“We are Forerunners. Guardians of all that exists. The roots of the Galaxy have grown deep under our careful tending. Where there is life, the wisdom of our countless generations has saturated the soil. Our strength is a luminous sun, towards which all intelligence blossoms… And the impervious shelter, beneath which it has prospered.”

Hot pi

Hot pi

This stretch of the year, from very roughly March to April 5th, is perhaps the most momentous of any when it comes to making up excuses to celebrate things. We have International Women’s Day on March 8th; Pi Day on March 14th; Caesar Stabbification Day on March...
Happy HELLOWEEN 2023

Happy HELLOWEEN 2023

It is that time of year again, when the rest of the (Western) world celebrates October 31st with people dressing up like idiots and going to wild parties, while I celebrate by playing the music of the true granddaddies of European power metal: They did rather more...
This is your brain on MAFF

This is your brain on MAFF

As Grandpa Grumpuss pointed out in a recent poast of his, MAFF can get PRETTY DAMN WEIRD at times. He went out there on TEH INNARWEBZ and found a video of a maths professor talking about the hardest class in the subject he had ever taken. And, if you watch the video...
How to take the hobbits past Minas Morgul

How to take the hobbits past Minas Morgul

I realise I am rather stretching the LoTR metaphors to, and probably past, the breaking point, with respect to visiting Russia, but I think it is worth taking some time to sit down and write about what it now takes to visit Mordor. Things have changed dramatically in...
“Didact is unavailable at the moment…”

“Didact is unavailable at the moment…”

A number of my readers – well, OK, ONE of you – contacted me recently to ask why the hell all of the meme bombs and Didactic goodness had suddenly dried up. The short answer is, I am actually on holiday (!!!) in Russia (!!!!!!), and just got back from a...
Happy MAFF NERD day

Happy MAFF NERD day

March 14th of every year is, in theory, “Pi Day”. For the persnickety among us – yours truly VERY much included – it really should be celebrated at about 03:23:53 every March 14th, but I don’t think anyone is particularly interested in...
You know you’ve arrived when…

You know you’ve arrived when…

Most scammers are not exactly known for subtlety when sending out their fairly naked attempts to get you to fork over your hard-earned money to them. The most hilarious ones always involve some Nigerian who apparently stopped studying English at about the 5th Grade...
Life isn’t supposed to imitate art like that

Life isn’t supposed to imitate art like that

Sometimes you see a story in the news where you think to yourself, “the people behind that idea cannot possibly be so stupid as to turn that into reality, right???”. And then you read on a little bit, and you realise that not only are they that stupid, but...
Hark now, hear, the Dark Lord sings

Hark now, hear, the Dark Lord sings

Those of us who have followed Our Beloved and Dreaded Supreme Dark Lord (PBUH) Vox Day the Most Merciless and Terrible for any significant length of time, are well aware of both his reputed and actual polymath abilities. This is a man who has done far more in his...
Let there be carnage

Let there be carnage

No, not the movie, I’m not bothered about whatever Sony and Marvel have cooked up together in terms of a sequel to the, quite enjoyable, Venom movie. I’m talking here about the latest trailer to drop from Amazon’s The Grand Tour, which showcases the...