Surprise Demise

Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes, is 66 today!

Caithness is much the same (just look at our flag - we're basically cosplaying a Scandinavian colony!) and despite the disaffection for the SNP I struggle to see how it would be possible to manifest the >15% swing (if I've done my maths right) that would be necessary to have Reform second in the seat. If I'm wrong and they do second I'll eat my hat - in a Paddy Ashdown way.

This is a very weird prediction for second place in Orkney & Shetland The Brexit Party lost their deposit there last time! (with SNP and the Lib Dems being the only parties to exceed 10%) I feel like the Scotland data might end up being a bit off.

The number of Reform votes in Sunderland is a bit terrifying.

The potential Tory gains in Scotland aren't great to see (I'm now ostensibly surrounded by Tory seats!) and Reform being on 13 is worrying, but overall it's looking to be a good night.

Went for the Lib Dems. I've recently moved back to my hometown, which is in the most northerly mainland constituency (and also the largest); which last election was marginal Lib Dem-SNP. I can't really bring myself to vote for the SNP at the moment given the shitshow that's gone down recently, and Labour have done absolutely no campaigning up here and selected some rando candidate with an address in London so they clearly couldn't give less of a fuck. Ed Davey's emphasis on social care definitely helped me feel more confident in my voting decision as my mum has MS (I believe his wife does as well) and it's good to see a party taking a firm stance in guaranteeing support.

Had a dream last night with the Tories on 47 and the Lib Dems on 64. As much as I'd like to see that happen I think we'll get something more like this: Labour 439 Conservative 102 Liberal Democrat 59 Scottish National Party 19 Reform 5 Plaid Cymru 4 Green 2 Independent/Other 1 (possibly Jezza or Galloway) Labour Majority 228 I actually completely forgot the Alba Party was a thing until my postal vote arrived and I learned they were standing in my constituency (Lib Dem-SNP marginal). I'll be interested to see how many votes they manage to siphon as there's definitely a demographic of hardline independence folk dissatisfied with the SNP that probably aren't leftist or environmentalist enough to vote Green.

I'd also put Leila Denmark forward for consideration: co-developer of the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine, who reached 114!

95% Count Binface!

Felt very Years & Years to me. Really seemed like they tried to pack as much into 45 minutes as they could, but nonetheless this and Boom are definitely more the type of episodes that I like, a return to form in my opinion.

Shit's really hitting the fan in Scottish politics at the minute with the collapse of the SNP-Green coalition. Will be interesting to see how this pans out. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-68901088

Over 100 days without a hit now - first time that milestone's been reached since the lull in Summer 2022.

I imagine most of the book would be like this, but a lot more batshit of course.

Well, he has been verified... by the totally legitimate organisation World Book of Records for "promoting Marathon" (clearly didn't like the rebranding to Snickers) I get the impression he'll be around for a while yet, he seems the type that would yo-yo in and out of hospital for the last year or so of his life rather than go quietly.

IMDb lists her birth date as 29 May 1921, and there's an Elizabeth Kelly born on that date living in Newcastle at the time of the 1939 register. She married John B 'Peter' Trower in 1943. There's a marriage notice in the Journal that notes her as already being a 'respected actress' so she may have continued performing with her maiden name into the era of television. Anyway, her marriage record lists her maiden initial as 'H', and there's a matching birth in Newcastle on 29 May 1921 for an Elizabeth Hutton Kelly. There's an Elizabeth H Trower born 1921-23 living in Scarborough until at least 2014 on the electoral register. No matching deaths up until Q3 2023, so seems like there's a good chance she's still with us if I've in fact followed the right person here.