Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 10hI shall have to start using ‘reesmogged’ as a verb when explaining simple facts to simple people. 010
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Anyone who argues that the ideas of Brexit has right-wing roots would benefit from a study of the 1970’s Labour Party. Also, look at the smoking! x.com/heartlandstr...x.comThe Heartlands Tribune (@HeartlandsTrib) on XThis is the reality MPs don't like 000
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 01/10/2026See also The Nothing Box. 001
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 30/09/2026I’ll be disappointed if I’m not on it. metro.co.uk/2026/09/25/s...metro.co.ukThe government is keeping a list of people who question their policies 000
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 29/09/2026The blessings of the Feast of Michaelmas to you all. 100
Reposted by Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Today would be the day after the Battle of Stamford Bridge, where Anglo-Saxon England was mortally wounded and the Age of the Vikings ended. 111
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Today would be the day after the Battle of Stamford Bridge, where Anglo-Saxon England was mortally wounded and the Age of the Vikings ended. 111
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 25/09/2026At Stamford Bridge, Harald Hardrada had a banner, Landøyðan, ‘The Land-Reaver’ which he took to Stamford Bridge, leading an army of tattooed & ornamented warriors their gold & personal weapons winking in the sunlight. 110
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I’ll bet they laughed at her and were mean to her too. www.thetimes.com/article/5706...thetimes.comSAS are not the heroes they think they are, says whistleblowerMonica Grenfell, who worked at the elite regiment’s Herefordshire HQ for three years, claims soldiers were ‘feral’ and that ‘nasty characters ruled the roost’ 111
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 21/09/2026I have absolutely no problem with Neil Kinnock’s proposal to make voting compulsory as long as the ballot sheet contains a box marked ‘None of the above’ 010
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Laughs in Charlemagne, etc, etc. 020
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 18/09/2026‘And now, we move on, to liars….’ 000
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 17/09/2026The House of Lords did their job, I’m not convinced she did hers in shifting goalposts & ignoring the concerns of organisations representing the people who were likely to have been targeted. The moral certainty of a sixth-form debater & a similar level of emotional resilience. 110
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 16/09/2026oday, 16th September is Owain Glyndŵr Day, another of Wales’ heroes, asleep until needed. #ByronRogers 020
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 15/09/2026I am reminded that today, 15th September is the Feast day of St Niketas the Goth, patron saint of Greek reserve officers (including those who rowed a trireme😉). 010
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Am far foreign tonight with no @BBCiPlayer so here’s an earlier stand up #GodSaveTheKing youtu.be/3ywHuONE2R4?...share.googleGod Save The King - Proms 2024 000
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 12/09/2026TheHillpaul is on holiday. 120
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Well done the House of Lords for giving the Commons the chance to think again. #AssistedDying 110
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Twenty-five years on, looking at the changes in our societies in the West, are we sure we won? 010
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 11/09/2026I’m sure there are many who will be disappointed about the result if the Assisted Dying Bill 2 in Parliament, but I have to say I am profoundly relieved it has been defeated. 112
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Possibly one of the most disingenuous articles written by a politician. ‘I was elected to Westminster two years ago, when the country was crying out for change and looking to parliament to tackle the big issues that had been forgotten for too long’. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comI am sending the assisted dying bill back to the Lords – and this time, peers must do the right thing | Lauren EdwardsThe will of the elected chamber – and a popular, compassionate piece of legislation – must not be frustrated again by a small minority of peers, says Labour MP for Rochester and Strood Lauren Edwards 100
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 07/09/2026‘Either a dragon or a tiger’. 141
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 06/09/2026‘Andronicus II attempted to economise by disbanding the navy….’ ‘Ha, what an idiot’. 010
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 02/09/2026‘Siri, show me an example of Hutber’s Law’. ‘You mean all improvement leads to deterioration?’ ‘Yes, that’s the one’. 010
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Getting an award from a nattily dressed Uncle Harry should be the culmination of any writer’s career. cc @hntdove.bsky.social 110
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Byzantine Bluesky is judging you. 010
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 23/08/2026‘Laughs in Gibraltarian’. 000
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 22/08/2026I *knew* Hagia Sophia used to be yellow! 010
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 22/08/2026And the joy of a beautiful morning in the Celestial Parish to you all. 020
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 19/08/2026‘Grok, create a random image based on my X account’. 010
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 18/08/2026when I went, I was told the whole point was to be even odder when you came out, gratia @pratinavanil.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/article/edd5...thetimes.comKeep universities weird: it’s what they’re forLet’s be proud that the scholarly freedom behind great advances includes both the esoteric genius and the useless crank 000
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Gratia @mrtimdunn.bsky.social on the Other Place. #Eclipse 100
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 10/08/2026This from @timothy_stanley is delicious and mordantly spot-on. digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/2527/re...digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk The Telegraph 000
Reposted by Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 06/08/2026But like Odysseus, I’ve met Teresias & took his advice about going inland until people didn’t recognise what an oar was & thought it was a spade. But in my case inland was an airport & they thought it was a propellor & that, dear reader is how I started my career in aviation. 001
Reposted by Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 06/08/2026The only negative was not being asked to crew the Draken Harald Hårfagre having *ahem* ‘some experience’ rowing boats. 😉 101
Reposted by Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 06/08/2026But the big plus was most of the audience was male and female and under 25. If Nolan can awaken interest in the Odyssey in a new generation then he has done well. 101
Reposted by Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 06/08/2026But the standout character for me was Samantha Morton’s emotionally wounded and isolated Circe who was convincing as a woman who has retreated from the world and needs to control her environment. 101
Reposted by Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 06/08/2026I know there’s been some argle-bargle about individual actors, but Elliot Page bought real pathos to Sinon’s shade in Hades. 101
Reposted by Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Anachronisms always jar & I’m not always a fan of colour-blind casting, but as a text that has been adapted, interpreted & translated so often, I think Nolan’s approach was fresh & interesting with enough echoes to the original that you can squeak with pleasure (swallows call). 101
Reposted by Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Just back from seeing #Odyssey and I have to say I enjoyed it immensely. I’m not a classicist so have no skin in this game, but as a film of the Odyssey, rather than a documentary account it worked for me. 101
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Just back from seeing #Odyssey and I have to say I enjoyed it immensely. I’m not a classicist so have no skin in this game, but as a film of the Odyssey, rather than a documentary account it worked for me. 101
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 06/08/2026‘He knows where the moisturiser is kept’, is my new favourite passive-aggressive insult. 000
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 06/08/2026He won’t or can’t finish it. The kindest thing he can do to his readers is sit down with some aspiring young writer and tell them how he sees the series progressing and finishing, and hand it over. 000
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Please. Make. It. Stop. www.theguardian.com/education/ng...theguardian.comPlaybooks, plagiarism and a pig’s head: new claims surrounding a star Cambridge professorJason Arday was regarded as an academic superstar, but then questions about his work prompted scrutiny of his backstory and counterclaims of racism 020
Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 04/08/2026For some reason, I find this immensely heartening. 000
Reposted by Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’Nigel Hillpaul ن ‘A Colourful Welshman’ @thehillpaul.bsky.social · 31/07/2026I had a headmaster once who told me he shouldn’t be surprised one day to see my name in print. I don‘t think he meant it as a compliment. Gratia @theresthistory.bsky.social 011