Blenheim Palace, August 2021

This week’s Five Things…

1. Formula 1 Drive to Survive on Netflix is great. Really captures the excitement, energy and chaos of Formula 1.

2. I’m really looking forward to Peter Jackson’s Beatles documentary, Get Back. This piece tells the story of how the documentary came to be.

3. 10 rules for dealing with criticism.

4. I love this Arthur Schopenhauer quote from this piece on Emma Raducanu’s US Open win: “Talent is like the marksman who hits a target which others cannot reach; genius is like the marksman who hits a target which others cannot even see.”

5. We watched Hansard on National Theatre at Home on Sunday. Funny, clever and moving. I highly recommend it.

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Blenheim Palace, August 2021

This week’s Five Things…

1. I LOVE this: Every Sport A Bowling Ball.

2. Drum juggling by Kateryna Nikiforova. My juggling skills are severely lacking so I’ll stick to drumming for now.

3. How a Wine and Cocaine Cocktail Became Coca Cola.

4. Apple has released the latest versions of its iPhone and iPad software. MacStories have a very detailed breakdown of the new features.

5. Yet another problem for musicians! How the vinyl industry reached breaking point.

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Godstow Abbey, August 2021

This week’s Five Things…

1. Ólafur Arnalds breaks down his song Loom. (Ps Ólafur has a very nice desk).

2. A website that zooms forever.

3. Rappers ranked by the number of unique words in their vocabulary.

4. The kickback illusion.

5. I love this. Chris Addison on how we judge our own work verses how we judge the work of others.

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Oxford Botanical Garden, August 2021

This week’s Five Things…

1. I’ve just started reading Oliver Burkeman’s book Four Thousand Weeks. It’s very good.

2. Adam Neely has made a great video demonstrating why “songs sounding similar” shouldn’t result in lawsuits. Music is cultural and builds on everything that came before it. We need the old stuff to make the new stuff.

3. Tomas Puedo explains how you can use skill stacking to become the best in the world at something. Rather than aiming to be in the top 1% at something, aim to be in the top 10% of several different but complimentary skills.

4. Flying a plane through a tunnel at 150mph sounds like an idiotic thing to do, but someone has now done it!

5. Moises is a very clever app with a stupid name. It lets you change the tempo of songs, mute instruments, add a metronome and even add a count in. A must have for music teachers and those learning an instrument.

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Oxford Botanic Gardens, August 2021

I was on holiday in Oxford last week, so my things this week are nearly all Oxford-based. I definitely recommend visiting!

1. The Botanic Gardens were amazing. Lots of beautiful plants and information about the them and their uses.

2. You could easily spend a day at Blenheim Palace (the birthplace of Churchill). The exhibitions and Palace itself were interesting but my favourite thing were the gardens and grounds. Lots of beautiful walks!

3. The Ashmolean Museum was good and worth a visit. Full of so much stuff that it was almost overwhelming! I have no idea how long it would have taken to read all of the plaques but it would be a very long time.

4. Some foodie recommendations. Gees, The Cherwell Boathouse and Wilding were great dinner spots. We also liked the Independent Cafe.

5. Not in Oxford, but not too far away. Bletchley Park (home of the codebreakers in WW2) was great. Was great being able to walk around the huts where they worked their magic.

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