“We Woosters are not very strong in the head, particularly at breakfast time; and I was conscious of a dull ache between the eyebrows.” P.G. Wodehouse, Very Good, Jeeves!

"I wasted my time writing the history of an ungrateful country" - Donald Creighton

Nick Hornby summed it up beautifully in Fever Pitch. Football is "entertainment as pain."

For Americans baffled by or indifferent to the World Cup, I wrote an explainer. "They say alcoholism is a disease. Well, so is football. But the symptoms are much worse. Alcohol is a relaxant; the headache comes the next morning. Footballism is self-harm from the kickoff."

This piece was also a perfect opportunity to use the best-ever imperial history quote: "When the British Empire finally sank beneath the waves of history, it would leave behind it only two monuments: one was the game of Association Football, the other was the expression 'Fuck off.' "

The U.S. government just unveiled the majestic Greco-Deco design for the new federal courthouse in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The building is at once monumental and welcoming, classical and original. The iris capitals are an inspired touch, drawing on Tennessee’s natural beauty and weaving it into the stone of a federal building. The Chattanooga courthouse is precisely the kind of building that President Trump’s Executive Order on federal architecture—“Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again”—was designed to produce. When the courthouse is completed, it will stand as the living proof that the Order represents wise and humane public policy—something all Americans, regardless of political party, can and should support. Beautiful public buildings are not a partisan matter; they belong to everyone.

This plate was found in a London sewer. "You And I Are Earth”, from 1661.

‘My wife and I were greatly saddened to learn of the death of David Hockney O.M., a giant of the world of art and painting, a Yorkshireman through and through and a dear friend and inspiration to so many. David was one of life’s true originals; one who wore his genius as lightly as those beloved yellow Crocs of his that helped brighten Palace occasions. I trust they will see him tread safely into the hereafter as we mourn a man whose irrepressible charm, talent and constant innovation will be most sorely missed, but whose dazzling creativity lives on in galleries and museums around the world.’ Charles R

"The strategic myopia displayed by Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves is a condition shared by a parliamentary Labour Party that is the most unserious and most intellectually arid ever to attain power." A withering leader in today's Times.

This is the kind of headline you see in the opening montage of a disaster movie.

West Side Highway, New York City, 1977.

🌍After more than a year and a half of work, the Palace of Versailles completes the restoration of Diana room: painted and sculpted ceiling, marble, woodwork, metal decorations and gilding have regained their original brilliance. ✨Patrons: Dior and American Friends of Versailles

Generalissima: A Novel of #HenriettaMaria teaattrianon.blogspot.com/20… #CharlesI #Stuarts #WarsoftheThreeKingdoms #KeepItStuart #histfic

Words to live by. RIP David Hockney

Steven Spielberg, the filmmaker who put extraterrestrials into the planet’s imagination, returns to his great obsession english.elpais.com/culture/2…

Royal-Spektakel in London: Kate begeistert in Himmelblau an der Seite ihrer Kinder. Prinz William sitzt nicht mit in der Kutsche – er übernimmt bei der Parade für König Charles III. eine andere Rolle. nzz.ch/panorama/briten-feier…

What’s the best way to store parmesan? thetimes.com/life-style/food…

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher meeting with members of the SAS following the conclusion of the Iranian Embassy Siege (1980)

Switzerland to vote on plan to cap population at 10 million bbc.in/3QoXGFU