I don’t think about the “right” tools or the “right” environment or the “right” time. The right tool is the one I have with me. The right environment is my butt in a chair. The right time is now.
Tag: Books (page 1 of 7)
On the train,
flying north.
A pocket full of electronic books,
a window full of misty countryside.
The window wins.
Rubber Soul
I’ve been listening to Rubber Soul by The Beatles this week. I normally listen to later Beatles – Revolver onwards – but thought I’d listen backwards through their catalogue.
I found Rubber Soul interesting as it feels like a transitional album, a stepping stone between the earlier I Wanna Hold Your Hand pop Beatles to the later Sgt Peppers, spending months in the studio psychedelic Beatles. Well worth a listen.
Saved By Alexa?
I don’t often dream, my wife says I do but don’t remember them as everyone dreams but I’m not convinced.
Anyway, I had a fascinating dream about different AI’s going rogue, each had a cool name I can’t now remember and I was just about to be killed by one when I was woken by the alarm I’d set on our Alexa. Spooky…
Books On A Train
I’d set an alarm as I was once again being dragged into the office.
The train I have to catch is always very busy and this trip was particularly annoying as I had to sit next to a non-commuter.
You can always tell somebody that isn’t used to commuting; they sit there in their coat, with their bag on the floor not the luggage rack, keep checking the time and which station we’re stopping at and generally take up too much space. When you’ve commuted for a while you learn how to coexist in relative peace with your fellow passengers.
This non-commuter did have one saving grace – he was reading a book, a real paper book.
This made nostalgic for when I started commuting in the days before Kindles and watching video on your phone which seems to be far more common now, when people read honest to goodness books.
It was fascinating as you could see what people were reading and what book was popular, I’ll always remember being on the tube and almost everybody seemed to be reading The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman.
As a life long Bond fan I’ve hugely enjoyed Daniel Craig’s time as 007.
From Casino Royale, which remained remarkably close to Ian Fleming’s first book, through to Skyfall, Spectre and upcoming ‘Bond 25’ which includes the amazing Phoebe Waller-Bridge amongst the writing talent .
Skyfall is both my favourite Bond film and one of my favourite films of all time. As the film that marked the 50th anniversary of the Bond franchise I loved the references to Bond’s age, and this scene where Bond meets his new Quartermaster is just perfect.
“Were you expecting, an exploding pen? We don’t really go in for that anymore”
Last month I had the pleasure of seeing Alan Moore, author of DO Design, give a talk on Creating Enduring Beauty.
Ahead of seeing Alan talk I re-read DO Design and was struck by this passage:
The purpose of the work for the Shakers was as much to benefit the spirit as it was to produce the goods.
The universe had clearly decided it was time for me to think about the Shakers and their design philosophy as earlier in the week I had saved this quote defining it thus:
Don’t make something unless it is both necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful, don’t hesitate to make it beautiful.
Isn’t that the most perfect philosophy for designers, creators, makers, craftsmen and us all?
In DO Design Alan proposes 14 principles for creating enduring beauty:
- Be curious about the world
- Increase your depth of field
- Develop an ability to adapt
- Observe
- Go see
- Understand language
- Be open
- Work better together
- Start with optimism
- Recognise no boundaries
- Surrender
- Only work with good people
- Let go of fear
- Seek to create enduring beauty
These principles are described in more depth in DO Design and are worth the price of admission alone.
Read, absorb and re-visit regularly.
The Philosophy of Coffee – it’s a intriguing title, but if truth be told this book covers the history more than the philosophy of coffee.
Having said that, it’s still a great little book that gives a fascinating insight into coffee’s journey from Ethiopia via Yemen, London, Italy and America to become the global phenomenon it is today.
I was surprised to learn, for example, that espresso machines were originally created simply to allow coffee shops to sell more coffee, more quickly; yet now the majority of coffees sold are espresso based.
On the subject of espresso, I think my one-line Twitter review sums the book up perfectly: “the book is like a good espresso – short, sharp and with great depth of flavour”
Brian also writes a great blog detailing coffee shops around the UK and beyond – a very handy resource.