Barry Frost

Week 256 - Crayons

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:03:57 GMT

Week 2^8
So, England failed to beat Argentina in their World Cup semi-final, owing to a tactical cock-up from our supposed super-tactician head coach. Irritating. No “second star” this time, then. The boys went to bed at half-time, and then shed a few tears when they watched the second-half highlights the morning after.
Football: it toughens you up for future hope-then-disappointment events in life. Or it mentally scars you, I’m not quite sure which.
I ordered a BUSY Bar in the early-bird sale. I’m not sure what I’ll do with it, but I’m looking forward to hacking on its API and with its integrations. I’m confident it will be a valued addition to my desk, unlike the Stream Deck, which I really must get round to selling (offers welcome).
After so much scorching weather, it was inevitable that there would need to be a hosepipe ban. Shame, I was just about to wash my car. At least it’s been a little cooler.
On Saturday we had Village Day, starting with a parade along the high street, up to the fair in the north of the village. The boys and L joined their school’s The Day The Crayons Quit theme, dressed from head-to-toe in a single colour. I looped around the stalls, ignoring the Temu tat, and then settled down in front of the beer tent. It’s a lovely community we live in.
I endured the World Cup Final and was pleased to see Spain win in extra-time, partly because of their Arsenal contingent, but also because it meant the dirty Argies lost. Argentina really didn’t win any friends this week.

Week 255 - Hill

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:49:00 GMT

I was back at The Oval on Wednesday, in scorching sunshine, to watch Surrey crush Sussex in the evening T20 cricket.
Arriving at the ground, sensibly sunscreened, I swallowed my pride and bought a Surrey cap to protect my head. Last time I went to the cricket my head was fairly pink, and I knew it was time to do the right thing, even if, “There’s fewer more distressing sights than that of an Englishman in a baseball cap.” Sorry Pete, but the Panamas were £85.
We were drinking lovely refreshing pints of Brixton Electric tropical lager, which tasted just like Um Bongo, but much more expensive.
This week I’ve been trying out Anthropic’s new Claude Fable model while it’s still available in my Pro account. The challenge is finding a task equal to its capability. It was pretty good at finding security vulnerabilities and my accessibility misses, but I mostly feel like I’m asking a Michelin-starred chef to boil me an egg.
The relentless sun kept us indoors all Saturday, with fans on full-blast, and kids (and parents) listless and tired. By the time England’s World Cup Quarter-Final against Norway started at 10pm, despite wanting to watch it on TV, H was tucked up asleep in bed. Finishing at 1am after the extra-time win, I was pretty tired myself.
I had a rare Sunday gig. It was well worth the walk up the infamous Alexandra Palace hill to see Super Furry Animals, with support from The Beta Band and Badly Drawn Boy. BDB left us wanting more, getting a lot of love from an audience, with lumps in our throats, as he battled through his first gig since his mother died. The Beta Band set the mood as the sun went down, with lots of drumming and bongos, and then the Super Furries smashed it. So many great melodic songs. My highlight was Ice Hockey Hair from their 1998 EP.
Not used to two late nights out of three though 🥱

5 albums

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Here are five albums that shaped me, inspired by Olly’s post via Martin Schuhmann. To echo Olly’s point, these aren’t necessarily favourites, but were influential in my life.

Ten (1991) - Pearl Jam
Tragic Kingdom (1995) - No Doubt
Olympian (1995) - Gene
If You’re Feeling Sinister (1996) - Belle and Sebastian
Transatlanticism (2003) - Death Cab for Cutie

Week 254 - Bed

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 11:20:00 GMT

A few holidays among colleagues, so it was a nice, quiet week at work.
I bought a pack of Tim Tams for a slice of nostalgia from my time in Australia/NZ. I think they’re fairly widespread in the UK now, but I hadn’t had one for years. Still better than Penguins.
I took H over the road to the park early on Saturday morning, where we had the whole football pitch to ourselves. He defeated me 10-5 in an epic end-to-end match. I had no excuses. His fitness and skills now win against my longer legs.
The local sports club has started a summertime Saturday happy hour at its bar, so we joined some neighbouring friends for a few evening Aperols on the outside tables. Their boys are in H’s class and the children ran themselves happy-tired on the football pitches in the evening sunshine. I then spent a little too much on Deliveroo’d Wagamama for us.
So many plastic containers to recycle!
I finished reading How to Stop Time which I quite enjoyed. I now need to either finish reading a couple of other books I’ve previously begun, or declare book bankruptcy.
TV this week: the new/last series of The Bear and From, and the House of the Dragon. Plus lots of football from the World Cup, although mostly in the form of highlights packages and build-ups. The kick-offs mean make watching live a challenge, but the excitement is growing now we’re in the knockout stages.
Talking of which, in the early hours of Monday morning we… didn’t stay up to watch England play Mexico. We chose bed. Instead, we got up at 7am to watch the highlights before school/work without knowing the result. 3-2. A perfect end/start to a week.

Week 253 - Scorching

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 12:11:00 GMT

The forecasts were sadly right: temperatures hit the mid-30s for several days in a row, resulting in poor sleep, irritability and general lethargy. Our homes and bodies just don’t function in such heat.
L and the kids thankfully had air-conditioning in their classrooms during the day, as did I in my office, but tower fans weren’t enough in the evenings at home. We’re strongly considering getting AC units installed ready for future extreme summers. It’s sadly our new climate.
I still went ahead with Tuesday lunch plans in London with some ex-colleagues. I’d kept reasonably cool on the train in to town, but the Underground closure at King’s Cross meant I was sweaty from walking in the fierce afternoon heat to Euston Square. A few glasses of wine sat in the mercifully cool restaurant made up for it.
I was then home in time to watch England struggle through a goalless draw against Ghana in the World Cup. After Saturday’s laboured 2-0 win against Panama, we’re now through to the knockout rounds, but need to improve.
As the temperature dropped a little on Sunday, I went for a lovely coffee and catch-up with Calum who had cycled up from London. We used to meet regularly to organise the London IndieWeb meet-up over ten years ago. Time flies.
Back home, I took the boys down some country lanes to collect sticks and leaves for an art project at school, keeping a close eye on the horse and dog poo piles they came perilously close to touching 🤦
New personal website is getting closer. Soon.

Week 252 - Pigeon

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 11:16:00 GMT

We paid for our very overgrown hedges to be cut back and shaped. It’s not cheap, but the garden instantly looks smarter. It also means I can drive onto the street without risking scratches from bush talons.
I then found a pigeon chick in the back garden, just out of reach of next door’s little dogs that were barking and scrambling furiously through the chain-link fence. I moved it to safety on the other side of the garden. A nest must have been disturbed by the trimming and the chick fell out. It’s gone now, hopefully back to its mother, or more realistically, has met a grizzly end 😬
Our blocked guttering was cleared by a man with a long vacuum pole. We should now be able to avoid rain waterfalls soaking the brick wall on one side when the weather turns wet again.
I spent Thursday at the Oval with Andy for the second day of England’s second test against New Zealand. NZ were the better team (and won on day four). Watching cricket in the glorious sunshine is the best, although we were all sweaty messes by early afternoon. We stayed well-hydrated of course.
For Father’s Day, I received a shirt, a book on Japan and some chocolate to enjoy. I took C to his cricket practice, L cooked us lunch, then we all went to a Quaker meeting house for C’s piano recital with other junior musicians. He played The Bells beautifully.
It’s getting hot.

Week 251 - Ping-pong

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:30:00 GMT

The World Cup is here and I am loving the wall-to-wall football. The scheduling of the matches isn’t ideal for our timezone, but I’m enjoying waking up to video highlights. And although the politics and grubby monetisation are awful, the purity of football is rising above. Over a month still to go!
I watched Apple’s fairly low-key WWDC keynote. I was pleased to see further parental controls, and approve of the bug-fixing and performance improvements, but there was little excitement. Yep, AI is now in everything.
It was my mum’s birthday on Saturday, so I drove the boys over for lunch and garden sports while L recovered at home from a busy work week. A milestone was reached: it was the first time H has beaten me at table tennis. He’s pretty good. Is it time for me to start researching zimmer frames? However, I did bowl him out and hit him for repeated sixes playing cricket. My parents were both on good form, and still spritely in their mid-seventies.
Back home, I went for a few evening beers with local dads in the local pub. I’ve not drunk for a while, but kept to pints and didn’t disgrace myself.
In the morning, I took C to his cricket practice while H went with his mum to his end-of-season football presentation. We then had a lazy Sunday afternoon on the sofa watching Germany’s 7-1 win. A quiet end to the week.

Week 250 - Coffee

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 12:20:00 GMT

It’s been a less hectic week after our Disneyland holiday. The boys had an INSET day on Friday, so L drove them to her parents’ for the weekend, while I stayed behind to work (and enjoy the peace and quiet).
With some time to myself, I’ve been researching our big trip to Japan next year. Claude is helping, advising that we avoid Golden Week, and suggesting a tailored itinerary before it gets too warm or busy. Lots more work to do, but the planning has begun.
I streamed a couple of films while L’s been away that she wouldn’t have liked: One Battle After Another - Sean Penn is superb - and Send Help - ditto Rachel McAdams. We’re also watching plenty of TV series, all of which release their new episodes each week. At least with linear TV you knew when to watch; with streaming, release patterns are frustratingly unclear.
I tried the new coffee shop in the village for the first time. A local family bought what was an old sweet shop and have brought it back to life. Decent flat white, decent pain aux raisins. Even though I have my own nice coffee at home, I now have a good option when on the way back from a lunchtime walk.
As is traditional, the boys organised a family sweepstake for the upcoming World Cup. I was stitched up. They drew eight countries for me, of which no-hopers, the US, was my highest ranked team.
I’m getting closer to launching my new personal website. I’m 90% done, but I’m stuck on the design. While I’ve successfully used Claude with the back-end, I’ve not liked its front-end designs. I suppose that’s fine: a personal website should be personal after all.

Week 249 - Rollercoaster

Sun, 31 May 2026 17:00:00 GMT

We spent a wonderful half-term week at Disneyland Paris, staying in the nearby Davy Crockett Ranch with my parents.
It was blisteringly hot all week. We decided to visit as the gates opened at 8:30am each day, heading back early afternoon when the temperature hit 30C+. Our early starts meant we avoided the extreme heat and also the obnoxiously long queues for popular rides. Even so, we were sweaty and tired by the time we got back to our air-conditioned cabin to recover.
We ticked off some impressive rollercoasters, several of which were in pitch black. My parents skipped the most severe, but the rest of us bravely/foolishly dived in. After the unexpected vertical drops in the Tower of Terror, an ashen-faced C reasonably declared he’d had enough of scary rides.
The ranch had its own swimming pool, restaurant, bar and shop, and we spent quieter evenings away from the main park itself. The separation worked well. It was only a short drive back and then we could have a normal family holiday around the cabins.
I drove our EV to Paris and back. Charging was very easy, but our journey home on Friday took over 9.5 hours because of Eurotunnel/border incompetence and typical congestion leading up to the Dartford tunnel.
And then, after the euphoria of Arsenal’s Premier League win last week, came the bruising defeat on penalties to PSG in the Champions League final. As a friend put it, the pain is good preparation for England’s inevitable penalties exit at the World Cup knockout stages this summer.

Week 248 - Trophy

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Look, this weeknote is unapologetically dominated by Arsenal winning their first Premier League in 22 years. I completely understand it if you want to skip.
It actually happened!
After yet another nail-biting 1-0 for Arsenal on Monday at home to Burnley, Man City could only draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday meaning Arsenal had an unassailable lead in the table and were declared champions.
I was watching Man City’s draw on TV. Both of my sons had decided to go to bed, but my guttural roar at full-time brought them back downstairs for bleary-eyed celebrations.
I found it hard to process. I was so relieved it was done. I could only sit dazed on the sofa, absorbing every video and post on social media of the team’s celebrations and the hundreds of thousands of fans outside the Emirates.
Taking the boys to school the next morning in my Arsenal top, I received high-fives and smiling nods on the playground, from parents I now know to also be Gooners. The grandmother I chat to about Arsenal at C’s cricket was beaming this morning. The sun is shining.
And now, writing this on Sunday evening (for a change), after watching the trophy being presented after the final match at Palace, it’s sinking in. Arsenal is the constant passion that I trace through my adult life, back into childhood. From my first matches at Highbury in 1989 with my uncle, to taking my own family to the Emirates as a father. I love this club.