Mike

Teacher of geography.
Player of badminton & snooker.
Loves music, theatre, cricket, walking, science, tech, Dr Who, B7, old Trek, cat owned.

[Mike @mikeharper147]

@AlisonMoyet thank you for a wonderful evening. The set introduced me to some of your early music. Filigree is always a treat to hear- so much meaning. Absolutely brilliant.

[Mike @mikeharper147]

@AlisonMoyet @Evertonized Cant wait for Saturday.

[Mike @mikeharper147]

Imperial War Museum North

[Mike @mikeharper147]

https://t.co/SsUOYjJEYA

A video created and produced by my partner. If you like the outdoors and Cannock Chase. Please support his channel

[Mike @mikeharper147]

Llandudno pier Sunday morning in March 2026

[Mike @mikeharper147]

Welsh open Semi Finals March 2026

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

I see Nicola Sturgeon is once again complaining that I posted a picture of myself wearing a T-shirt with her name on it and the legend 'Destroyer of Women's Rights.' Apparently this didn't 'elevate the debate.'

Is there a clinical term for an individual who has extreme thinness of skin when it comes to their own perceived hurts, coupled with a rhino-hide when it comes to the fear and suffering of others?

I'm thinking in particular of the two women Isla Bryson raped, who had to watch their First Minister squirm and smirk on TV as she tried to avoid admitting he was a man; of the five survivors of male violence who were ready to give evidence to Sturgeon's committee on gender self-ID, but were told to put their concerns in writing while seventeen trans-identified people appeared in person; of the mother of a young girl with a learning disability who campaigned against self-ID because she wanted her daughter to be guaranteed same sex intimate care, should she need it (the mother was presumably one of those female opponents Sturgeon calls 'shrill' and 'hysterical' in her memoir); of the ten-year-old girl sexually assaulted in a public bathroom by a 6'5" paedophile who served his jail sentence in a women's prison because he called himself 'Katie'; of Sandie Peggie, forced to discuss her own menstrual history in public to justify not wanting to undress in view of a 6ft straight cross-dresser in the nurses' changing room; of Marion Millar, dragged into court because she tweeted a picture of suffragette ribbons; of the Scottish rape crisis centres reliant on government funding who were pressured to admit trans-identified males into their services if they wanted funding to continue.

When Sturgeon refers to an 'elevated debate', she means a discussion that takes place within a tiny, smug bubble from which regular women suffering real life consequences of her policies are firmly excluded. These faceless ants are loftily dismissed as bigots, or, to be more precise: 'transphobic, misogynistic, homophobic, maybe racist as well.'

Nicola, you hated the T-shirt picture because you couldn't ignore it, as you'd ignored so many other women trying to make you understand their concerns. Appeals to your empathy, your intelligence and your compassion all failed. Apparently the only way to get through to you is through your vanity.

[Muse @xmuse_]

So brilliant! Before the CGI, they were using hand-painted glass panels to create illusions in movies. https://t.co/Moq41Pb4PK

[Mike @mikeharper147]

@WeAreWST Condolences to Scott and his family. You did your dad proud

[Mike @mikeharper147]

@ElonMuskNews47 Yes

[Mike @mikeharper147]

Doug Ellis leisure centre at Aston University which used to be Woodcock Street Baths

[Mike @mikeharper147]

@drtatianaporto5 He also chatted about Campion which I really liked too

[Mike @mikeharper147]

Loved watching Black Orchid on the big screen and then listening to the great Peter Davison talk about his 50 year career this afternoon at the MAC theatre in Birmingham

[Mike @mikeharper147]

@drtatianaporto5 I realised watching the clips that I had not seen it since the 80s. I was a teen but really liked it. Maybe because of Peter

[Mike @mikeharper147]

@drtatianaporto5 I enjoyed him talking about 'A very peculiar practice'
It was also funny that the costume people from all creatures were in the audience. Apparently Peter stole a cricket jumper!

[Stan Collymore @StanCollymore]

Suicide.

I'm choosing to be deliberately blunt and provocative in this post because it's necessary. Government, charities, football clubs are all pushing water up a hill in highlighting what is undoubtedly a major health crisis.

You take a rope.
You put it up in a garage or a tree nearby or far away.
You're thinking about every loved one you'll leave behind as you put that rope around your neck.
Then you drop.

Some are decapitated.
Some aren't.
All are found by someone who has a lifetime of trauma that will never leave them.
A son.
A daughter.
A brother.
A sister.
A mother.
A father.

I know 2 men who hung themselves.

One was found by his Mom.
One was found by his brother.
Neither have recovered fully. 20 and 30 years on.

A life sentence for people who were already worrying, terrified their loved one may do something.

So just visualise the above and ask, "is there another way"?

A segway for a moment.

I do a few Q&A's every year. Tales of yesterday with a 99% male audience of my age group.

After the stories and fun, my last question back to the audience is..

"Hands up if you struggle with a mental health issue".

Nobody ever puts a hand up. Despite 1 in every 3 of 500 attendees statistically struggling.

"Ah, nobody, that's fucking brilliant! Well I do! ". I then graphically tell people, stunned into silence about how a rope around my neck in the middle of nowhere jolted me to go home and cry like a baby to my Mom.

After the Q&A has finished, something always happens. I'll be chatting to a few guys, saying bye and one by one, men will come over and whisper " I struggle".

Or my mailbox the next day will have 30 emails from guys, their partners or kids saying " Dad/Uncle /Brother was there last night and what you said hit them hard".

And that's how some people realise that it's time to speak to a pal or family member or even rant to me in an email. It works, I often get a follow up email a year or 6 later saying that they took responsibility for their suicidal feelings and are now flying.

Humans are programmed to want to live, to have families and to keep the species growing and thriving. So for a human to want to short circuit that desire isn't normal, and it should never be spoken of as normal. It's the ultimate red flag.

If you suspect your mate, Dad, Brother, Uncle is struggling mentally, they deserve your intervention.

They deserve a " are you OK, please tell me what's up".

They deserve an opportunity to get past wanting to hang a rope over a tree or in a garage and slowly struggle until they die and you find them.

If you've been there and trust me I have plenty, then you'll know that text out of the blue, or a footie mate or one of your kids asking jow you are can open the curtains to some sunshine.

Because when suicide is your only answer, the room is already dark, and you can't see a way out.

So please, fucking pretty please, ask that husband, Dad, Uncle, Cousin, footie pal TODAY how they are.

You may be shocked what comes back but extremely glad that you asked.

For those who struggle, you're not alone.

[Mike @mikeharper147]

@GeoffNorcott Here in the shit bar waiting for you Geoff

[Mike @mikeharper147]

@TicketmasterUK going to see Geoff norcott tonight in Birmingham. Unable to access tickets as your system is down. Instructions to contact customer services and just get a generic reply that you are busy. How do I proceed?

[Konstantin Kisin @KonstantinKisin]

I hope I'm wrong.

But tonight feels like some sort of invisible line has been crossed that we didn't even know was there. The last time I felt like this was 9/11 when it was clear, without knowing the how and the what, that the world was about to change forever.

Like the rules of the game had been permanently altered and there was simply no going to back to the innocent, peaceful past.

I didn't feel like this when an attempt was made on President Trump's life. If I had to rationalise why I didn't, I guess it's because several US Presidents have been shot at and even assassinated. Somehow it was within the realms of the possible, no matter how awful.

But to murder a young father simply for doing debates and mobilising young people to vote for a party that represents half of America? This is something else.

Charlie's death is a tragedy for his wife, his children and his family. I don't pray often. I am praying for them tonight.

But I fear his murder will be a tragedy for all of us in ways we will only understand as time unfolds.

I hope I'm wrong.

[Mike @mikeharper147]

#trek26 we did it. 26 hard miles