Had a lovely evening last night celebrating the launch of the new book by @totalcurtis.bsky.social. Thank you so much for the name check ❤️
If you live in Manchester, or plan to visit, this book is a valuable resource.
Happy publication day to Manchester’s Best Beer V2! I hope to see a few of you later on at Café Beermoth to celebrate (please note the Waterstones bit isn’t happening.) If you haven’t picked up a copy you can do so here:
shop1.camra.org.uk/product/manc...
As part of my ongoing attempt to move out of US data centres (already done it for email), I’ve just migrated over to @eurosky.social. It was quick and easy!
Manchesters best beer pubs and bars second edition, by Matthew Curtis
This is exciting isn’t it. Art by David Bailey, foreword by Matty White, 50 new additions, out April 2nd. I imagine you might want a pre order link, eh?
my god I need to wake up Friday morning to the news that Matt Goodwin is not an MP, I can't bring myself to feel strongly about who wins but I really, really need him to lose
This world needs more people who are less sure about things, particularly journalists. Thank you.
My gut feeling (and I’m far from an expert) is that Burnham is the only way Labour stand a chance of retaining that seat. Am I wrong?
This is part of the wider enshittification of the internet, and we are now in the robber baron era. If you’re not doing things which empower the huge players, you get lost in the noise.
"The Kennedy Center was founded to be an apolitical home for free artistic expression for artists of all nationalities and ideologies"
What he doesn’t mention is that he was actually the lyricist of the piece that was commissioned for the opening of the Kennedy Center. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Shorter Trump: ICE, ice, navy
More than 200,000 Danish citizens have signed a petition to buy California as a response to Trump’s attempt to take Greenland.
They say they will provide Californians with “rule of law, universal health care, fact-based politics, and a lifetime supply of Danish pastries.”
I said this at the time; the state visit should have been arranged for the end of his term. Then it could have been used, continually, as leverage.
Thanks for this. As a huge fan of Sleep No More and The Drowned Man, this may be one I don’t bother travelling to London for.
Graph from NetBlocks showing network connectivity in Uganda from January 8, 2025, to January 16, 2025. The y-axis represents normalized connectivity, ranging from 0% to 100%, and the x-axis represents the dates. The green line representing Uganda's connectivity remains normal most of the time period, with a sharp drop on the evening of January 13. The drop in connectivity aligns with general elections. The minimum and current connectivity levels are indicated as 17% and 23%, respectively. The chart has a dark background.
⚠️ Update: It's just past midnight in #Uganda where a widespread internet shutdown imposed before elections remains in place.
The disruption continues to hamper news verification, amid reports that opposition leader Bobi Wine has been abducted by an army helicopter.
A lot of words to basically say: OK, GOING TO THE PUB MIGHT NOT BE GOOD FOR YOUR WAISTLINE/SLEEP/WALLET but it might be really really good for your friendships, stress, connections and happiness. So it's actually healthy to go to the pub, you guys, and maybe we should all just do that a bit more
Strange isn't it... the people who actually live in London overwhelmingly think it's safe.... almost like everyone else is falling for a lie
This is a great listen. Never wanted a mixed grill and a pint more
Good news everyone, the fascist sociopath has added a sexual assault generator to his website! At this point it’s fair to assume that any brewery / football team / MP / rando still using it actively supports these things.
Today, like any day, would be a great day to start supporting your favourite independent drinks publication with a subscription. Support our award-winning journalism here:
Patreon.com/pelliclemag
I found this today (from Peter Kellner/YouGov) which answers part of your query.
I hope someone draws this wonderful story about Tom Stoppard's Arcadia and the power of the arts to help us see things differently, to the attention of our Education Secretary. Do read it, it will lift your spirits.
Oh this is sad. Every Good Boy Deserves Favour is one of those plays that had a huge impact on me. RIP Tom.
I was working for a university during this period, and I also really noticed the difference in attitude change from “studying for” to “buying a” degree. Obviously not everyone, but definitely a shift.
A @gailmyerscough.co.uk graphic of an Accuphase E-3000 - now. What shall we do with it?
Why can't the BBC just be more impartial towards President Trump, like GB News, says Nigel Farage.
GB News:
The utter preposterousness of this interview. A media figure talking about BBC bias while describing the president as his "friend". A child could see trough it.
🚨🚨🚨 The jury has reached a verdict. Sean Dunn, aka the DC Sandwich Guy, has been found NOT GUILTY of assault.
A fantastic piece of data journalism from Sky News. A masterclass of data visualisation. news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
What I always liked about Wikipedia — even more so now — is its absence of an algorithm. If you started off searching for who defeated Bill Clinton in the 1980 Arkansas gubernatorial election (answer at the end), there’s every chance you’ll fall down a rabbit hole and half an hour later you’ve missed your flight but at least you’ve learned everything there is to know about the 1824 Constitution of Mexico. Everywhere else, what we watch is either pre-determined — or highly curated. On YouTube, the world’s largest video-sharing platform, algorithms drive more than 70% of all content consumed. On TikTok, it is the entire model. Whether these systems are simply giving us more of what we want or deliberately nudging us toward extremes, the result is the same: our curiosity is no longer our own. But on Wikipedia, you are in control. The hyperlinks may be vying for your attention, but there is no autoplay widget or blackbox deciding what you’ll see next. To borrow from video game terminology, Wikipedia is open-world, rather than linear. In that sense, it harks back to the messy early days of the internet. Whereas Grokipedia seems to be its modern-day equivalent — an attempt to repackage knowledge inside a single, curated worldview. Wikipedia is not unbiased. It is open source and while, theoretically, anyone can edit it, it is in reality largely maintained by a group of ‘super editors’. But it still provides a refuge from the never-ending conveyor belt of pre-determined short-form videos and AI slop. For that reason, if you have fallen down a Wiki rabbit hole, it is, gloriously, entirely on you.
Wikipedia vs Elon Musk
In a world of algorithms and AI slop, the simple joy of aimlessly wandering through a website of ideas is worth preserving.
✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/wikipedia-...
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