Ryan Shirlow
@ryanshirlow.bsky.social
Irish 🇮🇪 in Yorkshire 🏵️ Fortean Times writer & PhD student, study folk music 🪕 & folklore 🧚
Also ❤️old 🚙 cars & homebrew 🍺
Dad to 2 wee girls
Music on Woodford Halse and Fenny Compton https://ryanshirlow.bandcamp.com/
Also ❤️old 🚙 cars & homebrew 🍺
Dad to 2 wee girls
Music on Woodford Halse and Fenny Compton https://ryanshirlow.bandcamp.com/
Pinned
Ryan Shirlow
@ryanshirlow.bsky.social
· Oct 4
The shitter it all gets, the more I’m going to post about mandolins and fairies.
That’s it, that’s the plan.
That’s it, that’s the plan.
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
I still think sanding, painting, and refinishing this Mandolin for my bard cosplay was one of the coolest crafts I've ever done.
November 24, 2025 at 5:43 PM
I still think sanding, painting, and refinishing this Mandolin for my bard cosplay was one of the coolest crafts I've ever done.
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
Convinced that this instrument was made for the Nigel Tufnel of 19th century Milan:
November 21, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Convinced that this instrument was made for the Nigel Tufnel of 19th century Milan:
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
I've been trying to learn mandolin on and off since lockdown, on a crappy 80 quid instrument. I eventually listened to the advice that I might have a better time if I got a decent beginner mandolin. This was good advice, though I've shredded my fingers this weekend.
November 23, 2025 at 6:37 PM
I've been trying to learn mandolin on and off since lockdown, on a crappy 80 quid instrument. I eventually listened to the advice that I might have a better time if I got a decent beginner mandolin. This was good advice, though I've shredded my fingers this weekend.
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
This petition calling for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy already has over 30,000 signatures. Let’s get it to 100,000 this week.
Please sign and share 🙏
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
Please sign and share 🙏
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
Petition: Call a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy
We are concerned about reported efforts from Russia to influence democracy in the US, UK, Europe and elsewhere. We believe we must establish the depth and breadth of possible Russian influence campaig...
petition.parliament.uk
November 25, 2025 at 7:32 AM
This petition calling for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy already has over 30,000 signatures. Let’s get it to 100,000 this week.
Please sign and share 🙏
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
Please sign and share 🙏
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
This isn’t the best cider I’ve ever tasted, but I brewed it myself, with the apples grown outside my own house, from the tree next to a busy junction that hundreds drive past each day.
It’s like a small act of urban rebellion.
And now I am a little part made of the same soil as it is.
It’s like a small act of urban rebellion.
And now I am a little part made of the same soil as it is.
November 24, 2025 at 6:43 PM
This isn’t the best cider I’ve ever tasted, but I brewed it myself, with the apples grown outside my own house, from the tree next to a busy junction that hundreds drive past each day.
It’s like a small act of urban rebellion.
And now I am a little part made of the same soil as it is.
It’s like a small act of urban rebellion.
And now I am a little part made of the same soil as it is.
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
Yeah I’ve forgotten the whole rest of the film except for the extremely inspired and random ending. More films should end this way.
Love triangle of London based 20 somethings - crawl into a giant worm and get digested.
Bio pic of a New York jazz band - crawl into a giant worm and get digested.
Love triangle of London based 20 somethings - crawl into a giant worm and get digested.
Bio pic of a New York jazz band - crawl into a giant worm and get digested.
November 23, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Yeah I’ve forgotten the whole rest of the film except for the extremely inspired and random ending. More films should end this way.
Love triangle of London based 20 somethings - crawl into a giant worm and get digested.
Bio pic of a New York jazz band - crawl into a giant worm and get digested.
Love triangle of London based 20 somethings - crawl into a giant worm and get digested.
Bio pic of a New York jazz band - crawl into a giant worm and get digested.
There’s a horror movie that’s really stayed with me but I can’t remember what it’s called. A British movie, investigating a haunted church. Not much exciting happens except at the end they go underneath the church somehow and get trapped in the gut of an enormous worm that slowly digests them.
November 23, 2025 at 11:12 PM
There’s a horror movie that’s really stayed with me but I can’t remember what it’s called. A British movie, investigating a haunted church. Not much exciting happens except at the end they go underneath the church somehow and get trapped in the gut of an enormous worm that slowly digests them.
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
My new self-editing bugbear, now a close second behind words repeated within a paragraph of each other, is 2 sentences in a row with semicolons.
I’m a huge fan obviously but two in a row?
I’m a huge fan obviously but two in a row?
a man says " the line must be drawn here "
Alt: a man (Captain Picard from Star Trek) says " the line must be drawn here this far no further”
media.tenor.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:44 PM
My new self-editing bugbear, now a close second behind words repeated within a paragraph of each other, is 2 sentences in a row with semicolons.
I’m a huge fan obviously but two in a row?
I’m a huge fan obviously but two in a row?
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
The coolest, most cursed fungus pic I’ve ever taken
November 23, 2025 at 5:03 AM
The coolest, most cursed fungus pic I’ve ever taken
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
The great Tina Weymouth is 75 today so it's an excuse to put up my favourite ever live in the studio TV band performance. Look at her face - just look at her face!
youtu.be/jzIuZ-mrIL0?...
youtu.be/jzIuZ-mrIL0?...
Talking Heads Psycho Killer Old Grey Whistle Test
YouTube video by William Throop
youtu.be
November 22, 2025 at 1:42 PM
The great Tina Weymouth is 75 today so it's an excuse to put up my favourite ever live in the studio TV band performance. Look at her face - just look at her face!
youtu.be/jzIuZ-mrIL0?...
youtu.be/jzIuZ-mrIL0?...
@mattstanhope7.bsky.social wait! is that your “friendly ghost” in Simulacra Corner?
November 22, 2025 at 10:59 PM
@mattstanhope7.bsky.social wait! is that your “friendly ghost” in Simulacra Corner?
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
Ludicrous new Stetson just landed for the winter.
November 22, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Ludicrous new Stetson just landed for the winter.
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
We've had a huge response to this week’s #Uncanny ep on Road Ghosts👻🚘
Listen as I investigate 2 new cases + the famous Bluebell Hill case with Ian Simmons, writer for the Fortean Times. Here we are near the supposedly haunted road in Kent!
Available on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts👻
Listen as I investigate 2 new cases + the famous Bluebell Hill case with Ian Simmons, writer for the Fortean Times. Here we are near the supposedly haunted road in Kent!
Available on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts👻
November 21, 2025 at 9:51 AM
We've had a huge response to this week’s #Uncanny ep on Road Ghosts👻🚘
Listen as I investigate 2 new cases + the famous Bluebell Hill case with Ian Simmons, writer for the Fortean Times. Here we are near the supposedly haunted road in Kent!
Available on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts👻
Listen as I investigate 2 new cases + the famous Bluebell Hill case with Ian Simmons, writer for the Fortean Times. Here we are near the supposedly haunted road in Kent!
Available on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts👻
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
Ryan makes an excellent point.
I know for a fact Joe Walsh's old Maserati did 145, maybe 150 tops😄
I know for a fact Joe Walsh's old Maserati did 145, maybe 150 tops😄
I agree about footballers and bankers but most rock stars haven’t made millions since the 1980’s. The whole rock stars thing is an act, unless you’re Metallica or Bruce Springsteen you won’t be raking it in. You might *sing* about raking it in but even established artists earn surprisingly little.
November 20, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Ryan makes an excellent point.
I know for a fact Joe Walsh's old Maserati did 145, maybe 150 tops😄
I know for a fact Joe Walsh's old Maserati did 145, maybe 150 tops😄
see also the bizarre reverse myth that insisted Cobain was a terrible guitarist
after that I never bought into the Squire myth - if you have infinite time and money in a multitrack studio anyone can work wonders, piecing their parts together from multiple takes - it takes different chops to reproduce that and power a live band.
November 20, 2025 at 10:42 PM
see also the bizarre reverse myth that insisted Cobain was a terrible guitarist
At Uni I bought a dreadful Stone Roses live bootleg and Mani was the only one putting in a solid performance. Brown was hopelessly out of tune, the supposedly legendary Squire couldn’t play his own bloody songs and Robbie Maddix was, at best, miscast.
November 20, 2025 at 10:29 PM
At Uni I bought a dreadful Stone Roses live bootleg and Mani was the only one putting in a solid performance. Brown was hopelessly out of tune, the supposedly legendary Squire couldn’t play his own bloody songs and Robbie Maddix was, at best, miscast.
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
It’s hard to read this stuff from doctors without cringing at how wildly out of touch it sounds (and how little self-awareness). £100k+ income is, to most of the public, beyond our dreams. Entitlement and class privilege is not the best way to win people over to your cause!
November 20, 2025 at 3:31 PM
It’s hard to read this stuff from doctors without cringing at how wildly out of touch it sounds (and how little self-awareness). £100k+ income is, to most of the public, beyond our dreams. Entitlement and class privilege is not the best way to win people over to your cause!
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
Even just normal voices talking is pretty terrifying using this old recording technique 😀
November 20, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Even just normal voices talking is pretty terrifying using this old recording technique 😀
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
Man, that's great. I get the same feeling from some of the early Cajun recordings where a ghostly fiddle slices through primeval sibilance.
November 20, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Man, that's great. I get the same feeling from some of the early Cajun recordings where a ghostly fiddle slices through primeval sibilance.
Early wax cylinder recordings of Irish music remain some of the most haunting, terrifying & well *heavy* thinks I have ever heard.
This is 90% grinding noise with a bit of abrasive distorted piping on top.
I can play this on banjo, at this speed, but it sounds like a midi version in comparison.
This is 90% grinding noise with a bit of abrasive distorted piping on top.
I can play this on banjo, at this speed, but it sounds like a midi version in comparison.
The Monaghan Jig - Patsy Touhey
YouTube video by Ward Irish Music Archives
youtu.be
November 20, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Early wax cylinder recordings of Irish music remain some of the most haunting, terrifying & well *heavy* thinks I have ever heard.
This is 90% grinding noise with a bit of abrasive distorted piping on top.
I can play this on banjo, at this speed, but it sounds like a midi version in comparison.
This is 90% grinding noise with a bit of abrasive distorted piping on top.
I can play this on banjo, at this speed, but it sounds like a midi version in comparison.
Look at my USB for an upcoming presentation on fairy folklore. Had to make an effort. Can’t wait to see their faces.
November 20, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Look at my USB for an upcoming presentation on fairy folklore. Had to make an effort. Can’t wait to see their faces.
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
Reposted by Ryan Shirlow
Let’s found the Altringham Mitherers Society and flash mob the place with weird individuals.
November 19, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Let’s found the Altringham Mitherers Society and flash mob the place with weird individuals.