Stephen Brooks

Saw them live for the first time only a year or two ago and they were astonishingly good. Terrific gig.

This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.

Spot on.

Took one look and immediately knew that was set to The Archers theme …

We forget, amid all the noise, how incompetent Putin is. Would've been a piece of piss to keep Trump onside, pause for a bit, rearm, undo sanctions, reap the economic benefits, then simply restart the invasion a year later. But he just couldn't help himself. Master strategist my fucking arsehole.

Word.

Two photos of Matt Hancock lying in a coffin on the reality show "I'm a celebrity get me out of here." The text reads: "Matt Hancock got paid £320,000 for lying in a coffin."

A photograph of my husband's coffin covered in a blanket of blue flowers. The text reads: "My husband didn't. "

Remembering when Matt Hancock showed his contrition and deep reflection on all those lost to covid on his watch by going on "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here".
#CovidInquiry #MattHancock

Hello, The University of Texas at Austin, the Swedish Institute of Classical Studies in Rome, and the American Academy in Rome are co-hosting this conference [Object Lessons: Knowledge Organization and Antiquity in Institutional Teaching Collections across the Long Nineteenth Century (1750-1940)] that focuses on the evolution of teaching collections for classical studies and archaeology. The conference will take place in Rome, ltaly from April 8-11, 2026. Abstracts are due August 22nd, 2025. Please see CFP below for more information:

Baby wake up new worst Long Nineteenth Century dropped

ISS transits are a hoot to catch!

Kudos to Geoff Love and His Orchestra - their Big War Movie Themes album was one of my first ever LPs. That one looks like it's at least as good.

These are artists and writers who've brought so much enjoyment to readers and who've committed to a precarious, often poorly-rewarded career, because they care deeply about telling stories and creating art. If you see a Gofundme, or a chance to support @heroinitiative.bsky.social, take a moment.

I never imagined that artists/writers were rolling in cash (unless they sold their entire back catalogue rights to Netflix, maybe ...) but it's still been sobering to see the steady stream of stories on here (and previously on the other place) of folks struggling with medical bills etc.

Hot on the heels of the also-excellent @brianmbendis.bsky.social bundle, I can't recommend this one enough. It's for the Hero Initiative, so consider paying a tad more than you have to - even just a pound/dollar or two. You'll still be getting an amazing deal AND helping support creators in need.

‘The Apoocalypse’ was my term of choice, back in the day, so I can easily believe real folks out there were saying ‘Poonami’ even before the ads (and certainly afterwards). Which doesn’t mean the quotes in question were real, however, and Jonn’s point about fakery in ads remains valid.

Some highly justified use of bullet points here. @jonnelledge.bsky.social pretty much nailing it in terms of how a lot of people feel this week.

Also: How is it almost May already!?

1 [Show an image of a basic pot of TESCO COLESLAW, on a table] VOICE FROM OFF-SCENE: Slaw. 2 SECOND VOICE [pointing a hand at the coleslaw]: Coleslaw. 3 [We pull back to see a YOUNG MAN sat at an interview-style table in a therapy session, with a professional opposite him wearing a lanyard]. YOUNG MAN: Slaw. PROFESSIONAL: No... coleslaw, Peter. And it comes in a...? 4 YOUNG MAN: In a... pot from... Tesco. PROFESSIONAL: Very good. 5 [We are now outside the room this scene is in. On the wall outside the room is a sign reading]: ABDP: American 'BBQ' Deradicalisation Programme [Beneath the sign is a professional looking woman, also wearing a lanyard]: PROFESSIONAL [with concerned, serious face]: The process can take a long time. 6 [We now hear her voiceover, but we are looking at a scene of a male hunched over a laptop in their bedroom]. PROFESSIONAL: Every year we see more and more British men being exposed to this content from America. 7. [We see what's on the screen: a YouTube video about AMERICAN BBQ, with a bearded, thick-glasses, plaid-shirt wearing man holding a big rack of ribs in black-gloved hands]. 8 [Cut to a garden scene: a typical British man is incinerating sausages on his crap little barbecue] PROFESSIONAL V/O: One day they're incinerating sausages like a normal person 9 PROFESSIONAL V/O: The next they re standing in front of a 'smoker' and expecting you to ask them about it. [Same man, same scene, but he is now a heavily bearded, plaid and glasses wearing American BBQ bro, stood in front of a huge smoking cabinet bearing the legend PIT BOSS PRO, and forking a big rack of ribs. A woman is approaching his table tentatively, and politely asks:] WOMAN: What's tha- BBQ BRO: OH IT'S MYSMOKER. 10 BBQ BRO: I USE MESQUITE WOOD CHIPS. [She looks alarmed, confused] 11 BBQ BRO: DO YOU WANT TO SEE MY SMOKE RING [Two ABDP agents, like police officers, have arrived and are lunging for him - one saying]: POLICE OFFICER: Grab his tongs

Talk to your sons

Huh. Well I never. Just when you think @davidallengreen.bsky.social must surely have run out of ways to pleasantly surprise and generate respect.

Now I'm wondering. Car Wars? Toon? Illuminati? Awful Green Things? ... O.G.R.E.?

Forgot I was on a phone call about council tax

Them: What band are you in

Me: Erm, The Charlatans

Them: Your council tax band?

😬

Why was this not the headline in every newspaper this morning?

BSky compressed the thread, such that I saw 10/ before reading everything else and initially thought it was the old “‘James Bond’ is a handed-down code name” suggestion (which I’ve never liked), but I think that’s not actually the suggestion, here.

When can I get tickets? This is all good stuff. A fresh way of looking at something overly-familiar (a bit like ‘Absolute Batman’).

Hard to think whether Amzn ownership makes something like this more or less possible. Less Broccoli baggage, but a desire to protect the investment/‘content’.

Headline from The Guardian, reading “Reeves says hasty response to trump tariffs could put ‘price’ Off economic deal at risk.”

Image of in-game graffiti from the videogame Portal, repeating the line “the cake is a lie”.

a red ochre drawing of a cave bear on the walls of chauvet cave

Look upon the visage of the Cave Bear, drawn on the wall of Chauvet Cave 30,000 years ago. Do you feel kinship? Do you feel emotions stirring in your heart? Do you feel the crushing weight of history? Its artistic legacy is yours to inherit, as long as you stop fucking generating images in ChatGPT.

One small example as to why I think this is important, "Our goal is to reverse engineer how these models work on the inside, so we may better understand them and assess their fitness for purpose."

I was listening to Ep.4 of @gralefrit.bsky.social 's new podcast 'Broken Veil' yesterday and an actor called Paul (pretty sure it was the great Paul Putner) kept referring specifically to Caran d'Ache pencils in recounting a childhood experience.

100% this. It's a constant of all crises and affects commentators across the political spectrum. They start with whatever hobby horse they have and work backwards to why it's the one and only answer to the problem at hand.

Updated @jisc.bsky.social records retention management guide provides advice and guidance to UK further and higher education.

www.jisc.ac.uk/news/all/awa...

The salient point here is the ‘chicken and egg’ question. It seems very likely that none of these weirdos did this performative s**t until they could afford round-the-clock childcare or bully their sycophantic minions into always being available for 5am meetings.

Next time you are on EEBO or ECCO and see a thumbprint in the corner, remember it is likely the hands of women digitizing books in London basements during the blitz. They didnt know if the books would survive.