TimurphySmith
banner
timwrite.net
TimurphySmith
@timwrite.net
Ex-chef. Ex-journalist (A.i. is getting all the work) I write words for free, for money, for my own health.

I’m trying to learn #Gaeilge

First novel: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08YZ11TGP

Next novel - will not be on Amazon.

https://timwrite.net
Pinned
I write fiction mostly. But, big but, factual writing is a hard task too but worth it.

timwrite.net/factual-work/
Factual work
What follows happened. In real life. Mostly to me. https://timwrite.net/on-being-questioned-about-the-death-of-my-child/ https://timwrite.net/t-morgue-with-my-daughter/ https://timwrite.net/factual-wo...
timwrite.net
Reposted by TimurphySmith
Juries are not perfect.

Many of the worst miscarriages of justice have followed jury trials.

But the merit of juries is not so much the power they have, but the power they prevent others from having.

They mean a judge cannot just nod-along with prosecution evidence and give a guilty verdict.
November 25, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Songs that offended people who never listened to them but were told they would be offended.

Spasticus Autisticus - Ian Dury et al

White Noise - Stiff Little Fingers

Gay Bar - Electric Six

#Music
November 25, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Are there still listening parties on social media? You know, when we'd find a group of people who listened to a music album all the way through starting at the same time?

#Music
November 25, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Reposted by TimurphySmith
In English, someone who is being persistently annoying can be referred to as a “pain in the arse.” My favourite German equivalent is Nervensäge, which means “nerve saw”
November 25, 2025 at 4:57 PM
OK kids, old hack (journalist) here.

Interviewing insights?

1. “That’s a great question, Tim” = I need time to think, you bastard.

2. “I think we need to reframe that question” = my PR person didn’t give me the script for your actual question.
November 25, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by TimurphySmith
Ashton Edwards cast as first Black nonbinary Sugarplum Fairy in the pas de deux at Pacific Northwest Ballet!
November 25, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Reposted by TimurphySmith
Thanks to @irishexaminer.bsky.social for letting me write this piece about leaders and readers, and the occasional intersection of literature and politics on this island.
November 25, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Everybody in the entire world needs to have a massive bonding party when Trump goes, and I mean when he’s completely gone.
November 25, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Reposted by TimurphySmith
Change in Reform rating between latest and previous poll from each pollster in recent polls:

YouGov -2
Opinium -1
Find Out Now -1
Focaldata -2
More in Common -1
Lord Ashcroft -3
Freshwater -3
JL Partners -1
Ipsos -1

This is starting to look like a trend...
November 25, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by TimurphySmith
And tonight's viewing? Decided.
Four decades on, Juzo Itami's "Tampopo" remains unsurpassed as a wicked and delicious social commentary on Japanese society told through the lens of food. 👉 ebx.sh/pC51Lw
November 25, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by TimurphySmith
China continues to move away from the dollar. It’s just cut its holdings of US government bonds to the lowest level in 17 years.

China's US Treasury holdings fell to $689.3 billion in October 2025, down from $700.5 billion in September.
November 25, 2025 at 11:11 AM
@romatthews.bsky.social thanks for the follow. I just listened to a snatch of Luna Messa. I’ll now listen to a great deal more.
November 25, 2025 at 5:24 PM
All this talk of USA Thanksgiving food traditions has made me think of how I deal with cooking at Xmas.

10) Everybody else stay out of the kitchen.
20) GOTO 10
November 25, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by TimurphySmith
It has to be named after Maureen Sweeney, the Irish meteorologist who gave the Allies a critical weather report before D Day.

Irish aviation history and meteorological history are intimately linked, and we're a Republic - we don't name things after Taoisigh here (except in Cork).
November 25, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Dear new followers, thank you so much. I'm sorry if I've not personally thanked you but I've gone from 150 to 500+ in a day somehow.

I know that's a minuscule number in the great scheme of things it means at lot.
November 25, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Yeah, I am soooooooooooo smart and clever. Just tried to optimise my site. Utterly and completely broke it.

(mended it again I hope)
November 25, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by TimurphySmith
Next year is the centenary of the 1926 General Strike. We could do worse than repeat it...

www.kentminingmuseum.co.uk//
The Kent Mining Museum | coal mining in Kent
Kent Mining Museum is situated in Betteshanger Park, the site of an old colliery. The museum tells the story of the Kent Coalfields.
www.kentminingmuseum.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by TimurphySmith
Pardon my French, but this shit really pisses me off.
November 25, 2025 at 6:11 AM
In the answer “with calmness and respect”?
How should football talk about Diogo Jota’s death?

Sinéad and Gavin discuss Andy Robertson's emotional insight into his grief following the death of Diogo Jota and the continuing impact of the loss on everyone at Liverpool.

LISTEN: open.spotify.com/episode/2GBN...
November 25, 2025 at 2:06 PM
@merseymal.com cheers Mal.
November 25, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by TimurphySmith
In its latest issue, The Hudson Review runs an extraordinarily positive review of Damrosch's "Storyteller." David Mason writes that "Storyteller is thoroughly researched and copiously illustrated, [...] deeply moving in its shape and detail."
November 25, 2025 at 2:02 PM
I’m getting old, my eyesight’s going. I really, really appreciate alt text and love you for taking the time to write it.

Don’t know how to use it? I was heavily involved in creating this for the university of Lees (before getting laid off because funding)

digitalaccessibility.leeds.ac.uk/guidance/
Guidance - Digital Accessibility
digitalaccessibility.leeds.ac.uk
November 25, 2025 at 1:53 PM
I went to do some research at the Labour Party archives in Manchester. Found lots of great docs… and this.

#PoliticalHistory #Propaganda
November 25, 2025 at 1:45 PM
As the father of a child with cerebral palsy… this is pure bastardy.

I never took carer's allowance mainly because we moved to Australia when Zuzu was two. But man, can I empathise.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Failures by Tory ministers and welfare officials led to carer’s allowance crisis, review finds
Unpaid carers were pushed into debt and distress and hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money wasted
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:27 PM
This is a rather good look at Punk rock and post-Punk/New Wave from the British POV. Healthy nods to the New York Dolls, Ramones and other stateside influences too.

#Music

youtu.be/wlzJkbRSv6c
ANNIE NIGHTINGALE's Punk & New Wave Years
YouTube video by Jay Vee
youtu.be
November 25, 2025 at 1:02 PM