simon read

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@DJBMakesStuff Ooh, haven't had piccalilli for years. Will add it to the shopping list

@simonnread There is no comparison - the smell of my dad’s greenhouse full of tomatoes was amazing. No piccalilli ?

Friday lunch is an M&S pork pie and home-grown tomatoes. The pie is OK, but the tomatoes - the first time I've ever grown any (from plants that were a gift from treasured friends) are absolutely delicious - bursting with flavour and much more enjoyable than shop-bought tomatoes.

RIP Celebrity Mastermind 💔 The BBC may have axed you but it’ll never axe this from my memory

I called the company about the ad but they just gave me a mouthful

Enterprise is branching out

If you love football you should be standing up to fight the corrupt people running and ruining the game

I saw Arcadia at the Duke Of York's. Stoppard's play is bursting with discussions about algebra, gardening, science, sex, revealing itself over a pacy 3 hours. I found plenty of laughs and plenty to think about. Wonderful performances and great theatre. It runs until 12 September

@neilh32 I'd say yes

@simonnread Worth watching?

@MrNickClark I did too

@simonnread (But I ruddy loved it)

Today's matinee #theatre treat is Arcadia at the Duke of York's Theatre, freshly transferred from the Old Vic. Some say it's Soppard's best work. I'm excited to have front row stage stall seats, I love seeing the actors close up.

@Westydoodah Excellent. Top drawer theatre

@simonnread Nice. How was it?

@MrNickClark Cheers Nick. You've raised my expectations even higher now!

@simonnread It’s sooooooo good

Cape Verde was a great story. Truly great. But 2 weeks after, football doesn't give a fuck, less so after 1, 2 or 4 years. If Mauritius, Mozambique, Mali do the same, great, but for 99% of fans, 99% of the time, across the world, nobody cares. If France, Italy, Germany, England, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal boycott a World Cup, it's automatically invalid. It's just the truth. Likewise, a club World Cup without any of Europe's top 25 clubs is invalid. Nobody is watching Inter Miami v Boca Juniors except in markets that simply don't generate revenue or global interest. UEFA should immediately take over global law making ( UEFA replace FIFA 4 votes in a new IFAB with the 4 home nations continuing holding the other 4 votes). Europe has paid football's bills for 150 years. It does not need to vote for a man in an island of 100,000 to hold the game to random because FIFA are giving him 20 mil. I'm half English, half Barbadian. One has paid its football dues, the other hasn't, so the other cannot and must not hold the balance of power. When two thirds of football nations fill their stadiums, support grassroots football, create a pyramid, have women's teams, find kids, then their vote is equal to a European powerhouse. Not a day before. Time for UEFA to secede from FIFA FIFA needs UEFA. UEFA doesn't need FIFA.

#blackandwhitefilm of the day: The Reckless Moment, 1949 #FilmNoir. Crook James Mason blackmails middle class Joan Bennett after she covers up the death of a hoodlum to protect her daughter. A mesmerising look at American morals on @TalkingPicsTV at 8.35pm youtu.be/GJyGYyTLzRI?is…

The job search continues. I had a disaster when I applied to be on a baking show. They asked me to make a fruit cake so I put together a fruit bread of nuts, spices, and candied fruit, coated with powdered sugar, but it was stollen.

@FanVidder Good guess. It's Lombard Street

@simonnread Fleet Street? Before they moved to Wapping?

I worked in a building in this street directly ahead in the City of #London for a few years in the 1980s. Can you name the street?

@FanVidder Spot on

@simonnread Stout on the left?

One of these is a creamy white stout (Nethergate White Stout 4.5%), the other is a malty IPA (Kelham Island Pale Rider 5.2%). Which do you think is which! #beer

@mikemackeyzicq It's the other way round

@simonnread Stout on right as I look at it