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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 1h

He did A Song For You?!?! I’d have wept.

Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 8h

I used to love this album (and I had it on cassette!)… and yes, looking back, a song like Shades is one of the best things Bowie was involved with in the 80d.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 15h

TeleMadrid if anyone says something mean about Princess Isabel Ayuso.

static.klipy.com

Slain Devastated

ALT: Slain Devastated

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Cliff Richards. Not a mistake after all.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I haven’t seen the long film because I suspect it would spoil it for me.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Oh, I thought that was her successfully having a foot in both camps. Liked it a lot. The TV performance especially. A bit of winking archness. ‘Look what I’m doing’. And I’m speaking as someone who wants ‘start with the chorus and stop after 2mins 30secs’ to be the law.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The reaction to Will on here is just insane. I keep trying to find what people are so angry about, in vain.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Amelia’s singing on Shallow. Perfect.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

A Matter Of Life And Death is like one of those great albums where you really have to push beyond the amazing opening track.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Also, the idea that ‘a Pret’ signifies anything is a bit daft.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Yes, I get that. What I mean is that you can’t take ‘that’ and transpose it onto what a very small sample of people say on a different continent with a completely different history.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Right, Trump who was elected by? :)

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

My reaction would be ‘yeah, I suppose I’m British. Technically. It’s the name of a political union’. But I don’t feel it, the way Americans feel ‘American’. And I’d suspect they were trying to prove a point by pushing it.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Perhaps. But I think the acceptance of ‘English’/‘Scottish’ as identities has spread way beyond white people. But yes, it can still be a loaded word. Trouble is, if I had someone demanding to know if I felt ‘British’ I’d assume they were one of those mad American racists we get on the internet.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I don’t think ‘British’ is comparable with ‘American’. Most British people will tell you they are English, or Scottish, or Welsh, or Cornish ahead of ‘British’. I just don’t think ‘British’ is a word many people feel strongly about. I would never say it in Spain. ‘Soy inglés’.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

People in Boston will tell you they are Irish. Not sure it’s that different.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Should be direct trains to Britain’s biggest airport from more places in Britain.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Even Slough means a change. I guess there’s a bus, but good luck with suitcases and excited/tired kids.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Yes, and even if you get a direct train to Kings Cross it’s still easy to transfer to a Gatwick train… compared to the ball-ache of crossing London to get to Heathrow.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

And it’s not just the north. The Great Western rail line zooms right by Heathrow… on its way to Paddington. Then you head back to Heathrow, on exactly the same line for most of the journey.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Yes, the ‘direct’ is key. A 3-hour rail journey from the north is one thing. A 3-hour rail journey that involves lugging your cases through Euston and Paddington is another thing.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

All very odd. Obviously there would be no reporting of anything that might identify the victim, so might be impossible to piece together… but even so, a ‘celeb’ jailed for three years would be noticed, you’d think.

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Reposted by Simon Smith

Leonard Pierce @leonardpierce.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Quote of the Day: "There is no glory in victory, and to glorify it despite this is to exult in the killing of men. When great numbers of people are killed, one should weep over them with sorrow. When victorious in war, one should observe mourning rites." (Sun Tzu)

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I mean, especially not ‘Remember… The Yardbirds’.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I’ll check my charity shop copy to make sure it isn’t inscribed with ‘DLC’

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

An Alternative European Treasure.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Reminded of the weekly newspaper in Buckinghamshire where we asked why there was a hole in the wall and were told ‘that’s when the editor comes to bollock us and slams his door open’. Weekly newspaper. Buckinghamshire.

theguardian.com

Toxic bosses: why do companies protect managers who make working life hell?

Bullying, manipulation and intimidation can destroy lives, yet abusive authoritarians continue to rise to the top. How do they get away with it – and can they be brought to heel?

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Always hilarious when they bleat about ‘censorship’.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

That ‘Remember The Yardbirds’ compilation is great (the only Yardbirds record I own) but blimey, it’s a stinker of a cover.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

This is surely illegal. I assume he’s going to be arrested.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

He does look amazing in the video. A sneering cross between Martin Luther and the child-catcher.

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Didn’t know he didn’t like it. I think Virgin did, because I first heard it when it was bundled with Making Plans For Nigel and Senses Working Overtime a 12-inch of Mayor Of Simpleton (back when record companies used to bung hits out as B-sides) so it was clearly treated by the suits as a ‘big one’

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Simon Smith @simonsmith.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Cover isn’t messing around either.