I hope this sets off a whole chain of people posting pictures of their truly weird hands.

For what it’s worth my own right hand has bad arthritis, every finger is wonky in its own special way, also the thumb. And I’m old, so it’s all veiny and speckled with liver spots. No, you’re not getting a photo.

I my (extensive) cookie experience, double chocolate usually means the same amount of chips, but the dough part is also chocolate flavoured. Hard to tell in this instance, but the “double” cookies may be a shade darker.

And that’s a real dagger tucked into his sash. (I learned a bit about fighting Sikhs from reading Neal Stephenson’s Termination Shock, and watching a load of YouTube videos.)

My experience tells me that if you eat it, you’ll spend the next several hours vomiting. Your friends who also ate it will go out dancing and have a fabulous time.

I’ve started reading Hominids already and finding it interesting but the writing is annoying me - there’s some lacivious drooling over the lead scientist’s lacy bra, plus details of her appearance, while her male assistant is merely “gawky”. It seems a quick read though so I’ll hang in there. (Speaking of Neanderthals, the Kim Stanley Robinson novel Shaman is set at a time when we coexisted, very interesting speculation on their mentality and interaction with our mob.)

Next on my list is Leckie - I loved the Ancillary trilogy and am looking forward to more Radch.

Thanks, brilliant list and I love the summaries. I’m taking a few recommendations because it seems we have similar tastes.

Lovely weather just about everywhere except my home town lol.

No speed limit? Errr no mate, NZ definitely does have speed limits. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Speed_limits_in_New_Zealand

The one eclipse I saw was in cloud, and I was surprised at how intense the experience still was. At the moment of totality, all the light seemed to suck away quite suddenly, even though it had obviously been getting darker gradually. It felt very eerie and a little frightening.

I was in Cornwall in the UK, and the amusing thing was seeing the sparkle of people’s camera flashes going off all along the stretch of coast. I’d love to see those photos. “This might look like a picture of a fence taken at night, but trust me, it was 11am in summer…”

Far-away family are the only reason I use FB too. My sister and some of my nieces use it to a disturbing degree, “checking in” when they’re in restaurants etc, posting “memories”, pictures of their kids. My sister has a special pose for her FB selfies - head tilt, fake smile. I hate it all with a burning fire, even when I’m clicking the heart button on a puppy photo.

AI just seems like another step closer to the abyss, the death of true creativity.

Is this where the dino footprints are? Cool!

And if you still want to buy them they cost a stupid amount (I just checked - £15 in Tesco for 20 B&H!), plus there’s a huge illustrated message on the packet about illness and death. I can’t fathom why anyone still smokes.

Thanks for putting a positive spin on it. sniffle I appreciate it.

I’ve eaten a lot of Tony’s chocolate, and one day I was strolling around Amsterdam on Street View and noticed a whole shop devoted to it. Wow! And I thought, huh, in Holland they call it ChocoLONELY, not ChocoLONEY.

Fast forward and there I was, scouring UK grocery sites and discovering the horrible truth: it had always been lonely. Why? WHY, TONY? What are you trying to say?

My own little Berenstain Bears moment.

Aww, I’ve enjoyed seeing your armour evolve, it looks fantastic. I don’t do other socials, so this really is goodbye. Fare thee well, sirrah!

Ps: Jerboa is pretty nice.

Good bot.

https://youtu.be/limwsUnH4iQ?feature=shared

Regular teabags are sometimes made using non-biodegradable plastic - be sure to buy those made with this starch based plastic. When I first saw biodegradable teabags I was surprised, I thought teabags were made of paper. Not so, it turns out.

Fantastic photo.

Thumbs up for Shaman. I got the strong impression that KSR ran around in the woods at night naked to research that book. Some really interesting speculation on Neanderthals too.

There’s something written on the toes, maybe it’s a story!