Footballers who sound like things:
Shea Charles, midfielder, Fulham — first name is pronounced “chez” and so together makes me conjure up a French brasserie, perhaps a sister restaurant to Chez Bruce in Wandsworth.
Hayden Hackney, midfielder, Everton — the single most Football Manager regen (a young player who is generated by the game after the save begins, rather than being one of the real players who existed in the original database) name in history.
Omar Marmoush, forward, Tottenham — difficult to hear commentators say the name and not think of the “mum-mum-mum-mah” vocal at the start of Lady Gaga's Poker Face.
My absolute favourite thing about this entire video is the expert at the end who, having eaten almost 20 different varieties of bacon, goes: "Crazy thing about this journey is that my dad is a Jewish cardiologist."
Me, exhausted: No, New Labour wasn't 'just like the Tories', look at the approach to public services, Europe, the role of the state etc.
YouTube algorithm:
The nearest analogue to reading about the Cuban Missile Crisis in Robert Caro's LBJ biography is watching The Lion King 1½, the plot of which is the 1994 original, but told from the perspective of Timon and Pumbaa. (If Timon and Pumbaa were cheerleaders for the War Party and wanted everyone on Pride Rock annihilated).
One of the great joys of travel is discovering non-standard water bottle sizes. Australia loves a 600ml but Brazil nicks it on the grounds of unnecessary specificity.
There is a special day in every millennial male's life when he checks himself in the mirror and finally accepts he looks older than Rob Lowe. And Sunday was that day for me. Pictured: Lowe, last week:
I have questions about the Instagram algorithm and what the heck it thinks I get up to on weekends.
Alex Zverev won the men’s US Open singles title earlier this month. He was not a universally popular champion, though you wouldn’t necessarily know it from the television coverage. Below is Mary Carillo once more speaking truth, when others around her would clearly rather it all just went away.
Video below from the indefatigable Ben Rothenberg.
Not the weather for it, obviously, but just remembered my fear of snorkeling (specifically, of a seagull defecating directly into the tube-shaped breathing device while I'm face down in the water). Is this likely to happen? Yes. Rational? Also yes.