@neilburke.bsky.social
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Want to hear about my worst ever Christmas Day? Sure you do.
20-ish years ago, my then-girlfriend said her brother had invited us to spend Christmas day with him and his girlfriend at said girlfriend's mum's house. Sounds cosy, right? Nope. 1/
20-ish years ago, my then-girlfriend said her brother had invited us to spend Christmas day with him and his girlfriend at said girlfriend's mum's house. Sounds cosy, right? Nope. 1/
December 23, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Want to hear about my worst ever Christmas Day? Sure you do.
20-ish years ago, my then-girlfriend said her brother had invited us to spend Christmas day with him and his girlfriend at said girlfriend's mum's house. Sounds cosy, right? Nope. 1/
20-ish years ago, my then-girlfriend said her brother had invited us to spend Christmas day with him and his girlfriend at said girlfriend's mum's house. Sounds cosy, right? Nope. 1/
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The most stressed out I've ever been about Christmas was when I was 16 and I got my first ever job, working at M&S in Dundrum. As soon as I started I kept hearing these myths about the Christmas Eve Waste Sale, where all the food that wasn't sold on the 24th was marked down 90%.
November 27, 2023 at 1:17 PM
The most stressed out I've ever been about Christmas was when I was 16 and I got my first ever job, working at M&S in Dundrum. As soon as I started I kept hearing these myths about the Christmas Eve Waste Sale, where all the food that wasn't sold on the 24th was marked down 90%.
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Word of the day, should you be feeling a little huffish, is ‘apanthropy’ (18th century): a love of solitude and the desire to be away from other people.
December 13, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Word of the day, should you be feeling a little huffish, is ‘apanthropy’ (18th century): a love of solitude and the desire to be away from other people.
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Here’s a poem which has become trapped in a vicious circus (and other phrases of a similar elk).
December 10, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Here’s a poem which has become trapped in a vicious circus (and other phrases of a similar elk).
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Oh look. They’ve actually drawn a diagram for all the people stupid enough to need a bloody diagram.
Elon Musk and his Russian friends call for the abolishment of the EU
December 6, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Oh look. They’ve actually drawn a diagram for all the people stupid enough to need a bloody diagram.
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‘They should not face trial by media.’
But we did. By your media.
But we did. By your media.
December 3, 2025 at 8:09 AM
‘They should not face trial by media.’
But we did. By your media.
But we did. By your media.
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Harrison Ford.
Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Blade Runner, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now and plenty of other very watchable films.
He’ll do fine for me.
Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Blade Runner, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now and plenty of other very watchable films.
He’ll do fine for me.
This is a Bill Simmons game, but you’re stranded on a desert island. You can only have one actor’s filmography. You get it all, including cameos. But just the one performer.
I’m taking Cate Blanchett: Talented Mr. Ripley, LOTR, Life Aquatic, Black Bag, Tár, Ponyo, Hot Fuzz, Eyes Wide Shut, Thor
I’m taking Cate Blanchett: Talented Mr. Ripley, LOTR, Life Aquatic, Black Bag, Tár, Ponyo, Hot Fuzz, Eyes Wide Shut, Thor
December 1, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Harrison Ford.
Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Blade Runner, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now and plenty of other very watchable films.
He’ll do fine for me.
Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Blade Runner, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now and plenty of other very watchable films.
He’ll do fine for me.
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Sought and found asylum in the UK
R.I.P. Tom Stoppard, playwright most famous for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
Born Tomas Straussler in Czechoslovakia he fled his home during the Nazi occupation and found refuge in Britain at the age of eight. He later discovered all four of his grandparents had died in the Holocaust.
Born Tomas Straussler in Czechoslovakia he fled his home during the Nazi occupation and found refuge in Britain at the age of eight. He later discovered all four of his grandparents had died in the Holocaust.
Sir Tom Stoppard, playwright famed for his wit and depth, dies at 88
Winning an Oscar for the screenplay for Shakespeare In Love, he captivated the hearts of audiences for more than six decades.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 29, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Sought and found asylum in the UK
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Journalists, stop with the disingenuous 'working families' term? You know what you're doing and you know that being on benefits doesn't mean out of work.
Stop doing the right's work for them.
Stop doing the right's work for them.
November 26, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Journalists, stop with the disingenuous 'working families' term? You know what you're doing and you know that being on benefits doesn't mean out of work.
Stop doing the right's work for them.
Stop doing the right's work for them.
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New on Always Liverpool | Andy Robertson's moment, both beautiful and devastating, told us everything about how Liverpool's players are still coping with the loss of their dear Diogo. We haven't afforded them enough grace.
Ah, Robbo ❤️
A moment both beautiful and devastating told us everything about how Liverpool's players are still coping with the loss of their dear Diogo. We haven't afforded them enough grace.
open.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:18 PM
New on Always Liverpool | Andy Robertson's moment, both beautiful and devastating, told us everything about how Liverpool's players are still coping with the loss of their dear Diogo. We haven't afforded them enough grace.
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Have all the best Scotland goals since Archie Gemmill happened tonight?
November 18, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Have all the best Scotland goals since Archie Gemmill happened tonight?
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Andy Robertson (BBC): "I've been in bits. I couldn't get my mate Diogo Jota out of my head today. We spoke so much together about the World Cup. We always discussed what it would be like going to this World Cup. I know he'll be somewhere smiling over me tonight." 🏴
November 18, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Andy Robertson (BBC): "I've been in bits. I couldn't get my mate Diogo Jota out of my head today. We spoke so much together about the World Cup. We always discussed what it would be like going to this World Cup. I know he'll be somewhere smiling over me tonight." 🏴
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the right winger who was appointed to lead the BBC in the hope of appeasing right wingers has been driven out by right wingers for not appeasing right wingers enough and the BBC has the chance to do the funniest thing ever
November 9, 2025 at 6:38 PM
the right winger who was appointed to lead the BBC in the hope of appeasing right wingers has been driven out by right wingers for not appeasing right wingers enough and the BBC has the chance to do the funniest thing ever
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My beautiful laundrette
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
Silence over Sudan: why do Manchester City’s owners get away with so much?
Two midweek matches in England had a backdrop of war and geopolitics, but only one drew large protests
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:17 AM
My beautiful laundrette
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
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A tale of two halves
November 5, 2025 at 4:03 PM
A tale of two halves
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And the good stuff: school breakfasts, mayoral control of buses, train nationalisation, reinventing sure start
This speech from Rachel Reeves is kind of frustrating because it shows that the Government can command the airwaves when it wants
That's something it has almost totally failed to do so far - over challenging racism, boosting the laws it has passed, tackling Reform, rebutting Tory ILR plans, etc etc
That's something it has almost totally failed to do so far - over challenging racism, boosting the laws it has passed, tackling Reform, rebutting Tory ILR plans, etc etc
November 4, 2025 at 8:26 AM
And the good stuff: school breakfasts, mayoral control of buses, train nationalisation, reinventing sure start
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This is the only pertinent point to be made, really.
She is telling an accurate story of recent history - the triple punch of austerity, Brexit and covid. It's spot on. But it is terribly strange to say it now in government when you were not prepared to say it in opposition.
November 4, 2025 at 8:51 AM
This is the only pertinent point to be made, really.
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Nationalism is a shibboleth. The challenges we face are daunting. But we are not going to overcome them by hunkering down behind of imaginary lines scrawled on a map by medieval warlords. Our problems are transnational, and the solutions are too.
October 24, 2025 at 5:48 AM
Nationalism is a shibboleth. The challenges we face are daunting. But we are not going to overcome them by hunkering down behind of imaginary lines scrawled on a map by medieval warlords. Our problems are transnational, and the solutions are too.
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This calm, cool decency is dangerously absent from our discourse at the moment. Almost everyone is embracing, normalising or ignoring the 'cruel bigotry, compulsive violence, and the sadistic persecution which has characterised the philosophy and practice of fascism.'
We need more Bertrands.
We need more Bertrands.
October 22, 2025 at 7:48 AM
This calm, cool decency is dangerously absent from our discourse at the moment. Almost everyone is embracing, normalising or ignoring the 'cruel bigotry, compulsive violence, and the sadistic persecution which has characterised the philosophy and practice of fascism.'
We need more Bertrands.
We need more Bertrands.
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FINALLY a political message from the government that I'm ready to run through brick walls for me
Repeat after me:
Brexit was a clusterfuck
Brexit was an omnishambles
Brexit was the biggest act of self-harm in British history
Repeat after me:
Brexit was a clusterfuck
Brexit was an omnishambles
Brexit was the biggest act of self-harm in British history
Brexit has been destructive to our economy, and has cost us £140 BILLIONS already.
Rachel Reeves: "The impact of Brexit is severe and long lasting."
Check out our Brexit cost tracker: https://www.bestforbritain.org/brexit_impact
Rachel Reeves: "The impact of Brexit is severe and long lasting."
Check out our Brexit cost tracker: https://www.bestforbritain.org/brexit_impact
October 15, 2025 at 6:01 PM
FINALLY a political message from the government that I'm ready to run through brick walls for me
Repeat after me:
Brexit was a clusterfuck
Brexit was an omnishambles
Brexit was the biggest act of self-harm in British history
Repeat after me:
Brexit was a clusterfuck
Brexit was an omnishambles
Brexit was the biggest act of self-harm in British history
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Ah, happy 88th anniversary of the day Oswald Mosley tried to sell fascism to Liverpudlians – and someone concussed him with a brick
October 10, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Ah, happy 88th anniversary of the day Oswald Mosley tried to sell fascism to Liverpudlians – and someone concussed him with a brick
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You *really* should be by now but you don’t *actually* have to call them liars or racists, if it offends your commitment to now almost entirely redundant BBC principles of ‘objectivity’ & ‘ balance’. You just have to ask them again & again & again to justify their words & explain their exact meaning
I’ve been saying this for ten years now but possibly not often enough: Ask Them What They Think The Words They’re Using Mean. And then ask them to name the ‘problematic’ people. We had ‘sovereignty’, ‘laws’ & ‘unelected bureaucrats’. The US now has ‘Antifa’, the ‘radical left’ & ‘insurrection’. Ask!
October 9, 2025 at 7:11 PM
You *really* should be by now but you don’t *actually* have to call them liars or racists, if it offends your commitment to now almost entirely redundant BBC principles of ‘objectivity’ & ‘ balance’. You just have to ask them again & again & again to justify their words & explain their exact meaning
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So much of the past week appears to be about trust. We’ve slowed down because no one supports the next pass. Players are running from Mo, not to him, the full backs aren’t supporting the wide men and the midfield aren’t showing for the defenders. Everyone’s second guessing. Last year it flowed.
October 4, 2025 at 9:19 PM
So much of the past week appears to be about trust. We’ve slowed down because no one supports the next pass. Players are running from Mo, not to him, the full backs aren’t supporting the wide men and the midfield aren’t showing for the defenders. Everyone’s second guessing. Last year it flowed.
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Another great one gone. RIP Brian Patten.
October 1, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Another great one gone. RIP Brian Patten.