Senses working overtime #531

1 Second week of the study break:

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

The first week of the study break kicked off with me marking students' work, this second week ended with planning my five classes for the next 6 weeks. That's a good feeling!

2 Watched: Alone UK and Alone Australia

We finished watching season 2 of Alone Australia (started while at Mabelle and Gav's gaff) and then moved onto season 1 of Alone UK. Slight change for that one with 11 ordinary Brits surviving/ lasting from 4 hours to 30ish days. Brilliant!

3 Reading: God Only Knows (The story of Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and the California myth) - David Leaf

I've read this in an earlier edition when I borrowed a library copy years ago, but I had to buy this 2024 version while visiting Santa Rosa (Copperfields Books). Good to reread given the recent passing of Brian.

4 Listening: Procol Harum Live in Concert

5 Reading: The Visitor - Lee Child

I'm pretty sure I've also read this one years ago but that's the great thing with his books - because of the frothiness and easiness of the style, you can reread and enjoy them all over again. This is a great study break book.

Overtime:  

"Focus on the seeds, not the trees. What seeds are you planting today?"

James Clear

Senses working overtime #245

1 Art 101

A few years back, this was a house warming gift from friends Margo Buchanan-Oliver and Clay Bodvin. here it is, proudly on display at Maple Grove.

2 Art 102

Clay has used the vase before. with a mixed media approach to stunning effect. More of his work here.

3 Art 103

Another piece from Clay, starring Margo!

4 Lee Child

Writes a cracking yarn. Blue Moon maintains the hot streak.

5 Purdettes

Jade and William's wedding was a superb event last week. We all met up again afterwards for family time. I love these people!!

Left to right - Jesse, Ashleigh, Adam, Keegan, Jade, Samantha, me, Jacky, Asher, William

Overtime: 

Senses working overtime #193

1 Vinyl revival

The market for DVDs has been destroyed by streaming services like Netflix (guilty as charged - I rarely buy DVDs these days).

But...vinyl continues to grow as a format as this Guardian article reports: However, it wasn’t all bad news for physical formats. The continuing vinyl revival generated LP sales of 4.2m – up 1.6% on 2017. Some 12,000 albums were released on vinyl and the most-purchased was the Arctic Monkeys’ Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, which became the fastest-selling LP in more than 25 years, shifting 24,500 copies in seven days after its release in May. 

2 Men Without Women

I moved onto this collection of 7 short stories by Haruki Murakami, this week. He's more hit and miss over the short format - that's the nature of the beast really, but there are some classic Murakami moments in this collection - and it's a cheaply priced entry level book at Waterstones.

3 Roger Daltrey

After enjoying his autobiography I've kept my eye out for his solo albums. His latest, As Long As I Have You, has just been released (it's good too). Since then I've found Daltrey, Ride a Rock Horse and McVicar - all on vinyl. 

All have value but taking a punt on the McVicar soundtrack has paid off handsomely. What a great album! I'd forgotten that Free Me was on there.

4 Lee Child

Picked this up for under 10 quid before Christmas - the latest Jack Reacher thriller. Lee Child never disappoints and this is a great book to read on holiday - although they usually take me a day or so - easy to read, absorbing and addictive!

5 Christmas is football!

Always a frenzy of activity over the festive period - notably Liverpool lost their 100% winning record and Man City lost three games! Loads of drama to follow on MOTD.

As to my teams - Rochdale are solid in the lower reaches of League One and the gunners wobbled. But we still beat Spurs 4-2!!

January transfer window is always interesting. We need some defenders please.

Overtime Steve Coogan
I'm a fan. Here's a Guardian article on him that's worth reading.