Stephen Farrow

Cartoon by Vaughan Tomlinson: An art gallery. A hipster-ish artist - turtleneck, knit cap, thick glasses - is talking to a woman: "AI could make the art, but tax evasion is a lot more fun when someone else is involved."

Today's inspirational message:

Complete pandamonium.

No fuel, no tourists, no cash – this was the week the Cuban crisis got real Diplomats in Havana are preparing for an alternative Trump tactic: the country being starved until people take to the streets and the US can step in

"Cuba’s government has already shut universities, secondary schools and non-essential state offices and pulled back on public transport in order to preserve resources."

This situation could turn very bad very quickly.

YouTube video by BBC News Gisèle Pelicot: The Newsnight Interview

Victoria Derbyshire's interview with Gisèle Pelicot, from the BBC's Newsnight.

It's not an easy watch, but Ms. Derbyshire does this sort of thing very, very well. Mme. Pelicot lived through a horrific ordeal, but she is a remarkably brave, dignified woman.

Sentence from a Duolingo German lesson: [picture of Oscar, a Duolingo character - a middle-aged art teacher with wavy black hair and a big black moustache, wearing a pink shirt and green trousers] Speech bubble: Das Meerschweinchen seiner Schwestern ist weggelaufen. His sisters' guinea pig ran away.

Today on Duolingo, a guest appearance from Olga da Polga:

Flyer for the PIVEN EXPERIENCE - a meet-and-greet event with Jeremy Piven in a restaurant in Deptford, New Jersey.

Get ready for the JEREMY PIVEN EXPERIENCE!

Yes, folks, for just $110* you can spend two hours in a Greek restaurant in New Jersey in the presence of a mediocre actor whose TV career tanked after multiple allegations of naughty touching!

*and for an extra $40, he'll keep his hands to himself.

Uninspiring.
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#waffle1486 3/5

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wafflegame.net

Good guess.
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#Worldle #1486 (15.02.2026) 1/6 (100%)

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worldle.teuteuf.fr/share

OK.
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WortSuchSpiel.de #1495 - 5/6

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Not earth-shattering, but quicker than I got the English one:
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Le Mot (@WordleFR) #1498 4/6

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wordle.louan.me

Meh.
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Wordle 1,702 5/6

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Not here! The sky is solid grey and it was pouring with rain until about half an hour ago.

Tweet from @covie_93 [picture of JD Vance resting against a couch] happy Valentine's Day to this amazing couple.

A day late, but never mind:

YouTube video by EurythmicsVEVO Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart - Here Comes The Rain Again (Remastered)

The weather forecast:

Cartoon by War and Peas: A man and a robot. Man: Robot, do you love me? Robot: No, I am not programmed to love. Man (reading the robot's manual): Says here that you are. Robot: Uhh... beep boop beep.

One more Valentine's Day love story before bed:

If a corpse can blink, anything is possible.

There she goes!

There's also - in fiction - Barkridges (a portmanteau of Barkers - a now-defunct department store on Kensington High Street - and Selfridges), where the Brown family take Paddington to buy pyjamas. It is not mentioned in the Paddington musical.

Cafe Lieb - Bäckerei & Konditorei Tübingen on Instagram: "Ehm ups 😬🤣 Thomas, Moritz oder Ali? Oder vielleicht doch einfach ein anderes Stück Torte? Die wahrscheinlich, dass ihr das bei uns an der Th... 15K likes, 367 comments - cafe_lieb on February 5, 2026: "Ehm ups 😬🤣 Thomas, Moritz oder Ali? Oder vielleicht doch einfach ein anderes Stück Torte? Die wahrscheinlich, dass ihr das bei uns an der Th...

Ha!

On my TV, the title card for ITV's adaptation of Agatha Christie's 'A Murder Is Announced'

Because sometimes you just really, really need to watch Elaine Paige’s memorable performance as a blinking corpse:

Cartoon by Jon Adams. A stereotypical private detective - fedora, trenchcoat, moustache - hands a woman an envelope. "If these surveillance photos of your husband make you want to remarry, I've also include some samples of my work as a wedding photographer." (Yes, 'include' should be 'included'. The typo is his, not mine.)

Today's inspirational message:

Headline from The Telegraph: Starmer surrenders to EU net zero rules ‘Dynamic alignment’ of UK law with EU rules on promotion of renewable energy will require country to decarbonise rapidly

This isn't "surrender", except for people so dismally stupid that they could be outwitted by their socks (I know, I know, that's the Telegraph's target demographic). It's basic common sense, and something every country needs to be doing.

The first paragraph from the AI overview from a Google search: Leftover spiced roasted cauliflower can cause "spice burps" due to a combination of cruciferous gases and, if used, hot spices like chili, cayenne, or raw garlic. These can typically be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.

Thank you, Google AI, but no, I do not wish to store my "spice burps" in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.

Only if I'm doing a broad Oldham accent, which doesn't happen very often.

(Do I miss Oldham? Let me think about that for a nanosecond. No.)

Cartoon by Jim Benton. 1. Two bees are looking at a small red flower. 2. Bee number one bends to pick the flower. Bee number one's stinger pierces bee number two squarely in the chest. 3. Bee number one turns to give the flower to bee number two. Bee number two is lying face-down on the ground, dead.

Another Valentine's Day romance...

27 Years Ago, A Controversial Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode Changed TV Forever The Buffy episode that revolutionized TV norms.

27 years ago? Oh fuck, I'm old.

(The episode in question - 'Hush', from season four - is unquestionably brilliant, and extraordinarily creepy. But a small handful of other shows subsequently doing episodes with minimal dialogue hardly means it "changed TV forever".)

In a huge electronics store in Tokyo, a large display of technologically-advanced toilet seats

I stood for about half an hour in the Yurakucho branch of Bic Camera staring in slack-jawed amazement at the selection of hi-tech toilet seats.

Cartoon by Chuck Ingwersen/Captain Scratchy. A man, swimming in the ocean. Next to him, a large shark. Shark: Will you be my valentine? Wait, we just met. What am I doing? I'm sorry, why don't we take it slow and just start with a romantic dinner? Later: The shark is eating the man. A passing manatee says, "You suck at relationships."

For Valentine's Day, a love story:

Whatevs.
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#waffle1485 2/5

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wafflegame.net

So close...
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#Worldle #1485 (14.02.2026) 2/6 (100%)

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