Hey BBC News maybe learn a lesson from your Spanish-language office. BBC Mundo: A Federal agent shoots dead a person in the middle of protests against immigration raids

Today in foods the British mind cannot comprehend we have tinned squid in "American sauce" (kind of an oily tomato sauce). Slow cooked with selected ingredients it says.

Well that was excellent, Baiuca bringing the energy of a Galician street party to London. Incredible vocals and percussion and a room full of very happy people.

these logarithms are the natural ones?

Jesus my brain sometimes. It only just occurred to me that they called it Roomba as a pun on Rumba, because I was confused that a Spanish band were singing about their vacuum cleaner.

but why is speaking English good though?

¡Hostia que buena! Acabo de escuchar las dos primeras canciones pero estoy flipando So good. Just listened to the first two songs but this is fantastic.

Jan 18: D[NOWHERE]J - Iyaphila (2025) More gqom cry the people! Steel-hard beats with menacing sci-fi drones and keyboards, like a gqom take on the militarised drum’n’bass Ed Rush et al used to do. Weirder touches, like a woozy horn riff, poke through the general onslaught. Exhilarating!

"I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace."

the perils of disco

Post a car picture you took

We sat down to plan a holiday to Andalusia and somehow ended up booking a place on the Costa Brava again. One day we'll actually go to the south of Spain like we keep saying we should but that day has not yet come.

This is my current working list for 2001 noms. Decided against Stars Of The Lid in the end because no one who doesn't like it already wants to listen to 2.5 hours of nothing much. Still loads to listen to and a few might slip off if it starts getting too long.

They understood that the national "deficit" is not something to be afraid of

im so sorry.. that anchor is fighting for his liiiifeeeee

I mean, sure, Spotify is particularly evil but even Tidal are only paying 10 cents per year for half these songs so that hardly solves the problem. Any platform paying a flat rate per stream is bad for smaller artists.

Audi makes the best car interiors

Jan 12: STATE OFFF - Hard Currency (2025) This was excellent - I remember gqom as being really broody, oppressive music and this still is but it‘s hard and exciting as well, there are even hooks at times!

It's even worse: UK and European far right parties want to do this to people who have all the documents and followed all the rules to get the right to remain. The only reason this hasn't happened is the ideological commitment to austerity prevents them spending money on it.

But also Post a pic of the venue and artist for the next concert you're going to

Post a pic of the venue where you saw your first concert and a picture of the band or artist The sheer glamour of it

Going to whsmith's to read the magazines

Love to be in the UK at this time of year

I think they should put a computer inside a mouse next

Ok what else have I missed? For electronic (ish) music so far I've listened to Björk, Basement Jaxx, Gotan Project, Techno Animal, Stereo Total, Bebel Gilberto, Four Tet, Ladytron, Paul Oakenfold, Faithless, The Knife, Roots Manuva, Venetian Snares, Fennesz, Air, The Orb, Squarepusher and Loscil.

English needs different words for "spicy" and "spicy hot" (like especiado and picante in Spanish). They're two different things and people are always using the same word for both.

E's are good E's are good He's Ebeneezer Goode

Because there are barely any strong female characters, it reinforces ideas about inherited greatness and glorifies an imagined utopian pastoral past. (I mean, it's not that I don't like LoTR but it's obv a product of its time)

Sustained by its monopoly over the global reserve currency, which it uses to enforce ideology

Extremely annoying to find that I've got a couple of albums in my library that I bought from Apple back in the day with DRM on (m4p files) and now it won't let me convert them to anything else and can't play them outside Apple Music. Anyone know a safe way to convert them?

Bombing Venezuela while coordinating a genocide in Palestine while threatening to attack Iran (again) while destabillizing Somalia while carrying out a heist in the DRC... US imperialism is the greatest threat to peace and security in our world today and it's not even close.

Just checking in on what actual progressive politicians are saying ... "Our firm condemnation of this imperial aggression towards Venezuela"

"Maduro is a brutal authoritarian dictator," I wisely intone, as the corrupt demented paedophile US President violating Constitutional Law while operating a gestapo and concentration camps illegally arrests a foreign leader on charges which read like they were written on a paper placemat in crayon.

I'd guess this is not particularly about oil and more about Venezuela's creditors getting their $$$. Expect a big loan to the new regime that is immediately spent on paying US finance guys. But I mean who knows what's really going on.

Did the new year countdown with Barcelona so we could get to bed an hour early. Got through the 12 grapes without choking so that's a win. Happy New Year everyone.

There's really only one choice here Residente - This Is Not America

Not the best photo but South London doing us proud this evening

#2025FavSingles (that are not nec singles) Lido Pimienta - Aún Te Quiero [I Still Love You] Just included this as one of my top 5 albums of the year so I better post one of the songs here too. No idea on genre - sparse classical instrumentation and traditional melodies but v modern production.

Was walking past St George's Cathedral (near Waterloo) and a couple of ladies stopped me to ask if I knew where St George's Cathedral was. I said "it's behind you" and pointed at the massive cathedral they were standing next to.

Meanwhile on Amazon Spain, apparently what is often bought together with a beach towel is, erm ... 😬

Was just thinking how ridiculously strong Rosalía's run of albums up to now has been. Each in its own particular style and each better than the last.

#2025FavSingles (that are not nec singles) clipping. - Run It A #TheTwen2ie5 discovery that was even better than the one I picked

Man so many perfect albums huh, almost makes you think the prompt wasn't much of a challenge in the first place

No idea what the general view is but watched The Ballad of Wallis Island last night and would recommend even if it doesn't seem like your kind of thing. (Some throwaway lines about the value of "real" music notwithstanding)

#2025FavSingles (that are not nec singles) Rico Nasty - TEETHSUCKER (YEA3X) An all-caps title for a very much all-caps song

OMG. Just read to the end of the first paragraph ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_T%C3%A9n%C3%A9r%C3%A9

#2025FavSingles (that are not nec singles) Nick León & Ela Minus - Ghost Orchid From one of the standout albums this year

The good thing about this project is listening to stuff I'd totally forgotten about to figure out the genre tags. Tonight's rediscovery is Folksploitation by Broadcaster (2012). Beautiful electronic/pop/folk album.

#2025FavSingles (that are not nec singles) Bit of a shame we don't get this in #PeoplesPop25 but she had a pretty strong turn out last year anyway I guess. Doechii - Nosebleeds

#2025FavSingles (that are not nec singles) Almost forgot I still have to post one of these today. Happy Christmas. Sofia Kourtesis - Canela Pura [Pure cinnamon]