Just now, the last of the evening light, deep blue sky, a buttery crescent moon through the trees and a tawny owl swoops past the kitchen window. Suburban delights!

Godspeed to Danny Thompson. He added so much grace, beauty and guile to so many outstanding pieces of music (you could live a pretty nourishing musical life listening solely to the records he contributed to.) And an unfailingly entertaining and soulful conversationalist. One of the greats 💛

Call me trivial but one thing I liked about being in Marseilles is that the French emergency services vehicles haven’t adopted the modern American whoop whoop siren. Sitting at a cafe on a busy street and you’re in a 1970s French film.

Bits of Marseilles. Never been before, will go again.

This is apparently a street in Amsterdam called Lomanstraat.

My absolute favourite thing about Melvyn Bragg is his singular attitude of No Mucking About. Literally every episode starts like “HELLO IN 1492 COLUMBUS SAILED THE OCEAN BLUE WITH ME ARE TWO EXPERTS OK TELL ME RIGHT NOW WHERE THE FUCK IS GENOA?”

Two Guardian articles for the price of one. How We Do It, Can Wheelbarrows Suffer?

Before Dylan's cry of "play fucking loud" was Buddy Holly's speed metal howl. On January 26, 1958, Holly and the Crickets made their second Ed Sullivan appearance. Sullivan ordered the group to replace upbeat rocker Oh Boy with a slow ballad. This was their response youtu.be/TtIOy9WcxU0?...

I hope this place doesn’t end up like the other place. (Maybe it’s inevitable?) People shouldn’t have to put up with this shit. Play nicely, and if you can’t, make sure you know of what you type.

David Byrne came to my band’s show at a gay bar in Bed-Stuy and sang This Must Be The Place with us and I still haven’t processed it

Walking to town listening to Locklisted. @iammilliam.bsky.social, your reading from the Brussig had me walking around with a stupid grin on my face. Thanks, and Nicky too, for the recommend. Halifax library came up trumps.

Did I offend you? Try seeing things from my perspective. Narrow-minded, misinformed, frightened.

"the elongated limbless reptiles" www.bbc.com/news/article...

Well that was peak @backlisted.bsky.social. Perfect subject, everyone on top form and bonus jousting from Andrew and Una. It also gifted me with the title of the autobiography I’m not writing, ‘Martin’s if she had known.’

Angel, monstrously pitiable. What a terrific novel, my favourite read this year. Now to find out what the top swots at @backlisted.bsky.social have to say…

A new instalment of INVENTORY is available now via the @backlisted.bsky.social Patreon. Sign up at Locklistener level and you’ll get this plus a bunch of other stuff, all while supporting the podcast. This week: BOG-SHED, FROM THE STUBBLE TO THE RUBBLE. www.patreon.com/backlisted

Two households, both alike in dignity, in diggyboos, in the old digningtons

Such a fine line between green transportation and fly tipping.

Spaghetti hoops are basically Alphabetti Spaghetti for backing singers.

I could well up looking at these two pictures of old friends. Mel Brooks 99 today, Carl Reiner died five years ago aged 98.

This INVENTORY on Kate Bush is actually a 5000 word essay on the lifelong relationship between artist and listener, utilising and subverting the popular bullshit ‘listicle’ format to do something more interesting and heartfelt. Hope you like it. x @backlisted.bsky.social www.patreon.com/backlisted

@iammilliam.bsky.social I've just read your Kate Bush Inventory. As someone who has loved KB since I was 9 years old, I fucking loved it!!! I think we all have very personal opinions of her albums and favourites etc, but I really loved reading your thoughts and feelings... Thank you for that Andy X🖤

Been down The Great Wen again. Night-time stroll through Smithfield meat market. The market itself soon to be confined to the history books.

Beer and @backlisted.bsky.social homework. Life of Riley…

My good pal and former bandmate Kev Hopper has just started work on a TRIPTYCH of paintings, the initial sketches of which are too good not to share

Textbook Brookner @backlisted.bsky.social

I let Martin Amis get served before me in a pub. (He had white wine.)

Terrific piece of writing about a wonderful record.

“Brain the size of a planet and they ask me to deliver USB plugs.”

I think @gargarin.bsky.social might have an opinion on the matter..

A new instalment of INVENTORY is available now via the @backlisted.bsky.social Patreon. Sign up at Locklistener level and you’ll get this plus the archive and a bunch of other stuff, all while supporting the podcast. This week: The Assembly, Never Never. www.patreon.com/backlisted

On the sun lounger with an old Trollope and a cold beer. The life of Riley.

5am view. I bloody love the east coast.

Seconded.

The childhood poverty and near death illness, ending up on top of the world in the biggest group ever, hitting the booze, cleaning up, becoming a train. No story there..

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again and then the bears moved in.

Been down to that London. A bewildering confusion of people talking into fresh air, moustaches, inexplicable Guinness drinking and poke bowls. Always changing apart from the stuff that doesn’t. Love it.

Finance, solid and ephemeral.

Took a break from my Pepys walk around the City to look at this delightful building while listening to @grindrod.bsky.social ‘s excellent Monstrosities Mon Amour podcast. Appreciated the Waterhouse mention, first thing I thought was Po-Mo Manchester Town Hall. Can’t believe it might be demolished.

A little earlier, descending back into town after an afternoon’s walk; it’s light, it’s mild, there’s an inkling of oncoming spring, there’s a warm welcome awaiting in the pub down the hill. The antidote to the state of things.

I've lost track of how many times I've watched this already 😂

Cary Grant's birthday, which means it must be time for the puppy in the pocket photograph again. Taken during filming for 1933's "The Eagle and the Hawk", I believe.

Bill Hader doing an impression of Oliver Reed explaining the difference between acting on stage & acting on film. Love how he cracks Paul Giamatti up.

View from Mart Towers this morning. I do love the Calder Valley; it’s not entirely rural, or urban or even suburban, but a lovely mishmash of the beautiful and mundane.

Buses in the 1950s were specially designed to fit under Beverley’s medieval North Bar Gate, east Yorkshire.

This was lovely, and poignant. Thanks @grindrod.bsky.social. My last surviving 1970s Woolworths bauble is on the tree. Greetings from Halifax!

I’m not saying I always start with a relevant word but I was surprised to find that ‘shart’ is in the Wordle dictionary. It’s not even in my Chambers.

Absolutely spectacular cartoon about ‘The Estate of T.S. Eliot’

POV: The boom in post 60's Victorian & Edwardian period dramas was only possible due to the availability of heritage steam railways as locations. Meaning Ian & Colin who sorted out the points on the BlueBell line are more important for the UK film industry than RADA,The Bfi & Dicky Attenborough