Peter Randall

The Mamas and the Papa Roach
The Grateful Dead Kennedys

'Boy Kavalier, I'm warning you. If you don't shut up and let me watch "Peter Pan" I'm going to stuff your head up your bum. And you'll spend the rest of your life wandering around on all fours looking for the light switch.'

I am still offering Disney the chance to pick up my 'Alien' prequel script which is just a Weyland-Yutani board meeting and at the 1hr 50 mark a junior vice president says, "Maybe our Q3 returns would be better if we could get hold of some sort of unstoppable killing machine."

'Wing of Zion' is definitely the name of a spaceplane in an early cyberpunk short story in which a man takes drugs and when the girl leans over you can almost see her breasts.

When I went to Australia I met the world's oldest platypus and got to feed one. They are without doubt my favourite animal.

Nazi numerology is so lazy, with 1 = A, 2 = B etc. The sort of slop I had decided was too basic aged 8 (I am not using this number as code for Hitler). Is all numerology this lazy?

Was having a lovely time reading Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, and then he spoiled it by describing an ice-bound bay as being like 'a world covered in semen'.

Spicey Beck is the married name of Victoria Adams.

Some big fans of the Duchy of Savoy out in Hereford.

I have heard that Alien: Earth was a straightforward human minds in robot bodies script that they stuck xenomorphs into. I can believe it.

I like the bit before that where Timothy Olyphant was like, "I would like to tell you a really clunky metaphor with this scorpion."

At first I thought Double Gloucester was conjoined twins which would have been a choice to have in a light-hearted anthropomorphised cheese advert.

I am saddened by the news of Allan Ahlberg's passing. His stories are firm favourites in my house. Peepo, Burglar Bill and The Jolly Postman have all featured heavily in creating a love of reading for my daughters, and I can read Each Peach Pear Plum with my eyes closed.

Godshill Model Village on the Isle of Wight is such a good representation of Godshill that the model village has a model village. Within that model village there is a further, even smaller, model village.

Do with this information what you will.

Animal-sized animals for me.

Best day of the week songs?
Friday I'm in Love - Cure
Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting - Elton John
Sunday, Bloody Sunday - U2
Blue Monday - New Order
Ruby Tuesday - Rolling Stones
Wednesday Week - Undertones
Thursday? Who's out there writing the great Thursday song?

Fukuyama wrote The End of History because he has a fetish for being dunked on.

The Telegraph states that temperatures on 2 July 1914 were 15°F lower than the maximum, making 1 July's maximum 88°F or 31°C.

Tony is a well-respected colleague, a KC and a former legal advisor to the EHRC. Having spoken to constituents and University of Reading students who are concerned about the impact of this guidance, I'm glad to have signed Tony's letter.

@yuanfenyang.bsky.social, as a constituent I am pleased that you have signed this letter. It's important that the government ensures the rights of trans people are protected, not attacked and eroded.

I read all of Le Carré's books over a few years, and I think The Looking Glass War is one of the most underrated. I like how Le Carré wrote it because The Spy Who Came in from the Cold had been too subtle for audiences so he had to beat them round the head with his point.

The Devereux Review was a 13-part science fiction drama broadcast on BBC2 in 1973. Filmed on a budget of £4 (in 2025 prices), it featured an old RSC actor (41 years old) and a young (37 years old) working class actor.

What's next for you? The Potemkin Stairs in Odesa? The bell tower of the Mission San Juan Bautista?

Project Cybersin.

Oh sweet, Marlo Snellman from the video of Freestyler by Bomfunk MCs.

What's been going on in Denmark?

This *does* answer a question I had, thank you!

The UK parliament website has declaration times for elections dating back to 2010, so you could post these in some sort of simulation election night order, with running electoral college totals...would that be of interest, or is this too nerdy?

Inbetween 'er Funbags

I was behind Matt Berry at Paddington Station. I called my friend and bellowed, "You've never even been to Tilehurst!" in my best Matt Berry voice, because recently we received that exact heckle at an open mic night at a pub from someone who looked like Matt Berry.