iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 01/10/2026

That can't be safe. It is the marine equivalent of the overloaded car... (Also, how do they them off the boat?)

Car with excessive luggage loaded on the back of it

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 26/09/2026

Genuinely thought they'd just put a bow on an 80s Lego horse when I saw the billboard.

Picture of three Lego horses stood in a row on a white background. First horse is black, second is brown and third is white.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 12/09/2026

Not really into Last Night of the Proms but tune in at the end to check whether they are still using our friend Paul's arrangement of Auld Lang Syne. Glad to report that they are.

Photo of TV showing wide scene of inside Royal Albert Hall with crowd and orchestra. Overlaid text says Auld Lang Syne TRAD arr. PAUL CAMPBELL.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 23/08/2026

Decided this was not the year to give my wife this card.... (tbf, it's not exactly a great card to give at any time if you have an ICD fitted) #achd

Card that reads My Heart Goes Boom When You Walk In The Room.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 14/08/2026

Not the evening I was planning ... #achd

Shows hospital wristband on my wrist with my name and gender on it.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 09/08/2026

I really don't like that I am flying between NI and GB, but there is no realistic alternative. The upside is that this is my view at 4pm the day before I'm back at work.

Image of large beach and sea with green grasses in foreground. The sky is blue with clouds.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 29/07/2026

That thing where it's difficult to work out where Scotland ends and Northern Ireland begins.

View looking over the Firth of Clyde from Culzean Castle. In the foreground are trees, bushes and grass; and a row of small cannons. Beyond is the sea with the sub setting on the horizon. Zoom in and your can see land on the horizons; namely (from r-l) Arran, Mull of Kintyre and the Antrim coast in the far distance.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 17/07/2026

Was it a meeting about trying to reduce cardiac disease?

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 28/06/2026

On parking duty at local football tournament. More stressful than it should be.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 14/06/2026

I'm going to be honest, I wasn't expecting to see this when I logged in to my NHS App this evening. (I'm **really** hoping they have just miscoded my ACHD clinic letter, but still...)

All health conditions
2 April 2026

Deep venous thrombosis

Significance: Significant

Status: Active

Notes:

Right femoral vein obstruction

4 October 2024

Immunisation course to maintain protection against SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2)

Significance: Minor

Status: Past

Ended: 1 November 2024

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 14/06/2026

I'm all for standing up for what's important to you, but spending £19k because your monthly copy of Saga magazine no longer comes through the post seems, erm, questionable at the very least. @apiln.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/article/f51d...

I’d do it again’ — the man who lost £19k fighting Saga subscription bill
James Ahmed was so annoyed when his lifetime subscription went from print to digital that he took the company to court
James Ahmed’s two-year legal wrangle ended with defeat in the court on Monday

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 12/06/2026

Anyone know if I am answering Yes as in "Yes I can do this" or Yes as in "Yes this is an issue." #fixtheforms

Lifestyle Questionnaire

Which eye(s) are affected?*
Left
Right
Both eyes

Reading e.g., Newspapers, books, shop signs etc*
Yes
No
Unsure

Hobbies including sports, crafts etc*
Yes
No
Unsure

Mobility e.g., Driving, seeing bus numbers, crossing roads, difficulty on uneven ground such as steps*
Yes
No
Unsure

Do you have difficulty with glare in bright conditions (e.g., from sunlight)?*
Yes
No
Unsure

Do you have difficulty with glare in dim conditions (e.g., headlights from oncoming cars/streetlights)?*
Yes
No
Unsure

000

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 03/06/2026

Seat News this month appears to be a new, unconventional, approach to sitting on a seat. Presumably in a Seat.

Woman in the interior of a car. She is sitting in the left-hand side drivers seat with her feet in between the driver's and passenger's seats. The woman is wearing a green shirt and beige skirt.

020

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 30/05/2026

I hate to be that person, but this is the IMD rating for the postcode of the cafe.

Screen grab of Index of Multiple Deprivation showing that SK1 3AL is in the 93% of deprivation.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 25/05/2026

Unfortunate juxtaposition on @thetimes.com homepage this morning...

Screenshot of The Times homepage.

Text reads: Russia ‘jammed signals of RAF jet’ carrying defence secretary
John Healey was flying home after visiting British troops stationed in Estonia, which is seen as a likely target for an invasion

Below this is a picture of a wingwalker on a red bi-plane

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 23/05/2026

Move over CP Scott, @jim.londoncentric.media is here! Somewhat unfortunate typo in the show notes from this week's Media @themediaclub.com podcast.

Screen grab of text that reads: Charlotte Tobitt of Press Gazette, Guardian founder Jim Waterson and BBC Studios Audio's Thomas Curry

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 15/05/2026

Lovely package on ITV News earlier today promoting volunteering in the NHS. With Angela Rippon, no less. www.itv.com/watch/news/n...

Angela Rippon talking to patients on a ward.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 04/05/2026

From the RSC from a few years back. Felt a bit stating the obvious.

Red sign with white writing:

RICHARD III COBTAINS SCENES OF DESTH, VIOLENCE AND THREAT.

THIS PRODUCTION USES LATEX BALLOONS, ONE OF WHICBH IS POPPED ONSTAGE

110

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 25/04/2026

Somewhat odd that the BBC Cov & Warks headlines are all about the London Marathon.

Screen grab of BBC News app saying 'News from Coventry and Warwickshire '

The four story headlines are:
• 'I have no kidneys but I am doing the London Marathon for the second time'
• Stories to make you smile from across the West Midlands
• How to run a marathon, from those who have done it
• Marathon mistakes: when races go wrong.

000

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 11/04/2026

Back from a fortnight of interrailing around Germany with the kids. Even added a quick day-trip over the border to Salzburg. Can thoroughly recommend Munich and Nuremberg as places to visit. And Legoland!

Two children sitting on grey train seats. The table in front of them is covered with debris including food packaging, water bottles, a Nintendo Switch and pink headphones. The kids faces have been coloired out.

2110

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 26/03/2026

Got to hang out at Parliament this afternoon to mark #SocialPrescribingDay, and be in the company of a luminary like Angela Rippon. Main takeaway is that social prescribing is already mainstay in the NHS, but the 10HYP's focus on neighbourhoods and prevention embeds it further still.

Angela Rippon stares directly at my camera whilst speaking at the podium.

120

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 26/03/2026

Second of two days in London. This time a view of the River.

View of Westminster Bridge from the terrace at the Houses of Parliament. Behind the bridge is the London Eye and the Shell building.

000

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 25/03/2026

First of two days in London. We have a nice view of the canal.

Canal in foreground with red brick buildings on far side and glass office block on the nearside.

101

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 23/03/2026

Agree! I was there and got a selfie with him!

Me with George Webster. On wearing my suit, George is where a stripped top and glasses.

011

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 09/03/2026

Early doors trip to Leeds. On a new LNR train for the first time.

Looking down the carriage on new LNR train.

Looking up the carriage on new LNR train. Rows of empty green seats.

240

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 08/02/2026

Enjoyable afternoon in the company of Stephen Fry at De Montfort Hall in Leicester.

Picture form the audience of the stage at De Montfort Hall with Stephen Fry on stage with interviewer. Behind is a large picture of Stephen Fry.

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Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 07/02/2026

Entirely pointless tickets.

Two rail tickets that say Seat Reservation, then with details of the specific train, and then "No specific seat reserved".

050

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 05/02/2026

Any guesses where I am?

In an atrium looking up. In the foreground some trees with green leaves in a large container. Above them, six or seven floors up, is a glass roof. You can see bits of a walkway with frosted glass behind the trees.

000

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 01/02/2026

This Sunday @thetimes.com interview with Wetherspoon's Tim Martin has a hilarious typo in it. See if you can spot it.

Screen grab of The Times newspaper article. Text reads: Martin was certainly an enthusiastic campaigner for Brexit, giving £200,000 to Vote Leave. He does not spill a drop of regret, pointing out that Remain-backing economists warned hundreds of jobs would be lost if Britain quit the UK. In reality, he points out, there are now over two million more people in work than before the referendum.

000

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 27/01/2026

They are on the app/website...

Screengrab from National Trust website. Text reads:

Train
We're just a 20 minute (1 mile) walk or a short taxi ride from Coventry train station.

Bus
You can jump on the X18 (Stagecoach bus) to Stratford from Stop TS2 near Sainsbury's in Coventry city centre, arriving on London Road right by the entrance to Charterhouse (nearest stop – Acacia Avenue) in just 10 minutes. The X18 runs every 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can catch the 3 (National Express Coventry bus) towards Warwickshire Shopping Park from Cross Cheaping (Stop BS6) in Coventry city centre, arriving at Humber Avenue on London Road right by the back entrance to Charterhouse in just 7 minutes.

110

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 22/01/2026

Hospital appointment people, please don't do this. The appointment time you give should be when you want me to get there, not "your appointment is at X so please arrive 30 mins beforehand so you can be seen by some other staff."

Your transthoracic echocardiogram appointment is on XXX XXX at XXX XXX at Clinic 5, 2nd Floor, KGV Building, Barts Heart Centre, EC1A 7BE. Please arrive 30 minutes early in order to have your height, weight, blood pressure and electrocardiogram performed. If you also have a doctor's appointment on the same day you will receive a separate reminder for this. Please arrive on time for your echocardiogram, if you are late we may not be able to see you. To cancel or rebook call 0203 765 8765/8716

120

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 18/01/2026

The BBC News homepage currently has a clip in their Video Playlist of Blue singing One Love. Has the Radio 4 DOG ident but absolutely no context as to why they are there. So assuming it's the Today programme is desperately trying to find ways to keep Amol Rajan from leaving.

Screengrab of video on BBC News website with split screen showing members of the band Blue signing into microphones in a studio. In the top right hand corner is the Radio 4 ident.

100

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 18/01/2026

Forgot about this from earlier in the week, when I got the Avanti West Coast disco carriage. (It was doing this all the way home!)

110

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 04/01/2026

Tbf, if you read the actual story he says they don't want to send their children to private school, not necessarily that they can't afford it.

Text from Telegraph article: Our children go to state schools and we don’t plan to send them to private schools, as it is not something we would like – nor could we easily afford it with three of them.

041

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 29/12/2025

Weirdly neither had I until very recently when I stayed in the new Hyatt in Leeds. Alarm clock looked like it had come from the last century. Just checked and it is in the promo photos on their website.

Image shows hotel room, edge of bed, chair and footstool and bedside table with a cup and alarm clock on it.

010

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 20/12/2025

This is like Canoe man all over again. The police dog just wanted a new job... @apiln.bsky.social

Screenshot from BBC News.

Text reads: News from Coventry & Warwickshire.

1st Headline: Fire service welcome new investigation dog

2nd Headline: Tributes to fearless award-winning police dog.

010

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 19/12/2025

The Christmas issue Radio Times this year is £6.50. Which is only 20p less than the cost of the TV licence fee for the fortnight it covers.

Front cover of Christmas Radio Times showing Gromit and Shaun the Sheep.

031

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 19/11/2025

And so to Leeds. (Albeit not on the Pullman, which was waiting on the next platform)

Blue HST train carriages with Pullman branding alongside a platform.

140

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 16/11/2025

This Christmas I will be buying all my loved ones eco-friendly clothes pegs...

Email screenshot. Words say: nona. Give the gift of sustainable joy this Christmas - enjoy 20% off when you spend £50 or more. Image below shows two green plastic clothes pegs holding red and white fabrics on a clothes line. There are green trees in the background.

010

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 04/11/2025

This is probably the least scandalous scandal since Blue Peter misnamed their cat...

Screenshot from The Times...

Mamdani’s gaffe over ‘aunt’s’ fear of wearing hijab after 9/11

The mayoral candidate faced pushback after recounting a story about an aunt who was too afraid to wear a hijab on the subway amid rising Islamophobia in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks.

Mamdani told the story after his rival, Andrew Cuomo, laughed in the middle of a radio show when the host suggested Mamdani would “cheer” if another 9/11 took place.

But Mamdani later faced scrutiny and accusations of lying after revealing the woman he was referring to in the story was actually his father’s cousin. He claimed he had called her “aunt” all his life.

“Zehra fuhi, my father’s cousin, who passed away a few years ago,” he said. Fuhi means aunt in Urdu and Hindi.

120

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 26/10/2025

Brilliant article. I was going to leave a comment, but then I saw the number and just couldn't bring myself to ruin it...

Screen grab from the article. Large text reads: 61 comments.

030

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 25/10/2025

Crowds waiting for Sam Heughan after the production.

Crowd of around 50 people stood outside the stage door at the Other Place theatre.

010

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 26/09/2025

Can we get Neil Pearson and Siobhan Redmond back to sort it all out...

Neil Pearson (white male with dark hair in gray suit with red and white tie) and Siobhan Redmond (white female with red hair wearing pinkish jacket and white shirt) in press shot for Between The Lines TV show. They are shown in front of street scene.

020

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 21/09/2025

As modern art galleries go, the Baltic is up there on my list of favourites. (And not just because I get to do the Dad joke about it not just being a bit cold, etc)

View of the Tyne from the Level 5 gallery of the Baltic. In the foreground is part of the Gateshead Millennium bridge, behind it further down the river is the Glasshouse music centre and the Tyne Bridge. There is a clear blue sky.

010

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 14/09/2025

I learned this from Meg and Mog...

Picture of pages from Mog in the Fog book. Speech bubble says "Now we make tea." / "Good tea. Good butter in it."

000

Olly Benson @ollybenson.uk · 12/09/2025

But sometimes it could be...

Grap showing Internet Explorer usage and murders in the US. The green bars show murders and a blue line shows market share of IE. The line maps the green bars exactly, going from high on the left to low on the right.

010