I recorded the song above, and need to get back in a better music-making habit. It’s good for the mind.
I listened through to S-Town on the insistence of Andy Beers. I’ve been really late to the podcast train, and though I enjoyed it, podcasts still aren’t for me.
Since transitioning from my work computer to the first computer I’ve ever bought for myself, I’ve been procrastinating on the transfer of my old iTunes library, so I’ve been taking advantage of my Bandcamp library and Bandcamp’s excellent blog, through which I found La Saboteuse and Honolulu DIY.
Reading
Tyler Cowen - The Complacent Class - this was a quick read, and I really enjoyed it. I don’t agree with all of Tyler Cowen and this book left me thinking that he has a habit of overextending the thesis, connecting trends across so many areas of life and history that they’re harder to buy into.
James Gleick - Time Travel - a review of the idea of time travel in literature, physics, and culture. My current read. I’m only starting it, but I’m really optimistic that it’ll be as good as everyone seems to think it is.
Inside Apple’s Insanely Great (Or Just Insane) New Mothership, always great writing from Steven Levy. I’ve been a fan of Apple for a long, long time. I went to MacWorld in 1998 with my dad. The building is, of course, one small part of the company, but I found myself staunchly on the side of ‘insane’, reading this article. Not because of the extravagant cost, but because it reflects the priorities of the people at the top - it’s farther away from the city, has lots of parking, has little support to offer for new parents. What’s the point of creating eco-friendly buildings that everyone has to commute to? How does such an isolating, disconnected orb ever connect to the people who use the products - building with, not for?
This is how Google will collapse tastes like many articles written before, but the narrative style makes it more palatable. Is it true? Possibly, though it’s hard to describe what ‘collapse’ is for such a large company. Google hasn’t significantly faltered yet, and if Yahoo is any indication, you get many years to try again.
Watching
I’ve been in review mode, mostly, but I’ve been watching Jacob Collier’s interviews, especially the semi-impromptu videos of him explaining music theory, like negative harmony and polyrhythms. Truth be told, like most virtuosos, I’m not a huge fan of his compositions, but there’s still a lot to learn.
