Max Cairnduff
@maxcairnduff.bsky.social
Repairer of Reputations.
Pinned
2026 reading 🧵
Astronomy and faith and love in various forms, requited and unrequited. Shades of Melmoth and shout-outs to Essex Serpent. Rich chewy prose. A tendency though to coincidence (or god or unfolding natural laws) as driver of plot. I liked it but perhaps didn’t love it.
Astronomy and faith and love in various forms, requited and unrequited. Shades of Melmoth and shout-outs to Essex Serpent. Rich chewy prose. A tendency though to coincidence (or god or unfolding natural laws) as driver of plot. I liked it but perhaps didn’t love it.
For those of you who keep track of books that you’re waiting to come out in paperback or want to buy but not yet or might suggest as a present or whatever, how do you keep track of them?
January 31, 2026 at 10:21 AM
For those of you who keep track of books that you’re waiting to come out in paperback or want to buy but not yet or might suggest as a present or whatever, how do you keep track of them?
Anyone know “Karolina, or the Torn Curtain” by Maryla Szmiczkowa?
January 30, 2026 at 8:03 PM
Anyone know “Karolina, or the Torn Curtain” by Maryla Szmiczkowa?
I saw this for the first time last year and was astonished how good it is. So acclaimed and almost a cliche of what good cinema looks like, but when you see it it really is something else. Just so very, very good.
Ingmar Bergman’s THE SEVENTH SEAL screens at the PCC next Fri 6th Feb at 12:30. One of cinema’s defining masterpieces, and a film whose images and ideas have truly echoed through decades of filmmaking.
🎟️ : buff.ly/i3w1Dun
🎟️ : buff.ly/i3w1Dun
January 30, 2026 at 4:26 PM
I saw this for the first time last year and was astonished how good it is. So acclaimed and almost a cliche of what good cinema looks like, but when you see it it really is something else. Just so very, very good.
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
A short 🧵on physical books, ebooks and the luxury of choices.
I prefer hardcopy books. I live near a library, though I can afford to buy and prefer to do so. I have an indie bookshop near me. I dislike Amazon and can afford not to use them.
In other words, I have fairly free choices.
(1/7)
I prefer hardcopy books. I live near a library, though I can afford to buy and prefer to do so. I have an indie bookshop near me. I dislike Amazon and can afford not to use them.
In other words, I have fairly free choices.
(1/7)
January 25, 2026 at 1:06 PM
A short 🧵on physical books, ebooks and the luxury of choices.
I prefer hardcopy books. I live near a library, though I can afford to buy and prefer to do so. I have an indie bookshop near me. I dislike Amazon and can afford not to use them.
In other words, I have fairly free choices.
(1/7)
I prefer hardcopy books. I live near a library, though I can afford to buy and prefer to do so. I have an indie bookshop near me. I dislike Amazon and can afford not to use them.
In other words, I have fairly free choices.
(1/7)
A short 🧵on physical books, ebooks and the luxury of choices.
I prefer hardcopy books. I live near a library, though I can afford to buy and prefer to do so. I have an indie bookshop near me. I dislike Amazon and can afford not to use them.
In other words, I have fairly free choices.
(1/7)
I prefer hardcopy books. I live near a library, though I can afford to buy and prefer to do so. I have an indie bookshop near me. I dislike Amazon and can afford not to use them.
In other words, I have fairly free choices.
(1/7)
January 25, 2026 at 1:06 PM
A short 🧵on physical books, ebooks and the luxury of choices.
I prefer hardcopy books. I live near a library, though I can afford to buy and prefer to do so. I have an indie bookshop near me. I dislike Amazon and can afford not to use them.
In other words, I have fairly free choices.
(1/7)
I prefer hardcopy books. I live near a library, though I can afford to buy and prefer to do so. I have an indie bookshop near me. I dislike Amazon and can afford not to use them.
In other words, I have fairly free choices.
(1/7)
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Also turn off Show Live Events in the Discover feed.
January 24, 2026 at 3:57 PM
Also turn off Show Live Events in the Discover feed.
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Settings > Content and Media > Autoplay Video and GIFs
Turn it off, now.
Turn it off, now.
January 24, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Settings > Content and Media > Autoplay Video and GIFs
Turn it off, now.
Turn it off, now.
Sarah Perry’s Enlightenment sadly on hold until I feel a bit better. Hopefully I can return to it tomorrow.
January 24, 2026 at 1:50 PM
Sarah Perry’s Enlightenment sadly on hold until I feel a bit better. Hopefully I can return to it tomorrow.
Another angle on that BBC story about creeps using Meta glasses to spy on women and post the results online. They’re used for ‘pranking’ service workers too:
mashable.com/article/meta...
Google Glass got a social backlash. I can see these getting one too, save they’re harder to spot.
mashable.com/article/meta...
Google Glass got a social backlash. I can see these getting one too, save they’re harder to spot.
Meta Ray-Ban glasses make it easy to film (and harass) strangers
We regret to inform you that the pickup artists have discovered Meta Ray-Bans.
mashable.com
January 24, 2026 at 11:49 AM
Another angle on that BBC story about creeps using Meta glasses to spy on women and post the results online. They’re used for ‘pranking’ service workers too:
mashable.com/article/meta...
Google Glass got a social backlash. I can see these getting one too, save they’re harder to spot.
mashable.com/article/meta...
Google Glass got a social backlash. I can see these getting one too, save they’re harder to spot.
Great little thread
From last time we went to Rome - fellow giallo and horror heads may recognise this fever dream piazza from Dario Argento's INFERNO…
1/4
#filmsky #giallo #darioargento
1/4
#filmsky #giallo #darioargento
January 24, 2026 at 10:43 AM
Great little thread
Rough couple of days after a vicious stomach bug likely courtesy of someone who made food for me at a stall not having washed their hands (I lost a kilo in 24 hours though mostly through dehydration) plus now some kind of godawful back spasm it’s somehow randomly triggered. Ouch!
January 23, 2026 at 8:05 PM
Rough couple of days after a vicious stomach bug likely courtesy of someone who made food for me at a stall not having washed their hands (I lost a kilo in 24 hours though mostly through dehydration) plus now some kind of godawful back spasm it’s somehow randomly triggered. Ouch!
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Kawase Hasui, Japanese, 1883-1957
Kannon Temple at Abuto , 1922
Woodblack
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
Kannon Temple at Abuto , 1922
Woodblack
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
January 23, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Kawase Hasui, Japanese, 1883-1957
Kannon Temple at Abuto , 1922
Woodblack
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
Kannon Temple at Abuto , 1922
Woodblack
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
All of our cats believe that the stairs convey a magical force-field of protection against all threats and inconveniences…
January 21, 2026 at 10:35 AM
All of our cats believe that the stairs convey a magical force-field of protection against all threats and inconveniences…
Absolutely love this mock sf travel poster which became the cover for Lavie Tidhar’s very good Central Station novel.
January 20, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Absolutely love this mock sf travel poster which became the cover for Lavie Tidhar’s very good Central Station novel.
This allows you to block screenshots from X!
It's this one bsky.app/profile/xblo... - it sometimes sees bsky screenshots as X ones though
bsky.app
January 20, 2026 at 4:33 PM
This allows you to block screenshots from X!
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
PLEASE STOP POSTING TWITTER SCREEN SHOTS WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL DOING ON THERE ANYWAY SORRY FOR SHOUTING BUT THIS IS PISSING ME OFF.
January 20, 2026 at 2:50 PM
PLEASE STOP POSTING TWITTER SCREEN SHOTS WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL DOING ON THERE ANYWAY SORRY FOR SHOUTING BUT THIS IS PISSING ME OFF.
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
It's Davos this week, so please find attached a list of phrases that you may hear and what they actually mean.
Full phrasebook here 😉 www.ft.com/content/ab4f...
Full phrasebook here 😉 www.ft.com/content/ab4f...
January 19, 2026 at 4:12 PM
It's Davos this week, so please find attached a list of phrases that you may hear and what they actually mean.
Full phrasebook here 😉 www.ft.com/content/ab4f...
Full phrasebook here 😉 www.ft.com/content/ab4f...
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Hong Kong {late 'fifties, adapted from Fan Ho}:
January 18, 2026 at 9:47 PM
Hong Kong {late 'fifties, adapted from Fan Ho}:
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
And @timharford.ft.com takes us to the same place in his column exploring how many famous psychology such as the Stanford Prison Experiment or the work of Oliver Sacks (‘The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat’) have turned out to be misleading or fabricated
www.ft.com/content/ea74...
www.ft.com/content/ea74...
January 18, 2026 at 12:17 PM
And @timharford.ft.com takes us to the same place in his column exploring how many famous psychology such as the Stanford Prison Experiment or the work of Oliver Sacks (‘The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat’) have turned out to be misleading or fabricated
www.ft.com/content/ea74...
www.ft.com/content/ea74...
If I only had one newspaper sub it would be the FT. (I have access to a few for various reasons.)
Frankly for the arts coverage alone.
Frankly for the arts coverage alone.
Read the FT.
Everyone should just read the FT.
Everyone should just read the FT.
January 18, 2026 at 11:53 AM
If I only had one newspaper sub it would be the FT. (I have access to a few for various reasons.)
Frankly for the arts coverage alone.
Frankly for the arts coverage alone.
Tremendous books
‘This is what they’ve done to him – Gracey, Pinkrose and the rest of them. He believes that right and virtue, if persisted in, must prevail, yet he knows he’s been defeated by people for whom the whole of life is a dishonest game.’ #BookSky 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/01/18/t...
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/01/18/t...
The Levant Trilogy (Book One: The Danger Tree) by Olivia Manning
Five years ago, I read and loved Olivia Manning’s Balkan Trilogy, a superb series of largely autobiographical novels based on the author’s experiences of a life lived on the advancing edges of turm…
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
January 18, 2026 at 10:30 AM
Tremendous books
My best reads of 2025 roundup list for them as wants it:
pechorinsjournal.wordpress.com/2026/01/16/b...
pechorinsjournal.wordpress.com/2026/01/16/b...
Best of 2025!
I know, everyone else published their best of posts ages ago. What can I say? It’s fashionable to be late. 2025 was a great reading year for me. I’ve winnowed down my best of list to a …
pechorinsjournal.wordpress.com
January 16, 2026 at 12:46 PM
My best reads of 2025 roundup list for them as wants it:
pechorinsjournal.wordpress.com/2026/01/16/b...
pechorinsjournal.wordpress.com/2026/01/16/b...
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Woodblock by Saito Kiyoshi ‘Neko Rain’ 1985
Size 14 3/4 in. x 21 3/4 in.
Size 14 3/4 in. x 21 3/4 in.
January 16, 2026 at 7:11 AM
Woodblock by Saito Kiyoshi ‘Neko Rain’ 1985
Size 14 3/4 in. x 21 3/4 in.
Size 14 3/4 in. x 21 3/4 in.
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
January 15, 2026 at 9:00 PM