Ian Watoop
@watoop.bsky.social
Inevitably will be posting about UK politics or board games.
Not a big fan of where the human race has taken the planet at the moment.
Trying hard to keep the lights on in dark times.
Not a big fan of where the human race has taken the planet at the moment.
Trying hard to keep the lights on in dark times.
I know I'm officially an old codger now as I look with dismay upon the need for every sporting event to have thumping DJ music to 'make it relevant to the young people' (+ 'how much money they are winning, front and centre').
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/s...
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/s...
Keely Hodgkinson shows off Catwoman style to steal Athlos London event
Keely Hodgkinson destroyed a women’s 800m field dressed in a hooded black bodysuit, as Athlos London provided a radically different spin on track and field
www.theguardian.com
September 19, 2026 at 7:25 AM
I know I'm officially an old codger now as I look with dismay upon the need for every sporting event to have thumping DJ music to 'make it relevant to the young people' (+ 'how much money they are winning, front and centre').
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/s...
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/s...
I don't think I'll ever fail to be astonished that the Americans elected this man.
You have a president who doesn't understand the basics of trade.
You have a president who doesn't understand the basics of trade.
REPORTER: But we're seeing as a result that ports here in the US, the traffic has really slowed and now thousands of dockworkers are truck drivers are worried about their jobs
TRUMP: That means we lose less money ... when you say it slowed down, that's a good thing, not a bad thing
TRUMP: That means we lose less money ... when you say it slowed down, that's a good thing, not a bad thing
September 17, 2026 at 11:16 AM
I don't think I'll ever fail to be astonished that the Americans elected this man.
You have a president who doesn't understand the basics of trade.
You have a president who doesn't understand the basics of trade.
On the positive side, I had a spectacularly nice and helpful engineer visit today from Virgin Media.
Sorted out the problem and upgraded the hub, as well as being a lovely person to chat to.
Sorted out the problem and upgraded the hub, as well as being a lovely person to chat to.
September 16, 2026 at 7:53 PM
On the positive side, I had a spectacularly nice and helpful engineer visit today from Virgin Media.
Sorted out the problem and upgraded the hub, as well as being a lovely person to chat to.
Sorted out the problem and upgraded the hub, as well as being a lovely person to chat to.
Google search is so comically bad on its own drive platform.
I've just created a file and uploaded it to Google Drive.
I search 'files modified today' - no results.
I search 'files created in the last 7 days' - and there it is....
I've just created a file and uploaded it to Google Drive.
I search 'files modified today' - no results.
I search 'files created in the last 7 days' - and there it is....
September 16, 2026 at 7:12 PM
Google search is so comically bad on its own drive platform.
I've just created a file and uploaded it to Google Drive.
I search 'files modified today' - no results.
I search 'files created in the last 7 days' - and there it is....
I've just created a file and uploaded it to Google Drive.
I search 'files modified today' - no results.
I search 'files created in the last 7 days' - and there it is....
I know it's pedantic but are they building doctors?
September 16, 2026 at 1:04 PM
I know it's pedantic but are they building doctors?
Lisa has said an awful lot of soundbites in the last 2 years - but evidence of change, not so much.
Lisa Nandy brands Musk’s X a ‘disgrace’ as she pledges crackdown on social media doxxing - www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
Lisa Nandy brands Musk’s X a ‘disgrace’ as she pledges crackdown on social media doxxing – UK politics live
Culture secretary says X ‘didn’t even bother to turn up’ to meeting about abuse, intimidation and doxxing on social media
www.theguardian.com
September 16, 2026 at 9:33 AM
Lisa has said an awful lot of soundbites in the last 2 years - but evidence of change, not so much.
Strong smell of enshittification from the Ultimate Athletics Championship.
September 12, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Strong smell of enshittification from the Ultimate Athletics Championship.
Banshees
Quicksand
Spontaneous combustion
Rolf Harris's feet in that 'learn to swim' public information film
Quicksand
Spontaneous combustion
Rolf Harris's feet in that 'learn to swim' public information film
Things I was frightened of as a child:
Belisha Beacons
The Apaches public information film
Static on the television
Having to go down into the cellar to get a beer for my dad
The 999 theme tune
Wasps
Belisha Beacons
The Apaches public information film
Static on the television
Having to go down into the cellar to get a beer for my dad
The 999 theme tune
Wasps
Things I was frightened of as a child:
Tunnels
Spiders
People from Bolton
Plug holes
The music from Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Tunnels
Spiders
People from Bolton
Plug holes
The music from Blue Peter
Blue Peter
September 12, 2026 at 2:33 PM
Banshees
Quicksand
Spontaneous combustion
Rolf Harris's feet in that 'learn to swim' public information film
Quicksand
Spontaneous combustion
Rolf Harris's feet in that 'learn to swim' public information film
Enjoyed Merchants Cove last night (though it was a blowout for the Chronomancer).
Felt there was 'enough' interaction with boat movement + everyone eager to try out a different faction next time.
50:50 on whether to try & get hold of the blighted Master Craft KS expansion (expensive!).
#boardgames
Felt there was 'enough' interaction with boat movement + everyone eager to try out a different faction next time.
50:50 on whether to try & get hold of the blighted Master Craft KS expansion (expensive!).
#boardgames
September 10, 2026 at 9:07 AM
Enjoyed Merchants Cove last night (though it was a blowout for the Chronomancer).
Felt there was 'enough' interaction with boat movement + everyone eager to try out a different faction next time.
50:50 on whether to try & get hold of the blighted Master Craft KS expansion (expensive!).
#boardgames
Felt there was 'enough' interaction with boat movement + everyone eager to try out a different faction next time.
50:50 on whether to try & get hold of the blighted Master Craft KS expansion (expensive!).
#boardgames
BBC News constantly picking, picking, picking at the migrant boat scab - every day they push a story on it.
September 9, 2026 at 5:25 PM
BBC News constantly picking, picking, picking at the migrant boat scab - every day they push a story on it.
Having a crack at Merchants Cove tonight (why no apostrophe?). Will the asymmetric gameplay help or hinder interactivity?
#boardgames
#boardgames
September 9, 2026 at 6:29 AM
Having a crack at Merchants Cove tonight (why no apostrophe?). Will the asymmetric gameplay help or hinder interactivity?
#boardgames
#boardgames
Peston's eccentricity now rather playing against him - 'affable politics club' is not the approach we need against these grifters.
September 5, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Peston's eccentricity now rather playing against him - 'affable politics club' is not the approach we need against these grifters.
BBC Radio 5 Live 'both siding' the Reform scandal.
Will they be doing the same for Andrew Tate later?
Will they be doing the same for Andrew Tate later?
September 4, 2026 at 11:36 AM
BBC Radio 5 Live 'both siding' the Reform scandal.
Will they be doing the same for Andrew Tate later?
Will they be doing the same for Andrew Tate later?
Surely it's time for another by election?
To check his integrity, like.....
To check his integrity, like.....
September 4, 2026 at 8:32 AM
Surely it's time for another by election?
To check his integrity, like.....
To check his integrity, like.....
So much of Radio 5 Live's content between sporting events now is simply playing podcast episodes.
Feels like a station in serious decline.
Feels like a station in serious decline.
August 30, 2026 at 8:31 PM
So much of Radio 5 Live's content between sporting events now is simply playing podcast episodes.
Feels like a station in serious decline.
Feels like a station in serious decline.
Excellent game night last night. Played Crokinole, Deep Regrets, Foundations of Metropolis and Soda Jerk.
Enjoyed them all but Deep Regrets was probably the favourite. Foundations was surprisingly 'thinky' for such a light game - love small rule set / high interaction games.
#boardgames
Enjoyed them all but Deep Regrets was probably the favourite. Foundations was surprisingly 'thinky' for such a light game - love small rule set / high interaction games.
#boardgames
August 20, 2026 at 11:05 AM
Excellent game night last night. Played Crokinole, Deep Regrets, Foundations of Metropolis and Soda Jerk.
Enjoyed them all but Deep Regrets was probably the favourite. Foundations was surprisingly 'thinky' for such a light game - love small rule set / high interaction games.
#boardgames
Enjoyed them all but Deep Regrets was probably the favourite. Foundations was surprisingly 'thinky' for such a light game - love small rule set / high interaction games.
#boardgames
I've had a parcel sent to a Post Office via Royal Mail.
They have now managed for two consecutive days to have "attempted delivery but no one was there".
How can there be no one there at a Post Office?
They have now managed for two consecutive days to have "attempted delivery but no one was there".
How can there be no one there at a Post Office?
August 17, 2026 at 6:43 PM
I've had a parcel sent to a Post Office via Royal Mail.
They have now managed for two consecutive days to have "attempted delivery but no one was there".
How can there be no one there at a Post Office?
They have now managed for two consecutive days to have "attempted delivery but no one was there".
How can there be no one there at a Post Office?
Google Shopping has undergone full 'enshittification'.
Just searched for something and at the top is an entry with a big 'Best Price' banner.
Scroll down a bit and there are several entries significantly cheaper.
Just searched for something and at the top is an entry with a big 'Best Price' banner.
Scroll down a bit and there are several entries significantly cheaper.
August 11, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Google Shopping has undergone full 'enshittification'.
Just searched for something and at the top is an entry with a big 'Best Price' banner.
Scroll down a bit and there are several entries significantly cheaper.
Just searched for something and at the top is an entry with a big 'Best Price' banner.
Scroll down a bit and there are several entries significantly cheaper.
Theresa May famously calling an election at exactly the right moment to lose her majority....
Theresa May's former pollster says Andy Burnham should call an election by early next year "at the latest" to beat Farage, all-but kill off the Tories and win his own Commons majority
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/burnha...
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/burnha...
Burnham Should Call A General Election To Beat Farage And Kill The Tories, Says Top Pollster
James Johnson said the PM should go to the country early next year “at the latest”.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
August 11, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Theresa May famously calling an election at exactly the right moment to lose her majority....
There are even cameras in pints these days!
Wetherspoons bars smart glasses from filming customers
Wetherspoons bars smart glasses from filming customers
Pub chain says turn off the cameras, reminds punters not to blare sound from phone vids either
www.theregister.com
August 10, 2026 at 2:14 PM
There are even cameras in pints these days!
Narrator: he didn't.
The billionaire CEO said the company planned to land astronauts back on the moon in the next few years, before eventually building a permanent “metropolis” on its surface.”
Elon Musk Claims SpaceX Will Send ‘Thousands’ Of People To The Moon And Mars In Next Ten Years
The billionaire CEO said the company planned to land astronauts back on the moon in the next few years, before eventually building a permanent “metropolis” on its surface.”
www.forbes.com
August 9, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Narrator: he didn't.
Narrator: they didn't.
🚀 SpaceX's Starship rocket is expected to come to the Space Coast, possibly by the end of this year.. "We expect the cadence of flights to be increasing rapidly," Musk said on the call. "Probably a year from now, we'll be doing at least one flight a day, possibly more.". 😶
shorturl.at/31HwJ
shorturl.at/31HwJ
One launch a day? Musk's Starship goal raises eyebrows
Elon Musk says SpaceX could be launching Starship at least once a day next year, but one space expert calls that "flabbergasting."
shorturl.at
August 9, 2026 at 7:58 AM
Narrator: they didn't.
My wife is watching Who Do You Think You Are? episodes.
I see they're doing the "wow, I was 25th cousin to a king" thing again.
Everyone is 25th cousin to a king if you go back far enough.
I see they're doing the "wow, I was 25th cousin to a king" thing again.
Everyone is 25th cousin to a king if you go back far enough.
August 6, 2026 at 5:37 PM
My wife is watching Who Do You Think You Are? episodes.
I see they're doing the "wow, I was 25th cousin to a king" thing again.
Everyone is 25th cousin to a king if you go back far enough.
I see they're doing the "wow, I was 25th cousin to a king" thing again.
Everyone is 25th cousin to a king if you go back far enough.
Badenoch looks more and more like a candidate on The Apprentice.
Industrial-strength confidence, fed by chronic lack of self-awareness, with laughable gravitas / skills / knowledge behind it.
Industrial-strength confidence, fed by chronic lack of self-awareness, with laughable gravitas / skills / knowledge behind it.
August 5, 2026 at 11:10 AM
Badenoch looks more and more like a candidate on The Apprentice.
Industrial-strength confidence, fed by chronic lack of self-awareness, with laughable gravitas / skills / knowledge behind it.
Industrial-strength confidence, fed by chronic lack of self-awareness, with laughable gravitas / skills / knowledge behind it.
I should also mention I spent almost the entire game with a larva attached to the Scout - desperately trying to get to Surgery but being thwarted at every step.
Always love a game of Nemesis.
My Scout was killed when the Captain moved her into The Nest - just as the Queen spawned (thanks Cap).
Two crew got away in the escape pods but both lost as they needed to be the only survivor.
Great game for stories. #boardgames
My Scout was killed when the Captain moved her into The Nest - just as the Queen spawned (thanks Cap).
Two crew got away in the escape pods but both lost as they needed to be the only survivor.
Great game for stories. #boardgames
July 30, 2026 at 2:38 PM
I should also mention I spent almost the entire game with a larva attached to the Scout - desperately trying to get to Surgery but being thwarted at every step.