Nick Rowe

Special Offa is a great name for a new Coventry medieval ska band.

Cracking first book. Enjoyable series but the fear of being slaughtered by barbarians was visceral in that first one.

This feels like the first line to a mediocre but reasonably enjoyable novel. Carry on and let's see where it goes.

VAR should be so simple and yet they have made it the worst thing in football.
* Have 30 secs to check if ref has missed something, then move on
* Captains can request 3 checks per game
* Does not go back earlier in play to check other stuff.
Simple. Fixes obvious errors & lets the game flow.

You... WANTED a leaf blower?

Get a broom.

Ah, tecknickly, not Nottingham. You probably don't even need a passport.

This alien part of Nottingham, how weird are we talking then? Sneinton or Aspley/Bestwood?

I mean, yeah, it's bad & annoying, but let's not lose perspective. A wooden ruler across the knuckles would suffice.

But multiple spaces at the start of a line instead of tab or correct paragraph settings definitely deserves something more severe.

Was just down at the 9 locks!

I wonder whether the recent high-profile arrest on a specific person's birthday was just a means of Charles avoiding an awkward party.

I've just finished Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by KJ Parker. The main character has significant Vimes vibes and his right hand man is basically Carrot. Very enjoyable.

Snap.

I think that's a valid point. Best gig I saw was the Stone Roses at Sheffield Arena (closed roof) Dec 1995. Much better than at the Etihad stadium decades later. Arctic Monkeys at Cov Arena (open air stadium) made me realise I much prefer smaller venues.

I went through a Gothic phase in my early 20s & loved Frankenstein & Dracula. Got halfway through Wuthering Heights before throwing it down in boredom. Tedious & boring up to that point but I heard later that it gets a bit weird & grisly in the 2nd half (if you can stay interested that long).

Thank you! 😊

This has to be the most ballsy play of a losing hand in the entire history of warfare. They should make a film of this. Very Master and Commander, but real and much more unlikely.

Putrichor

One of the most fascinating things about the UK weather is that it can be 13 degrees C on ANY DAY OF THE YEAR. Which means we have mildly different seasons, all of which are completely tolerable. No Arctic winters or Saharan summers. But just enough variation to moan about. Perfect.

Talking about the Muppet Show & colour, I grew up watching them in black & white. Then towards the end of the 70s we got a colour tv.
Oh. My. God.
The opening song had pulsating colours in the arches, not just grey. An absolute revelation.

Likewise, theatres with the original seats.

I've loved Motown & Northern Soul & old RnB since I was a 12 yr old Mod in 1980. Beautiful, joyful grooves. And then a few years later I saw footage of Northern Soul dancing & thought WTF is that all about? It's a bit like gymnasts with background music.

We've had power cutting out a few times. Roll on noon when it'll start to calm down a bit.

Are they allergic to dull politicians that are borderline competent? We usually excel at that kind of thing.

Nike (2 syllables) means Victory in Greek. It's deliberate not a fucking coincidence. Sport. Victory. Get it?

Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.

"AI isn't psychic or magic. When writing a prompt, remember that it's fundamentally a bloody idiot."

Oh god, they'd make middle aged white people do rap battles. And we saw what happened with breakdancing.

Lovely stuff. Good to see your poetic licence is up to date... You can pay monthly by direct debit too.

I've run across that bit of road a few times. A lot of tarmac to cover, but it's not nearly as fun (terrifying) as legging it across the M18 outside Doncaster or the 5 lane one-way street that is Rue de la Loi in Brussels.

Ah, G-Town, as it was known to my daughters who had to get on the bus to go to school there. It is a pretty shitty shopping experience.

I managed to do that yesterday (I'm lucky enough to be in the Dordogne at the moment). Days and days of pissing it down and yesterday was mild and sunny. A good walk ensued. Do it!