Ron Manton

Cloud manufacture.

If you force me to say, then it's probably "Road to Rouen". Today. Tomorrow it could be completely different. Each album has something rare to offer. And if, in 2016, the referendum had instead been about the best Supergrass album, we wouldn't be in this mess. #KickInTheTeeth

Genau.

Coma! Be covered in hair! Dies illi mihi finiti sunt. (Mr. Dudgeon, my Latin master, is up there somewhere with his head in his hands).

Nice Mohican style crash hat.

This is profoundly true. In fact, in my opinion, except by chance (which *is* a factor), little of value arrives without some form of struggle: education, personal relationships, creative achievement (practice), perspective, moral authority. Yesterday's hard-earned CV is now a follower count.

Ben Earl and Ollie Lawrence in the centre for England would scare me. You can either use a "Pom Squad" approach, or get the wealth of back row options onto the field out of natural position from k.o. Either way...

Maybe one penalty for misconduct in a public office could be to have to read, in an endless loop, the Wikipedia entry for Graham's number. I have tried this (reading, not misconduct), and it is utterly unfathomable (for me).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham'...

#LargeNumbers #GrahamsNumber

The superb Brian Blessed in his finest ever role as the Emperor Augustus in Robert Graves's "I, Claudius". In this scene he is interrogating a group of the great and the good from Rome, who, intelligence suggests, have all slept with his daughter Julia. Blessed faces the camera, smiling ominously, as he questions one nobleman. Eventually his patience fails. He shouts, "Is there anyone in Rome who has not slept with my daughter?"

"Oh, just once. You were only mentioned once..." Is there anyone in Rome who is not in the Epstein files? #IStarmer

"Freedom of Urination". Arguably, you should be able to write your message in the snow. ✊🏂 #WinterOlympics2026 #Kenworthy

Actually, I was also thinking that if all of this were an episode of the U.S. drama series "Law and Order", the whole singular versus plural thing would be a vector for the suspect's legal representative. Wonder what the warrants say?

As an aside, don't you just love the English language? "The Met. Police says..." "The police say..." BlueSky spelling and grammar checking underlines the first example. Mind you, not sure whether that will help Mr. Mandelson very much. #OrganisationIsSingular (except when it isn't).

Great article! Re Dave Dobbyn, "This is the lonely Dave period, downer Dave. Even the drummer and bass player aren’t hanging out with him." I have recent experience of falling out with the rhythm section. It's a dark place; I can relate to that. 🎸🤕

Burnham might have given Labour a way forward, so that decision looks even more damaging now. New leader, new Cabinet Office team and a policy of rejoin is all that can stave off a 2029 GE result that will be catastrophic for the UK.

BBC. "The Prime Minister said that while he knew that Peter Mandelson had maintained a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after he was convicted of soliciting sex with a minor..." Any robust vetting process would STOP RIGHT THERE. I think this completely unravels now for Starmer and, maybe, Labour.

I've pre-ordered via waterstones(.)com. Their search catalogue did not find it by title, but searching on ISBN, all good.

Just been in a Piccadilly boozer, planning a trip to Melbourne, where I have been doing approximately the same thing. Luckily, they had no Martini.

Just been doing the same.

Plate glass at the front of the Queen's Head, Piccadilly. The pub name is clear etched into the smoked glass. Some sort of forlorn potted plant leans to the left of the window. Lights from the interior are reflected. The overall palette is of warm, low-lit shades. Perfect drinking backdrop.

A glorious pint of Fullers "London Pride" on a burnished pub table, alongside a hardback copy of Oliver Bullough's new book: "Everyone Loves Our Dollars".

Love my Piccadilly local.

Came across the Reimann, and it appealed to me. So, I should give this a go. Unread books now piling up in my house (like an Umberto Eco library), but you can't have too many sources of recommendation. 👍

I hope not, obvs., but you know how these things go, and if you've already tried kicking it... 🏂

Next: Pay large sum for service of the snowmobile.

Rooster!

Mr. Starmer, you are partially right in your assertion, as reported by the BBC, that Mandelson 'should not be member of Lords' (sic). Actually, no one should be a member of the House of Lords. No Lords, no procedural hoops for removal. Oh, and it might also be fairer, which is what you say you want?

I was trying to think of a politically sophisticated reply to your question. All I could muster was, "not hard". I guess it's just a matter of will. (Whilst I'm here, I would add, no Lords no problem).

Looks like a trusty friend. A few miles on the clock, but that's what you want. I love looking at guitars which show you the work they've done.

I'm sorry. It's easy for me to be flippant. There's a real human cost to all of the US border stuff, and it's hateful. Hope you get to go. 🌞

There goes my chance of a visa. Ah well.

Yes. This is a reasonable definition of insanity, but don't you sometimes want to be insane, courageous, alive and just risk everything? Yeah.

Got to say I'm struggling with guitar (even simple stuff) at the moment. Seeing these wonderful, and often eclectic, instruments is a real motivation. ✊ #PRS