Rob McManus
@rfpmcmanus.bsky.social
One should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of ones life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.
Reposted by Rob McManus
For complete clarity, people like Connor Tomlinson are not “controversialists” or “the UK’s answer to X or Y”. They’re very basic, ordinary, grubby racists.
December 13, 2025 at 7:39 PM
For complete clarity, people like Connor Tomlinson are not “controversialists” or “the UK’s answer to X or Y”. They’re very basic, ordinary, grubby racists.
Reposted by Rob McManus
I don't normally (er) 'do God' on here, but the far right talking Christianity? Disgusting. Everything they are is antithetical to love: hateful, arrogant, closed, smirking, knowing, unserious, dishonest, despairing, degraded, repugnant moral filth. The light of hope is a good disinfectant.
December 13, 2025 at 11:53 AM
I don't normally (er) 'do God' on here, but the far right talking Christianity? Disgusting. Everything they are is antithetical to love: hateful, arrogant, closed, smirking, knowing, unserious, dishonest, despairing, degraded, repugnant moral filth. The light of hope is a good disinfectant.
Reposted by Rob McManus
slightly random but I’m running a stall selling my cousin’s home made jam at Camberwell Market tomorrow 11-4 if anyone needs last-minute stocking fillers
December 12, 2025 at 4:56 PM
slightly random but I’m running a stall selling my cousin’s home made jam at Camberwell Market tomorrow 11-4 if anyone needs last-minute stocking fillers
Reposted by Rob McManus
A courtyard in Delft, c. 1658, by Pieter de Hooch, Dutch Golden Age painter, whose domestic scenes with perspective views reveal subtleties of light & mood; a contemporary of Vermeer, he worked in Delft & Amsterdam, where he lived 1629-1683.
National Gallery London
National Gallery London
December 13, 2025 at 6:11 AM
A courtyard in Delft, c. 1658, by Pieter de Hooch, Dutch Golden Age painter, whose domestic scenes with perspective views reveal subtleties of light & mood; a contemporary of Vermeer, he worked in Delft & Amsterdam, where he lived 1629-1683.
National Gallery London
National Gallery London
Best recent one was watching After the Hunt with a Monday Night crowd (all 6 of us) - the other party of four were exchange students from Yale who whispered excitedly when a familiar college building came up on screen
Raising the always fun question: What are your most memorable theater-going experiences?
Mine also include The Matrix, Blair Witch, and being way too stoned in Belgium when Fellowship of the Ring was sold out so we sat in the back row for Mulholland Drive instead.
Mine also include The Matrix, Blair Witch, and being way too stoned in Belgium when Fellowship of the Ring was sold out so we sat in the back row for Mulholland Drive instead.
It was hands-down one of the most memorable theater-going experiences I can remember, a collective 30-minute butt-clench/armrest-grab for the final climb. And we knew he lived! Wild.
December 12, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Best recent one was watching After the Hunt with a Monday Night crowd (all 6 of us) - the other party of four were exchange students from Yale who whispered excitedly when a familiar college building came up on screen
Reposted by Rob McManus
You could accuse these Christmas Puddini Bonbons of being a bit cutesy, a bit kitsch, and certainly the name I’ve bestowed upon them is more than a bit camp, but that’s just how the spirit of Christmas takes me! Plus they’re delish, and a most worthy #RecipeOfTheDay. www.nigella.com/recipes/chri...
Christmas Puddini Bonbons
These are delectable little bonbons made by mixing up cooked and cooled Christmas pudding (see Additional Information below), liquor, syrup and melted chocolate, rolling them into small balls, then dr...
www.nigella.com
December 12, 2025 at 12:24 PM
You could accuse these Christmas Puddini Bonbons of being a bit cutesy, a bit kitsch, and certainly the name I’ve bestowed upon them is more than a bit camp, but that’s just how the spirit of Christmas takes me! Plus they’re delish, and a most worthy #RecipeOfTheDay. www.nigella.com/recipes/chri...
Reposted by Rob McManus
So, you cross the Po on the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele 1, do the short climb up the Monte dei Cappuccini, turn the final bend and suddenly you're staring across Turin at the Alps. It's an extraordinary moment.
December 8, 2025 at 2:18 PM
So, you cross the Po on the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele 1, do the short climb up the Monte dei Cappuccini, turn the final bend and suddenly you're staring across Turin at the Alps. It's an extraordinary moment.
Reposted by Rob McManus
THE INDUSTRY: People expect artists to do slick, highly choreographed live shows
KATE RUSBY: I want a 1980s pub set and an original pub organ. And a brass section. Then we're going to do two hours of just Xmas songs. And all dress up as characters from Frozen.
KATE RUSBY: I want a 1980s pub set and an original pub organ. And a brass section. Then we're going to do two hours of just Xmas songs. And all dress up as characters from Frozen.
December 7, 2025 at 9:01 PM
THE INDUSTRY: People expect artists to do slick, highly choreographed live shows
KATE RUSBY: I want a 1980s pub set and an original pub organ. And a brass section. Then we're going to do two hours of just Xmas songs. And all dress up as characters from Frozen.
KATE RUSBY: I want a 1980s pub set and an original pub organ. And a brass section. Then we're going to do two hours of just Xmas songs. And all dress up as characters from Frozen.
Reposted by Rob McManus
Zesting a lemon has grate a peel.
December 6, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Zesting a lemon has grate a peel.
Reposted by Rob McManus
How AI has made my life better
And why is my experience so different to everyone else?
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 2:01 PM
With John Rutter as composer of the week & Tavener’s The Lamb on the mixtape there’s a risk @bbcradio3bot.bsky.social are going to run out of tunes well before Christmas #paceyourself #norush
December 2, 2025 at 7:40 PM
With John Rutter as composer of the week & Tavener’s The Lamb on the mixtape there’s a risk @bbcradio3bot.bsky.social are going to run out of tunes well before Christmas #paceyourself #norush
Reposted by Rob McManus
The best book yet - maybe - from a Nobel laureate; a novel where PG Wodehouse makes a guest appearance; a book where Islamic State fighters are in need of Viagra; and two Scandinavian septologies, neither of which is by Jon Fosse.
Me on five of the best works of translated fiction this year:
Me on five of the best works of translated fiction this year:
Five of the best translated fiction of 2025
The return of Nobel laureate Han Kang; film-making under the Nazis; stuck in a time loop; Scandinavian thrills; and essential stories from postwar Iraq
www.theguardian.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:11 AM
The best book yet - maybe - from a Nobel laureate; a novel where PG Wodehouse makes a guest appearance; a book where Islamic State fighters are in need of Viagra; and two Scandinavian septologies, neither of which is by Jon Fosse.
Me on five of the best works of translated fiction this year:
Me on five of the best works of translated fiction this year:
Starlings doing their starling thing this weekend at @rspb.bsky.social Otmoor
November 30, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Starlings doing their starling thing this weekend at @rspb.bsky.social Otmoor
Reposted by Rob McManus
General Post Office poster, 1960
November 29, 2025 at 10:30 AM
General Post Office poster, 1960
Reposted by Rob McManus
Bad feeling about Civilisations Rise & Fall. Does the BBC thinks its viewer-funders are idiots with zero ability to concentrate without crappy CGI and portentous music?
November 24, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Bad feeling about Civilisations Rise & Fall. Does the BBC thinks its viewer-funders are idiots with zero ability to concentrate without crappy CGI and portentous music?
Reposted by Rob McManus
"Describe yourself in five words."
November 20, 2025 at 3:52 PM
"Describe yourself in five words."
Toxic
change one letter and ruin a candy
zit kat
zit kat
change one letter ruin a candy
sweat tarts
sweat tarts
November 19, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Toxic
Hmmm quizoftheday.co.uk … 9/10 but Q2 very ambiguous (if I’m being generous, downright wrong if I’m not)
Quiz Of The Day
Quiz of the Day is a fun, free daily general knowledge quiz. Test your trivia knowledge against our 10 question pub quiz or try our quickfire game.
quizoftheday.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Hmmm quizoftheday.co.uk … 9/10 but Q2 very ambiguous (if I’m being generous, downright wrong if I’m not)
Reposted by Rob McManus
Well.
Oracle’s astonishing $300bn OpenAI deal is now valued at minus $74bn - on.ft.com/4p8LViA via @FT
Oracle’s astonishing $300bn OpenAI deal is now valued at minus $74bn - on.ft.com/4p8LViA via @FT
Oracle’s astonishing $300bn OpenAI deal is now valued at minus $74bn
And suddenly, there may be a reverse Midas at the centre of AI’s circular economy
on.ft.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Well.
Oracle’s astonishing $300bn OpenAI deal is now valued at minus $74bn - on.ft.com/4p8LViA via @FT
Oracle’s astonishing $300bn OpenAI deal is now valued at minus $74bn - on.ft.com/4p8LViA via @FT
Reposted by Rob McManus
The BBC Scotland commentary for Kenny McLean’s halfway line goal is glorious. Stuff of dreams. 🔥
Congratulations #Scotland, see you at the World Cup.
Congratulations #Scotland, see you at the World Cup.
November 18, 2025 at 10:00 PM
The BBC Scotland commentary for Kenny McLean’s halfway line goal is glorious. Stuff of dreams. 🔥
Congratulations #Scotland, see you at the World Cup.
Congratulations #Scotland, see you at the World Cup.
Reposted by Rob McManus
You can see him do it here. And if you watch carefully, you'll see he nearly breaks up when he starts trying to explain why, and quickly pivots to a general answer about good filmmaking as a get out.
I don't think it's hard to imagine why that scene hit so hard for him at that moment in his life.
I don't think it's hard to imagine why that scene hit so hard for him at that moment in his life.
BBC Archive 1973: James Stewart on Parkinson
James Stewart on his favourite film, the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 12:18 PM
You can see him do it here. And if you watch carefully, you'll see he nearly breaks up when he starts trying to explain why, and quickly pivots to a general answer about good filmmaking as a get out.
I don't think it's hard to imagine why that scene hit so hard for him at that moment in his life.
I don't think it's hard to imagine why that scene hit so hard for him at that moment in his life.
Definitely trying this one out on my next HMRC Self Assessment
November 14, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Definitely trying this one out on my next HMRC Self Assessment
This is a great piece of journalism - dogged, determined and doing a great service to the local community
“It broke my heart, that was my savings towards a new car,” one woman who paid Milne tens of thousands of pounds told us. “He has just wiped me out.”
Who is Andrew Milne - the solicitor sending "very aggressive" letters to Sheffield homeowners?
www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/a-london-law...
Who is Andrew Milne - the solicitor sending "very aggressive" letters to Sheffield homeowners?
www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/a-london-law...
A London lawyer bought hundreds of Sheffield freeholds. Then the ‘very aggressive’ letters arrived
Exclusive: The Tribune can reveal that Andrew Milne has threatened leaseholders with high court action. It ‘broke my heart’ one woman says
www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 5:28 PM
This is a great piece of journalism - dogged, determined and doing a great service to the local community