⤳ In the middle of the week, we schlepped up to Camden, to the Roundhouse to see Brett Anderson and the Paraorchestra do their Death Songbook show. It was a really good show, very different from your normal gig, in a low key and beautiful way. Here’s a snippet to give you an idea of what it was like:
⤳ And then on Friday I met a couple of old friends to go for a walk around Ashdown Forest in East Sussex. It was supposed to be a cycle around Brighton, but due to various injuries and physical ailments (we are all old now!) it turned into a walk with the dogs and a lovely pub lunch. Miraculously, it didn’t rain on us.
⤳ On the TV and film front: We finished Shogun this week. Wow, what a fantastic series, undoubtedly going to be the best telly of 2024 and I sincerely hope they find a good way of extending it past the realms of the book.
⤳ And we watched Dev Patel’s Monkey Man on Saturday evening. Big, flashy, violent fun with a lot of smart and heart. Maybe a little long and maybe even a little too violent at time, but still enjoyed it.
⤳ Because I was due to go on a long bike ride this week, I picked up Grant Petersen’s book Just Ride: A Radically Practical Guide to Riding Your Bike, which led me on to his other book Eat Bacon, Don’t Jog: Get Strong. Get Lean. No Bullshit.. I really liked Just Ride, it helped me reset my attitude to cycling a little bit, which was really helpful for me. The other book is a little too Huberman/Ferris/Bro science for me at times (I will never ever put butter in my coffee now matter how many times white American men tell me it’s a good idea).
⤳ Some interesting things I’ve read this week:
The new Adrianne Lenker album is one of of my favourites of the year so far, and this interview with Adrianne in The Times was a fascinating read.
Extreme Record Collecting: Confessions of an Analog Vinyl Snob, might only be the kind of article you might want to read if you are already a bit of a vinyl collector, but I found it really interesting and not nearly as nerdy as the title makes it sound.
Why can I not get paid to meet friends in bars and drink martinis?
⤳ Listening to: