Ceud Mìle Fàilte

Photography Nature Technology Food
Movies Music Politics

and life in the Highlands.

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Thank you for dropping-by, I hope you enjoy your visit. The main content is to be found in the blog where I discuss everything and anything but topics including photography, nature, technology, food, movies, music and politics make regular appearances.

I commonly write reviews of movies (or films, if you prefer). Some movie reviews are short, others will be discussed in more detail. The scope covered will be mainly mainstream English language movies from the 1930s until the present day.

About me

My name is Iain MacDonald and I live in the Highlands of Scotland (although I have lived elsewhere in the past). I am a big fan of Free & Open Source Software which I use both professionally and at home.

Computing and technology tend to infuse themselves into my other interests, as once you learn some skills in one area it is convenient to use them to solve problems in other spheres.

When not tinkering with computers, I am likely to be found repairing things because living in the countryside you learn to be resourceful.

Of course, man doesn't live by SSH tunnels and kerosene vapour burners alone so food, as a subject, makes regular appearances too. Did I mention I used to work in hospitality?

Latest Life articles

My most recent ramblings.

  • Eurovision

    I'd like to apologise, publicly. The poor woman went for some peace and quiet, and what did she get? Two eejits rolling-up in a campervan, blaring out the Eurovision song contest. [Read more...]

  • Feeling sheepish

    I went for a walk along a forestry style track, yesterday. Ahead of me was a ewe, with two lambs. The ewe felt nervous about my approach, and started to trot away from me. The lambs were, of course, following her closely. However, the sheep didn't trot away uphill or ... [Read more...]

  • Regatta Hydrafort Matt Jacket

    I needed to buy a waterproof jacket for use when working. I also have a Gore-Tex jacket from Craghoppers, which is excellent, but I didn't want to ruin that jacket by using it for working every day. I have a few other Regatta products which are well made, so, for ... [Read more...]

  • Highland Life and the Coronavirus

    It is quite extraordinary, I've never experienced anything like it. We are now a couple of weeks away from Easter, which is normally the time when the summer tourist season starts. The roads would see increased traffic, and the tourist hotspots would start to be busy. Not this year. [Read more...]

  • New Manual Coffee Grinder

    I was without my vintage wooden Zassenhaus, so I rushed out and bought a new manual coffee grinder. The one I got is from Maison & White, and it is amazingly good. It is adjustable from very fine to coarse. Grinding is done with ceramic burrs, and the rest of ... [Read more...]

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My latest Mastodon posts

Mastodon is a microblogging app that is part of the decentralised web known as The Fediverse. See this article for more details.

Fitheach (@fitheach@mstdn.io)

Sat, 24 Jul 2021 23:31:35 +0000

I'm currently re-watching:

Die Hard (1988)

I've only just noticed that in one of the floors of the Nakatomi building there are Control Data mainframes. Our hero, John McClane, walks past them. I've never seen a CD mainframe in the "flesh".

If you've never seen the movie, you really should.

Thu, 22 Jul 2021 23:54:37 +0000

Nearly 01:00 hrs, and it is still 18°C. I'm calling that sultry.

Thu, 22 Jul 2021 23:25:04 +0000

In my household, dogs get to lick the plates (after human meals).

I hold the plate as licks. As she does so, her floppy ears tickle my wrists.

Ahh, life's simple pleasures.

Wed, 21 Jul 2021 12:30:44 +0000

Wow! That is big.

Seen to-day when doing the dogwalk at the Caledonian Canal.

The boat is called the Lord of the Glens.

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Wed, 21 Jul 2021 09:08:33 +0000

The importance of personal names is most obvious in the movie business.

Actors have to choose a unique name so that credits and jobs are given to the correct person. However, this (typically) enforced change of name gives them the opportunity to choose something memorable and cool.

Consider:

Rock Hudson
John Wayne (Marion Morrison)
Doris Day
Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Mortenson)
Kirk Douglas (Issur Danielovitch)
Cyd Charisse (Tula Ellice Finklea)

Wed, 21 Jul 2021 08:53:52 +0000

Of course, the fact that Che was a good-looking guy also had a huge effect on his status as a global icon. However, that is a discussion for another day.

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