Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

God I wish I had just been left to plod along by PE teachers, rather than being a perennial target for ritual humiliation.

Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · 1d

PE teachers rarely teach PE. They just facilitate various sports. Naturally gifted ones get all the attention and everyone else gets left to plod along.

November 13, 2025 at 5:58 PM

Reposted by Darren Johnson

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

Live review: X Generation X at the Brunswick, Hove 9/11/25
darrensmusicblog.com/2025/11/11/l...

Live review: X Generation X at the Brunswick, Hove 9/11/25

I’ve been to several memorable gigs at the excellent dedicated live venue adjoining the Brunswick pub in Hove but until I turned up on Sunday afternoon I’d never even realised they also had a downs…

darrensmusicblog.com

November 12, 2025 at 5:23 PM

Reposted by Darren Johnson

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

Folk/bluegrass: album review – Damien O’Kane & Ron Block ‘Banjovial’
darrensmusicblog.com/2025/11/12/f...

Folk/bluegrass: album review – Damien O’Kane & Ron Block ‘Banjovial’

Dubbed a ‘banjo bromance’ following two highly successful albums, Damien O’Kane and Ron Block are now back with a third. The pair’s USP is all about fusing the equally distinctive sounds of t…

darrensmusicblog.com

November 12, 2025 at 12:10 PM

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

Live review: X Generation X at the Brunswick, Hove 9/11/25
darrensmusicblog.com/2025/11/11/l...

Live review: X Generation X at the Brunswick, Hove 9/11/25

I’ve been to several memorable gigs at the excellent dedicated live venue adjoining the Brunswick pub in Hove but until I turned up on Sunday afternoon I’d never even realised they also had a downs…

darrensmusicblog.com

November 12, 2025 at 5:23 PM

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

Folk/bluegrass: album review – Damien O’Kane & Ron Block ‘Banjovial’
darrensmusicblog.com/2025/11/12/f...

Folk/bluegrass: album review – Damien O’Kane & Ron Block ‘Banjovial’

Dubbed a ‘banjo bromance’ following two highly successful albums, Damien O’Kane and Ron Block are now back with a third. The pair’s USP is all about fusing the equally distinctive sounds of t…

darrensmusicblog.com

November 12, 2025 at 12:10 PM

Reposted by Darren Johnson

Ukraine Solidarity Campaign 🇺🇦✊🏽🚩

@ukrainesol.bsky.social

We take no joy criticising a young left-wing UK political figure who has often spoken up for workers' rights and progressive causes. But these barely coherent comments from Zarah Sultana on Ukraine sum up much of what is wrong with her wing of the left www.instagram.com/reel/DQT62ys...

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

October 27, 2025 at 4:20 PM

Reposted by Darren Johnson

Dunland National Party 🇺🇦🇱🇹🇵🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

@dov.bsky.social

Fuck them and fuck Jeremy Corbyn and yes, fuck Zarah Sultana.

October 27, 2025 at 4:39 PM

Reposted by Darren Johnson

Jonathan Calder

@lordbonkers.bsky.social

It was opened in 1670, and so predates the canals of the Industrial Revolution. I believe it was constructed by the Dutch engineers who were responsible for the draining of the Fens.

The 17th-century Stamford Canal

The Stamford Canal was an artificial cut that paralleled the River Welland between Stamford and Market Deeping. It was nine and a half miles...

liberalengland.blogspot.com

October 27, 2025 at 8:56 PM

Reposted by Darren Johnson

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

This week’s featured artist: singer-songwriter Jim Borrows – debut album ‘Carry Me Back to My Old Front Door’
darrensmusicblog.com/2025/10/27/t...

This week’s featured artist: singer-songwriter Jim Borrows – debut album ‘Carry Me Back to My Old Front Door’

Jim Borrows will not be a name many people will have heard of but back in July, after a lifetime of playing piano primarily for his own amusement, he fulfilled a long-held ambition of releasing his…

darrensmusicblog.com

October 27, 2025 at 7:10 PM

Reposted by Darren Johnson

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

In November, Generation X drummer, Mark Laff, tours with his new project X Generation X. I catch up with Mark to discuss the emergence of punk, the rise and fall of Generation X and the forthcoming UK tour.
darrensmusicblog.com/2025/10/13/i...

Interview with Mark Laff – X Generation X

In November, Generation X drummer, Mark Laff, tours with his new project X Generation X – featuring Mark, alongside Westworld’s Elizabeth Westwood on vocals, Spandau Ballet’s Steve Norman on …

darrensmusicblog.com

October 27, 2025 at 7:08 PM

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

This week’s featured artist: singer-songwriter Jim Borrows – debut album ‘Carry Me Back to My Old Front Door’
darrensmusicblog.com/2025/10/27/t...

This week’s featured artist: singer-songwriter Jim Borrows – debut album ‘Carry Me Back to My Old Front Door’

Jim Borrows will not be a name many people will have heard of but back in July, after a lifetime of playing piano primarily for his own amusement, he fulfilled a long-held ambition of releasing his…

darrensmusicblog.com

October 27, 2025 at 7:10 PM

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

In November, Generation X drummer, Mark Laff, tours with his new project X Generation X. I catch up with Mark to discuss the emergence of punk, the rise and fall of Generation X and the forthcoming UK tour.
darrensmusicblog.com/2025/10/13/i...

Interview with Mark Laff – X Generation X

In November, Generation X drummer, Mark Laff, tours with his new project X Generation X – featuring Mark, alongside Westworld’s Elizabeth Westwood on vocals, Spandau Ballet’s Steve Norman on …

darrensmusicblog.com

October 27, 2025 at 7:08 PM

Reposted by Darren Johnson

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

‘Not Good Enough’ – the ‘glamtastic’ new song featuring late Glitter Band founder, John Rossall
darrensmusicblog.com/2025/10/15/n...

‘Not Good Enough’ – the ‘glamtastic’ new song featuring late Glitter Band founder, John Rossall

Five years on from the release of his critically-acclaimed glam comeback album, The Last Glam in Town, and four years on from his tragic passing, new music from Glitter Band founder, John Rossall, …

darrensmusicblog.com

October 15, 2025 at 1:07 PM

Reposted by Darren Johnson

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

Live review: Mott Fest 2025 at the Corn Exchange, Ross on Wye 3-4 October 2025
darrensmusicblog.com/2025/10/10/l...

Live review: Mott Fest 2025 at the Corn Exchange, Ross on Wye 3-4 October 2025

Mott The Hoople were a band I happened upon quite by chance as a young teenager in the early 1980s while I was flipping through the second-hand album racks in Preston’s Action Records. Even though …

darrensmusicblog.com

October 11, 2025 at 11:26 AM

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

‘Not Good Enough’ – the ‘glamtastic’ new song featuring late Glitter Band founder, John Rossall
darrensmusicblog.com/2025/10/15/n...

‘Not Good Enough’ – the ‘glamtastic’ new song featuring late Glitter Band founder, John Rossall

Five years on from the release of his critically-acclaimed glam comeback album, The Last Glam in Town, and four years on from his tragic passing, new music from Glitter Band founder, John Rossall, …

darrensmusicblog.com

October 15, 2025 at 1:07 PM

Reposted by Darren Johnson

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

In November this year, Generation X drummer, Mark Laff, tours with his new project X Generation X. I catch up with Mark to discuss the emergence of punk, the rise and fall of Generation X and the forthcoming UK tour.

Read full interview here:
darrensmusicblog.com/2025/10/13/i...

Interview with Mark Laff – X Generation X

In November this year, Generation X drummer, Mark Laff, tours with his new project X Generation X – featuring Mark, alongside Westworld’s Elizabeth Westwood on vocals, Spandau Ballet’s Steve …

darrensmusicblog.com

October 13, 2025 at 12:50 PM

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

In November this year, Generation X drummer, Mark Laff, tours with his new project X Generation X. I catch up with Mark to discuss the emergence of punk, the rise and fall of Generation X and the forthcoming UK tour.

Read full interview here:
darrensmusicblog.com/2025/10/13/i...

Interview with Mark Laff – X Generation X

In November this year, Generation X drummer, Mark Laff, tours with his new project X Generation X – featuring Mark, alongside Westworld’s Elizabeth Westwood on vocals, Spandau Ballet’s Steve …

darrensmusicblog.com

October 13, 2025 at 12:50 PM

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

Live review: Mott Fest 2025 at the Corn Exchange, Ross on Wye 3-4 October 2025
darrensmusicblog.com/2025/10/10/l...

Live review: Mott Fest 2025 at the Corn Exchange, Ross on Wye 3-4 October 2025

Mott The Hoople were a band I happened upon quite by chance as a young teenager in the early 1980s while I was flipping through the second-hand album racks in Preston’s Action Records. Even though …

darrensmusicblog.com

October 11, 2025 at 11:26 AM

Reposted by Darren Johnson

Jane

@localnotail.bsky.social

Awkward for Zia Yusuf, who keeps being sent out to lie as cover for the Reform UK leader

Who did Nigel Farage have lunch with after resigning as UKIP leader 4 July 2016?

Why, it's Russian bribe enthusiast Nathan Gill, who then did the important news briefing on his behalf (to Russia Today)

#BBCQT

October 10, 2025 at 3:39 PM

Reposted by Darren Johnson

Music Box Magazine

@musicboxonline.bsky.social

Well, shit.

😟

Moody Blues singer and bassist John Lodge dies aged 82

Musician died peacefully surrounded by sounds of Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly, family say

www.theguardian.com

October 10, 2025 at 2:22 PM

Reposted by Darren Johnson

Rob Chapman

@scribblerrob.bsky.social

Rest in Peace and thank you John Lodge. I held steadfast to my belief in the Moodies as a great band for decades in the face of ridicule. It even cost me a nomination for the Penderyn school prefect prize in 2015. Oh yes it did. If you remember you remember. xx
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSLA...

Watching And Waiting (Remastered 2022)

YouTube video by The Moody Blues - Topic

www.youtube.com

October 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM

Darren Johnson

@darrenjohnson66.bsky.social

Live review: Mott Fest 2025 at the Corn Exchange, Ross on Wye 3-4 October 2025
darrensmusicblog.com/2025/10/10/l...

Live review: Mott Fest 2025 at the Corn Exchange, Ross on Wye 3-4 October 2025

Mott The Hoople were a band I happened upon quite by chance as a young teenager in the early 1980s while I was flipping through the second-hand album racks in Preston’s Action Records. Even though …

darrensmusicblog.com

October 10, 2025 at 3:58 PM

Reposted by Darren Johnson

Governor JB Pritzker

@govpritzker.illinois.gov

The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city.

This is not a joke. This is not normal.

Donald Trump isn't a strongman, he's a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.