Jo Nightingale
@musicandmuseums
South-Mancunian in South London, guide at John Soane's Museum, former PR, copy-writer and Gothic MA. Expect music, architecture, history, place, ceramics and other old tat, art, screen and my cats. Left and proud.
I'm sure my little son Bruno was dyed with a tub of Dimensions called Black Plum or similar - just the kind of black-but-is-it-burgundy shade I aimed at for so long (but was too blonde).
I think it was on the other place that I last recommended this, which is re-run from tonight. If you love Frank Skinner, The Trip, The Lakes and the lives of the Romantic Poets like I do, it's heaven-sent.
Apologies for this supremely obvious tip but, if you too have cats too stupid to drink water, put it on their food in this weather. Important not to forget that they are idiots.
There's a reason Farage parachuted into Clacton in 2024 - history doesn't suggest there's a great chance for Binface:
I felt that it was more spectacular than necessarily meaningful, but the Anish Kapoor show is a brilliant and mind-blowing experience. This piece looks beautiful, but then you get close to it and your own reflection attacks you, and then you get closer and a psychedelic vortex consumes you.
It's 40 years since this guy was number one in the UK. Artificial Artificial Intelligence, played by Matt Frewer, who's now 68 (and must have thought for a long time it was just a dated gag).
Yes, somehow into the 40s though I've only been collecting for 18 months. Nearly all animals - quite a lot of sheep!
Interesting, thanks. Not correct to suggest though that Staffordshire dogs are nearly all spaniels, there are lots of poodles, whippets and Dalmatians and rarer other dogs like Victorian rat-catchers! Here are some of mine.
View of Bollington, Cheshire from above this afternoon, with Manchester in the back left if you zoom in.
So this, it seems, is Stockport on a hot Foodie Friday night these days. I honestly wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it - amazing!
Anyone else got a cat on their knee..? What is wrong with cats?!
I've loved Kevin McLeod's Listed Britain & the last ep was particularly wonderful/odd for me, featuring 3 organisations I've worked for and 3 former or current colleagues: Tim O'Brien at the Uni of Mcr's Jodrell Bank, @colourwoman.bsky.social at the Royal Pav and Helen Dorey @soanemuseum.bsky.social
It's not a hot take as I think it came out a fortnight ago, but the half-season finale of #Rivals was sensational. The previous episode w/ the It's A Knockout stuff had me losing patience with its triviality, but then! Truly storming (geddit?) performances by those proper actors they so wisely cast.
He seems to have been gone a long time - I think it's eight years since we last saw him, in Brighton, and he was selling these paintings he'd done on the beach.
Why have we never been to the Green Note in Camden before?! Veggie food, seats, friendly staff and a lovely show of uplifting Gypsy Jazz.
The loss of David Hockey took my breath and brought tears today, and I'm not a huge fan of his art. But how we'll miss him, & all the other bold, ambitious and singular Boomers we're losing & will lose this decade. For my generation many opened the doors we walked through, and lit up our lives. RIP.
I've always wanted to go to the little caff at Lambeth Pier, which is great, and somehow I wasn't prepared for the brilliant view:
Rare access to Lambeth Palace this morning on a really interesting tour about its recent decarbonisation project. The message being: if they can do it, any listed historic building can (though costs weren't discussed).
Here are some of photos of the skilled staff at Burleigh which I took with permission last September. It's the only works still hand-producing the transferware ceramics the Potteries is internationally famous for, thank goodness someone stepped in to save it.
Felt a bit like we'd gone on holiday by mistake today in a very soft Cotswolds, but even in drowning rain it was wonderful to wander Painswick's so-called Rococo Gardens which are actually full of GOTH! They even had Charlotte Sometimes playing in the coffee shop.
No problem, we had all this with these two three summers ago. My main bit if practical advice if you take it in would be: it will have fleas! Act fast to get rid of them because they lay thousands of eggs every day, and once they're in your house it's a nightmare!
That one actually was being hired out for some kind of Italian bicentennial celebration! And churches are often used for gigs and other uses, to help pay the bills.