Day out in Shrewsbury with 2 women and a dog

This Tokyo subway poster warning passengers not to rush onto trains gets updated every year to match the Chinese zodiac. (This year it’s the year of the horse.)

@berniew.bsky.social hey Bernie, glad you saw my post. Even in the UK, we are very excited by transit announcers, and of course by Mamdani’s success.

"President Trump has just mounted an attack on the capital of Venezuela and kidnapped Maduro from there." "Caracas?" "More like criminally insane."

A reminder that the application for becoming a KS2 SATs Marker is now open. Full details here: www.gov.uk/guidance/key...

Any EDEXCEL markers? Normally I get a contract offer over Christmas for the Summer (have marked a number of years now and TL) but haven't had one. Has anyone had theirs?

Hint: he is rich

Halfway through the final of #ChristmasUniversityChallenge and it’s gripping. Will @pjtheeconomist.bsky.social triumph??!

At least we don’t live in a world of staggering class disparity in which a tech magnate attempts to quash left-wing sentiment using sexualized artificial intelligence!

Severe Weather Emergency Protocol activated in London ❄️ The temperature is due to drop below freezing tonight, and emergency accommodation is open across the capital for those sleeping rough. If you are sleeping rough or know someone who is, connect to support via StreetLink thestreetlink.org.uk

it's disgusting how clearly John Lewis are ripping off Iittala's Kastehelmi glassware with their AVA range

July 2025: RATP, who run public transport in Paris, asked cleaners to remove any water bottles they found in staff areas. Why? To stop Muslim staff from cleaning themselves before prayers. Rampant Islamophobia in France, like in many other countries, including UK. www.humanite.fr/social-et-ec...

That's America to me.

@sanders.senate.gov and Jane Sanders at the Mamdani inauguration. Sadly, Bernie's mittens were a little boring this time lol.

For culture fans of a certain age, who remember the ITV soap "Night and Day" (theme tune "Always and Forever" sung by Kylie), there was a special episode where a mysterious Inspector (Clarke Peters) arrived and stopped time, and interviewed everyone about Jane Harper's disappearance 1/2

It's Steve Reed, the Environment Secretary, asking a farmer who's explained the maths to him "are you sure?" OF COURSE HE'S SURE! *He* understands his business. Why are *you*, the minister responsible, only now learning how it works? thecritic.co.uk/reaping-a-bi...

Two exciting announcer announcements that gladden the heart for 2026: 1) At Mamdani's above-ground inauguration, the announcer was Bernie Wagenblast (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_...) who does the MTA subway announcements in New York bsky.app/profile/kend...

Good to see Amol Rajan following Paxo's example by dressing up for a split second cutaway shot in Christmas #UniversityChallenge tonight

First thoughts on #TheNightManager Season 2 No no no what nonsense. It's like the writer thought "what was good about season 1? people staying in posh hotels abroad. we must have at least 3 different hotels in every episode" Plus the whole thing of the Night Owls just POPPING OVER to Spain with guns

a politician able to use proper words and reasonably complex sentences instead of sounding like GenAI trying to communicate with primary school children

Anyway, before a #ChristmasUniversityChallenge that DOESN'T feature @pjtheeconomist.bsky.social I will be catching up with Casio extra-curricular tasks (did I mention they flew me to Tokyo last August etc) and of course 2026 is the year that all your calculator wishes come true ... watch this space!

Motherland Christmas Specials (so much better than the Amandaland one) 2020: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... 2022: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

2025: exit via the gift shop

The Telegraph tries to use the word "after" twice. Chronologically following, yes, as a direct result of, no. Instead, it's because he sent harassing emails to the National Trust's Director General, Hilary Grady, who's from NI, saying she was an "Oirish Dame with a crappy not-for-purpose webshite"

All the police officers in the North-east of England who were sacked this year, and why, and their feeble excuses for their illegal conduct. www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-e... "I think my drink was spiked"

2026 = 2 ^ 11 - 2 * 11

Controversial opinion: Using X is totally fine. It's a personal decision what platforms you choose to engage with, and though it's a good idea to be informed about the impact of your tech use, if you personally think it's ok/necessary, then that's fine.

Happy 2026! Here's when 2026 starts around the world! It's that time of year again, and we can play the 2026 NCTM Year Game in our January lessons. Use the digits in the year 2025 and the operations +, −, x, ÷, sqrt (square root), ^ (raise to a power), ! (factorial), along with grouping symbols to…

One of the joys of 2025 has been a subscription to the New Yorker, which is 100 years old. At Christmas they did a guide on how to find alcohol and how much it should cost under Prohibition. Raise a glass to our forebears of 100 years ago and Happy New Year!

On Christmas University Challenge tonight, UCL, featuring the more intelligent of the Truss twins, Lynne And Keble Oxford, with everyone’s favourite economist @pjtheeconomist.bsky.social But will he win? And post on Bluesky about it??

Just watching “The Final Countdown“ on TOTP2, and taking umbrage with Europe’s lyrics claiming that they have light years to travel to Venus

reminds me of this old video

Doing pretty well after 17 years on Twitter. This doesn’t include the tens of thousands of accounts that I blocked that were later removed.

HA HA HAAAAA "A former judge, speaking off the record, told The Telegraph the Home Secretary had the power to deport Mr Fatah." @davidallengreen.bsky.social

#PrimroseHill #Tinfoil

In anticipation of everyone jumping on the “wow 2026 maths facts” bandwagon, here’s mine: 2026 = 2025 + 1

By "pro-migrant activist" the Telegraph just means "someone who doesn't want to burn down their hotels" No, to be fair, in April 2023, Ali Harris shared a social media post by the Runnymede Trust that compared Suella Braverman’s plan to curb illegal migration to the politics of Enoch Powell.

The second of our three back to back seasonal soirées. It’s like in the Rocking around the Christmas tree video by Mel Smith and Kim Wilde, when nobody turns up until 11 o’clock. Plenty of pumpkin pie left! lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/ar0/13ad...

Half Man Half Biscuit

"To my knowledge, no voluntary observations of professors and conversations about teaching have occurred in the Graduate School of Education since 1986-1988." #Education larrycuban.wordpress.com/2025/12/09/o...

New! My 194th gems post. Ideas, resources and updates for maths teachers. 💎 www.resourceaholic.com/2025/12/5-ma... Hat tips to follow. #mathstoday #ukmathschat #alevelmaths

Today is officially “Make the Playmobil figures you bought at the Rijksmuseum“ Day

Three TERRIBLE people ask an agony aunt for advice. She GIVES IT. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/s...

LET ME DRAW YOU www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/s...

I hate to tell you, millennials, but you are officially past it. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/o...

Given how lucrative menopause merchandising has been for Boots (menopausefriendly.co.uk/becoming-men...) and others, I'm surprised there aren't more people like Robin Ince trying to monetise neurodiversity "products".

I would argue, "yes". Hadley Freeman wants someone else to look after her family.

Even 1,000,000 x 0.29p = £3000, so that's at least £6k if it is "millions" How much do they want? www.thetimes.com/culture/musi...