• On Facebook

    I was just recently asked to look at a study of Facebook, made in 2012, for my online Ethics class at my local university. The Facebook 2012 study refers to the social media company’s manipulation of the feed of users to see if it affects the posting of positive of negative posts. “Posts were determined… Read more

  • On Organized Religion and Catholic Mass

    I went back to church yesterday (since it is now 3am the next day) for the first time in a long time. The service was the 1830 Sunday one. It was my local catholic church. There was the current serving priest, a middle aged man and also a young soon-to-be priest (he is being made… Read more

  • Fight Club

    One film that always seems to enter my thoughts is the Brad Pitt Edward Norton movie Fight Club. The film itself was made in 1999 and when I first heard of this film I was put off by the name, however the film itself is a very philosophical film in my opinion. I’ve had thoughts… Read more

  • The Brutalist (contains spoilers)

    I just saw The Brutalist yesterday at my local cinema and I did enjoy the film. However one of the most notable criticisms of this film is it is 3hrs 30 minutes which makes it a significantly longer film than your average one. There was however an intermission of 15 minutes in which I got… Read more

  • Uncle Veggie

    A slightly funnier topic that I would of once been mortified to write about or admit is that of my Oban primary school and Oban high school nickname. Of course now my problems day to day are totally different to back then, 15-20 years ago. I believe it was originally invented by a girl (who… Read more

  • Coldplay and the Dandy Warhols

    Two memorable bands of my childhood and the Noughties are Coldplay and Dandy Warhols. The reader is probably thinking these two bands go together a bit strangely. Very few people haven’t heard of Coldplay but Dandy Warhols are much less played and well known. The original reason I listened to both these bands was my… Read more

  • ‘The Quiet American’ by Graham Greene

    One of my favourite books since I discovered it in a library is Graham Greene’s Quiet American. I first read Brighton Rock after I found it by my Dad’s bedside when I was a teenager. My father often influenced my reading growing up. I was intrigued about Quiet American when I read the synopsis on… Read more

  • A Real Pain

    I am just back from seeing ‘A Real Pain’ which is directed by an actor called Jesse Eisenberg who also stars in the film as one of the main characters. I must have seen the trailer to this film at one of the other films I saw recently at my local cinema since I was… Read more

  • Summers in County Clare

    One very much happy time of my childhood and teenage years was spending summers in County Clare in the Republic of Ireland. My mother’s big sister had inherited the family cow farm that my mother had grown up on. My mother’s big sister had 3 children of similar ages to me and my 2 younger… Read more

  • Loneliness and Living on my Own

    One problem I am increasingly confronted with in my adult life is lack of quality social contact, especially when I am not working. If it wasn’t for close family members who answer the phone in the evening I don’t know how I would cope. I firmly believe I am an introvert, however from my upbringing… Read more

  • Teaching English as a Foreign language (TEFL) in Zhengzhou

    From previous posts you will already know I had visited China in 2013, meeting people via Couchsurfing.com. I also knew PRC (People’s Republic of China) people from my social groups and classes at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. My first job in China, was actually in the province of Henan, in a very small city… Read more

  • Dune part 1 & part 2

    One of my favourite films recently was Dune part 2 (and Dune part 1). The films are based on books by Frank Herbert who was an American writer who died in the 80s. The film series is a science fiction film based in a futuristic period where there is advanced space and weapon technology and… Read more

  • Visiting China for the First Time 

    If I recall correctly it must have been during the 2nd semester of my NTU course that I visited Mainland China (maybe Easter 2013). I visited Thailand and Malaysia with Ryan during the break between semester 1 and the beginning of semester 2. A lot of my Strathclyde cohort travelled back to Scotland during this… Read more

  • Intro to R reflective essay

    Introduction The subject of this essay is firstly about my learning journey with the programming language R and secondly how it is applicable to future work or study. Course Background In September 2024 I began an MSc in Data Science with the UHI. In the first semester I began the module ‘Intro to R and… Read more

  • ‘Hard Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World’ by Haruki Murakami

    An exceptional book I just finished reading yesterday is ‘hard boiled wonderland and the end of the world’ by Murakami. Murakami also wrote Norwegian Wood which I also loved when I read it. This book was recommended to me by my favourite Waterstones employee in Inverness. ‘Hard boiled wonderland and the End of the world’… Read more