Let's play hookey and bring the GP with us!

(But seriously - hope is all okay).

Fuck. Apparently I have to go to work tomorrow. Shall we just play hookey and go something fun instead?

These debates are often a zero-sum game, but (and I'm not a Green voter) Ross Greer has been very good.

Reading the new Will Self. The chapter where he lists the characters' cock size, both flaccid and erect, with guest stars Ridley Scott, Wagner and Monty Don, is worth the price of purchase alone.

Just popping in to say that the new @theleaflibrary.bsky.social album is bloody lovely, and that is all.

"Hallucinatory chaos ensues" itself is a grand quote. Glad you enjoyed. It's rare to see something new mined from a tired, trope-filled genre.

That's where the Easter Rising went wrong. Connolly should have mobilised the Westmeath Plant Hire lads to block the Luas tracks. That would have stumped the Brits #speirghorm

Pretty sure that's Ronnie Barker

A bride for a brother

I was only 8 or 9 when I first heard The Human League’s ‘Open Your Heart’. A sound not futuristic but very much of the future. Genuinely believe it’s influenced my music taste since.

Obviously I Shazammed it at the time.

60% Sarah Records
30% Stuck in an unhappy marriage in Bracknell
10% Serving a full-life sentence in HMP Durham

On a conference call. Someone senior has just piped up with "There's widespread enthusiasm about the opportunities AI transformation bring, with many people feeling empowered and ready to innovate", and it took all of my will not to reply with "You been surveying CEOs again, or did AI write that?"

Ah, I spy my old local. The only decent boozer for quite a few miles around in that part of town; you have chosen well.

Watching Trading Places. Mental how they persuaded Mozart to write the theme tune.

I appreciate that there might be some grim things going on in the world, but the bar I'm in playing Hip to be Square by Huey Lewis and the News right now should see the publican in the Hague.

I remember reviewing this for a magazine I worked for at the time. "It's either the greatest album you'll hear all year, or will give you a migraine. Quite possibly both".

Cool. In which case we're going to get much more renewable energy and big tits.

Ah yes, the 90's. When every track had either an ungifted rapper pop up half way through to mumble the middle eight, or the silly use of the Schooly D drum sample. Or both.

This is a great watch. Intelligent spookiness of the first order, written and directed by yer man here (and available on the streamers for those not in RTÉ-land).

I'll be moving on to the new Will Self shortly to restore my pretentious literature credentials

Schoolgirl error 😜

Photo of a pint in the beer garden and a book of Northern Irish history

As its the first sunny, almost warm day in Scotland since about 1978 I have decided it prudent to bin off work and elope to the nearest beer garden instead. I am very wise.

Coming Soon! Big Channel Premiere Saturday 21st March, 9:05pm #StanleyBaker stars in PLAY OF THE MONTH: ROBINSON CRUSOE (1974) rarely seen dramatisation of the famous #DanielDefoe novel #TPTVsubtitles

I once interviewed a known-to-be difficult American musician, yet he was so sweet…

Actually, no, he was a real arsehole. Didn’t answer questions, gibbered on about mystics and conspiracy theories, and kept making fun of my English accent. Haven’t listened to his band since.

They're replacing bank notes with badgers. Real, live ones. Concerns they may get a bit bitey when paying in Greggs.

Is Glasgow losing the spaces that made it an arts powerhouse? The closing of a cluster of leading creative venues has led to dismay and intensified fears the hubs that fostered Glasgow’s celebrated arts scene are disappearing

This is a really important piece. Glasgow is haemorrhaging its art spaces, turning a once vibrant city a cultural void, and we’re all the poorer for it. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Werner Herzog's Mutiny on the Buses.

Very good!

(This joke worked better in my head).

I was planning to get dressed up for World Book Day as a World Book...

... but I usually look nonchalant or confused, so was worried people would think I'd come as Atlas Shrugged.