Dave Cohen

Always taking the piss Paul. Congratulations x

Sorry for the long delay in getting back to you Matt, I no longer live here but occasionally pop by to collect my mail. Yes that was indeed signed by me. I'm pleased Kate (whoever she may be) was so delighted with it that she was happy to recycle it!

Top gag @henrymance.bsky.social

IIRC Major was nowhere close at the start

Kathy Burke, Frances de la Tour, Lindsay Duncan, Ciaran Hinds, Jonathan Pryce, Stephen Rea, Alan Rickman, Mark Rylance, Fiona Shaw, Martin Shaw, Juliet Stevenson, Harriet Walter, Richard Wilson. Plus @thewritertype.bsky.social
Whatever happened to these people?

Found this old programme from a benefit show I did (and wrote quite a lot of) for the Birmingham Six in 1990. Pretty sure that cast list is based on star attraction and not alphabetical at all.

Ah excellent thanks for that. I have a character in my next novel (he said pretentiously) using it in the UK in 1987 and I wasn't sure if it was being used then.

I’ve been trying to find out how long “I’ve got a window” as shorthand for having a window of opportunity has been in use? No joy via usual internet channels so am consulting with my favourite human word wrangler…?

THE HYENA - GALA DALI 6

Gala Dali is someone I would have liked to meet, but I can’t, so I put her in my book instead, and had her deliver a cryptic warning to Deborah.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/dav...

I fear the ear of Keir doesn’t hear good cheer here.

Brilliant summary but I have one question. What I see is an incredibly well thought through philosophy, and a plan that’s not only workable but should be popular, even in plan form, with almost everyone. Why do you think there’s so little desire to publicise it?

Read your work back to yourself, out loud. You will start to hear where the overuse of language occurs. If I struggle to read back a sentence I’ve written that usually means it’s too long.

thanks!

Thanks. Is the newsletter only appearing in the paper now? I've not been getting it for the last couple of days.

Also “these opinions the billionaires have are wrong. My opinions are actually correct.”

I'm delighted to hear that kind of thing from someone who actually knows what they're talking about! I'm probably too close to the volatility at my local level to have a more upbeat feeling about the current state of UK politics. Your response has improved my mood (along with England's cricketers)

Yes fair enough. But I do think US volatility is rubbing off on the UK. And this is the first time I've seen such a united opposition of the simplistic solution crowd - Tory press, Tory right, Reform, Greens and Labour left all using the same language of hostility to Starmer's Labour.

A counter thought: lots of caveats, different systems etc BUT "refusing to learn lessons" has done Republicans less harm than expected. Also Labour left (no lessons learned), who are now united with Tory press (no lessons learned) v Starmer. Potential way back for Tory/Reform coalition.

#1 New Release in Psychology of Creativity and Genius? Sure, I’ll take that.

The genius is you the reader, of course.

I can only speak for the UK and the big change here was that left/liberal critics of Israel with a nuanced approach were forced by Corbyn’s Labour to make a choice- Zionist or anti Zionist.

They're not the fastest in getting back to you either. I contacted them in Feb and haven't heard back yet.

It's a great idea Tony. This happens to be Peston's pet project, if you'll excuse the alliteration. I'm planning to do school visits for this where I get to show kids how to write a history rap - learning about poetry, history and rhythm in one session.

Thanks. Great piece.

Ah ok thanks

What about Vidhya Alakeson? She must be perceived to have been doing a good job on the UK Labour Jewish-Muslim front?

… refusal to take the Blair route of sucking up to Murdoch and the Mail (v popular on left of party) but no desire to explain to less hostile media what the plans were/are

Internal management largely took care of itself. There was always big grassroots support to choose beating the Tories against fighting each other. Left was collateral in that war… what surprised me more was a refusal (?) or inability to engage with media ahead of election…

If only there were some books out there explaining how to write comedy…

It’s not a panel it’s research, probably on behalf of one of the mega AI companies. Your answer however has helped me decide. Thanks but no thanks.

I’m being asked to contribute to the discussion about whether AI will ever be able to do or get the joke. On the one hand I’m curious, on the other, should I even participate? I think I‘ve got better things to do with my life. What do you think Joel?