Category Archives: RSS
Sonos Dropouts Solved
Mid last year I bought a cheap Sonos speaker from Ikea and it was a huge upgrade to my home life. For the last decade or so I’d almost always listened to music only through headphones. Occasionally I’d airplay a … Continue reading
A Complete Unknown
Yesterday I went to see the new Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown. I gave it five stars on Letterboxd and said: Every star is for Chalamet. Off-the-charts incredible performance – especially when he’s singing, which is almost the entire movie … Continue reading
The Big Fight
Driving home today a snippet of a song got caught in my head. It was just the sound of two singers singing a chorus. No idea of the band and words that I could make out — just the sound … Continue reading
Marmalade and Yogurt
A few years back a little small-goods store opened down the road. They had pricey hams and smoked meats, fancy cheeses and an array of handmade artisanal stuff in jars. The absolute star of the show for me was the … Continue reading
The Handmaiden’s Tale
Yesterday, for the dozenth time, I mistakenly referred to the Korean movie The Handmaiden as The Handmaid’s Tale, causing great confusion. Will this curse ever be lifted?
Next Steps
A couple of months ago I realised that my impression of two nineties bands, Sloan and Yo La Tengo, was completely wrong. I had somehow gotten it into my head that Sloan was a jokey version of Weezer and Yo … Continue reading
Orange
I should learn the names of more flowers and plants. For the time being I’m calling these the Orange Flowers.
21 October 2024
I listened to Smog’s Knock Knock album through headphones for the first time today it was a revelation. I’d previously only listed to it through speakers at low low volumes. Almost twenty years of living in Japan has me trained … Continue reading
PDA Memories
Just remembering that record scratch moment when I realised that PDA no longer stood for personal digital assistant. Oh, so those celebrities aren’t actually into the latest Palm or Clie or Treo. Makes sense.
Nope – No New iPhone This Year
Phew – after a few days of internal debate I’ve decided that I don’t need the new iPhone after all. The only reason I want one is for the better camera system, but I’d still really want an actual new … Continue reading
8 September 2024
After seven millions listens, the opening bass of Clairo’s Nomad still tricks me into thinking I’m about to hear Tribe’s Can I Kick It? My friend who warned me that my affection for Ben Wishaw would not get me through … Continue reading
Juna
Well, this was not what I expected when I checked to see whether Clairo had made any videos for her new album. Absolutely genius! Of course, it put me in mind of this prior art.
Sandy
One of the perils of walking on the beach is getting sand in your socks, having that sand hang on through the laundry, then discovering it grinding between your toes halfway to work. One of the pleasures is having the … Continue reading
So domesticated
There is a square metre of carpet in my living room that is where my feet end up when sitting on the sofa and also where the cat prefers to sit when the heater is on. Sometimes feet and cat … Continue reading
Homesick
Let’s say I bought an acoustic guitar. Absolutely no experience playing one. How long would it take till I could I could play Kings of Convenience’s Homesick? It doesn’t seem that complex musically. I’ve been practicing the vocals in my … Continue reading