Ian Robinson’s Weekly Digest – 30th May 2021

| | Culture, Music, Science, Technology
Lights At Sea lighthouse map screenshot
Screenshot from the Lights at Sea lighthouse map site linked from this weeks digest post

Another music-heavy week! There are 13 pointers to new music in the Culture section. Plus some old music via the recreation of a 1979 Queen concert. And 10 assorted links to things that caught my eye this week.

https://www.getrevue.co/profile/ianrobinson/issues/ian-robinson-s-weekly-digest-30th-may-2021-628772

Ian Robinson’s Weekly Digest – 9th May 2021

| | Culture, Films, Music, Politics, Science, Technology
Sound engineer at a mixing desk
Sound recording studio mixing desk, sound engineer or music producer working at new song

Another music heavy weekly post. There has been a lot of good music releases in there last few weeks. A silver lining of musicians not being able to tour? Who knows. In any event, it’s great! This weeks post also has seven other items if the music doesn’t interest you.

https://www.getrevue.co/profile/ianrobinson/issues/ian-robinson-s-weekly-digest-9th-may-2021-592028

 

My headphones are like new again. Again!

| | Uncategorized

My 13 year old Sony EarGuard PXC450 headphone cushions were dozing. These are the 2nd set. Sony don’t sell replacements anymore. So I ordered a 3rd party set from Amazon. 👍🏻 See pics. Last picture shows my DIY Bluetooth conversion 😬
Ordered spare cushions. Can I get 20 years usage out of them? 

The cushions on my Sony Headphone with the PCV flaking off
The old cushions with flaking PVC.
The new headphone cushions fitted
The new cushions. Good as new!
A BlueTooth adapter attached to my Headphones with Velcro
My BlueTooth DIY conversion!

Ian Robinson’s Weekly Digest 12th April 2021

| | Culture, Science, Technology
Another weekly post with things that caught my eye in the last week that I think are worth sharing. I’ve moved back to Revue from HEY World for these weekly posts. The editor is just better for what I’m doing. Plus, if you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know how bullish I am on Twitter generally and Revue is now part of the Twitter family.
I still love HEY for email. But I’m a staunch believer in using the right tool for each job. And Revue is a newsletter tool first and foremost.

This week’s post has 8 items, and also 8 new music pointers. Read more at:
https://www.getrevue.co/profile/ianrobinson/issues/ian-robinson-s-weekly-digest-12th-april-2021-539785
 

Another Spring Reboot

| | General, Writing

I hit 92 Kg on the scales again last week. I feel sluggish in all areas when that happens. So I’m rebooting my life (dramatic or what?) this morning. Back on several wagons that have been gathering moss for a few weeks or more. Healthy eating (and less eating overall), more walking and exercise bike use, more studying for things that I need to have mastered before I die, and lots more writing. Both for paid technical clients and for my own pleasure in the fiction and non-fiction spaces.

Ending a 40-year relationship…

| | General

I ended a 40-year relationship this week. It was a relationship that started in my teens, and over the years it made me laugh, taught me a lot, and on several occasions, made me mad! But circumstances change, and it was time to end it and move on.

I’m talking about my subscription to New Scientist magazine. It was announced this week that the DMGT group was buying New Scientist. The DMGT group is Daily Mail and General Trust, which owns and controls the vile Daily Mail. 

Of course, the usual assurances have been given about editorial independence. But do you know what? I don’t care if nothing changes at New Scientist as a result of this takeover. I refuse to give the £260 a year the subscription costs to anything owned by the DMGT group. 

So, after 40 years. My relationship with New Scientist is over. 

Dickinson Season 2

| | Books, Culture, Writing

I binge-watched Season 2 of Dickinson this week. The finale was released today. Both seasons are so good. It takes the 19th-century source material and imbibes it with 21st-century themes. I realise now that the themes from the 1850s are much the same as today. If you haven’t seen it, then I can highly recommend it. It’s worth the cost of an AppleTV+ subscription on its own. Looking forward to Season 3!

There is an excellent interview-based article with Alena Smith, the show-runner of Dickinson, in the latest issue of The New Yorker.

The show inspired me to read some of Emily Dickinson’s poems. I bought a copy of The Folio Society’s Selected Poems last year when watching Season 1 and started reading it this week. I’ve never really been into poetry. And that’s still the case! I’m about a third of the way through the selection in the book. So far only the only one that’s grabbed me is this one about the exultation of going to sea (and other things, no doubt). Still, even if the poems don’t speak to me, they obviously speak to Alena Smith, and they inspired her to create the TV show. And that’s great news for all of us who get to watch.

It also inspired me to buy a Stephen Fry book on how to write poetry. Something that passed me by in school. I can’t recall if that’s my fault or the fault of my school. I suspect the former as my school was excellent.

The music that peppers each episode is fantastic. This article in Rolling Stone discusses how the tracks are chosen. If you are on Apple Music, there is a playlist with the songs from Season 1 and another for Season 2.

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