"To be silent the whole day long, see no newspaper, hear no radio, listen to no gossip, be thoroughly and completely lazy, thoroughly and completely indifferent to the fate of the world is the finest medicine a man can give himself. " Henry Miller

The Count of Monte Cristo - the 1975 TVM with (of all people) Richard Chamberlain. The cast is astonishing, the locations are beautiful, the script is reminiscent of Dogtanian but somehow works anyway.

Yule Cat, or Jólakötturinn, by Star Williams.

Advent calendar day 7.

From far, from eve and morning And yon twelve-winded sky, The stuff of life to knit me Blew hither: here am I. Now—for a breath I tarry Nor yet disperse apart— Take my hand quick and tell me, What have you in your heart. 1/2

Unbelievably there seem to be movies in which Jason Statham plays a trans porter.

What Trump doesn't know is that it's made entirely out of his own congealed urine. A piss prize, in fact.

Advent calendar day 6.

It's looking at me IT'S LOOKING AT ME

My brain is adamant that Nastassja Kinski was in the TV series Fame. As far as I can tell from the infallible oracle, Wikipedia yclept, she never was. So either my brain is messing me around (again), or I have somehow slipped into the wrong timeline (again).

Happy Krampusnacht to all those celebrating...

You know what, fuck the racists.

Advent calendar day 5.

RIP Steve Cropper - Stax legend, MG, co-writer of In the Midnight Hour and many more. A unique and inspirational (and absurdly self-deprecating) guitarist. See you on the other side, Colonel.

Advent calendar day 4.

Good Lord, Starmer actualy said the word Brexit! Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends!

Advent calendar day 3.

Spot Alan Moore in his 6th form Northampton Grammar School photo, taken two days before he was expelled

Hear me out: a middle-aged man's Advent calendar. Behind each window, instead of a chocolate (or a nice picture of a bell) you find an Ibuprofen.

Advent calendar day 2. (By Max Garcia.)

Advent calendar day 1.

Your Party conference captions seem designed to activate a sleeper assassin. Captions: "Dogs - Put down the Queen’s tail - Antique, real jump - Ridiculous - Join their laughter - The brothers are legal now." Winter Soldier: "Ready to comply."

Plinio Nomellini’s Mare Di Genova, 1891 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinio_...

"I have a cunning plan!"

Paintings of hammerhead sharks from Japan, 1735 CE.

I have definitely known some real life people with unconvincing motivations and dialogue.

There are some podcasts that really deserve support by way of a donation, if you can. I'm listening to season 1 of Alex Andreou's Podyssey again (directors cuts! bonus episodes!!) and the second listen may well not be the last. ko-fi.com/podyssey

An old-school sitcom. In a quiet suburban street, a couple are shocked to discover that a family of Daleks has moved in next door. "GOOD MORNING," one of them says, as it trundles off for its morning commute. "LOVELY DAY." 'Exterminate Thy Neighbour,' Wednesdays at 7.00 pm.

These posters for the South Korean stage production of Macbeth are the greatest thing ever? #art

Part of a training montage.

Genuinely amazing that Joseph Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness in his _third_ language, which he didn't even learn until his 20s. ... But damn it all, Joseph, you learned everything else about the English language except how much easier text is to read when you break it up into paragraphs.

“You’ll be visited by three spirits.” The three spirits:

"But when will we have WHITE Friday?!"

Hear me out: Columbo moves to Internal Affairs and investigates Harry Callahan.

Two come to mind. Being told, of an early short story, that my writing reminded someone of Ray Bradbury. And being told, after playing Lilith's Blues at a gig, that my guitar playing reminded someone of Marc Ribot. youtu.be/0W13FANNQxk?...

Why Aye, Claudius (AKA Auf Wiedersehen, Caesar)

Conan the King. It could still be done, if Arnie is up for it.

I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture. They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1

Man Who Thought Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ Was Over In For Thrill Of His Fucking Life https://theonion.com/man-who-thought-fleetwood-macs-the-chain-was-over-in-for-thrill-of-his-fucking-life/

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like _that_, Charlie Brown - he's gone.

1800-year old ceramic horse. Han Dynasty.

🎶 That's me in the corner... 🎵

Some days are like this.

🎵 My grandma and your grandma Sitting by the fire My grandma says to your grandma "I'm gonna set your flag on fire" Talkin' 'bout, hey now, (hey now) hey now (hey now) Iko iko andey Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn 🎶

Not even vodka...?

I feel like there's a subtle distinction to be drawn between 'challenging orthodoxy' and 'spreading baseless disinformation that will lead to further suffering and death'.

Zelensky is way too sensible to propose the terms he must surely want in his heart. Russia to fuck right off, out of Donbas AND Crimea. Return of all kidnapped Ukrainian children. Massive reparations. Finland to be given St. Petersburg. (The last one is just to wind up Putin.)