One thing I’m happy about: six stone weight loss since September 2024 (3 before & after pics: pic on the left in each of the 3 is me in September 2024, pic on the right each time is me right now.) All done by cutting down on cakes, sweets etc.

Dad helps him get a cup, then persuades him he doesn’t need it.

not sure if I’d agree now that The Wire is that interested in “exposing the duplicity of the war on drugs.” Isn’t its stance more “if only we’d give cops more money to take drug dealers down, if only we’d prioritise drug dealing as much as terrorism”?

“A Mr Tull? A Mr Tull. A Mr Tull at all?” Such an exquisite ear.

The easy ride The Writer’s Tale was given at the time was ridiculous: it actually laid before the reader a good many reasons why the show was never quite what it should have been after 2005’s season, & why none of the writers other than Davies and Moffat ever seemed to be given a chance to develop.

coping with the sun right now:

Russell T Davies in 2008 (via The Writer’s Tale) “the BBC is a public service broadcaster, funded by the public, so we are Not Allowed to Lie” Davies in 2026: “there was no script, I never wrote it, no actor was ever approached […] we only cooked that up to guarantee a future.”

“I’m gonna be honest with you, Lisa. I never wrote a script for that Christmas special.”

Magnificent moment when Richard’s young son is boring the hell out of his father, and the poor kid’s silly little chant gets only harsh literary criticism (the mean little sneer at the “dud rime riche” !😢 “how litttle information it got across” 😢😆)

Alternating between these two quite happily.

"Providing you avoid talking about politics the Hitlers are an absolute hoot. We don't talk about his work. We just have a few laughs, play canasta, and enjoy the odd game of mixed doubles with the Goerings." www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

The Bellow caption a second later is wrong too. Just 13 of his 18 books by 1998 were novels.

Curious that there are two mistakes in this caption. At the time (1998) Amis had published 14 books, not 16, and 9 of them were novels, not 10.

(2/2)

(1/2)Went over a hundred in the end.

Here are my top novels anyway (excuse the weird partially missing capitalisation, also it’s not quite 100, more like 76)

This too: “horrible fag-break gloom”, the “loops” and “cloops” rhyme, “splashy cleats.” Wonderful!

Delving into Alice Oswald’s poetry for the first time. Glorious stuff.

Watching this underrated masterpiece for the fourth time. This show did everything right. Such a terrific cast, and so carefully scripted in a way that really puts Daredevil to shame: never a dull moment, superb world-building, excellent understanding of pacing and characterisation.

Without saying your age, post your favourite film that released the year you turned 18

Thank Christ