They filmed a scene for The Paradise Club outside my office. Blew up a car. Failed to interact with either Don Henderson or Leslie Grantham.

Also: Boris Becker’s manager snuck in front of me and nicked my taxi.

Ordered a taxi for George Melly. He was a grumpy bugger.

Another classic just popped up on Facebook.

Well, happy anniversary to one of the finest of festive exchanges

Was at a Christmas party with a load of clergy last night and as some people were leaving they found a person collapsed on the street outside so the Verger took over and called an ambulance and sent all the clergy away because "if they wake up surrounded by priests that'll just make things worse"

This crossed my path again and I am therefore duty bound to repost it.

I’m reminded of watching two old ladies ask a teenage goth for directions and she politely told them and when she was out of earshot one lady said “You know where you are with a goth”

This is a lovely thread about a brilliant podcast that deserves to be massively successful and - unexpectedly - actually is.

Happy Sausage Swiper Day to all who celebrate!

Well, that was a secret so open that even I knew about it.

Hard to pick favourites from Kirsty, cos there are just so many... But, this one doesn't get chosen by others very often, so let's have it now. 🎶

It is once again that time of year when every Books Dad gets absolutely bodied by Molesworth.

This is an excellent piece of research

Happy Beethoven's birthday to all who celebrate.

doing this to someone should be as difficult and come with as many hoops for the company to jump through and safeguards for the customer as it would be for the bank to lock you out of your house even though you were totally up to date on your mortgage payments. it's that serious.

OK, let's have a thread of ace Christmas carols to get us in the festive spirit. First up, Bethlehem Down, an utterly gorgeous piece made so much better by the knowledge that it was written in order to win a competition that would pay for a massive drinking binge. www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQnu...

Synchronicity

When Rob Reiner was on his all-time epic run at the start of his career, he had an opportunity to read a script that was looking for a production partner, and he lost his mind for it. He decided Castle Rock had to have it, no matter what.

Ahmed al Ahmed, a Lebanese Muslim who owns a Sydney fruit shop, risked his life to disarm one of the Bondi Beach shooters. His courage gives me hope amidst the horror and darkness. Muslims and Jews are not enemies. Our futures, in the Middle East and beyond, are intrinsically bound. A true hero.

I hate how much I enjoyed this BIG NERD DESIGN ENERGY 🫦

One of the best exchanges I’ve ever seen on social media was when Lt. Cmndr Data and Bert the Chimney Sweep got into a rumble over Angela Lansbury.

Today was going generally OK, but then I saw the Animal Farm trailer.

I guess it's fitting that it's a reimagined, worse version of someone else's artwork

Incredibly, the Day Trip to Bangor by Fiddlers Dram wiki page has a 'Controversy' section. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_Tri...

Mort de Martin Parr : God save the kitsch. C'est la une de Libération lundi. Connu dans le monde entier pour son regard ironique et coloré sur la société anglaise, le photographe est mort à 73 ans.

Love this

… I love you I’m glad I exist.

Lars Porsena of Clusium By the Nine Gods he swore That the great house of Tarquin Should suffer wrong no more.

Gonna be really excited to find out who wins next year's FIFA Peace Prize.

Still think this is an excellent blurb.

And yes, I still have a few copies left. www.jonathanpinnock.com/books/mrs-da...

I see some maniac has bought a copy of Mrs Darcy. WOULD HAVE BEEN CHEAPER IF YOU'D BOUGHT IT FROM MY WEBSITE, MATE.

Took the broken lights down today AND put the new ones up, lads. Christmas is officially ON.

Good grief. I remember Raiders was on in exactly the same slot when I spent Xmas at my mother-in-law's in 1984!

Over on FB, was reminded today of one of the all-time great single sleeves, pastiching Deutsche Grammophon. Gorgeous single, too. Rare example of fourth and last single off the album being the best (see also Dare and Don't You Want Me?)

Seen this on FB as well. Bit suspicious, because the only radio play he wrote around that time was Artist Descending a Staircase, which was broadcast in 1972. The book of Jaws came out in 1974, so even if Spielberg had got a pre-pub, it seems a bit of a stretch.

Obviously this is impossible because Alan Moore looks like he's genetically a wizard, it's simply impossible to imagine what he would look like as a schoolboy oh there he is.

Glorious, from a pal on FB

Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

Now playing

There was a time when ANY conversation about writing turned very quickly into a discussion about Fifty Shades of Grey.

Once got asked on BBC local radio if I was jealous of Terry Pratchett because he was so much more successful than I was.

Oh, you wanted a link? Why didn't you say? www.amazon.co.uk/Truth-about-...

Archie and Pye knocking it out of the park once again, seven years on from publication. Who wants socks for Xmas anyway?

The Big Switch-on this afternoon will be lacking in one strand of lights which haven't survived 2025. Still, White Stores are still doing their 40% off, so we'll have everything back up in a day or two.

Now playing. And why not. The world needs big clams.

Checking through the list of Tom Stoppard's works, I've come to the conclusion that I've seen performed are mostly (apart from R&GAD obvs) the ones that no-one's bothered mentioning in their appraisals. Eg: The Real Inspector Hound, Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land, Night and Day and On The Razzle.