Charles Ubaghs

@luketurner.bsky.social reminded me this week that Liar's Drums Not Dead is 20 years old this week. Outside of the terror of my own mortality that triggered, it reminded me of their amazing four album run between 2004 and 2010. Truly one of the best bands of this century.

A truly historic and (potentially) momentous win for the Greens. They’ve never won 10% in a by election before. Now they’ve won in a part of Manchester Labour has held since 1931.

Oh I’m ready to talk Industry.

As a fellow long-term immigrant I assumed it was a mix of Brideshead, the Hunger Games and a version of Beyond Thunderdome where every character is swapped for some beloved 1970s British sitcom character and/or TV presenter of the era who everyone inexplicably refers to as a legend now

My wife hit the mark with this valentine’s gift.

my ability to make a coffee, drink half and then completely forget I have a coffee is apparently infinite.

Many of us have this relationship with this comp.

Finally, a Smooth-Brained Wuthering Heights Emerald Fennell’s Emily Brontë adaptation is brave enough to just be about two messy bitches.

I think it was @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com who said on here she was ready to read at least 10 think pieces on Wuthering Heights. I would like to submit this hilariously brilliant review of the movie to the committee. www.vulture.com/article/revi...

YouTube video by PJ Harvey - Topic The Devil

Was listening to the latest playlist from Sam Valenti's excellent Herb Sundays substack. PJ Harvey's The Devil from White Chalk came up on it and, this might be a hot take for Harvey fans, it's probably her best song.

Here's Sam's substack if your'e not familiar. herbsundays.substack.com

a poster for wonder man shows a man sitting at a table with a drink ALT: a poster for wonder man shows a man sitting at a table with a drink

My Marvel ennui is profound but Wonder Man is actually a pretty great show. And somehow the small stakes drama of a well rounded character just trying to land an acting role is far more thrilling than any ludicrously expensive action scene from recent years.

Vineland now finished. Wonderful and frequently hilarious book. One Battle After Another is the barest whiff of an adaptation. Novel number three for 2026 is The Maniac. When We Cease To Understand The World was one of my favourites from recent years. Looking forward to this one.

YouTube video by The News Agents Is British politics just ungovernable? | The News Agents

Fascinating interview with David Runciman of @ppfideas.bsky.social and @lewisgoodall.com.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWEo...

I have the Google App on my iPhone. It sends me push notifications to news stories. Lately, when I click on the push, it increasingly takes me straight to AI mode where it gives me a summary of the push story. I did not input the query you see here. This is a big shift.

YouTube video by A24 A. G. Cook - Residue (Official Video)

This promo/song for her new Spinal Tap-esque movie is a bit of a belter.

youtu.be/bIk4DpJA104?...

This is 100% correct. My entire career is based on showing up at the DiS/Quietus office to drink

My brother read Magic Mountain last year after years of prodding by our dad to read it. He found it a slog, though the translation is key and he thinks in retrospect he had a bad one. It’s on my pile too just waiting. Though I think 2666 will be my big novel this year.

Excellent. I have the Empusium on the pile. Will add House. The only way I can manage the modern world right now is by excessive reading of quality fiction.

Have finished Drive Your Plow. Excellent.
Now on to Vineland for book two of the year. I tried Gravity’s Rainbow as an ambitious teen reader. I found it impossible. Crying of Lot 49 was far more accessible a few years later. Vineland so far is very funny.

Sunday with Lewis Goodall @LBC.co.uk coming to you live from Minneapolis this morning as the political crisis in the city deepens

AND internationally, Greenland crisis deepens.

So much to get through. Join us from 10 (4 local ☠️)

The street in Minneapolis where Renee Good was killed by ICE. Now a place of pilgrimage. Steady stream of people laying flowers and paying their respects. Many in tears and speaking of the deep fear they have of the federal government itself.

Kwazii is the hero we all aspire to be.

Google now prioritising Youtube and X over publishers on Discover Google is increasingly prioritising X posts, AI summaries and Youtube videos on its Discover smartphone aggregation platform.

Well this is concerning for publishers

NEW: Big, big news in Westminster for the Conservative Party. Kemi Badenoch has not only sacked but removed the whip from Robert Jenrick, saying he was planning to defect.

* no idea! (my clicky keyboard for an edit button please)

This is about as nerdy as I go but I recently bought a mechanical keyboard for my home office. The clicky sound is immensely satisfying the more I use it and I have to idea why. Either way, I am fully converted now.

I’m sure we were in plastic people at the same time.

I dropped a CV off at that place in Shoreditch when I first got to London and was looking for a restaurant job. No one ever rang.

Though by 13/14 got way into Mike Allred’s Madman and started discovering Dan Clowes etc

+1 on Claremont /Byrne. When I was 9 my parents let me buy the collected Dark Phoenix saga and I must have read it hundreds of times.

I have read this more than once. Was fascinated by it in my early 20s.