Month: February 2018

I’d not long finished my dinner and was doing the dishes. Standing at the sink I pondered what to do next and tried to think of reasons not to do any more chores, after all hoovering can always wait until tomorrow, right? We will ignore the fact that my hoovering was probably about a week past needing done, because hoovering is ALWAYS a job for tomorrow; just as dusting is a job for whenever someone is coming to visit, a lesson well learned from my dearest Mumsy.

So you can imagine my excitement when, moments after I’d set the last dish on the rack to dry, my watch vibrated on my wrist to notify me that a new message had arrived! Ohhh me oh my, perhaps an adventure lay within.

And, dearest reader, it did!

A spare ticket for a gig that very evening, to see a band called The Lovely Eggs who I’d heard of in name purely because the person who invited me had mentioned them a few weeks prior. Not only was there a spare ticket, there was also the offer of a lift to and from said gig, so who was I to say no, hoovering be damned!!

I wasn’t fully sure what to expect but the evening started well with the support acts; Mr Ben & The Bens offered some nice pop/rock tunes, Porky the Poet (aka Phil Jupitus) made us laugh, and then it was time for the headliners.

Having not heard much (if any) of their stuff I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but a few bars into the first song and I was pretty sure I was gonna enjoy it. The Lovely Eggs are a wife and husband duo, he drums and controls the samples, she shreds a guitar, screams, wails, groans, and serenades her way through every track. Described as ‘psychedlic post punk’ on at least one website, I loved every second of it.

It’s also a testament to the small gig thinking I posted about recently. The venue, Stereo, holds about 300 people in their basement and I was right at the very front (to one side as I’m 6’1) and lapped up the energy from the stage as Holly whirled and danced and goaded the crowd into reacting. Once again, the ability to turn a gig into a show that includes the audience is a talent and the passion and energy on display was infectious.

If you like punky thrashy guitars over simple melodic tunes, sprinkled with a dose of comedy, then check them out and if you get the chance to see them live, take the plunge.

So here’s to friends, here’s to saying yes on a random Monday evening, and here’s to small venue gigs by bands you’ve never heard of blowing your damn socks off.

One for all you beautiful nerds, 99% invisible covers an endlessly fascinating series of topics loosely arranged around design and architecture.

99% Invisible is about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world.

From graphic design and prop making for movies, to La Sagrada Familia, to sports bras, to emoji design, to city and street layouts, and a myriad of fascinating interviews and insights. If learning how everyday things work and exist in common usage interests you, it’s well worth a listen.

Even if you don’t think you are interested in design, if you are naturally curious about the world around you then give it a shot, the episodes are both short enough (~30 mins) and slick enough to carry themselves. You’ll learn something new everytime.

Hell, even if you only listen to one it’s worth it for the treacle thick voice of host, Roman Mars (yes, that’s his actual name).

Here’s a couple of episodes to start you off:

• Half a house
• Unseen City: Wonders of the Urban Wilderness

You can subscribe to future episodes using this RSS Link.

• I Quit Twitter and It Feels Great
  It has been one year and 28 days since my last tweet. I deactivated my account shortly after President-elect Donald Trump tweeted, “North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won’t happen!” on Jan. 2, 2017.
  Not sure I’d go as far as quitting but more and more I think on having less social media time. It just ain’t good for ya!
• How ‘Baby Driver’ Orchestrated a Car Chase Timed to a Musical Beat
  The kinetic opening of Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver, with The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s “Bellbottoms” playing on its soundtrack, had to accomplish a lot: quickly introduce the characters; set up the geography of a bank heist and the car chase that follows; and tell the audience exactly what to expect.
  I only just watched this the other day. A little over-styled but great movie to watch, especially this stuff (it’s peppered throughout the movie, watch it again and you won’t help but notice).
• ABBA gold
  As London’s Southbank Centre celebrates a major ABBA exhibition Mike Atkinson takes a look at the legacy of Sweden’s hottest export At any decent-sized Pride festival during the Nineties, the chances are that you’d have been entertained by Björn Again, the first of countless ABBA tribute acts.
  Who doesn’t love ABBA? (seriously, if you don’t, GET OUT!)
• This Is Why Uma Thurman Is Angry
  Yes, Uma Thurman is mad. She has been raped. She has been sexually assaulted. She has been mangled in hot steel. She has been betrayed and gaslighted by those she trusted.
  Another voice. More of this, less of ‘men’.
• The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery
  Beneath the bland veneer of supermarket automation lurks an ugly truth: There’s a lot of shoplifting going on in the self-scanning checkout lane. But don’t call it shoplifting. The guys in loss prevention prefer “external shrinkage.”
  I’m ok with people ‘tricking’ these systems (aka stealing), think of it as payback for ‘Unexpected Item in Baggage Area’.
• Luge Yourself
  LAKE PLACID, N.Y. We can start with the suit. It was blue, with splashes of red and white. It said “USA” on the left leg. There were these stirrup feet, which felt very 1990s. Sartorially speaking, it was not my sharpest look.
  The Winter Olympics are here. Every year I think I won’t watch much and then these lunatics turn up and I can’t help myself.
• Senate passes bill to make O Canada lyrics gender neutral
  The Senate passed a bill that renders the national anthem gender neutral Wednesday despite the entrenched opposition of some Conservative senators.
  That’s it. I’m moving to Canada.
• The Power of RAW on iPhone, Part 1: Shooting RAW
  I take a lot of photos. Usually I pack either a Sony A7R2 or a Leica M—two cameras with massive sensors and brilliant lenses. But lately, I’ve been shooting exclusively with the iPhone X, and have found it absolutely excellent.
  Nice series if you have an iPhone capable of shooting in RAW.
• I deleted WhatsApp for a year and here’s what I learned
  At the end of 2016, I sent a message to all my contacts: “After 31 December, I will not use WhatsApp any more. Instead, I will use Threema and Signal.” On New Year’s Eve, I closed my WhatsApp account and deleted the app from my phone.
  Ohhhh the peace and quiet, can you imagine?
• On Imposter Syndrome
  Imposter syndrome wasn’t something I was even aware of until a year or two ago, but now I realise I’ve had it all my life. It’s strange, because I’m a fiercely independent person and I don’t really care what other people think.
  Mental Health issues impact everyone. They are not visible. You never know.
• Super Mario Odyssey producer settles the debate over Toad’s head
  In a new video, Super Mario Odyssey producer Yoshiaki Koizumi addressed longstanding mysteries about Toad’s head, Mario’s belly button and the nature of Mario, Peach and Pauline’s relationship. First, let’s address the all-important mystery of Toad’s head.
  Not sure why I’m sharing this. It made me chuckle.
• Hear Freddie Mercury’s Vocals Soar in the Isolated Vocal Track for “Somebody to Love”
  For some time now, certain fans of Queen have sought the elusive answer to the question “what made Freddie Mercury such an incredible singer?” That he was an incredible singer—one of the greatest in terms of vocal range, emotive power, stage presence, songwriting, etc.
  No YOU’VE got something in your eye.
• Why Paper Jams Persist
  Building 111 on the Xerox engineering campus, near Rochester, New York, is vast and labyrinthine. On the social-media site Foursquare, one visitor writes that it’s “like Hotel California.”
  Technology can’t do everything OR why do we STILL use so much paper?
• The Man Who Saw Inside Himself
  For years, Larry Smarr has used a supercomputer to monitor his health and peer at his organs. Recently, he used his knowledge to help direct his own surgery.
  OK. I’m all for the ‘quantified self’ if that’s your thing but this is surely too far?
• SpaceX launches its powerful Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time
  SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, this afternoon and soared to space, carrying its payload — CEO Elon Musk’s red Tesla Roadster — into orbit.
  Watch the video, even if you only skip forward to the two thruster rockets landing again, perfectly in sync.
• Paradise found: how The Good Place divinely remixed the sitcom
  The Good Place isn’t the funniest comedy on television, but it’s probably the most enjoyable and easily the most radical. A sitcom about self-improvement at all costs, made just as the world is flushing itself down the toilet. Who on earth saw that coming?
  But the BIG question is, WHEN IS SEASON 3?!
• The incredible story of Glasgow’s suffragette tree planted 100 years ago to celebrate women’s voting rights
  And in a little-known corner of Glasgow stands a century old tree planted in tribute to these suffragettes and the victory they so rightly deserved. Standing tall on Kelvin Way, Glasgow’s Suffrage Oak tree was planted on April 20 1918 by women suffrage pioneers.
  I’m going to go and find this, had no idea it existed.
• Spreadsheet realism
  When Beeker published the brilliant essay, by Rod McLaren in 2015, I was blown away by the poetry of Rod’s writing. At that point in my career, I had a growing reliance on Excel as a mode of planning and organising of education.
  Ohhh lordy. Close to home.
• Behind-the-scenes look at mixing the clay for Wallace and Gromit
  When producing their claymation-style feature films or Wallace and Gromit & Shaun the Sheep animations, Aardman Animations goes through 100s of pounds of modeling clay.
  Love these behind the scenes insights.
• Stop Crying! Tear-Free Onions Are Here
  Using onions to explain away crying is a familiar gag. On The Brady Bunch, housekeeper Alice answers the phone and cries as the caller tells her a sad story. After hanging up she says, “Darn onions,” holding up the offending allium.
  Great! But… Sunions? Hmmm not so great.
• Beating yourself up is not as helpful as you think
  I don’t have a name for my inner critic, unless ‘shut up shut up SHUTUP’ counts.
• The House That Spied on Me
  In December, I converted my one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco into a “smart home”.
  Privacy versus convenience? A tough balance. This is very much on my mind at the moment.

For a while now I’ve been on a mission to discover new music. That might just be music that is new to me, or it might be actually new up and coming bands that I’ve not heard of, but I’ll happily admit that the recap of my musical year that Spotify provided was a bit of a shocker. We all have our own self-image but, musically at least, I didn’t think I was quite as mainstream as all that… stats never lie though, right?

For the last few years I’ve tended to rely on the same few sources; a mixture of random recommendations from friends and colleagues, the occasional blog post or album review here and there, but I always seem to fall back to the same two places for ‘new music’. namely BBC 6Music and Spotify.

6Music is definitely my touchstone and the place I’ve picked up new favourite artists the most. More recently though the “Discover Weekly” playlist by Spotify has thrown up some gems, but I know that, as it’s driven by my listening habits, it can get a bit samey and it’s not really expanding my musical tastes/vocabulary/library.

Looking at my upcoming gigs for the first half of the year I also realised my desire to find new artists isn’t just about finding new music to listen to, it’s about finding artists to connect with and the new experiences to be had there. With that in mind, and whilst I’m not against massive auditorium style (I have a couple planned already) I have found myself more and more drawn to smaller venues towards the latter part of last year and I can see that trend continuing.

Luckily Glasgow has a myriad of such places, the type of venue where you are never more than 40 feet from the performance (for Glasgwegians I’m classing King Tuts as the top ‘size’ end of this scale), places like The Hug & Pint, Broadcast, Stereo, and the 13th Note.

So how do I find these new artists?

Emails from ticket vendors helps – hat tip to See Tickets here as their ‘if you like X, you’ll like this band’ listings – and of course scouring Facebook has also turned up some gems, and when I say ‘scouring’ Facebook I of course mean I stalk a few people who are always out and about at gigs for bands I’ve never heard of, it’s great fun (and just in case, hi Stevie W, hi Angela B!). Equally, more and more artists and businesses use Facebook Pages to promote gigs, so I’ve started following as many of those as I can.

With all that in place I’ve now got quite a few more bands to listen to, and a rapidly expanding playlist of tracks to sample. Sure, it can be a bit hit or miss, but it’s fun spending time of an evening listening to random tracks and letting myself disappear down musical rabbit holes.

So far I’ll call out Cherry Glazerr, Car Seat Headrest, Gurr, Ghostpoet, Vultures and Zoe Bestel as ‘new discoveries’ that are worth a listen, and I’ve already got tickets to see one of them when they hit Glasgow.

How do YOU find out about new artists? Any tips or tricks to share? Or any new artists I should be checking out? Leave a comment, share the love.

Gym wanker post alert.

Last year I started going to the gym. I was doing a ‘BootCamp’ which was less ‘being shouted at by angry army types’ and a lot more ‘encouraged to push yourself during HIIT sessions’. There were two sessions at week, including a 9am start on a Saturday, and once I got into the habit, I got used to and, SHOCK HORROR, started to enjoy myself!

This year, they’ve changed the format and the name. Now it’s all about Team Training, which still includes HIIT within each session but with the addition of more ‘lift heavy stuff’ type training. It’s also moved to three sessions a week, and joy of joys we don’t start until 10am on a Saturday morning!

I’ve done a little bit of the ‘lift heavy things’ training in the past and each session is focused on a different discipline; Tuesdays are for deadlifts, Thursdays are for squats, Saturdays are for bench presses. Each coach has taken the time to make sure our technique is right (so we don’t injure ourselves) and the challenge each week is to add a little more weight; around 2.5kg is all they are looking for which is very do-able (so far!).

To keep track of our progress we are logging what weights we are lifting so it’ll be interesting to look back in a few months and see some difference as we start to build more and more muscle tone. We are already a month in and it’s been good to mix things up a bit.

It’s also been interesting over the past year to look back at my original goals and see what matters to me now.

When I signed up for the first BootCamp it was all about losing weight. I was sick of being 17st (almost 18st at one point). In the first couple of months I lost some weight, but since then I’ve plateau’d but importantly, I realised I didn’t care. Whilst my weight has remained about the same, my trouser size has dropped from a ‘tight’ 40″ waist to an ‘almost there’ 36″. Ohhh and I can do press-ups now, like, more than 1.

I still weigh myself, just not every week, and the less I care about that number, the more I seem to be noticing other changes. As new muscles develop and my body slowly changes shape I can start to focus in on the main goal; goodbye beer belly!

I have quieter aspirations for my fitness – get to the gym 4 times a week if I can – and I’ve also signed up for Pedal for Scotland again so I’ll need to juggle getting out on my bike for some training runs (and yes, I’ve no doubt I’ll be cycling to and from the gym at some point too).

As a baseline then, I’m hoping that attending Team Training three times a week should help me break the current plateau I appear to be stuck on. I’m eating better and, as part of the Team Training classes includes help with Nutrition goals then in theory all bases are covered.

And yes, I’m deliberately posting this in February because this is not a New Year resolution, this is a journey that I started last year and which, by this time next year, I’m hoping still to be on.

I wonder what my goals will be then?

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If you are interested in attending a gym that is focused on inclusivity, has no mirrors, no grunting muscle men, and supportive, friendly, realistic trainers then I can highly recommend AG Fitness.

• Björk on creativity as an ongoing experiment
  You collaborate with a lot of people, often over a long period of time. How do you find a good collaborator, and what do you think makes a good collaboration? There’s a different story with every collaborator. It’s really like friendships.
  Because Björk.

• Story Ideas: How to Beat Shiny-New-Idea Syndrome and Actually Finish Your Projects
  Authors often get asked where they get their story ideas. It’s one of the most common questions my student writers wish they could ask their writing heroes.
  Not just for those wot does righting…

• Why We Forget Most of the Books We Read
  Pamela Paul’s memories of reading are less about words and more about the experience. “I almost always remember where I was and I remember the book itself. I remember the physical object,” says Paul, the editor of The New York Times Book Review, who reads, it is fair to say, a lot of books.
  As the internet kids say, ‘It me!’

• When internet trolls told this record-breaking teen explorer to ‘make a sandwich,’ she did just that
  She’s only 16 but, Jade Hameister has accomplished way more than people twice her age. She’s skied to the North Pole. She’s skated across Greenland’s largest icecap. But there are always those who’d rather focus on her appearance than her achievements.
  It’s a long way to go to do it but ULTIMATE MIC DROP!! Amaze!

• End of Watch
  Here’s how to cheat at the Apple Watch Stand goal: dangle your wrist by your side while you sit in a chair. I discovered this by accident — I dangle my arm during meetings — but once I found it out, I did it on purpose. I cheated while watching Thor: Ragnarok, in meetings, at brunch.
  File under: Curmudgeonly behaviour #487

• Mark E. Smith Was An Uncompromising And Essential Voice From Music’s Fringe
  It is safe to say that there was no one else like Mark E. Smith. The irascible leader of the legendary Manchester post-punk group The Fall — who died yesterday at the age of 60 — was a true artist and eccentric.
  Was never a fan, but it was never really about the music anyway.

• A Simple Phrase to Help You Stop Buying Stuff You Don’t Need
  Confession: I am a longtime lover of things. Cute things, shiny things, sparkly things. Things that smell good, things that look pretty on an end table, things that make entertaining more fun, things that remind me of happy memories.
  Lessons for me, I STILL buy too much ‘stuff’.

• Harry Potter Finally Gets Translated Into Scots: Hear & Read Passages from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stane
  In something of a landmark, Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone has just been translated into its 80th language–Scots, a language spoken by 1.5 million people in Scotland.
  Did ye, aye?

• My problem with Spotify – even though I’m a subscriber
  In the last 20 or so years of technological revolution, has any artform been as transformed as music? Film and literature may still be adjusting to new platforms and business ideas, but they cling to the same basic rules. Art and theatre seem largely unchanged.
  Nailed it. I have the same problem with Spotify.

• Infamous Atari Player Disqualified From World Record After 35 Years
  In 1982, video game score-chaser Todd Rogers supposedly set a world record time of 5.51 seconds in the Atari 2600 racing game Dragster. Last year, speedrunners called that score into question.
  I love that this happened, that people are STILL passionate about this stuff. Humans are ace.

• The Startling Link Between Sugar and Alzheimer’s
  In recent years, Alzheimer’s disease has occasionally been referred to as “type 3” diabetes, though that moniker doesn’t make much sense. After all, though they share a problem with insulin, type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, and type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease caused by diet.
  Yikes.

• Earths Magnetic Poles are overdue a switch
  Yeah. Just gonna leave that one there.

• Michael Mosley: ‘Forget walking 10,000 steps a day’
  These days it is hard to walk the streets without running into someone who is anxiously looking at their wrist to see if they are on target to reach the magic 10,000 steps. Is it really a goal worth striving for, or might there be something better?
  I’ve not given two (or 10,000) hoots about my step count for ages. Turns out, I wasn’t just being lazy!

• Japanese farmers created a new kind of banana with an edible peel
  Most of the world’s bananas are grown in tropical temperatures that consistently hover around 80°F (27°C), but D&T Farms in southern Japan keeps its banana trees at a frigid -76°F (-60°C). Then, the farmers replant the trees in an 80°F environment.
  Y tho?

• Security measures at the Winter Olympics include drones that catch drones
  Organizers of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea have plenty to deal with, including the late addition of North Korea as a participant. But it’s not just events on the ground they have to worry about. Security personnel will be looking skyward, as well—for suspicious drones.
  Breaking News! Drone drama likely to be more exciting than people sliding down a hill!!

• It’s Surprisingly Easy To Plant False Memories
  The 1990s were a scary time for psychology. Many therapists were touting the idea that traumatic experiences could produce repressed memories, ones that could only resurface through therapy.
  I’ll be right back, just going to check the memories of MY ENTIRE LIFE! Sheesh.

• It’s the (Democracy-Poisoning) Golden Age of Free Speech
  For most of modern history, the easiest way to block the spread of an idea was to keep it from being mechanically disseminated. Shutter the news­paper, pressure the broad­cast chief, install an official censor at the publishing house.
  This is the real reason I’ve not posted anything all week, I’m trying to dial back on the noise… (seriously though, this is some fucked up scary shit).