Mark Gray
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markgray.bsky.social
Mark Gray
@markgray.bsky.social
Deaf, cochlear implant user, annoyed liberal centrist. 18th/19thc art collecting/researching + academic/consultant/government economist. Lots of art.

DMs=block.

#arthistory #19thc #18thc #Britishart #knowledgeexchange
Revelling in #HaymansWay from #STV - stunning, stirring north of #Scotland landscapes that leave you in awe and wonder. Genuinely beautiful television.
November 14, 2025 at 11:10 PM
There's a bleak strand of #conservatism that relishes misery as virtue. They are very odd people.

And if you *really* wanted to make your council more efficient you'd tell everyone to work from home and sell the offices. Being conservatives, to your mates probably.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Andrea Jenkyns tells new staff working from home is not an option
Greater Lincolnshire Mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns has reiterated her stance on working from home.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 12, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Re #Trump and the BBC, threatening billion dollar suits is what this appalling man does, regularly.

The BBC edits on Panorama *were* disgraceful. The BBC has apologised, heads have rolled. Probably more should. That ought to be an end to it.

The idea his reputation is affected is laughable.
November 10, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Yes the #Trump edits were wrong and frankly disgraceful journalism (they needn't have spliced, just made clear what the wouldbe dictator and anti-democrat meant, which was plain enough) but...the DG and Head of News sucking up to the Orange Idiot by *resigning*? Nuts.
November 9, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Let me just say here how very, very much I loathe, hate, oppose and detest the #ASDA Christmas advert.

Message ends...
November 8, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Watching #TomHanks in #AManCalledOtto - which I missed when it first came out - and it is just brilliant, isn't it? The man's a brilliant actor.
November 8, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Received with a bundle of minor prints was this tired old election poster from 1859 from one Thonas Hawkins. The line 'I smote the dogs of faction dumb' is wonderful.
November 7, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Go to the BBC website - the big buddies of #Reform - and search for stories about the party. This is what you get. I haven't edited out anything.

It isn't a party. It's a bad joke.
November 5, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Any thoughts on who signed a pastel drawing like this in 1927? Struggling to read the name - likely a French artist or resident in France.
November 2, 2025 at 1:54 PM
October 31, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Brilliant little wine bar. Pure joy - good wine, good cheese, charcuterie, good quiet ambiance. And it is in #Venice. Joy multiplied.
www.lasetevenezia.com
la sete – cicchetteria veneziana wine bar
www.lasetevenezia.com
October 27, 2025 at 7:23 PM
'A report from His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service said 262 prisoners in England and Wales were released in error between April 2024 and March 2025'.

Good grief.

www.bbc.com/news/article...
Epping migrant sex offender to be deported 'this week' - Lammy
Hadush Kebatu was arrested in north London, two days after being mistakenly released from an Essex jail.
www.bbc.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:54 AM
As a teenager I loved these and other #BryanMagee programmes - two #philosophers discussing complex, important ideas. No shouting. No intrusive graphics. No 'celebs'. No faux competition. We were trusted with difficulty.

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002kx5p via @bbciplayer
The Great Philosophers - Series 1: 1. Plato
Myles Burnyeat looks at Plato, the first western philosopher whose written works have survived.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 26, 2025 at 5:07 AM
The old 'keep them guessing' game - showing 'delayed' at the station but *actually* 'cancelled'.

#Train companies, just stop lying.
October 25, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Clearly #London is so crime free, with no white collar fraud, no corporate crime, no gang violence, no robbery and no thuggery that the authorities can deal with the *real* menace in our capital - the coffee dregs disposal fiends.

www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...
Woman fined £150 for pouring coffee down drain outside London station
Burcu Yesilyurt tipped out a small amount from reusable cup rather than risk spilling it on the bus
www.standard.co.uk
October 25, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Question about #AI: We know some #AItools 'hallucinate' sources, but could an #AIengine go further and cover tracks by creating those (erroneous) sources to 'make' something true?
October 20, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Next year will be ten years away from that stupid #Brexit vote, and the thought that a Chancellor of the Exchequer saying this is at all controversial is nuts.

BBC News - Chancellor says Brexit deal caused long-term damage to economy
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Chancellor blames Brexit deal for long-term damage to economy
Rachel Reeves made the comments about the 2020 deal at a key meeting of the world's leading finance ministers and central bankers.
www.bbc.com
October 20, 2025 at 5:08 AM
#America, each day a new low from #Trump. Here's new low 187,698...How on earth can you stand this?

BBC News - 'Have a great life!' Trump orders prison release of disgraced ex-lawmaker Santos
www.bbc.com/news/article...
George Santos: 'Have a great life!' Trump orders prison release of disgraced ex-congressman
George Santos was jailed for seven years for stealing identities, including from members of his own family.
www.bbc.com
October 18, 2025 at 5:13 AM
Col. Robert Goff...but did Robert Goff *really* make etchings of peacocks?
October 14, 2025 at 8:07 PM
#Watercolour sketch with a tiny amount of pencil underdrawing attributed to #WilliamLeightonLeitch (1804-1883).
October 13, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Victorian #watercolour by #AndrewBrandishHolte (1829-1907)
October 13, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Annoys me every time I see it: 'While stocks last' or 'While stock lasts' but 'While stock last' is...grrrrr!
October 13, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Watch the sleight of hand on immigration from the #rightwing.

1. It's not unreasonable to want to some controls on #immigration.

2. It's racist to want to have them based on the colour of someone's skin or to deport people for the same reason.

How often does 1 slide into 2? Every d***ed time.
October 12, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Astonished at the number of 25 year old Henriettas and Ruperts showing history video content on #Instagram, plainly convincing themselves at least they are the next #LucyWorsley.
a group of people walking with the words " we 're historians " on the screen
ALT: a group of people walking with the words " we 're historians " on the screen
media.tenor.com
October 12, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Poster on a British train.

#NewYork, I admire your gumption but 'Everything you love' for most of us doesn't include raiding our phones in case we've said naughty things about an ageing orange blob with a liar reflex.

Brits are not going to the #BigApple until that thing goes.
October 11, 2025 at 5:13 PM