A personal weblog by Robert — mere Christian, aspiring minimalist, inveterate notetaker, budget audiophile and paper airplane mechanic.

Self-publishing since 1994.

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  • I Don’t Know

    The occasion of Ozzy Osbourne’s death should not have been surprising. In fact, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the legendary metal singer had died twenty years ago. It was something of a miracle that he lasted this long, given the state of his health for the last few decades (who would have thought Prince Nelson Rogers would repose before the Prince of Darkness). Osbourne played his final show though—just weeks ago—which was by most accounts an impressive affair, and then exited this world gracefully as if he’d done what he came to do.

    Recent events have provided the perfect opportunity for a reminder about Black Sabbath doom metal disciples Castle Rat and their new songs. Castle Rat’s upcoming album The Bestiary already has two publicly available tracks, “Wolf I” and “Wizard.” The tracks represent growth in complexity from those on their debut album as well as a more polished sound. On “Wizard,” guitarist Franco “The Count” Vittore finally gets to stretch out with an epic solo that brings to mind 80s metal maximalism.

    Castle Rat – The Bestiary
    King Volume Records | Bandcamp

    The Bestiary is set to release on September 19, 2025.

  • Sky At Night

    Though Laura Groves “Sky At Night” was released as part of her album Radio Red in 2023, it may be my favorite “new to me” song this year. Groves delicate bedroom chamber pop is at once melancholy and curious. Her vocals bring to mind Natasha Khan’s Bat For Lashes project for which she was once a backup singer.

    This isn’t an “official” video, so it’s pretty simplistic, with pattern overlays, retro technology, color washes and Groves herself serving as the main visual interests. The song itself is the draw here. It’s one of those rare tracks that I can just rewind and listen to over and over.

    Laura Groves – Sky At Night (YouTube)

  • Friends of Mt. Athos

    I enjoyed this trip through Mt. Athos from the lense of an outsider. Of special interest to me were the descriptions of the icons, their history and their presence.

    I expected I was the only person in the space, until I sensed another presence emanating, inexplicably, from the icon of St. Anne. Her face was blackened from centuries of devotional candles. The instinct of an art historian might be to accurately date it, or even to clean it. This was a welcome thought that put me safely in the driver’s seat of this encounter. But then all such ambition evaporated, and it felt more like the icon wanted to clean me. I looked into Anne and Mary’s blackened faces. With enough prayer and candle smoke, I suppose every icon is on its way to becoming black.

    The story of the the Gatekeeper icon is one of those wonderous Orthodox tales of which I am so fond. The combination of the material and the spiritual lodges powerful concepts in my mind.

  • I had a lot of skepticism about the Spinal Tap sequel, but I’m more inclined to see it after watching the trailer. Those guys just inhabit the characters so well.

  • A New Reading Partnership

    I was starting to get down about the fact that my read-it-later digests from Matter were causing crashing errors on my Kindle. The issue has been pretty consistent lately and I don’t have much hope of getting help since it’s not really a supported integration. A few years ago, I enjoyed the Kobo and Pocket sync, but Pocket was far from my favorite app. Now that Pocket is dead, I didn’t have much hope for another option.

    The news that my O.G. favorite read-it-later service, Instapaper, is building a Kobo integration was a wonderful surprise today. I could definitely see myself moving back into the Kobo ecosystem, especially now that I can’t back up my Kindle purchases and Amazon can revoke my access to them at any time. In addition, I always want to reduce my reliance on Amazon in any way that makes sense.

  • I never expected to, nor did I want to, read the phrase “a gritty Pac-Man reboot.”

    https://www.theverge.com/games-review/708833/shadow-labyrinth-review-gritty-pac-man

  • Moon Shots

    Oversized ambition seems to be an increasingly common feature of new software applications and services. Many of the new apps I try are swinging for the fences and walking away when the home run or grand slam doesn’t materialize. As I’m evaluating software now, I have to dig into what the expectations are for the commercial performance of the software. If they are unrealistic, it may be better not to get attached in the first place.

    One of my favorite tools is the read-it-later app Matter. A few months ago, the founders of Matter posted about their health issues and how they had to give up on their goal of making Matter the next Duolingo. At some point, it became clear the product wasn’t going to have the same level of success. Their response was to call the app feature complete and put it in maintenance mode.

    read more…

  • I think we are starting to see how Ghost with ActivityPub will work for self-hosted sites. It will be interesting to understand how PikaPods will support this as it seems right up their alley.

  • The Decline of Design

    Sean Heber of Iconfactory brings the harsh realities of maintaining steady design work in the era of AI dominance.

    Sean Heber

    ChatGPT and other AI services are basically killing @Iconfactory and I'm not exaggerating or being hyperbolical.

    First Twitter/Elon killed our main app revenue that kept the lights on around here, then generative AI exploded to land a final blow to design revenue.

    July 11, 2025, 2:17 pm 279 boosts 278 favorites

    I am sorry to read about the challenges Iconfactory is facing. The first product I worked on after I got into software development used icons created by the studio. Their Twitter client, Twitterrific was what lured me to join that network years ago. I love their design sensibilities and the level of craft they bring to their work.

    My favorite Iconfactory project has to be the artwork for the iOS version of Carcassonne. I was so sad when that app ceased development. It was truly a cut above.

    Fediverse reactions

  • Demon Haunting

    The Old Smithyville Burying Ground. Photo by Gerry Dincher via flickr.

    A few weeks ago, our family took a trip to the beach. It’s an annual ritual when our health and schedule afford it. We try to look for activities, but mostly we take it easy and enjoy the ocean and the slower pace of life. This year we were interested in doing a ghost walk around the nearby town of Southport. Southport has a history going back to the 1700s and is ripe for hauntings. We did the Southport ghost walk about 15-20 years prior and were pleased to discover that the same woman who had just started it at the time of our first encounter was still leading the tour. Katie Stewart holds a degree in Antebellum Southern and North Carolina history and a long-time resident’s passion for the town’s old stories.

    About midway through our stay at the beach, I was able to hang out with one of my favorite colleagues (in truth, I like all my colleagues), who was also on a family trip at the same time. When I told his wife we were doing a ghost walk, she was intrigued. Their family had been in Southport the day before. She told me that they visited an antique shop in the town, and she had felt a negative presence on the second floor of the shop. It was so strong that she had to leave. She confessed to being sensitive to paranormal activity, and that wasn’t the first such experience for her.

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