Senses working overtime #586

1 R.I.P. Glen Hansard

Sadly, and suddenly, a great talent is gone. I liked reading this piece about him as well as rewatching Once and listening to his work again this week. That was comforting.

2 Watching: Once

Promo for the film is here.

3 Listening: The Swell Season, The Frames and solo albums

4 Reading: Mojo Magazine 390 

5 Listening: U2 - War

Always my go to at fraught times. And the Irish connection seems especially relevant at the moment.

Overtime: Taylor Swift

It's possible to climb to the top without stomping on other people.

Senses working overtime #549

1 Feeling this week:

Photo by Eugene Chystiakov on Unsplash

2 Watched: TV on Demand shows

We've been catching up with Graham Norton Show guests (Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift and others), Elsbeth and now Doc.

3 Listening: Tay Tay's new one - The Life of a Showgirl

I like this one much more than the previous one (The Tortured Artists Department) which I found too long and not as seminal as Midnights.

4 Reading: Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens.

Closing in on halfway - up to page 382 (out of 1,000)

5 Listening: WTWMC - Tragically unhip

There are now 90 songs to elicit eye roll responses - guaranteed.

 

Overtime:  Selena Gomez

If you are broken, you do not have to stay broken.

Senses working overtime #464

1 The weather this week

Photo by Vasiliki Mastropetrou on Unsplash

Cooler and windy.

2 Listening: Howlin' Wind - Graham Parker

White Honey (first song on this his debut album) got a lotta plays this week (package arrived from Real Groovy)

3 Listening: Taylor Swift - Midnights

This was my most played album on Spotify in 2022. I'm still listening to my vinyl copy. It's still amazing.

If you just want one song - try Snow On The Beach, but really the whole album is her best yet. A five star classic. A new one is coming!

4 Listening: WTWMC True Colours

Greg 'Pretty Boy' Knowles has the latest colour choice - RED! Watch the fun unfold in real time during the week.

You can also play along! Who chooses what? Is It Kevy, GK or Wozza's choice?

5 Watching: Oppenheimer on Spotify.

We split it over two nights - 3 hours is a tough ask when you're watching in your lounge.

Overtime: Letting go

Holding onto anger and resentment is like scuba diving with an anchor. As long as you're clinging to it, you're bound to the seabed, limited in movement, unable to appreciate the coral reefs and the colorful fish that dart in and out of view.

Forgiveness is letting go of the anchor. It isn't about declaring what was done to you is okay, but about unburdening yourself so you can swim freely. Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. It's the gift of letting go of the anchors you've been carrying.

James Clear

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.

Senses working overtime #448

1 The feeling at the end of this week

Photo by Erriko Boccia on Unsplash

2 Watching: Welcome To Wrexham

3 Reading: edwin + matilda - Laurence Fearnley

4 Listening: Bloodletting - Concrete Blonde

5 Reading: Time's person of the year - Taylor Swift

Overtime: 

All I have learned, I learned from books (Abraham Lincoln)

It's holiday time which for me means more reading time - smiley face.

Senses working overtime #415

1 Wildflowers in California

2 Walking in the woods

Author and naturalist Henry David Thoreau on the value of walking in the woods:

"I come out to these solitudes, where the problem of existence is simplified. I get away a mile or two from the town into the stillness and solitude of nature, with rocks, trees, weeds, snow about me. I enter some glade in the woods, perchance, where a few weeds and dry leaves alone lift themselves above the surface of the snow, and it is as if I had come to an open window. I see out and around myself.

3 The end of the music business

4 Dominion vs Fox News

This was a fascinating story this week.

5 Taylor Swift!

Not only does she do 44-song sets, but Taylor Swift also does her due diligence.

According to a lawyer handling a lawsuit against celebrities who promoted FTX, Swift was the only superstar approached who asked FTX, “Can you tell me that these are not unregistered securities?” Swift apparently didn’t get the answer she was looking for, because she turned down the $100 million endorsement deal she was offered and avoided the legal mess others like Larry David, Shaq, and Tom Brady now find themselves in.

Karma really is her boyfriend.

Overtime: RIP Ahmad Jamal 92

Senses working overtime #137

1 Unsplash photo of the week

Photo by Tomas Chevalier on Unsplash

2 Lessons from Whiplash

Great movie (great poster too) - here's 10 lessons from it for you to chew on.

3 Josh Rose

He's a photographer with some great tips.  

4 The Silence Breakers

Time's 'person of the year' is a diverse bunch brought together by a common stand which I applaud. Seems some folk have a problem with Tay Tay's inclusion. I don't.

5 Aristotle Aristotle was a begger for the bottle

The great man on friendship via this snazzy Medium.com piece.

Overtime - North Korean graphic design

Love it!

Senses working overtime #133

1 Marvel rankings

Here are the new ones now that the latest Thor is out. Fun!

2 Get journaling!

Nice reminder from the consistently awesome Thomas Oppong on the joys of keeping a regular journal.

3 Apollo 15

Apollo 15 Astronaut Al Worden took this eery photo of Earth on the way home from the Moon
4 JFK 22 November 1963

Nice piece about the fiction generated by the JFK assasination.

5 Reputation
Tay Tay's new album is out and this Vox run down of her current state of being is spot on!

Overtime - 

Culture overload from now until Christmas explained by Vox!

Senses working overtime #129

1 The First Trailer. The Last Jedi.

Read and watch all about it here.

2 Yeh, Tay Tay

What to do with a problem like Taylor? Am I the only 60 year old male alive who actually appreciates Taylor Swift? I'm not sure how old Ryan Adams is, but he can't be that old, so, I think I might be. 

Hilarious, is it not, that her image is so fascinating for people. Try this analysis for starters.

3 The politics of Plath

I read Ariel as an undergraduate back in the late seventies. Appreciating it was a complex experience; she was a complex woman.

 Nice that Plath is still generating thoughts, words and new dramas into 2017. This Medium article is absorbing and worth your time.

4 The Governator on Trump

Arnie is the man! Here he is at Oktoberfest and talking sense about Trump (and other things)

5 Courtroom sketch artists and why we need 'em

  

Extra Texture
Austin Kleon's blog is pretty darn cool.

Senses working overtime #123

1 Feminism sells!

Fun, spunky, thoughtful article on advertising for women.

2 Graphic design

Fun, spunky and, erm, thoughtful part 2: A fabulous romp through 500 years of graphic design in print. I love that people like Rian and Allie write these kinds of articles and position them on the interweb for us all to enjoy.

3 Your compelling reason

This piece from George Couros features an amazing advert that may make you cry (something got into my eye while watching it).

4 Voyager 2

It left 40 years ago and it's travelled an eye watering 11 billion miles so far!




5 Tay Tay's not a happy bunny
New single, new Taylor Swift. Awesome!




Overtime
Loving the font use. Anything that harks back to iconic material from Saul Bass like Vertigo gets my vote!

Senses working overtime #81

1 Oddvertising

Hey, this is what happens when the advertising gets weird! Love it!

2 Steve Jobs
Great learning here! Wise words to live by.

3 Seth Godin
Not to be outdone - wise words from Seth that I try to share with my students - it's all about the moment!

4 A Swift debut
Lovely piece revisiting Tay Tay's first album.

5 To cross street, press button
Great story about the futility of pressing buttons.

Overtime - Song of the week:
Bruce Springsteen's autobiography (a fabulous read) comes with a great CD compilation - Chapter and Verse, containing stuff by his pre E Street band groups Steel Mill and The Castiles.