a great letter in the times today. perhaps worth sharing in these troubled times. #RNLI #heroes

An RNLI lifeboatman is taking part in the Great North Run tomorrow, wearing his full kit. Please donate here if you can: fundraise.rnli.org/fundraisers/...

James Waters

I'm taking on Great North Run 2026 - please help me reach my fundraising goal of £1000!

fundraise.rnli.org

This morning I am hoping that something will come along to blow all the leaf-blowers of this world into a huge pile, from where they'll be unceremoniously hacked to pieces and recycled into wind turbines or something. And yes, there is a leaf-blower operating opposite my house right now.

Lennon’s been getting away with it for too long. We’re calling on the Government to refer him to HMRC for a full investigation. Add your name: secure.hopenothate.org.uk/page/199860/...

CALL FOR AN HMRC INVESTIGATION INTO STEPHEN LENNON

A year-long Channel 4 Dispatches investigation has raised serious questions about Stephen Lennon’s finances. Add your name and call on the Government to refer them to HMRC for investigation.

secure.hopenothate.org.uk

This German comedy sketch (with English subtitles) perfectly captures so much of what is going on right now in the UK, the US, and across Europe. "Playing the 'Nazi Card' in the Third Reich", by Browser Ballett.

To whoever snapped up all the Promming tickets to the Bach B Minor Mass tonight within ten minutes and is now selling them at stupidly inflated prices on Stubhub: You deserve to hear nothing but John Cage's 4'33 for the rest of your life. (Not that I'm feeling at all bitter this morning...)

I’ve reached the point - well actually, I reached it a while ago - where I’m militantly anti-AI. Fine - use it in bioscience labs and radiology where it might help analyse data more effectively. Use it sparingly for systems engineering. Everywhere else, it can fuck off.

For north Londoners: the Islington Proms (which I help organise) start on Friday. Loads of great stuff across 3 weekends: Irish trad, chamber music, choral evensong, silent movie with live organ, 2 free family events. All at St James’ Church N1 8PF. Everyone v welcome! www.islingtonproms.com/about-1

If you would like to add your voice to tens of thousands of people thanking RNLI volunteers for their work, 38 Degrees have organised this open letter to express public support (at a time when a hateful fringe have been intimidating & abusing RNLI volunteers) act.38degrees.org.uk/act/rnli-tha...

An open letter in support of the volunteers and staff at the RNLI

This is a disgrace. Brave RNLI volunteers being called scum for risking their lives to save others at sea is just plain wrong. So I've signed an open letter of thanks for the RNLI letting them know th...

act.38degrees.org.uk

I want the Prime Minister to look into a TV camera and say the RNLI are heroes, that we do not change policy by street violence in this country, and that he expects any criminal action to face the full force of the law. That's it. That's all he has to do.

Catching up with tonight's Prom on BBC Sounds, and I still can't get my head round the fact that Marta Argerich is the same age as my mum. It's mind-blowingly insane that she's still so brilliant at the age of 85.

This was brilliant - spine-chillingly beautiful singing from the G6 (I was basically one giant goosebump all through 'Phos Hilaron'), in which the walls of the RAH almost seemed to draw closer as if they too were listening, followed by a phenomenal feat of rhythmic concentration by Colin Curry et al

The Gesualdo Six@thegesualdosix.bsky.social · 2w ago

Tomorrow. Our Royal Albert Hall debut at the BBC Proms.

Mitsuko Uchida on This Cultural Life is hilarious and utterly delightful. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

This Cultural Life - Mitsuko Uchida - BBC Sounds

Pianist Mitsuko Uchida discusses her cultural influences and her career in music.

bbc.co.uk

So wish I could have been at the Proms this evening. I've already listened to the Rückert-Lieder twice on BBC Sounds, and it's utter perfection.

Black and white afternoon napping today (one in my back yard, the other in Hyde Park)

We need to show newspapers that actions have consequences. Add your name: goodlawproject.org/s/abb8a1

Jason Arday: Demand a public inquiry now | Good Law Project

Commission an immediate public inquiry into how to ensure a responsible press given its contribution to Dr Arday’s tragic death.

goodlawproject.org

As a Cambridge graduate I'm absolutely appalled by the way Jason Arday was treated, most notably by the media but also by the university. There's a fundraiser for his family here: gofund.me/534af0a8d

Donate to In Memory of Professor Jason Atta Kwei Arday, organized by Sir Patrick Vernon OBE

Help us support the family of Professor Jason Arday with funeral a… Sir Patrick Vernon OBE needs your support for In Memory of Professor Jason Atta Kwei Arday

gofund.me

This. Absolutely spot on.

Chris Packham@chrisgpackham.bsky.social · last mo.

Anyone else get this earlier? petition.parliament.uk/petitions/767687

Finally got to properly see these babies in St James' Park while out running today

The juxtaposition of these two articles gives a whole new meaning to 'London's buzziest bakeries'.

Took us 40 years but here it is: Monteverdi 1610 recording with @ecse1610.bsky.social Buy it (buy it?) here or stream for free of course... orcd.co/ifagmont1610 (Actual release Sep 4th but a few films are appearing now.

Under a Binface government, anyone who doesn’t accept human-made climate change as fact will be sent back to school, from Year 1 right the way to A Levels, to see if anything goes in the second time round. #VoteBinface

I've already written to my MP about this.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2mo ago

Burnham risks Labour backlash if he reverses ban on new oil and gas drilling

Hard to think of a more deeply damaging start to Burnham’s premiership than giving green light to new oil & gas in N. Sea, if true. It won’t lower bills or lead to greater energy security but will drive an even hotter planet. What a terrible signal to give to rest of the world #ClimateVandalism

BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) on X

Andy Burnham will announce plans for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea when he becomes prime minister on Monday, the BBC has been told. The announcement will form part of a flurry of policy m...

x.com

@patriciastoughton.bsky.social I've just had my first glimpse of the St James' pelican chicks! Have you seen them yet? They are extremely well camouflaged, and I think it's fair to say that they have the kind of appearance that only their parents could love, but they are incredibly cool!

What a beautiful thing is a moth!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from this very seasonally confused amaryllis (pro gardening tip: apparently the way to get an old amaryllis bulb to flower again at a random time of year is to shove it outside, forget about it, and let half the stalk be eaten by snails).

Kitty is beginning to regret jumping on the feline fashion for wearing fur coats.

I realise one flight doesn't make much difference in the grand scheme of things, but for Sky News to apparently have a helicopter chasing Andy Burnham's train while the planet is burning is completely insane.

Amused while out on a (rather warm) run this afternoon to overhear two people enthusiastically talking about singing Smith's Responses. I was possibly the only passerby who had a clue what they were on about.