iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

I did watch all these first time out, pretty solidly from 2000 to the death of the show, and I know it does slowly get better. Scarily, by the time we get to 2002 my wife and I had met and first started dating.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 1h

My wife is out drinking with a friend tonight, so I can watch #totp 2000 without the usual cries of "For God's sake David, why are we watching this shit?" Hooray! Although why I'm saying "Hooray" when my wife is probably correct and AN INTERVENTION MIGHT BE NEEDED is another question.

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Reposted by David Bryant

waltydunlop @waltydunlop.bsky.social · 5h

"It's like the later Tom and Jerry when both of them could talk It's like The Stones after the 80s, it's like the last days of Southfork"

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RDCK98 @comradekenobi.bsky.social · 9h

Nice little nugget of horror buried in there

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 10h

Tbf, I've just remembered that Pulp pulled a similar stunt with the "This Is Hardcore" CD six months after release, by combining it with a second live CD. But at least that was actually something you'd want to listen to, rather than a set of instrumental versions.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 21h

The Pulp of my youth also wouldn't have dreamed of shoving out last year's studio album with a bonus disc of instrumental versions and selling it as a special treat. Standards have fallen, the value has dropped, but don't shed a tear...

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 21h

I hate to sound like a miserable old git, but I find a lot of limited edition vinyl issues pointless. Potentially collectible, maybe (though the collector's market is a hugely unpredictable thing) but usually just household clutter in the end. Baffled by fanbase enthusiasm for them.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 21h

I see Pulp are putting out a limited edition instrumental "Stack-o-tracks" version of "More" as well as the recent live album - you'll have to count me out of all this Gen X wallet milking, I'm afraid. The less money I waste, the sooner I might be able to retire.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I would need to have a read of Co-op's Privacy Notice to get an understanding of how much risk this would expose me to if I used their Legal or Funeral services, but as that would take close consideration, perhaps I should just save time and use another organisation instead.

theguardian.com

‘Dystopian’: Co-op becomes latest firm to put staff under AI surveillance

Whistleblower says recording and analysis of all probate calls in Co-op Legal Services is oppressive

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

"I'm a socialist! Worried about losing your job if we leave the EU?! Ha ha ha, you REMOANER!" - amazing how few people understood the glaring contradiction in that sentiment.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

This really should be a no-brainer. If you increase uncertainty in people's lives, and create doubt around their jobs or their family's future, it will impact their mental health. This is why I used to get annoyed by "Lexiters" who mocked ordinary workers who were worried about leaving the EU.

theguardian.com

Covid, Brexit and Liz Truss mini-budget led to lasting decline in mental health, study finds

Researchers found five events, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, caused serious damage to mental wellbeing across UK

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Yep. Pitch black when I woke up at 6:15 - starting to feel as if Autumn has finally fully pushed its way through, though to be honest that's a bit of a relief.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I've never got into that one and I've had several shots at it.

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Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

From my notebook. My philosophy, while writing books, for the last ten years.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I probably wouldn't know the songs if it weren't for my parents owning a budget "early Bee Gees" cassette (I think this one?: www.discogs.com/release/1204...) As a kid I also heard "New York Mining Disaster" at a funfair, which even as an 8 year old I understood was utterly inappropriate.

discogs.com

The Bee Gees - Massachusetts

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1973 Cassette release of "Massachusetts" on Discogs.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I had no idea that even existed! Jumping on board the Italo House bandwagon, obviously.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I've actually heard Ryan Paris's "Dolce Vita" while out and about a few times this year, which is surprising - it's one of those tracks I always assumed had totally disappeared from the British conscious, an old summer hit from 1983 that had its moment and dipped away. youtu.be/xrFcXMlwC2w?...

youtu.be

Ryan Paris - Dolce Vita [Restored & Remastered] 4K

YouTube video by TheGroenwald

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Must admit to knowing very little about him - the book was a gift from a friend.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Well, this author's biog reached an unexpected crescendo.

Yukio Mishima was born in 1925 in Tokyo and is considered one of Japan's most important writers. His books broke social boundaries and taboos at a time when Japan found itself in a state of rapid social change. His interests, besides writing, included body-buliding, acting and practicing as a Samurai. In 1970 he attempted to start a military coup, which failed. Upon realizing this, Mishima performed seppuku, a ritual suicide, upon himself. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I think I may have broken my Discman somehow, possibly by damaging the laser, then just junked it. It was a faithful travelling companion when I lived in Australia in 2004 and probably put in many hours of service.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Superb! I really wish I'd kept mine rather than throwing it into a charity shop bag as soon as I bought myself a Discman. Come to think of it, I've no idea where the Discman is either. I've not treated my personal listening devices with a lot of respect.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I was playing a compilation of Bob Dylan covers the other day when this one came on and I was immediately reminded of early Spiritualized and their post-Spacemen 3 run of cover versions. Coincidence? Probably. Still a damn fine version though. youtu.be/A0hHx5RwFMs?...

youtu.be

Like A Rolling Stone

YouTube video by Spirit - Topic

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Seán MacGabhann @seanmacgabhann.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Well worth a read

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Yeah, the "Next 25" might have come into play here, but it was never part of the official chart, and there's no way that kind of run would have merited a Guinness World Records entry. Least of all while Frank Sinatra's run with "My Way" stood.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

It would be. And it was probably Grok who spat it out to begin with. Facts will mean nothing in the future...

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Hmmm - according to Wikipedia, Gloria's Irish hit version of it spent "90 weeks in the Irish top 30 - the longest run by any song in Irish Chart history." I wonder if the streams of various facts have become inadvertently crossed here.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Dave Hill's comment is very "Bluesky" in tone. He's probably on here under a pseudonym, complaining about television schedules.

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badhedgehog.bsky.social @badhedgehog.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The Brit-Yank food discourse again? This site is getting like a senile old dog, shambling around the room every ten minutes, trying each time with great effort to piss in its own bed, barking at empty corners.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Three million is also way off. "Mull of Kintyre" was the best-selling UK single at that point, and that had sold around 2 million.

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A secret third thing @secretthirdthing.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

"chatGPT thinks I am a genuis" is just the modern version of "I think this stripper is in love with me"

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Rest In Peace Lena Martell, but this obit is a bit wayward surely (unless there's something I'm missing?) "The single sold almost three million copies and earned her a place in the Guinness Book of World Records when it stayed in the charts for 36 weeks" - surely neither of these things is true?

bbc.co.uk

Chart-topping singer and television host Lena Martell dies aged 86

The Glasgow-born singer was the first solo Scottish female singer to top the UK singles chart with One Day at a Time.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

At the last place, mine used to stash their finds in the gap behind the shed. We found this mad array of socks, tennis balls, cricket balls, cat toys, a shoe, some kids squeaky Fisher Price toy and two plastic plant pots. God knows who it all belonged to. We could have asked NextDoor I suppose...

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Yes, I distinctly remember that when I had weird "interview your grandparents" school history projects, my Granddad did not want to talk about the war at all. He would fetch my Nan to help (who was also traumatised by the blitz, by all accounts, but didn't witness anything truly horrific).

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

My grandfather served on a navy ship during WWII, which was blown up and claimed the lives of many of his friends. He returned home and commenced life and work as normal, until one day a fire broke out at his workplace and he flipped and had a complete breakdown. All the dormant trauma resurfaced.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Interesting! I wonder how many mysterious paranormal cases could actually be attributed not to ghosts but to Russian spooks?

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

It's stunning to me how cheap relatively scarce XTC or John Cale records are (to pick two examples). You can get some terrible selling Cale albums on vinyl for less than £15. Neither artist is without fans, but they seem to be the kind of fans who aren't moneyed collectors (or don't care about it).

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Chris Dillow @chrisdillow.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

"Don't speak ill of the dead" they say. But if you do, don't hold back: anwilson.substack.com/p/jeffrey-ar...

anwilson.substack.com

Jeffrey Archer

Fraudulence on a criminal scale

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

More depressingly still, I'll probably be dead by the time any new (rather than second hand) record I buy today or tomorrow hits its actual peak value, so it's pointless thinking about it anymore!

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I was talking to a friend about this recently in relation to vinyl, and how gambling on medium-to-long term value is actually tough. You have no idea what future generations are going to think of the stuff we currently treasure (and especially whether they're going to care about vinyl).

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Yes, my Mum was very much in the "you should only buy the Greatest Hits by artists" camp, but she owned "Automatic For The People". But the songs, even the non-singles, got so much exposure that it was actually already familiar to most people at its peak, I think. They knew what they were getting.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Also just remembered Archer's reputation for borrowing other people's ideas, and found this one I wasn't previously aware of: eve.gd/2012/10/13/j...

eve.gd

Jeffrey Archer's 140-character story and plagiarism

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I'd love to have had a civil conversation about why he went to the trouble of owning so many, and what he liked about them, but he was a lead guitarist, a man of few grunts, I obviously struck a nerve and I doubt it would have got far. Anyway, he'll have been upset yesterday.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Nothing rude, I just respectfully said "Oh, so I see you're something of a fan of Jeffrey Archer?" "SO??!?!" he immediately exploded, daring me to carry on. I dropped the subject since this was obviously going to be an extremely defensive conversation, then never raised it again.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

No idea what I'd think of it now and didn't take it home with me. Years later though, I was in a band with a guitarist who had a huge collection of Archer novels. They were almost the only books he owned and took up a single shelf on his wall. One day I couldn't hold back and asked about them.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

As a 17 year old mooching around the local library, I picked up a copy of Archer's "Twist In The Tale" and was stunned that it wasn't awful. Not good, but passable. The main drawback was that you could hear Archer's smug, pompous voice in the final lines of the three stories I read. Anyway...

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

It really was inescapable- everyone I knew owned it, but so did their parents. You got a lift off someone, this was playing in their car. I listened to it again recently though and it still sounds as if it couldn’t possibly be improved.

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

That clip of Jeffrey Archer promising to be a tough mayor to people who criticise him seems to foresee the last decade of politics. Rest in peace, Jeffrey. You were born far too soon for the public to embrace your dishonest ways.

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Andy Dawson @andydawson.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Jeffrey Archer threatening to be a tough mayor was the best thing he ever did youtu.be/pssI1ZwzcmQ?...

youtu.be

Jeffrey Archer on Michael Crick

YouTube video by Carl Salter

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David Bryant @23daves.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Just deleted my Jeffrey Archer post not because I decided it was disrespectful, but because I realised it was slightly factually inaccurate (getting the dates he was an MP wrong). When criticising Archer, we've also got to try our hardest not to turn into Archer.

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