Ceud Mìle Fàilte
Thank you for dropping-by, I hope you enjoy your visit. The main content is to be found in the blog, where I discuss everything and anything, but, topics including: photography, nature, technology, food, movies, music, politics, and life in the Highlands of Scotland, make regular appearances.
I commonly write reviews of movies (or films, if you prefer). Some movie reviews are short, others will be discussed in more detail. The scope covered will be mainly mainstream English language movies from the 1930s until the present day.
About me
My name is Iain MacDonald, and I live in the Highlands of Scotland (although I have lived elsewhere in the past). I use Fitheach as my online pseudonym, on this website, on Mastodon, and on Matrix. I am a big fan of Free & Open Source Software, which I use both professionally and at home.
Computing and technology tend to infuse themselves into my other interests, as once you learn some skills in one area it is convenient to use them to solve problems in other spheres.
When not tinkering with computers, I am likely to be found repairing things because living in the countryside you learn to be resourceful.
Of course, man doesn't live by SSH tunnels and kerosene vapour burners alone, so, food, as a subject, makes regular appearances, too.
My latest Life articles
My most recent ramblings can be found in the Life section.
My latest Mastodon posts
Mastodon is a microblogging app that is part of the decentralised web known as The Fediverse. See this article for more details.
Fitheach
Sat, 29 Aug 2026 21:20:25 +0000
#TIL
Clint Howard who portrayed the child-like alien, Balok, in the first season episode of Star Trek, "The Corbomite Maneuver", is the younger brother of actor/director Ron Howard.
Hollywood is a small world, sometimes.
Sat, 29 Aug 2026 18:08:25 +0000
Phrase of the week/month/year has got to be:
Elbows Up
Sat, 29 Aug 2026 13:09:35 +0000
I missed this news when it happened back in December, 2025.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/raul-malo-the-mavericks-dead-obituary-1235327867/
Raul wrote and performed, with The Mavericks, one of my favourite songs, "Dance the Night Away". I first heard the song when it was released as a single in 1998. I loved the infectious rhythm instantly, and it became a theme song of mine.
Listening to the song now, whisks me back to that time, in an instant.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2r8zp9
RIP Raul, thanks for providing part of the soundtrack to my life.
Thu, 27 Aug 2026 14:55:40 +0000
Certain subspecies of the laurel plant contain cyanogenic glycosides in the leaves and berries, which can be released as hydrogen cyanide if they are crushed, chewed, and when the plant is burnt. 😮
I did wonder why all the neighbours were mysteriously dying. 😉
The danger plants are Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) and Portugal laurel (Prunus lusitanica). Both are often used as hedging plants. I have/had the former, until I burnt most of them.
Wed, 26 Aug 2026 17:18:10 +0000
It is clearly a bad time to be an 80 year old.
Who might be next?
#TimCurry #DollyParton #DonaldTrump
Wed, 26 Aug 2026 16:42:07 +0000
I really don't know why I didn't think of this, years ago. Put the chainsaw on a "table" between cuts. In the space of a few hours, this one wee trick saves hundreds of bending manoeuvres.
I had a beech tree stump lying around which was exactly the right size for a table.