Greg Palast reporting …


The Musk debacle continues on several fronts …

Turns out you can’t post this link to Twitter today …

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a835af


I like that distinction …


🎥 The Grand Budapest Hotel, 2014 - ★★★★

Wes Anderson has such a distinctive style it’s amazing how they are so different. Love them all.



Matter Announces Business Model

Matter has announced its business model … and Matt’s not leaving Matter because he can’t imagine using any other tool to read with and needs Obsidian synch.

Readwise just announced that their Reader app is moving out of beta.

Readwise Rocks.


Finally got round to culling the RSS feeds in Readwise/Reader .. and starting to rebuild a list that is focussed on the sources that might give me the best insights, not just because I enjoy reading them … I still have NetNewsWire for ‘pleasure only’.


If you have a bad voice, rather speak in a low tone

The 1830s were different times and yet it was around then that my great great grandparents entered the world.

That said I have the feeling that there are a few people in congress who would like to apply these rules today.


I have just realized that somewhere .. I am guessing in IFTTT .. there is a recipe that cross posts my Mastodon posts to one of the Twitter accounts … I guess I should fix that.


Canvas is new Obsidian functionality currently only available to Obsidian Insiders. Nick Milo did a neat summary. What bothers me are the people weighing in telling us that it falls short of what they need.

Need I go on?


Welcome to My DNA by Blackfield

Welcome to My DNA by Blackfield

This is the fourth Blackfield - but in all honesty, you can’t go wrong with any of them. To think these songs come from the same person that gave you Porcupine Tree is 🤯


Coles Corner by Richard Hawley, Richard Hawley Official

Coles Corner by Richard Hawley, Richard Hawley Official

If you know Pulp - you might well have come across Hawley’s work but he has sessioned with many people. HIs solo work is just extraordinary - and his voice is just ‘liquid’. (And I am someone who prefers instrumentals.)


Ten Silver Drops by Secret Machines

Ten Silver Drops by Secret Machines

I am listening to an interview on the radio with David Bowie who out of the blue started waxing poetically about Secret Machines - so of course I had to go find it. I did. Never regretted it. They have an extensive catalogue - right up to one coming out in 2023 - but this is my ‘go to’.


Infected by The The

Infected by The The

‘The The’ is pretty much ‘Matt Johnson’. A friend who knew me well bought me this one Christmas in the late 80s. I have heard a lot of other ‘The The’ - but this one I just keep coming back to.,


Sarabande by Jon Lord

Sarabande by Jon Lord

Jon Lord is most famous for his keyboard work with Deep Purple - and if you are a Purple fan, then you almost certainly know ‘Deep Purple In Concert’. Lord did quite a few albums where ‘Rock musicians meet Classical orchestra’ - I loved them all - but if I had to choose one - this would be it.



🎶🎵 Music Was My First Love

Music was my first love
and it will be my last.
Music of the future
and music of the past.
To live without my music
would be impossible to do.
In this world of troubles,
my music pulls me through.

💬 John Miles

🎶🎵Interesting to see the albums that appear roughly daily in Matt Birchtree’s feed where he celebrates a different album each day. So far, I am personally not inspired - but that is the beauty of music. It is all different. We are all different.

It might also be that there just isn’t enough context around a post to make me think why I should be bothered - particularly when on the whole - the artists he posts that I do know, just ‘don’t do it ‘ for me. All good. I know it’s me — BUT

I do think this quote needs refinement.

“I love music, and even at the stage in life where most people seem to listen to the same artists they did when they were decades younger, I’m still prowling the new releases every week to see what’s new. I’m obsessed with music.”

💬 Matt Birchtree

‘What’s New’ can’t come from an established artist?

Surely it depends on the artist and what they are producing?

I would agree that there are people who hit a formula and then repeat over and over and are really un interesting - and then there are others who keep evolving … keep changing … refusing to fall into that trap, to pick on a few ….

  • Pink Floyd in their early days refused to play their hits like Emily Play and Arnold Layne in their concerts (though ‘Saucerful of Secrets’ doesn’t seem to have imposed that limitation on themselves!)

  • The Arctic Monkeys open up concerts with brand new music that the audience will never have heard.

  • Neil Young and Brian Eno are both famous for their position of refusing to talk about their music from the past.

Most importantly - if you never listen to music from artists that have been around - you’d never have heard Bowie’s Blackstar.


I would also argue that a true music aficionado would explore the roots of music. When you listen to real musicians talk, to understand their influences, their history - WOW. To trace the roots of how artists get to where they are is fascinating.


For my part, I am building a few lists in Album Whale that I hope might provide insight into the music I like - and how I came across it … it’s a different spin on ‘best of’ … and more to do with the interconnectedness and relationships in music - and me. When they are ready I will be back.


🎥 Spirited, 2022 - ★★

To be fair, the ‘other viewer’ gave it 3 stars - but whichever way you look at it - dud.

Count me in the camps of

- ‘definitely not a Will Ferrell fan’
- ‘definitely a massive Ryan Reynolds fan’

I didn’t know the director, so looked up his prior work. Now I understand.


Is Dominion’s $1.6bn defamation lawsuit a death blow for Murdoch and Fox News?

Time will tell, and a long time at that …

Murdoch is already grappling with the costly legacy of phone hacking by British newspapers the News of the World and the Sun. His UK company has paid more than £1bn ($1.2bn) over the past decade to keep the gruesome details from being heard in open court with no end in sight after a high court judge earlier this year refused to prevent the filing of new claims.

Think how long ago all that happened!


🎵 🎬 Moonage Daydream (Apple Link) just added to my ‘watch later’ movie queue.