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Russell Parker

@pussellrarker.bsky.social

480 followers 780 following 2.4K posts

chicken-brained biological disaster as seen in VT well knowne a Strumpet lewd

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Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · Mar 25

Slightly losing the plot watching this old Arena on Ken Dodd on BBC4, because I swear that’s a pile of #DoctorWho Target novelisations at the end there but the resolution’s too low for me to properly make them out.

I’m right though, ain’t I?

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Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · 1h

Let’s just say they criticised me - into a bigger house!

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

a cartoon of a clown peeking out of a red curtain

ALT: a cartoon of a clown peeking out of a red curtain

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Russell Parker

Postcard From The Past @pastpostcard.bsky.social · 12h

HOPE AUNTY DOLLY IS FEELING BETTER. LOVE TO ALL.

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Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · 12h

I see you’ve already been BIMunised, sir.

Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · 12h

Read anything of any depth and you can tell the write has progressed beyond GCSE level. I mean, sf series Babylon 5 is full of Tolkien, the bible, Greek myths, 20th century history, the Roman Empire - could go on and on. Hints at a larger body of work absorbed by someone who’s studied at vast length

Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · 12h

For reference - my 5 digit number in 1977 was for a village of about 2,000 people (plus a couple of outlying hamlets). So between 500-750 houses, probably - more than enough (it’d cope until there were 100,000 of them!), futureproofed

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Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · 12h

Pretty safe to assume the learning of the subject they eventually excelled in would’ve been enabled by being encouraged at some point though, surely

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Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · 13h

Post a film with an excellent soundtrack! 🎶

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Reposted by Russell Parker

Cameron Yarde Jnr @cameronyardejnr.bsky.social · 13h

Every episode of Keeping Up Appearances is back up on iPlayer until November 16th 2026.

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Reposted by Russell Parker

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 15h

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · 13h

which is kinda neat

Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · 13h

Another interesting quirk of such things; area codes were initially set up as being a short abbreviation of the town name using an alphanumeric keypad. Eg Marlborough, another place I’ve lived, was 01672, or MRB, using this:

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Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · 13h

(entirely possible I’ve misremembered the 472 bit - it’s been a while!)

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Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · 13h

And when I lived in Birmingham suburbs in the 90s, they were 3 digits Brum, 3 digits suburb, 4 digits for the house. So anyone in eg Selly Oak was 021-472-xxxx

But obvs I’d need to know it was a local caller for a 4 digit reply to mean anything to them

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Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · 13h

Five digits where I grew up 1977-84, outside of the local dialling code

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Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · 13h

Thanks!

I do remember series 2 of Line of Duty featuring two sets of postcodes prominently, freezeframed and looked them up; one was the middle of Edgbaston Reservoir, the other was the disused fire station used for the filming of the climactic gun battle of series 1. Surprised they used real ones

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Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · 13h

@johnhoare.bsky.social or @gralefrit.bsky.social might be able to answer this one perhaps…?

Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · 13h

Might’ve undercut the murder mystery tension a tad, tbh.

I’ve wondered about this - deliberate reference seems unlikely, and coincidence is at 10,000:1, so I’m guessing it was on a short BBC-approved list of a couple of dozen or so not-in-use numbers for fiction writers to use onscreen.

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Russell Parker @pussellrarker.bsky.social · 16h

And - I didn’t study English or the arts, as that’s not where my skillset lies. But I value the work of people who did, because it adds to my life and my happiness. Just as much as artists benefit from the work of engineers and scientists, I need the work of artists and writers.