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Rob Chapman

@scribblerrob.bsky.social

2.7K followers 630 following 6.2K posts

My next novel will be called Drum. It will be set mostly in the 1980s world of alternative comedy. Available Jan 1st 2026. More details coming soon. https://www.rob-chapman.com

www.rob-chapman.com

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 9h

Adding another word and hashtag to your muted list works better than Gaviscon every time.

Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 13h

check Clearsky

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 13h

Are you still fretting about what you're going to say about Taylor Swift on Bluesky, Algernon?

Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 14h

Go on to clearsky and key in your user name.

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 14h

I suspect the people who compile these lists are the kind of people who put tape up around their tent area at Glastonbury.

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 14h

I have also finally checked out those block lists you all go on about. I appear to be on seven, four of which are for being 'ableist' apparently. Get. A. Life.

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 14h

Today's rando blocko is Heather. " I make people laugh and smile. I love Jesus christ the lord and saviour. I have a pure heart. I love Donald Trump these are cool president."

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 14h

Certainly on here.

Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 15h

Also every band photo ever taken where someone is gazing off camera into the distance trying to look deep. Unless you look like an utter star of drop dead gorgeous magnitude you just look a gimp.

Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 16h

Pointing at the person standing next to you when having your photo taken. Don't. Just don't. More irrational dislikes will be along shortly.

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 16h

Found it. May 76. Later than I thought but that would fit with my comfortable Polytechnic regime. Only one 9am start as I recall. Had the house to myself many mornings, an utter joy and a novelty too after growing up in a small council house in a family of 6. Your space & your headspace expand...

Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 17h

Stravinsky was R3 COTW around this time - I'm going to Genome to find out when - this was when COTW went out at 9am. Another love affair began. I'd listen to that, have breakfast, write an essay. These were some of the happiest educational days of my life. Brain like a sponge, all receptors open.

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 17h

Also bought from there, poss even on the same day. Well u would wouldn't u, just for that cover. Note price tag. Another revelation. It contained Ragtime and Ebony Concerto which I'd heard as the soundtrack to the BBC2 showing of Genet's The Balcony that same year without knowing what they were.

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 17h

It was an unassuming little shop but they had classical bargains galore. I bought my first Stravinsky from there too. Hergest Ridge had come out the year before and I immediately spotted melodic elements that had obv been borrow from the slow movements of Le Tombeau. autodidact 101

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 17h

Anniversary listen. Probably bought 50 yrs ago this week from a shop at the bottom of Gloucester Rd called something like Records & Tapes. Le Tombeau de Couperin was mis-titled Pavane so for ages I didn't know what my favourite Ravel piece was called. Tacky cover but a life long love begins here.

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 18h

In Alan Bennett's first tv play 'A Day Out' set in 1911 the only cricketer who gets a mention is Wilfred Rhodes. The play went out in 1972. Rhodes was 94 at the time. (He was blind by then but he might have heard it.)

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 18h

Is he having the burger?

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 18h

Christ almighty! Who writes Georgia Mann's links for Essential Classics? They are seventh level of hell-twee.

Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 18h

Is city centre all cordoned off?

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 19h

Yeah, but let's face it Matt, 'would like to' is carrying a hell of a lot of weight in that sentence.

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 19h

Yes. And the Webern has been my gardening autumn almanac since R3 played it one morning in the late 90s when I was outdoors raking and reflecting in Stretford and just had to seek it out. (HMV in Market St was really good in those days.)

Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 20h

Soundtrack for sombre muted October days like these. You're welcome.

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 1d

That's such a great playlist for 1984. He must have introduced so many new people to those artists.

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 1d

My wife (a historian) and I (cultural historian) have agreed for some considerable time that a future History exam question will be 'To what extent was Brexit responsible for the death of the Tory party?'

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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 1d

Several steps forward I agree but a huge lurch backwards since Brexit too. That's when they all crawled out from under their stones again.

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