RIP to novelist, non fiction writer, NYT reporter & NYPD DC Robert Daley. ‘Target Blue’, his memoir of the year with the police brass was a valuable resource for my research. ‘Target Blue’, tattered Dell paperback from 1974.

If I were an action hero, this is what I’d say to the bad guy before the kill shot.

At best, someone who has an LLM produce a book for them can say: "I wrote some prompts, then this proprietary machine guessed what words might come next based on enormous sets of stolen data. It used this method to produce a book-length text." But that doesn't sound quite so impressive, hey.

Bill Murray has a genuine outré gift: he makes you feel that his characters are bums inside—unconcerned and indifferent—and he makes that seem like a kind of grace. (1984)

Bill Sienkiewicz's unused poster designs for Unforgiven:

Denzel Washington and Spike Lee in, Malcolm X (1992). #FilmSky #Cinema

Lorraine Bracco as Karen Hill in Goodfellas (1990).

Writer and former cop Robert Daly has died - his gritty fiction and non-fiction classics recounted NY’s flawed Finest on the page and the screen. RIP.

Just watched on Kanopy. Never registered what it was about - always confused it with another Wood vehicle: Sex and the Single Girl. Holy cow, this is sensational. Beautifully observed, genuinely funny. Jaw-dropping subject matter without dated “adult” handwringing. Stars - esp Wood - are great.

Truly Gifted Kids:A Book About A Band Called Prefab Sprout by @nigetassell.bsky.social Nige sets out to uncloak the enigma in this deepest dive ever made into Paddy McAloon’s craft, motivations and methods Personal and poetic, a true labour of love about labours of love 13-08-26 tr.ee/-BLPqLQ27t

Happy birthday to Wendy Smith. Here are Prefab Sprout performing Goodbye Lucille #1 (AKA Johnny Johnny) on the Old Grey Whistle Test youtu.be/iZIknAn2Mnc

Between this and Molly Malone's boobies Ireland must attract the weirdest tourists in the world.

There was a lot riding on this when it came out and it didn’t seem to really satisfy anyone at the time. It’s never as good as you want it to be, but I have great fondness for it now. (I wrote a 20 page paper on this in college I should dig out — I must have watched it 10 times.)

In case anyone over there -or anywhere else - happens to be awake right now, delivery from @blackwells.bsky.social in the UK is FREE: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...

Pym people! Samantha Harvey's adaptation of QUARTET IN AUTUMN is worth catching if you're in #London. I was there yesterday and very much enjoyed it. Some lovely gentle humour in the performances, but the poignancy of this story about ageing & the need to feel valued really hits hard. #BookSky 💙📚

How am I supposed to go on, absolutely loved every second Cmat was on stage, one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to. #cmat

Saw ‘Absolute Beginners’ again on the big screen today at the Opera House. 40 years after seeing it on release. I know I’m in the minority, but I absolutely love it, despite knowing the deep shiteness of it in many ways. As a design & music fantasia it sweeps over you. Big overblown fun.

I was in high school during the 1976 Bicentennial. The whole country was way into it. So many parades. Events all year. The tall ships, a wagon train that crossed the country, & the kitsch, my gawd, the kitsch. Every store looked as if the flag puked up on it. There's little of that this time, eh?

This motherfucker is out here making trades that would get him fired from being Larry Kudlow’s cocaine dealer, but everybody in a position to stop him just shrugs (because they’re controlled by republicans, who have overthrown the rule of law).

When the waiter tells you "Are you sure, it is very spicy":

Irresistible charity shop find. A box of the Penguin 60s series from 1995 - short stories and essays and bits and bobs to mark 60 years of Penguin Books. They were 60p each! There was also a box of classics. But! There are only 55 here. So my task is to identify and acquire the missing.

Good morning from Harlem #GoodMorningFromHarlem

Hadn't seen this before - the terrific Evie Sands performing The Doors' Light My Fire live on Playboy After Dark in 1970 www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoEn...

Been quite some time since this Johnny Cash, Rick Rubin sessions CD box set has been spinning in the kitchen. ‘Unearthed’

youtu.be/RN5CTxnsI9U?... My strangest google search may have been this: Fonzie Eats Liver. (If he can do it, we can all eat our own personal liver. This is as close as I will get to self help)

Debbie Harry by Richard Creamer 💛

1975 🎬

This is one of my favourite Hammett lines and I’ve even got to trot It out once or twice. But not recently.

#ComingUpOnTCM MOBY DICK (1969) Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, Leo Genn Dir.: John Huston 2:00 AM PT An obsessive and bitter sea captain seeks revenge on the white whale that ripped his leg from his body. 1h 56m | Drama | TV-PG #TCM #TCMParty

It’s not the kind of thing I read much of, but I’d say it manages to hover halfway between Len Deighton and Derek Raymond: the short chapters and quick-switching POVs all in the service of a full-throttle narrative that is definitely a sprint, not a marathon. Here for a good time not a long time.

2026 Reading 33: Nada by Jean-Patrick Manchette, tr Donald Nicholson-Smith. My first Manchette, and won’t be my last. I’m not sure what I was expecting but it’s a superb high-octane low-friction thriller about a political kidnapping gone very wrong. Short chapters, much violence, very cool.

www.canberratimes.com.au/story/925835... “He would not confirm suggestions Hobbs was a sovereign citizen.” The Manson family style Oz map with stars tatt on the forehead Might be what those in the business call a clue…

Morning #vinylrecords #vinyl

I mean, he speaks COMMON sense, which is RARE!

"When ya pull a gun, kill a man." My Darling Clementine has all of the best John Ford's elements. Understated but lyrical direction, smokey black and white photography, a little bit of gentle comedy intruding on the macho plotting, and laconic, hard-edged dialogue delivered by wonderful actors.

Was *this* who killed the chauffeur?

Someone at a party told me, "AOC is stupid." I replied, "You really need to stop watching Fox. It's turning your brain into porridge. I've listened to AOC question witnesses in House hearings, and she is better at cross-examination than most top-tier trial attorneys." I then found better company.

Faye Dunaway - New York in 1968 📷 by Jerry Schatzberg

After having seen STAR WARS 500 times as a kid, I remember having my mind blown learning that the entire "the death star is about to blow up the rebel base as its being attacked" beat of the ending was invented in the editing room using outtakes and ADR. variety.com/2026/film/ne...

Quite the blurb, even from the guy who gives fellow writers consistent BIG blurb

Farewell to Academy Award-winning film editor Marcia Lucas (1945-2026). She won an Oscar for STAR WARS, was nominated for AMERICAN GRAFFITI, and shared a BAFTA nom for TAXI DRIVER. She also edited ALICE DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE and RETURN OF THE JEDI in a brief but game-changing career. #FilmSky

Unusual Vietnam memoir by recently passed essayist Tracy Kidder. ‘My Detachment’