Out shopping today, in Glasgow, for a new kettle. Decided on this rather smart one….

A stainless steel electric kettle with a red central band is placed on a countertop.
#Links
Like so many of the tech titans, Mark really does offer an end-to-end service: they make the world worse, then they claim to be leading the escape.

Marina Hyde - Hail Zuckus Maximus!

#Music

Big Big Train - Last Eleven. One of the highlight songs, amongst many, from Saturday’s show in Edinburgh. I love this band. The combination of music and lyrics here never fails to move me. 🎵

#Books #Music

Reading: Neu Klang - The Definitive History Of Krautrock by Christoph Dallach. I really like the oral history style of books like this. You get a better picture of what happened with all of the different memories and viewpoints. 📚

The Time Bandits “remake” is a lot of fun. Boo! to the naysayers.

#Tech

The iOS Journal app is starting to grow on me. I don’t use it every day but I like the way it suggests places, photos, and activities from the day as starting points. I think its strengths lie in recording memories rather than as a record of thoughts and feelings though. That’s how I’m using it.

#Books

Back to book shopping this week. It’s funny how Waterstones used to be the big bullies out to destroy all other bookshops back in the 90s. Now buying stuff there feels like rebellion. Anyway I’m looking forward to reading this.

A book titled Postcards from Scotland: Scottish Independent Music 1983-1995 by Grant McPhee is seen, placed atop some papers.
#Tech

Paid a visit to Braehead Shopping Centre in Glasgow today. I went into the Apple Store and came out ten minutes later with an unplanned brand new iPad Pro. It was inevitable, wasn’t it?

I’ll be up late for Thursday’s UK election results and I’m looking forward to lots of “Portillo moments”.

#Books

Recently Read: Golden Hill by Francis Spufford. I loved this one even more than Cahokia Jazz. It’s another historical novel but set in mid 18th century New York this time. A young man arrives from London with a large money order and sets off all sorts of suspicion and intrigue. Loved the ending. 📚

Big fire to the west of Glasgow a couple of nights ago. It was well over ten miles from here and I could see the smoke from my window.

A plume of dark smoke rises from a distant area beneath a sunset sky, with silhouetted buildings and trees in the foreground.
#Books

Recently Read: Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford. Loved this one. The setting is an alternative 1920s USA where the state of Cahokia is run by a native American/Catholic monarchy. Mix in murder, jazz, politics, and hard boiled detectives and it makes a world I’d like to read more of. 📚