A still from the famous Not The Nine O’Clock News ‘Gerald the Gorilla’ sketch featuring Mel Smith posing as a biologist and Rowan Atkinson as a gorilla. They are sat next to each other in the setting of a Wogan-esque 1980s television talk show
Was walking up in the Carneddau today, when a passing walker asked me if the ponies on the hills are wild.
I think it’s Al from Police Squad
That is what happened.
Presumably she was sending that sort of thing to every venue she appeared at, but it was a genuine surprise to receive an unsolicited artist Q&A
Probably my favourite Columbo line…
‘We’ve had a message from the artist, she says that we're not to use that publicity photo under any circumstances’
‘Which photo?’
‘The one she sent us’
He went past six men… but crucially only one attempted tackle
True. Maybe it was just a statement.
Further misused idiom joy from a meeting last week where someone counteracted a point by saying ‘I don’t want to open a kettle of fish’
‘Is that dressing room still on fire?’
‘No it’s completely confidential, I’m afraid I can’t tell you or anyone who the headliner is until they’ve finished their run of gigs at the O2 next month’
A screen capture from the Duo Lingo language learning app presenting the Welsh/Cymraeg sentence ‘Mae Cymru wedi ennill y Chwe Gwlad eto!’ with the English translation: ‘Wales have won the Six Nations again’
There’s always that annoying bit when you’re learning a language where you’re taught sentences you’ll never have cause to use.
[in a report] ‘The visitor complained to a host on the way in about the number of warnings about touching the exhibit, saying they felt unnecessarily patronised. Around two minutes later the visitor reemerged with oil dripping from their hand as a result of touching the exhibit.’
Painted a step earlier.
Stood on it inside four minutes.
Even by my terrible DIY skills, this is impressive.
[on phone] ‘No I’m afraid he's away from his desk at the moment because the Channel 4 News guy is dancing with some pensioners in the ballroom’
Ski Sunday theme if they win at the #WinterOlympics
Grandstand if it’s at the summer games
They’re not wrong when they talk about the lasting legacy that comes from seeing sports at the #WinterOlympics
I took up Bobsleighing after seeing it at Salt Lake City in 2002.
Since then, Monkhouse, Holness, Hoskins, Newhart… all dead
I followed the biggest story of the week: how an Amazon delivery van became marooned on the Broomway www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
That said, the bobsleigh/skeleton takes on a slight surreal edge when you notice too early how much co-commentator John Jackson sounds like Guy Garvey.
Keep expecting him to abandon talk about the Austria 2 sled to introduce an obscure Nick Drake 7 inch.
#WinterOlympics
The quality of the BBC’s #WinterOlympics commentary teams has made already high quality sports coverage absolutely unmissable.
I would happily listen to Ed Leigh and Tim Warwood commentating on anything.
Patience. We always do a playlist of the curator, and a playlist of the line-up. The latter will follow in the coming months.
Pray for our ticketing website.
Delighted to share news of this summer's office intern...
Heard big things about him.
www.ft.com/content/93a0... Once reviled, now celebrated, London’s Southbank Centre is a genuine civic wonder.
This feels like the windfall equivalent of the old doctor joke; ‘The good news is there are pills for that; you just need to take one every day for the rest of your life… the bad news is I’m only giving you three’.
Go easy for the next few hours, John
No idea... these notes are from my first few years here, pre-Covid.
‘A lot of people walked out, but that doesn’t mean it was bad’
And, ever wondered how musicians and composers approach writing music for children?
No? Well, I had... so I spoke to a bunch of them – musical director Jessie Maryon Davies, vocalist Supriya Nagarajan and Andy and the Odd Socks' Andy Day – to find out.
The brilliant contemporary circus company Upswing are bringing their take on The Princess and The Pea to Imagine.
Don't know who Upswing are? No problem, here you go...
