Having said that I reject lists I am quietly building some interesting lists of albums on AlbumWhale … and when I say lists … were I to tell you that one of those lists has just two items on it … you will understand that the word ’list’ is being rather loosely used.

Because actually, I like lists … but I like them to have context.

Sometimes the context is helped simply by knowing who created the list and maybe why they created it. ‘Top 50 guitarists in Rock music created by Rolling Stone’ might be one such example. I wouldn’t necessarily agree with who is on it, or what position they are in … But the source being a known quantity … Rolling Stone .. is sufficient for me to engage.

Lots of albums listed by someone I don’t know, where I rarely know the albums listed and those I do, I don’t like most of the time gives me no reason to engage. NONE.

If that album had a sentence that explained why? … my engagement interest goes up … significantly.

Back to my lists, they aren’t the 50 albums I’ve always loved … mainly because such a list would include bands like Talking Heads, Pink Floyd and Tears for Fears … and really … who cares?

Rather I have taken a different tack.

1. A list of phenomenal albums by artists you might not have heard about - and why I think they are so good? 🎵 Would that be interesting?

2. How about 🎵 a list of albums in chronological order of release that highlight the single album that opened my eyes to the artist?

3. A new ‘WIP’ list - focussed on something I am calling 🔗 English Progressive. Early days yet, 🎵 there are only three listed so far, but the future is big

You can find all my AlbumWhale lists here - but those three are the main focus for now.

Thankyou for your attention.

There are so many things in 🔗 this article by Dana F. Blankenhorn that I have highlighted, that had I spent time calling them out, well, you might just as well have clicked through to read it.

It pretty much opens with;

He (Ali) held his forearms against his body and let George Foreman punch himself out. Ali won in the 8th round.

It ends with;

“In this way Joe Biden is the most consequential President of the 21st century.”

Two minute read. Days of thought.

The 🔗 Beckn protocol “allows you to create open and decentralized digital ecosystems”. So far, the word ‘blockchain’ is mentioned nowhere (that I have found). I also haven’t found how it handles ‘identity’ before it facilitates a transaction, though it says it does ‘identify each other’ but I’m not sure that is the same thing?

Can anyone share their experiences. It looks really interesting from a ‘People First’ perspective.

Extracts from their world …

identify each other and perform transactions with each other without the need for a central intermediary

Beckn Protocol is an open commerce protocol with an abstract core, which is enabling market players to reimagine building seamless digital experiences and networks. This is very similar to how HTTP, while being a simple and open protocol has fueled seamless interaction between multiple systems and led to an explosive growth in internet adoption.

The beckn community is an open community. So, no registrations. No memberships. No partnerships. Just a minimal footprint of an open and equally accessible Beckn Protocol that anyone can use. Multiple businesses and organizations have started using beckn protocol to fuel their digital acceleration. The credo of being an open protocol creates a level-playing field for any market player, small or large.

🔗 Podcast Overload

Spot Om (sic)

If you do only one thing today, click on this link and read. So funny.

🔗 Geoff Greer’s site: Gasoline Car Review

via John Naughton

🔗 Rihanna explains decision to reverse Super Bowl boycott

.. clearly a lot has changed in the past 4 years. The Kaepernick issue is obviously sorted - and what is left to do is now clearly best served by doing the performance that just four years ago was a non starter.

🔗 Congressman Ro Khanna: ‘The American dream has slipped away’

Don’t disagree Ro. Do not disagree.

BUT it’s not new news and it has only gotten worse.

George

Jeff

🎛️ English Progressive Redux

🔗 Andrew Hickey’s ‘500 Songs’ includes a good and interesting summary of why the UK and US musicians who ‘arrived’ in the 60s sounded so different, emerging, he argues, from significant social differences and country histories.

What do you think?

🎵 More thoughts on what I call English Progressive

The Full Podcast: 🎙️ 500 Songs - ‘See Emily Play’ by The Pink Floyd

🔗 Soccer’s America Problem

““Over time players go where the money is. The money is here. Once Americans realize that the sport is moving west …. it’s going to stoke anti-American sentiment around the world. It’s something we need to be ready for.”

💬 Dana Blankenhorn