Happy Christmas/ Nadolig llawen blueskyers! Have a lovely time, however you do it. Peace, love and Scarlets xx

WRU Cardiff - you guys took a hell of a beating 🤭 #Scarlets

So, WRU have a shortlist of 2 to buy Cardiff which may or may not include Y11. If anyone other than Y11 buys them, the new owners will go into a tender with no guarantees of winning it? After spending up to £16m for the team?

And there’s more! The full ‘63 acetate of What Goes On! Almost unrecognisable from the finished version on Rubber Soul, you can hear that the guitar pattern would later be repurposed for I’ll Cry Instead. youtu.be/cOI4Tgfwk4c?...

So that's the spine of the Welsh pack for the next 5 years. The three most recent captains of their country. All now playing outside Wales. And another two of the autumn squad now playing in England. Well played, WRU. No, really now. Well played.

My mother-in-law has been in hospital (in Wales) since the start of October. Two hip replacements later she is stuck in bed because she isn’t being given physio due to “lack of physiotherapists”. She’s a bed blocker as a result and faces irreparable delay to her recovery. Awful mess.

Bristol so confident they’re starting LRZ at hooker and Genge in the back row 😂 Well done BBC

This petition calling for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy already has over 30,000 signatures. Let’s get it to 100,000 this week. Please sign and share 🙏 petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...

I genuinely hate having to plug my work on here. I would rather post my cartoons and drawings without a link to my website, but unfortunately social media is an important element of our business, so I have to do it. I do appreciate the reposts and thank you for the support since I came to Bluesky.

Leaving aside the fact that I’d prefer the Scarlets to survive the WRU cull (as well as the Ospreys), the wider picture is that everyone knows the plans are doomed to failure both because the funds are still uncompetitive but also because the WRU Board appear completely incompetent.

Well, that’s the 27th time I’ve seen Rick Wakeman live (Bristol this time) and one of the best with an amazing set of musicians.

Slovenia's Postojna Caves - A Subterranean Wonderland! donotgogentlytravel.com/postojna-cav... #traveladdicts #travelbloggercommunity #solotravel #interrail #seniortravel #travelphotography #canonphotography #slovenia #postojnacaves #canonr5

The WRU’s decision to make Scarlets and Ospreys fight it out to be the “West” representative is because Parc y Scarlets to St Helen’s is considered too close at approx 12 miles. Cardiff Arms Park to Rodney Parade is 13.7 miles which is apparently far enough apart? Logic and WRU don’t go together.

I love it that the “priceless” jewels stolen from the Louvre have been given a value (of €88m).

A rather splendid evening in the company of The Divine Comedy in Swansea.

Retired now after working in the NHS for 39 years. Seeing it from the other side and have to concede that the service is awful. If the NHS was a business, we simply wouldn’t accept the quality of service.

Quite the approach into Abu Dhabi, right over Dubai

About to board our flight from Delhi to Amsterdam via Abu Dhabi. One of the most irritating things about transiting through the Gulf is that they scan you directly off the flight, still airside, and take any bottles of liquid (e.g. water bottles) off you. Nobody else does this.

Biggest bucket list item now ticked off 😊

Changing the narrative on suicide requires systemic change. It's about shifting from a culture of silence and stigma to one of openness, understanding, and support. Find out more this #WorldSuicidePreventionDay at iasp.info @iaspinfo.bsky.social

www.bbc.com/news/article... This is such abject nonsense. Whichever party is the Welsh Government may provide policy guidelines but they don’t demand which posts exist or don’t exist. That’s for the hospital professionals.

I thought for one minute I was back in the 1980s. No, Germany 2025.

Finally got to see my last Vermeer painting (apart from the one stolen from Boston in 1990), in Braunschweig, Germany 😊

What kind of reporting is this?? Ok, blood is found dripping from a ceiling in Barry Hospital so they make a ridiculous hint of a link that there is a phlebotomy service at the hospital. Do they think that the blood is not sent to the lab at UHW but stored in the ceiling at Barry Hospital? 🙄

@andysaunders-1.bsky.social the Gemini book is absolutely beautiful. As good as Apollo.

What kind of gibberish is this headline from WalesOnline?

On my way to Edinburgh for my show which starts tomorrow (every day at 12.50 at The Mash House Bottle Room). Travelling with an eye infection which means I need to carry some eye drops in a cool bag. The glamour literally never stops.

Not sure I’ve ever encountered anything as frustrating as a tourist visa application to visit India.

Just had to go on Twitter to look for something and came across a post from esteemed BBC journalist John Simpson recalling a story of personal experience and then loads of replies from random nobodies telling him how he’s wrong. I really don’t miss Twitter.

My show hits the @edfringe.bsky.social in 7 days time! Still tickets available but they are selling fast especially for the first show so if you’re around at 12.50 pop in for some early afternoon laughs! edinburgh.justthetonic.com/event/88:4930/

Stoke top of the league. Stop the season now 😂😂

Sad news to hear about Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell’s passing. A good old age at 97 where he could have died 55 years ago but still sad. One of only three men to have flown to the moon twice but he never got the chance to walk on it.

And if you're not in Camden OR Edinburgh my tour tickets are available here: www.livenation.co.uk/matt-green-t...

Richard Burton died on this date in 1984. He was aged 58. Enjoy this clip of the acting legend and Elizabeth Taylor singing Welsh folk song Ar Lan y Môr. It's absolutely beautiful

Amgueddfa Cymru is celebrating the 250th anniversary of J.M.W. Turner’s birth by returning his iconic artworks to display at National Museum Cardiff

Fact: The Dutch are the tallest race of people in the world. @schiphol.bsky.social

@pgjonesvenice.bsky.social The Magus of Sicily is a wonderful book and I look forward to more in future. Maybe throw in a permanent cat in future? 😂 The way it is written really gives depth to the characters and the setting makes you think you’re really in Sicily (as with Venice) Diolch unwaith eto.

Last pre-season friendly 😊

For those of you in the UK, there's a belter of a deal on the Kindle version of "The Venetian Candidate in August, at just 99p. And if you're in the US, you can pick up "The Venetian Sanctuary" for just 99c!

Rugby officials need to stamp out football style playacting before it becomes a problem.

The penalty advantage law really needs reviewing in rugby.

Royal Mail are absolute charlatans. Tracked delivery expected between 15:31 and 19:30 yesterday (Wednesday). Claimed there was nobody home at 18:29 so didn’t deliver. We were in AND have a ring doorbell. Nobody was there at 18:29. Now won’t “redeliver” until Saturday. Absolute lies about delivery.

TELLY GOLD: On Jimmy Hill’s birthday, a reminder of this classic Comic Relief skit. Jimmy’s comedic timing is perfect. And the reactions from Des and Alan are a pure delight…

Today in 1969. Neil Armstrong took this - the first ever photograph on the surface of another world. Remastered here from a scan of the actual film from Armstrong's camera.

Congratulations to Marnus van der Merwe. Two tries on his debut for South Africa.

The reunion of reunions. It’s only Nello and Nello. Toby Jones meets the real Neil Baldwin. Two legends, one unforgettable moment. #Marvellous #NeilBaldwin #TobyJones

Unseen, if slightly awkward, video of Paul with Robin Gibb and Babyface in 2004 after recording ‘Too Much Heaven’ for a Maurice Gibb tribute album that never came out. There’s a part 2 coming out - so maybe Paul relaxes a bit more there.

Just a reminder that if you’re in Nottingham tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be at Bromley House Library at 14.00 talking about “The Magus of Sicily” and all sorts of Italian things! bromleyhouse.org/events/phili...

Queen performing at Live Aid 40 years ago today. #LiveAid40

Best wishes to Jeff Lynne on his road to recovery. Saw him last Saturday in Birmingham and, having seen him three times before, you could tell he was struggling. Thank you for the memories over the decades. www.bbc.com/news/article...