It's another cold one on the Roker Riviera.

In a pretty dark world, this is one story that keeps on giving joy and hilarity 😬 www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

And how many people were there to see it?

And she retired at the age of 26! Made three films before retirement. James Stewart was 46 when they made the film.

Made in 1954. In colour. A Hitchcock master piece. My daughter has just asked why Grace Kelly was wearing a fishnet type hat? It was of the day. But she was stunning. Trying to think of where she ranked among 1950s superstars? She would have been 96 now!

Rear Window is on BBC4. One of the best films I have seen. James Stewart and Grace Kelly work so well together.

The snow always makes things look nicer, it's just we don't get much of it these days.

The Wolf Moon rising over a snowy Roker Riviera.

How Spursy.

Sledge fun at Whitburn CC. I would bowl first in these conditions.

We are as close to the Sun as we will be this year at 5pm today - 91.4 million miles away - making for a very slightly shorter winter and earlier Spring this year (The Times) www.thetimes.com/comment/regi...

Bowl first.

Reporter: Any New Year's resolution? Trump: "Peace on earth" www.youtube.com/watch?v=lljm...

We have snow on the Roker Riviera. Kids are excited. Can't get vexed. We rarely get snow here.

Perfect

There's only Sunderland and leaders Arsenal who are unbeaten at home this season in the PL That's some stat.

I learned from my mate Paul today that Eve Marie Saint is still with us ... aged 101 and that's a bit of #goodnews so here's Lloyd Cole youtu.be/gSc46sEZdl4?...

We are now closer to the year 2050 than 2000.

The fireworks in Sunderland were fantastic tonight. Lots of people enjoying New Year with their families. Well done to those who had the vision to redevelop the city centre and build the new bridge.

The sun is so bright on the Roker Riviera it's turned the port office tower into a lighthouse. It will soon be going down on 2025. All the best for New Year.

Blue sky over the Roker Riviera and the sun has returned after more than a week of greyness. A lovely day for New Year's Eve.

I have just witnessed a conversation like this,in my house tonight,among teenagers. I think they were talking about a film. But I am not totally sure about that.

BBC News - 'Carnage' at the Trafford Centre as car-park gridlocked - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Videos with thousands of shares on social media claim that people’s savings over £5,000 could be redirected into a national debt repayment fund from January 2026. But the Treasury confirmed this isn’t true.

Hull being that niggly, ruining Christmas team, for years. How very Hully. Boro the latest victims of "it's only Hull", as Sunlun were on occasion.

Matthew Potts poised to play in fifth Ashes Test after England rule out Gus Atkinson

Low-scoring Tests are becoming more common: in the 2000s there were only three which reached a decisive result despite neither team reaching 200 (out of 464 matches in total), in the 2010s only one (out of 433). In the 2020s there have been six already - three in 2025 alone.

There have only been 16 decided Tests in which no player reached 50, and eight of those were in the 19th century. The four cases in the 21st are: NZ v India 2002-03 (HS - R Dravid 39) India v SA 2015-16 (M Vijay 40) WI v Aus 2025 (SPD Smith 48) Aus v Eng 2025-26 (TM Head 46)

London Underground

Wowzers. England have won. There goes my five nil.

Apparently two day Tests are back. Someone once said a short game's a good game. Of course it's the fault of the County Championship, which most of them go nowhere near. Obviously. I look forward to the next in-depth review.

Apparently county cricket’s historic tendency to produce experienced 135kph bowlers attuned to seaming pitches is no preparation for Test cricket. 🤷‍♂️

He stayed at my dad's house in 1990.

Just introduced the kids to When Harry Met Sally. Still one of the best films I've seen. They loved it. A timeless classic. Time for bed.

Happy Christmas from the girls. We have had 11 of us on the Roker Riviera today for dinner. Now time to watch something on TV. Hope you have had a good day too?

RIP John Robertson. One of most striking example of a player & manager transforming each other: he was not a first team regular in the second division for Forest when Clough arrived yet became central to winning promotion, the league title and two European Cups! www.theguardian.com/football/202...

i post this story every christmas, and will keep doing so until it stops making me cry merry christmas xx

And just like that, Abigail's 18. She's an absolute star.

Tomorrow we have an 18 year old. What a lovely daughter she is. Been my sporting buddy for years. Inflicted SAFC on her. Never saw them win for a year. And then my official scorer during T20 and ODC commentaries, after Michael and @ashthorpe25.bsky.social trained her up. Might cry tomorrow. Pollen!

It's time to relive this fabulous album. Now 22 years since it's release. Bloody fabulous. open.spotify.com/album/5oJiqb...

I can't get animated about cricketers having a few drinks during days off on a long tour like this.

Just discovered that we invented Eggnog. I'm disgusted in this nation.

Statistically, this is actually the least bad of the six times this century that England have gone 3-0 down in Australia after three Tests. Aus have "only" scored 1.44 times as many runs per wicket - the figures for the others were: 2002-03 2.41 2006-07 1.85 2013-14 2.05 2017-18 1.79 2021-22 1.94

Donna and Blitzen is the Sleigh Ride song. A beautiful tune from a very gifted performer.

Fantastic night at the Firestation in Sunderland for the 25th anniversary tour of Badly Drawn Boy's The Hour of Bewilderbeast. The soundtrack to me and Ju meeting all those years ago and moving in together. Damon finished with Sleigh Ride and prior to that tributes to Mani and Chris Rea! Fantastic.

Sad news. Chris Rea has died at the age of 74. What a voice. Look up the Gone Fishing Christmas Special on Iplayer from two or three years ago. He was their guest. It's a great episode.

Arrogant England’s cricket machine collapses like a castle of dust in 11 days | Barney Ronay

Pat Cummins has now taken 151 Test match wickets as skipper of Australia. He is some way behind Imran Khan of Pakistan who took 187 Test match wickets whilst skippering the side. Neither can be accused of not leading from the front. #engvaus #cricketcounts

Is it the County Championship's fault yet? During the last commentary of the year a listener asked us what we thought would happen in Oz. I predicted an Australian series win. Had no reason to believe the hype around England. I didn't expect it to be over in 10 days though! Who do they blame now?

They are playing the ice skating piano tune from Charlie Brown on BBC Radio 6 Music. A lovely tune. I absolutely loved Peanuts as a kid and had most of the books.