As it happens, an article in the Grau today reflects on Stanley Baldwin's 1924 appointment of Sir William Joynson-Hicks in order to placate the anti-Semites...

I only partly buy the demon theory. It also seems that PMs consistently pick the most right-wing, authoritarian, or generally dreadful candidate available.

Yeah, probably we did.

Was Roy Jenkins the last good one?

She was quite the poly-hyphenate.

Yeah, if you're a Lab type and you don't like how things have gone, the idea that it was all Morgan's fault and Starmer will reveal his true colours must be very appealing.

Personally, I suspect there's some truth to it, but I doubt it's going to be as simple as that...

A quick search shows this is not an original observation...

Listening to the news last night, I had this weird feeling that a lot of people were casting Morgan McS as Grima Wormtongue.

Artemisia II of Caria - Wikipedia

I learnt this just the other day cos the herb named after his widow and, er, sister, who built it, came up in a crossword. She seems to have been quite the character. Artemisia II of Caria - Wikipedia share.google/5nlXCP96xaBa...

My albums of 2025 Hello. I’m actually getting my albums of the year written the correct year for once. Woohoo. For the first time in ages, there’s no straight-up ambient, drone, or modern classical in th…

There's a write-up of all this, with burbling about long-lists and links to blog posts, here: dogrando.net/2025/12/30/m....

Ice Cold Dealer From early breakout hit

Oh, and a bonus track-of-the-year-from-an-album-which-did-not-make-the-cut goes to Loco Dice's Ice Cold Dealer.
soundcloud.com/locodiceofc/...

SUN SHONE, by Loradeniz 8 track album

...and Loradeniz's SUN SHONE.
music-from-memory.bandcamp.com/album/sun-sh...

Гільдеґарда (Hildegard), by Heinali & Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko 3 track album

...Heinali and Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko’s Гільдеґарда (Hildegard)...
heinali-yasia.bandcamp.com/album/hildeg...

Under Tangled Silence, by Djrum 11 track album

...Djrum's Under Tangled Sky...
djrum.bandcamp.com/album/under-...

Charlotte de Witte, by Charlotte de Witte 11 track album

...Charlotte de Witte's self-titled rekkid...
charlottedewittemusic.bandcamp.com/album/charlo...

ICONOCLASTS, by Anna von Hausswolff 12 track album

Hi folks. I'm posting my albums of 2025 for those who might be interested... First up, Anna von Hausswolff's Iconoclasts...
annavonhausswolff.bandcamp.com/album/iconoc...

I remember as an undergrad having my forearms eyed up by a medical student friend who'd been learning about needle type stuff and had an appreciation for my prominent veins. It was a little unsettling.

I don't remember exactly, but I feel the butter went in after resting it. You wouldn't want it to unmelt, right?

How to cook the perfect pancake Does butter make a better batter, what’s the most ripping topping? Top tips for the perfect pancake recipe

I was taught to do this as a small, which means my mother did it and probably my grandmother. Reading around it seems that it's for flavour? F Cloake discusses it and decides against. She says resting does make a difference though. www.theguardian.com/food/2020/fe...

I just spent 75 lovely mins sat in a dark room listening to drone music played on 4x cello, 1x viola, 1x violin, 2x Fr horn, and 1x bloody great pipe organ. Hurrah for Claire M Singer and the London Contemporary Orchestra at the QEH. Tick v.g. would bliss out to again.

Surely one simply heats a poker in one's open fire and plunges that into one's tankard of claret?

Charlotte de Witte, by Charlotte de Witte 11 track album

First impressions: Well, the Charlotte de Witte album bangs very pleasingly, doesn't it?
charlottedewittemusic.bandcamp.com/album/charlo...

Hard concur. If I listen to it on streaming, I always make sure to remove it from the queue when I start it.

Cold brew concentrate is a thing, but it would normally be labelled as such. Maybe this is trying to jump on that wagon though?

But "en France", because why not.

It's "à Paris", if that was a genuine question.

The last hold-outs for me were in the NE too...

Oh, okay, the app made it look like your post was from yesterday, sorry! Hopefully I didn't spoiler anything...

I suffered from not knowing that 23 or 8 were associated with 5, and only half remembering that 22 was. Despite having family connections with the place. (The right hand side took me about three times as long as the left. It didn't help that the two halves were barely connected.)