Weekend Reading

  • Infertility and Me: Part One

    Where do you start telling people life hasn’t been too swell for the last couple of years? That you didn’t want to push anyone away but that keeping your head down and getting on with it felt like the only way to survive?
    A series of posts that you should read. Brave and honest writing, the more voices on this the easier it should be for others.

  • 7 Pieces of Wisdom That Will Change the Way You Work

    “If wisdom were offered me on the one condition that I should keep it shut away and not divulge it to anyone,” said Roman philosopher Seneca, “I should reject it. There is no enjoying the possession of anything valuable unless one has someone to share it with.”
    Now and then I skim read one of these types of articles and they kinda stick, this is one of them.

  • The 4 Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight!

    Its time for some real, juicy and balls to the wall honest, talk. (I am not sure that is even a phrase but hey-ho!) I have steered clear from talking lots about weight loss, to be honest. Partly because I don’t want to encourage the ‘thinner is better’ mentality.
    Again, posting because sometimes these things resonate (although this is a bit TOO ‘American dude bro’ for my liking at times)

  • Things More Heavily Regulated Than Buying a Gun in the United States

    Having a fucking bake sale Building a fucking shed in your own backyard Pumping fucking gas Getting a fucking vasectomy Owning a fucking car Driving someone else’s fucking car Riding in a fucking car Disposing of fucking batteries Cutting fucking hair for a living Having a controlled bonfire on y…
    One of the first posts I ever wrote (in 1999) was about the gun situation in the US of A. It’s fucking ridiculous.

  • The Sideways Curse Has Lifted: Merlot Is Having a Comeback

    Merlot was once the fan-favorite red grape and wine. Then came 2004 hit movie Sideways, in which Miles, the pinot-noir-loving main character, trashes the varietal before heading into a bar: “If anyone orders merlot, I’m leaving,” he explodes. “I am not drinking any f—ing merlot.”
    I loved Sideways. I drink wine. I had NO IDEA about this (Atlantic filter activated obvs)

  • ‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens

    In the hours following a violent rampage in Las Vegas in which a lone attacker killed more than 50 individuals and seriously injured 400 others, citizens living in the only country where this kind of mass killing routinely occurs reportedly concluded Monday that there was no way to prevent it.
    SATIRE. Cruel, vicious, cutting satire.

  • 1,516 mass shootings in 1,735 days: America’s gun crisis – in one chart

    The attack at a country music festival in Las Vegas that left at least 58 people dead is the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history – but there were six other mass shootings in America this past week alone. No other developed nation comes close to the rate of gun violence in America.
    Sobering.

  • The Curious Life of an Extra

    Playing bystanders and party guests was supposed to be a temporary gig. It turned into a viable, and surprisingly fulfilling, way to make a living.
    I do love behind the scenes insights. I’m the guy who watched ALL the DVD Extras (where do we get those now? Youtube?)

  • Papyrus

    Made me laugh.
    A short comedy video with one of the best final frames ever committed to film.

  • The pleasure/happiness gap

    Pleasure is short-term, addictive and selfish. It’s taken, not given. It works on dopamine. Happiness is long-term, additive and generous. It’s giving, not taking. It works on serotonin.
    Can you spot the theme of my week yet?

  • 12 Essential Women Cinematographers

    Female cinematographers don’t get as much recognition as their male counterparts, but they’re responsible for many outstanding films with beautiful images. A video essay by Jake Swinney.
    Sharing this purely because of the item below…

  • Top 10 Cinematographers of All Time

    This week we’re looking back at best DPs to ever let light touch film. From every era, from all over the world, from all walks of life, these are the best cinematographers of all time.
    … which features no women whatsoever.

  • The work that won this year’s Nobel Prize in physics—in terms everyone can understand

    The 2017 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded today to Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish, and Kip Thorne. Their work helped prove Albert Einstein right—yet again.
    AND I know someone who worked on this.

  • The Essential Tom Petty, in 9 Songs

    There’s a joke in Marc Maron’s new comedy special where he suggests Tom Petty could be the artist who bridges the gap between the left and the right. He’s not wrong.
    Never been a big fan, but these 9 songs helped me understand his wider appeal.

  • How Nature Creates Uncannily Spherical Boulders

    Large boulders shaped like nearly perfect spheres can be found in a handful of places around the world. Perched amid craggy, sandy landscapes, these curious orbs have been confounding onlookers for centuries.
    Cos nature, innit.

  • This Future Looks Familiar: Watching Blade Runner in 2017

    I watched Blade Runner for the first time this week. Since I have apparently been living in a cave for the past few decades, I thought that Blade Runner was kind of like Tron but with more Harrison Ford, and less neon, and maybe a few more tricky questions about What Is The Nature Of Man.
    Read the article for a fresh (if a little high school angsty) take on an old movie. Stay for the amazing comments that MISS THE ENTIRE POINT OF THE ARTICLE!

  • St Paul’s Cathedral on Twitter

    Today is #WorldArchitectureDay. The Cathedrals of England have got this well covered! #DropsMic
    So polite in their banter. Which one was the Bishop of Banterbury though?

  • What Happened?

    Here’s a secret I keep from my friends: shoved in the back of a drawer, among the ill-fitting bras I can’t bring myself to throw away, there is a tank top emblazoned with the words “Feminist As Fuck”
    American feminism under the microscope, where does it go now?

  • Ancient Tomb of Santa Claus Discovered Beneath Turkish Church

    Archaeologists in Turkey may be on the cusp of solving a mystery thousands of years in the making after they stumbled on a tomb beneath the ruins of an ancient church they believe contains the remains of Saint Nicholas—known popularly as Santa Claus.
    It’s Zombie Santa!

  • Kazuo Ishiguro on Song Lyrics, Scones, and the Life He Could Have Had
    Driving along Eighty-sixth Street in Brooklyn, Dexter Styles saw Badger check his wristwatch and then extend a hairy hand…
    I’ve only read Never Let Me Go, maybe Remains of the Day is next?
  • Google’s New Live-Translating Earbuds Look Absolutely Incredible

    ​The Babelfish remains stubbornly fictional, but Google’s Pixel Buds, which it revealed at today’s release event, look like a big step towards creating our own version of Douglas Adams’ polyglot fish.
    Google announced some new stuff. See also a phone with NO HEADPHONE SOCKET OMG!

  • How ‘Germany’s Hugh Hefner’ created an entirely different sort of sex empire

    Hugh Hefner’s death has reopened bitter debates about his place in history. Many obituaries in the mainstream media have described him as a sexual liberator.
    I am not enjoying the response to Hefner’s death, so her is another sexual liberator that you haven’t heard of…

  • We Snuck into Seattle’s Super Secret White Nationalist Convention

    Back in January, I e-mailed Dr. Greg Johnson, organizer of Northwest Forum, Seattle’s hottest closed-door white nationalist convention, asking for an interview on the latest in regional racism. He turned me down.
    The ordinary nature of what goes on is probably more disturbing than if this had been a flag burning rally.