I remember when we used to point and laugh at Turkmenistan for having a leader who indulged in this sort of laughably pathetic self-praise.

Reminds me of a Bernardism from Yes, Minister. James Hacker: ...but I have never leaked. Bernard Woolley: Oh, that's another of those irregular verbs, isn't it? I give confidential press briefings; you leak; he's been charged under Section 2a of the Official Secrets Act.

So, happy 50th anniversary to Melody Maker’s review of Bohemian Rhapsody: “Queen, with a suitably baroque vocal orchestration, contrive to approximate the demented fury of the Balham Amateur Operatic Society performing The Pirates of Penzance”

“Firstly, I’m infallible. Secondly, my ticket has that seat number on it.”

British railways logic.

Install a life-size Krynoid sculpture.

Dear USA I had thought your government was already doing all it could to deter tourism, but it seems I was wrong. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

We really need a David Attenborough voiceover about how the adults are circling to protect the young.

Another unfortunate legal typo caught just in time - I almost accused my client's ex-spouse of "reckless and wonton dissipation". While we have concerns about what he did with the matrimonial money, we are not actually suggesting he blew the lot down the local Chinese takeaway.

You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?

Yours for a bit shy of one million of your finest English pounds: one crack den.

Paging @pisci.bsky.social and @gardengrump.bsky.social ... oxfordclarion.uk/college-cats...

We need to set up a UK counterpart - anyone got a snail and a ginger beer bottle?

Absolutely gone at this story from Harris on FB, the last sentence is pure Atlantic coast magic.

John Cage would have approved. #NewGlenn #EscaPADE #BlueOrigin

Deconstructed Ship of Theseus.

I made a “how do you do, fellow kids?” joke to someone in their mid 20s who, it turns out, was too young to have heard of that meme. So “how do you do, fellow kids?” is now an example of “how do you do, fellow kids?”

If the sandwich don’t split, you must acquit

In any sane world the US Government would be nationalising SpaceX on the grounds that it is a critical national asset being run by a madman, and the UK Government would be moving all communications off X because you cannot trust someone with beliefs like this to handle your social media.

T Ocellus from #AlienEarth - as a pumpkin.

'Something... Something... Enid Blyton.'

personally, I think meerkats with suspect Russian accents are wildly over-represented in adverts.

That's the face of a man who knows he just gave a Cubs jersey to a Sox fan

“…and I cast Unfair Prejudice Petition in return!” - who says Companies Act litigation is boring?

Over on Threads and I think we’ve discovered RFK’s secret sock-puppet account.

I’m sorry, M&S, but this is giving “He should be calmer now he’s had his medication, but don’t give him any pens made from rigid plastic” vibes

I spend a year plotting a mystery novel and then this happens.

Meet the "Japanese snow fairy" (shima enaga), a subspecies of long-tailed tit native to Hokkaido. It's no wonder Japanese anime characters look like they do, when actual Japanese wildlife looks like this:

This is one post where you *should* read the comments!

I found a 19th century Cat Villain!

Semolina pudding Man Bites Dog Fairytale of New York

Look, if Patrick O'Brian could make the War of 1812 last about six years from the point of view of Aubrey and Maturin, I think we can cut Goscinny and Uderzo a bit of slack.

On a visit to Bodnant Gardens in Wales recently I noticed several swallows flying to and from nests in the eaves. I used the rapid shooting burst mode on my Canon R7 to get a dozen or so photos and then stacked and merged them in Adobe Lightroom to get a composite showing the birds' flight paths.

I have watched this short video and I endorse this recommendation. Five minutes well spent.

Jenrick complains that there are immigration judges (presumably he means the part-time ones) who spend the rest of their time representing immigrants. Wait until someone tells him about Recorders (part-time Crown Court judges) who spend the rest of their time defending the accused.

I did not know that there was such a thing as the Inverse Traveling Salesman Problem but here we are.

GNU Jilly Cooper. Jilly and dad were friends and the only person I’ve known to call him ‘Tel’. Hope they’re both having a big drink somewhere.

For fans of writer Lois McMaster Bujold, 'shunned by Palantir as disreputable' has strong echoes of 'cashiered from the Barrayaran military for brutality'.

Back in the days of USENET and sci.military.naval we used to have the 'BB Loon', the sort of person who would post a long half-baked screed about how what the US Navy needed was BATTLESHIPS WITH MODERN TECH. I don't think anyone envisaged POTUS being one.

"Siri, show me a picture of Little Boy and Fat Man."

Hegseth comes across as one of those worryingly weird kids who got hold of "genuine SAS-issue" kit to wear to Army Cadets and would gleefully recount gruesome extracts from their collection of Sven Hassel books.

Paging @ansiblemag.bsky.social - a belated entry for the in memoriam list?

Private Eye is going to have to come up with a lot of little speech bubbles for its cover next week.

And this is the point when as someone who ran a dial up ISP in the mid-1990s, I turn to @marypcbuk.bsky.social and say "That's a US Robotics modem negotiating down from V.90 on a pretty shitty line... Probably to a bank of analog modems rather than an Ascend..."

They call this the All Terrain Telescopic Platform and even abbreviate it to ATTP and yet they don't get someone in Imperial Stormtrooper armour to model it? www.henchman.co.uk/products/all...

Age yourself with a movie you saw in theatres as a kid"

The British attitude to ID cards should not be underestimated.

I can’t say I give much credence to reports of Bluesky tagging posts as suspicious. Anyway, time to have a cream tea - jam first on the scone of course, then cream. ⓘ 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪-𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺.