New-Cleckit Dominie

University maths teacher; very amateur local history; slightly worse photography. Uaireannan beagan Gàidhlig cuideachd. Same handle on the cerulean site.

Website: http://www.dominie.scot

Public Key

npub18u0lw54sszfxuq0e5h6u75tx2k4wefj5kznfyftnyk2sdsa8cmns84rjhs

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsr78lh22cgpynwq8u6taw029n9t2hv5e2tpf5jy4ejt9gxcwnudecpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds0e5mnp

Publishing to

relay.snort.social

nos.lol

relay.damus.io

Author Public Key

npub18u0lw54sszfxuq0e5h6u75tx2k4wefj5kznfyftnyk2sdsa8cmns84rjhs

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Last Notes

2026-07-28 18:45:34 UTC

This is just to say
I have OCRed
the text
thet was in
tne arch:ve
and whicb
yov were prabaldy
seamhing
for "breahtast"
Fargme ms
fheg mem debo:w5
sb ?mccf
mmb 5c oc1b

2026-06-13 16:13:01 UTC

A few of the placards seen today as the fash got chased off Buchanan Street.
Never forget: the far right are indeed dangerous and wicked; and they are also weird and pathetic, and we should say so.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/116/743/673/343/645/167/original/e611bf632f33f52d.png
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/116/743/674/271/653/523/original/0939914aa863edf2.png
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/116/743/675/105/138/388/original/546ab7cd5113a025.png
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/116/743/676/655/615/260/original/82bec703f526dbaa.png

2026-05-24 17:08:01 UTC

George was starting to regret his decision to buy the cheaper brand of dragon treats.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/116/630/647/289/543/390/original/7d48acf8dff567ac.webp

2026-04-11 10:25:21 UTC

A jackdaw in Whithorn demonstrating the ancient rural art of opening an Ordnance Survey map in the wind.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/116/385/586/091/267/565/original/787d7bdf1672d189.jpg

2026-03-15 20:15:41 UTC

The Heron of Disapproval would like a word with you.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/116/235/024/080/332/516/original/a5a3a78df58cda89.webp

2026-02-17 19:16:51 UTC

A rare sighting of Phalacrocorax ikea, the Badly-Assembled Cormorant.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/116/087/573/442/647/398/original/cc2e81e7bf2aebb5.jpg

2026-01-24 13:31:22 UTC

Please be briefly cheered up by this perfume bottle (Greek; c. 600BCE) from the Burrell Collection.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/115/950/315/127/866/974/original/c77ac5f61a9c73df.jpg

2026-01-10 11:48:36 UTC

"Hey, big guy. We're looking for some muscle for a seed bank job. You in?"
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/115/870/642/442/521/793/original/4bff4c5df5af7370.jpg

2026-01-07 10:54:33 UTC

Pretty sure that once upon a time, digging up an ancient war trumpet associated with bloody resistance to an overbearing empire would have been seen as some kind of omen.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jan/07/iron-age-war-trumpet-find-britain-norfolk-boudicca-links

2025-11-30 14:02:34 UTC

I take basically the same picture every time the light and the snaw are right for it, and I do not regret this.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/115/639/014/393/755/612/original/25c89d4a60972668.png

2025-08-24 14:53:05 UTC

"DEAD SLOW".
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/115/084/306/590/070/647/original/2afe97c4d46c3371.png

2025-08-04 15:29:07 UTC

"We apologise for spamming half the University with a message from an email address they'd never seen, telling them to log into a website they'd never seen to complete the mandatory cybersecurity training they had already completed. Please trust us next time."

2025-07-30 15:47:02 UTC

Is there a name for the principle that if in the interests of security you make a process too onerous to follow then people will bypass it entirely, thus leaving you with worse security than when you started?
I would like to have a name for this principle so I can shout it at people.

2025-07-28 17:17:58 UTC

Until you have seen several hundred people at the top of a hill in Yorkshire pretending to be Kate Bush, you find it difficult to imagine several hundred people at the top of a hill in Yorkshire pretending to be Kate Bush.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/931/990/115/418/189/original/d530b76c7c278a35.png
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/931/990/760/853/020/original/da7c019eb026d74f.png
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/931/991/602/117/162/original/c781d99dd3d9444f.png
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/931/992/001/549/869/original/ba3e6adcd7d0dca6.png

2025-07-09 17:49:48 UTC

There is an angry wren in Rottenrow Gardens.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/824/535/691/123/352/original/65526b00bb4fc754.jpg

2025-07-06 07:28:01 UTC

The famous xenomorph on Paisley Abbey gets all the love, but the other modern gargoyles are worth a look.
(If we're tagging ourselves, I'm Man Shouting From Inside Fish.)
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/805/099/690/553/741/original/e74916457d2f9d5f.jpg
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/805/100/763/607/660/original/950a079017deae95.jpg
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/805/101/209/592/218/original/23ac7fd5e2d59c0d.jpg
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/805/101/762/780/692/original/2de160d635c4a6d5.jpg

2025-06-29 16:16:15 UTC

I know things are bad and I don't have any particular insights to offer, but there are tufted ducklings on the wee pond today and they are practising diving, and this makes me a little happier.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/767/535/900/092/120/original/4bbb281ab80f8300.jpg

2025-06-16 20:36:15 UTC

I promise I was looking for something slightly more sensible on the BnF website when I found these pictures of a keeper at London Zoo in 1925 feeding medicine to an extremely reluctant pelican.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/694/954/778/661/560/original/389aada0c74bec35.png
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/694/955/156/990/880/original/f6ea0668b407a04e.png

2024-12-29 17:37:07 UTC

New blog post. This was the first piece of local history I ever put together for myself, and I still have a soft spot for it. It's the story of what may be Scottish higher education's only literal shipwreck.
https://new-cleckit.dominie.scot/abandon-ship/
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/737/320/897/860/438/original/f2852f170a744f4a.jpg

2024-12-07 10:37:05 UTC

- reply

The frieze isn't widely advertised, or included in most lists of Mitchell's work.
If you're a fan of such things, I recommend you pop in and see it fairly soon. Staff are currently being relocated from the McCance, and the building's likely to be fully mothballed at some point next year.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/611/100/468/483/660/original/71eef793a5192881.png

2024-12-07 10:36:14 UTC

- reply

I rather like it and have no idea whatsoever what is going on.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/611/093/751/099/424/original/a80626d1492fccfc.png
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/611/094/360/919/080/original/5480a4b47996ae1e.png
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/611/094/792/831/604/original/b88dada95d9e7f74.png
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/611/095/045/632/090/original/4b6526712fae0938.png

2024-12-07 10:34:40 UTC

- reply

The frieze is located in what was the library when the new building was opened in June 1964.
Most of it has survived subsequent refits and the installation of some unhelpful uplighting.
[First pic: https://www.strath.ac.uk/professionalservices/library/researchrevise/collections/archivesspecialcollections/items/themccancebuilding/ ]
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/611/088/260/139/089/original/165cb25911009827.jpg
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/611/090/875/057/744/original/cc72892657a9e87c.png

2024-12-07 10:33:00 UTC

One of my favourite details from William Mitchell's big concrete frieze in the McCance Building, University of Strathclyde.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/611/084/236/701/031/original/b9cf0753efecd369.png

2024-12-04 17:42:40 UTC

I see it's the season when they test the Cooncil death ray on passing pigeons.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/595/783/133/979/958/original/6cf9af1f9f58f827.jpg

2024-11-22 21:44:30 UTC

- reply

Don't worry... I was the pedestrian (and I always have a bit of zoom on the lens!)

2024-11-22 18:07:32 UTC

Keeping the lights on.
(From this morning's commute.)
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/527/935/789/207/364/original/4dc24eca60ba9018.jpg

2024-11-02 10:13:39 UTC

"Adaptable modern premises with regular servicing, located in desirable Southside neighbourhood. Access to green space and on-street parking. Potential for conversion to multiple units for student accommodation."
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/412/813/818/537/155/original/a3693dfa4c7c78cf.jpg

2024-10-26 09:38:45 UTC

Dreaming of voyages.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/373/053/564/473/158/original/f25b3b91490b1e06.png

2024-10-22 13:34:45 UTC

Me in the mid-1990s, to people thirty years older than me: "This is called a 'file' and this is a 'website'. Let me explain..."
Me in the mid-2020s, to people thirty years younger than me: "This is called a 'file' and this is a 'website'. Let me explain..."

2024-09-24 07:05:30 UTC

The greyhound originated in the monasteries of early mediaeval Ireland, where it was bred by illuminators who needed a dog flexible enough to fit into the initials of their manuscripts.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/191/252/389/369/224/original/2c56a2a00371ff5f.jpg

2024-08-31 10:16:44 UTC

- reply

I am frankly envious. If my department set out to advertise its academic values in the same way, we'd end up with a grant-application form fifteen storeys high.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/056/113/875/558/090/original/7f901de85e3a7cc3.png

2024-08-31 10:15:43 UTC

Today's prize for on-brand academic behaviour goes to the School of Mathematics & Statistics, University of Glasgow, for disguising their building as a chalkboard.
(I'm informed that the elements were collected from working chalkboards in staff offices.)
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/056/108/939/544/799/original/cb4b201264b46b08.png