Simon Smith
@simonsmith.bsky.social
Journalist. Ex-Trinity Mirror, Manchester Evening News, etc. ‘I don’t know the sort of people who know the date’
MDANT in Madrid. Pop music mainly.
MDANT in Madrid. Pop music mainly.
Once again, I have questions.
Connections
Puzzle #901
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Connections
Puzzle #901
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🟦🟦🟦🟦
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November 27, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Once again, I have questions.
Connections
Puzzle #901
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
Connections
Puzzle #901
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
Started watching Fawlty Towers with the boy, and his 13-year-old reaction, straight away, was ‘awww… I feel sorry for Manuel. It’s not his fault’.
I’ve explained that you do start to see a different side to Manuel - and that even from the beginning it’s clear that Polly and Terry are his friends.
I’ve explained that you do start to see a different side to Manuel - and that even from the beginning it’s clear that Polly and Terry are his friends.
November 27, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Started watching Fawlty Towers with the boy, and his 13-year-old reaction, straight away, was ‘awww… I feel sorry for Manuel. It’s not his fault’.
I’ve explained that you do start to see a different side to Manuel - and that even from the beginning it’s clear that Polly and Terry are his friends.
I’ve explained that you do start to see a different side to Manuel - and that even from the beginning it’s clear that Polly and Terry are his friends.
This remains the greatest ever visual representation of the poptimism v. experimental conflict inherent in all great music.
...and obviously it popped up again on The Muppet Show in 1976 – and those of us who were children at the time have never been the same again
Mahna Mahna, by The Snowths in The Muppet Show (1969)
YouTube video by Jérôme Labbé
youtu.be
November 27, 2025 at 10:02 AM
This remains the greatest ever visual representation of the poptimism v. experimental conflict inherent in all great music.
Really showing my age here…
November 27, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Really showing my age here…
Reposted by Simon Smith
Another way of looking at this, of course, is that if you took the triple lock out of the equation, the benefits bill would very likely roughly be increasing in line with projected inflation *if that*
November 26, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Another way of looking at this, of course, is that if you took the triple lock out of the equation, the benefits bill would very likely roughly be increasing in line with projected inflation *if that*
I really wish left-wing people would stop sharing ‘Rachael from accounts’ memes. It’s misogynistic shit.
November 26, 2025 at 11:11 PM
I really wish left-wing people would stop sharing ‘Rachael from accounts’ memes. It’s misogynistic shit.
How anyone thinks killing people helps anything. How much do we have to clarify this?
Oh FFS. Can everything go back to normal now? Please.
November 26, 2025 at 11:00 PM
How anyone thinks killing people helps anything. How much do we have to clarify this?
Oh FFS. Can everything go back to normal now? Please.
November 26, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Oh FFS. Can everything go back to normal now? Please.
When I showed my son (13) that @vsauce.bsky.social was one of the hosts of The Rest Is Science he said ‘what, is he their first guess?’
‘No, he’s one of the presenters’
‘What, all the time? That’s SOOOO cool!’
‘No, he’s one of the presenters’
‘What, all the time? That’s SOOOO cool!’
LBJ's Humpday Podcast Picks for Nov 26th
This week’s picks turn everyday phenomena into existential rabbit holes, reminding us that reality is not only incomplete, but wildly more bizarre than fiction.
h/t @cancerresearchuk.org @vsauce.bsky.social
medium.com/@lanrickbenn...
This week’s picks turn everyday phenomena into existential rabbit holes, reminding us that reality is not only incomplete, but wildly more bizarre than fiction.
h/t @cancerresearchuk.org @vsauce.bsky.social
medium.com/@lanrickbenn...
November 26, 2025 at 4:42 PM
When I showed my son (13) that @vsauce.bsky.social was one of the hosts of The Rest Is Science he said ‘what, is he their first guess?’
‘No, he’s one of the presenters’
‘What, all the time? That’s SOOOO cool!’
‘No, he’s one of the presenters’
‘What, all the time? That’s SOOOO cool!’
Can’t believe press are still doing stories based on ‘what four or five people say on Twitter’.
Viewers are complaining about GMB.
But wait, they're complaining because GMB spent time talking about the '50 year-old story' of Farage's bigotry, which these viewers saw as ancient, irrelevant news (about their hero).
Goes to show that GMB is 'GB News-lite'.
www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/g...
But wait, they're complaining because GMB spent time talking about the '50 year-old story' of Farage's bigotry, which these viewers saw as ancient, irrelevant news (about their hero).
Goes to show that GMB is 'GB News-lite'.
www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/g...
Good Morning Britain reaches a 'new low' as ITV show flooded with complaints
Good Morning Britain viewers were left feeling frustrated on Tuesday
www.mirror.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Can’t believe press are still doing stories based on ‘what four or five people say on Twitter’.
Lord, I love Low. Every ‘era’.
November 25, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Lord, I love Low. Every ‘era’.
When did Wired become the last bastion of great, clever, popular journalism? It’s so, so good at the moment.
Elon Musk claims Grok's "epic vulgar roasts" can "make people really laugh at a party" so I took him up on it and used my coworkers as guinea pigs: www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
Elon Musk Said Grok’s Roasts Would Be ‘Epic’ at Parties—So I Tried It on My Coworkers
It went about as well as you’d expect.
www.wired.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:06 PM
When did Wired become the last bastion of great, clever, popular journalism? It’s so, so good at the moment.
Barcelona, menos que un club?
November 25, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Barcelona, menos que un club?
Who at the BBC thought a man who set up a ‘School For Moral Ambition’ would keep quiet about this?
To quote Ian Brown, ‘amateurs’.
To quote Ian Brown, ‘amateurs’.
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Who at the BBC thought a man who set up a ‘School For Moral Ambition’ would keep quiet about this?
To quote Ian Brown, ‘amateurs’.
To quote Ian Brown, ‘amateurs’.
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 50.
Billie Eilish - Birds Of A Feather (US 2024)
She’s a classicist really. And she leans into it here with a song your gran would like and a delivery it’s impossible not to love.
Plus. Hasn’t it been a great few years for pop music videos?
youtu.be/V9PVRfjEBTI?...
Day 50.
Billie Eilish - Birds Of A Feather (US 2024)
She’s a classicist really. And she leans into it here with a song your gran would like and a delivery it’s impossible not to love.
Plus. Hasn’t it been a great few years for pop music videos?
youtu.be/V9PVRfjEBTI?...
November 25, 2025 at 10:03 AM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 50.
Billie Eilish - Birds Of A Feather (US 2024)
She’s a classicist really. And she leans into it here with a song your gran would like and a delivery it’s impossible not to love.
Plus. Hasn’t it been a great few years for pop music videos?
youtu.be/V9PVRfjEBTI?...
Day 50.
Billie Eilish - Birds Of A Feather (US 2024)
She’s a classicist really. And she leans into it here with a song your gran would like and a delivery it’s impossible not to love.
Plus. Hasn’t it been a great few years for pop music videos?
youtu.be/V9PVRfjEBTI?...
Reposted by Simon Smith
#OtD 25 Nov 1941 three Schlurfs were arrested by Gestapo in Austria for destroying a Hitler Youth noticeboard. Schlurfs were working-class youth who rejected Nazism, militarism and the work ethic, and listened to jazz music. More on WWII anti-Nazi youth: workingclasshistory.com/podcast/72-e...
November 25, 2025 at 9:10 AM
#OtD 25 Nov 1941 three Schlurfs were arrested by Gestapo in Austria for destroying a Hitler Youth noticeboard. Schlurfs were working-class youth who rejected Nazism, militarism and the work ethic, and listened to jazz music. More on WWII anti-Nazi youth: workingclasshistory.com/podcast/72-e...
Reposted by Simon Smith
no it isn’t!!! fuck you!!!
November 23, 2025 at 6:55 PM
no it isn’t!!! fuck you!!!
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 49.
Chica, que dices? Doce puntos…
Rosalía - Saoko (Spain 2022) BONUS 12 points
A lot of my pop picks have been clean, minimalist affairs. This is the opposite. A taste of everything that makes Motomami so good packed into one song.
youtu.be/6o7bCAZSxsg?...
Day 49.
Chica, que dices? Doce puntos…
Rosalía - Saoko (Spain 2022) BONUS 12 points
A lot of my pop picks have been clean, minimalist affairs. This is the opposite. A taste of everything that makes Motomami so good packed into one song.
youtu.be/6o7bCAZSxsg?...
November 24, 2025 at 12:50 PM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 49.
Chica, que dices? Doce puntos…
Rosalía - Saoko (Spain 2022) BONUS 12 points
A lot of my pop picks have been clean, minimalist affairs. This is the opposite. A taste of everything that makes Motomami so good packed into one song.
youtu.be/6o7bCAZSxsg?...
Day 49.
Chica, que dices? Doce puntos…
Rosalía - Saoko (Spain 2022) BONUS 12 points
A lot of my pop picks have been clean, minimalist affairs. This is the opposite. A taste of everything that makes Motomami so good packed into one song.
youtu.be/6o7bCAZSxsg?...
Must sometimes be genuinely terrifying to be a famous young woman.
The "serial intruder" who accosted Ariana Grande at Singapore's 'Wicked: For Good' premiere has now been deported and banned from the country
Ariana Grande's Red Carpet "Serial Intruder" Banned From Singapore
The “serial intruder” who rushed Ariana Grande on the red carpet at the Singapore premiere of Wicked: For Good has been deported and banned from the country. The Singaporean news outlet The Straits Ti...
stereogum.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Must sometimes be genuinely terrifying to be a famous young woman.
I messed up A-levels and didn’t get to do Russian and French in Durham. Then realised I could just about get on the NCTJ pre-entry course. Then, a year later, turned down an unconditional offer from Lancaster because I got a £500-a-year pay rise. And I thought 21 was too old to go to uni.
Sigh.
Sigh.
November 23, 2025 at 10:35 PM
I messed up A-levels and didn’t get to do Russian and French in Durham. Then realised I could just about get on the NCTJ pre-entry course. Then, a year later, turned down an unconditional offer from Lancaster because I got a £500-a-year pay rise. And I thought 21 was too old to go to uni.
Sigh.
Sigh.
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 48.
The Beths - Expert In A Dying Field (NZ 2023)
I’d had The Cords pencilled in this slot, but nobody’s biting .. so I’m throwing some points behind this great song. Would be bloody smashing to have some New Zealand indie-pop get through.
youtu.be/-KACt6YhOyY?...
Day 48.
The Beths - Expert In A Dying Field (NZ 2023)
I’d had The Cords pencilled in this slot, but nobody’s biting .. so I’m throwing some points behind this great song. Would be bloody smashing to have some New Zealand indie-pop get through.
youtu.be/-KACt6YhOyY?...
November 23, 2025 at 9:15 PM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 48.
The Beths - Expert In A Dying Field (NZ 2023)
I’d had The Cords pencilled in this slot, but nobody’s biting .. so I’m throwing some points behind this great song. Would be bloody smashing to have some New Zealand indie-pop get through.
youtu.be/-KACt6YhOyY?...
Day 48.
The Beths - Expert In A Dying Field (NZ 2023)
I’d had The Cords pencilled in this slot, but nobody’s biting .. so I’m throwing some points behind this great song. Would be bloody smashing to have some New Zealand indie-pop get through.
youtu.be/-KACt6YhOyY?...
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 47.
Taylor Swift - All Too Well (Taylor’s version) (US 2021)
The Taylor lore condensed - no, expanded - into one song. This might be the peak moment of her turning life into art. Seems like Eras tried to draw a line, but this is what we selfishly crave.
youtu.be/w0XKa2LKuU0?...
Day 47.
Taylor Swift - All Too Well (Taylor’s version) (US 2021)
The Taylor lore condensed - no, expanded - into one song. This might be the peak moment of her turning life into art. Seems like Eras tried to draw a line, but this is what we selfishly crave.
youtu.be/w0XKa2LKuU0?...
November 22, 2025 at 9:06 PM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 47.
Taylor Swift - All Too Well (Taylor’s version) (US 2021)
The Taylor lore condensed - no, expanded - into one song. This might be the peak moment of her turning life into art. Seems like Eras tried to draw a line, but this is what we selfishly crave.
youtu.be/w0XKa2LKuU0?...
Day 47.
Taylor Swift - All Too Well (Taylor’s version) (US 2021)
The Taylor lore condensed - no, expanded - into one song. This might be the peak moment of her turning life into art. Seems like Eras tried to draw a line, but this is what we selfishly crave.
youtu.be/w0XKa2LKuU0?...
Yay.
BBC Radio 1
Radio 1 Anthems with Nat and Vicky
Now Playing
Amerie
1 Thing
Radio 1 Anthems with Nat and Vicky
Now Playing
Amerie
1 Thing
November 22, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Yay.
The foot kicking the headline is genius.
1988:
smash hits 29 june 12 july 1988, page 23
Full mag --> https://archive.org/stream/smash-hits-29-june-12-july-1988#page/n22
smash hits 29 june 12 july 1988, page 23
Full mag --> https://archive.org/stream/smash-hits-29-june-12-july-1988#page/n22
November 22, 2025 at 10:12 AM
The foot kicking the headline is genius.