After getting back from our Mexican holiday on Monday, I spent most of this week pottering around. I managed to get out on my bike on New Year’s Eve just ahead of a storm, and since then it’s been too cold and yucky to ride outside. So my routine has been to wake up a little later than usual, go on the indoor bike trainer, and then fill my afternoon with either jobs that need doing or hobbies that I want to make some progress with. Work will soon be in the foreground again, but I’m hoping that I will go back on Monday feeling properly rested.
New Year’s Eve was also my 48th birthday. After my bike ride, I went out with my family for a late lunch at Here, where they serve the best all-day vegetarian cooked breakfast in town. We spent a very quiet but lovely evening with friends who had invited us over for dinner. At midnight we watched the fireworks on TV. Every year they always look exactly the same to me.
One of my friends gifted me a second-hand vinyl copy of The Hits Album 6, a compilation that we both had on cassette tape when we were kids. There are some great tracks on there as well as one or two quite questionable songs towards the end. But mainly, it’s a great excuse to hear Donna Allen’s Serious, an underrated gem.
I spent a lot of time cleaning up my digital music collection, including two or three hours alone which went into fixing up Mansun’s 25-disc Closed For Business box set. Getting the data corrected and organised in the Music app (which in my head will forever be iTunes) doesn’t necessarily mean that Plex will use it. Tracks seemed to jump between the discs, which all needed to be manually corrected. Taking the time to fix up the data is worth it, as it is helping me to rediscover my own music collection. I started the work before Christmas and have made it up to artists with the letter ‘U’, which felt good until I realised that I still have ‘Various Artists’ to go.
We caught the tail end of this year’s PDC World Darts Championship, tuning in from the quarter finals onward. All of us were glued to the screen to watch the final. I’m still thinking about the double bull that Luke Littler hit on his penultimate visit to the board.
Media
Podcasts
- The latest episode of Quiet Riot was a great way to start the year.
- I hadn’t realised that the reason countries avoid declaring war on each other was because it has legal ramifications. Russia has been paying Ukraine around USD 800m/year to allow gas to be transported across its territory the West. Declaration of war would have had implications for contracts between entities located on either side of the border.
- The episode also got me thinking again about how Internet platforms are largely unregulated, allowing people to spread fake news and make dangerous accusations without any checks. The planned ban of TikTok in the US makes sense; the platform is controlled by a state adversarial to the US that has itself restricted and banned many US social media platforms. What will the UK’s response be to a foreign platform whose owner uses it to incite division and hatred? Media regulation in the Internet age fascinates me. I made a note to myself to find a book that covers the complex topic of ‘free speech’ in the modern world; later that day I read Heather Burns’ post on her best reads and listens of 2024 where she recommends just the thing.
Articles
- Alex Tabarrok says that India has too few tourists. I last visited in 2006 and still maintain that it is the most incredible place I’ve ever visited for a holiday.
Video
- Despite our jet lag on the day we came back from our holiday, the finale of Gavin & Stacey kept us going. It’s amazing to think that we’ve known the characters for 17 years. It’s cheesy, but I love it.
- Elliot Roberts’ video review of the Beatles ‘64 film and the Beatles’ US Albums box set is superb as usual.1 I adore his YouTube content, and am happy to support his work through Patreon.
Books
- Despite trying to vary what I read, I couldn’t help but pick up the second volume of The McCartney Legacy by Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair, which was published last month. It covers the years 1974 to 1980 and is another whopper at 768 pages, but I’m here for every detail.
Next week: Getting back to work.
- At the time of writing, the video is only available to Patreon supporters with early access. It should be on YouTube soon, if it isn’t already. ↩
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