From this day on I will use ‘broad’ to mean exceptional, great, touched by genius. x.com/englandcricket…

I’m out of the office until the best regain their conviction and the worst empty themselves of their passionate intensity.

Happy Christmas everyone, in spite of it all!

Happy New Year to all. Eat as well as you can, try not to wear black, and smile at strangers.

Sublime

I never understood the Guitar God business - it was always the piano, since I can remember - but hearing Jeff Beck do this live, supported by the the ineffable Jools Holland, was the most thrilling thing ever. I've listened to/watched this clip a hundred times, and I think you

I can’t think of anything I’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, drunk, worn or driven that comes close to Miriam Margolyes reading Bleak House. Perfection.

Steve Wright was so damn good.

Can you imagine being in the room? youtube.com/watch?v=fyAUKU…

Better than good

Thank you for lovely birthday wishes. Definitely took the sting out of it.

An immaculate set of 5 - the best I’ve seen - and they were taken by England! Crazy times. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

I managed to persuade someone today that the meandering, spidery varicose vein on my right knee is an abstract tattoo. I’m buzzing.

M’collegaue has once again opened up a two year lead on the back straight. Many happy returns to the absolute best man Stephen Fry

Herding sheep is surprisingly close to snooker. The ewe’s retreat describes an almost perfect Newtonian reaction to you, the cue ball - until she reaches the pocket, and suddenly skips sideways into the river.

I’m no judge - of anything at all - but I think Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Long Island Compromise might be a masterpiece.

Terrific piece from Ian Dunt on the creeping bossiness that threatens whatever it was we thought we stood for. tiny.cc/a36kzz.

Ex-fucking-quisite…

I was lucky enough to spend some time with James Earl Jones. He was everything you might have hoped, and a fair bit more. Wise, kind, funny, impossibly handsome, with a voice that could have crumbled the walls of Jericho. It was such an honour.