Terry Rodgers

Never seen Stranger Things, but as a general rule I try to avoid giving into the sunk cost fallacy with TV shows. (I walked away from X-Files, Lost, and Game Of Thrones with no regrets.)

When the fun stops, stop!

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 333:
You don't always have to "write what you know." But it's your responsibility to know what you're writing about.

Ladies and gentlemen? “Horse: Everyone can see what a horse is.” (“Koń jaki jest, każdy widzi.”)~ Nowe Ateny (the first Polish encyclopaedia, published 1746) It’s not up to me to announce w…

Twelve years of blogging and only just got around to talking about this!
observaterry.wordpress.com/2026/02/12/l...

Just like real life? 🤔

It's interesting seeing how our digital selves compare with our real selves!

Yeah, it doesn't work for everyone (I tried it with my workplace account and it didn't appear) - maybe see who else follows you and try theirs?

I'm out on the periphery with "Eclectic UK-based creative professionals", and that is entirely fair. 🤠

The travel bug I’ve reached a point where the thing I want to do most is travel. The world’s surface is already fully-explored, so wherever you go, people have already been there before you. So why wo…

A quick blog for today: a few thoughts on what it means to travel in the 21st century. And believe me, I have a lot more travel planned!
observaterry.wordpress.com/2026/01/18/t...

At work I was asked to come up with an explanation of how to use email, Teams, and Sharepoint for internal communications within the organisation.
This is what I came up with...

That episode was about time travel; it was resolved by going further back in time and rescuing Malloy (Grimes) before he had a chance to meet the woman who would have become his wife, and enrich himself in Earth's past with his future tech.
Malloy said should have chosen death over polluting time.

The silhouettes of Arthur's Seat and Edinburgh Castle peep over the skyline across the River Forth. Orange and purple clouds hang in the pre-dawn sky.

A seabird alights from the rocks near the shore of Dalgety Bay on the river Forth. Across the water is the broad, dark skyline of Edinburgh with first light peeping out from under orange and purple clouds.

A passenger jet flies in front of a sky filled with orange and purple clouds. Beneath it is the silhouette of Edinburgh, seen from Dalgety Bay.

A broad panorama of Edinburgh's skyline in silhouette, from Arthur's Seat to the West End. In the middle the sun rise shines through orange clouds near the Castle. Photo taken from Dalgety Bay, to the north across the Firth of Forth.

My first sunrise photo of 2026: #Edinburgh as seen from Dalgety Bay...

Thank you! 😀
(I edited out a whole bunch of tangents and digressions from this - but I think the core of it is still there...)

Thanks Meinert! 😊

Per Craig Ferguson: When you're about to say something, ask yourself

1. Does this need to be said

2. Does this need to be said by me

3. Does this need to be said by me right now

It's amazing how asking these will get keep you out of trouble (that is, if you actually have sense to begin with)

Who we pretend to be “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” ~ Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night (1962) To one degree or another we all take inspiration from other people: maybe we …

Blog time! In which I witter on about the fictional characters we want to be. Don't want to be just like your childhood hero? Well, here's why you should...
observaterry.wordpress.com/2025/12/26/w...

Before VHS tapes I had Vonda McIntyre's novelisation to 'rewatch' the story. It was based on the original script and included more of Preston; I was delighted to finally see the scenes which I'd only read about! It makes Scotty's grief in sickbay more understandable - worth the character moment?
🖖

Also worth mentioning is producer Harve Bennett's DVD interview when he compared the reactions of test audiences to the original, funereal cut with the revised version. He gets a little teary-eyed as he describes how it felt to give the audience a sense of hope again.

not that it would convince any AI turds but this is the best way to explain it

They want the tip of the triangle with nothing under it

Gil Gerard Dies At 82: Star Of ‘Buck Rogers’ Leaves Posthumous Message For Fans Gil Gerard, the star of 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century' who battled cancer, advised, "Don’t waste your time on anything that doesn’t thrill you or bring you love"

“Don’t waste your time on anything that doesn’t thrill you or bring you love. See you out somewhere in the cosmos.”

This is the posthumous message left by Gil Gerard. The actor who played Buck Rogers in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979) has just passed away at the age of 82.

Quote with your starry art 🌌

Silk Road stan 7: one for the road Our final stretch of the Silk Road took us into the desert and the ancient past. We boarded the sunrise train across the Kyzylkum (“Red Sands”). The journey to Urgench lasted four hours…

Concluding my Silk Road travels in the desert: ancient ruins, ancient cities, ancient trains, and who's the freeloader inflicting the world's worst joke on their travelling companions?
(Yes, it was me...) 🇺🇿
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Dr McCoy from the 1960s Star Trek

Scotty from the 1960s Star Trek

Guinan from Star Trek: The Next Generation

Jadzia Dax from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

"You're having a dinner party with characters from #StarTrek. Which four are you inviting?"
I think the booze and chat would be pretty damn good with this lot... 🖖

Silk Road stan 6: bucking up in Bukhara We arrived in Bukhara late at night. Our time in Uzbekistan so far had been fast-paced, with rail journeys in and out of Tashkent and Samarkand and when I woke the next morning I had no idea who I …

Penultimate part of the Silk Road trip: the rather fetching city of Bukhara in Uzbekistan, which is ideal when you've been on the go for two weeks and you're energy's running low... 🇺🇿
observaterry.wordpress.com/2025/11/07/s...

Three-panel cartoon: 1) person reads a clothing label, "I'm hand wash only, inside out, hang to dry and-" 2) person throws clothing into washing machine, "SLAM!" 3) as the machine shakes, the person says "Welcome to the laundry gauntlet. Good luck." (Cartoon by Mr Lovenstein)

Silk Road stan 5: makes a mark in Samarkand If there’s one name that conjures up the idea of the Silk Road, it must be Samarkand. It’s an ancient city, one of the oldest continually-inhabited on Earth. It contains iconic architec…

SAMARKAND! A name that conjures up images of exotic adventures and ancient history! A highlight of Uzbekistan!

Also a place where I made myself the subject of a recurring joke for the rest of the trip... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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"I DON'T NEED YOU TO FUCKING REWRITE WHAT I'VE JUST WRITTEN!"

Silk Road stan 4: dash into Tashkent When you arrive in Uzbekistan, you can see a clear difference between it and its neighbours, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. For one thing, it uses the Roman alphabet which gives it a more Western feel.…

Overnight in a Kazakhstan sleeper train, overnight in Tashkent, and no time to rest: my introduction to Uzbekistan... 🇺🇿
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Irish Free State was established in Dec 1922; Mongolian People's Republic was established in 1924 but isn't shown yet indicating the map must be from 1923.
But: Central Australia existed from 1927 onwards. So I assume the map was made shortly after 1927 by a cartographer who hadn't kept up to date?

A ruined desert fortress eroding into the sand.

The top of a minaret with its Islamic crescent moon mirrored by the actual crescent moon.

A statue of two men sitting and laughing with a samovar next to them.

The turquoise patterened Kalta Minor minaret, abandoned halfway through construction.

Uzbekistan: photos from in and around Khiva...

Sunrise near the Kalan Minaret.

The distinctive curving walls of the Ark of Bukhara with an original, unrestored section, reflected in water.

A turquoise dome and courtyard tree seen through an archway.

A statue of Mulla Nasreddin, a cheerful local folk hero on his donkey, lit up at night.

Uzbekistan: photos from around Bukhara...