Duncan Driver

@mrianleslie I know. I get annoyed by similar cliches of reportage. There's never a notable death without 'flowing tributes' or a Tour de France without a 'coveted' yellow jersey.

Why is it always, *always* "skewers"

@mrianleslie Good piece by Stephen Fry making similar points about the value of aesthetics. He brings both Oscar Wilde and Donald Trump into it, too: stephenfry.com/2016/03/trumpe…

The Ruffian has LANDED

@AdnanSamiLive Not too far off

Whoever did this…Perfect! 😂 #NobelPeacePrize #Trump

It’s two years old, but this review of ‘The Yellow Bittern’ (a London restaurant) is brilliant and hilarious. I love Jay Rayner. theguardian.com/food/2024/nov/…

@mrianleslie “For Paul McCarney of Liverpool, opportunity knocks!”

I like the new Wings book but this is not acceptable. It’s Paul McCartney, not some former X-Factor contestant with a LinkedIn bio

@mrianleslie @parul_sehgal @dankois @zinoman FYI: duncandriver.tumblr.com/post/266832199…

This is such a rich discussion of Lionel Asbo that I might even read it. Thank you for another ep in this great series @parul_sehgal @dankois @zinoman podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the…

This time last year, I wrote a review of @mrianleslie's "John & Paul." The wheels of academic journals turn slowly, but the piece is now up: liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/jb… I can't think of a better stocking filler that this book. Read it, laugh, cry and clutch it to your heart.

Tom Stoppard was one of the great smokers, puffing insouciance in every portrait. He had a great rejoinder whenever a moralising Malvolio coughed and complained as he lit up: 'How differently I might behave were immortality an option.'

Ave atque vale, Tom Stoppard.

@mrianleslie I loved the man and his writing. One of my favourite anecdotes involved a junior editor at some paper making pretty significant changes to James's copy. When he saw the extent of them, he called the junior editor and rebuked, 'Listen, mate, if I wrote like that, I'd be you.'

On Clive James

This is such a great line. Superb writer. RIP.

@BeatlesEarth Here’s a fine example of where we shouldn’t be forced into a choice. I love the way that ‘John’ songs are exceptionally strong on RS and ‘Paul’ songs are exceptionally strong on R. It’s all about the yin and yang of Lennon and McCartney.

Which Beatles album do you prefer? 🤔

Hyacinth has kicked the bouquet. Thank you for teaching us that snobbery can sometimes be quite an amiable vice.

@jaketapper @JohnCleese I’m no fan of Trump, but the question is disingenuous. If he thought his business activities were inappropriate, he wouldn’t be going about them the way he is.

The question that so offended the White House: : “Is it appropriate, President Trump, that a president in office should be engaged in so much business activity?”

@McCARTNEYLEGACY @TellurideFests @TellurideFilm Interesting. It would seem that ‘Man on the Run’ has sprinted away from Netflix

It was an honour to work alongside Morgan and his team on this feature documentary about Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles years. It will premiere at Telluride Film Festival this weekend. (Adrian) @TellurideFests @TellurideFilm themusicuniverse.com/amazon-mgm-stu…

30 years later, and the song finally sounds like it should. It's no exaggeration to say that there is still something magical about the Beatles that sets them apart from everyone else. youtube.com/watch?v=Vatsae…

@mrianleslie So glad you liked the Auden sonnet!

The Ruffian has LANDED. This week: the crime paradox, and what to do when data and anecdote conflict ianleslie.substack.com/p/the-data-say…

@mrianleslie @PrivateEyeNews You also made it to the audiobook of Adam Buxton's "I Love you, BYEEE!" memoir, albeit in a strange way. There's a bonus podcast at the end in which Adam and filmmaker Joe Cornish discuss the book. Adam's phone starts randomly playing the first chapter of J&P.

I made it into @PrivateEyeNews! No higher accolade.

I can’t get this German rap song out of my head, now, neither will you. youtu.be/ZYkBf0dbs5I?si…

Oasis don’t seem as ‘mad for it’ as they once were.

@SP1nightonly, It was an unexpected delight to see you and Reece pop up on the screen outside the Shanghai Grand Theatre. I appear to have missed the show, but I did find a hare in the gift shop.