Another Iain
@anotheriain.bsky.social
Not *the* Iain MacDonald: just another Iain MacDonald.
Outer Hebridean Inner Londoner.
Harmonising with The Everly Brothers.
One man's civilisation is another man's jungle.
You might as well laugh - you won't get your money back.
Also @ukcovidghostsigns
Outer Hebridean Inner Londoner.
Harmonising with The Everly Brothers.
One man's civilisation is another man's jungle.
You might as well laugh - you won't get your money back.
Also @ukcovidghostsigns
Pinned
Another Iain
@anotheriain.bsky.social
· Oct 13
My longest-serving pinned tweet on Twitter was: "No, I don't have 'an extra i'. I have the full complement of 'i's. Those other people are lacking an 'i'. Thank you, that will be all."
(I quite liked it, but you can't pin posts here (yet).)
(I quite liked it, but you can't pin posts here (yet).)
Reposted by Another Iain
Letter in Times today
January 20, 2026 at 11:54 AM
Letter in Times today
Getting a notion to listen to this album, not sure why.
January 20, 2026 at 12:22 AM
Getting a notion to listen to this album, not sure why.
You wonder if things like this letter causes 'uh-oh' uncertainty and pause for thought among Trump voters and those carrying out his orders, or if they're all thinking 'yay, go, The Donald!'
January 19, 2026 at 9:15 AM
You wonder if things like this letter causes 'uh-oh' uncertainty and pause for thought among Trump voters and those carrying out his orders, or if they're all thinking 'yay, go, The Donald!'
There's a degree of truth in this. Could have omitted the alt text, for the trolling.
January 18, 2026 at 11:25 PM
There's a degree of truth in this. Could have omitted the alt text, for the trolling.
I often wonder what people who I used to see/hear and like, but haven't seen/heard for a long time, and don't seem to be doing anything publicly, are doing or living off now. eg thought about and looked up en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_La...; says he 'retired' at 43; he can't have made so much, can he?
Mark Lamarr - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
January 17, 2026 at 11:49 PM
I often wonder what people who I used to see/hear and like, but haven't seen/heard for a long time, and don't seem to be doing anything publicly, are doing or living off now. eg thought about and looked up en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_La...; says he 'retired' at 43; he can't have made so much, can he?
This excellent thing reminded me about the "angry woman pointing at cat" meme, and when I googled to find out where it came from I discovered that it has an amazingly detailed Wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman_y...
January 17, 2026 at 11:12 PM
This excellent thing reminded me about the "angry woman pointing at cat" meme, and when I googled to find out where it came from I discovered that it has an amazingly detailed Wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman_y...
I find it strange to think, though it seems to be true, that speaking of someone living 'life in the fast lane' wasn't something in common usage before The Eagles released Life In The Fast Lane in 1976.
Not many other song titles/lyrics from the last 50 years can have passed into such common usage?
Not many other song titles/lyrics from the last 50 years can have passed into such common usage?
January 17, 2026 at 6:16 PM
I find it strange to think, though it seems to be true, that speaking of someone living 'life in the fast lane' wasn't something in common usage before The Eagles released Life In The Fast Lane in 1976.
Not many other song titles/lyrics from the last 50 years can have passed into such common usage?
Not many other song titles/lyrics from the last 50 years can have passed into such common usage?
Reposted by Another Iain
Had an intriguing editorial discussion recently: how did people in the past talk about 'minutes' when they didn't have watches or standardised times? How does that affect your thinking?
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
January 17, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Had an intriguing editorial discussion recently: how did people in the past talk about 'minutes' when they didn't have watches or standardised times? How does that affect your thinking?
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
"I'm twenty-two now, but I won't be for long!"
Dreamt last night that I wrote a hit song and everywhere I went I was asked/requested/forced to shout out the chorus for fans? The chorus? I wrote it down upon awakening.
“I’M A GEOLOGIST IN A DISCORDANT THRONG!”
“I’M A GEOLOGIST IN A DISCORDANT THRONG!”
January 17, 2026 at 12:56 PM
"I'm twenty-two now, but I won't be for long!"
An underconsidered possible reason for why churches are 'full of odd people' is that many people in churches are kinder and warmer and friendlier and more accepting and patient than people in many other places, and odd people find kindness and warmth and friendship and acceptance and patience there.
January 16, 2026 at 9:16 PM
An underconsidered possible reason for why churches are 'full of odd people' is that many people in churches are kinder and warmer and friendlier and more accepting and patient than people in many other places, and odd people find kindness and warmth and friendship and acceptance and patience there.
Reposted by Another Iain
Hats off to whoever did this (and the beautiful model).
January 16, 2026 at 8:18 AM
Hats off to whoever did this (and the beautiful model).
Reposted by Another Iain
If it was *just* the football, cricket and UK elections sections it would still be the greatest website in the world
wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage
January 15, 2026 at 5:54 PM
If it was *just* the football, cricket and UK elections sections it would still be the greatest website in the world
Reposted by Another Iain
Heard a lad earlier talking about ‘Belgian whistles’
“A basic website costs 10k or 25k upwards if you want all the Belgian whistles”
BELGIAN WHISTLES
“A basic website costs 10k or 25k upwards if you want all the Belgian whistles”
BELGIAN WHISTLES
January 15, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Heard a lad earlier talking about ‘Belgian whistles’
“A basic website costs 10k or 25k upwards if you want all the Belgian whistles”
BELGIAN WHISTLES
“A basic website costs 10k or 25k upwards if you want all the Belgian whistles”
BELGIAN WHISTLES
Who's going to fill the space abandoned by the Tories to become Britain's right of centre party, I wonder. The LibDems? Some might say Labour are already going for it.
It felt a significant step in the dismantling of the Tory Party during Brexit when Boris declared none-more-Tory MPs like Ken Clarke, Philip Hammond and Nicholas Soames non-Tory. Seeing another step now as the defections mount up despite the party's continued rightward shift to combat Reform.
January 15, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Who's going to fill the space abandoned by the Tories to become Britain's right of centre party, I wonder. The LibDems? Some might say Labour are already going for it.
It felt a significant step in the dismantling of the Tory Party during Brexit when Boris declared none-more-Tory MPs like Ken Clarke, Philip Hammond and Nicholas Soames non-Tory. Seeing another step now as the defections mount up despite the party's continued rightward shift to combat Reform.
January 15, 2026 at 3:26 PM
It felt a significant step in the dismantling of the Tory Party during Brexit when Boris declared none-more-Tory MPs like Ken Clarke, Philip Hammond and Nicholas Soames non-Tory. Seeing another step now as the defections mount up despite the party's continued rightward shift to combat Reform.
("It was going to be 4.45pm.")
The next Robert Jenrick defection will happen on Monday 19 January (pm) and no stories in the gutter press will convince me otherwise.
January 15, 2026 at 12:23 PM
("It was going to be 4.45pm.")
Can any other genre of novel compete with detective novels for characters who so regularly compare plot elements and situations in their story with what would or wouldn't happen 'if they were in a novel'? Romcoms, perhaps; but they'd have to be going some to match the frequency.
January 13, 2026 at 12:38 AM
Can any other genre of novel compete with detective novels for characters who so regularly compare plot elements and situations in their story with what would or wouldn't happen 'if they were in a novel'? Romcoms, perhaps; but they'd have to be going some to match the frequency.
I thought of the Admiral Ackbar 'It's a trap!' photo yesterday, and realised I hadn't seen it for years. I wonder what other memes from the olden days have fallen by the wayside.
January 11, 2026 at 11:04 PM
I thought of the Admiral Ackbar 'It's a trap!' photo yesterday, and realised I hadn't seen it for years. I wonder what other memes from the olden days have fallen by the wayside.
Reposted by Another Iain
Waitrose chefs? I have questions
January 11, 2026 at 8:22 PM
Waitrose chefs? I have questions
Reposted by Another Iain
I used to get my checked bags searched every single time I flew, they leave a little card saying they’ve done it, so finally I put a note in my bag asking why and they wrote on the card that carrying so many books on a flight is usually how people hide illegal amounts of cash
Bag got pulled by security at the airport so I told him before he opened it that I was carrying medicinal cannabis. 'Yeah, not bothered about that, it's your toothpaste' 🤪
January 9, 2026 at 10:16 AM
I used to get my checked bags searched every single time I flew, they leave a little card saying they’ve done it, so finally I put a note in my bag asking why and they wrote on the card that carrying so many books on a flight is usually how people hide illegal amounts of cash
You don't hear about lumbago much any more, guess they found a cure.
Most recent song mention I can think of is in La Isla Bonita: 'Last night I dreamt of lumbago'.
Madonna, a more surreal artist than many give her credit for, rhymes it with 'Young girl with eyes like potatoes'.
Most recent song mention I can think of is in La Isla Bonita: 'Last night I dreamt of lumbago'.
Madonna, a more surreal artist than many give her credit for, rhymes it with 'Young girl with eyes like potatoes'.
January 9, 2026 at 9:02 AM
You don't hear about lumbago much any more, guess they found a cure.
Most recent song mention I can think of is in La Isla Bonita: 'Last night I dreamt of lumbago'.
Madonna, a more surreal artist than many give her credit for, rhymes it with 'Young girl with eyes like potatoes'.
Most recent song mention I can think of is in La Isla Bonita: 'Last night I dreamt of lumbago'.
Madonna, a more surreal artist than many give her credit for, rhymes it with 'Young girl with eyes like potatoes'.
I have had to tell many people over the years, "No, I'm not confused and uncomprehending; this isn't my confused and uncomprehending face, this is my listening and concentrating face".
I’m so glad that my daughter has inherited the greatest gift I can give her: a default resting worried face that will mean she has to spend a lifetime in meetings explaining that her facial expression doesn’t mean she thinks the item under discussion is going to get us all fired.
January 7, 2026 at 10:35 PM
I have had to tell many people over the years, "No, I'm not confused and uncomprehending; this isn't my confused and uncomprehending face, this is my listening and concentrating face".
Once again today at lunchtime I have had to ask myself why the Tesco where I get my meal deal chooses lunchtime to undertake the long process of cleaning and refilling its Costa coffee machine.
January 7, 2026 at 10:03 PM
Once again today at lunchtime I have had to ask myself why the Tesco where I get my meal deal chooses lunchtime to undertake the long process of cleaning and refilling its Costa coffee machine.
I've started Whose Body? by Dorothy L Sayers. I gather that Lord Peter Wimsey's character developed beyond this after this first outing, but so far he could definitely be summed up as Lord Sherlock Wooster.
January 4, 2026 at 11:45 PM
I've started Whose Body? by Dorothy L Sayers. I gather that Lord Peter Wimsey's character developed beyond this after this first outing, but so far he could definitely be summed up as Lord Sherlock Wooster.
Just looked at the bottom-right-hand corner of the magazine I'm looking at to see what the time was.
January 3, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Just looked at the bottom-right-hand corner of the magazine I'm looking at to see what the time was.