Not ignoring the horrible news, just finding it overwhelming and need refreshment. Sending love to all. X

Horrible news all over the place at the moment so how about a totally inconsequential conversation? I’m cooking Xmas dinner this year and have had various food requests from family members including onion rings. I’ve never heard of this being a Xmas thing. What are your unusual Xmas food traditions?

This is probably the best #gaudete, only narrowly beating Steeleye Span. youtu.be/NtAcZOrE8dE?...

It's "Muppets Christmas Carol" time again. I will not hear about there being a better Christmas movie.

If you're still up, go out and look at the moon. No ice ring tonight but it's a lovely one!

What a lovely icy halo around the moon!

Called another #ceilidh Only forgot one dance (slightly) so now a new variation of the Walls of Limerick exists - what shall I call it?

Really enjoying BBC Radio3's Carols Across the Country, @jackieoates.bsky.social sounding great and they also just played a recording of "Tomorrow Will Be My Dancing Day" which I'm pretty sure was the Jesus College recording from 2010 which has one of my sons on treble. (They didn't say though)

Damn. Too much paperwork yesterday to go for a run (also was feeling lazy) and told myself I would go today. Guess what....pissing with rain now so I have another excuse...

I am calling a ceilidh on Tuesday for students, most of whom won't have been to a ceilidh before (a very international group). Can anyone recommend extra dances I could do which are easy to pick up and still fun? I'm thinking difficulty level of eg Gay Gordons or The Flying Scotsman. #ceilidh

After years of underfunding GP practices, appts are still as hard to get & patients are not getting the services they need or deserve A patient-centred GP contract designed to strengthen continuity, improve access, & ensure GP services are properly funded dauk.org/our-call-for...

Good morning from the Peter Knight and John Spiers tour! We’ve been having a great time so far, and wanted to remind you that tonight’s gig at @downendfolkroots.bsky.social is also being live streamed for anyone who can’t come in person to our dates. events.livetoyourlivingroom.com/events/livet...

Why not have a day out in Cambridge on 20th December, Christmas shopping/visit the Winter Wonderland Christmas Market in the morning, then go to our concert at West Road at 4pm which is ideally timed to go out for a festive meal afterwards? cambridgephilharmonic.com/whats-on/ber...

Oooh! Elgar Sea Pictures! I love playing with EACHO and I've wanted to do Sea Pictures for ages! I hope some of you can come. www.eacho.org.uk/wagner-elgar...

Orion's out to greet me home from orchestra practice again! 😊

I’m old enough to remember when the Director General of the BBC categorically didn’t resign after one of its flagship politics shows literally photoshopped Jeremy Corbyn with a Soviet hat and painted red with the Kremlin in the background like some kind of Cold War-era communist mural.

Its now just under a month until John Spiers and I head out on our annual Christmas tour! This year we'll be heading to Bretforton, Masham, Chester, Saltaire, London, Bradford on Avon, Lewes, Uffington, Paddock Wood, Llantrisant and Torquay! details can be found here: www.jackieoates.co.uk

There are still tickets for the concert I'm in this Sunday evening. Lots of lovely tunes and the solo violinist is playing a concerto written by a female composer, which nearly got lost and was found in her attic when she died. It sounds great! cambridgephilharmonic.com/whats-on/res...

I have said bye bye to Spotify, who hardly pay anything to artists and have use profits to invest in AI warfare. Several artists I follow have stopped being on there anyway. I'm buying things on Bandcamp and Qobuz for streaming. www.qobuz.com/gb-en/discover bandcamp.com

Farage, who was paid £189,000 in January to promote gold bullion in his spare time, is currently wanging on about how out of touch the Labour frontbench is. Ok

Cambridge Comhaltas Elastic Band's first ceilidh gig (I was calling; accordion skills not ready for public performance!) I survived teaching a load of KS1 children strip the willow when half of them are still bad at lefts and rights! Note to self: learn more dances with only forwards and backwards.

I saw this somewhere else and thought you might need to see it today.

Literally

Today I get to play the lovely Pie Jesu cello solo in the Duruflé Requiem. I made a New Year's resolution to go outside my comfort zone a bit more. It's going well so far!

Accurx glitch. Monday morning.

The second series of Good Omens really is rather good.

My friend Alison is running a sea shanty workshop! #shanty #folk #singing Fri 24th October, Michaelhouse, Cambridge 2.30-3.30pm See you there? acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...

If we have copyright laws to moderate how human creators are allowed to borrow and steal from each other, why are we ok with allowing big companies to do it in the name of AI 'progress'?

I'm never actually going to need to write another comment piece again am I? The right wing shit rags are just going to keep recruiting for us. Folks - want a better country? Join.greenparty.org.uk

This is his repeated attacks on what he calls the "lanyard class". Who are the terrible people who wear lanyards? Doctors & nurses, care workers, teachers, managers, administrators, secretaries. The people who hold society together, who keep everything running, who do the jobs he wouldn't stoop to.

Rest in peace, one of my heroes.

Michelle Mone is the polar opposite of the values that should govern public life. She should repay what she owes immediately & get her sorry, dishonourable form as far away from the House of Lords as possible. She, & all those other govt grifters who tried to monetise a pandemic, sicken me. Ends/

If @wesstreeting thinks GPs are stuck in 20thC, visit a hospital We are the science museum! ➡️Electronic records since 1991 ➡️Online triage ➡️Ambient scribes ➡️SMS ➡️Online bookings ➡️Electronic prescribing ➡️Online referrals ➡️Video consults DAYS after 1st lockdown…. 1/x

A good graphic explaining why it's easier to book a haircut than a GP appointment. #GP #NHS

Wes & Keir “We’ve a great plan to speed up access to GPs - video, telephones, technology” GPs 🤷🏻‍♂️-“You mean all the stuff we’ve had for years” How about some REAL support? Funding for GPs to see patients & provide the care they need in General Practice Yours. GP luddite

It was never about Autism! 🚨 On Sept 22, 2025, Trump went on national TV claiming Tylenol causes autism. There is no scientific proof. Doctors warn this is dangerous misinformation. The claim directly targets Kenvue, whose largest shareholders include firms Trump already seeks to weaken. 🧵cont..

It’s just sick. I am beyond upset that our government allows this to continue without opposition. The situation in Gaza City is "nothing short of cataclysmic", a UN official has told the BBC, as Israeli tanks and troops continue to advance on the third day of a ground offensive.

August over 3000 GPs completed their training There are currently only 250 job GP roles available across 6277 GP practices 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Patients have said GP access as the most important concern in #NHS provision @rthonwesstreeting.bsky.social but still minimal investment in access, just empty words

I'm not ready for Armageddon yet, I'm only halfway through rewatching Good Omens series one with my teenager, in preparation for series two. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

26 police officers injured. 4 seriously - 25 arrests. No injuries. Pensioners sit down holding cardboard signs. 890 arrests. #UniteTheKingdom #AntiFascistLeague #YvetteCooper #Starmer

If you ever start thinking "Yes I know I chopped those chillies but that was yesterday and since then I've washed my hands several times, done some washing up and had a shower, so it will be fine to put some contact lenses in" Think again. On another note, my home grown chillies are very nice.

In the light of today's events in London, here is a great song about Cable Street, by @theyounguns.bsky.social . open.spotify.com/track/0pdJj4...

I just switched to @ecotalk.bsky.social mobile. Less data, but I never use my unlimited anyway. Profits go to restoring British rainforests, rather than paying billionnaires.

Across our region local groups and MPs are campaigning for better water quality in our rivers so they are safe to be enjoyed. Success is possible.. as Paris shows us 👇

I just experimented with getting ChatGPT to write me a Powerpoint about why we should write our own reflections down so we can learn from them more effectively, rather than get AI to summarise everything for us. Guess how that went. (Don't worry, I wrote my own one to use really)

My Fitbit app keeps telling me to rest and recover and not overdo it. Maybe I should just take it off?

It was the Dunning of tymes. It was the Kruger of tymes.

Obviously, there are clouds in the only bit of sky where the eclipsed red moon is rising....