Godstow Abbey, August 2021
This week’s Five Things…
Ólafur Arnalds breaks down his song Loom. (Ps Ólafur has a very nice desk).
A website that zooms forever.
Rappers ranked by the number of unique words in their vocabulary.
The kickback illusion.
I love this. Chris Addison on how we judge our own work verses how we judge the work of others.
That's all for this week. If you enjoyed it, sign up to get the next one delivered straight to your inbox.
Oxford Botanical Garden, August 2021
This week’s Five Things…
I’ve just started reading Oliver Burkeman’s book Four Thousand Weeks. It’s very good.
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.
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.
Flying a plane through a tunnel at 150mph sounds like an idiotic thing to do, but someone has now done it!
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.
That's all for this week. If you enjoyed it, sign up to get the next one delivered straight to your inbox.
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!
The Botanic Gardens were amazing. Lots of beautiful plants and information about the them and their uses.
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!
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.
Some foodie recommendations. Gees, The Cherwell Boathouse and Wilding were great dinner spots. We also liked the Independent Cafe.
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.
That's all for this week. If you enjoyed it, sign up to get the next one delivered straight to your inbox.
Ipswich, August 2021
This week’s Five Things…
I just finished reading Tim Harford’s excellent book How to Make the World Add Up. Tim is great at explaining complicated topics in easy to digest ways.
Mesmerising matchsticks. Very cool!
Last year I switched from using Spotify to Apple Music. One thing I missed from Spotify was all of the playlists I’d made. Now I have them back, thanks to a clever little app called SongShift. This made me very happy!
Dorico, the fancy music writing app I use on my computer for making transcriptions, now has a free counterpart on iPad. It’s very good.
Nate Mercereau has released an album of duets in collaboration with… the Golden Gate Bridge. I wonder who was easier to work with, the bridge or Jay-Z?
That's all for this week. If you enjoyed it, sign up to get the next one delivered straight to your inbox.
PS. There will be no Five Things next week, but usual service will resume the following week.
Deal, June 2021
This week’s Five Things…
Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken’s podcast on ultra processed food is an eye opener. I knew UPFs were bad… just not that bad!
How creative are you?
The Alternative Olympics Medal Table. And talking of the Olympics, I thoroughly enjoyed the climbing. Bring on Paris!
Have you tried making yourself a more interesting person?
The Foo Fighters have released an album of Bee Gees covers under the name the Dee Gees.
That's all for this week. If you enjoyed it, sign up to get the next one delivered straight to your inbox.
