Friday, March 22, 2024

Senses working over #463

1 The feeling this looooong week


Photo by Impresso Studios on Unsplash


2 Reading: Bleak House




Implacable November weather. As much mud in the streets as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of the earth, and it would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus, forty feet long or so, waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill.

3 Listening: Bob Dylan's Infidels




Jokerman retains all of its glories in 2024.


4 Watching: The Gentlemen




From Guy Ritchie on Netflix. He's toned down his OTT tendencies in this action/comedy series and gone for strong writing/characters instead and it works.


5 Austin Kleon


Overtime:  

Some people get addicted to chain-smoking their problems. They spend all day going from sorrow to sorrow. It doesn't have to be that way. You can live each day going from joy to joy—like a sunflower that turns to face the sun as it moves across the sky. It's not about having a problem-free life, but about focusing on the light. Sunflowers still have shadows, but they are always behind them.

James Clear

Friday, March 15, 2024

Senses working overtime #462

1 Feeling this week on the daily grind




2 Watching: BrenĂ© Brown TED talk on vulnerability.




3 Listening: Bob Dylan/ The Band - Before The Flood




A great double live album. If I had to choose one track from each, I'd go for Ballad Of A Thin Man and Up On Cripple Creek.


4 Watching: Damsel




We enjoyed this 2024 release on Netflix. Some genuinely exciting sequences and a good script/acting combo (Robin Wright is great as the wicked Queen in a reverse of her Princess Bride role from all those years ago). 

Worthy of your time!


5 Listening: WTWMC True Colours




Greg, Kev and I have covered songs with pink in the title, and last week it was orange. This week - green.


Overtime: Seth Godin

Holding on for dear life

That’s a cliche from the movies. Dangling from a railroad bridge, only determination and firm grip can save the hero.

In our modern world, we often end up holding on to ideas, to grievances or to our view of the world.

Ironically, the harder we hold on to the things we’re hiding from, the less dear our life becomes.

Perhaps we could let go for dear life instead.

Friday, March 8, 2024

Senses working overtime #461

1 The feeling this week


Photo by Vlad Patana on Unsplash


2 Reading: Mick Jagger - Philip Norman




3 Listening: WTWMC - True Colours




The three amigos latest playlist on Spotify is in its early stages, but is destined for greatness. We've done pink, now watch it unfold with orange this coming week.


4 Watching: Boy Swallows Universe




I really enjoyed the book, but the jury is out on the Netflix show after one episode.

We'll hang in there for another one.

Kylie Northover reviewing the series for The Sydney Morning Herald rated the series as five stars out of five, "As in the book, the mood is a tightrope walk between despair and childish optimism; the brothers’ lives are shaped by trauma, but this sprawling story is infused with humour and great warmth, even for the adults who have let them down." 


5 Reading: How risky are repeat covid infections?




Overtime: Seth Godin


Where are you?

When you’re reading a good historical novel, you might be there and then.

When you’re checking your email, you are in a conversation between and among, over there, not here.

When you’re imagining what went wrong in that conversation yesterday, you are living in yesterday.

And when you’re scripting the next conversation you’re going to have, you’re in tomorrow.

Time travel and teleportation have never been easier or more common.

What happens when we are here and now?

Friday, March 1, 2024

Senses working overtime #460

1 Feeling this week


Yes, it's...


2 Listening: Hackney Diamonds - The Rolling Stones




Been on repeat of late. Jaw droppingly good. It's not representative, but if you want one track - Rolling Stones Blues.


3 Reading: Ladder Of Years - Anne Tyler


Really loving this novel. The fantasy of walking away from your present life and starting again as a slightly different version of yourself is a potent one. 


4 Listening: War - All Day Music




I bought a couple of albums by War during the week. Played this one each night - got me back in the groove after a hectic day at school.


5 Reading (didn't watch anything interesting this week)Jimmy Carter, America's longest living president, is marking 1 year in hospice care




I am a fan of the man. He's 99 and a true legend, forget about the politics, and admire his character.


Overtime: 

"It is not too late to do what you want to do—if you stop waiting for the time to be right."

James Clear

Friday, February 23, 2024

Senses working overtime #459

1 The feeling this week


Photo by Dan Freeman on Unsplash


2 Listening: Across The Borderline (Van Dyke Parks, Gaby Moreno, Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder)




3 Watching: Argylle




After a full-on week (see #1 above), Jacky and I went to the movies to see this one. Perfect action/comedy fare for us on Friday night.

The movie features the Beatle song Now And Then quite a few times so, of course that's been back on high rotation at Maple Grove.


4 Listening: The Beatles - Now And Then




5 Reading: The Anne Tyler from last week and the latest Mojo on my coffee table (# 361)




Overtime: Work

Lettering artist and illustrator Jessica Hische on what procrastination reveals:

"The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life."

Source: Humble Pied (courtesy of James Clear)

Friday, February 16, 2024

Senses working overtime #458

1 My feeling this week


Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash


2 Viewing: Yellowstone




3 Listening: Sonny Rollins' Work Time




Link to my blogpost is here.


4 Reading: Roderick Random and The Little Guide to Taylor Swift




Three quarters through the Tobias Smollett book now, and a colleague loaned a copy of the Taylor Swift guide - some great Tay Tay quotes that will appear on the Purdzilla Show in due course. 

I also read this article in Rolling Stone about how Trump and his allies are going after Taylor Swift. She'll win. No doubt.

And, The Guardian had an interesting article on why coffee shops all look the same.


5 Thinking: About time management on my Wednesdays




Overtime: Trading trust

Great post from Seth Godin. As he says:

Once you burn some trust, it’s almost impossible to earn it back. It took Harvard 400 years to become Harvard, Google about twenty to earn its position. This is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for–to become the one that earns the benefit of the doubt.

Being the low-trust option is hardly a spot worth fighting for.

Friday, February 9, 2024

Senses working overtime #457

1 Feeling this week (with a seven day virus)




2 Reading: Anne Tyler's Ladder Of Years




Thanks to some time off work dealing to that virus, I have moved on to this after finally finishing Killing Commendatore (681 pages!!). 

I'm about halfway through Roderick Random as well. Ladder of Years has been in the to-be-read pile for over a year - it's time is now!


3 Listening: Donovan's For Little Ones




I've been after this second half of his superb 1967 double album A Gift From A Flower To A Garden for ages. Finally found one in Real Groovy.

If you want just one song - try The Mandolin Man and His Secret.


4 Watching: Yellowstone




Having finished Netflix' three seasons of The Good Doctor, we've moved on to this one, also on Netflix.


5 Listening: Robert Scott - The Green House




The week saw the welcome return of the Wander To Wozza's Music Club (WTWMC) - wherein three intrepid amigos trade album recommendations. 

This is our fourth year of this enterprise. Our 2023 playlist is here


Overtime: On love

Teacher and author Bruce Coville:

"Nothing you love is lost. Not really. Things, people—they always go away, sooner or later. You can't hold them, any more than you can hold moonlight. But if they've touched you, if they're inside you, then they're still yours. The only things you ever really have are the ones you hold inside your heart."

(Courtesy of James Clear)