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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 12h

#EarwormOfTheDay this morning is 'Haitian Divorce' by Steely Dan. Unsure whether it arose from a bizarre dream I was having this morning about being blackmailed about some peculiar soft fruit, or stuck in my head because my husband was humming it in the car yesterday. Either is quite sinister. 🤔

youtu.be

Haitian Divorce

YouTube video by Steely Dan - Topic

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Happy to have my prose #poem 'Metropolis' in this new issue from @trashcatlit.bsky.social and looking forward to reading everyone else's! #prosepoetry #poetrycommunity

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I think this might be my favourite from today's crop of #poemsabout #deadletters! Witty, funny and sad all at once.

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

"The US and China, who are vying for AI supremacy, are...hostile to greater regulation, wanting the economic and technological spoils of AI, and have downplayed safety concerns." The lunatics have taken over the asylum.

bbc.co.uk

Australia launches urgent review after OpenAI programme hacks government health portal

Experts believe it's the world's first known AI breach of a government system.

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Something surfaced from the distant past as #EarwormOfTheDay; 'Suburban Relapse' by Siouxsie and the Banshees. Probably caused by photos of Sioux at the Alexander McQueen show the other day. "I'm sorry that I hit you but my string snapped..." #music

youtu.be

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Suburban Relapse (Live, 1979)

YouTube video by Camilo R.

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Reposted by Clare O'Brien

The Booker Prizes @thebookerprizes.com · 22/09/2026

Presenting the Booker Prize 2026 shortlist. Find out more about the books and authors that make up this year's list. thebookerprizes.com/bp2026

The Booker Prize 2026 shortlist in full:

The End of Everything by M. John Harrison
The Disappearers by Marlon James
Black Bag by Luke Kennard
May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
John of John by Douglas Stuart

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

People who deny artists a voice ("I just want to enjoy the music") reminds me of those in the past who were happy with black people on a stage, but who didn't want them in their sitting rooms, schools or workplaces. Not all art is political, but artists are people and art is not just entertainment!

theguardian.com

Ed Sheeran thought fans didn’t want artists to be politically engaged. He’s finding out how wrong he was | Jason Okundaye

Twenty years ago, even Madonna faced radio blacklisting for being overtly political. But in our age of streaming, there’s less excuse for not speaking out, says Guardian columnist Jason Okundaye

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

"It's now a bit like those Edwardian summers before 1914..." - Sir Richard Shirreff, former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe. It doesn't feel like those years are described in books. It feels much worse, and I think we're all much more anxious. Not just because of a threat from Russia.

bbc.co.uk

War may be coming. Are we psychologically ready?

The military and government say the risk of conflict is growing, but we may not be mentally ready for it

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Earlier today I was in the supermarket. Spandau Ballet's 'Gold' was playing. 🤨 Tonight I watched the new episode of 'Slow Horses' and the first few minutes featured someone in the supermarket. Spandau Ballet's 'Gold' was playing. 🫩

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Meanwhile, while we're all fixated on Ed Sheeran's spinelessness, this is happening.

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Amanda Bryana @amandabryana.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Saw that Meta AI have used a Bowie song and got really angry. Then I saw which one they're using and I can't stop laughing. Does no one listen to lyrics or was "we're going to cause human extinction through the imminent death of the planet" really the vibe they were going for?

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

The Macklemore thing: (A) Robert Kraft is a disgusting human being, as you might expect of a friend and funder of Donald Trump. (B) In caving into his blackmail, Ed Sheeran has done himself immense reputational damage. Far more damage than postponing the tour would have done. (C) Free Palestine.

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Glasgow For Europe @glasgowforeurope.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Support for rejoining the European Union has reached a post-2016 high of 61 per cent compared to 39 per cent who wish to stay out, according to polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/new...

independent.co.uk

Support for rejoining EU is reaches highest level since Brexit vote

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Absolutely. I'm also seeing a lot of English voices framing this as destructive, as in "destroying the UK" when in fact it's a positive move for all the celtic nations. England should decide on its own path, too. I only hope it's not wearing jackboots when it does.

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

So pleased to have one of my prose poems, 'Metropolis' in this great issue!

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thatgirlinsb @34thparallel.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Protesters at the Irish Open. shitler’s international golf links and hotel Doonbeg, Ireland. Thank you, Doonbeg!

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

My Saturday #earwormoftheday has been 'Never Be Mine', a beautiful, wistful track from Kate Bush's 1989 album 'The Sensual World'.

youtu.be

Never Be Mine (2018 Remaster)

YouTube video by Kate Bush - Topic

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Easy to donate: rnli.org/support-us/g...

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Citizen Paul Templeman @paultempleman.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Blue Sky doesn’t get much better than this. 😂😂

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

For #PoemsAbout - thanks to @alanparrywriter.co.uk and @thebrokenspine.co.uk Might use some of this one in my novel-in-progress - title 'Light Switch' - which is very much about #Faultlines

NEXT LIFE
by Clare O'Brien

The asphalt scabs are crumbling,
their planes acutely angled,
potholes erupting stones.

Tarmac prairies once allowed
the smooth running of machines,
whose long reign is at an end.

Wild emeralds emerge from cracks,
throbbing with moisture. Wet life
reasserts, ebbing the tide of tar.

Rain falls like a blessing
on the tiny forests, oozing moss,
copses and bogs reaffirmed.

We beat our wings and howl,
take to the sun bright air,
swim the deepening green.

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Also very much applicable to the UK, re Brexit. Most of the younger population want to rejoin the EU, but the hardliners still insist they were right.

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Today's #EarwormOfTheDay is 'Everything Will Flow' by Suede, one of the better tracks from their not-very-good album 'Head Music'. I've been listening to some of their best and most brilliant music a lot lately, so it's a bit ironic this one's invaded my head, but hey ho. #music

youtu.be

Suede - Everything Will Flow (Official Video)

YouTube video by Suede HQ

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

This. Just woke at 5.20am with the weirdest dream still in my head. Wrote it down straight away because otherwise I know it'll vanish. I wish I'd learned proper shorthand...

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

In honour of #NationalReadABookDay, here's what I'm currently reading: a fly-on-the-wall #music biography recounting the brilliant second wind of a band which soared as young men in the 90s and imploded soon after the millennium, now making wonderful art again in middle-age. #booksky

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Can't wait for this. I saw Ian Charleson play Ariel in 'The Tempest' and Longaville in 'Love's Labour's Lost' at the RSC when I was a student back in the late 70s. I wish to God I'd seen his 'Hamlet'. Saw Andrew Scott do it, though, so this will be fascinating.

bfi.org.uk

European premiere of director Simon Stone’s Elsinore to open the 70th BFI London Film Festival

The LFF Opening Night Gala is hosted at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on 7 October with screenings around the UK.

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

And a greengrocer's apostrophe, too. 🙄

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

So when is our government going to proscribe these black-clad masked louts as a terrorist organisation? They come from something called 'Patriot Platform' run by Tommy Robinson's sidekick. The police are "engaging" with them apparently, as a rest from arresting old ladies for opposing genocide.

bbc.co.uk

Port of Dover delays: Disruption as masked 'stop the boats' protesters block roads

Hundreds of demonstrators, wearing black with their faces covered, caused delays to traffic reaching the port.

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Richard Smyth @rsmythfreelance.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

In June 1934 the British Union of Fascists - the Blackshirts - staged a rally at the Olympia in London. One protestor after another was singled out and beaten up by the crowd. Here's how Ronald Blythe described it.

Description of the BUF Olympia rally, at which a series of hecklers were violently attacked by Blackshirts. The sadism, Blythe writes, reached "an erotic intensity".

Stanley Baldwin's private secretary expressed shock and dismay: "It was a deeply shocking scene for an Englishman to see in London."

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

#EarwormOfTheDay this morning seems to be Nathan Evans' 'Heather On The Hill' which mentions Loch Maree, one of my favourite wild swim locations. #music

youtu.be

Nathan Evans – Heather On The Hill (Official Video)

YouTube video by NathanEvanss

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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Just copy & share everywhere please. Absolutely thumping.

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

And I have no idea why the world even needs a new TV version. If you enjoy those stories, the films are fairly recent iterations. The final one only came out in 2011 FFS.

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Today's #earwormoftheday: 'Click Clack Symphony' by Raye. "I need a pep talk, I need a hug, I need a dance floor..." Warning: The end of this video may make you cry. 😉 #music

youtu.be

RAYE - 'Click Clack Symphony.' feat. Hans Zimmer (Official Video)

YouTube video by RAYE

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Some diverse August reading included a novel about endings, a magic realist romp through wartime London, an eco-thriller and a historical novel set on the loch where I live. 😀 Also read 100 pages of another Scottish novel - 'Phantom Limb' by Chris Kohler - but failed to get into it. 😕 💙📚 #booksky

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Quite. I used to work for Americans. Now I avoid even buying from them if I can.

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Does everyone wake up with a song on the brain first thing in the morning? Today it was 'Marianne' by Fontaines DC. Not sure if it's the tune or the lyrics or the fact that I just watched their excellent set at Reading. "It's all the same to Marianne..." #earwormoftheday #music

youtu.be

Fontaines D.C. - Marianne (Official Video)

YouTube video by Fontaines DC

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Clare O'Brien @clareobrien.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

“Increasingly over the last maybe 40 years, the thought has come to me that the old world in which our people lived by the work of their hands, close to weather and earth, plants and animals, was the true world." RIP Wendell Berry.

theguardian.com

Wendell Berry, US author, farmer and environmentalist, dies aged 92

Author and Kentucky native, who celebrated the farming world of his home state and warned of the excesses of industrial society, died at home

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