Morning Womble! Still struggling to read, but I managed to finish off Brigands & Breadknives this morning. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
Next up I think I'm going to start Slow Horses for a bit of a change of pace.

Frodo: I wish so much unbelievably stupid shit had not happened in my time Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. This is all exceptionally stupid, though

Cat wandered in front of the camera during the #aurora long exposure

Just in case anyone needs a good happy cry today.

A painting of a bird beside the text "all i'm asking for is one bullshit-free day"

Sorry, guys, you got the wrong Pendragon.

You want that Uther Pendragon.

Four men in parkas forcing a furious polar bear into a cage.

“And what is the charge? Eating a seal? A succulent Chinese seal? GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY PENIS!”

Funny story. I originally submitted this as "A Haunting, A Vacancy." The kind of title you're *supposed* to use.

The acceptance was complicated, and energized me. I asked the editor if I could change it. It deserved a playful title.

He said yes.

And I forever changed how I titled things.

A London lawyer bought hundreds of Sheffield freeholds. Then the ‘very aggressive’ letters arrived Exclusive: The Tribune can reveal that Andrew Milne has threatened leaseholders with high court action. It ‘broke my heart’ one woman says

An absolutely shocking story in two parts and outstanding journalism to boot.

Part one

www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/a-london-law...

"What if one of YOUR favorite politicians/celebrities/etc is on the list?" Did you all not notice how quickly we dropped Neil Gaiman when we found out about the things he did? Do you know how beloved that guy used to be and how loathed he is now? I think that right there should answer your question.

Cartoon drawing of James Bond. He is saying "It's 007.. or +4407 if you're addressing me from outside the UK"

I have a third cartoon in the current Private Eye.

I'm fully expecting to appear in Pedants Corner with this one.

Oh no, someone’s torn the cover off my dictionary. And they’ve ripped all the pages out of either end.. It just goes from bad to worse!

I’m old enough to remember when Conservative Party leaders believed in law and order.

‘Crater’s Edge’ - artwork for an imaginary PS1 game ☄️

it's real support from actual racists

ATTENTION BRITAIN! 🇬🇧

The UK now has a petition to STOP CENSORSHIP by MasterCard and VISA of legal products!

This joins the Australian and Canadian petitions that are gaining momentum. Come on, let's get these signed! And spread the word!

The UK petition: petition.parliament.uk/signatures/1...

This concept was introduced to me as "run the dishwasher twice" and was an important part of my executive functioning recovery as well as my path to self-acceptance.

Sue Hendrickson with the remains of Sue the T-Rex. Sue the human is a white woman with blonde hair. Sue the T-Rex is some fossilised bones embedded in rock.

#OnThisDay, 12 Aug 1990, American Sue Hendrickson finds the remains of a T Rex, the largest specimen found to date, in South Dakota.

The fossil remains are now known as Sue and are on display in Chicago.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory 🗃️

Foreign correspondents > “Broke Britain’s on the edge of financial disaster, Labour’s out of its depth — and people are angry. I’m scared for what’s to come.” — Andrew Neill, Daily Mail, 22 July. Brillo lives largely in the South of France > “Migrant hotels are radicalising Middle England.” — Guy Dampier, Daily Telegraph, 22 July. Dampier lives in Germany > “Small boats and sky-high legal immigration will continue to wreak demographic havoc. This change is permanent. Millions of immigrants from clashing traditions will bring only more of their friends and families. None of these people are going home.” — Lionel Shriver, Times, 24 July. As Shriver explained in her column, she recently moved to Portugal, having previously migrated to the UK from America > “Epping proves the police are the paramilitary wing of the left.” — Richard Littlejohn, Daily Mail, 25 July. Littlejohn lives in Florida for much of the year > “All the online censorship & superinjunctions can’t keep the English down. Regime change.” — Former MP and Telegraph columnist Douglas Carswell commenting on footage of asylum hotel protests, X, 3 August. Carswell lives in Mississippi > “Unless our leaders get a grip — and fast — exasperated communities will turn vigilante. Then things could get really ugly.” — Isabel Oakeshott, Daily Telegraph, 4 August. Oakeshott moved to the UAE in January for tax reasons

In pic 1

Many of the columnists seemingly egging on English rioters don't even live in the UK. Private Eye again

Petition: Stop "gender critical beliefs" being protected under the Equality Act We think removing the protection of the Equality Act for "gender critical beliefs" could better protect trans, non-binary and gender diverse people. It could support organisations to properly protect ...

Might be worth sticking some more signatures on this - not because the government'll *do* anything about it, but because it's another way to show that these asshats don't have the support they think they do: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/71...

(Also transphobia *shouldn't* be a protected belief)

Original Headline hardback cover for JOHANNES CABAL THE NECROMANCER (2009).

The first Cabal short "Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day" was published sometime in 2004, but I can't be more exact than to a month. To me, however, the first publication of the novel in 2009 is his "proper" birthday, and that's today! Happy Birthday, Johannes, you irascible bastard ❤️

A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin/Claire North as a TV show, would love to see the paternoster square scene fully visualised.
And then Butcher of the Forest by @premeemohamed.com as a film or mini-series!

Time to clarify something. When authors say “Unbound haven’t paid me” that makes it sound like Unbound had some money, which they used to buy authors’ writing.

Unbound had no money. The authors did: we had raised that money. They were holding it in trust.

Unbound stole our money.

Can't believe Peter David has passed away. I can quite honestly say that while I enjoyed comics beforehand, his run with X Factor is what really cemented my love of the medium.

yurt glampers? president of the netherlands?

Well, Israel has once again fucked with the public vote.

Tumblr post by chongo blog from August 22, 2019: Can't wait for, like, 2025 when we look back on the 2018/2019 era and say "hey, remember when we were all freaking depressed? That was a crazy time. Glad we aren't like that anymore" Reply by Ampersketch from May 10, 2025 (marked yesterday): Hey Reply by chongo blog, same day: Don't say anything

Will the media finally do their job & ask No.10 who blocked the arrest warrant for Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar during his UK visit?

It’s astonishing the PM insists he had no role in blocking a warrant for an unindicted war criminal.

So who’s lying? Because someone is.