Salt's Diner in Saltaire are currently selling a selection of sherries chosen by Simon Armitage in his role as poet laureate, and I think we might have hit peak northern boujie culture

Flicking through old family photos and found a credit card receipt from having them developed. I'm today's money, in 1992, it cost £15(!) to develop a roll of film. The receipt was also one of those manual ones from the machine that went ha-dung-ha-dung

Happy 200th anniversary of the first thing quite a bit like a modern railway to all who celebrate! 😁

199 years and 364 days ago the first thing resembling a modern train left from here!

This might be a bit "too soon" but a friend once shared a cleaner with Menzies Campbell, and accidentally ended up in possession of a pair of his boxers due to a mix up by the cleaner

hello, yes, I need the campest combination of celeb and song you've got, yes I'll hold.......I'm still here......yes, no that's too camp #Strictly

The whole run up to the Labour party conference really is becoming symbolic of how bad this government is. They're not announcing £billions of investment in public transport in the north of England because the Treasury are scared of signing it off as it might go over-budget, so they're...

I am living groundhog decade today. NPR delayed, Andy Burnham can’t understand why his pre conference leadership platforming is being reported as pre platform leadership platforming, why hasn’t this tram been built, levelling up announcement

There's a video meme on Instagram of how you say "choose my most beautiful side" in Dutch that is really keeping me going right now....

What do you mean you won't be writing to Dept O.B. of the Development Corporation for your *FREE COLOUR BROCHURE* for your holiday to Glenrothes?

Whenever I see these I ponder how many people actually wrote to the Town Clerk, or asked for the booklet about [place you'd never want to holiday in] at the booking office... 🤔

Look what we have here then.

The Canadian Opera Company either employs no gays, or exclusively gays. I ♥️ COC.

I'm going to assume that the brown substance I just wiped off a toilet door handle at work was, bizarrely, just chocolate, because the alternative is just so deeply unpleasant

BBC long read ‘Fred, 53, says that doodling in public places is just his way of expressing legitimate concerns about foreigners’…

Justin Webb on railway stations: "there's something about their practical use that draws people to them". Yes, Justin, it's where you catch a train 🤦🏻‍♂️

Every evening at 5pm on radio 4, Evan Davies quietly shows how to do proper BBC-style journalism. Sigh.

I'm sticking to my guns on not examining PhD theses when the fee is ridiculously low, but it really does feel crap having to reply to the query if you'll be an examiner with a coded version of "will this pay less than the minimum wage?"

Thank f**k for that. We might end up with a union that represents its members' interests, rather than one that attempts to be the vanguard of the proletarian revolution

I've got to say, I'm not gonna be happy if we stop calling it paracetamol because of all *this*

This made me want to stop writing my silly little emails and just go to a theatre and watch a Very Good production of Die Zauberflote. SIGH. Also, I think this means I am now an Opera Gay. SIGH.

I've been suggesting they do this for months.......... www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

I really don't understand why Today is focusing on the paracetamol story when the BBC news website has tucked it right down the page with a dismissive headline because it's just the nonsensical ravings of idiots?

We are all enjoying ourselves & don't want it to end.

I bought some Bonne Maman violet and fig yoghurt from House of Bruar and I'm tempted to have another trip back up there to buy some more 😋

There's a hearse parked in the car park near my office......

It's my own fault entirely, but I might end up eating lunch while I'm teaching today...

I just randomly watched the Antiques Roadshow from Cartwright Hall in Bratfud from a couple of weeks back. It rather exemplified the banal ways that British multiculturalism has been remarkably successful

The rug I bought from House of Bruar yesterday looks a lot like a blanket, and now I'm having a weird existential crisis about how you define a rug and a blanket....

I think I might have to give up on my bonsai jacaranda (aka "the shitty disease-ridden twig"). Even with the summer we've just had, I think Edinburgh is too far north so it doesn't get the spring warmth and sun for it to flower 😔

We popped to House of Bruar this afternoon (bought a lovely rug for the bedroom) and their toilets have really gone downhill. And that was basically the whole raison d'être of the place - the poshest loos on the A9, with a rural department store attached. Spend a penny (or 500).

Reading in York next Wednesday, where I once worked for the Council. The visit has reminded me of this sign in Museum Gardens which apparently banned cycling while allowing you to injure young and old alike by way of recompense. The good management of municipal facilities is all about give and take.

For the first time in my life, I've just gone BEYOND Dunblane on the train....

ÉDITEUR : Avez-vous reçu les photos de ce professeur ? PHOTOGRAPHE : Bien sûr, patron. Vraiment sexy, mon ami !

This story is really sad - it's an awful situation for the tenants, who have had a lot of disruption and were looking forward to the improvements, and an awful situation for CEC, who seemed to be trying to manage a difficult process well

Just realised, on this portrait, he's got a proper gay "powers restored"/"ear lowered" haircut going on...

In the middle of Port Sunlight there's a memorial to him on top of a giant column, which was "gifted by his grateful workers" (or some such), and when I stop being head of department, if my colleagues don't do the same, well, I just don't know what I'll do

I initially read this morning's @edinburghminute.bsky.social headline as "Will Young's Dogging Donation" and 😐

This Week's Onion Magazine:

We're looking to appoint a new administrator for our Social Sciences Impact Acceleration Account. This would be a great role for a graduate with good administrative skills who wants to learn a lot more about the non-academic impact of research www.stir.ac.uk/about/work-a...

If you've got very strong pegs, it's a cracking drying day in Edinburgh today

Trying to catch-up on some tabs I really should read. This post about the trickiness of "claimant count" unemployment figures in the UK by @benbgeiger.bsky.social is excellent: inequalities.substack.com/p/real-out-o...

I'll be being "inspirational" on LinkedIn

They've stopped doing their lasagne al forno!!!! TO THE BARRICADES!!!!!!! www.marksandspencer.com/food/l/ready...

M&S have stopped selling my favourite pasta ready meal. I'm ready to riot now people 😤

This is a really good thing. Can't believe it's taken this long to get here

My buggered rear derailleur on my Brompton means it has three speeds: slow; fast; and my knees are going to explode. I seem to be mainly cycling in the latter...

I really can't do wine on a skool night anymore...

When I got my eyes tested in January, I chatted to the optician about being blinded by bright bike and other vehicle lights. She explained it's because your cornea has widened to allow lots of light in when it's dark. The super bright lights then hit your eyes and when you have astigmatism and...