iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 10h

So: what did I think of Offenbach’s “Barkouf” @operarara (in no order)? Wonderful Absurd Outrageous Audacious musically gorgeous Unfettered by good taste Surreal Bizarre Structurally catastrophic Performed to perfection Imaginatively wild Mischievous Anarchic Barking mad #BarkoufDay

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 15h

What’s this I see? ENO to perform a double bill of Trial by Jury and The Zoo in Manchester???

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 18h

“Publishing a volume of verse is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.” - Don Marquis (In “Cocktail Time“, Wodehouse adapted this saying to apply to the publication of a first novel.)

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 18h

Travelling through Rochdale always reminds me of Elliott Gould’s unmatched rendition of the word in Alan Plater’s great, though unfortunately titled, BBC film “Doggin’ Around“ (here meaning something like “mooching about“)

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Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 21h

I don't deny that dogs can sometimes be quite lovely but what I will say is I don't trust their opinions. If a cat recommended me an album it had bought, I'd totally check it out. If a dog did the same, I'd promise to listen to the album, out of politeness, with no intention of actually doing so

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Larry Stephens @lsggbg.bsky.social · 22h

GRYTPYPE: Now then, Seagoon - what made you join the army? SEAGOON: An armed escort and two military policemen. (Goon Show S7 E1, 4 Oct 1956. Script by Spike Milligan & Larry Stephens.)

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Khonri 🫜🎃 @khonri.com · 04/10/2026

I'm feeling attacked by @theonion.com but also 10/10.

"How a Book Becomes A Bestseller, The Onion demystifies the publishing process."

1. Proletariat becomes literate.
2. Author's creative inspiration flourishes upon marrying spouse with high-earning, unethical job.
3. Author chooses magical being to have sex with, then works backwards.
4. Author lands agent by running full speed into them while holding loose-leaf copy of manuscript.
5. Penguin Random House blackmailed into seven-figure book deal.
6. Editor removes typos and originality.
7. Famous author who hasn't read book reminded they got three glowing blurbs last year from authors who hadn't read theirs.
8. Publisher contacts Merriam-Webster to license all words it's using.
9. Marketing completely misrepresents plot, tone, and author.
10. Terrified independent bookstore owners gamble their razor-thin profit margin on this one.
11. PR firm hires thousands of people through Craigslist to performatively read book on subway.
12. Colman Domingo, contractually obligated to appear in all things, voices audiobook.
13. New York Times oracle nods.
14. Book written for sole purpose of becoming movie becomes movie.

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Ah, buggerit... Here's a blues by Britten called "Where Do We Go From Here?". It has an effect on me, and maybe it will on you, too. youtu.be/BWNNkHfsuP4?...

youtu.be

Britain to America: Where do we go from here?

YouTube video by Mary Carewe - Topic

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Just seen an advert for a tv show that I briefly thought was called Mo Bland

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Kirkdale Bookshop @kirkdalebooks.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Goethe: "Every time I see a misprint, there is a brief moment when I hope there is something new in the world"

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Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Manchester, 1975, photo by Kemal Cengizkan.

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Dustin A. Chacón @lingdustin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I've heard people make claims that AI would lead to a new Renaissance, but I didn't imagine it'd happen like this:

Screenshot of a Tweet from Pope Leo XIV. It reads:

"In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgen to distinguish human art from what machines produce. There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others. Algorithms lack the spark of humanity. For this reason, the Church wishes to renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity."

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Share a film that has significance to you, for whatever reason 🎥 For me…

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

All that talent will not just suddenly disappear.

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Laura Phillips @lauraphillips.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

“insiders expect [ #BBC Director General Matt]Brittin to confirm TV and radio network closures after delaying plans to announce the changes this week. #BBCThree is widely expected to be in the firing line, while there is also concern about #Radio4Extra being among the services under threat.”

deadline.com

BBC Staff Revolt Over Job Cuts By Posting Laughing Emojis During Call

BBC employees expressed defiance over job cuts by posting laughing emojis during a management call this week.

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

R3's Essential Classics is really "Your Hundred Best Tunes" or "These You Have Loved" in a new guise.

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Trying to make sense of the plot of Barkouf and failing.... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkouf

en.wikipedia.org

Barkouf - Wikipedia

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Not everyone knows what rhyme is these days (in the true, or Broadway, sense), so here’s Sondheim’s definition:

The immediate distinguishing difference between lyrics and dialogue is the conscious use of rhyme. There are many varieties: true rhymes, near rhymes, visual rhymes, regional rhymes, assonance, consonance, run-on, identities—as many types as academic taxonomy will allow. The most effective kind for a story-telling theater song is the first, so in what follows, when I say "rhyme," I mean "true rhyme."

A true (or perfect) rhyme consists of two words or phrases whose final accented syllables sound alike except for the consonant sounds which precede them. The accent can be on the last syllable (home/roam, convey/ dismay), which is called a masculine rhyme, or on the penultimate syllable (never/forever), which is called a feminine rhyme, perhaps because the fall-off after the accent gives it a bit of added grace. The accent can even be on an earlier syllable (rational/national, simulator/ stimulator), but the sounds which follow must be the same while the accented consonants must be different.*

An identity matches not only the final syllables but also the consonants that introduce them (motion/promotion).
What distinguishes a rhyme from an identity is the accented syllable: "mustache" rhymes with "just ash" if the accents are on "must" and "just"; if the accents are on "-ache" and "ash," they're identities.

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

A familiarity with the language of Preston Sturges movies may assist here Wordle 1,930 3/6* ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ 🟩⬜🟩🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

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BBC Radio 3 Now Playing Bot (Unofficial) @bbcradio3bot.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

BBC Radio 3 Breakfast Now Playing Arthur Sullivan, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra & David Lloyd‐Jones Symphony in E major, 'Irish' (3rd mvt, Allegretto)

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Opera Rara @operarara.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

🎶 Hear Thibault de Damas as the Grand Mogol in Barkouf! Our first glimpse from the recording studio, with the English National Opera, The Halle Orchestra & Paul Daniel. 🐶 Offenbach’s riotous comedy comes to The Bridgewater Hall this Sunday at 4pm. 🎟️ ow.ly/yzO250ZTk2H

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Word of the Day Maximilian: an even bigger million than usual

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Does the BBC have an equivalent to the 25th amendment to allow the DG to be removed from office on the grounds of mental incapacity?

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Lisa Holdsworth @lisaholdsworth.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Good to know that BBC DG supports the copyright infringement of multiple writers. Good. To. Know.

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Tobias Wilson-Bates @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

One of those little interactions in Shakespeare that sticks with you for the rest of your life

HIPPOLYTA.
This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard.
THESEUS.
The best in this kind are but shadows; and the worst are no worse, if imagination amend them.
HIPPOLYTA.
It must be your imagination then, and not theirs.
THESEUS.
If we imagine no worse of them than they of themselves, they may pass for excellent men. Here come two noble beasts in, a man and a lion.

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Sophia D’Aurelio Adair @vitaphonezone.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Nancy Carroll and Buddy Rogers make faces behind director Victor Fleming’s back during the production of Abie’s Irish Rose (1928). Keep seeing this labeled as a photo of Clara during Wings so maybe if we post it with the correct information enough times the truth will persevere

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

It seems... apposite... that this exuberant satire about the follies of political power should be about to receive its British premiere in Manchester, our new Prime Minister's home town and the location of "Number Ten North":

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Are we absolutely sure they don’t mean Matt from Little Britain?

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I ordered a couple of recommendations of Holst’s The Planets from @deeplyclassical.bsky.social’s recent list and have been listening to them this morning. Both excellent, of course, and much to be recommended.

2 CDs from ICA classics—versions of Holst’s The Planets, conducted by Boult and Rozhdestvensky

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The Onion @theonion.com · 28/09/2026

You Can Be Anything You Want, Says Fictional Character theonion.com/you-can-be-anything-yo…

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Justin Sherin @wychstreet.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Mike Leigh at NYFF tonight: ‘I’ve said it before, and I don’t mind saying it again: film directors who make long speeches about their film before a screening should be taken round the back & shot in the head.’

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I think it is very possible the only reason humans evolved at all was to make Mozart.

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I've just had a great idea for a whimsical picture book

We see a very crudely drawn pencil sketch of a boy with stick thin legs, and a dot representing an ant. The title scrawled across the top of the page is: "The Boy, The Ant, The Invisible Vole and the Off-Stage Dromedary".

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Opera Rara @operarara.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

A glimpse behind the scenes at the Barkouf recording ahead of this Sunday's one time performance! 🎶 Barkouf receives its UK premiere at The Bridgewater Hall Manchester, on 4 October. 🎟️ Tickets: www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk/whats-on…

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John Scary Name Cullen @nellucnhoj.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

that feeling when you want to reply but a joke would be too cringey and a normal reply would be too curt so you just hit like and run away

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Opera Rara @operarara.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

How we’re feeling finishing rehearsals and heading into the recording process… 🐕 This Sunday, catch Offenbach’s rarely performed Barkouf in a one-off UK premiere with Opera Rara & the Hallé. 📍 Bridgewater Hall, Manchester 🗓️ 4 October, 4pm 🎟️ ow.ly/BBZR50ZShtE

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

This is of no conceivable interest to anyone else, but I thought I should let you know I have just blocked a prominent Blueskier with a whimsical name whose political opinions are communicated in fluent and breathless gibberish.

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Sorrowscopes @sorrowscopes.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Pisces: We should always try our best. So if you’re going to be a failure, be the biggest and best failure the world has ever seen.

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

"There's a little group of isles beyond the wave"... The caustically satirical finale to Gilbert and Sullivan's "Utopia, Limited" which is so often in my mind these days... youtu.be/sIPMsypLA4k?...

youtu.be

Sullivan: 33. There's a little group of isles beyond the wave

YouTube video by D'Oyly Carte Opera Chorus - Topic

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The Bear @bearlypolitics.co.uk · 28/09/2026

Well, well, well - if it isn’t the consequences of our own actions. It would appear that migrants are not, in fact, the fiscal drain we’ve been told they are by years if we go by the £4bn to £6.5bn shortfall that’s been caused by the precipitous drop in numbers under this government. Funny that.

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Remembering the time, long ago, when the "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" team sang a scene from Pinter's "The Caretaker" in the style of grand opera (including frequent iterations of "Pause"). It occurs to me to wonder if they had to get Pinter's permission to do this, and if so, what he made of it...

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The corruption is not the crime itself, but the lack of punishment.

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Andrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

What exactly has "Ol' Man River" to with Irving Berlin?

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