Had a fantstic idea to help the public finances: a new tax of £5,000 per year, but it's entirely voluntary. We'll call it "road tax", and to volunteer to pay the new tax, you just need to say "I pay road tax" in any public forum.

A snap from yesterday’s day off. I decided to go a little further for coffee than usual.

douglas adams was our most accurate futurist

Glad I nipped out to enjoy summer this morning. Guess it's autumn now.

Every young person sentence online reads like this to me now: "Bro entered low-stim flow state doing a 10 min grocery rotation and got mogged by a friendly neighborhood cat 💀 Is proximity-maxxing essentials while touch-grass-pilled more optimal than suburb-meta carbrained bulk errands?"

Once again, it turns out “fully autonomous” means “a guy in the Philippines.”

PRIVATE EYE NAMED IN EPSTEIN FILES In the latest files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein released by the US Justice Department, the Eye is denounced as “an absolute rag of a publication” by Epstein’s then lawyer, Paul Tweed… 🧵1/5

I think I'm mostly watching the new Lynley for the Jensen.

Movie review from Guardian on Melania.

'Watch the drama unfold on Question Time tonight,' says Fiona Bruce during her plug, summing up everything that's wrong with politics and its coverage in this accursed decade.

The problem with designing a villain whose look is military chic but NOT wanting the result to be too obviously fashy is that the conceptual space of "military chic but not obviously fash" is occupied by high school marching bands, and you need to decide for yourself whether you're okay with that.

A few days ago, I stood in the graveyard of an 1100 year old church, getting damper and damper in the drizzling rain. A woman walked into the graveyard, waved, said hello, and, as we had previously arranged, handed me a paper bag full of human bones. The life of a churchwarden is a strange one...

When you hear about a classic BBC kids show set in #Bristol and immediately start looking for shooting locations you can still recognise. I could walk here in five minutes... #windsorterrace #victoriaterrace #theparagon #thechanges

Just watched a Microsoft training video. Within the first twenty seconds I thought, “Jesus, this guy looks and sounds like he’s being forced to read the terrorists’ script at gunpoint!” Oh. Well, “Will Flash”, whether you’re a real human or a mere talking hallucination I hope you get rescued.

"I cannot believe that an industrial and economic system, which assumes that 800 men are shovelling away, are drawing wages, are buying food and clothing..." 1/2

10 M2 cores, 32GB of memory, and yet the Apple Mail client still lags behind my typing when trying to write an email. What on *earth* is the thing doing?

I am now side-eyeing 2026 and waiting for it to do something. For everyone out there, I hope this one treats you well.

Top of the Pops (25th December 1979). The Buggles perform Video Killed The Radio Star.

Sorted.

Given that it's 36+ years old I suppose I shouldn't complain if it only needs the jack socket fixing...

I'm watching The Wrong Trousers and it's bonkers to watch it now, since a provincial museum in the north of England in an animation from 1993 has better security than the Louvre.

Just to remind you that the livestream of the solstice sunrise from Newgrange starts 12 hours from now. heritageireland.ie/visit/newgra...

Well. Tonight I have experienced a cocktail bar who managed to run out of both ice, and olives. Before 8pm. Impressive.

Guys. GUYS. It’s okay to admit you don’t have a clue.

Daily life in 2025. #AI #Tech #JustLetMeBe #FFS

I'm old enough to have seen a version of this story repeat over multiple decades. It's old and tired. It's also very gendered. If you're counting Coldplay as a rock act, and not counting Olivia Rodrigo, that's a you problem.

Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel. For me this actually not hard mode

Behind door number 7 of the Scarred For Life advent calendar... it's the BBC's incredible adaptation of John Wyndham's classic novel about societal collapse and rampaging plants: THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS!

Went Out Out last night, including walking a few miles to/from the restaurant/bars. Still quite hungover. Have just discovered, with middle-aged joy, that tonight's gig at Strange Brew is "Seated Show" oh thank God. Hopefully @theagilmore.bsky.social will forgive me being a little subdued...

I hope someone draws this wonderful story about Tom Stoppard's Arcadia and the power of the arts to help us see things differently, to the attention of our Education Secretary. Do read it, it will lift your spirits.

And so it begins.

Since a blood draw last Wednesday I am looking increasingly like a junkie. Hrm.

Major Richardson's Dogs at the #Bristol International Exhibition, 1914. Major Richardson trained the first official British police dogs, later founding the training programme for dogs serving in both World Wars. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_H... WH Smith postcard.

On this day in 1983, #siouxsieandthebanshees released "Nocturne" - their live double album featuring material from 1981's Juju and 1982's A Kiss in the Dreamhouse as well as their newest song, "Dear Prudence". #RobertSmith of #TheCure was on guitars for this recording.

If you see this, post your getaway vehicle.

Emotionally Distant Husband Would Rather Watch ‘Stargate SG-1’ Than Have Honest Conversation About ‘Stargate SG-1’ https://theonion.com/emotionally-distant-husband-would-rather-watch-stargate-sg-1-than-have-honest-conversation-about-stargate-sg-1/

Scared for a moment that the product recall was for the very electric throw I was wrapped in while reading it. But no. It’s my first product recall for a phone I bought three years ago. Odd.

Watching the AI bubble burst ought to be funny. But it'll probably tank the global economy and wipe out my pension, which takes the shine off it somewhat.

Truly smart devices would choose not to connect to the internet.

How delightfully quaint some of these old Devon village names are, their etymologies lost in the mists of time.

Doctor says, 'Dont worry, parser design is simple. Great programmer Kate Compton has written the parser you seek’

It's a great cosmic joke that neurodivergence both runs in families and gets diagnosed based on parent reports. I was diagnosed at 30 because a man who has eaten potatoes every day for 57 years and a woman who collects loose buttons decided I was a perfectly normal child.

Roses are red Lilies are chaste

Oooh. New Series B Blu-Ray just dropped through t'letterbox. #blakes7

Wednesday

Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness.

In one episode of the second series of Stuff, the first five minutes consisted of what appeared to be an episode of Juliet Bravo, and really the only initial clue is that Juliet Bravo was never on BBC2. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHmX...

Starting to get the feeling that AWS might've gone down...

Anyway. That London. Museums, galleries, bookshops, the theatre, some great pubs and last night I even managed to have a drink with the Crossword Editor of the Times. It doesn't get much better than that, let me tell you.