'Design is a service. It’s purely logic, function and aesthetics.’ Happy birthday Margaret Calvert — 90 today.

My review in today's FT of Lauren Elkin's 'Vocal Break', published next week.

Which of the following attractions would you like to see at The Beatles' 3 Savile Row? - Sit in Derek Taylor's wicker peacock chair - Delay a policeman at the front door - Dress as Santa and chat to a Hell's Angel - Play in the "Magic Alex Room" …or suggest your own!

'Acting on the belief that centre-left leaders have for too long governed as paler versions of their right-wing counterparts, he has drawn a clear distinction between them.' www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/o...

Come on science. Where are we on 'gadding about' and 'lolling on the sofa'?

Great, now I'm panicking.

The best collection of arguments against, from Martin Wolf in today’s @financialtimes.com: “First-past-the-post has become suicidal. The time to reform the old system is now”. www.ft.com/content/1a5a...

'Even now'

New Beatles fan experience opening at the old Apple Corps offices in Savile Row. I hope they've recreated the original press office with a hologram of Derek Taylor offering you something from the enormous drinks cabinet. www.thebeatles.com/beatles-get-...

For diaries. Friday 29 May TOWNSCAPE65.Eventbrite.co.uk. Gordon Cullen examined, with a dash of Ian Nairn (from me at 3.30) to add laconic spice.

Looking forward to my bog-girl summer. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/t...

Remembering Lee Brilleaux on his birthday. Here are Dr Feelgood terrorising the French town of Pithiviers in 1976. The full clip is at youtu.be/8_QibKon2G4

Art schools, fee-free.

Really well-written, ultimately optimistic obit. www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/ee2175f...

Portmeirion, the Italianate village designed by Clough Williams-Ellis on the north Wales coast, is celebrating its centenary this year. Gillian Darley clamours to be a prisoner there.

Ughhh, the perpetual quest for the news hook, when sometimes we just want to be obsessed with fascinating questions on our own time!!

Kan-chan, a pink penguin who is often mistaken an enema, is the mascot for Ichijiku enemas.

By far the best analysis of yesterday’s election results that ive read:

DOUBLE HAND-CLAPS!

I can't think of another UK columnist who could get away with this.

Ick. as.ft.com/r/1b47828a-0...

'Hamburg Days', the book on which the BBC TV series is based, was co-written by Astrid Kirchherr and Voormann. They wrote half the text each. It's a great book, but it's not 'Voormann's autobiography'.

Extraordinary how women are written out of Beatles history.

In the past week, I have seen the word 'thoughtful' applied to a confessional piece of writing about adopting a dog, a bathroom renovation, a rooftop sauna development, a removals company and a dentist.

Es werde (Neon)licht. No neon journey through Westfalen would be complete without a stop for beer in Hamm.

Putting a bit of love back, one place at a time… podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/m...

Paul and Ringo. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLRV...

Captain Lewis Nixon III of Easy Company the morning after V-E Day, 1945. Some of the bottles came from Hermann Göring's wine cellar.

I hope I'm as productive as Hunter Davies when I'm 90.

I wrote a piece for The Times about how Ken Livingstone's GLC used billboards to appeal directly to Londoners about equality, racism, workers' rights and what would happen if Russia dropped the big one. www.thetimes.com/uk/london/ar...

Trump on Truth Social owns the libs by pointing out his war in Iran hasn’t lasted as long (so far) as Vietnam or World War 2

perhaps the most curious fact from our long read today on the Mandelson scandal www.ft.com/content/a829...

Off to the polling station.

You’ve got to keep track of how many family members you’ve told work you were embalming, though, or they start asking questions.

PLATE-GLASS KLAXON

Atomic bomb test dummies

Fascinating on the connections between Bowie and Dennis Potter, by @bowiegod.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/bowiegod...

Tune into Kenny Everett on Capital Radio in 1984

The American public is a sucker for the corrupt tastefulness of well-bred English epics. (1970)

Oh no. www.wsj.com/business/hos...

See Saher Alghorra’s photography documenting the toll of Israel’s attacks in Gaza.

A message from Mary, a 72-year-old Amazon worker from North Carolina projected onto Jeff Bezos’s $120 million penthouse before tonight’s #MetGala, chaired by Bezos.

I just died of envy. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Tired of swiping? Find real connections and meaningful conversations with hot fifty somethings happy to talk about typefaces for hours.

Happy birthday to the Royal Festival Hall, which opened it's doors 75 years ago today as part of the Festival of Britain. To mark the anniversary we asked people to share their memories of the festival, and I rescued a few more from our archives too... www.southbankcentre.co.uk/magazine/mem...

It almost certainly wouldn't exist without her. www.thetimes.com/culture/film...

Me, explaining why I need a deadline extension.

Nostos: ― Frank O'Hara, Selected Poems

That's the west coast mainline for you