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BigJackBrass

@[email protected]

Charlatan, Humbug and Imitation Humorist.

Former sporadic cartoonist and game designer. Occasionally #Outdoorsy, sometimes #Cycling. #Ukulele torturer. #Zoot tooter. #RPG player and GM at Whartson Hall. Still European. #LongCovid.

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@BigJackBrass@vivaldi.net avatar BigJackBrass , to random
@BigJackBrass@vivaldi.net avatar BigJackBrass , to random

Christmas Day, despite keeping it as relaxed as a trip to see family can be, wiped me out. Boxing Day was quiet, but the post-exertional malaise (or post-exertional symptom exacerbation, for those who prefer) kicked in yesterday and I was good for nothing. Slept for a big chunk of the day and never really felt as though I properly woke up.

Today is slightly better, but not great. I've been trying to do a few light tasks to keep my brain in gear, but I think I'm done for the day.

Don't get covid, kids. You have no idea what it will leave in its wake.

@BigJackBrass@vivaldi.net avatar BigJackBrass , to random

I feel certain that this image is part of a training montage from a movie about a plucky corvid taking on the thugs who are trying to demolish the local community centre. https://growers.social/@jdacee/115690053288349361

@BigJackBrass@vivaldi.net avatar BigJackBrass , to random

This is an interesting offer from Troll Lord Games: school game clubs can apply for a package of Castles & Crusades books and PDFs.

https://trolllord.com/school-game-clubs/

When I ran Tunnels & Trolls at a summer camp in Maine I had some very generous support from Flying Buffalo (which was great, because I kept giving away my copies of the game to kids). Always good to see publishers helping groups like this.

Physical copies are USA only, which is fair enough given the cost of international shipping these days.

@Alice@beige.party avatar Alice , to random

My grandfather is turning over in his grave because we buried him in a rock tumbler.

BigJackBrass ,
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@Alice @FredKiesche Polish ancestors.

@BigJackBrass@vivaldi.net avatar BigJackBrass , to random

Postmodern Jukebox: "Pinky and the Brain Theme"

https://youtu.be/OqMs9WsJg2k

@knightlie@vivaldi.net avatar knightlie , to random

So are we just not going to talk about how much less chocolate there is in a Terry's Chocolate Orange now? You used to be able to knock a shipyard worker unconscious with them. What they have shrunken to now is a travesty.

BigJackBrass ,
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@knightlie We can't be far from a rebranding as Terry's Chocolate Kumquat.

BigJackBrass ,
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@knightlie And you're certainly not imagining it. They've lost the equivalent of more than half a Mars bar.

Screenshot of Wikipedia showing a section of the entry for the Terry's Chocolate Orange. Text: Changes to product weight in 2016. On 29 May 2016, the UK product size was reduced from 175g to 157g (or 147g in Canada) by changing the moulded shape of each segment to leave an air gap between each piece. Despite this, the price doubled in some retail outlets. In the summer of 2025, the weight was further reduced to 145g in the UK.
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    @BigJackBrass@vivaldi.net avatar BigJackBrass , to random

    Depression made an unwelcome return chez Hancock recently, kicking off its shoes and generally making itself comfortable. Not entirely unexpected, I guess, as the ill health retirement process rumbles slowly on.

    This morning saw a very welcome surprise mood lifter raise its head, however, as one of my rolling eBay searches turned up a hit for an obscure Cliff Edwards record, a song that only seems to have appeared once, on the B–side of a Disneyland single. Fingers crossed that it arrives intact.

    It's almost exactly a year since I halted my Cliff Edwards Project, an attempt to write up ukulele songsheets for everything Cliff ever recorded, so this will be a good reason to take another look at it. There are still a few obscure tracks I could buy but can't afford (a job lot of 16" transcription discs sent from North America just for a couple of songs isn't practical), but in general it's very uncommon for these things to pop up.

    Picture of a black vinyl 7" single with a purple label and large American-style spindle hole. Disneyland label, release F-41 side 2, "How Can I Miss You (When You Won't Go Away)" by Cliff Edwards and The Wonderland Jazz Band.
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    BigJackBrass OP ,
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    As an eager Doctor Frankenstein once declared, "It's arrived!"

    A couple of minor scuffs, but otherwise looks promising. Time to dust off the old phonographic apparatus and see how it sounds… 🤞

    @augieray@mastodon.social avatar augieray , to random

    This week I saw a post urging people to mask when they go to hospitals because so many nurses are getting Long COVID. I'm sitting in a day surgery dept right now. A dozen nurses, two coughing, no masks.

    Don't get be wrong. My wife and are masking with COVID moderate/high in our area, but I mask for me. I used to mask as much to protect others as me, but with almost no one taking care, the idea WE should mask to protect healthcare workers who won't mask to protect themselves or us annoys me.

    BigJackBrass ,
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    @augieray I find it bizarre to keep meeting medical staff who, when they see that I'm wearing a mask, ask "Would you feel better if I wore a mask?" Why do they think I'm wearing it? Because I have a fear of mouths or something?

    @BigJackBrass@vivaldi.net avatar BigJackBrass , to random

    This would never have happened during the Sylvester McCoy years.

    Screenshot of The Guardian website. Headline: Greater Manchester. Doctor who left patient during operation to have sex with nurse allowed to practise.
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    @BigJackBrass@vivaldi.net avatar BigJackBrass , to random

    Waiting in a hospital car park, as I occasionally do these days. They've mounted solar panels over the spaces, providing shade as well as generating electricity. There needs to be more of this.

    Photograph of a car park. There is a large gridded canopy mounted on a metal frame that covers the parking spaces and keeps them in shade.
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    @BigJackBrass@vivaldi.net avatar BigJackBrass , to random

    Tusk tusk: the sound of a disapproving elephant.

    @publicdomainrev@mastodon.social avatar publicdomainrev , to random
    BigJackBrass ,
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    @publicdomainrev Unfortunately, that is showing as no longer available.

    @eniko@peoplemaking.games avatar eniko , (edited ) to random

    Hey fedi, so I have this cheap doohickey for using computers away from a desk. It's got a touch pad and keys and is absolutely the right solution for the problem

    But it sucks. The keys start bad and if used too much stop registering reliably, the touch pad ain't great, and it keeps losing connection to the dongle despite it being like 8 feet away

    Is there some kind of premium version of these that exists? So far I've only ever seen the terrible dirt cheap ones for sale anywhere

    (If you don't mind plz boost for reach I am desperate)

    EDIT: to be clear the handheld/gamepad-like form factor is what makes this work so a more traditionally keyboard shaped device with an additional trackpad isn't really a suitable replacement

    A plastic doohickey that's flat but shaped kind of like a game controller. The bottom has a keyboard with the type of mushy rubber buttons you'd expect on a cheap TV remote. In the top is a touch pad flanked by media buttons on the left and arrow buttons on the right. There are also dedicated mouse left and right buttons next to the keyboard
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    BigJackBrass ,
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    @eniko @smwinn7 There also appears to be an earlier version, the Lenovo N5902, with a mouse function rather than trackpad and a slightly bulkier design.

    @mpg@grumble.social avatar mpg , to bookstodon group

    If any of you are in the Amazon ebook ecosystem and have been considering leaving, Amazon has announced that they will be disabling their Transfer to USB functionality next week, so you have 1 week to liberate your library before then! You don't need to rush out and buy a new eReader this week, but you will want to get your purchases migrated to ePUB before you lose that ability altogether. 🧵 for how-to...

    bookstodon@a.gup.pe icon bookstodon group

    Screenshot of the Amazon announcement that Transfer to USB will be discontinued on Feb 26 2025.
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    BigJackBrass ,
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    @Oiselarius @mpg bookstodon@a.gup.pe icon bookstodon group I'm afraid I've no experience of it on a Mac, but generally you can go to your Amazon account on a browser and find your Kindle titles under devices and content, then choose the download option for each book. This may not work if you don't have a physical Kindle ereader registered.

    @ComicContext@mstdn.social avatar ComicContext , to random
    From inside a transparent golden globe stand what appeared to be a crowd of women wearing long capes with high collars. Outside the dome, Superman is holding up in outer space a giant rock with a message written on it that says, “People of Luna! Your lives are in your hands! I can use this newly formed planet to crush the moon like an eggshell – –“ Superman thinks, “They’re READING my message…and judging by their EXPRESSIONS, they don’t LIKE what they SEE….“
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    BigJackBrass ,
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    @ComicContext This threat could have been an email.

    @Vivaldi@vivaldi.net avatar Vivaldi , to random

    What’s your perfect browsing vibe?
    🌓 Dark mode for late-night comfort
    ☀️ Light mode for a crisp, bright feel
    🤷 Whatever the default is

    BigJackBrass ,
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    @Vivaldi Usually dark mode—easier on the eyes for me—but on some websites the text also shows up dark, making it unreadable. Not too common, luckily.

    @BigJackBrass@vivaldi.net avatar BigJackBrass , to random

    Sheer laziness with the special effects here. The wires are clearly visible.

    A BA Concorde supersonic aeroplane being lowered from a crane, having been ferried across a river following restoration work.
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