Borrowed yet another library book that's been covered in scribbles today. Including this particularly insightful annotation...

I have never been less excited by a World Cup.

Surely that can’t be comfortable.

Nice and shady in the undergrowth…

Picture perfect English countryside in the lakes today…

Happy 154th Birthday, Bertie...

I’m marking essays. It’s that time of year. I don’t have nearly as many essays to mark as I would have had, say, 10 years ago, but somehow, it takes me just as long anyway. I believe this is an instance of Parkinson’s Law. Well, Parkinson, you know what I say? The law is an ass.

Only a matter of time before the first UK university goes bust. There's something deeply sad about that. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/no-plan...

First day at the cricket for me this season. The sun’s peeking through, the beer’s cold, and lancs are going steady.

“I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun.” Raymond Chandler. He sure had a way with words.

Delighted for Wu Yize. What a player. And that has to be the greatest World Championship final since 1985... www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/m...

It was all going off on my driveway last night…

The Viburnum is in flower 🤩. My favourite plant in the whole garden.

Outlook's new security test to prove you're not a robot is impossible. I've failed it three times in a row. Or hang on... maybe I am a robot after all?

Interesting stuff. But "electroweak penguin decay"? How can we be sure that these scientists aren't just taking the piss out of us? theconversation.com/our-large-ha...

The sun is out and the tulips are in bloom. 😄🤩

Excited about the start of the Cricket County Champs today. Got my fantasy team picked and I’m looking forward to the first ball being bowled. My money’s on Somerset to win their first ever title, inspired by the Rew brothers. And I’m backing Lancashire (of course!) to win Division Two.

The disdain with which Parfit sometimes dismisses critics is stunning. On p.354 he gets rid of one objection by saying: “This view is too implausible to be worth discussing”. What a great line. I intend to use it next time I’m having an argument with my wife. I’ll let you know how that goes…

Happy 430th Birthday René Descartes. The Father of Modern Philosophy. Here is a never-before-seen photo of him, recently unearthed by archivists, taken in preparation for this very day, back in 1640. (He looks pleased with himself because he’s just finished a first draft of the Meditations).

They say that Anaximander (in the 6th century BCE) drew the first ever map of the world. It wasn't very good. It doesn't even have Stockport on it.

Just a sliver of moon in Manchester tonight…

Another day, another award...

Conscious experience really is remarkable. And mysterious! www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG6...

Here's a fact to brighten your day: Gary Oldman is younger than Gary Numan. You're welcome!

Looking feisty this morning...

Tomorrow, after a hiatus of more than a decade, I will again be teaching the ethics of Kant. Secretly, I was hoping that my ten years of extra wisdom would, this time around, make reading the Groundwork a doddle, but having revisited the text, it appears that hope was forlorn...

Remember this? It remains to this day, my favourite ever comedy show.

Chillin'

My first daffodil of the season is here. 😁

Excellent subliminal messaging in my daily email from The Conversation this morning...

Why do so many people say 'yourself' when they mean 'you', and 'myself' when they mean 'me'? It infuriates myself!

Is it possible to expect the unexpected? 🤷‍♂️

Cold, grey and blustery in Scarborough this morning. Didn’t stop some people from braving the water though.

Superb stuff. Give this man a medal! futurism.com/future-socie...

Caught someone sitting in my chair this afternoon...

Really sad to hear about John Virgo. A true legend of the sport and the undisputed master of the trickshot. RIP, JV.

I've never been much of a boxing fan, but if wig-wearing was made mandatory for every fight, I reckon I could get into it... www.skysports.com/boxing/video...

Came across a nice little phrase from Dan Dennett on evolution: "a process with no intelligent designer can create intelligent designers who can then design things that permit us to understand how a process with no intelligent designer can create intelligent designers who can then design things.”

F. H. Bradley would have been 180 years old today. Whenever I think of Bradley I think of Richard Wolheim's killer quip: "Obscurity came to him naturally, and it is hard to resist the suspicion that he also exploited it as a weapon in argument".

Excellent stuff. Bravo!

She lays eggs!

When I typed 'Maurice Merleau-Ponty' into my phone today (don't ask), it was autocorrected to 'Maurice Merlway-Spongy'. You know, having read some of the man's work, I'm inclined to think that Merlway-Spongy is a much more suitable name.

Just finished reading this. One of the most bizarre books I've ever read, but utterly brilliant and laugh-out-loud funny. If you've never read it, get it on your TBR list at once!

I've been revisiting a classic this morning. The very final scene always gets me a little choked up.

Aaaaand stretch.

It never ceases to amaze me how often library books are covered in annotations and highlighter pen. This is today’s example. What kind of person does this to a library book?

One of the beauties of writing is that language is so subtle. You might think that 'I apologise' means the same as 'I'm sorry'. But just try switching the two next time you're at a funeral.

Yes, of course I put those books there for you to sleep on...

Here's a little something for you to read while you should be busy doing something else... Why procrastination isn’t laziness – it’s rigid thinking that your brain can unlearn theconversation.com/why-procrast...