Strong agree. And it's also easy to write off the radicalisation of the terminally online as a fringe concern - the 'every society in history has had a certain proportion hyperfixated on existential threats and thus fascism-sympathetic' view - but I think this underestimates its significance.

I wouldn't open a bottle of fizz to make The Last Laugh and I wouldn't buy all the other stuff if you don't already have it. But if The Last Word is already in your repertoire - a 10/10 drink for sure, probably the king of cocktails - and you have a bottle of fizz open, this is a fun variation.

Tonight's drinks:

Hugo Spritz: 1.5:1.5:1 prosecco:soda water: elderflower liqueur, generous handful of mint leaves. Floral, fresh, effervescent. 8/10

The Last Laugh: 1:0.6:0.6:0.6:0.6 prosecco: gin: maraschino liqueur: green Chartreuse: lime juice. Delicious & fun Last Word variation. 9/10

As an undergraduate I introduced the game to my English fellow students and it became our pub game of choice. Many tables play "pick up one for being stupid" if anyone gets a rule wrong.

There are a bunch of threads on Northern Ireland Reddit with discussions of regional rule variations. Nobody else apart from me seems to play Q♠️ as "swap hands" but that is an absolutely sensational rule and - along with 10 triggering the hand-down QTE - absolutely key to the game's chaotic energy.

It's part of a family of hand-shedding games for sure. There are almost as many house variations of the rules as there are tables where the game is played.

In a sense I am in everybody's lab meeting every week.

Shed all cards to win. Follow suit or number.

A❤️: pick up 5
2: pick up 2 (can be chained)
8: skip next player's turn
10: last player to put their hand on the discard pile picks up 2
J: change suit (obviously)
Q: change direction of play, except
Q♠️: swap hands in direction of play
K❤️: cancel pickup

I have discovered today that the card game Jack Change It is indigenous to Northern Ireland, and my heart is swelling with patriotic pride like never before.

When you work in drug discovery there are *so* many ways of hearing you're in for a very bad day.

Efficacy Results Came Back
[competitor] Patent Just Published
Batch Two Looks Inactive
Every Example Has hERG
Literature Compound Isn't Working
The Cells Died... Again
Hits Everything In Selectivity

Accidentally left my Garmin charger at work so I think I shall be having an off-grid run today. The prospect of not being measured or judged is actually quite liberating to be honest.

"If the economics don't work, doing it at massive scale doesn't make the economics work any better." Worth bearing in mind that some of the more outlandish revenue projections (from the vested interests) would basically require AI spending to replace almost all other economic activity.

Libby Croad's new commissioned septet Rivers has just finished playing on Radio 3. Attractive and approachable but classy, and absolutely beautifully played. Strongly recommended www.britishmusicsociety.co.uk/2025/10/natu...

As it happens I know somebody who regards moderation as a weakness; compromise as a missed opportunity. The next time he's over I'll make him a Boulevardier to Difford's proportions, I rather suspect he'll love it.

Tonight's drinks:
Negroni (1:1:1 gin:Campari:red vermouth). Perhaps the greatest aperitif of them all, one of the best drinks of any format. 10/10

Boulevardier (Difford's; 2:1:1 bourbon:Campari:red vermouth). If the rock band Muse were a Negroni; fun, but rather more enthusiasm than subtlety. 7/10

All true. Any useful function the Conservative Party has ever served for the UK ended in the post-referendum purity purges. From May's government onwards - defined by loyalty to a manifestly stupid idea - the Tories may as well have been Reform.

"everyone thought"

Working scientist here, I personally would take issue with describing a howling vortex of fractal insanity as "fine".

Badger just trotted past me in the street, which was a bit odd.

I have a weakness for that sort of slightly tortured contrivance.

The Matthew Sweet interview really should have been career-ending. I suppose maybe it was, in a way.

Somebody in The Old Times wrote "If Naomi be Klein, buddy you're fine, if Naomi be Wolf, oh, buddy, oof" which pops into my head unbidden about once a week.

Everything has its place, it's just a matter of finding the right balance. Exhibit A: crème de cassis, the quickest way to ruin a good Champagne, but also the key to the absolutely magnificent Epestone Daiquiri. www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/re...

Oh I very much liked Difford's Sorrentino recipe, which is more or less a longer Negroni d'Amalfi. www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/re...

Amaretto Sicily - 1:1:1 amaretto:limoncello:lemon juice - is a very good drink. Negroni d'Amalfi - 1:1:1 limoncello:Campari:red vermouth, though you may wish to tweak proportions slightly if you want it less sweet - is a much more successful variation than you'd think.