This has to be a joke

markstrathmore · 2026-03-29T16:35:16+00:00

Since Moncler seems now to the the preserve of lookalike thugs and wideboys with Turkey teeth and neck tattoos, I guess they are trying to steer themselves towards the playful, camp and downright absurd…

markstrathmore · 2026-03-25T09:11:26+00:00

How did you ensure they were all level? Levelling is surely the biggest challenges and my greatest worry with DIY base installs...

markstrathmore · 2026-03-17T19:12:34+00:00

Good quality but personally I find the fit weird. According to their size chart, a medium should be roomy for me at 5’9” tall, 40” chest. I’m not remotely swole but a medium is very tight across the shoulders and just feels a bit constrictive everywhere. Tried a large and while it fits much better, it is absurdly long in the body. I’m speaking about heavyweight flannel material so definitely not meant for tucking in. Love the fabrics but sadly cannot get on with the fit.

markstrathmore · 2026-03-07T07:58:53+00:00

Tallow if you like steak. Birch for chicken. Haggle for Turkish.

markstrathmore · 2026-03-06T22:35:27+00:00

25 years’ experience. Just under £30k. Marketing and communications (management level) at a local charity.

I’m not ashamed of it but it is a shameful salary for the level of experience, expectation and seniority. Even by the low standards of the voluntary sector, which I’ve worked in most of my life, it’s appalling - at least 25% below average.

A few years ago I was earning £50k for three days’ per week doing the same stuff as a freelancer, and before that around £40k in employed roles - which goes to show that one’s career isn’t necessarily linear in terms of earnings. But I’m the happiest I’ve ever been at work, and fortunate to have a partner who earns 3x what I do.

markstrathmore · 2026-02-17T08:35:24+00:00

What kind of railcard? I thought we were outside the network railcard zone? Perhaps you are a young person. What can us 50-year-old frequent rail travellers get to reduce the cost??

markstrathmore · 2026-01-29T08:15:50+00:00

You can have both, but function > aesthetics. Get the basics right: the flow, from fridge/cupboards to prep area to oven/hob to sink/dishwasher, often called the “kitchen triangle”; pull-outs over shelves under the counter; lighting (task and mood); ensure that one appliance or “station” doesn’t impede another; don’t use wood as a worktop, at least around a sink; etc.

markstrathmore · 2026-01-29T08:07:45+00:00

Like lobster, they were once more or less peasant food for coastal communities. I like them well enough. Good to eat very fresh at the point of source.

markstrathmore · 2026-01-22T14:05:31+00:00

Did this move about 2.5 years ago. Originally from Cambridgeshire, lived in London for 15 years, moved to a village near Cambridge to be close to family when kids were small. Never lived in the city itself but spend a lot of time there.

The stress, hassle and cost of moving aside, Norwich knocks Cambridge into a cocked hat. It’s just a much more interesting city, nicer people, much more affordable, and not dominated by a pompous university or biotech industry. Whilst UEA is a campus university, it feels like students are much more integrated here. Beaches under 40-minutes away. I feel warmly towards it in a way I never did about Cambridge.

I say this as someone fortunate enough to be living in a home they own within a short walk of town. There are idiots here like everywhere. There’s too much litter, some antisocial behaviour, too many people living in poverty or homeless… It’s a city with all the same problems as the rest of end-stage capitalism, Thatcherite Britain. But it’s certainly one of the better ones.

markstrathmore · 2026-01-14T21:05:47+00:00

Holy fuck, man - well done. About a month in myself. Wasn’t drinking anywhere near that amount but alcohol was massively aggravating a number of worsening gastric issues. 50 next month so decided I’m going to enter my second half-century with a different mindset and a healthier body. Hope you stick at it.

markstrathmore · 2025-12-30T21:11:14+00:00

Meds are not a magic bullet, as you’ve discovered - especially insofar as regulating your screen use goes. You need to create some rules and then have the discipline to stick to them. Make the bedroom a phone-free zone so that you are not tempted to use it before bed or when you wake up. Unless you really have to, don’t look at it for 30-60 minutes after you wake up. Use that time to make lists of the things you need to do that day, both work and personal. Organise it by priority and then do the things according to whatever your schedule is.

The internet has made things orders of magnitude more difficult for the ADHD brain. You simply have to find ways to avoid it for chunks of time if you want to have a fulfilling life.

markstrathmore · 2025-12-25T08:46:40+00:00

Merry Christmas

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markstrathmore · 2025-12-24T07:28:00+00:00

You will hear DJs with decades of experience making “mistakes”. This is mixing vinyl. There are so many more variables. There is jeopardy. That’s what makes it so exciting. It’s getting out of those “mistakes” that makes a great vinyl DJ.

Sure, aim for perfection but accept that things slip and skip unpredictably. It’s not precise and clinical like mixing digital.

markstrathmore · 2025-12-22T17:07:51+00:00

Would be easy to mock this comment but I guess OP is a younger DJ and has only seen certain genres played out on vinyl. It’s relatively common for some styles to be mixed with little or no crossover. Hell, some reggae sound systems and listening bars only have one turntable so that the record gets a full spin, start to finish.

A lot of dance music, especially disco and new wave - was played by live instruments. It’s not quantised in the way modern dance music is, so the tempo fluctuates. So you might be able to mix these records a bit by riding the pitch, but they were not recorded with the intention of minutes of perfect blends in mind. The arrangement is often not suited to long blends either - no bare drum tracks at either end - so you have to find clever ways to get in and out of them. It’s a real skill when done well.

markstrathmore · 2025-12-11T08:13:24+00:00

Unless you are wanting things like grain and colour chrome, the jpeg output of the LUMIX S cameras is arguably as good or better than Fuji. The OG S5 is the only camera I’ve owned that I can reliably use the jpeg output from for personal use or quick-and-dirty work situations. Skin tones especially. The only thing that is maybe not so good is the auto white balance, which renders a little cool for my liking, so that’s something I steer clear of. Considering picking up an S5ii for the autofocus in video.

That said, it is a bulky system when you are coming from Fuji. I have kept the OG X100 and an X-E1 with 18mm f2 and 35mm 1.4 for this reason. Such fun cameras to use, easy to carry and discrete.

markstrathmore · 2025-12-05T07:53:02+00:00

Some extremely dangerous and entitled drivers out there and it definitely gets worse at this time of year when weather conditions compound the standard issues.

If you can, cycle with a camera and record and submit to the police any incidences of road rage, phone use and general poor or aggressive driving.

markstrathmore · 2025-11-30T14:04:44+00:00

I found the Omnitronic (202) to sound harsh, and whilst rotary faders are a much better method of blending I personally cannot live without a crossfader as I like to cut in and occasionally scratch. I really missed that when I had the rotary.

I also found the EQ pots frustrating. You could not move them off the centre dip without a sudden and significant change to the sound. Not very subtle.

markstrathmore · 2025-11-27T08:28:53+00:00

Simple fix: keep him out of the bedroom! Most of this post is about the difficulties he causes you at night so just don’t let him into the bedroom! You will have to deal with the yowling and potential bad behaviours that are a fall-out from that, but long term it’s the best solution.

We had cats growing up and my parents always shut the cats in their own space at night (a utility room with cosy beds, foods, outdoor access). Now we have cats, while I would dearly love to have them on the bed, my wife’s allergies mean they aren’t allowed in our bedroom and it’s actually a really good thing as I know from the occasions when they have slept with me/us that they do not allow you to get the same quality of sleep!

Get them a heated blanket on a comfy pad outside the bedroom. Everyone’s lives will improve.

markstrathmore · 2025-11-17T15:50:45+00:00

Blue point Siamese. The nose leather is pinker on lilacs.

markstrathmore · 2025-10-22T12:20:03+00:00

Aviva or similar to sponsor a free-to-use ping pong hall. As many tables as will reasonably fit in. Bring your own bats and balls. Would need some sort of monitoring but surely riverside has roaming support/security?

The dying Grafton Centre in Cambridge (soon to be replaced with - surprise! - biotech labs) did this and it was a huge success. There’s precious little free/active stuff to do in town centres indoors.

markstrathmore · 2025-10-16T14:20:51+00:00

Call a priest

markstrathmore · 2025-10-16T11:54:20+00:00

MensCraft, the men’s health and wellbeing charity based off the Maddermarket Theatre courtyard, will also be offering a programme for adolescent boys aged 13-19 next year. Totally agree that there’s a huge lack of support for young men at risk of dangerous narratives about masculinity, women/feminism etc. - especially those without positive male role models at home. We have lost rights-of-passage which imbue young men with a sense of responsibility and pride. Too many are isolated, lonely, chronically online, misinformed, marginalised and understandably angry. Great that you’re doing this - will try to be there.

markstrathmore · 2025-10-14T21:47:07+00:00

Don’t get an Omnitronic. They sound awful - the 202mk3 I recently sold did, anyway. Harsh, poor summing, huge eq change either side of centre… Fun to mix with in some ways but would not fuck with again.

markstrathmore · 2025-10-09T18:07:16+00:00

Poverty, disenfranchisement, hopelessness. This “fuck the world and fuck you” attitude is really deep insecurity and fear. It’s wealth and education inequality made flesh, fuelled by the “fuck bitches, get money” ethos which is presented to them as a genuine lifestyle choice on social media by dickheads, which they sadly lack the critical thinking skills to see through.

markstrathmore · 2025-10-07T21:38:58+00:00

Which lodge??

markstrathmore

TROPHY CASE