Two happy stories from today's Guardian. 2/2 www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Two happy stories from today's Guardian. 1/2 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

One way to check whether an image is AI generated is to count the number of fingers, or note the awkward posture (or indeed number) of legs. Another method is to check spelling. Such as in this example, where AI has added a superfluous O in COUNT. Nigel Farage - The Count of Dodgy Crypto. (Rpt)

No, the spelling mistake was not a deliberate attempt to get around filters! I'll try again in a moment, correct letter this time!

Sometimes my spelling absolutely stuncks.

Would you believe it? It's day 152 already. First day of meteorological summer.

Stolen from over on the tumblr...

Yuri Gagarin and Alexei Leonov

Yeah… I don’t want to tell anyone how to do their job, but what the hell happened to automotive designers?! Giant touch screens. Idiotic door handles. Digital “mirrors”…. These are features for toys, not a $50,000 vehicle your life depends on

And as I mentioned last week, David Bradley also made a hilarious Trinculo in the RSC's 1993 The Tempest, directed by Sam Mendes. Great all rounder. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

📣 GOOOOOD MOOORNING WARWICKSHIRE 📣

I am genuinely getting quite concerned about the possibility of a Reform UK government come late 2029, though I still believe that they will fall short of a majority & other parties will bury their differences to keep the dickhead far right out.

Well I had zero intention of adopting a new dog right now a month before moving to Minnesota, but life had “just one more thing” for me, so uhhh … everybody, meet Columbo.

Damn Yankees are so good at this sort of thing.

This afternoon I have been mostly removing dead branches from a tree, one hand gloved, one hand armed with a wicked saw, looking like some nightmare Michael Jackson tribute act. Now? Cooling down in the shade.

Best reason to go off the record.

🎵Good Morning Good Morning We've talked the whole night through Good Morning Good Morning to you🎶

One for the rocket fans out there

Another year, another couple of hours spent sorting out the car insurance. My premium is pretty low anyway, so an increase of £60 is huge in terms of percentage. However, 30 mins on chat reduced it by £71, so now I'm paying even less. The insurance market is a Turkish market.🤣

National Grid site estimates power will be back by 11am i.e. 2.5 hrs after cut. It's often back on in much less. A lot of contingency is factored in. In fact, by the time I've finished typing ... this on ... my mobile ... it will ... prob ... a ... bly ... ... be ... ... ... ... Nope. Not there yet.

Power's off. Welcome to the New Dark Ages.

Ah, that's. better.

Spotted Simon Callow in the audience yesterday, a few seats away. Followed me out of The Swan too - waving an air-baton, & humming a tune that could have been Placebo or Bach.

Report ‘phone hack’ to police or I will do it for you, Labour chair tells Farage | Nigel Farage | The Guardian share.google/gzTIDSyOcF0j...

The morning after.

The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui RSC @ The Swan, Stratford-upon-Avon. It's a gold plated 5⭐️ from me. By turns funny, terrifying, & moving. Mark Gatiss is the lead in a brilliant cast. Not got a ticket? Too bad. Sold out, I hear. But surely it deserves a West End transfer?

Old champagne socialist, Tony Blair, unhappy that his speaking engagements, consultancy and multi-million pound property portfolio is not amassing as much wealth as it used to. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

UK breaks record for most people moaning about the weather for third day running.

Current status: Town (Stratford-upon-Avon) is blisteringly hot.

Skymagic: "an unforeseen change in the radio frequency environment occurring after take-off." (Translation: "Someone f***** up") Skymagic: "[triggering some drones] to enact failsafe landing procedures" (Trans: "crash") www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

All things considered, I had a reasonable night's sleep.

White heat.

Under the right lighting, I see a lunar owl in this area of the Moon. Its eyes are formed by the craters Agrippa and Godin. It's beak is crater Godin A. Its ear tufts and gesturing left wing is formed from the surrounding ridges and mountains. Who, who else sees it? #astrophotography

No mad dogs but one Englishman has just taken a short 3.8km (2.4 miles) circular stroll in the midday sun. The young trees in the new* expanse of The Heart of England Forest are doing well. (*New? At least 5 years old now.)

Week 22. Brace yourselves.

🎶And the public wants what the public gets But I don't get what this society wants I'm going underground (going underground)🎵 - The Jam, Going Underground (1980) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Small boats sailing all the way up the Thames to Fulham now. What will Farage have to say about that?

Breaking: UK hotter than Reykjavik, Murmansk, & Svalbard.

Should be in the dictionary under quackery and fraud:

I'm glad The Tempest is sold out - good for the RSC & good for Stratford-upon-Avon - although I wasn't overly impressed with the production 👇🏻 a solid 3⭐️ But what do I know? Let's see what the professional critics think next week.

Yes, and I'm still tidying up the spare room. Honestly, what a mess. Bottles everywhere. And he's left a pair of dirty socks. >>> King appears as surprise guest at sold-out Shakespeare play. Stratford-upon-Avon www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Better do some gardening before it gets tooooo hot. Then it's mankini, hat, & piña coladas in the shade of a tree. And I hope the regular traders, attractions, hosts, cafes, & eateries of Stratford-upon-Avon make an absolute killing this long sunny holiday weekend. 🌞⛱️🍦

🎵Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo Here comes the sun And I say, "It's all right"🎶

Oh dear. Someone's not being paying much attention this week. 2/7 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

That's better. Although we're now going to transition straight from dull & colder than average, to hot and keep the curtains drawn all day warmer than average again, aren't we?

Happy International Tea Day! It's always tea time. Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland ⏰📚💙 #teaday #today #onthisday #LewisCarroll #tea #Carroll #Wonderland

The dog of Pompeii

Gawd, I felt so hot last night. Time to switch to the summer duvet, and fill up the old tin tub for my annual bath.

I'm calling this shade Consumptive Grey.