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
DMs=block.
#arthistory #19thc #18thc #Britishart #knowledgeexchange
#MincePies: better in January than December. Always.
January 8, 2026 at 9:22 PM
#MincePies: better in January than December. Always.
Lovely little programme of @robsongreen.bsky.social with #KTTunstall in the wonderful #EastNeuk. A joyous watch.
Robson Green's Weekend Escapes, Series 4: 4. KT Tunstall: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002pht0 via @bbciplayer
Robson Green's Weekend Escapes, Series 4: 4. KT Tunstall: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002pht0 via @bbciplayer
Robson Green's Weekend Escapes - Series 4: 4. KT Tunstall
Robson joins singer KT Tunstall in her home territory of Fife as they explore the beaches of her childhood near St Andrews, followed by a sea shanty workshop and jewellery making.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 8, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Lovely little programme of @robsongreen.bsky.social with #KTTunstall in the wonderful #EastNeuk. A joyous watch.
Robson Green's Weekend Escapes, Series 4: 4. KT Tunstall: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002pht0 via @bbciplayer
Robson Green's Weekend Escapes, Series 4: 4. KT Tunstall: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002pht0 via @bbciplayer
'For Starmer, “the Labour party is a PowerPoint presentation, or it is nothing”.'
Exactly right: zero strategy, just reactions, no explication, just...Powerpoint politics.
Can he not *see* this? I'm not even a Labour supporter and *I* feel embarrassed for them!
Exactly right: zero strategy, just reactions, no explication, just...Powerpoint politics.
Can he not *see* this? I'm not even a Labour supporter and *I* feel embarrassed for them!
My @guardian piece on what Keir Starmer’s interview with @bbc tells about how plans to handle the year.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Who does new year Keir look like after his reset? Last year Keir – and that’s a huge problem | John McTernan
This weekend’s lengthy BBC interview was a great opportunity to show vim and a new vision, but once again process and stock phrases won out, says political strategist John McTernan
www.theguardian.com
January 7, 2026 at 9:51 AM
'For Starmer, “the Labour party is a PowerPoint presentation, or it is nothing”.'
Exactly right: zero strategy, just reactions, no explication, just...Powerpoint politics.
Can he not *see* this? I'm not even a Labour supporter and *I* feel embarrassed for them!
Exactly right: zero strategy, just reactions, no explication, just...Powerpoint politics.
Can he not *see* this? I'm not even a Labour supporter and *I* feel embarrassed for them!
What if #Denmark now unilaterally declared that it would share sovereignty over #Greenland and #Nunavut as one territory with #Canada? The US President would be invading #Canada if he landed troops. Even the most fevered, light-of-brain #MAGA -types would think he was insane.
January 7, 2026 at 7:24 AM
The #LucyWorsley Murder Club thing seems rather thin - supposition upon supposition (with a good smattering of modern day tut-tutting at Victorian morals) builds something that is called a 'case'. No worse than the innumerable 'X was Jack the Ripper' documentaries, possibly, but certainly no better.
January 6, 2026 at 2:36 PM
The #LucyWorsley Murder Club thing seems rather thin - supposition upon supposition (with a good smattering of modern day tut-tutting at Victorian morals) builds something that is called a 'case'. No worse than the innumerable 'X was Jack the Ripper' documentaries, possibly, but certainly no better.
Gosh #USA, on the other side of this maniacal administration you've *got* to overhaul your Constitution. Limit Presidential power - no packing the SC with their own, no pardon powers, reduced scope for Executive Orders and more. Your Constitution won't survive much more of this.
January 5, 2026 at 6:05 AM
Gosh #USA, on the other side of this maniacal administration you've *got* to overhaul your Constitution. Limit Presidential power - no packing the SC with their own, no pardon powers, reduced scope for Executive Orders and more. Your Constitution won't survive much more of this.
This delightful #watercolour is attributed to John Brompton Cuming (1772-1851), who entered the RA Schools in 1790.
#18thcentury
#18thcentury
January 4, 2026 at 10:22 PM
This delightful #watercolour is attributed to John Brompton Cuming (1772-1851), who entered the RA Schools in 1790.
#18thcentury
#18thcentury
Multi-tasking, 19th century style.
January 4, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Multi-tasking, 19th century style.
When you're waiting for a focus group to show you what to think...
BBC News - Starmer won't be drawn on whether US strikes on Venezuela broke international law
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BBC News - Starmer won't be drawn on whether US strikes on Venezuela broke international law
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Starmer won't be drawn on whether US strikes on Venezuela broke international law
The PM told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg that he won't
www.bbc.co.uk
January 4, 2026 at 2:58 AM
When you're waiting for a focus group to show you what to think...
BBC News - Starmer won't be drawn on whether US strikes on Venezuela broke international law
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BBC News - Starmer won't be drawn on whether US strikes on Venezuela broke international law
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
If the UN Security Council and/or General Assembly aren't in session to condemn #Trump actions on #Veneluela, he'll keep going. Stop this insane toddler before we all go to hell in a handcart.
January 3, 2026 at 4:05 PM
If the UN Security Council and/or General Assembly aren't in session to condemn #Trump actions on #Veneluela, he'll keep going. Stop this insane toddler before we all go to hell in a handcart.
Watching the #ChristmasUniversityChallenge match between, apparently, UCL and Frank Cottrell-Boyce.
December 31, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Watching the #ChristmasUniversityChallenge match between, apparently, UCL and Frank Cottrell-Boyce.
Cheering on #MiddlesexUniversity in the Christmas #UniversityChallenge!
December 30, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Cheering on #MiddlesexUniversity in the Christmas #UniversityChallenge!
Watching this for the first time in years and...I can't stop laughing. #BenMiller, #AlisonSteadman and crew were in devastating form. Just open a bottle, sit back and enjoy.
m.imdb.com/title/tt0401...
m.imdb.com/title/tt0401...
The Worst Week of My Life (TV Series 2004–2006) ⭐ 7.9 | Comedy
29m
m.imdb.com
December 28, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Watching this for the first time in years and...I can't stop laughing. #BenMiller, #AlisonSteadman and crew were in devastating form. Just open a bottle, sit back and enjoy.
m.imdb.com/title/tt0401...
m.imdb.com/title/tt0401...
Let me say this here as insurance that I never seek a visa to travel to #MAGA -land: #DonaldTrump is a pathetic corrupt whiny child with all the appeal of a sewage farm and less intelligence than a brick. There you go, #HomelandSecurity.
a baby in a suit and tie has an american flag pin on his jacket
ALT: a baby in a suit and tie has an american flag pin on his jacket
media.tenor.com
December 24, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Let me say this here as insurance that I never seek a visa to travel to #MAGA -land: #DonaldTrump is a pathetic corrupt whiny child with all the appeal of a sewage farm and less intelligence than a brick. There you go, #HomelandSecurity.
To @royalholloway.bsky.social tonight for @bracknellchoral.bsky.social #Christmas concert. Pure joy.
December 22, 2025 at 12:51 AM
To @royalholloway.bsky.social tonight for @bracknellchoral.bsky.social #Christmas concert. Pure joy.
A small glimpse into a Victorian life in Wales. This Directory is inscribed 'Jas. Devereaux, No. 14 Townhill, Mt. Pleasant, Swanse[a]. If found please return And you will be rewarded'.
December 19, 2025 at 10:00 AM
A small glimpse into a Victorian life in Wales. This Directory is inscribed 'Jas. Devereaux, No. 14 Townhill, Mt. Pleasant, Swanse[a]. If found please return And you will be rewarded'.
That's it. My long love affair with #highereducation ended here at Middlesex University yesterday - with 46 years in between of fun, challenge and periodic sector crises. I'm off now to semi-retirement.
#Universities, you're really very special places. Good wishes from me for your future.
#Universities, you're really very special places. Good wishes from me for your future.
December 18, 2025 at 2:48 PM
That's it. My long love affair with #highereducation ended here at Middlesex University yesterday - with 46 years in between of fun, challenge and periodic sector crises. I'm off now to semi-retirement.
#Universities, you're really very special places. Good wishes from me for your future.
#Universities, you're really very special places. Good wishes from me for your future.
Should be open and shut: how on earth can you possibly defame Donald Trump?
BBC News - Trump files $5bn defamation lawsuit against BBC over Panorama speech edit
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BBC News - Trump files $5bn defamation lawsuit against BBC over Panorama speech edit
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Trump sues BBC for defamation over Panorama speech edit
The US president has requested $5bn (£3.7bn) in damages, according to court documents filed in Florida.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 16, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Should be open and shut: how on earth can you possibly defame Donald Trump?
BBC News - Trump files $5bn defamation lawsuit against BBC over Panorama speech edit
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BBC News - Trump files $5bn defamation lawsuit against BBC over Panorama speech edit
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
🎶 At a winter #Advent Service
We've just sung appalling rhyme,
While the metre of each carol
Has this structure every time.
Wesley is the worst offender,
Lo! His rhymes are, truth to tell,
Not just laboured but confounding
And to sing they're simply hell.🎶
We've just sung appalling rhyme,
While the metre of each carol
Has this structure every time.
Wesley is the worst offender,
Lo! His rhymes are, truth to tell,
Not just laboured but confounding
And to sing they're simply hell.🎶
December 7, 2025 at 8:40 PM
🎶 At a winter #Advent Service
We've just sung appalling rhyme,
While the metre of each carol
Has this structure every time.
Wesley is the worst offender,
Lo! His rhymes are, truth to tell,
Not just laboured but confounding
And to sing they're simply hell.🎶
We've just sung appalling rhyme,
While the metre of each carol
Has this structure every time.
Wesley is the worst offender,
Lo! His rhymes are, truth to tell,
Not just laboured but confounding
And to sing they're simply hell.🎶
It's #StAndrewsDay dinner in oor hoos, jus' the noo! Predictably we've haggis, neeps and tatties with copius amounts of rich red wine.
If you ever wondered 'why the #Saltire?' wonder no more. Catherine has her wheel, Stephen has his stones and poor old Andrew has...this.
If you ever wondered 'why the #Saltire?' wonder no more. Catherine has her wheel, Stephen has his stones and poor old Andrew has...this.
November 30, 2025 at 7:45 PM
It's #StAndrewsDay dinner in oor hoos, jus' the noo! Predictably we've haggis, neeps and tatties with copius amounts of rich red wine.
If you ever wondered 'why the #Saltire?' wonder no more. Catherine has her wheel, Stephen has his stones and poor old Andrew has...this.
If you ever wondered 'why the #Saltire?' wonder no more. Catherine has her wheel, Stephen has his stones and poor old Andrew has...this.
#Wokingham Winter Carnival was lively, lots of excellent local charities to support - and (middle right) I won a bear, 'brother' of son's old bear we could never part with. He's now got a friend!
November 30, 2025 at 12:50 PM
#Wokingham Winter Carnival was lively, lots of excellent local charities to support - and (middle right) I won a bear, 'brother' of son's old bear we could never part with. He's now got a friend!
Really not sure about this at all. Cults don't have moments of enlightenment, they go to the end. Witless MAGA folk are not going to abandon him.
"A lot of Americans looked at Trump's Great Gatsby party and thought, 'This guy really doesn't get it'," says NYT journalist Mark Landler.
"He hasn't reduced the price of eggs, and every time he's asked, he says he has, that prices are lower"
www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/trum...
"He hasn't reduced the price of eggs, and every time he's asked, he says he has, that prices are lower"
www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/trum...
'Trump now looks like the handmaiden of the elites... His time will be over' - Mark Landler | The News Agents
New York Times journalist Mark Landler explains the cracks in Donald Trump’s control of the MAGA movement, and how recent events have only begun to alienate him further from his supporters.
www.thenewsagents.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Really not sure about this at all. Cults don't have moments of enlightenment, they go to the end. Witless MAGA folk are not going to abandon him.
I know #quietquitting is a thing in the workplace these days, but our #innovation system's doing it. See the UK slide further down the #GlobalInnovationIndex in 2025.
November 28, 2025 at 8:01 AM
I know #quietquitting is a thing in the workplace these days, but our #innovation system's doing it. See the UK slide further down the #GlobalInnovationIndex in 2025.