Alex MacLaren
@alexmaclaren.bsky.social
Reading, cooking, counting my blessings. Resident of Folkestone, UK
I remember a lot about that day, and you did deserve the compliment Phil. I’d never been so starstruck, and I was not alone
November 27, 2025 at 10:58 PM
I remember a lot about that day, and you did deserve the compliment Phil. I’d never been so starstruck, and I was not alone
interesting! Madness of course but interesting! Happy Thanksgiving, from the UK. 😂
November 27, 2025 at 2:15 PM
interesting! Madness of course but interesting! Happy Thanksgiving, from the UK. 😂
This is a good one. Visions of bandaged-hand guy closely looking at the ground in the pedestrianised area
November 27, 2025 at 12:26 PM
This is a good one. Visions of bandaged-hand guy closely looking at the ground in the pedestrianised area
This is of course insane so I’m trying to make sense of it. Does the marshmallow topping make the sweet potato taste savoury, or extra potatoey or something?
November 27, 2025 at 12:16 PM
This is of course insane so I’m trying to make sense of it. Does the marshmallow topping make the sweet potato taste savoury, or extra potatoey or something?
Interesting! I'm always curious about neuro-diversity avant la lettre: this came up yesterday! bsky.app/profile/alex...
Enjoyed this little discussion in Middlemarch between Ladislaw and Lydgate on the importance of having an MP that lives in the constituency
November 27, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Interesting! I'm always curious about neuro-diversity avant la lettre: this came up yesterday! bsky.app/profile/alex...
Not so at ease that they don’t devote copious time and attention in a finite lifetime to irrational and malevolent stupidity
November 26, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Not so at ease that they don’t devote copious time and attention in a finite lifetime to irrational and malevolent stupidity
People will tell you that to play their game at all is to lose. That’s not an indefensible position - but your instinct to say something is righteous, and your grace in doing so is seen.
November 26, 2025 at 10:57 PM
People will tell you that to play their game at all is to lose. That’s not an indefensible position - but your instinct to say something is righteous, and your grace in doing so is seen.
That inconvenient word. She was absolutely sublime
November 26, 2025 at 10:24 PM
That inconvenient word. She was absolutely sublime
I'm now wondering which film has a poster with a girl in topee and britches and unbuttoned shirt on the poster. Does Taylor identify it? Could it be?
November 26, 2025 at 3:45 PM
I'm now wondering which film has a poster with a girl in topee and britches and unbuttoned shirt on the poster. Does Taylor identify it? Could it be?
Definitely read the Cicero ones, and Pompeii.
November 25, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Definitely read the Cicero ones, and Pompeii.
I’m a huge Harris fan across the board, but I must say ‘Conclave’ was technically amazing. I had to stop my eyes from jumping across to the new vote numbers, so artfully was he delivering the suspense on the preceding page. And so much funnier than the film!
November 25, 2025 at 9:55 PM
I’m a huge Harris fan across the board, but I must say ‘Conclave’ was technically amazing. I had to stop my eyes from jumping across to the new vote numbers, so artfully was he delivering the suspense on the preceding page. And so much funnier than the film!
I loved all the Zeppelin stuff in Babylon Berlin.
November 25, 2025 at 4:05 AM
I loved all the Zeppelin stuff in Babylon Berlin.
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
The sheer number of people asking why nothing works/looks good/is new is growing and we’re due a paradigm shift, I see it in everything I’m into, with the exception being comics which already seems ahead of the curve because of the relatively low risk of trying something new.
November 24, 2025 at 10:59 PM
The sheer number of people asking why nothing works/looks good/is new is growing and we’re due a paradigm shift, I see it in everything I’m into, with the exception being comics which already seems ahead of the curve because of the relatively low risk of trying something new.
Ha ha! There’s a brilliant bit in Wodehouse’s ‘Right Ho, Jeeves’ in which the same thing happens, but with telegrams.
November 24, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Ha ha! There’s a brilliant bit in Wodehouse’s ‘Right Ho, Jeeves’ in which the same thing happens, but with telegrams.
Genuinely struggling with the ease of AI adoption I see around me, and I wonder if it’s their familiarity with the rhythm of text-message interactions. People tell me they ‘had a conversation on WhatsApp’ - but really they had a fast digital correspondence.
November 24, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Genuinely struggling with the ease of AI adoption I see around me, and I wonder if it’s their familiarity with the rhythm of text-message interactions. People tell me they ‘had a conversation on WhatsApp’ - but really they had a fast digital correspondence.
Wonderful. In the sci fi of my day HAL, Dave and KITT are identifiably inhuman because of the precise interruption of their rhythm, in dialogue with their humans. Likewise the lag introduced in (once) long-distance phonecalls and (now) global Zooms... Timing is everything, humanly speaking.
November 24, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Wonderful. In the sci fi of my day HAL, Dave and KITT are identifiably inhuman because of the precise interruption of their rhythm, in dialogue with their humans. Likewise the lag introduced in (once) long-distance phonecalls and (now) global Zooms... Timing is everything, humanly speaking.
Whenever I hear he’s opened his mouth I am glad I missed it. He’s a menace
November 24, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Whenever I hear he’s opened his mouth I am glad I missed it. He’s a menace
That’s a very helpful post. I went to look before I asked you ‘what if I want less super-richness, will that come down under the right tax circs?’. He sort-of-deals-with-it in his bit about the Laffer curve.
November 23, 2025 at 10:55 PM
That’s a very helpful post. I went to look before I asked you ‘what if I want less super-richness, will that come down under the right tax circs?’. He sort-of-deals-with-it in his bit about the Laffer curve.
I would watch this
November 23, 2025 at 9:08 PM
I would watch this
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
Even sincere actors get pulled into the same incentive field. Their beliefs may be genuine, but the attention economy doesn’t distinguish. To be heard, they must compete with the grifters on the grifters’ terms.
November 23, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Even sincere actors get pulled into the same incentive field. Their beliefs may be genuine, but the attention economy doesn’t distinguish. To be heard, they must compete with the grifters on the grifters’ terms.
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
