Alastair Lawless
@alastairlawless.bsky.social
Chronically fatigued quondam actor, milonguero, law reformer. SVQ in furniture-making. Will answer to “Hi!” or to any loud cry.
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
Wrote about this last year - all the "AI will save you all time you spend on emails!" stuff just made me think, "wow you have never even encountered the concept of 'induced demand' have you"
What cars did to your city, AI will do to your brain
Once again, I rage against the dying of the light. Also this week: some maps to show that England is not concreting the countryside; and the longest conveyor belt in the world.
jonn.substack.com
October 7, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Wrote about this last year - all the "AI will save you all time you spend on emails!" stuff just made me think, "wow you have never even encountered the concept of 'induced demand' have you"
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
Died (alas!) on this day in 1469, the not-very-friarly Fra Filippo Lippi. Great renaissance painter, & father of Filippino Lippi. Here looking at you from corner of his own Coronation of the Virgin.
October 7, 2026 at 11:37 AM
Died (alas!) on this day in 1469, the not-very-friarly Fra Filippo Lippi. Great renaissance painter, & father of Filippino Lippi. Here looking at you from corner of his own Coronation of the Virgin.
If you need more keys for a Yale lock, consider changing the cylinder instead. A new cylinder with 6 keys is about £12, direct from Yale with free UK postage.
October 7, 2026 at 3:23 PM
If you need more keys for a Yale lock, consider changing the cylinder instead. A new cylinder with 6 keys is about £12, direct from Yale with free UK postage.
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
Yakko and Wakko should leave the nurse alone. Firstly, she is just trying to do her job as a nurse. Secondly, she is clearly more woman than they could handle. She would destroy them, mind, body, and spirit.
October 7, 2026 at 11:49 AM
Yakko and Wakko should leave the nurse alone. Firstly, she is just trying to do her job as a nurse. Secondly, she is clearly more woman than they could handle. She would destroy them, mind, body, and spirit.
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
NO. DO NOT DO THIS. Do NOT think about The Event and under NO circumstances attempt to relive The Event. This may cause DISTRESS and CONFUSION. REMAIN INDOORS.
October 6, 2026 at 5:34 PM
NO. DO NOT DO THIS. Do NOT think about The Event and under NO circumstances attempt to relive The Event. This may cause DISTRESS and CONFUSION. REMAIN INDOORS.
So I went away to Barcelona for a week while my windows were being renovated. Was told they’d start the day I left and take 5 days. Insurance company notified of date of works and off I go. Just come back to half of the windows untouched and half boarded up. I’m fuming.
October 6, 2026 at 6:24 PM
So I went away to Barcelona for a week while my windows were being renovated. Was told they’d start the day I left and take 5 days. Insurance company notified of date of works and off I go. Just come back to half of the windows untouched and half boarded up. I’m fuming.
I won’t be rewatching Digger, but it inspired me finally to watch Synecdoche, New York, which will stay with me forever.
October 6, 2026 at 6:28 AM
I won’t be rewatching Digger, but it inspired me finally to watch Synecdoche, New York, which will stay with me forever.
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
Ah, back in the days when this sort of thing was an exaggerated satire.
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (5th October 1977). Jimmy has a plan for when the balloon goes up.
October 5, 2026 at 3:05 PM
Ah, back in the days when this sort of thing was an exaggerated satire.
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”Vodka! But never mix it with beer, she said so sensibly!”
Today is National Vodka Day! Get out your grains or potatoes and start distilling while you peruse these ten artworks!
First up:
"Vodka!" - Tove Jansson (unknown)
First up:
"Vodka!" - Tove Jansson (unknown)
October 4, 2026 at 2:43 PM
”Vodka! But never mix it with beer, she said so sensibly!”
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Great chance to post my all-time favorite headline
February 9, 2026 at 6:23 AM
Great chance to post my all-time favorite headline
Some proper Catalan scran: esqueixada (cod salad), tripa amb capipota amb cigrons (tripe and fore and aft ends of pig with chickpeas) and botifarró (blood sausage) with more chickpeas. Lots of other appealing stuff on the menu too.
October 2, 2026 at 9:27 PM
Some proper Catalan scran: esqueixada (cod salad), tripa amb capipota amb cigrons (tripe and fore and aft ends of pig with chickpeas) and botifarró (blood sausage) with more chickpeas. Lots of other appealing stuff on the menu too.
A Paul Thomas Anderson double bill at the Filmoteca de Catalunya. Magnolia remains magnificent, Punch-Drunk Love a charming oddity.
October 2, 2026 at 8:57 PM
A Paul Thomas Anderson double bill at the Filmoteca de Catalunya. Magnolia remains magnificent, Punch-Drunk Love a charming oddity.
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
Hope your day was better than Darwin’s, on this day 165 years ago
October 1, 2026 at 9:03 PM
Hope your day was better than Darwin’s, on this day 165 years ago
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It's particularly obvious when you try to port this worldview onto any national category which doesn't have an arbitrary, secondary catch-all. What would the Irish equivalent of this even mean? "You're not Irish, of course, but we'll let you call yourself Hibernian if you like"?
October 2, 2026 at 11:50 AM
It's particularly obvious when you try to port this worldview onto any national category which doesn't have an arbitrary, secondary catch-all. What would the Irish equivalent of this even mean? "You're not Irish, of course, but we'll let you call yourself Hibernian if you like"?
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
My teacher brother has just informed me that his primary school kids now refer to anything shit or old fashioned as "Brexit". Which has made my morning.
October 2, 2026 at 8:28 AM
My teacher brother has just informed me that his primary school kids now refer to anything shit or old fashioned as "Brexit". Which has made my morning.
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
Manchester City are appealing, but also are not.
October 2, 2026 at 1:07 PM
Manchester City are appealing, but also are not.
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
Every time I see a serial killer tv show advertised I think of this
October 2, 2026 at 4:33 AM
Every time I see a serial killer tv show advertised I think of this
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Well, happy Charles Darwin is “very poorly today & very stupid & hate[s] everybody & everything” to all who celebrate, because he wrote those words in a letter to his friend (and author of Principles of Geology) Charles Lyell 161 years ago today
October 1, 2026 at 7:23 AM
Well, happy Charles Darwin is “very poorly today & very stupid & hate[s] everybody & everything” to all who celebrate, because he wrote those words in a letter to his friend (and author of Principles of Geology) Charles Lyell 161 years ago today
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
So, who's your money on? Gérard Depardieu? Javier Bardem? Personally, I suspect Jackie Woodburne (Susan off Neighbours).
September 29, 2026 at 8:30 AM
So, who's your money on? Gérard Depardieu? Javier Bardem? Personally, I suspect Jackie Woodburne (Susan off Neighbours).
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
Most of a snail is storage.
September 29, 2026 at 8:47 AM
Most of a snail is storage.
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
"Yes, he must persuade people that his preferred solution to the social care crisis is the right one, but, before that, he must reach the large number of people who aren’t even aware that there is a crisis to begin with" giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... by @stephenkb.bsky.social
What ‘Choosin’ Texas’ tells us about Burnham’s social care obstacles
Convincing the British public to pay higher taxes for something they wrongly assume the state provides will not be easy
giftarticle.ft.com
September 29, 2026 at 5:22 AM
"Yes, he must persuade people that his preferred solution to the social care crisis is the right one, but, before that, he must reach the large number of people who aren’t even aware that there is a crisis to begin with" giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... by @stephenkb.bsky.social
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
This is true. In 2016, I got into an argument with a gay man on a menswear forum. I've since made it my mission to make every man dress gay, thereby destroying his ability to tell who is actually gay and, ultimately, his chances of finding love. I built my social media following to achieve that goal
September 27, 2026 at 5:20 PM
This is true. In 2016, I got into an argument with a gay man on a menswear forum. I've since made it my mission to make every man dress gay, thereby destroying his ability to tell who is actually gay and, ultimately, his chances of finding love. I built my social media following to achieve that goal
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
Today would have been the 83rd birthday of Bernard William Jewry, had he not sadly died in 2014 at the relatively young age of 72. This wouldn’t be especially remarkable had he not spent the previous 40 years going by the name Alvin Stardust
September 27, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Today would have been the 83rd birthday of Bernard William Jewry, had he not sadly died in 2014 at the relatively young age of 72. This wouldn’t be especially remarkable had he not spent the previous 40 years going by the name Alvin Stardust
Reposted by Alastair Lawless
Happy 12th anniversary to this immensely important editorial in Britain’s newspaper of record, the [checks notes] Sunday Sport.
September 27, 2026 at 8:35 AM
Happy 12th anniversary to this immensely important editorial in Britain’s newspaper of record, the [checks notes] Sunday Sport.