friend was not sure how to get to my place from the restaurant (he'd never been to that restaurant before) and the GPS kept leading him the wrong way, then what looked to me like a much bigger and brighter than usual full moon rose.

(no subject)

I knew that she could be funny, but I didn't realize that she had done comedy...
At least I assumed they/she meant comedy like stand up kind of comedy.

The first two paragraphs are worth the read. :)
Funny and Creepy...
Forewarning, Variety as a lot of ads that take a lot of loading. Ugh...

Emma Thompson Says Donald Trump Asked Her Out on a Date: ‘I Could Have Changed the Course of American History!’

By Marta Balaga

https://variety.com/2025/awards/news/emma-thompson-donald-trump-asked-her-out-on-a-date-1236482993/#recipient_hashed=758ad690760192cf49795c3f52223721cac5324e3e862e41c5d4db73a4d43f32&recipient_salt=99ec442a72bc49fb6f4153ffbea27d905c41ade92876fb71d10d16400f175bc9&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_content=625827_08-09-2025&utm_term=12699923?utm_medium=&utm_source=&utm_campaign=&utm_content=&utm_id=

A Day In The Life.....

I went to leave work this morning and when I got out to my rental in the parking ramp,
I was blocked in on both sides by the people who parked next to me.
Both were different vehicles then the ones I parked next to when I got to work.
I have no clue how the person who parked on my passenger side got out of their vehicle after parking next to me.
And the asshole who parked on my driver's side literally hard their rear tire on my side of the parking space painted line and left herself three feet on her driver's side.
WTF PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I called security to help and then waited and waited and waited.
While waiting the lady parked on my driver's side came out and got in her vehicle and backed out.
I tried to get her to lower her passenger window to complain. She just looked at me and drove away.
So I opened my driver's door, left it open and went to call security to tell them not to bother coming out to the ramp.
As I was doing that I could see a couple of cars look to pull into that space next to me, see the door standing open and drive on.
I was not going to allow another car to pull in and block me out again while I called security. :o :o :o

That is the second time in just over a month that I have been blocked out of my car by stupid drivers.

People at work in IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Current Mood: sleepy

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Just a quick post tonight

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189/365: Field at evening, edge of Bewdley
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Not much to report here today. I only went out for one walk, and here's a photo from it. This was in the evening, hence the low sun. It's a field on the edge of Bewdley that's well known locally as it's conserved in a low-tech fashion to encourage wildlife. Those ancient trees are the cherries -- they no longer produce fruit, but they're the last remnants of the orchards that used to cover this area a century ago, before modern suburban development. (Just behind me is a housing estate.) Under the trees is a long-abandoned tractor. Also, we could do with some rain.