Wednesday, 23 September 2026

You would never demean yourself by trying to enjoy being at work

Bored at work? Have you considered hating one of, or all of, your co-workers for reasons they would consider petty but you call unforgivable? This should get you started:

Iain’s lunch had a mild odour
He sits within your line of sight and if that wasn’t bad enough, he dared bring in something more exotic than a cheese sandwich for his dirty little midday meal. And he made you watch. Begin with passive-aggressive sniffing and coughing, and glow with inner fury whenever he strays toward the microwave for eight years thereafter.

Marie used the printer for too long
Despite the fact that everything is now on G-suite, Microsoft 365, or East 17 these days, a fellow employee was at the printer the one and only time you needed to use it. Hogging it. Did she gracefully step aside when confronted with your urgent hover? She did not. So you must deliberately go slowly when she’s waiting behind you from now until 2032.

Louise laughed too hard at a manager’s joke
Pathetic little suck-up. Guffawing, in a meeting, when everyone knows they’re not for fun or productivity but to engender despair, self-loathing and the urge to put one’s hand into a blender. You would never demean yourself by trying to enjoy being at work and it’s well worth resenting that cow for doing so.

Connor drank the last of the milk
It may seem like a small, impolite accident, but this devastating betrayal is in fact worse than Kim Philby, Judas and David Harbour all combined. Two pints is more than a quid now. Act swiftly, rally others to your cause and judge what pitiful over-sweetened pseudo-beverage your nemesis wasted the precious liquid on.

Jill sat at your desk
Technically it isn’t your desk because of hot-desking. But while its ownership might not be recognised in a court of law, spiritually and emotionally it is your safe harbour and your home. And she thinks she can steal it? Fuck about with her chair when she isn’t looking.

That girl who didn’t know who you were
That disrespectful intern is the epitome of why their generation don’t deserve jobs or to ever retire, with their fucking iced coffees. How dare they not recognise how supremely important you are? You’ll make sure that Ava, or whatever her name is, won’t go far. Oh, she’s left.

The Daily Mash

Of course.

Tuesday, 22 September 2026

Of Di's revenge, scary spiders, ancient silver, a TV icon, BB and "I won't lie to you"


Princess Diana's "revenge frock" is on display this week at Sotheby's in London, ahead of its sale at auction in New York in December - with a sale estimate of $150,000–300,000 (£110,000–220,000)! [click to embiggen]

It's another snippets post, dear reader...

  • Waiting for God no more news: RIP the lovely Stephanie Cole, beloved actress here at Dolores Delargo Towers, not least for her roles in Tenko, Talking Heads and Waiting for God; she also appeared in Doc Martin, and even Coronation Street. All our old faves are dropping like flies, it seems...
  • Sex kitten's slippers, anyone? news: An auction of French screen legend Brigitte Bardot's personal items fetched nearly €1 million (£858,000, $1.15m) in Paris on Monday, almost 20 times the estimate. There was some right old tat among the 284 items that were for sale - I wonder who bought her old typewriter, or paid seven grand for two dog collars?
  • Tidy! news: Happy 60th birthday to the simply faboo Ruth Jones, comedienne, actress - and creator of one of the best characters on telly in the last decade, Nessa!

  • And finally: It's the Autumn Equinox tonight! It's all downhill from here, folks - the days are officially shorter than the nights from tomorrow until March... Dammit.

And the weather? Very warm and sunny in London, and the signs are good for the rest of the week. On Friday, it's forecast to hit 26C/78F! Hurrah!

Monday, 21 September 2026

Lo que pidas muy barato lo doy*

Grrrr... Back to the office. Back to reality.

After a very pleasant weekend - Saturday doing fuck all, and yesterday spent absorbing the joyful musings of an erudite panel on the meaning and influence of divas on the lives of generations of gay men (and lesbians and others in the "alphabet soup" of labels these days) at the Southbank Centre - it's time for a wake-up call!

Who better to provide it on a Tacky Music Monday than one of those very divas - Spain's finest, one of our cherished Patron Saints, "La Leyenda" Señorita Sara Montiel (and her safety gays)?!

Fab-u-lous!

Have a good week, dear reader...

[* "Lo que pidas muy barato lo doy" = "I sell it really cheap" in Spanish; a lyric from the song]

Sunday, 20 September 2026

Pictures came and broke your heart


Being adored must be such a burden for a diva

The Madam, John-John and I are off early (for a Sunday) for a most intriguing event this afternoon - a panel discussion at the Southbank Centre hosted by our old friend Rupert Smith titled "Why Do Benders Love Divas?".

Why indeed? We know already, of course, but it'll be interesting to hear what panellists Neil Bartlett, Sadie Lee, David McAlmont and Travis Alabanza have to say about it.

Meanwhile, speaking of "divas"...

...how about a little "Sunday Music", courtesy of our "house band" - and a vocalist who takes on the legendary Freddie Mercury's vocal theatrics very well, but on a most unlikely song indeed:

Enjoy!

Saturday, 19 September 2026

De nouveaux morceaux

It's a gloomy, grey, blustery day here in London, so what better to take our minds off it than a selection of some of the "newer" music that has caught my ear of late?

Let's open with a corker! Courtesy of Mr DeVice, who flagged it up in his own blog just recently, the latest from our current "fave eccentrics" is faboo, of course:

Striking a more mellow tone, the latest release from Soft Cell's final album Danceteria is a melancholic trip down memory lane for Marc Almond, and is rather lovely:

Now for something completely different! A new discovery, courtesy of BBC Radio 3's esoteric Late Junction programme - here's a jolly number from one of Mali's finest artistes:

Another excellent mash-up from the genius Mr Bill McClintock:

From the familiar to something totally bizarre... I love this!

And, saving the best to last [despite the lack of a video] - the 'Boys rip the piss out of a dictator. Brilliantly:


Who washes Putin’s underpants?
Who has to keep them clean
deep in the bowels of his residence
in a top secret washing machine?

Who keeps his secrets secret?
Is nothing or everything true?
Is he fatally ill or strong as a horse
impossible to know or get close to?

When he poisons an opponent’s underpants
does he laugh at his brilliant scheme
knowing he’s got to the root of the problem
deadly but somehow obscene?

Is it difficult to sleep at night?
Does he always sleep alone
with nightmares of a prison cell
summoned to be be judged and to atone?

No, he’ll get away with anything
like Stalin and Peter the Great
He’s the only one that ever matters
He knows what he must dictate

Meanwhile his underpants are washed
by a loyal woman or man
and his secrets will be secret until
that one unfortunate day his shit hits the fan

As ever, I love to hear your thoughts, dear reader...

Friday, 18 September 2026

Going, Going...

Another dire week in work staggers to its conclusion - and we need to get ourselves in the party mood!

How about this unexpected hit from this week - gulp - forty-seven years ago?

Who would have thought that the "King of Crooners" - who is 91 years old at the end of this month - would ever have ventured into the glittering world of the discotheque, to such great effect..?

Thank Disco It's Friday!

Have a great weekend, dear reader!

Thursday, 17 September 2026

The fast pace of technology

At last!

Only NINE DAYS after it broke - the Blogger Reading List is back!

[UPDATE, 17.30pm: Well, I say back... It is indeed now showing everything up until yesterday. This post from this morning, however? Not yet...]