Week commencing Monday, 17 November 2025
Quantified Self
- This week: Stand 6/7; Exercise 5/7 and Move 6/7. (81%). Morning walks: 0/3 (days in the office don’t count). Office days 2/5. Total steps: 60,828
Life
- I used to volunteer for The West Shropshire Talking Newspaper. This week, I learned it’s been been awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service: the highest award a local voluntary group can receive and equivalent to an MBE. Well done all.
- I baked blueberry muffins on Monday, and they turned out edible. Well done me.
- I’ve been hunting for Christmas crooners music on vinyl this week. On Monday, I secured some Johnny Mathis albums from eBay, failed to get anything on Saturday as the shop had closed last year, and was more successful on Berwick Street on Sunday.
- Our first Sunday record-shop stop was Reckless Records. While I did not manage to find any Christmas music there, I did pick up the coveted 7″ version of one of my childhood favourites: Boney M’s Ma Baker. Don’t judge me.
- After I pulled out of giving blood earlier in the year because I was ill, and then they cancelled an appointment, I finally gave blood for the seventh time. This appointment went smoothly, though we both had to complete additional screening due to our trip to Argentina.
- Drinks on Thursday started in a busy pub where we were sat in the draught from the door, and ended in a quiet, cosy pub with heat. And a bus ride to Waterloo gave me plenty of train options.
- On Friday, we headed down to Tottenham Court Road to catch Oscar at the Crown. The venue is hidden — a purpose-built space in a basement beneath the shops.
- The show is set in a dystopian future under a fascist regime, with the action taking place in a secret bunker. Amid sequins and storytelling, the people hiding there recount the rise and fall of Oscar Wilde, all set to an original electropop score.
- Related, when we first arrived, the place was worryingly deserted. I was concerned there would only be a handful of us. Thankfully, just enough people turned up to allow us to move around with the action and still get a decent view of what was happening.
- On Saturday, Halfway to Heaven was operating a one-in, one-out policy. We went to the festive bar-tent across the road: a touch soulless. It became slightly uncomfortable when a large group of underage lads arrived, sat down at a table, and attempted to get themselves served at the bar. A couple of them were successful, but the others were left with nothing to do. We all had a passing thought that they might cause trouble, but they became bored and left.
- Later, the French onion soup was delicious.
Media
- Watched the first episode of Down Cemetery Road on Apple TV. Emma Thompson stars in a thriller by the writer of Slow Horses, so I have high expectations.
- The way they film the landscapes in Celebrity Race Across the World is one of the best things on TV.