I'm not very active here now* but am briefly logging on to note that to-day is the third anniversary of my successful transplant. *Partly because I'm busy at the moment, but also because this place, in my view anyway, has become tedious and unhealthy.

Trying to explain why the now sadly late Alfred Brendel was one of the very greatest of pianists is a lot harder than simply linking to a recording, but he was good with words as well so it is owed. He had a style that was precise and intelligent, but so very human. There was life and humour there.

Someone has to say it. And I don't live in Northern Ireland. I will note that no one has firebombed Jeffrey Donaldson's house. That's all. (Yes, Mr Donaldson has not been convicted of anything, but neither have the two young men accused in this case. In neither case do I make comment on guilt).

For all the triumphalism in certain quarters about there being a women's tournament at Queens this year, I will rather sourly note that this has mostly come at the expense of the Edgbaston tournament, which moved to the last week of RG and was further downgraded. Is this actually progress?

That's as his budget has been slashed *so hard* that departmental spending projections have actually increased substantially, due to complex laws of physics understood only by breathless political gossipmongers and beyond the ken of mere mortals.

Jessica Elgot@jessicaelgot.bsky.social · last yr.

One of the biggest winners? Ed Miliband! The minister who commentators keep insisting is imminently for the chop or is having his budget slashed, whispering net zero is in doubt or GB Energy is being quietly binned. The reality is he got the the biggest increase in capital and GBE alone got £8bn.

Some things presently available on the BBC iPlayer: the peerless 1995 adaptation of Persuasion, Britten conducting his own War Requiem, every episode of 'The Ascent of Man' and 'Civilisation', a lot of Schama art docs, John Freeman interviewing Jung and MLK, and the Agincourt episode of War Walks.

I understand that the Pope has met the victorious Napoli team and has publicly denied earlier reports that he is a Roma fan.

To take my tongue out of my cheek, the joy of having worked on a daily newsletter for the best part of 12 years now is having a physical reminder that I am not being nostalgic - the dominant question from 2013 to 2021 really wasn’t “how will this play electorally” EVERY DAY.

Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · last yr.

What George doesn't understand is that in the UK, we decided in 2020 that 'governing' was actually a tedious distraction from 'speculating about, and positioning for, the next general election'. It's core to our culture and it is *very* disrespectful to criticise it.

I have of late acquired a taste for Scandinavian 'Remoulade', a fact that many find to be disturbing.

A strange mash-up of Morse and David Foster Wallace here... www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

The curse of Toumaï: an ancient skull, a disputed femur and a bitter feud over humanity’s origins

The long read: When fossilised remains were discovered in the Djurab desert in 2001, they were hailed as radically rewriting the history of our species. But not everyone was convinced – and the bitter...

theguardian.com

Earlier today I visited an exhibition of Rembrandt drawings (largely etchings with some drypoint) at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. It was absolutely fantastic and genuinely fascinating. Runs for another week. If you get a chance, go. Certain things are one-offs.

Sunderland *winning* the play-offs in dramatic circumstances is the exact opposite of what you train yourself to expect as a Sunderland fan, but isn't it a nice surprise?

This is an excellent idea, especially with such an emphasis on pre-and-post transplant physio and fitness: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

'One stop shop' transplant centre opens at Birmingham hospital

The Edmonds Transplant Centre enables patients to receive all of their care in one place.

bbc.co.uk

Ah well you see very often if I describe something or someone as 'odd' it is a deadly insult.

'Bad for bills' - come on, how? Does she think that if bills go up that's good because line go up is good, so that if bills are more stable that's bad?

I’m old fashioned enough to think the BBC should be leading on what the deal is and what it means. Rather than the political claims from both sides.

I just want to state on the record, as one does, that I am in favour of things that stabilize food prices and reduce the likelihood of periodic shortages of this or that item. Might be a little like paracetamol to the national mood once the effects are percolating.

Call me Andrea Dworkin, but I just think it’s corrosive that there are quite so many references to sexual acts in the British right’s response to this deal.

Robert Shrimsley@robertshrimsley.bsky.social · last yr.

Entirely predictable reaction from Britain's maga media. But makes you think, if they were going to react like this anyway what was the cost to Starmer of going bigger.

This is a really useful thread on a difficult, thorny issue where nothing is entirely what it seems at first and it can be difficult to know quite what to think:

Luke Piper@lukepiper.bsky.social · last yr.

The debate around care visas in the political space boils down to people saying stuff like this - we desperately need people. It's a good soundbite but... A significant surge in care visas were issued since 2020 in response to sector demand and yet the problem of shortage has persisted. Why?

Random linguistic observation: a lot of peripheral estates are often described as 'overspill estates' even when they were not actually built for 'overspill' purposes: e.g. Becontree or Wythenshawe (which were not) as contrasted with Chelmsley Wood (which was).

Migration is a thing that people do and states try to manage rather than the other way around. Attempts to restrict flows when they're rising tend to be unsuccessful as do attempts to increase them when they're falling. It's a strange phenomenon, not that well understood despite everything.

Going to repeat this on a loop for a few years, I suppose.

Alun Ephraim@alunephraim.bsky.social · last yr.

The next General Election isn't for another three or (much more likely) four years. No one normal thinks about politics much here at other times, and polling and elections between GEs are often pretty wild and have been getting increasingly so for a while.

I gather that the new Pope is One Of Us (i.e. a Tennis nut).

The Namierite theory of Papal elections wins again.

Ah, white smoke.

Well, that's an unexpected headline. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Bargain Hunt art dealer Ochuko Ojiri charged with terror offences

Oghenochuko Ojiri is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday, the Met Police says.

bbc.co.uk

Taking their time. Wonder if there's been some Cleverly-style gamesmanship gone wrong and they've elected someone on the first ballot. Cardinal Shapps has just been excommunicated.

If the criteria for sainthood is 'being a Righteous arsehole' then perhaps James Wellbeloved might be one? As an MP his name was famously ironic (type of chap who could start a fight in an empty lift) but his work for organ donation and transplant patients later was of incalculable value.

The thing about the system-built high rise boom of the middle 1960s is this: we would all have made the roughly same decisions as policy makers of the time did if we were in their shoes. And that is a sobering thought.

Indeed. Part of why I have always been a “this show seems like it will become a legendary production nightmare” is I remember how mad some fans were when I used to sell the books! And now they have the Internet and the kids involved *will see it*!!

Alun Ephraim@alunephraim.bsky.social · last yr.

Remind them that when you were toiling away at the great salt mines that are 'retail jobs at Waterstones', Harry Potter basically paid your wages, therefore, no, that can't be the issue, QED.