Bellend Sebastian

It was the first Smiths album I bought, in about 1990, I think. I'd not long been given Bona Drag (which I'd similarly not realised was a compilation) as I adored 'Suedehead', Morrissey's first solo single, and that just blew me away. I'd always liked The Smiths without diving in as I didn't feel I was their target audience (I was only 12 when they split) so I went for Hatful of Hollow because it had a lot of singles on that I remembered. It didn't grab me as quickly as Bona Drag, as a lot of those session tracks are a bit brash and direct compared to what I was used to, but I was hooked within a week or so and made it my mission to get my hands on everything that Morrissey and The Smiths had ever recorded, which I pretty much managed to do but took a while. The original incarnation of Rough Trade went down the pan around that time, and it was actually quite difficult to get your hands on even the albums until The Smiths' catalogue was bought up by Warner's and they were re-released in about '94. I still remember the little HMV in the Market Place having all the Smiths CD singles (which probably came out after the band game to an end) in stock, not buying them and regretting it weeks later when the whole catalogue got deleted

Do you like it? I really like Makeup is a Lie now, but this feels like a struggle and I've heard live versions of it a few times before. Interesting to see Alain Whyte credited with backing vocals, thought he was out of the fold again

I was thinking a Leonard Rossiter vibe. Bloody hell, I'm ageing myself there, aren't I, and I'm not THAT old

You've got the premise and characters for a pretty solid 70s/80s sitcom beloved by millions right there. Who would have played you?

tersound on Narb road but I think that's moved now. That's well nice. Have you got it booked in? Danny and Nat at Leicestershire Luthier are great, and their work excellent. Their place is in Hathern on the A6 and it's not much harder for me to go there than try and park in Clarendon Park to go to Howard Smith who is also very good, and still in business as far as I know

You keep everything inside, like a bashful clam!

Stick with the plan guys! Making America Great Again just involves making it really shit again first

You have no idea what I look like without the tonnage of make up and stuff

I'm just trying to Make America Great Again. So far it's going pretty well

Everyone's going on about Trump's decline but I've seen loads of weird MAGA AI art where he's got his shirt off and he looks pretty ripped, let me tell you and why would they lie about that

Not the farmer, obviously https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c931ng11x4ro

I should be pleased about the equaliser but when I shut my eyes I can still visualise a Mercury back page with the headline SPARE US FROM THIS PATIENCE TESTING WANK

There's a lot going on in this and I am absolutely not saying he's right, but it's interesting all the same. Apologies if already posted: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/18/tech-ai-bubble-burst-reverse-centaur

If I did that I'd just get bigger rats, and to be honest they're plenty big enough as it is

In fairness, I've seen a couple of decrepit looking ones of late that could pass for Peter himself. Imagine if he came back now. I think people would say "what is this?" even more, and more angrily, than they did back in the day

Yes, it's mental isn't it? I was like 'I THINK that's a fox, but I'd better check', was quite relieved to see it was

Another fox visitation last night, this time one sauntering down the middle of the road in front of the house, doing that horrendous screaming thing they do. I've heard it before but it's usually in the middle of the night and very brief, but this lad was screeching his head off at about 9.30. I knew what it was and saw old Foxy having a good old shout, but if you didn't know what it was you'd wonder WTF was going on, as evidenced by nearly everyone on the street peaking out of their curtains

If there's one thing that can save Britain it's a party featuring large chunks of the more amateurish elements of the last widely adored Tory administration

I know it's early but it's definitely mine. My kids are horrified by it but were slightly pacified when told she'd very much endorsed it. In Olivia we trust!

Have we had this? I can't believe how well it works. I'm delighted to admit that I think Olivia Rodrigo is an absolutely top notch pop talent, but I think she will be thrilled at how this turned out (which I think happened because she asked him to do it)

The second series of Things You Should Have Done appeared with so little fanfare on the iPlayer recently I didn't even realise it was out. It's not going to be for everyone but I love this programme so much, it's just ridiculous. No Selin Hizli this time which was a shame at first but this has made room for Bridget Christie who's brilliant in it

Very impressively, I've been refunded the difference despite not even saying which store I visited or providing any proof of purchase. They must have traced the transaction via my email address. Runners Need/Cotswold Outdoor have therefore earned themselves the much coveted Bellend Sebastian Seal of Approval* An actual seal, that is massive and makes that terrible honking sound and also stinks but looks benignly upon you bringing a sense of peace and fulfillment

Surely evidence that we should actually do this more? In all seriousness though (for a change) one of the reasons I came off Twitter ages ago was that the algorithm had convinced itself that I was into videos of hapless Russian servicemen having bits of their body blown off by drone dropped grenades and I would rather have seen less of that given the choice

My earlier piss-take post about London proving quite popular so thanks for that but those of us that still dip into Facebook from time to time know that if I put it on there you'd get replies like "too right" and "yes I've been there and that's the sort of thing that happens all the time". Perhaps that's what you lot were thinking as well

The last time I was in London they barely seemed to be enforcing Islamic law AT ALL and when I asked a police officer about this he didn't answer because he was too busy sewing a Pride flag