The She, The She by Irish Murdoch Narrated by Sean Connery.

“I can summon spirits from the vastly deep” “But will they come when you do call for them?”

Yes! (I’m also finding it hard to track down a Daniel Deffo novel - Robin’s On Cruise - And I think J.G. Bollard‘s stuff must be out of print ….)

I just mistyped into existence the novelist Irish Murdoch. And now I want to read one of his books.

But wouldn’t the stock price rise if he did? www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

This, if you can get into it, is FANTASTIC. City planning by Calvino or Borges. And another instance, as if we need one, that we increasingly live in the derangements of the super-rich. ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...

New York traffic’s going to be a nightmare today with all those refugees...

You couldn’t pay me to have Louis Vuitton luggage*, but I quite like the scaffolding wrap on their current 57th Street remodel. (Pic Andrew Russeth) *You probably could, but I’ll be driving a hard bargain.

Do we know why the people in the Peterborough barber shop waited two hours before calling the police about the knife wielding maniac? Getting a brew on? Finishing a tricky fade?

Went to see Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. Bit surprised to find that the monster is a Yorkshire lad.

Andrew Davies's style is so distinctive that he could adapt The Gulag Archipelago and it would still be 'mischievously sexy'.

Reminded by this of Andrew Davies’ drama The Chatterley Affair, starring Louise Delamere and a young Rafe Spall as jurors who get a bit carried away by their civic duty. Pretty good, as I recall, mischievously sexy, and it’s on iPlayer.

The fireworks snood has been deployed.

I will be using the Don’t Like button about as much as I use the Block button. Which is virtually never. I don’t really want to sit in a sound-proof box of my own opinions.

As we approach All Souls Day when in many countries, people remember their loved ones who have died, the lovely story of a small Yorkshire community who many years ago came together to ensure that everyone could be buried with dignity. The story of the Farndale Hearse. Please enlarge the image.

Moon landing denial. An absolutely infallible Airhead Detector. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Cut to FX: sound of @sarahchurchwell.bsky.social furiously typing. And typing furiously.

I discover that someone has cultivated a satsuma to look like a pumpkin for Halloween sales. This is a sign of the end times isn’t it?

🧵I've posted them before, but here's my thread of horror/kids' TV double-bill cinema posters. Happy Halloween... #halloween #cinema #graphicdesign #poster

Called it…

I’m Spartacus 3.0

I'm not sure but I think I might be the first person in the world to hear "the dog's got into the chicken biriyani and it's on the curtains" being shouted up the stairs while I'm on a teams? x

The Toddler in Chief is going to need to have a little nap after all this excitement....

On tonight's BBC Front Row: Diplomacy as cinematic action thriller: Talking to Norwegian director Tommy Gulliksen about Facing War - his remarkable film about last year of Jens Stoltenberg as NATO Sec Gen. 715pm or link after: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Now, I'm sure I've seen a similar aesthetic somewhere, but somehow kann ich einfach nicht meinen Finger drauflegen.

Just increased my standing order to Wikipedia. www.wired.com/story/elon-m...

Growing evidence that money is a potent psychotropic when taken in very large doses. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

This is how long it takes the coal tits to see me coming out with food. If there hadn't been an alarm call, I'd have had about 10 on my hand at once.

I always carry a barge pole with me, just in case I want to not touch something I don't like with it.

But shall this crazed old man be tamely suffered to drag a whole ship’s company down to doom with him?

You can count the Republicans willing to incur Trump’s displeasure on the fingers of one trembling hand. Rand Paul is one of them.

Do I know any literary agents who would be willing to have a quick chat with a family member of mine about the role of a lit/creative agent?

Very pleased with my new Captain’s mug (bought from @saskiadanielceramics.com). And it reminds me that “handsome” was an approval of feel and utility before it became praise of appearance.

From Salman Rushdie’s latest. About Francisco VII of Spain. And nobody else. Obviously.

It's my last BBC Radio 3 Sound of Cinema tomorrow, and I will be saying a proper goodbye. So tomorrow's show is an argument for the intellectual depth and richness of the film music, and how it should never be treated like wallpaper. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Only watched one episode, but so far Rebecca Miller’s Mr Scorsese on Apple TV is FANTASTIC. Fast forward through the schmoozy, he’s-a-genius prelude and you’re good to go. Amazing archive, complete access to the films, great interviews.

Regime change means redecoration…

What idiot called it ‘Storm Benjamin’ and not ‘It’s Raining Ben’?

I did not know this. Along with 99.999% of the rest of the country I suspect. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Any questions? Your Crisis Room team is standing by to answer queries on the state of the world, UK security, defence, intelligence and all the rest. Email questions for this week’s bonus episode to [email protected] please

Marfa.

Could we go back to the old system of having the months’ rainfall supplied in roughly spaced installments? I don’t like this new arrangement.

My 14-year-old self would never have guessed that, in 50 years' time, all the world's music would be available at the click of a button, you'd navigate the globe by carrying a tiny computer around in your pocket, and the US President would post a video of himself shitting over American citizens.

Prince Andrew reveals his new coat of arms

Donald Trump is going to be really pissed off if he has to give up his royal title.

In honour of a Thursday of silly, unforced errors I begin today’s walk by climbing Great Cockup. “Good views of the Solway Firth” (it says here).

Latest BBC Front Row tonight! Guillermo Del Toro on getting Oscar Isaac to channel some Oliver Reed into Victor Frankenstein. While I lurk in the shadows. Such a wonderful conversation. Such a gorgeous film. R4 715 or link www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Very much enjoyed Sophie Raworth saying “coypu” as if the animal in question is a coy pooh.

No decent society would have this many adverts for online casinos. Parasites.