Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialMr. Symphonist @deeplyclassical.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Gramophone Magazine announced their award winners last night. I highly approve of their choice for the orchestral award! 👍 3172
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 07/10/2026There are times when one has to have recourse to Walt Whitman's: Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.) 000
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialRobert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Badenoch says that Labour "don’t get a clean slate just because they have changed leader". Yet whenever she's challenged on the Conservatives' record in government, she dismisses the question on the grounds that she wasn't leader then... 612117
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialwomensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Portrait of a Girl, 1927 by Guan Zilan, Chinese Avant Garde painter #WomensArt 31018197
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 07/10/2026@tds153.bsky.social In case you haven't seen this. And Miles Kington could have got at least two articles from it? 010
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Sources close to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said she can't understand what all the fuss is about, and that we haven't called it an "Iron Dome". The press release merely said it was in essence a British "Iron Dome". British journalists should do a better job of reading our press releases. 000
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialRobert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Kemi Badenoch, who is currently purging the Tory candidates list, tells Today she stands for "uniting the country" and wants to "bring the country together". She then laments the Coalition years when "we had to make concessions". It's amazing how often "unity" means "everyone must agree with me". 719637
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Prodnose: Why do you dislike Jeffrey Archer's books? You've never read one. Me: It's true I've never read one. But I've experienced something arguably worse: listening to Jeffrey Archer reading "Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less" on BBC Radio 4. 010
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialΜΑΝΟΣ ΤΡΑΧΙΑΣ™ @trahias.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Silence of the Sea (2013) by Michiel Schrijver, born in the Netherlands in 1957, and who studied and works in the UK. Acrylic on canvas #art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt 661487
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialThe Fake History Hunter @fakehistoryhunter.net · 25/09/2026Fighter pilot J.J. Hyde, son of Joseph and Millicent Hyde, of San Juan, Trinidad. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Unit, No 132 Squadron. Took off at 15:25 hours on 25 September 1944. Shot down during battle of Arnhem, he was 27. 215517
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialNaomi Smith @pimlicat.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Reform UK's new 'Small Boats Watch' app is not only cruel, it is in clear violation of Apple and Google’s rules and must be removed immediately. You can take action now: bestforbritain.org/take-action/...bestforbritain.orgTell Apple and Google: Remove 'Small Boat Watch' from your app store - Best for Britain 16236126
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 25/09/2026I learn from Wiktionary that in 1573 Thomas Tusser opined: A foole and his money be soone at debate: which after with sorow repents him too late. en.wiktionary.org/wiki/a_fool_...en.wiktionary.orga fool and his money are soon parted - Wiktionary, the free dictionary 020
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialphoenixrising @mmcarthur.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Joan Mirò : The Garden, 1925 Oil on canvas 96 × 80 cm | 37.8 × 31.5 in Reflects Miró's poetic visual language, utilizing simplified organic shapes, biomorphic forms, and a dream or childlike sandbox approach to the subconscious mind. 16961160
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialwomensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Karen Pleass, contemporary Irish textile artist #womensart #Autumn 82744440
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialRoland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 24/09/2026These guys are protesting about 'groups of fighting age men threatening local areas'. You've got to admire the irony. 481121302
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Well, I understand - and approve! - not wearing kilts, but not playing pibroch? How about Northumbrian small pipes? www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHbx...youtube.comThe Wild Hills O'wannieYouTube video by Billy Pigg - Topic 100
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Never mind those Johnny foreigner very late-coming Anglo-Saxons: what about Homo heidelbergensis? Or the Bell Beaker culture? www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/fir... www.mpg.de/18837550/bri...nhm.ac.ukFirst Britons | Natural History MuseumUnearth the one-million-year story of humans in Britain and their struggle to survive in a changing land. 100
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Cue Emo Philips's joke about small differences in religion having potentially major adverse consequences. Alas also applicable to politics, and other human activities. www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/s...!theguardian.comThe best God joke ever - and it's mine!Emo Philips: This morning I received thrilling news: a joke I wrote more than 20 years ago has been voted the funniest religious joke of all time! 010
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialRoland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 24/09/202699.9% of DNA is shared by all humans, which obviously means difference exists only in the remaining 0.1%. Yes, it's another 'Edge Case War'... rolandmcs.substack.com/p/edge-case-...rolandmcs.substack.comThe Edge Case WarsHave the culture wars been misnamed? 66318
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialSean Jones KC @seanjones.org · 23/09/2026I believe trying to define what Englishness is to be a mug’s game. Any attempt to introduce precision results in absurdity. But angry white men in Union Jack underpants do not have a special insight. If your definition is more inclusive it is not watering down any objective standard. 5557
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialDmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 24/09/2026Ok, fine. Clearly you all won't calm down until I do this, so here it is: the definitive list of who is and is not English in alphabetical order... (1/58,722,468) 1926423
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I was going to suggest that his training as a barrister might well have facilitated being able to make a constructive argument at short notice. 120
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialThe Fake History Hunter @fakehistoryhunter.net · 24/09/2026Just the hall at Groningen Station. 729025
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 22/09/2026I confess that in including Lehár I was thinking not about his music, but about Karl Kraus's very negative view of the drama in Lehár, compared with Kraus's positive view of Offenbach. suliram.wordpress.com/2021/09/11/i...suliram.wordpress.comI Believe in the Printer’s GremlinIn 1912 the Viennese writer, satirist and actor Karl Kraus wrote the following under the title above. (The translation is in the highly recommended “In These Great Times (a Karl Kraus reader)… 100
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Well, on the upside Michael Finnissy wrote 36 Verdi Transcriptions. On the downside, heeding the warning in "Ya Got Trouble" in "The Music Man", pretty soon you'll be humming Vivaldi, then Telemann, then Lehar, & you're on an inevitable downwards spiral to humming from 42 Easy Listening Favourites. 220
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialTom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 20/09/2026My latest books cartoon for @theguardian.com 10923274
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialTim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 21/09/2026We're so lucky that British politicians foresaw this risk in 2010 so didn't take that path. Oh wait.... 710338
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 21/09/2026@publicradionerd.bsky.social More implausible than: "Freddie Starr ate my hamster"? Daily Mail headline: Trump privately blames HIMSELF in rare admission after frightening new poll leaves the president with sobering midterm realization 000
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Well, for now it's not anything except a Trump kite-fly which might not or might actually get built. But it's gone from a triumphant arch to an arch with snipers & drones & large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage, so if he ever watches Dr Strangelove who knows what more might be added? 000
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 20/09/2026I should confess to half-looking it up myself. I knew there were several very large flak towers in WW2 Germany, and on looking at the Wikipedia page to check my facts, I found their original German name, which I hadn't known, and which seemed too good a name not to use. 010
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 20/09/2026At all costs, do NOT mention German Flaktürme to him. 3180
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 20/09/2026In the Olympics Contrarian event, far from the British being plucky at most semi-finalists, we have a few genuine gold medal contenders, amongst whom I'd single out Brendan O'Neill as being a strong "favourite". 100
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialMichael Black @michael.bsky.team · 20/09/2026I just learned Goodreads is owned by Amazon. Womp. All the more reason to use @bookhive.buzz or @popfeed.social 55322
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialThe Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 20/09/2026“Trump is the biggest arch villain.” - Why is that, Batman? “For he is the villain who wants the biggest arches.” 58814
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialSam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Labour lead up to 4 points in the latest Ipsos poll. (And congrats to them for using error bars - all pollsters should do this). 2753678
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialDmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 20/09/2026I don't think we disdain the center-right enough. First, they rode nativist populist tigers to power to get their tax cuts and deregulation; Then, they lost control of their own parties to those tigers; Now, they sit in lucrative jobs as columnists writing about how it's all the left's fault. 433126790
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialRuss Jones @russincheshire.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Danny Kruger agrees that wealthy men don't need our help, in a devastating blow to his own policy of abolishing inheritance tax. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...theguardian.comSmall boat arrivals are ‘wealthy men’ who do not deserve help, says Reform’s Danny KrugerThe fact that some migrants pay people smugglers thousands of pounds makes them well off, MP claims 1730165
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialGary Buckley @garybuckley.bsky.social · 19/09/2026© Hannah Höch. 'Mechanical Garden,' 1920. Gouache, watercolour, pen and india ink on paper, 73 × 47 cm. 0647
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialSean Jones KC @seanjones.org · 19/09/2026How quickly the dickheads screaming at the RNLI have forgotten that they were knuckling round shouting “ALL lives matter” just a few months ago. 111917
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialMichael Warburton @michaelwarburton.bsky.social · 19/09/2026The late Cloris Leachman roasts The Actors Studio with the help of Marlon Brando. 217223
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 19/09/2026"There is no more unfortunate creature under the sun than a fetishist who yearns for a woman's shoe and has to settle for the whole woman." --Karl Kraus 000
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialThe Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 18/09/2026In the United Kingdom we also have a constitution day, but its date is not written down. 711010
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Experimental physicist Otto Frisch visited Niels Bohr, saw an upside down horseshoe above the front door, and said to Bohr: "Surely you don't believe in that?" Bohr: "Of course not, but I'm told it works even if you don't believe in it." (I've seen that attributed to others than Bohr.) 000
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Has "quasi-Narnian-Gormenghasts" been used yet? If not, is there some we can use *&* monetise it? 000
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialThe Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 16/09/2026We should be very British about this new independent nation by invading it and claiming it for the Crown. www.bbc.com/news/article...bbc.comPiddington in Oxfordshire votes to leave UK over asylum plansPiddington residents vote over proposals to house up to 1,256 male asylum seekers nearby. 93599102
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialPete Fraser @petefrasermusic.bsky.social · 16/09/2026In the movie version of this, after Piddington runs out of food water and money as a result of leaving the UK, the residents apply for asylum and end up housed in a military base, with HILARIOUS consequences. www.bbc.com/news/article...bbc.comPiddington in Oxfordshire votes to leave UK over asylum plansPiddington residents voted over proposals to house up to 1,256 male asylum seekers nearby 1663523839
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialEl Eremita @dinamitteros.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Vasilij Kandinskij. Curva tranquila. 1924 171778297
colinb8.bsky.social @colinb8.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Extract from Wikipedia on Alito: bsky.app/profile/coli... 020
Reposted by @colinb8.bsky.socialSam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Should have guessed that the thing that would eventually kill off the right's interest in grammar schools would be non-white kids doing too well in the 11+. 36702141
