Cover of Money to Burn by Asta Olivia Nordenhof

A dog in the sun and part of a book.

Sunday.

The beach at West Kirby on an April evening.

West Kirby beach with a group of runners just back from running to Hilbre Island.

West Kirby this evening. Went to see Gwendoline Riley, who was fascinating and funny and brilliant. Afterwards, watched tired runners returning from Hilbre Island before home.

Melania's next press conference will be 🔥🔥🔥

Am just as worldly and cynical as you, but I don’t think Trump has any more inhibitions against using nuclear weapons than against committing (openly declared) war crimes.

Others may stop him, but that’s not down to him.

We are now relying on luck.

Good luck.

I feel sick to my stomach waiting around to see what atrocity Trump has in mind for the people of Iran this evening. It's hard to fathom our other elected leaders aren't able to check him in any meaningful way. It's an indictment not just of voters but of our whole system. We're ruled by a mad king.

A statement from Melvin Benn, Managing Director at Festival Republic: I am a deeply committed anti-fascist and have been all my adult life. I lived on a kibbutz for many months in the 1970’s that was attacked on October 7th, am pro Jew and the Jewish state, while being equally committed to a Palestinian state. Having had a person in my life for the last 15 years who suffers from mental illness, I have witnessed many episodes of despicable behaviour that I have had to forgive and move on from. If I wasn’t before, I have become a person of forgiveness and hope in all aspects of my life, including work. What Ye has said in the past about Jews and Hitler is as abhorrent to me as it is to the Jewish community, the Prime Minister and others that have commented and - taking him at his word - to Ye now also. Ye’s music is played on commercial radio stations in this country. It is available via live streams and downloads in this country without comment or vitriol from anyone and he has a legal right to come into the country and to perform in this country. He is intended to come in and perform. We are not giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature, only to perform the songs that are currently played on the radio stations in our country and the streaming platforms in our country and listened to and enjoyed by millions. Forgiveness and giving people a second chance are becoming a lost virtue in this ever-increasing divisive world and I would ask people to reflect on their instant comments of disgust at the likelihood of him performing (as was mine) and offer some forgiveness and hope to him as I have decided to do. – ENDS –

The boss of the company that runs Wireless Festival has just put out a statement *defending* their decision to have Kanye West headline it (see below).

I have some thoughts on that statement, and I think it's easiest if I do a thread on it:

www.jewishnews.co.uk/wireless-fes...

See also: Teaching

If you lean too heavily into AI to plan your lessons as a new teacher, you won't make those mistakes or have those insights which are invaluable later.

You do stuff without knowing why. You do stuff 'because the machine told me to.' #Edusky

Tom Hollander in the film In The Loop.

‘It’s just a bomb’ The true story of two strangers and an extraordinary act of courage

It should be outside the paywall all day now www.ft.com/content/cd59...

Nobody has more Premier League goals and assists for one club than Mohamed Salah.

King.

Just to remind us all:

1) Even if you do read all of them, you will still die.

2) Even if you don't read any of them, you will still die.

So read whatever the hell you like.

“Super Mario was based on an Italian man I saw die in an accident on a construction site. I thought to myself, ‘What if that man had been killed by a gorilla, rather than negligence?’ - Shigeru Miyamoto

Happy Mario day!

If Big Paper doesn't lead with "Spurs' Tudor Revival Descends into Mockery" then someone isn't doing their job properly.

A graphic showing that 100 pounds in 1886 is worth 11,342 pounds in 2026

Incredibly, Enfield manages to get the equivalent of eleven grand out of Mr Hyde as compensation for the family of the girl who the latter has trampled calmly over in chapter one.

Written English has barely changed in 300 years. If you can read Harry Potter, you can read Robinson Crusoe (1719).

Capulet: How long is't now since last yourself and I / Were in a mask?
Capulet’s Cousin: By'r lady, thirty years.
Capulet: What, man, 'tis not so much, 'tis not so much.
#ShakespeareSunday

The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime Around Midnight
Klaxons - Gravity's Rainbow
Bruce Springsteen - The Ghost of Tom Joad
Doves - Where We're Calling From
The Verve - History
#FridayFive Literature

A photo of a copy of the 1978 fourth printing of the Orbit paperback edition of The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. The cover artist is uncredited by the publisher.

"Scared? Oh yes, I was scared—and who wouldn't be? Only a fool or a suicide or a robot. Or a line officer."

Not just one of the best SF novels about war, but one of the best novels about war.

No cheating, I promise! Had a @jacquiwine.bsky.social inspired Brookner phase last year but not read this one. Don't know how many copies it helped sell but a great blurb. Better than "funny, wise and true" in any event.

Anita Brookner?

Perhaps time for Burnley FC to re-consider its partnership with X, no?

Self praise is no praise.

The Mastermind Box Cover: What the Hell Were They Thinking? - - -INVICTA GAMES, LTD. Packaging Team — Official Minutes Project: Mastermind / New Cover Presentation MARTIN SMITH (Marketing Senior Vice Presi…

Funniest McSweeney’s piece I’ve read in awhile: The Mastermind Box Cover: What the Hell Were They Thinking? “Warmth is for Sorry! This is not a hug. This is a chess clock in a stranger’s living room telling you your parents are getting divorced.” [mcsweeneys.net]

1. Losing You - Solange
2. (Don't Go Back to) Rockville - REM
3. Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens
4. The Field - Blood Orange
5. 4th of July - Aimee Mann
#fridayfive

squareword.org 1394: 6 guesses

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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🟩🟩🟩🟨🟩
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<6:🟩 <11:🟨 <16:🟧 16+:🟥
#squareword #squareword1394

A parcel containing Telenovela by Gonzalo C. Garcia with various promotional postcards.

The joy of coming home to a parcel from the relentlessly brilliant @galleybeggars.bsky.social. I'd actually forgotten I'd pre-ordered this so it's like a lovely surprise present from myself. A little slice of joy at the end of a gloomy week.

TIDAL - High Fidelity Music Streaming TIDAL is the first global music streaming service with high fidelity sound, hi-def video quality, along with expertly curated playlists and original content — making it a trusted source for music and ...

Ok, my homepage is an absolute mess because I'm still figuring stuff out but here is my first Tidal Playlist.

Autumn Into Winter Hip Hop aka A.U.T.U.M.N. Alchemise underground tunes under melancholy nature.

tidal.com/playlist/ba2...