“You know. The sort of question like, ‘If hippos are ninety-eight per cent muscle and let their babies teeth by chewing on crocodiles, why are we not living in submission to our hippo overlords?’ Where the answer is . . . well, I’m not sure, but it probably involves opposable thumbs.” #writing

Proofreading is next to godliness

Somehow I missed Parov Stelar's Electro-Swing song Black Lilies interval act during this year's Eurovision Grand Finale (maybe zipped through it) but it's better than anything else at Eurovision this year except maybe Bangaranga! More swing house plz Europe. youtu.be/ppCyj5DxO8s?...

Okay, following Charles de Lint's decision to use AI art for his latest book cover, here's my very brief thread on how to get a decent cover for very, very little without AI. 1/

PSA.

Hi. We're in the Age of Diarrhea. I'm a global health expert on helping children survive diarrhea. Here's what to do if you might have picked up cyclospora. 🧵 1. Call your primary care if possible. 2. Take oral rehydration therapy, which isn't just drinking fluids. 1/

My latest @newscientist.com cartoon

okay I am home after spending a week with my parents helping my dad recover from open-heart surgery (he's improving, and everything is good!) So I wanna talk a quick bit about Sprigs & Kindling and our ennie nominations. :)

"They’re almost certainly up to something, Mistress, but without further evidence it’s probably best to leave them be and report it to cover your own back." "And in case something goes wrong!" "Oh, absolutely. We should certainly avoid future chaos, havoc, carnage and premature burials." #writing

A few days before Christmas 2016, a grey Land Rover paused in front of a bank of mirrored windows at this checkpoint on the border between France and Switzerland. What happened next revealed just how looted art worms its way into museums. A 🧵 about my article: hyperallergic.com/why-do-so-ma...

A roc was requested over on my last Instagram post so here’s the start

My flat windows overlook a small square which backs onto a local pub. For various noise-related reasons, I deduce that England may have just got through to the semi-finals of the World Cup.

If Jared Kushner paid €110m to buy an island in Albania that has no fresh water from a guy who did not own it, it would help explain why his negotiations with Iran on behalf of the US have not been entirely successful

The you-need-to-have-hobbies-to-support-your-wellbeing posting will continue until morale improves (Shoutout @anaviuppal.bsky.social via @astrobites.bsky.social) astrobites.org/2026/07/10/c...

People should be able to tell the difference between "Good Books" and "Fun Reads". There are many books that are objectively NOT Good Books, but they're Fun Reads, and there are many books that are NOT Fun Reads, but are very Good Books They're not mutually exclusive, but they're different criteria

RIP Bonnie Tyler. And RIP Tandi Iman Dupree. This remains the best stage entrance by a drag queen of all time, even some 25 years later, and the best use of Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero” ever. youtu.be/IHQA5vqn6rw?...

Rounding up some translations of Count Binface that have been appearing in foreign press 🇷🇴 Romanian: Contele Tomberonez 🇫🇷 French: Comte Tête-de-Poubelle (bin-head, more accurate than bin-face) 🇮🇹 Italian: Conte Faccia-da-Bidone 🇪🇸 Spanish: "un hombre con un cubo de basura en la cabeza" (!) Cont...

In a Telegraph video podcast, former Reform MP and now leader of Restore Rupert Lowe described himself as a “pureblood” because he refused the Covid vaccine and claimed horse de-wormer Ivermectin was “just as effective” as the vaccine.

I find the story of Hegelochus unreasonably funny. Imagine dying and the only trace of you millennia later is the time you accidentally said you saw a weasel in a tragic play in front of a packed audience, because people mocked you about it for centuries. (Thread for ease)

She’d been tromping around without any attempt to hide her approach, reasoning that she wasn’t out here to *discover* criminals, but just to stop them from committing crimes, and having them run away on hearing her coming would do the job perfectly well. #writing

The girls were in a constant turbulent froth of excitement, always finding some new pursuit. Brewing chloroform in the chemistry lab, starting a school-wide poker tournament, attempting to distil absinthe, providing agony aunt confessions to popular women’s magazines, and so on. #writing

Can you believe it's just oil paint on flat panels? Almost miraculous. Annunciation as trompe l'oeil sculpture by Jan van Eyck, d. OTD 1441.

Small pleasures: M&S having my favourite type of apple (Envy) back in stock.

Depending on which database you go to regarding THE BATMAN CHRONICLES #5, the name "Kim Yale" is either not mentioned or at the bottom of the list. Kim Yale's work and perspective were integral to the reemergence of Barbara Gordon as the most heroic form of herself, an inspiration for many...

A heatwave cartoon for @newscientist.com

Damn.

“I knew it!” C slammed her hand on the table. “I knew that survey in *Professional Hoarders* was lying! I don’t have any sort of mental disorder! It’s just natural protective instincts and efficient librarianship.” #writing

Just learned about this museum the other day en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennigal...

Oh, I like this one! Forget “The last saved pic on your phone is your personality” memes Show us your fridge magnets!

New joy unlocked: reading about Count Binface - Graf Mülltonnengesicht, comte Face de Poubelle, il conte Binface etc etc - in European papers.

Sew it goes! It's a crafty DORK TOWER WEDNESDAY! New strip up at the Mothership now! www.dorktower.com/2026/07/07/2... Repost/Reblog/Repeat, please and thank you!

A Brit in the semis of Wimbledon, England still in the World Cup and Nigel Farage spending the summer arguing with a bin. Oh this happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea

Unfortunately, a stunned Paris is how they all got into this whole mess to begin with

Worth noting: 8 out of 11 members of the Women and Equalities Select Committee have signed the motion to reject the EHRC guidance and fix it.

A TANITH LEE book bundle? UM YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU www.humblebundle.com/books/tanith...

Tell me again how the whole Binface thing isn't going to stick to him like glue throughout this by-election and beyond. It's exactly the kind of silly season summer nonsense the mainstream media like. There's no way Farage had "Binface gets interviewed on Radio 4" down on his hopes for today.

I have been doing entirely too much earnest posting about deep things recently, I need to do a proper thread about hippo testicles or something just to keep myself sane. Oh by the way hippos have migratory testicles.

The tanner sighed. Alchemists and armorers got all the fun bits. Yet when someone wanted magical leather, they came to her. She stared at the red dragon in its cage and held out the bucket. "C'mon, lass. You've drunk half a mill pond. I know you must be ready to explode. Work with me here."

Official trailer for "Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender" animated movie. Premieres July 25 on Paramount+. >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b20...

it's not actually an honor to end up on the cover of Viziers Monthly. it shows your machinations aren't subtle enough

One of the fun things about running Bits & Mortar is encountering retailers who can't believe that it's free and based on taking the risk of actually trusting each other to be looking out for each other but... yep. That's really how it works.

Late afternoon light slanted through the windows and softened the edges and the weatherbeaten scars of the staff room, turning it from a desperate last fortification against the cruel world outside into a soft haven of peace, repose, and chocolate Hobnobs. #writing

THIS ONE IS MY FAVOURITE

My latest books cartoon for @theguardian.com #heatwave

"I am always ready with counsel and helpful advice." "Very biased advice," Phil couldn’t help saying. "Bias? Pfeh. Every sapient being is biased. Ask an angel. They’re biased. Ask a human. They’re biased. Why should I be restricted from this universal law?" #writing

MY favorite Knights of Malta fact is that you have to live there to be the head and you can’t hold any other Vatican post, which is why Pope Francis “promoting” his #1 hater Cardinal Raymond Burke to that role was, effectively, exiling him to Malta for the rest of his career