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Michael Kilpatrick

@mtkilpatrick.bsky.social
289 followers 401 following 1.3K posts

Baritone saxophonist, Duke Ellington devotee. Harmony In Harlem jazz orchestra. Liberal Democrat, federalist, poet. Former VLSI engineer at ARM. South Cambs, UK. #NAFO - spend money to free Ukraine.

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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
DON'T TOP POST. It's bloody irritating. Someone just added me to an email conv. on Duke Ellington, with a question about the Togo Brava Suite. I don't understand the question because the whole thread is upside down, unintelligible. At ARM I learnt to reply /after/ the quoted email. Common sense.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
1/ Call me mad, but I decided to undertake a restoration of this old baritone saxophone case. The leatherette is half gone and the plywood carcass is falling apart.
Disintegrating baritone sax case, at least 60 years old, I believe.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Apparently, we'll get about 90% of the eclipse in South Cambridgeshire, so I improvised this projector using a magnifying glass, a jeweller's loupe, some thermoplastic, two microphone stands and a load of cardboard.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Nigel Farage has both offered to pay for an unnecessary by-election and, barely two hours earlier, claimed that he couldn't be bothered to make an insurance claim on a vehicle that had to be written off. Being so blase about money is something the electorate should worry about. #NigelFarage
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
If Farage loses his self-inflicted by-election, he could, in a year's time, vie to become chairman of FIFA. That's a role very much suited to a grifter, I gather.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
If the people of Clacton believe that by re-electing Farage to Parliament they will show that their mandate locally is more important than the laws of the land, then they really all can fuck off. They would be showing just what they think of democracy and the rule of law.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
So, do I take it that Farage genuinely believes that a mandate from the electoral overrides the rules of the Parliament? Parliament can sod its rules because he's got a mandate? Wow.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
"People vs the establishment by-election"? No, it's just a by-election, and the Standards Committee investigation will continue regardless.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Oh, guess what? He's back to the "men can't wear watches in London" trope again.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Witter, witter, witter, witter, witter. Just get to the point, you grifting liar. I already know the outcome as I'm watching on a short delay...but seriously...witter, witter, witter, witter.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Why is he referring to Charlie Kirk but not to actual British MPs who were murdered?
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Farage is such a grifter that he can afford to have a car written off without making an insurance claim. That is subtley disturbing.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Is this frog-faced grifter going to ramble on for half an hour trying to justify his multiple income streams and pretend that personal donations (err, do I mean for security?) simply aren't relevant in the 12 months before an election?
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Reposted by Michael Kilpatrick
East Anglia Bylines @eastangliabylines.co.uk · 06/06/2026
You can read this in under a minute: After Rupert Lowe spent days criticising a Pride flag, one Great Yarmouth resident posted a pithy response.
eastangliabylines.co.uk
A constituent’s pithy message for Rupert Lowe
After reading a post on Facebook from his MP, Rupert Lowe, Great Yarmouth resident Karl Sherwood felt compelled to reply
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
1/ Wish me luck, @breakintoprogram.co.uk. It's microwave switch repair time!
Neff microwave control unit.
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Reposted by Michael Kilpatrick
Pascal Savelon 🎷 @psavelon.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Hip Chic - fashion with Duke Ellington ellingtonlive.blogspot.com/2026/02/hip-... #jazz #DukeEllington jazzsky
ellingtonlive.blogspot.com
Hip Chic
Duke Ellington Live Billy Strayhorn Johnny Hodges Paul Gonsalves Ben Webster
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
1/ Quick thread on a bit of electronics DIY. I've got this Dymo label machine but it's REALLY ANNOYING because it runs on six AAA cells. Yro, bonkers. And it won't take 6 rechargeable AAAs because that's only 7.2V, not 9V. Here is the battery compartment.
Dymo 160 Label Maker
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Nice bit of wiring in the garage, sorting out the mess of the armoured cables. Tidying up long overdue. Previous owners were a bit messy. I've used some PVC mini-trunking, and that's still a work in progress.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
The stupidity of having an executive president rather than a parliamentary government doesn't really appear to be sinking in for people in the USA. They're not going to change their flawed constitution, ever.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
#bbcqt Pothole man must have been a BBC plant to get a laugh right at the end
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
#bbcqt If we don't have a Land Value Tax, there will never be a penalty for brownfield site owners to leave them undeveloped. Quite simple, really. Brown wasteland, no buildings? No tax. No incentive to build, no penalty not to.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
#bbcqt Green Belt is itself a stupid construct that tries to defy 10,000 years of urban development and stop the natural growth of towns and cities. Ridiculous.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
#bbcqt Shame Mrs Yellowjacket is rambling and incoherent as some reasonable points were buried in there. But, Mrs, you need to pay attention to politics to know who represents what you want for the country. It's on you.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
#bbcqt Look folks, like it or not, we vote for a person not a party, and MPs are representatives, not delegates. Do you want to vote for a party without knowing the person? Do you want politics to be even more party-dominated, or for MPs to be more individualistic?
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
#bbcqt I started following this hashtag on "that other place" but found the proportion of nasty, racist, Trump-supporting loond is reaching epidemic levels. Yuck.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Calling anyone in the UK who knows how to find wild and constructive volunteering opportunities for a 19-yr old, whether it's digging wells for people in Timbuktu, or anything - if you know what I mean. Our Tom really needs something to keep him on track.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
NATO is already dead in the water thanks to Trump's antics over Greenland and his insults to many member states. Denmark should ask the UK and Canada to help undertake Arctic monitoring from Greenland and expel the USA forthwith. There is little point prolonging this. #NAFO #NATO #Greenland
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
There should be a full stop before the word "if". #NAFO BBC News - UK and France to send troops to Ukraine if peace deal agreed www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
UK and France to send troops to Ukraine if peace deal agreed with Russia
The announcement was made by UK PM Sir Keir Starmer after a meeting of Ukraine's allies in Paris.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Makes a change from falling out of a window, which is the more usual form of vertically-inspired Russian "accident".
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Disclaimer: does not apply to archipelagoes in the Indian Ocean. BBC News - Only Greenland should decide its future, Starmer says - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Only Greenland should decide its future, Starmer says
It comes after President Trump again said
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Reposted by Michael Kilpatrick
Wendy Chamberlain MP @wendychambld.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Yesterday on Times Radio, we discussed Venezuela and Trump. Keir Starmer should condemn Trump’s illegal action in Venezuela - Maduro is a brutal and illegitimate leader, but riding roughshod over international law like this only makes Britain and the world less safe.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
If Trump actually goes ahead and recognises the Russian annexation of Crimea and the Donbass, the USA needs to be expelled from NATO immediately. #NAFO #Ukraine
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
The fact that Ukraine is on the edge of a precipice yet has two anti-corruption agencies going at it hammer-and-tongs is why we should double our support. #NAFO BBC News - Zelensky's chief of staff resigns after Ukrainian anti-corruption raid on his home www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak resigns after anti-corruption raid
Yermak, 54, has been Zelensky's closest adviser throughout Russia's full-scale war.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Just what is it about China being our actual enemy that people don't understand? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
UK expected to approve plans for Chinese mega embassy
A final decision has not yet been formally taken but the controversial project is expected to be given the go-ahead.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
#bbcqt Boy turns up straight from a cricket pitch to say Farage should be in charge, but not actually saying how he sees Farage as not being establishment.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
#bbcqt Flipping heck, this mad woman thinks that investing in technology related to Net Zero is bad and that this, and not the stupid mechanism that ties energy costs to the price of gas-powered generation etc, is responsible for high domestic energy costs.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
#bbcqt To paraphrase the Tory MP: "Some people wanted to lock down sooner. Other people didn't care how many people died."
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
I think you'll find that it's hate and victim-blaming that are tearing the UK apart, you silly cow, not immigrants of any sort. BBC News - Illegal migration tearing UK apart, Mahmood says - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Illegal migration tearing UK apart, Mahmood says
The home secretary is set to announce major policy reforms, including a 20-year wait before people granted asylum can apply to settle permanently.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Bob Hunt's Harlem Jazz Orchestra playing my transcription of Swanee Shuffle, as recorded by Duke Ellington in 1929. Absolutely love playing this, and I'm proud of brief Carneyesque solo near the end. youtu.be/3DpHMTSQ9JM
youtu.be
Harlem Jazz Orchestra play "Swanee Shuffle" from 1929.
YouTube video by Harlem Jazz Orchestra
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
The BBC News are getting a bit sloppy with their proofreading. The word "policies" is missing from the end of the headline for this article by Chris Mason.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Bloody hell, I ordered two boring domestic products in bulk from Superdrug and ASOS. Both to be delivered by Evri. The ASOS was damaged by Evri and can't be delivered, and the Superdrug one was allegedly shipped 6 days ago but doesn't appear to have been received by Evri yet.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Bloody hell, stop asking if I've got any allergies when ordering a meal. I'm quite sure that people who actually have allergies always make a point of asking.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Just a thought on a reflective day when dim and distant events come to mind: explaining one’s actions to those affected by them can sometimes matter more than the actions themselves.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Something gentle and reflective for anyone who is in a melancholy mood this week. Duke Ellington small-group recording from 1936: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1VO...
youtube.com
Lament For A Lost Love
YouTube video by Duke Ellington - Topic
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
1/ One more thing: I had a lovely dinner with my old friend Maureen (a Holywood actress) at a splendid restaurant, Albi, in the #WashingtonDC Navy Yard district. The sort of place where advance booking is essential and there's a deposit forfeit for late cancellation (not what I'd normally choose)...
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
The Library of Congress doubles as a set for a zombie hospital horror film.
Corridor of the Library of Congress in Washington DC.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
1/ Thanks to a recommendation, I went to Signature Theatre, Arlington, near DC, on Friday night to see "Play On" - Twelfth Night set in Duke Ellington's Harlem. Marvellous fun, and my pot-luck table fellows were wonderful. A family from Atlanta who came up to see their daughter in the show.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
I think I slept longer on the Elizabeth Line than I did on my overnight flight back from Washington DC, to the point where I almost overshot Liverpool Street. Oops.
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Michael Kilpatrick @mtkilpatrick.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
I still don't get why the Elizabeth Line is some sort of quantum line - it's both part of the Underground and it's not, especially when trying to get a Greater Anglia open return to Heathrow T5 from my village. It's nonsensical.
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