Welcome Distractions
A better way to waste your weekend.
books | music | short stories | rambling
Hi! You’re here! Thank you.
What do you know about DNS propagation? The only right answer is “nothin’”.
I know more today than I did last week. I set out to migrate my email from the bush-league iCloud email to something a little more polished, and hooooo doggy I pooped the bed. My email was down from about 2pm on Monday until Tuesday midday. It was frustrating. I had a feeling I was screwing something up in the moment, but I didn’t listen to that instinct.
Shoulda.
So I spent dumb Monday night fighting with dumb technology and feeling dumb. Dumb!
But it’s all for a good cause. I buried the lede:
I have a co-conspirator on Turn & Work!
She’s going to start as a contributor in January. Her name is Hannah, she’s from Australia, and she’s also a newsletter subscriber (everyone say “hiiiii Hannnah”). She reached out after my pitch in last week’s newsletter. I’ll say more in time, and we’ll have a proper welcoming for her. I’ll admit this: she’s probably better qualified to run this site than I am. I’m excited to see where things go with some fresh energy.
Black Friday means the start of year end stuff. I have a pretty busy posting schedule starting next week: favourite books and stories of the year, favourite albums, EPs and singles. I don’t think I’m going to rank anything, just list it. Making stuff isn’t competitive, so celebrate what you love without pitting it against other stuff you love.
And send me what you love. What did I miss this year?
Offsite: links you shouldn’t miss
Speaking of dumb, this story in Toronto Life about a couple of criminal masterminds is jaw-dropping in it’s depiction of their idiocy. It’s a must-read: How Not to Get Away With Murder.
For maximum clarity, [the judge] added:
“Ms. Li concedes she may be the stupidest person in the room.”
The LitHub Literary Twitter bracket crowned a winner, and if you’ve been at all plugged in (or read this newsletter) lately, you won’t be shocked at how it ended.
The NYT launched their Scrabble clone: it’s called Crossplay. I’ve got a record that’d make a heavyweight boxer proud: 28 wins and 3 losses. Come play with me. Take me down a notch.
Nature magazine wrote about The Batman Effect. It’s my kind of academic study:
…a female experimenter, appearing pregnant, boarded the train with an observer.
In the experimental condition, an additional experimenter dressed as Batman entered from another door. Passengers were significantly more likely to offer their seat when Batman was present
Brian Merchant’s Blood in the Machine is about the O.G. Luddites, and it’s gonna be on all the best-of lists this year. This profile of him in the New Yorker will make you want to put it on your wish list.
The new Knausgaard book comes out in January. This piece in the Guardian looks at the fallout of his essential My Struggle series (except book six, that stank on ice)
I read the third, uh, volume in the On the Calculation of Volume series. It’s outstanding. And so is this spoiler-free piece about the author, Solvej Balle.
Remember the Fugees? The one that isn’t Wyclef or Lauryn Hill was just sent to jail for 14 years for illegal donations to the Obama campaign. The guy from the excellent Billion Dollar Whale was involved. Surreal stuff.
In TechCentral, a piece about how AI Guys are Fundamentally Unserious. It’s spot on:
So-called ‘artificial general intelligence’, which is to say human-level machine intelligence, is nothing other than a fantasy of a god in the machine. But there is no god in the machine.
This piece in the Walrus is good reading about the struggles facing Canadian artists, despite the bad headline.
Yesterday was AusMusic T-Shirt Day. Here are 16 great Australian bands you should buy t-shirts (FOR ME) from.
A couple of good year-end lists: Exclaim! published their year-end list, and their number one is also one of my favourites of the year. And the NPR books we love of the year is always a gem.
Or, this 2018 piece from Maris Kreizman about why year-end lists don’t matter. If you want a personal recommendation, I’m always happy to supply.
You’ll see this linked everywhere, but this made my eyes water. XKCD: 15 years
“Want to feel old?"
”Yes.”
What got your attention this week? Got a hot take on something? Hit reply and let me know.
On the Blog
Listening:
The new Emmeline EP is killer. And she’s got a great Backstory for it too.
Another Backstory from Calley Nelson, a professional tarot reader(!!), whose band Star Card just released a great record.
Lunch Break featured EPs from You’re Laughing, Kali Horse and the debut record from Vancouver’s Scarlet Fever.
The Setlist: . Listen now. Apple Music or Spotify.
Reading:
The Ten Year Affair was a bad book based on a great short story.
On the Calculation of Volume, book 3. Pick this series up so I have someone to talk about it with.
Something I should read or hear? Send it my way
Next week: Let’s do year end! Here’s the draft schedule:
MondaySingles: #100–61People's Choice (most popular books and music)
Tuesday Singles: #60–41Favourite Short Stories
Wednesday Favourite EPs & Loose CollectionsFavourite Nonfiction Books
ThursdaySingles: #40–21Favourite Fiction Books
Friday Singles: #20–1 Favourite Albums
-hugh
Copyright (C) " target="_blank">unsubscribe