Overheard on train with crying baby: Small boy to dad: Someone is in trouble. Dad: I think it’s just a baby. Boy: A baby is in trouble!

Haha, nice one @privateeyenews.bsky.social !

#NowPlaying Kiri Ra! – nen (@wejazzhelsinki.bsky.social, 2026)

(Being pointed out elsewhere that umbrella already means what ‘sunbrella’ is trying to do) I’ve often thought it interesting that despite our climate British English uses ‘umbrella’ – from Latin umbra (shadow) – when eg French say ‘parapluie’ (against rain) and Germans ‘Regenschirm’ (rain screen)

Reminder that Radio 4 Long Wave goes off air for ever on Saturday (not sure of the exact time, maybe after the also-doomed midnight news). My very-former employer the Radio Society of Great Britain has a rather nice article on it. rsgb.org/main/radio-s...

Absolute thread of the day. What a hero

Charles Cormany. Hopscotch. San Rafael, CA. n.d.

can’t believe a narcissist is being so publicly humiliated by a reflecting pool

hello everyone i am working on a big piece for guardian about the CURRENT STATE OF MUSIC ZINES!!!! i have many already but i want to get as many as poss from FAR AND WIDE in uk so pls either fill out the form here or email me directly (email on my website in bio) www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...

#NowPlaying Various Artists – Jack Ruby Hi-Fi (Clappers, 1980)

New Release! Constrictor is a typeface in perpetual motion. Its patterns of interference provoke an emotional response and spark joy in users and readers. Fred Shallcrass has designed a family which radiates an energetic presence. See Constrictor at frerejones.com/families/con...

#NowPlaying The Flying Burrito Bros – The Gilded Palace of Sin (A&M, 1969)

#NowPlaying DJ EZ – FABRICLIVE 71 (Fabric, 2013)

#NowPlaying Wolfgang Pérez – Só Ouço (@hivemindrecords.bandcamp.com, 2025) wolfgangperez.bandcamp.com/album/s-ou-o

It might be called ‘Idle Moments’ but nearly 20,000 songs in just over an hour seems pretty industrious to me

#NowPlaying Antonio Carlos & Jocafi – Jazz Is Dead 026 (Jazz Is Dead, 2026)

#NowPlaying Jason Moran / BlankFor·ms / Marcus Gilmore – Shards (Red Hook Records, 2026)

You probably didn’t start the day thinking ‘what I need to do today is see a picture of the desk of former French prime minister Georges Clemenceau’, but:

#NowPlaying Babo Moreno – Babo Moreno (Matsuka, 2025)

#NowPlaying this superb CD-R compilation of rhythm’n’blues stormers sent to me over 20 years ago by the late Joe Dutton, DJ of clubs such as Flipside, King Bee and Backbeat

Loved this photo so much when I first saw it during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Boxer Roberto Durán embracing his terminally ill rival Esteban De Jesús in an AIDS ward in 1989. They were fierce rivals, fought three times in the 1970s. Still brings tears to my eyes.

#NowPlaying Arthur Verocai – Arthur Verocai (Continental Records, 1972)

#NowPlaying Paul Weller – 22 Dreams (Island Records, 2008)

#NowPlaying Jana Rush – Painful Enlightenment (@planetmurecords.bsky.social, 2021)

Started my Christmas shopping 💅

#NowPlaying Mary Halvorson & Ambrose Akinmusire – Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings (@nonesuch.com, 2026) @maryhalvorson.bsky.social

#NowPlaying Various Artists – J Jazz: Deep Modern Jazz from Japan 1969–84 (@bbemusic.bsky.social, 2018)

#NowPlaying The Fall – Hex Enduction Hour (Kamera, 1982)

#NowPlaying Donny Hathaway – Everything Is Everything (ATCO Records, 1970)

Don’t worry travelator, we’ll get through this together 🙏

YT algorithm served up a clip from 00s Charlie Sheen sitcom Two and a Half Men where Sheen’s character ‘Charlie Harper’ googles himself. I think we can safely say the second result is a different Charlie Harper

i assume banning kids from social media will be accompanied by a huge investment in teen-friendly communtiy spaces (like youth clubs) and social activities? No? Huh.

Love little zines 💛 This lovely one has reminded me of the map in Scarborough station where the ‘you are here’ dot is *nowhere near* where you actually are when you’re looking at it

It can be depressing to read about the rise of Reform etc so much of the time so it was hugely encouraging to be out on the streets of Brighton yesterday among the community coming together in huge numbers to give the far right the very shortest of shrifts

Sun Ra Arkestra mural unveiled yesterday in Philly 🚀 ✨ 🪐

I have never been swimming because it’s never been more than 30 minutes since I last ate

#NowPlaying If you like the first track on this playlist, you might be interested to know that Dr Alimantado is playing some dates in the UK soon, for the first time in a couple of decades, including [*local post alert*] Lewes Con Club on the 9th of August

Art of the day Hasui Kawase (Japanese, 1883–1957)

‘Right then gang, can y’all click this link and check out this website so it can get loads of visitors from all over the place as a favour to a friends kid? Yeah you can Boosts and whatnot as well 💕 👉 myplasticpromise.co.uk/ ’ (via @rknight.me @thevoidtlmb.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy)

They should build loads of data centers all over the place that contain huge quantities of books that people can borrow for free if they fill out a form to get a data center card and promise to return the books on time and don’t make too much noise in the data center.

I’ve always been a bit confused about East Sussex libraries’ digital services but I *think* that you now have to use PressReader instead of Libby to access eMagazines and eNewspapers

I remember seeing this a while back. It’s nice when someone you’ve always thought probably is a decent sort, proves to be exactly that. www.thepinknews.com/2019/12/20/a...

Miserable news about Marjane Satrapi www.lemonde.fr/en/obituarie...

Sam Jones, NYC, 1961 or ’62 📸 Steve Schapiro Archive

#NowPlaying Mouse on Mars – Glam (Sonig, 1998/2003) #CD

#NowPlaying Sonny Rollins – Volume Two (Blue Note, 1957/reissue 1999) #RIP #CD

#NowPlaying Sonny Rollins – Saxophone Colossus (Prestige, 1957/Original Jazz Classics German reissue, 1988) #RIP #CD

Scott Walker – Only Myself to Blame (The World Is Not Enough)

@jazyjef.bsky.social fyi: on his BBC 6 Music show just now, Gilles Peterson called on Zohran Mamdani to rename the bridge

Strong contender for the greatest single of the 1990s