Out this Thursday...the story of life is about to begin.

Oxford People! Do you like mild peril and cheesy horror? Then this is for you! Come along to the fabulous Caper Bookshop on Magdalen Road Oxford for Halloween Hoo-Ha, Frankenkitty drawing and Things in Jars. Saturday 31st October at 11am. Get Halloween properly started.

This man just took the same plastic recorder that used to sound like a dying goose in elementary school and casually started shredding Sultans of Swing on it. Eyes half-closed, fully committed, fingers flying like he actually practiced this instead of just surviving Hot Cross Buns. Somewhere a music teacher is watching this and having an existential crisis. The recorder has seen things. It will never be the same.

Mark Carney on Elon Musk throttling Starlink: "I search for the right adjective to describe whoever took this decision or group of people took this decision against a country that is literally fighting for the lives of the citizens against naked aggression."

The ACHUKA #BookoftheDay for Fri 23 Oct is I Will Haunt This by Viviane Schwarz ill. Chris Riddell from @WalkerBooksUK It’s great to see these names working together. This, I am told, is the first picture book Schwarz has written for someone else to illustrate in 25 years. achuka.co.uk/blog/i-will-hau…

We don't know this man, Doug Whitley, but he's definitely an American hero for writing this excellent letter-to-the-editor. #ResistTrump

Bucha. It was a genocide, recognized by everyone. They buried hundreds of people. They tortured people. We found the grave. There were, I believe, around 500 people. When we liberated those towns near Kyiv, there emerged this, you know, this kind of hatred for the Russians, right at that moment. Not even at the moment when they started the full-scale war. Back then nobody understood what it really was yet. People understood what this war was and what Putin did personally when we found those mass graves of tortured adults, children. I mean they didn't just kill them, they tortured and killed them. When we liberated Bucha, I said, bring every journalist here. Don't touch anything, just bring the journalists. The whole world simply has to see this. Imagine finding a mass grave in the U.S. or in Britain, God forbid, with 500 tortured people, adults, kids, dogs, animals shot dead. I mean, they held hunting sprees there from military vehicles. People were running, they were shooting, just hunting, playing games. They literally just played with people, like slavery. So how, after this, can you listen to Putin? And how, after this, can you forgive? From The Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett. (2/3)

I urge President Trump and all his government to watch this, and find out - finally - WHO started the war in Ukraine (it wasn't Ukraine), and the atrocities that have been committed. @POTUS piped.video/5x9dkYIRb58?si=DctF…

Trump has decided to hold me—rather than Putin—responsible for all the problems. He claims to his supporters that diesel prices in America are rising because of us, — Zelenskyy. I find it wrong and unacceptable that Trump blames me for Russian aggression and the crimes committed by Russia. He is distorting the context, and that is unfair. In my view, this is merely an attempt to divert attention from the situation in Iran and events in the Middle East. The Strait of Hormuz is blocked—that is the true core of the problem. Yet, all of this is being pinned on us, and I, as head of state, am being made a target.

I feature inspirational Animal Advocates on my blog - here's a brief round-up of the 11 I've talked to so far, with links to their interviews. lindanewbery.substack.com/p/… @Bonzetta1 @catcann @JohnOberg @JournoJane @gill__lewis @hilltopgina @clevewest @ProtectTheWild_ #AnimalAdvocates

Runaway AI poses a threat to us all. How humanity stays in control should be a priority for everyone. Projection location: Slough, UK (Narrated by Gavin Esler)

Wow. Shaun Tan’s Hometown is extraordinary. A book you don’t simply read, you wander into. Beautiful, strange, haunting and packed with images that demand you stop and look again. Picture book art at its absolute best.
#Picturebookpage #BestBookpostEver @WalkerBooksUK

This could be a great model for how to eat more plant-based @andyburnham theguardian.com/food/2026/oc…

We’ve all heard of Frankenstein & his monster, now meet #Frankenkitty @mpowelltuck & @Bonzetta1's lovably weird feline mischief-maker! @LittleTigerUK pamnorfolkblog.blogspot.com/ Review also @leponline this coming weekend!

We suspected this was the reason Ukraine’s access to Starshield was restricted. But to see it from senior officials in this reporting is still utterly unconscionable. Let’s be absolutely clear about what this means. The Trump Administration deliberately restricted technology Ukraine relies on to intercept Russian drones and ballistic missiles. It made it harder for Ukraine to defend itself and easier for Russia to carry out its deadly attacks against Ukrainian civilians. They knew exactly what was at stake. They knew that more Russian drones and missiles would get through, allowing Russia to kill even more Ukrainians. And yet they went ahead anyway. This is a deliberate weaking of Ukraine’s defenses that only Russia will benefit from. It is a betrayal of our ally that this Administration cannot wash its hands of. The American people deserve to know who made this decision, why they made it, and how they can possibly justify putting more innocent Ukrainian lives in the crosshairs of Putin’s war machine. reuters.com/world/europe/ord…

"Nearly 1/3 of voters....would be less likely to vote Labour if it gives the go-ahead for more North Sea oil drilling" "includes...1/3 of those who voted Labour [in 2024] and around half of 18 to 24y olds" Environmentally ignorant AND politically inept theguardian.com/environment/…

I love how the dogs go completely crazy when they see the piggy has got to the food...

I have blogged about our #Adventuremice comic strips in The Phoenix Comic! You can have a read of them here: jabberworks.co.uk/blog/adven… @philipreeve1

A horrific Russian strike in the Kharkiv region. A “shahed” struck people directly – in a park near an ordinary café. Pure atrocity. Six people were killed, including children. A little girl was killed in a stroller – her name was Angelina, she was just over a year old, born in August 2025… Her mother’s name was Inna. She died in the hospital… Another girl who was killed was 11 years old. My condolences to their families and loved ones. Another 14 people were injured, including six more children. I am grateful to everyone who supports Ukraine under these circumstances and helps us shoot down “shaheds,” shoot down missiles, and stop Russian assaults. These are horrific photos, but behind them are shattered lives and the truth about this war. Lives must be protected. Ukraine needs air defense. You can't think about making money with Russia as long as it continues its asinine war. We ask that sanctions on Russia stay in place as long as the killings continue. We ask America to be strong, and we ask it to apply the Lindsey Graham law. We ask Europe to continue its support. We ask that everything possible be done to bring peace and guarantee security. Ukraine wants peace. It is Russia that has insisted on continuing the killing all this time. The world has enough strength to stop the war. That strength must finally be used – against the murderers.

Every murder by Putin in Ukraine is now sponsored by Donald Trump.