Sea of Flowers

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7 minutes

The summer weather has finally turned here in London. It’s getting cold (about 5 degrees) at night now. If the sun isn’t shining though the windows there’s a chill in the air. Layers are going on and blankets are now on the backs of the front room furniture. The kitchen window has been closed for the first time since May. Laundry is taking twice as long to dry. Not sure how much longer we’ll go without flipping the heating switch.

I had quite the week of socialising. My parents came up on Wednesday, partly to head to some stores and use vouchers that local to them at home, but they also had some legal documents they needed me to sign.

Thursday I went to Studio Voltaire to see Huw Lemmey & Onyeka Igwe’s ‘Gay Spy’ film – Ungentle. The Guardian’s review is very good. Ben Whishaw’s performance as the narrator is absolutely fantastic, he animated Huw’s writing quite literally ‘became’ the voice of the character.

Ungentle by Huw Lemmey & Onyeka Igwe

The drinks after were also nice. I got to see a bunch of online folks I haven’t seen since before the pandemic.

Friday I went for dinner with some acquaintances in china town and then ate one of these! OMG

SO GOOD.

After dinner we were walking around central. Leicester square, Soho etc. The initial aim was to head to Southbank see ‘The Queue’ we found our selves instead drifting towards the Mall and Buckingham palace.

We saw people walking though one side of Admiralty Arch and followed them. It was a swift moving mass of people, we walked the Mall, passed the press pen right by hte roundabout. Around the lake, round by the park exit for Victoria, passed the front of Buckingham Palace, ALL the way down constitution hill road to Wellington Arch and then we looped back around into a fenced off part of Green Park’ park. Took well over an hour to get to see the flowers. By that time is was dark but it didn’t matter to much. The combine light from 1000’s of people’s phone flashes was a weird and eerie experience.

The smell was somewhat overwhelming. Like being in the back room of a florists but outside in a park. A pungent floral aroma everywhere. The amount of flowers on the floor was immense. I remember my mum took my brother and I up to London to see the flowers for Diana back in 1997. Not having a minds eye means I don’t remember the experience at all. I just remember the mood, it was a sunny day, and wanting to get to Games Workshop on Oxford Street asap. lol

There are rows and rows of flowers snaking their way around green park:

Windrows of spectacle. I’m glad we found ourselves there and got to experience it.


In other news, I’ve been meaning to ‘tidy’ my laptop up for months and finally got round to doing it. Filing 100’s of google docs files in to folders, I’ve archived most of my PDF dragon horde and only have about 30 left to go. Now I’m working on the generic ‘Downloads’ folder macs have. It’s a big mission but after 10 days of work the end is now in sight.

I’m going to buy a new M2 mac this year I think. I’m really confused by the line up in all honesty. The Macbook Air is basically the same specs as the new pro and I really don’t know which one to go for. But when I do decided I’ll have a super clean and tidy OS to clone this 2015 Mac pro over.


Permanently Moved

Permanently Moved

I’m Back! After the longest break from ‘the practice’ since 2019. I must admit, sitting down today to make this show filled me with an urgent anxiety. 

Photo 365

254/365

The Ministry Of My Own Labour

  • Recorded interview for the new show. Technical SNAFU’s occurred – Livid / Gutted. It’s gonna take a lot of effort to fix.
  • I’ve finished the first draft of my deep dive in to the Yuga Labs Otherside white paper 15k words. yikes. still need to write the intro, which I might just turn in to a 301, and put them out on the same day.
  • Voting closed on the New Centre Course DAO’s for development in part 2.
  • Had a radio interview about Solarpunk

Dipping the Stacks

The Repair Shop 2049: Mending Things and Mobilising the Solarpunk Aesthetic – Branch

Whether or not one buys into the notion of factories everywhere (Stokes, Parvin & Knight, 2016), the RS2049 embodies solarpunk’s optimism when it comes to transitioning towards sustainable and social change through responsible forms of technological innovation.

The Movie Set That Ate Itself | GQ

Five years ago, a relatively unknown (and unhinged) director began one of the wildest experiments in film history. Armed with total creative control, he invaded a Ukrainian city, marshaled a cast of thousands and thousands, and constructed a totalitarian society in which the cameras are always rolling and the actors never go home.

Why Hong Kong uses bamboo scaffolding, and meet the spider-men who climb it: a visual explainer

Hong Kong is one of the last places in the world where bamboo is still widely used for scaffolding in construction. It’s flexible, strong and cheaper than steel and aluminium

Get Ready for Daybreak

Daybreak is co-designed by Matt Leacock, the creator of Pandemic, the most successful cooperative game in history.

Why is the Oldest Book in Europe a Work of Music Criticism? (Part 1 of 2)

This charred papyrus contained a very unusual type of musicology. To start, it analyzed a song by a composer who didn’t exist, or so we’re told. Even by the standards of reclusive star musicians of our own time, that’s quite a disappearing act.

Reading

I listened to Lords of Mars the second book in the Forges of Mars Warhammer 40k series. It’s fully of interesting characters. Released in 2013, it’s a book that is of its time in Black Library’s editorial vibe. Enjoyed seeing where the series is going.

Is tarted listening to His Last Command the next book in the Gaunt’s Ghost’s 40k series. So a bit of a Warhammer heavy week. It dropped on audible, I had a spare credit. I couldn’t not get it. Dan Abnett is one of the best sci-fi writers ever, plus Toby Longworth is the narrator, an all time great.

Didn’t read any of Wired Love: a Romance of Dots and Dashes, I’ve nearly finished The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself by Susan Bell its a fantastic book. I really recommend it to anyone who is interesting in improving their writing.

I started reading Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry by the poet Jane Hirshfield. I listed her book Ledger as one of my books of the year last year. Nine Gates is really interesting.

Music

thejaymo.net Spotify Playlist

Sylvan Esso – No Rules Sandy

I listened to Sylvan Esso’s new album on a long (delayed) train journey in to London this week.

Sylvan Esso’s self titles 2014 album is one of those albums that end up bound up with ones personal life and the memories of the emotions I was feeling at the time. I can’t hear the song Coffee, without thinking of the 35min long walk to work I used to have. Cold, wet and damp mornings walking along the main road by the Thames under the harsh street lights.

Their new album No Rules Sandy is both more experimental AND funky than previous outings. Songs like your Reality and Didn’t care are real highlights.

Your Reality

Didn’t Care

Didn’t care, Didn’t fight, let me remember how to live my life sings Amelia Meath in the refrain for Your Reality.

I think No Rules Sandy is an album that reaches right back to Meath’s really folk work. The album is full of cross references, songs titled as refrains from other songs. Its a patchwork, knotted thing. The album is also full of 10/20 second long incidental tracks – field recordings, offcuts, candid recordings from the studio. Whilst the singles are wonderful the album has to be listened to as a complete work to full experience Sylvan Esso’s vision.

The track Echo Party is also a banger.

Remember Kids:


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