Ceud Mìle Fàilte

Photography Nature Technology Food
Movies Music Politics

and life in the Highlands.

Fàilte

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...]

Click here to view the whole Life section.

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)

Fri, 20 May 2022 22:50:03 +0000

I am fuming mad at my electricity supplier (Scottish and Southern Energy).

We had a scheduled power outage to enable them to carry out maintenance work. The supply was supposed to return at 14:00. I came home to get lunch, and do some work. No power, no lunch, no work. I had to leave again at 16:00, still no power.

One of my neighbours told me there still wasn't any power at 20:00. I returned home at 23:30. Thankfully the supply is back on. I've got to catch up on some eating.

Thu, 19 May 2022 22:21:44 +0000

RIP Vangelis
1943 - 2022

Thanks for all the great music. I will listen to "1492: Conquest of Paradise", to-morrow.

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Thu, 19 May 2022 11:56:51 +0000

He's Scottish, definitely Scottish.

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Thu, 19 May 2022 11:01:47 +0000

Oh no!
Got my first midgie bites, this morning. The midgie season has started.

Thu, 19 May 2022 09:11:36 +0000

Dead animal, entrails

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Wed, 18 May 2022 23:28:51 +0000

Hmmm, ticket prices for the joint Evanescence & Within Temptation concert are between £52-63 each.

Is that a typical cost these days?