Being on the wrong end of 18 6” artillery rounds when the gunners had misread the fire plan. They were meant to shell the next objective, but hit the same target again, only we had just taken it.

An important thread

Middle aged man moment a couple of evenings ago. Whilst cutting this, I found myself muttering, ‘Three point one four one five nine two six five …’

Despite him being very much part of the soundtrack of my early adulthood, Springsteen was someone I didn’t really listen to. But my word, he knows how to write a powerful song. open.spotify.com/album/5fto6n...

As we slowly clear the house, Debbie has presented me with my ‘box of cables that might be useful one day’ with instructions to throw away as much as possible. Last week I had to dispose of ‘bits of wood that might be useful’. Oh, the horror.

I mean … you would, wouldn’t you?

Osprey do a great job on the covers of my books. This time, they’ve excelled themselves. Out later this year.

I have a big ask. My 9yo son is autistic and he’s been raising a betta fish he named Kevin. Yesterday He asked if he could “share a photo of Kevin with the whole world“. I don’t know if this will work, but a dad’s gotta try. Like and share if that’s your thing. Kevin says hi! 🐟👋

Just … wow.

I so love this.

Dane-geld A.D. 980-1016 (Rudyard Kipling, 1911) "1 IT IS always a temptation to an armed and agile nation To call upon a neighbour and to say:– "We invaded you last night–we are quite prepared to fight, Unless you pay us cash to go away."

Utterly, utterly brilliant.

Does anyone know why there’s such a wave of new followers at the moment?

Let’s flood Bluesky with our favourite #Bowie songs today youtu.be/EcKZEOsgvdI?...

Seriously, @marina-purkiss.bsky.social and @jemmaforte.bsky.social - please, stop having gambling ads on your podcast. A destructive, parasitic business, and your show promotes it.

As always, @chrisgrey.bsky.social gives a calm, rational analysis that is a welcome change from the heat of other commentaries.

Want.

Weeping with mirth over my breakfast

www.ggmgastro.com/fr-fr-eur/be... Bad Prit: Look, Precious, we wants it. Good Prit: No, no, we has many other things we need more. Bad Prit: But look at it, Precious, so shiny and beautiful. And it’s half price …

@nigella.bsky.social’s black treacle ham … just fantastic.

Good luck, everyone!

Dear @thetrawl.bsky.social For various reasons, I hadn’t listened to your podcast for a while, and was delighted to find that it was just as great when I returned to it. But … gambling adverts? Really? Please, if you have any say, don’t accept ads from a parasitic industry.

Coming next September. Writing this with my incredibly talented daughter was an utter joy. She has raised the standard hugely.

Happy Christmas to all, from Scotland where it’s finally stopped raining.

Presuming to plug this book which was a labour of love & about which I never even had a chat with a publicist. It contains 20 verbatim 1965/6 conversations with huge names of American art (see back of jacket) & is beautifully designed. The conversations were among 100 recorded in one year by my dad.

The redacted Epstein files aren’t a surprise. There’s a pattern in recent years - Johnson, Trump, and others - that shows the weakness of safeguards in democracies. There’s too much reliance on people doing the right thing. Stronger safeguards are needed or these people will continue to prosper.

Drops of God on Apple+. Just superb.

I have a2017 iMac mainly for photo editing. Suddenly, Lightroom couldn’t update because the OS was too old. Apple’s newer OS won’t install on the old iMac, but the internet showed me how to do it using Opencore. Just another attempt to force me to buy a new computer when the old one is just fine.

It’s a bit of a Sunday tradition with dinner, listening to favourite songs while we enjoy a roast with excellent wine. Listening to Adele and ‘When we were young’ … a novel, or a movie, in a song. Just sublime.

I thoroughly recommend giving @mirandakeeling.com a follow. Her posts always brighten my day.

Just beautiful. In so many ways, it speaks of its era. I would buy it in a heartbeat.

The US immigration officer after reading 5 years’ worth of my SM posts …

Once human rights cease to be universal, they are fatally weakened. Politicians then have the ability to decide who gets full human rights and who is a lesser human. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Doing vasectomies …

TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque: "This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".

Name a book from your childhood that had a deep and lasting impact on how you saw things. For me: Rosemary Sutcliffe’s ‘Eagle Of The Ninth’. Latin went from being dull and boring to one of my favourite subjects, and I found a lifelong love of history and reading.

Man who admits punching himself in the face is stupid, says he has no plans to stop punching himself in the face.

For those who are interested in history and haven’t discovered this fabulous podcast series, there’s a huge treat waiting for you. Give it a try, I promise you won’t regret it.

Boris the bullet dodger. The milk carton. And the replica guns. Quite the funniest piece of a movie, ever.

Early morning walk with my boys. The tree gives a clue about the prevailing wind direction here.

@monkemma.bsky.social demonstrating the skills that too many so-called journalists seem to lack. An outstanding thread, take a couple of minutes to read it.

Every single military person in the chain of command from Hegseth to whoever pulled the trigger is guilty of murder. Every one of them should have refused to carry out the order.

Many people on socmed responding to the Farage racism story with ‘We all said things like that in the 70s’. If you did, you’re one of those who made my childhood miserable much of the time. And if you have no remorse, face facts: you’re (still) a racist.

I wonder if they will be treated with the same severity as climate change protesters?

Dusk

The autumn triangle - Deneb, Vega, Altair - and the Milky Way over our house last night. Annoying wisps of cloud that amplified the light pollution.

Shameful. This is the result of appeasing bullies.

If I owned a hotel, I would insist on having tables like this in the lobby.

Yup