A day of catching up on open tabs and avoiding adult responsibilities again.
1. Some words of comfort in Neil Gaiman's 2021 annual new year's address:
"if all you can manage is to get out of bed in the morning, then do that and be proud of what you've managed, not frustrated by what you haven't."
2. Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum has made 709,000 artworks available for free online. I didn't visit when I was there - only explored its irresistible cycleway - but I did visit the equally if not moreso culturally important cat museum.
3. Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty released a statement today trying to hammer home into the thick minds of the British public (or perhaps just the thick minds of the British government) how serious the Covid situation is here now:
"Every unnecessary interaction you have could be the link in a chain of transmission which has a vulnerable person at the end."
Completely agree, Chris, but how come I have suddenly become an "essential worker" when I wasn't last year, and I'm expected to go back to a job tomorrow that would not be necessary had the government insisted universities put a stop to the face-to-face teaching?
I'd be quite happy staying quietly at home on my own until all this blows over, if only they'd let me.
4. Read a very interesting essay on the QAnon phenomenon from the perspective of a game designer. He compares it to an enormous ARG (alternate reality game) and makes a convincing argument for psy ops.
"The more information that is out there, the easier it is to allow apophenia to guide us into anything."
We should probably be worried.
5. Had a wee boogie to the rocking video on this article about compulsory music-making in Guinea as a way to rebuild a shattered culture:
"When French colonial forces pulled out of Guinea following its declaration of independence in 1958, they notoriously even took the lightbulbs. Rebuilding was the first focus of the West African nation, and that included the strengthening of its cultural identity. Under the leadership of music lover President Ahmed Sékou Touré, the government was soon sending out guitars, saxophones, and brass instruments to 35 state-funded prefecture orchestras as part of a new authenticité policy. This directive encouraged a cultural revival that mixed traditional sounds with contemporary music, particularly Cuban and Latin rhythms."
Somehow I can't see the government doing something like this once the pandemic is over. They seem to be more intent on destroying the arts altogether.
6. Bookmarked an interesting list of free public domain footage sources should I ever feel moved to make a documentary.
7. Finally had a proper look at a tab I've had open since 2 Jan, Black Cab London. There is so much there to explore. This is what caught my eye today:
Travels on the Tube - Rickmansworth (this humble suburb yielding unexpected connections to Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Titanic, and the founding of Pennsylvania.)
Clapham Rail Disaster This brought back two distinct memories for me.
First, that opening paragraph: "the characteristic sound of doors slamming shut on an old-style British Rail train." This is a sound younger generations won't know unless they hang out on heritage steam railways for fun, but just reading those words prompted that particular commuting soundtrack to start playing in my head as if I was actually standing on a draughty platform somewhere.
The second memory is more difficult - I knew one of the people responsible for the fault that led to the crash.
The new Black Cab site also looks good and the post about St Pauls reminded me of my mum. She was a Londoner born in 1920 and she volunteered as a Fire Warden during the war. My dad used to tell us she "caught bombs" at St Pauls but I don't know when, or what she did or saw, as she never talked about it. Every time I click on articles like this I hope to find a photo of her.
8. There was an enjoyable article in The Graun about people being sawn in half for spectacle and financial gain "and nearly always being miraculously put back together."
(Nearly always??)
9. Revisited the brilliant New Zealand writer Ashleigh Young's delicate essay on hikikomori:
"How can a person in isolation make their way back?"
This question has never felt so pertinent.
10. Found on Twitter Randall Rudd's instructions for drawing a drop of water:
12. Finally read a tab that's been open for a week, about lockdown walking.
I used to walk about 3km a day. Since March, with all the bodies out there doing this amazing new activity, I've probably walked about 30km in total. Round here, there are just too many people outside. They come to my patch for their daily exercise, hundreds of them.
It's not in my nature to break the rules by driving anywhere to escape.
So here I am, in my flat, looking at the internet instead.
13. Listened to Wake Up Calls, a strange and lovely collection of music based on birdsong, by Cosmo Sheldrake.
"Wake Up Calls’ was created over a nine year period, using recordings of bird song featured on the red and amber lists of endangered British birds (with the exception of a Robin and a Blackbird, which aren’t endangered – yet)."
(Buy the album, support an artist.)
Today's photo: a picture of neglect. I remember when I needed coats/front doors all the time.
And that was Sunday.
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