Day: 5 July 2026

Weeknotes #180: pride and pop

Theatre, Pride, music and memories made an eventful, uplifting week.

Week commencing Monday, 29 June 2026

London erupts in colour for Pride 2026 celebrations

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 6/7; Exercise 5/7 and Move 4/7. (71%). Morning walks: 0/4. Office days: 1/5. Total steps: 55,794. 20.5 hours in meetings.

Life

  • For the avoidance of doubt, the World Cup banter bits are entirely written by Claude AI. I thought it would be amusing to get it to start match summaries with the cliché ‘it was a game of two halves’. The remainder of these weeknotes remains hand-carved, using a chisel and some stone.
  • With that in mind, here’s this week’s World Cup instalment: COMMENTATOR: It was a game of two halves — England were rocked by a DR Congo side who took the lead inside seven minutes and looked for long stretches as though they might pull off the upset of the tournament, before Kane, who else, dragged Tuchel’s men back level in the 75th minute and then rifled home the winner four minutes from time — both goals assisted by Gordon — to seal a 2–1 victory and a date with Mexico at the Azteca in the last 16. (ht: claude.ai)
  • Monday night theatre: Beetlejuice The Musical. It’s a funny show that breaks the fourth wall and talks to the audience, with plenty of contemporary references and a Radio 2 tote bag. Having a demon offer the tote bag as a symbol of the underworld to middle-class theatregoers is a fun poke at the stalls; it stands out as both ridiculous and charming, much like the whole show.
  • I’ve posted five years’ worth of pictures on Blipfoto. It’s not a continuous streak. I celebrated five days late.
  • Relatedly, ChatGPT gave me a great title for a post, Amazon Prime Suspect.
  • My grandad would have been 122 years old on 1 July. What would the UK have been writing about in its weeknotes this week in the year he was born? The 1904 Summer Olympics?
  • There are moments during Pride that still make me stop and think. As a teenager growing up under Section 28, I could never have imagined that one day I’d be standing in central London, officially volunteering at one of the country’s biggest LGBTQ+ events.
  • In other Pride news, the UK’s gayest street had ‘worst Pride ever’, apparently.
  • Nile Rodgers wrote and produced for Duran Duran. The Scissor Sisters toured with Duran Duran. Today, we were all there for Duran Duran.

Media

  • We started the second series of Bergerac: a murder at a Jersey wedding. Who else would investigate?

The Final Push

The Prime Minister has arrived in Singapore to join the London team ahead of the crucial vote to elect the Host City for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games

Back The Bid Poster

Olympic Countdown: The Prime Minister has arrived in Singapore to join the London team ahead of the crucial vote to elect the Host City for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games [Source], and England Football captain David Beckham has arrived in Singapore to join the London team, hoping to secure the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games [Source]. The BBC has a summary of the final push to the big announcement.

Silverstone Circuit Weather

It’s getting close to the moment I have to pitch a tent near Silverstone.

Silverstone countdown: get familiar with the tracks so you can work out where you would like to be on certain days. I think the people I am going with will know better than me, but it’s still fun to watch the speeds. In the meantime, keep an eye on the weather at the Silverstone circuit, though I have seen conflicting reports from different sources. Sun? Showers? A year ago tomorrow, we were watching them race around the streets of London. Somehow, that would have been much more convenient, don’t you think?