April
It is apparently May already. The weather here has gone a bit crazy the last few days and it's super warm, which I am never prepared for. Will British people ever be prepared for the weather?
Last month was pretty focussed on badminton coaching and getting everything done, but Tabitha and I also went to Thorpe Park, I did some 3D printing, we went for day trips to London and Hastings, I saw Chat Pile, and it was Charlotte's birthday. Actually when you look at it like that it was a lot more eventful than it felt! It was the opposite last month.
What a true rollercoaster life can be!
I'm trying out a new format this month, inspired by Robin Sloan's newsletter which gives links more room to breathe and I found a lot nicer to read than mine. Just stole it. Not even sorry.
Music
We Lost the Sea live session. I don't listen to a lot of post rock these days, but when I do I always think I should listen to more.
New Katatonia sounds like more Katatonia, which is what I want from them, even if it was so internally divisive for them that it split the band in half.
Three new Turnstile tracks (one is a double A-side). I love this direction for them. It feels similar to The Armed for me, but Turnstile is doing it in a way I like, so far.
Enjoyed new Rivers of Nihil as well. Every song off this new record makes me relieved with how they're handling the departure of their old vocalist. Love the direction of the new stuff.
New Vildhjarta. This is one of those bands that everyone seems to love, and I'm just not that into it but I do like this single.
This live session from Patrick Watson is absolutely beautiful. Tabitha said "this isn't very you music", so if you don't like me music, this might be worth a try!
Frankie and the Witch Fingers on KEXP. Frankie will be the soundtrack to my summer; I absolutely love this.
YouTube
ANTI-CHEF making Dishoom's Chicken Ruby. Charlotte already had this book but hadn't made this. She subbed in paneer and made it and it was absolutely glorious. The star for me was the rice - their recipe made unbelievably good rice. Definitely watch this and get the Dishoom book if you like Indian curry.
The Murderbot trailer looks like fun. I've had the books on my list for a while (slow reader), and decided to start All Systems Red this month because it's short and I'm getting nowhere with Wool, and I love how it's written.
Pretty sure I've spoken about this Premium encoder before. The new version looks so good but I honestly don't really scroll a lot on anything without a touchscreen. I do want to try this though.
I apparently learned about Rematch, which is a football (soccer) game from the Sifu devs, then promptly forgot about it until YouTube recommended me 2MuchBrysen playing it. I like this guy's style. Not often I learn about new streamers that aren't insufferable in some way.
History of Daphne and Celeste's legendary Reading appearance. If you don't love the idea of Corey Taylor and Zack de la Rocha comforting them after the show, who even are you.
I hope Peter Draws has someone checking in on him. Videos like this worry me.
Pumphrey on trading memecoins
I love the idea of Mouseless, but I can't see myself using it.
I hadn't heard of Gianmarco Soresi before, but YouTube loves him apparently. This video of him talking to Republican gun owners at one of his shows was pretty funny.
Watching Biryani being made on the street in India is my ASMR.
Roll7 getting closed was brutal. OlliOlli was one of my favourite games for a while, and I loved OlliOlli 2 and World as well. Rollerdrome was also fantastic but I didn't get into it as much. This analysis of why the gameplay works so well was super interesting.
I watch a lot of Haelian. I find his voice very relaxing, and he plays games I wish I was good at.
A crit race on a go-kart track is such a good idea. Love these guys, too. Belgians always seem to have such good energy.
Frankie on corporate girlies made me sadder than it should have. I love his videos.
Super interesting video of Chicago arena being converted from an ice rink to a basketball court. Love stuff like this.
It blows my mind that baseball players don't all have their own custom bat. I never got into baseball but I can 100% get on board with that level of min-maxing. What I don't get is how we're now just applying science to the shape of the bat. Feels like a huge oversight. Bonus: Dude Perfect vs José LeClerc. New YouTube obsession.
Links
The rise of ‘Frankenstein’ laptops in New Delhi’s repair markets. I need to see pictures of these laptops.
I want this hat.
This airline time collapse video is super cool. No idea how you make something like this.
Dan made a film Development Timer. Not useful for me but I bet some of you film guys could use this.
Using the playdate as a controller for norns
Gruber's excerpts from Warren Buffett's 2024 Report to Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders are super insightful.
I don't need another bag, but I can look can't I?
Robin Sloan's newsletter is better than mine.
Hard to believe this hotel is even real.
I want to read the Nausicaa manga. I never really got into manga at all, and I think I've only seen Nausicaa the film once, but Robin Sloan's post on it has me super interested. Miyazaki is such a ridiculous talent.
OK OK no more Robin Sloan after this. I love the analogy that an app can be a home-cooked meal. You don't have to be a professional developer to make an app (but please don't be a vibe-coder; learn something).
How I draw by Quentin Blake is a great example of things looking like they took zero planning, actually taking a lot of planning.
iA obviously have a vested interest in people using Markdown and eschewing Word et al but they make some very good points here about separating your layout from your content. Make your content first, then lay it out, otherwise your content and your layout become a mutual compromise when they don't need to be.
Tabitha's school is teaching her to do things directly into Powerpoint and I don't like it. She spends more time on layout than she does on her content, and it's the wrong way round. I come across so many people at work who've obviously been taught in this way as well, and it shows in the quality of their content.
I'm very happy with Paw (other than having to call it RapidAPI now) but this terminal-based HTTP client looks nice
Love this on Foxconn’s India iPhone factory triggering a real estate boom
Do I need these? I do not.
Trakke closed, then got bought, then released a new bag
Defector is new to me, and this doesn't seem like the sort of thing you normally get on there, but: Neither Elon Musk Nor Anybody Else Will Ever Colonize Mars
There's a meme kicking around about why would you want to take up some gate-kept hobby when there's loads of crafts that are going to die out with the current generation. To make it easier, there's a list of crafts that are in danger of disappearing. I don't have space in my life for a new hobby, but maybe you do?
I'm almost reluctant to share this article on the scale of the Vietnam War because it's horrible, but it's a real eye-opener. I know very little about this war, and the scale of it is unbelievable.
I loved NHL 94 as a kid, and this is so cool that people are still modding it in 2025!
That'll do I think! Have a great May - see you in June. I promise no more badminton for a while.
01/05/2025
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