This is a work of art.

BLOG UPDATE: Enough of the "50 Best TV Shows of 2024" lists. What about the 50 Most Inescapable TV Shows of 2024? The ones you simply can't avoid. Here's the definitive list. brokentv.uk/2024/12/20/t...

In the manner of one of our most distinguished civil service forbears, albeit of the fictional variety, may I just briefly intrude upon your attention to discharge a by-no-means disagreeable obligation by taking this opportunity to express, with all due deference... (cont.)

Applications for candidates to be the next UK judge of the European Court of Human Rights are now open on the link below, with a closing date of 13 January.

Are you, or do you know, a distinguished lawyer with the highest experience in leadership, collaboration, legal reasoning, and decision-making? We'll soon open the competition to find three exceptional candidates to succeed Tim Eicke KC as ECtHR judge. judicialappointments.gov.uk/applications...

Irresistible force meets immovable object: recycling truck with collections to make meets scaffolders' lorry determined to block the road. Phenomenal stand-off ensues.

Geneva, for the second time this year: having run the UK delegation to the Human Rights Committee back in March, it was nice this time for the Committee on Racial Discrimination to concentrate ‘only’ on answering questions in MoJ's remit. Doing it in 32° heat was somewhat less fun.

This weekend, I cleared out my travel receipts from my time in Strasbourg, having punctiliously kept them just in case someone audited me (they didn’t). It was bittersweet to glance through them: so many fun trips and so much important work, but also so many Covid tests… (cont.)

Say what you will about the Harry Potter franchise (but do so somewhere else, please), but it was surprisingly adorable watching the reactions of groups of foreign teenagers approaching Kings Cross “Platform 9¾” with various shades of shock and excitement.

Even though I’m post here only rarely anyway, I’ll be going quiet for the next six weeks during this outbreak of democracy, barring maybe occasional cake or concert photos over on the ’gram which I’d hope can’t possibly be considered political. Have a nice election, y’all.

Spring must be coming: on this morning's run, I definitely spotted the seasonal emergence of the "oh $#!+ I'm doing that (half) marathon in X weeks" runners. My condolences to their knees.

At this time of year, I don’t know whether I prefer going to work in the dark, when you can’t really see how bad the weather is, or in daylight, when you know for sure.

The great satisfaction of Maidstone United being in FA Cup round 4 is that all those annoying pedants arguing whether or not it was our first time in round 3 (reformed club, you see) can now all comprehensively shut up: this is the first time, ever. And it’s gonna be fun.

“Radio 1 Happy” - yeah, it’s a cruel thing on a Saturday morning - just played Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u”. Great song, sure, but I suspect that someone didn’t listen to the lyrics when programming that: happy‽

A lot more owners seem to tolerate their dogs jumping up at strangers in public these days. Is this a product of people who got dogs during lockdown and never trained them properly? They're sort of social distancing guard dogs whose jobs are now redundant.

I've greatly enjoyed Wikipedia's editors trying to decide whether this year's Gävle Goat has been destroyed or not. This is what it looked like as the New Year dawned, somewhat threadbare thanks to the birds hanging suspiciously around the scene of the crime. 🧵1/3

Welcome to (2^10)+(10^3).

Talking to my barber (hi, Matt!) the other day about new year celebrations, he said that watching fireworks on television is like listening to snooker, and that line's been living in my head rent-free since. Happy new year, anyway, even to those who listen to snooker.

I don’t often get reverse culture shock, but the instant end to Christmas on 26 December gets me every year: normal music on the radio this morning, decorations will all be gone in a few days. In France I was still hearing “Last Christmas” in the supermarket in mid-January.

Highlight of Christmas Day probably my mother nailing the 1-in-150 shot to win Cluedo with the first guess of the game.

Listening to Greg James and his Sprouty Claus malarkey on the radio this morning, I’ve belatedly realised he’s this generation’s answer to the great Terry Wogan, and this is his Floral Dance. Just a shame there’s no longer Tops of the Pops on which he can look bewildered.

After all these years, I finally accept that my career is basically Person Who Sits Behind Other People.

Great pleasure to discuss the international system, sovereignty, and the origins and drive for universalism of human rights with international relations students at Birmingham City University this morning: as ever, fascinating to see how they grapple with topics on which I’ve previously advised.

There's a real tension in deciding one's first post on any social medium, as you may find yourself forced to recall it many years later. Despite plenty of practice lately, this is mine for here, and it's profoundly underwhelming.