Patrick Smith

An ornament on a mantelpiece which looks like a balloon dog

They're selling Jeff Koons balloon dogs in The Range. £10, which compares favourably with the Guggenheim shop in Bilbao

No pictures of La Cicciolina sadly

Should have asked for the biggest lake in the UK

And some people mean a pholcid spider, also called cellar spider

And a harvestman isn't a true spider

Absolute minefield of a question

Jean Seberg in a Vespa 400, should that be relevant to your interests

What a film this is. Another data point for my theory "the French are better at being American than the Americans"

Jeffrey Fairbrother reading a poem from Phil Larkin to the staff

"...and he and his lot will all go, again in his words, down the long slide like free, er, birds"

I remember insta-following you when you suggested that Whitsun Weddings and Hi-de-Hi are in the same universe

Sure give them the ones off the St Mark's balcony. The real ones are inside

I believe fairground rides got started because the mobile steam engines used for agricultural work were sitting idle after the harvest. So hook the drive belt up to something you can ride on and charge people for a go

Chongjin Seaman's Club | North Korea Travel Guide - Koryo Tours Chongjin Seaman's Club is Chongjin's premier entertainment venue!

More information on the Chongjin Seamen's Club:
koryogroup.com/travel-guide...

Apparently if you want a night out in Chongjin, this is your option

Oh so they do use it like we use "sporty"

e.g. someone might say "this plan to finish the project in a week is a bit sporty"

but I expect in this context it meant "skilled and physically fit"

Yes I think it's more like "athletic", physically capable

In colloquial UK English a car or even a tight deadline can be "sporty", it has the tone of being "a bit lively" or exciting

"Aren't you good to yourself"

The Irish concept of Notions is an organising principle akin to honour in bushido

There was a police helicopter circling them in the evening and your man has gone all Touching the Void

Real "suggests drawing lots after half an hour in the lifeboat" energy

"He said he had loved his girlfriend, who was very sporty"

That's probably "sehr sportlich", which I don't think has the exact same tone as "very sporty". Slightly unfortunate

Single Whiff Female

Needs some work

The graphic design in that logo is redolent of a particular slice of time, and one I don't think has been over-mined for hauntology

Mid or late 80s? Sort of optimistic but sterile

Bottom left is Emperor Napoleon III's house. Now the golf club

Reminded me of Richard Roper in the back of the van

There's plenty of existing work on the game. I'd expect the sort of swots who go on Only Connect would first apprise themselves of Braverman, Etesami and Mossel's paper
arxiv.org/abs/math/060...
and Piotr Migdał's mathematical model
arxiv.org/abs/1009.1031

I'm just glad the SS Atlantic Conveyor isn't alive to see this

Be realistic. Start going to the darts instead

You know there are days when we're all waiting for America to wake up so we can act all superior

You get to an age when you've no idea what to get your brother for his birthday. That's when you start considering "experiences"

John Thaw and Dennis Waterman as DI Regan and DS Carter in ‘The Sweeney’

“Get your crown on, you’re nicked”

Last time I posted this someone pointed out that Harry Palmer's hands when he makes an omelette are played by Len Deighton

"Good cook"

bsky.app/profile/drpa...

Cover of Berlin Game by Len Deighton in the recent edition: a stylised composition of BMW and gunman with a striped orange and black background

The recent Penguin edition of Game, Set and Match has IMO brought some of that back

April is the coolest mensch
Wearing jumpsuits out of the news van