Andy Turner

I cannot decide if this is just a bit of silliness, or deeply meaningful.

Oh, apparently it's #YorkshireDay today, so I think @bryonyandalice.bsky.social will *insist* that you buy this album!

Engrained, by The English Fiddle Ensemble 8 track album

If you're looking for something hot off the press (and really good) check out this new album from the wonderful English Fiddle Ensemble
theenglishfiddleensemble.bandcamp.com/album/engrai...

Geckoes

and geckoes.bandcamp.com

Love Death and the Cossack, by Andy Turner 12 track album

These golden oldies also available
andyturner.bandcamp.com/album/love-d...

Magpie Lane Magpie Lane is a five-piece folk band from Oxford, specialising in traditional English songs and dance tunes. The band has been delighting audiences for over 25 years - and through 10 critically-accla...

It's Bandcamp Friday today, so a particularly good day to get your hands on any of the three most recent Magpie Lane albums - either as a download, or physical CD + download
magpielane.bandcamp.com

#Reform Council in #Warwickshire claimed 6,500 potholes.

So the Daily Mail reported 6,500 potholes.
So the Daily Express reported 6,500 potholes.
So GBNEWS reported 6,500 potholes.

Actual number of potholes : 107.

THis is how it works now. #Facepalm.

I never actually had their food, just spotted the shop name while driving through Loughborough en route to somewhere else.
I was very taken with the name and in the 90s (still not realising the Thermopylae link) pinched it for a short-lived barn dance band I was in.

To my surprise, yes it is
www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_R...

Actually, not being a film buff, the first time I cam across the phrase "300 Spartans" was when I spotted that it was the name of a fish and chip shop in Loughborough in the 1980s.

But it relies on her to instruct (and pay) m'learned friends, no doubt.

This is terrifying and horrible and, sadly, the shape of things to come.

An AI-generated album on YouTube and Apple Music, and no doubt elsewhere, released under the name of an actual, living, trying-to-make a living singer.

I don't often use all Caps, but
DO NOT BUY THIS FAKE ALBUM.

Magpie Lane Oxford Christmas concert Five-piece folk band Magpie Lane have been playing seasonal concerts at the Holywell Music Room every year since 1993, and these Christmas shows have become very much part of the Oxford musical landsc...

With all this hot weather, the question a lot of you will have been asking recently is "When will the Magpie Lane Christmas concert tickets go on sale?"
Well, the wait is over.
Sat 13th Dec
Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, Oxford
Tickets from
wegottickets.com/sct/cGMsEpy7rW
Go get 'em!

An alert to all creatives using #WeTransfer. Basically, stop immediately! As of August, they will begin scraping everything you send for AI purposes (see the new paragraph in their Terms and Conditions below).

If, like me, you’re a voice artist, they’ll clone your voice. Avoid at all costs.

The fact that I find Reform utterly despicable does not stop me saying that, in this case, I agree with the leader of KCC that the government should change this policy.

Reform council leader urges Labour to reconsider curbs on care worker visas Kent’s Linden Kemkaran writes to government to express ‘grave concern’ about possible exodus of overseas care staff

Oops!
The leader of a Reform-run county council has written to the government to express “grave concern” about a planned tightening of visas for health and care workers, despite the party’s wider commitment to significantly reducing net migration.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Never heard of Clotworthy Skeffington?
But now you have, you want to know all about him, of course.

The Height Of Cader Idris I see that it’s a little over 8 years since I went to see Leveret play at 21 South Street in Reading. A splendid evening all round, but the tune which really made an impression on me was &#82…

A slow tune for a change squeezedout.wordpress.com/2025/07/08/t...

Totally agree - tax income, not the labour (if any) that generates that income

Rachel Reeves says she cannot rule out autumn tax rises after ‘damaging’ week Exclusive: chancellor says she never considered resigning and warns ‘there are costs’ to welfare bill U-turn

Well good, as long as it's income tax (or some other income-related tax)

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Actually "the council said a *single* transgender-related book aimed at adults was relocated from a display at the entrance of a library to a section unlikely to be visited by children"

Whatever You Do, Don’t Make Them Uncomfortable How one chant broke the illusion of free speech - and revealed how fragile Britain’s moral panic machine really is.

Bob Vylan chanted.

The right melted down.

The Mail made something up.

All seeming par for the course these days.

Week 326 – The Draggle Tail Gypsies-o For some reason, I’ve never had a version of Roud number 1 in my repertoire, despite having been familiar with the song for many many years – from the classic Martin Carthy and Dave Swa…

I finally learned a version of Roud 1
afolksongaweek.wordpress.com/2025/06/28/w...

a 2 panel cartoon. Panel 1: A guy in a suit sitting at a desk with a map of the Middle East behind him on a screen. He is saying "probably 1987, in my bedroom, thinking about my best mate's mum" Panel 2: It's panned out to show the interviewer now, and the interviewer says, "No, I said tell me about the WEST BANK"

hehehe

Israel kills innocent Palestinians. Activists spray-paint a plane. Guess which the UK government calls terrorism | Sally Rooney If Palestine Action becomes a proscribed group, writing these words of support could become a serious offence. It’s vital we fight this alarming attack on free speech, says writer Sally Rooney

if killing 23 civilians at an aid distribution site is not terrorism, how can we possibly be expected to accept that spray-painting a plane is?
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

O’er the Muir to Ketty I was taught this many years ago by Dave Parry. His source was Part Third of Niel Gow’s Complete repository of Original Scots Slow Strathspeys & Dances, where the tune is provided with a …

A Scotch Measure - from Niel Gow, but first published by John Playford's nipper Henry
squeezedout.wordpress.com/2025/06/18/o...

Idiotic, disgraceful

The UK Accelerates Its Self-Driving Car Ambitions

Jay Walker poster

Today, the Government launches plans to fast-track driverless vehicle trials in the UK.

One of the companies involved says London presents a big challenge:

“It has seven times more jaywalkers than San Francisco.”

Except… it doesn't. 🧵

I imagine @themerl.bsky.social will have a view* on this.

* and/or a blog post and/or a podcast episode