Dear USA See, it can be done www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cw...

Did you see the sign today about hobbies?

My glasses broke, so I was waiting for my replacement pair, when I missed a call and saw this transcript of a voicemail on my phone. Boots Opticians will forever more be “British Magicians” in our house. Not sure who “Brett Hill” is either.

Sad news that the great Jon Snow has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. One of the giants of TV news and a man of real principles.

Ah yes, the "Thdpsssps"

Irn Bru do it again. vm.tiktok.com/ZNR7fPrDc/

#ShakespeareanFootball #ArsenalPSG Kai Havertz and let slip the dogs of war.

#Skipinnish #positivity Still bouncing from seeing Skippinish last night - if anyone needs a boost of positivity this morning, try this youtu.be/YKvaJ0uvdhM

Gorgeous spring afternoon at Wakehurst Place.

Just came across this cartoon by the brilliant @tomgauld.bsky.social I think this is a sentiment we can all get behind.

#Spring Walking into Redhill and put my Merlin app on. I heard Chiff Chaff, Blackbird, Robin, Bluetit, Wren, Collared Dove, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Jackdaw, Wood Pigeon, Magpie and Linnet (first time ever). Also saw Red Kite, Cormorant, Great Crested Grebe, Coots, Mallards and, of course, Starlings

#Spring Spent some time over the past few days chasing pigeons away from our bird feeder (which is intended for the smaller birds, but the pigeons have worked out a way to balance on it and shake the seeds out). Increasingly of view that the late, great Tom Lehrer had a point. youtu.be/yhuMLpdnOjY

Always a joy to see the snakeshead fritillaries flowering on the bank in our garden #Spring

One of the markers of the year in our house, the switch from porridge to our home made granola (which smells lovely as it bakes in the oven) #Spring.

Washing dried on the line outside and the first grass cut of the year done. Daffs, crocuses and snakeshead fritillaries flowering and the cherry plum tree in blossom - I guess spring is officially here. #Spring

An expat in Dubai has a startling revelation: the Stephen Collins cartoon

#AI Watching AI Confidential With Hannah Fry. I wouldn’t have got in an AI self driving car before, but I’m certainly not going to now. An excellent, informative and thought provoking programme.

Watching Waldemar Januszczak’s Amazon Prime series ‘The Renaissance Unchained’ - entertaining, opinionated and enlightening. Excellent stuff.

I see the SFA has negotiated with FIFA to allow the Tartan Army to wear what Billy Connolly called “wee badger handbags” to matches at the World Cup (personally, mine’s sealskin and I wouldn’t go near Trump’s USA). I’m presuming the sgian dubh is still out. #sporran

Reading Les Liaisons Dangereuses on the train up to London (an actual physical book) and realised that in my head I’m seeing and hearing Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan who we saw performing the play at the RSC back in 1985! The power of theatrical performances to imprint on the memory. #Theatre

At The Sam Wanamaker Theatre at @shakespearesglobe.bsky.social for The Tempest. Really innovative production using the unique surroundings of the theatre to full advantage. Lots of surprises (but no spoilers). Loving it.

#ScotlandvEngland Well! Now can we have that every game, please?

I see Farage is claiming that 1million people in the UK can’t speak English at all (a lie, of course). However, 880,000 can’t speak English well according to the 2021 census. From what I see on social media, many of them are Reform supporters.

At Dorking Halls for Neil Brand’s Laurel & Hardy Centenary Tour. You can’t say we don’t do cultural variety - folk music at the Transatlantic Sessions, John Le Carre in the theatre and now Laurel & Hardy, all since Friday. #Laurel&Hardy.

Reading Femina by Janina Ramirez and am intrigued to discover that the Nazis considered the Bayeux Tapestry (which isn’t a tapestry at all) an “example of Germanic art” and that Bletchley Park decoded a message that it was to be moved to Hitler’s bunker in Berlin. #History #Books

Watching ‘The Librarians’ on BBC Iplayer - FFS these stupid, evangelical, MAGA types with a bias against kids actually finding out about the real world are scary. These librarians fighting back are real heroes. A recommended watch. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

#Theatre At Soho Place for ‘The Spy Who Came In From The Cold’. an excellent, cleverly staged production. Last 2 weeks, so if you can get a ticket I’d recommend getting in quick.

the Spectator accidentally recycled a subhed from a previous day’s article about Tehran

Time for a wee smile 😊

Ian McKellen and William Shakespeare saying all that needs to be said about “Stop the Boats”. www.facebook.com/watch/?v=203...

Congratulations Arsenal Women FC - inaugural winners of the FIFA Champions Cup.

Listening to the audio book of probably my favourite novel of all time, ‘The Crow Road’ and marvelling again at the writing of the late, lamented Iain Banks. Wonderful stuff. “It was the day my grandmother exploded.”

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

#MAGA On the anniversary of Robert Burns’ birth, an updating of his song “Ye Jacobites By Name” in light of the horrific happenings in the USA. “Ye MAGA Types by Name”

BBC2 at the moment showing ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’. How very apt in light of what’s happening in the USA. Remembering our visit to her house and to thr Jewish Museum in Amsterdam - in particular the yellow stars, which the Nazis made the Jewish manufacturers produce, and then charged Jews to buy.

#Trump #MAGA #ICE #Poetry #BurnsNight In recognition of Burns Night and the awful events in the USA, an adaptation of Burns’ ‘Parcel of Rogues’.

Bravo Glasgow Warriors, 28-3 winners over Sarries, Owen Farrell, Mario Itoje et al. #RugbyUnion

Just spotted a bluetit going back into the nesting box in our garden they used last year. Also saw a sparrow collecting grass for nesting. Spring is coming.

Just seen #Hamnet at the Garden Cinema. Absolutely stunning. Beautifully shot, stellar performances from the whole cast and the final scene…. Definitely one to be seen.

"We have to deny this, for form’s sake, for domestic audiences and to reduce the chance of reprisals," the logic goes. "But we nonetheless want you to understand we did it, and that we would do it again." The purpose of a deterrent is to deter. Why they can't even bother to come up with good lies.

#AlanRickman We still recall seeing Alan Rickman when he was at the RSC as Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses opposite Lindsay Duncan and as Jacques in As You Like it On the 10th anniversary of his untimely death, a reminder of the glory that was his voice. youtu.be/p2Ja0Paz04s

Reading the excellent ‘Everything We Do is Music’ by @elizabethalker.bsky.social on the train and came across this passage which really caught my imagination - seems like a fine idea to me.

The Norwegian Nobel Prize committee has been forced to make a statement, declaring that the prize cannot be transferred. It's hard even to comprehend how stupid this has become

Wee birds on a frosty morning. I’ve just refilled the bird feeder, so I imagine they’re waiting to descend once they feel it’s safe. @mooseallain.bsky.social reminds me of some of your work. #birds

#NewYear A guid New Year tae ane an aa, An mony may ye see! An durin aa the years tae come, O happy may ye be!

#deliveries An announcement for Royal Mail, Evri, Amazon, DPD, Yodel - I don’t have a “delivery experience” to rate. My parcel either gets here in one piece 👍 or it doesn’t 👎 It’s binary. I’m not going to fill in your stupid survey every bloody time.

#NewYearWishes A beautiful song for the New Year. After 2025 these lyrics say it all: “May this next year go easier on your soul May the next year go easier on your soul” youtu.be/0YQ0dtDgYUY

#TateBritain Excellent visit to the Turner and Constable exhibition at Tate Britain. I’d always thought of Constable as being a bit “chocolate box” for my taste but there are some wonderful works of his here. Also insights into Turner’s approach. Definitely recommended.

Ciaran Jenkins and I have recorded another Channel 4 News/BBC News long-distance musical collaboration for Christmas. This year we play The Coventry Carol. To all who are celebrating, wishing you a happy, peaceful Christmas.