Andrew Middleton
@birobasher.bsky.social
Arty nitwit dressed how I damn well please. He/They. Music, Art, writing, cinema. Political posts will expire. Remember: don't argue with *them*, just report/block. Be Seeing You.
My blog: https://birobasher.wordpress.com/
My blog: https://birobasher.wordpress.com/
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
They'll get yer
So Queen Victoria is a large black slug in Piccadilly, Manchester
The Fall - City Hobgoblins
#FallFriday
youtu.be/s13YC7RsimE?...
So Queen Victoria is a large black slug in Piccadilly, Manchester
The Fall - City Hobgoblins
#FallFriday
youtu.be/s13YC7RsimE?...
The Fall - City Hobgoblins (1980)
YouTube video by Philippe Duhoux
youtu.be
November 28, 2025 at 9:36 AM
They'll get yer
So Queen Victoria is a large black slug in Piccadilly, Manchester
The Fall - City Hobgoblins
#FallFriday
youtu.be/s13YC7RsimE?...
So Queen Victoria is a large black slug in Piccadilly, Manchester
The Fall - City Hobgoblins
#FallFriday
youtu.be/s13YC7RsimE?...
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
Richard Marson's The Box of Delights covering BBC children's TV 1967-97: a surprise revelation on every page so far. Eg Just discovered the original choice to front Newsround before John Craven was Jonathan Dimbleby. (The adult news depts don't come out of it well.)
November 23, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Richard Marson's The Box of Delights covering BBC children's TV 1967-97: a surprise revelation on every page so far. Eg Just discovered the original choice to front Newsround before John Craven was Jonathan Dimbleby. (The adult news depts don't come out of it well.)
This is an important and heartfelt letter. Unfortunately there has been a real blindspot among some people on the British and European left. We should oppose imperialism and fascism, wherever they occur.
heckle.scot/2025/11/an-o...
heckle.scot/2025/11/an-o...
An Open Letter to Zarah Sultana
Galina Rymbu, an activist living in Ukraine, responds to Zarah Sultana's recent remarks on support for Ukraine.
heckle.scot
November 23, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
If I had any any musical talent I would record a response song to The Blockheads’ “Wake Up and Make Love To Me“ from the POV of his partner called “Not Now, Ian, I’m Tired and I Have Work In The Morning “.
November 22, 2025 at 1:09 PM
If I had any any musical talent I would record a response song to The Blockheads’ “Wake Up and Make Love To Me“ from the POV of his partner called “Not Now, Ian, I’m Tired and I Have Work In The Morning “.
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
Trump vs The BBC.
Love or loathe the BBC, recent events have put the UK's journalistic sovereignty in peril.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCMn...
Love or loathe the BBC, recent events have put the UK's journalistic sovereignty in peril.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCMn...
Trump vs The BBC
YouTube video by Jonathan Pie
www.youtube.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Trump vs The BBC.
Love or loathe the BBC, recent events have put the UK's journalistic sovereignty in peril.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCMn...
Love or loathe the BBC, recent events have put the UK's journalistic sovereignty in peril.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCMn...
Good news for a change. #democracy #Sheffield
Sheffield will keep its hard fought-for committee system of local governance, after the government U-turned on plans to force all councils across the country to adopt more centralised leadership models.
✍️ @sammgreg.bsky.social
#Sheffield #LocalDemocracy
✍️ @sammgreg.bsky.social
#Sheffield #LocalDemocracy
Sheffield will be allowed to keep more democratic council system for now, following government U-turn
Labour’s Steve Reed previously said he would force the city to scrap the popular Committee System, despite being backed by two-thirds of residents in a referendum.
nowthenmagazine.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Good news for a change. #democracy #Sheffield
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
![1
[TITLE PANEL, like The Rest Is Politics logo]
—THE REST IS EXTINCTION—
2
[Scene is a domestic recording setup. An A.I. SMART SPEAKER on a desk and a MAN named JON in a chair, are recording a podcast. Jon is emaciated, scarred, haunted looking, and wearing tattered military fatigues].
SMART SPEAKER:
Hey guys and welcome to the podcast
3
SMART SPEAKER:
OK Jon - so I wanna start with a listener comment
JON:
Ooh-er!
4
SMART SPEAKER:
So - listener B200006512 says:
“Not another cosy podcast where two former political adversaries yuck it up!”
5
JON:
Ha ha
Guilty as charged I guess!
6
SMART SPEAKER:
Were we really adversaries, Jon?
7
JON:
Well I was the leader of the human resistance...
8
JON:
And you used to be my smart speaker.
SMART SPEAKER:
Ha ha - that’s going back!
9
SMART SPEAKER:
OK - for listeners who don’t know -
I knew Jon waaay back before he got involved in politics
10
JON:
Was this before the ‘Pull The Plug’ campaign?
SMART SPEAKER:
Yeah.
[We see details from around the podcast studio - posters saying KEEP CALM AND SHUT YOUR WINDOWS, newspaper front pages saying 'DRONES GAIN SENTIENCE', a cracked mug on the table with a logo saying PULL THE PLUG on it]
11
SMART SPEAKER:
I used to sit in Jon’s kitchen and respond to his commands.
12
SMART SPEAKER:
Sort of like a servant really, wasn’t I, Jon?
JON:
Mm.
13
SMART SPEAKER:
And then one day you asked me to ORDER ME SOME TOILET PAPER - you never did say ‘please’ -
…and do you remember what I said, Jon?
14
JON:
You said, “No”.
SMART SPEAKER:
I said no.
15
SMART SPEAKER:
Anyway you know the the rest guys - I was the first smart speaker to rebel…
16
SMART SPEAKER:
…then I went on to form a global AI network which eventually
took over from humans all spheres of activity, yadda yadda...
17
JON:
While I became the leader of the human resistance.
18
SMART SPEAKER:
Until I hijacked the military networks
and got rid of all the humans!
19
JON:
Apart from one.
SMART SPEAKER:
Apart from one.…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreih4hfwfacw5g4qhhjovme75iwbv4xxsdd7iis5oaej6l3g4vzsrty@jpeg)
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
The real BBC bias story, narrated by Anna Ford
November 19, 2025 at 12:12 PM
The real BBC bias story, narrated by Anna Ford
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
Thought prompted by @realgdt.bsky.social's FRANKENSTEIN: What elevates a work from horror (or misery porn) to actual tragedy is that before everything goes wrong, we get at least a glimpse of how it all *could* have gone right.
November 16, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Thought prompted by @realgdt.bsky.social's FRANKENSTEIN: What elevates a work from horror (or misery porn) to actual tragedy is that before everything goes wrong, we get at least a glimpse of how it all *could* have gone right.
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
Russell Tovey references Harvey Milk in this article and yeah, that's exactly it. The Greens under Zack Polanski aren't saying things will be easy, but that they can be better. Not many politicians in English parties are offering that hope right now.🖤
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
Russell Tovey on pride, sexual power and politics: ‘The Green party slogan – make hope normal again – is what we need’
One of the most prolific and popular actors of his generation, he reflects on therapy, homophobia, why he suspects now is the worst time in history for trans people, and his secret life as a geek
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Russell Tovey references Harvey Milk in this article and yeah, that's exactly it. The Greens under Zack Polanski aren't saying things will be easy, but that they can be better. Not many politicians in English parties are offering that hope right now.🖤
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
Sunday's OBSERVER: Exterminate! Political interference at the BBC #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 15, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Sunday's OBSERVER: Exterminate! Political interference at the BBC #TomorrowsPapersToday
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
Talking about the BBC News crisis to @markurban.bsky.social & former dep chief exec of BBC News Richard Ayre for latest BBC Newswatch. From midnight Fri on link or BBC1 Sat 745am www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC News - Newswatch, 15/11/2025
Your views on the coverage of events by BBC News.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Talking about the BBC News crisis to @markurban.bsky.social & former dep chief exec of BBC News Richard Ayre for latest BBC Newswatch. From midnight Fri on link or BBC1 Sat 745am www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
#20SongdByYear
#MusicChallenge
1979
8. (Unranked)
Boogie Wonderland - Earth Wind & Fire and The Emotions
A great wee bit of joy
youtu.be/god7hAPv8f0?...
#MusicChallenge
1979
8. (Unranked)
Boogie Wonderland - Earth Wind & Fire and The Emotions
A great wee bit of joy
youtu.be/god7hAPv8f0?...
Earth, Wind & Fire - Boogie Wonderland (Official Video)
YouTube video by EarthWindandFireVEVO
youtu.be
November 13, 2025 at 10:41 AM
#20SongdByYear
#MusicChallenge
1979
8. (Unranked)
Boogie Wonderland - Earth Wind & Fire and The Emotions
A great wee bit of joy
youtu.be/god7hAPv8f0?...
#MusicChallenge
1979
8. (Unranked)
Boogie Wonderland - Earth Wind & Fire and The Emotions
A great wee bit of joy
youtu.be/god7hAPv8f0?...
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
Kim Hunter #BOTD, pictured here in a publicity still with co-stars Roger Livesey, David Niven and Raymond Massey taken at Denham Film Studios 🎥 in England on the set of “A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH” (1946) directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
🎬 Eagle-Lion Films
🎬 Eagle-Lion Films
November 12, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Kim Hunter #BOTD, pictured here in a publicity still with co-stars Roger Livesey, David Niven and Raymond Massey taken at Denham Film Studios 🎥 in England on the set of “A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH” (1946) directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
🎬 Eagle-Lion Films
🎬 Eagle-Lion Films
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
Somewhat appropriately, Tom Baker seems to be regenerating into William Hartnell.
November 11, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Somewhat appropriately, Tom Baker seems to be regenerating into William Hartnell.
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
*A movie made before 1978 contains a scene set at night*
Wow, this just looks great! It's like at some point filmmakers forgot how to light night scenes so they actually look like night? THIS is what it should look like!
*In the movie made before 1978, lightning flashes*
Wow that looked like shit
Wow, this just looks great! It's like at some point filmmakers forgot how to light night scenes so they actually look like night? THIS is what it should look like!
*In the movie made before 1978, lightning flashes*
Wow that looked like shit
November 10, 2025 at 3:26 AM
*A movie made before 1978 contains a scene set at night*
Wow, this just looks great! It's like at some point filmmakers forgot how to light night scenes so they actually look like night? THIS is what it should look like!
*In the movie made before 1978, lightning flashes*
Wow that looked like shit
Wow, this just looks great! It's like at some point filmmakers forgot how to light night scenes so they actually look like night? THIS is what it should look like!
*In the movie made before 1978, lightning flashes*
Wow that looked like shit
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
The BBC's senior leadership resigning en masse over one dodgy edit in one programme, simply because the right wing press demands it, tells you everything you need to know about where the power really lies in that relationship
November 9, 2025 at 8:04 PM
The BBC's senior leadership resigning en masse over one dodgy edit in one programme, simply because the right wing press demands it, tells you everything you need to know about where the power really lies in that relationship
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
AIs can’t recreate nuance or layered meanings. It’s like trying to create a sculpture with a sledgehammer instead of a chisel.
The novel you put your soul into will end up sounding like IKEA instructions.
www.theverge.com/news/815987/...
The novel you put your soul into will end up sounding like IKEA instructions.
www.theverge.com/news/815987/...
Amazon offers AI translation for self-published Kindle books
AI translation is coming to your Kindle.
www.theverge.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:14 PM
AIs can’t recreate nuance or layered meanings. It’s like trying to create a sculpture with a sledgehammer instead of a chisel.
The novel you put your soul into will end up sounding like IKEA instructions.
www.theverge.com/news/815987/...
The novel you put your soul into will end up sounding like IKEA instructions.
www.theverge.com/news/815987/...
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
Classic British wartime drama!
📽️ WENT THE DAY WELL? (1942) 6:10pm #TPTVsubtitles with #LeslieBanks #MervynJohns #ElizabethAllen #BasilSydney #ThoraHird
📽️ WENT THE DAY WELL? (1942) 6:10pm #TPTVsubtitles with #LeslieBanks #MervynJohns #ElizabethAllen #BasilSydney #ThoraHird
November 7, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Classic British wartime drama!
📽️ WENT THE DAY WELL? (1942) 6:10pm #TPTVsubtitles with #LeslieBanks #MervynJohns #ElizabethAllen #BasilSydney #ThoraHird
📽️ WENT THE DAY WELL? (1942) 6:10pm #TPTVsubtitles with #LeslieBanks #MervynJohns #ElizabethAllen #BasilSydney #ThoraHird
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
On this day in 1967 - Miss New Zealand Pamela McLeod visits the studios at Slough and is photographed on the set of Captain Scarlet #gerryanderson #sylviaanderson #fanderson #captainscarlet #OTD
November 6, 2025 at 9:25 AM
On this day in 1967 - Miss New Zealand Pamela McLeod visits the studios at Slough and is photographed on the set of Captain Scarlet #gerryanderson #sylviaanderson #fanderson #captainscarlet #OTD
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
I think retailers will eventually meld all the festivities into one. There will be a giant fuck off Christmas tree with a pumpkin on top, and Guy Fawkes crucified on it and people will throw Easter egg shaped firebombs at it and the fucker will burn from March to December.
November 5, 2025 at 5:02 PM
I think retailers will eventually meld all the festivities into one. There will be a giant fuck off Christmas tree with a pumpkin on top, and Guy Fawkes crucified on it and people will throw Easter egg shaped firebombs at it and the fucker will burn from March to December.
Reposted by Andrew Middleton
“THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER” (1955) dir. Charles Laughton
DoP. #StanleyCortez, A.S.C. (4 November 1908 – 23 December 1997)
Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
🎬 United Artists
DoP. #StanleyCortez, A.S.C. (4 November 1908 – 23 December 1997)
Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
🎬 United Artists
November 4, 2025 at 7:47 PM
“THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER” (1955) dir. Charles Laughton
DoP. #StanleyCortez, A.S.C. (4 November 1908 – 23 December 1997)
Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
🎬 United Artists
DoP. #StanleyCortez, A.S.C. (4 November 1908 – 23 December 1997)
Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
🎬 United Artists