Of Benoit Blanc, boffins, break-ins, bang!, bad smells and Bardot

Daniel Craig and Josh O'Connor in the utterly brilliant Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, that we watched at John-John's last night. One of the best films of the year!

It's another snippets post, dear reader:

• Apocalypse news: Apparently our universe isn't expanding as much as boffins once thought, and may even collapse. Not in our lifetimes, of course... We hope.
• Winged intruder news: Imagine sitting down to watch telly, then being terrified by the sound of someone trying to break your front door down - only to discover it was a bloody enormous Canada Goose wedged in the broken glass? It certainly gave them something to talk about in the village of Countesthorpe, Leicestershire.
• Picked the wrong moment go skiing news: As people were enjoying the snowy slopes of the ski resorts of Sicily, Mount-bloody-Etna erupted! I imagine the snows turned brown after that shock...
• Love it or hate it news: Unsurprisingly, a Marmite-scented deodorant spray has been voted the most unwanted Xmas gift in 2025! Ewwwww.

[click any pic to embiggen]

• And finally: RIP, Brigitte Bardot, the ground-breaking "face" of 50s/60s French cinema, and of the sexual liberation revolution to come. Such a shame she ended up as an embittered, homophobic old lady...

And the weather? Gloomy, chilly, dank. Just about right for this time of year.