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Alasdair Swanson

@alasdairswanson.bsky.social

220 followers 280 following 2.2K posts

No interpersonal skills. Films, birds, books, science and so on. Socialist, atheist, AuDHD, guitar botherer. Officially not psychotic, will probably blame Thatcher, may post pictures of cats. Laminated with Clarifoil™

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Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · Nov 25

Now that I'm in my 50s I realise that most conversations I have are a variation on

Them: Just be yourself
Me: OK [is self]
Them: Not like that

Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 11h

I've said for a long time that if they're going to give us colour and b/w animations then have the b/w be as faithful as possible to the camera script and telesnaps and let the colour version go as wild and big budget style as the animators can manage.

Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 16h

Spider Pool brings back ancient internet memories

Désespérer @decervelage.bsky.social · 16h

Jack McDermott’s “crazy house” was constructed in the Hollywood Hills from cast-off movie sets in the 1920s. Today only a retaining wall - which once overlooked the notorious “spider pool” - survives.

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Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 16h

Next Who Bluray season arrives Monday which means *another* six DVDs go into the "what do I do with all these Doctor Who DVDs?" box. It's quite a big box now.

Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 18h

It's been on my radar for a while and Kaleidescope were having a sale so I thought why not. It was literally while I was taking the picture that I went "I know that name", I don't know why the connection never clicked until now.

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Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 19h

This just got forced through the door and turned out to be *way* bigger than expected.

The book Prime Minister, You Wanted To See Me?: A History of Week Ending by Ian Greaves and Justin Lewis. It's A4 and 670 pages so quite a chunk.

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Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 20h

See I like Doctor Who (and I mostly watch it because when it was cancelled I was still a teenager) but being involved in the fandom in the 1980s put me off fandom in general and Who fans specifically.

I have since discovered that all fandoms create deranged subgroups and am glad to be merely casual

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Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 21h

One reason I hate the internet more each day: my wife sent me alink to a jewellery website and my script blocker brought me up a list of 26 sites or domains this front page contacts.

A list of 26 websites and domains contacted by the front page of a shop webpage.

Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 21h

Yes! When people ask why I'm so against private healthcare I advise them to look at the vets and imagine that for humans. I have a cat getting teeth extracted on Friday -- it'll be around £1500 all up. Consolidation of practices into corporations is probably the ultimate cause (yay capitalism!)

Arr David @arrdavid.bsky.social · 1d

If you ever wondered what privatised healthcare for yourself would be like, look at the vet market and multiply it by 10.

Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 21h

Every attempt to deepen and brooaden the mythos of the doctor and the time lords has been to the detriment of the show.

Neil Norman And His Cosmic Orchestra @fubsyshabaroon.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most unhinged Doctor Who opinion. I mean, if you’re a fan, they’re likely all unhinged anyway.

Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 21h

I'm sure the flash can't be covered with black tape or paint.

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Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 22h

I keep seeing pictures of Tony Caunter in Blakes 7 so here he is in Doctor Who instead.

Morgan (Tony Caunter) faces the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) in the 1971 Doctor Who story Colony In Space.

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Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 1d

This evening I've been playing with fingerpicks. Not playing guitar with them, just playing with them. Bloody awkward things.

Some metal thumb and fingerpicks on a table in front of a bunnikins cup of tea (yes really)

Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 1d

The house he was born in, in India Street, is now a lovely little by-appointment museum that a friend and I went round a few years ago.

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Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 1d

Change a letter, ruin a song.
Born to be Mild

Goon Pod @goonpod.bsky.social · 1d

Change a letter, ruin a song.
Got To Get You Into My Wife

Tilt Araiza @tiltaraiza.bsky.social · 1d

Change a letter, ruin a song.
I Can Pee For Miles

Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 1d

I built this. Would not build again.

The back of a 3-d globe jigsaw on a chair

Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 1d

Always worth listening to what @moviessilently.bsky.social says as she puts in the miles. I first followed when she bigged up Mabel Normand on the other place and, even allowing for diversions into vegetable growing, it's all been good.

Movies Silently @moviessilently.bsky.social · May 23

DW Griffith directed BIRTH OF A NATION (1915), a virulently racist film (and neither his first nor his last one of those) that saw racist violence follow wherever it was screened.

So, naturally, there are film bros and gals who think we should "ignore the racism" and keep it in the canon.

Thread

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Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 1d

Exactly. I tried to complain to The Gambling Commission but their contact form is limited to 400 characters.

Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 1d

Grump of the day -- I do the Scottish Childrens Lottery but have decided to stop. To sign up I went on the website. To stop I have to physically phone someone whose job is presumably to discourage me from doing so. Bastards.

Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 1d

I'll brace myself

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Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 1d

There's an actual short feature about that bed in the Mary Millington bluray set!

Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 1d

This is probably too on the nose to count?

Cover of Billy Bunter at Butlins by Frank Richards showing Billy Bunter (Gerald Campion?) eating cakes in front of a Butlins holiday camp building. The book is every bit as awful as you'd expect.

Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 2d

I have no excitement for Tron Ares -- and I say this while being about to buy the 4K re-release of Tron. Literally the only thing I got from the second film was, with all those crowd scenes, a sense of why my PC activity monitor was mostly taken up with "Idle processes".

Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 2d

A documentary about how certain celebrities become ubiquitous (interviews with RomeshRanganathan and Alison Hammond, produced by Ant-n-Dec's company) OR an exhibition of the paintings he's done to illustrate his childrens book.

Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 3d

Theres a couple of those in Saughton Park in Edinburgh. Dunno if they're official Sunak ones but I suspect not.

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Alasdair Swanson @alasdairswanson.bsky.social · 3d

This is a lovely and considered thread.

Andrew Orton @andreworton.bsky.social · 3d

The death of multi-camera TV: a thread. I know most of you will know the technical parts of this (and may have read it in the other place) but bear with me. 1/ 🧵

A shot from the studio rehearsal of Doctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan episode 'Volcano', showing several actors ont he TARDIS set, with various video cameras around the scene.