Tag: weeknotes

Weeknotes #186: Portugal, port and pastel (de nata)

Fizz, animals, pottery, sunshine, coding and books lead to Porto.

Week commencing Monday, 10 August 2026

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 7/7; Exercise 6/7 and Move 7/7. (95%). Total steps: 76,984. On holiday in Porto.

Life in Portugal

  • Woke up in a hotel in Portugal on Monday, had pastel de nata for breakfast, and went out in the heat.
  • It seems everything in Porto is up a hill. In all directions. Always.
  • Full marks to the tourist information, but I feel that if another customer hadn’t walked in, we might have been chatting there all day.
  • We did the wrong loop on the hop-on, hop-off tour first. Turned out to be a good decision, although it meant we were by delicious-smelling grilled seafood for the journey by the beach.
  • I learned Time Out makes more money from the Time Out Market concept than it does from its old listing business. And the one we visited was excellent.
  • Related, we tried francesinha, considered Porto’s signature sandwich. I thought of it a bit like lasagne, but made with bread. Delicious, very filling, but hardly a sandwich.
  • All the port traders are old. Monday, Caves Burmester claimed 1750; on Tuesday, Cockburn’s claimed 1815 and Croft, not the sherry, 1588. IMHO, the middle one was best.
  • There are lots of restaurants which are lovely, but not obvious from the roadside: Bartolomeu Bistro & Wine (try the Japanese-style pancakes); at Botanico and the panoramic restaurant on top of the Vincci hotel, go for the set menu.
  • The local kids jump off the Dom Luís I bridge, avoiding jet skis and tourist boats. I wonder if it’s really permitted.
  • The Douro Valley is hot and beautiful. Some of the Brits on the tour with us were loud.
  • Last week I concluded that I was no artist. At lunch on Wednesday, a medical artist claimed I was wrong and gave me a drawing lesson while we ate.
  • Livraria Lello has no association with Harry Potter.

Life back home

  • I found Little Portugal in London.
  • I paid for a new phone battery to be installed by Apple. I was surprised when it was not fully charged.

Media

  • I finished the book club book. Adam Kay’s first novel, A Particularly Nasty Case, is a farcical murder mystery, but I keep forgetting about the farce and thinking it’s ridiculous in places, which it was. And quite funny. A great holiday read.

Weeknotes #185: Apps, animals and airports

Fizz, animals, pottery, sunshine, coding and books lead to Porto.

Week commencing Monday, 3 August 2026

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 3/7; Exercise 4/7 and Move 5/7. (57%). Morning walks: 0/3. Office days: 1/3. Total steps: 50,835. 14.3 hours in meetings.

Life

  • Good news from PY’s job had us drinking fizz on Monday night and eating weekend leftovers.
  • By the end of the week, I’d built an iPhone app for my own use. I discovered that, for an app to work properly, I need to pay for an Apple Developer account, even if it’s just for me. I haven’t done that yet.
  • Related, in reality OpenAI Codex built it for me. I can see why some people think this is the future.
  • Tuesday, A’s 10th birthday was celebrated with a trip to Mudchute Farm and Park. Lots of lovely animals to look at, and it’s (mainly) free.
  • Related, there is an entrance across the ASDA car park. Walk towards the hand car wash.
  • Following that, we did pottery painting. I slightly regret choosing something with curves because the place provided stencils, which would have been much better on a flatter surface. I did conclude that I was no artist.
  • Saturday, a walk to M&S and Merton Abbey Mills in the sunshine. Lovely.
  • Sunday, at the airport, we talked about a previous holiday where we had a book club, reading the same book to compare notes. PY went to a shop, and we now have Adam Kay’s first novel, A Particularly Nasty Case, for the Porto book club.
  • At the end of Sunday, we were in a hotel in the heart of Porto, and I’d read a decent chunk of the book.

Errata

  • Last week, I wrote that The Newsreader had the perfect two-series story arc and had ended where it was supposed to. Oops, the only thing that had ended was Netflix UK’s willingness to show me any more of it. There is a third series. I had mistaken “all the episodes available to me” for “all the episodes that exist”, an easy trap to fall into when a streaming service hasn’t coughed up all the money. So, my grand theory about its elegant conclusion now joins the long list of opinions confidently formed from bad information. Think of me as your badly trained AI.

Media

  • BBC Two quiz night is always fun. We remembered it this week.
  • State of the Screens: Podcasts Became TV. Ad Budgets Didn’t Notice — Americans spent 40 billion hours with podcasts in 2025. That equals Netflix’s entire 2024 TV viewing. But podcast ads brought in just $3 billion, about 1% of internet ad spending.
  • New buddy series: Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham in Ride or Die, on Prime.
  • An evening of Paul Heaton at the BBC was fantastic, even if it stopped me from packing.

Weeknotes #184: records, reading and relatives

A productive, cultured week of family, music, reading and creativity.

Week commencing Monday, 27 July 2026

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 5/7; Exercise 2/7 and Move 5/7. (57%). Morning walks: 0/4. Office days: 1/5. Total steps: 42,230. 15.5 hours in meetings.

Life

  • I had a co-working partner for the first two days of the week. While I did my day job, ChatGPT quietly got on with enhancing my blog review tool and created a WordPress plugin for me. Part of the result was this page featuring a series of posts about London.
  • Related, by Saturday, I’d turned some of the work from the review project into a blog post, which has a very niche audience of me.
  • The nurse didn’t like the fact that I tried to move the seat when I sat down to have my blood test. I wonder if that’s why it hurt more than usual?
  • Heard for the first time this week: Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s Rein Me In has now spent 18 weeks at No. 1, equalling the all-time UK record set by Frankie Laine’s I Believe in 1953. As James Masterton points out in his Chart Watch commentary, it has taken 73 years for anything to match it. One more week and the record finally falls – all the more remarkable for a song that took eight months to reach No. 1 in the first place.
  • Related, on repeat for me this week: Little Miss Twain, by Shania Twain. It’s an older Shania looking back at growing up in Ontario, her mother’s ambitions for her, poverty and her route into music. A really good album.
  • Sunday brought a lovely afternoon with family. The dishes I served – turkey burgers and slow-cooked pulled pork – worked very well and had largely been cooked in advance, so there was no stress.
  • Jeremy King, on dining alone: “The problem is that you think that the restaurant is looking at you with pity, whereas in truth it is with admiration. It is so elegant and confident to eat alone, and they envy you?” – Without Reservation, highly recommended.
  • Related, by Sunday, 2026 was 58.63% complete, and finishing that book took me to 67% of the year’s reading challenge. It’s not often that I am ahead.

Media

  • Linear TV won on Tuesday night when, after we’d seen the end of The Great British Sewing Bee, the following programme about a murder in Shrewsbury piqued our interest and we stuck with it.
  • But streaming won my Friday night. I watched Heartstopper Forever, the final film in the Heartstopper story. I liked it, but I did think there wasn’t as much original content as in the earlier instalments, although it is always very nice when a story reaches a conclusion that everybody can buy into.
  • Then I thought I had an hour, so I would watch the first episode of the second series of the Australian drama The Newsreader. Having seen the first, I was intrigued to see where it would go. I ended up watching all six episodes into the early hours, the last couple from bed. I really enjoyed it, and I can see why the programme ended after two series, because its beautiful story arc comes to a close in the final episode.

Weeknotes #183: keys, leaks and a book suggestion

Tower traditions, island reassurance, gripping books and cheerful journeys delighted.

Week commencing Monday, 20 July 2026

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 6/7; Exercise 6/7 and Move 7/7. (90%). Morning walks: 0/4. Office days: 1/5. Total steps: 55,645. 20.4 hours in meetings.

Life

  • The Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London is a wonderful tradition, and I am glad I got to see it this week.
  • News of another leak in Ryde midweek turned into a nice couple of days on the Isle of Wight, and no real damage was detected.
  • I took the advice of the bookseller in Waterstones on Thursday and bought Alice Feeney’s My Husband’s Wife. I’d finished it by Saturday. Maybe I should ask for advice more often.
  • In the food court that I went to after buying the book, I became transfixed by a man who sat in one of the bar-like spaces, working on a laptop with an attached second screen as though it were his daily place of work. How the entire place wasn’t reading his work is beyond me.
  • On Friday evening, I used the seasonal bar at the FastCat terminal to buy wine for the train. The front carriage was air-conditioned and almost empty.
  • Related, the man across the aisle from me on the train, all tight vest and hair gel, suddenly blurted out the theme from The Archers. It made me smile; his look was not what I expected from an Archers fan.
  • Sunday, an air-conditioned, quiet, central London pub made for a nice afternoon catch-up with friends.

Another New PM

  • We started the week with a new PM. Andy Burnham took over from Sir Keir Starmer at Downing Street after being confirmed as Labour leader last week. The former mayor of Greater Manchester becomes the 59th person to hold the office.
  • Relatedly, three hours after he stepped into No. 10, I was listening to a podcast questioning his legitimacy to be in charge. It’s so depressing: journalists creating a low-level narrative just hours in.
  • Relatedly related, on Tuesday, John Healey was named Chancellor, becoming Burnham’s first Cabinet appointment. Ed Miliband moved from energy to become Foreign Secretary, Wes Streeting — Burnham’s leadership rival before he ruled himself out — was made Defence Secretary, and Angela Rayner returned to government as Housing Secretary after her earlier resignation over her housing-related tax affairs. The ins and the outs are fascinating, but do they change anything?
  • Burnham framed his premiership as a “circuit breaker” for Britain, bringing forward “the biggest changes in the last 40 years”. I guess every PM needs a narrative now, and it better work on TikTok.

Media

  • Maria McErlane on the ’90s, talking about the Loaded magazine staff: “I was always slightly afraid of your mob. And, you know, I’m sure our paths crossed in some of the sort of ’90s bars and clubs. I’m sure, and I remember people saying, ‘Oh, there’s James Brown over there with his cronies.’ And I remember feeling frightened because I didn’t feel that you were very nice to women.”
  • Post-World Cup, why are people discussing commentators’ lip mics? Here’s a history.
  • Finished the current series of the new Bergerac. It was a bit of a step up from the first season, with a decent mystery — a groom killed at a Jersey wedding — but possibly a bit padded in some of the middle episodes.
  • And then another remake was suggested to us. This one is much more absurd: Magnum P.I.. Both versions share the sunny Hawaiian setting and the core premise of a private investigator living on Robin Masters’ estate; the 1980s original and the modern reboot feel different. No thick moustache, and a bit more action, but the reboot remains as pleasingly, comfortably ridiculous as the original.

Weeknotes #182: graduations, glasses and glory

Celebrations, socials, sport and cabaret.

Week commencing Monday, 13 July 2026

A wide-angle view inside London Stadium during the Novuna London Athletics Meet, showing the packed stands, the running track and infield with athletes preparing for a field event, all beneath the stadium's distinctive open roof structure against a blue sky.
Packed stands greet athletes at London Stadium’s summer meet.

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 5/7; Exercise 5/7 and Move 6/7. (76%). Morning walks: 0/4. Office days: 1/5. Total steps: 53,796; 22.9 hours in meetings.

Life

  • Monday, a drink and a bite to eat at The Leather Bottle, which I was delighted to do given I’d not left the house all day. PY had some good news, so we had another glass.
  • Proud godparents on Tuesday, as K graduated from Cardiff with an amazing degree. Seems like I know some smart people.
  • My pension adviser reckons I might live to 83. Now we’re trying to figure out when the money might run out. So, still working.
  • Drinks on Wednesday were meant to try and avoid the World Cup. We failed and got quite into it.
  • Lovely work social on Thursday. I may have gatecrashed the social committee’s post-event drinks, mainly because I didn’t clock that they were doing it.
  • Relatedly, I paid for an Uber that I didn’t take. It took so long to turn up that I hopped in a taxi. I don’t have the energy to argue with them about it.
  • I was there: a spectacular performance by Great Britain’s Josh Kerr, who shattered Hicham El Guerrouj’s 27-year-old world record in the men’s mile at the Novuna London athletics event.
  • Cabaret in the Crypt – The Best of West End Musicals, in St Martin-in-the-Fields’ Crypt café. Great performances, but the backing track made it feel less real.

World Cup Matches

  • Remember, I said this last time about the AI commentator.
  • Wednesday, COMMENTATOR: It was a game of two halves — a cagey, scrappy first period in Atlanta where neither side truly convinced, before Gordon’s thumping 55th-minute finish, set up by Rogers, had England dreaming of a first World Cup final in 60 years, only for Argentina to do what Argentina always seem to do — summon Messi from somewhere deep, watch Fernandez curl in a brilliant long-range effort on 85 minutes, and then, in the cruellest of all stoppage-time twists, see Lautaro Martinez nod home another Messi assist to shatter English hearts once more and send the defending champions through to face Spain in the final.
  • Saturday, COMMENTATOR: It was a game of two halves — extraordinary, barely believable halves at that — as a second-string England side, Kane and Bellingham both left on the bench, tore France to shreds in Miami with Rice scoring inside three minutes, Konsa heading in a second, and Saka running riot to make it 4-0 by the break, before France emerged for the second half a completely different proposition, Mbappé bagging a brace to become the all-time leading World Cup scorer and Barcola and Dembélé adding two more to have England clinging on desperately, until substitute Bellingham settled nerves with a composed finish in stoppage time to seal a quite remarkable 6-4 victory and give England third place — their best World Cup finish since 1966.

Media

Weeknotes #181: heatwaves and show tunes

Heat, theatre, football and friendship made another eventful London week.

Week commencing Monday, 6 July 2026

A Victorian cast-iron fingerpost in Shrewsbury's Quarry Park, signposted for St Julian Friars, the Swimming Centre, Children's Play Area and Town Centre, with the riverside boathouse and pavilion below and Shrewsbury's rooftops and a clock tower visible beyond the trees on a clear summer day.
Shrewsbury’s Quarry Park signpost basks in summer sunshine.

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 6/7; Exercise 5/7 and Move 6/7. (81%). Morning walks: 0/3. Office days: 2/5. Total steps: 53,841. 23 hours in meetings.

Life

  • The week started on Monday morning with a message: “Morning… See the news?” It meant this: Will I still be able to watch Love Island and Coronation Street for free?
  • In the evening, there were ten surprisingly filling courses inspired by dishes from around the world as part of Six by Nico’s Street Food tasting menu. Lovely.
  • London has spent the week behaving as though it has been moved several hundred miles south without anybody bothering to tell us. The temperature reached around 30°C, the capital was still under an amber heat-health alert, and this is apparently already the third heatwave of the year.
  • A visit from the police on Tuesday was to the wrong address, but it was still a bit alarming. Although there was nothing to worry about in reality, it’s disconcerting to look at a Metropolitan Police ID badge and wonder whether it’s real. Maybe I should have gone to the office three days this week instead of two.
  • Lovely dinner in Woking on Thursday to celebrate C’s birthday. It was all very nice, but the restaurant was quiet and lacked atmosphere. The staff were trying to stay busy, but I think there are only so many times the bottles behind the bar can be washed.
  • Saturday, to The Producers at the Garrick. Seeing the same production of a show seven or eight months after the first time is interesting. How much do I remember? Was this bit in the version I saw previously, or have they tweaked and changed it? The songs are very well known, but was there always a giant sausage on a fork in one scene?
  • Related, Alex Lodge, playing Leo Bloom, was fantastic, and I hope I am not just saying that because he’s one of the Crazy Coqs regular performers. He had all the right comic timing, and given that we’ve seen him before and know he doesn’t normally speak like that, the wonder of acting astounded me.
  • COMMENTATOR: It was a game of two halves — and then some extra time for good measure — as England were rocked by Schjelderup’s 36th-minute opener in Miami, hauled level in the dying seconds of the first half by Bellingham, then spent a tense and nervy second period unable to find the winner before the Real Madrid man pounced on a Nyland fumble in the 93rd minute to send Tuchel’s side into the World Cup semi-finals for the first time since 2018 — a place in the last four secured against a Norway side that lit up this tournament and can hold their heads high. (h/t: Claude.ai)
  • Remember, I said this last time about the AI commentator.
  • On departing London Euston aboard a Glasgow-bound train — albeit one from which I would alight well before Glasgow — I heard that the onboard shop had no hot drinks. Scotland would be a fair way for me to go without tea or coffee.
  • Some of the reviews for the “Sam-Ryder-looks-like-him” version of Jesus Christ Superstar seem to think it was better than I did, while others were more middling. I still recommend something else.

Media

  • It’s been too hot to sit in and watch TV. Really, go outside.

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?

Weeknotes #179: heat, goals, locksmiths and delays

Heat, football, theatre and travel made it a memorable week.

Week commencing Monday, 22 June 2026

A reproduction Victorian Post Office public notice, displayed on a noticeboard at Blists Hill Victorian Town museum. Headed with the royal cypher "V R" and a crown, the notice is titled "Post Office — Notice to the Public: Rapid Delivery of Letters — By Command of the Postmaster General." The text urges householders to install street-door letter boxes, or "slits," in private dwellings to speed up postal delivery and avoid keeping the postman waiting. The notice is printed in a mix of black and red Victorian typefaces on cream paper and fixed to a cork board with brass-effect studs. A partial view of other period notices is visible at the edges.
The entrance sign for Blists Hill Victorian Town, part of the Ironbridge Gorge UNESCO World Heritage Site, now under National Trust stewardship. The sign features the National Trust oak leaf logo at top left alongside the text "Ironbridge Gorge" on a dark red background. Below, a large teal panel reads "Welcome to Blists Hill Victorian Town" in bold white lettering. A lower white panel headed "Re-opening Ironbridge sites under National Trust care" lists reopening schedules for several sites including Blists Hill, Coalbrookdale, Jackfield Tiles, Coalport, Toll House, Broseley Pipes, and others, with dates ranging from May to September 2026. Small illustrated icons represent each attraction. The National Trust logo appears again at the foot of the sign.

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 5/7; Exercise 2/7; and Move 5/7 (57%). Morning walks: 0/3. Office days: 0/4. Total steps: 41,266. 15.4 hours in meetings.

Life

  • It’s hot. We need a hydration break here. A rare red weather warning in the UK for extreme heat. National Rail advises only travel if absolutely necessary to red zones.
  • Isn’t it ironic? Extreme heat in London leads to cancellation of climate change event on adapting to extreme heat.
  • World Cup Banter: Tuesday night, it was a game of two halves, though if we’re honest, neither of them was much to write home about, as England stumbled to a goalless draw against a resolute Ghana side that left Boston with a thoroughly deserved point. (ht: claude.ai)
  • Related, Saturday’s World Cup Banter: It was a game of two halves — a frustrating first period in New Jersey where England huffed and puffed against a stubborn Panama side without breaking them down, before Bellingham swept home from a Saka corner on 62 minutes and Kane nodded in five minutes later to seal a 2–0 win, claim top spot in Group L, and set up a round-of-32 meeting with Senegal — with Kane’s header the icing on the cake, making him England’s record goalscorer at World Cups, surpassing Gary Lineker. (ht: claude.ai)
  • Wednesday, Jesus Christ Superstar with Sam Ryder and Jesse Tyler Ferguson didn’t work for me. It might work for you.
  • Another month, another locksmith. At least I had a fan for some cool air.
  • More train delays on Friday. Avanti West Coast kept emailing me about the cancelled trains, even after I’d arrived at my destination.
  • To Blists Hill Victorian Town for the first time since I was a teenager. Now under National Trust stewardship. There’s more than I remember.

Media

Weeknotes #178: Beer, bangers and Bellingham

Quiz success, Liverpool lights, England joy and festival-bound heat endurance.

Week commencing Monday, 15 June 2026

A large sun-drenched crowd faces the Sky-sponsored Isle of Wight Festival main stage during David Gray's afternoon performance. The central LED screen displays abstract warm-toned imagery, whilst the two flanking side screens show close-up footage of David Gray performing in a cream suit and holding an acoustic guitar. Festivalgoers in summer clothing, hats, and bare shoulders fill the foreground beneath a bright blue sky dotted with clouds.
David Gray basks in sunshine and festival adoration.

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 5/7; Exercise 5/7 and Move 7/7. (81%). Morning walks: 0/3. Office days: 1/4. Total steps: 82,034. 5.5 hours in meetings.

Life

  • At last: ninth in the pub quiz. Ben volunteered to step up to do the tie-breaker, where you need to name the song – but not the artist. There were two other teams. One of them was jumping with frustration, unable to bring the name to their lips, but Ben identified Don’t Stop Me Now without saying “Queen”, and now we have a voucher for a round of drinks when we are all together next.
  • Tuesday, to Liverpool for a work event. Albert Dock looked lovely lit up. Unfortunately, the hotel bar had closed by the time we returned. I’d already decided to call it a night when the others opted not to head out looking for a late-night drinking place. Given I’d had my first beer on the train just after 1 p.m., I’d been very watchful of my intake and was capable of sensible decisions.
  • Thursday’s World Cup Banter: it was a game of two halves; a chaotic, breathless first period in Dallas saw England twice lead through Kane, only to be pegged back by Baturina and then Musa right on the stroke of half-time, before Tuchel’s men came out after the break and were absolutely superb, with Bellingham restoring the lead and Rashford sealing a thoroughly deserved 4–2 victory to send England off to a flier in Group L. (ht: claude.ai)
  • Friday, the American Psychological Association says that “extreme heat can make people more depressed or irritable”. That was my experience on the Tube before getting the train down to Festival Island.

Isle of Wight Festival 2026

  • There was a big turnout on Friday for Ash. I didn’t think I was familiar with their work, but, surprisingly, I discovered Shining Light and Girl From Mars, which burst that theory.
  • Real Dead Ringer, a Meat Loaf tribute act, delivered another energetic set of all the biggest hits in a sweltering ElectroLove tent.
  • Saturday began with two renditions of No Scotland, No Party, one from Nathan Evans and the Saint PHNX Band and one from KT Tunstall, just before she introduced a surprise guest, Jack Savoretti.
  • 5ive delivered a highly choreographed fifty minutes of nostalgic ’90s pop hits. It might not be cool, but it was unexpectedly polished, and sometimes pop bangers are what you need.
  • Sunday, Suzanne Vega ended with Luka because she ran out of time for the song the crowd really wanted, Tom’s Diner. There was clear disappointment and confusion in the crowd as she left the stage.
  • Level 42 arrived on stage and commenced a forty-five-minute jazz, funk and pop set that was almost without a gap, and precisely to time. The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up) and Lessons in Love were highlights. They received local support, with the King brothers originally from the island. I’ll be looking to see when they’re next playing nearby because it was a joyous set.
  • And, of course, I wrote my Festival Diaries for days one, two and three. I think this was my favourite year at the festival.

Media

Weeknotes #177: beers, sales and barbecue

Quiet week grows into theatre, reflection, memorial, barbecue, and lunch.

Week commencing Monday, 8 June 2026

A riverside promenade along the Thames at Battersea Power Station, viewed on a partly cloudy summer's day. In the foreground, silvery-white dusty miller plants grow in raised planters beside a stone balustrade. A yellow banner on a lamppost and colourful bunting in red, orange and yellow hang along the walkway, where a few pedestrians stroll. Across the river, the Vauxhall skyline is visible, with modern high-rise residential towers rising against a blue sky scattered with white clouds.
Silver plants frame a sun-dappled Thames, Vauxhall beyond.

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 6/7; Exercise 2/7 and Move 4/7. (%). Morning walks: 0/4. Office days: 1/5. Total steps: 42,088. 13 hours in meetings.

Life

  • A quiet start to my week. My diary for Monday and Tuesday features a coffee pot and a plastic bag.
  • But I got out on Wednesday night to meet an ex-boss of mine. We chatted a lot about the product management space at the moment and the relentless pressure to use AI in everything, even if we’re not clear what it will do. There was broad agreement that, in some cases, AI has become a priority for companies, and product teams are being asked to demonstrate usage because leadership wants evidence that the business is becoming more efficient, innovative, and “AI-ready”, even before everyone is clear on where the real value lies. Interesting to get a consensus. A bit deep, but the beer was good.
  • Thursday, to The Old Vic for Glengarry Glen Ross, about desperate Chicago real estate agents trying to survive a brutal sales contest, where the best leads are fought over, and morality is the first thing to go to make a commission. The talking point is the gender switch, where characters written as men are played by women.
  • Related, I thought the gender switch was intriguing, but it mainly made me realise that anyone can be a ruthless salesperson when there’s money on the line.
  • On Friday, we were at a crematorium for a short memorial. It was very nicely done.
  • Saturday, a lovely barbecue in the garden. We got the BBQ out of the cupboard, which means it’s out now until the autumn.
  • The new Battersea Power Station had a wine festival, but we didn’t go for that; instead, we opted for a nice lunch by the river.

Weeknotes #176: lock, rock and rail

Theatre, music, museums and kindness outweighed boiler and train frustrations.

Week commencing Monday, 1 June 2026

Blackpool Tower illuminated in rainbow Pride colours against a deep blue night sky, photographed from street level looking upward. Strings of LED lights in red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet cascade down the tower's steel lattice structure. A warm streetlamp glows in the foreground, and the curved facade of a Victorian brick building is visible to the right, bearing a sign reading "Blackpool Promenade".
Blackpool Tower blazes in Pride colours under the Saturday night sky.

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 4/7; Exercise 4/7 and Move 4/7. (57%). Morning walks: 0/4. Office days: 1/5. Total steps: 62,668. 14.3 hours in meetings.

Life

  • Monday was definitely a day of two contrasting customer service standards.
  • First, British Gas was scheduled for the boiler service. I was up early to make sure I was ready for their text or call, which came just before noon. I emptied the cupboard around the boiler so they could get in to service it and watched their van arrive on the street. A few seconds later, I watched the van turn around in front of our house and drive off. It was followed by a text stating they couldn’t access the property. No follow-up call; nobody got out of the van.
  • Then, I called the insurance company about the jammed front door. They sent a locksmith, who took one look at the door, confirmed they had a replacement mechanism, got the required approvals, and, within twenty minutes, we had a new, fully functioning lock. And very friendly service.
  • I learned this week that news isn’t getting preserved in the Wayback Machine anymore because major media outlets are blocking it. This is bad for the future. Stop, and sign the petition.
  • We saw a ticket offer for Dark of the Moon at the Charing Cross Theatre on Wednesday — a new-ish musical based on a 1945 play, with a preposterous but interesting supernatural plot about a witch boy and a human girl whose love is undone by small-town intolerance, a theme that feels no less relevant today. The staging was clever, the score impressive given the pedigree of the songwriters, and Glenn Adamson as John the Witch Boy was the standout — all rock-god energy with real emotional range.
  • Related, I wrote up a full review on my blog.
  • Thursday, to the pub that’s opened up in place of Dear Grace. It’s called BloomsYard (without a space!). Fancy.
  • Friday was all about delayed trains on the way to Blackpool. I’ve written about that too.
  • Saturday, in Blackpool to see Beverley Knight’s Born to Perform tour. The show itself was two full sets with an interval, taking us on a journey through her career in soul and on to her musical theatre work. Every song had a story, which is just how I like to see artists, and she told them all beautifully. The whole room was on its feet by the end. A brilliant night.
  • Related, I wrote about the concert.
  • Sunday, to Showtown, a museum dedicated to Blackpool’s history as a holiday destination and a place to be entertained. It was a wonderful way to spend ninety minutes. On the way out, they asked us to write a review, so I did a longer one on my blog and a shorter version for review sites. I hope more people get to enjoy it.
  • Don’t ask about the train back. That was worse.

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Weeknotes #175: Seaview and shuffleboard

Warm days brought sea views, friends and movement.

Week commencing Monday, 25 May 2026

Panoramic view of a sandy beach at low tide on a sunny day in Seaview, Isle of Wight. Rocky gravel foreground leads to a wide expanse of sand dotted with seaweed and wooden posts, with calm blue water and boats visible in the distance. A lone figure stands beside a small dinghy. Residential properties and a sea wall frame the right side.
Bank holiday bliss at sun-drenched Seaview, Isle of Wight

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 7/7; Exercise 5/7 and Move 6/7. (86%). Morning walks: 0/3. Office days: 1/4. Total steps: 54,340. 10.4 hours in meetings.

Life

  • Britain experienced its hottest day in May on record on the Bank Holiday, as temperatures reached 34.8°C. And it was hot all week. In my home office, the fan was needed when the room temperature exceeded 30°C.
  • Bank Holiday lunch in Seaview. By luck, the table had a direct view out to sea, and we could see all the boats moored by the sailing club and the RIBs shuttling people to and from their vessels. It was quite fascinating to watch the number of people, loaded up, being taken by RIB to their boats.
  • Wednesday, I decided to go to the gym. I only did an indoor walk, but it was a start. The gym was nice and air-conditioned, but it was also quite refreshing outside as the air cooled. I’d had the windows open upstairs, so we also had a lovely breeze through the house.
  • My memory message celebrating the 50th anniversary of the West Shropshire Talking Newspaper has been published. I must post it here when I get a moment.
  • A group of us played shuffleboard in a bar near the office. We didn’t play by the rules, even though they were set out on a board in front of us. We scored every puck; I think only the team with the puck closest to the far end of the board scores points for that round. It was fun.
  • Friday, people for dinner, snacks in the garden in the heat. I think they call them picky bits these days.
  • Saturday, I ended up going down rabbit holes trying to figure out if I could move all my emails and websites to European-hosted services. It turns out that it is more difficult than I imagined, and more expensive. Perhaps I’ll think about it some more.
  • Sunday, Next had a smaller version of the sofa we wanted to look at. The Crazy Coqs did Wicked and The Wizard of Oz, which, in turn, gave us 15% off for a drink afterwards.

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Weeknotes #174: no stress travel

Heatwave sunshine, island travel, good food, and calm disruption recovery.

Week commencing Monday, 18 May 2026

A dark green warning sign reading "Beware of traffic" with a yellow hazard triangle, mounted on a post amid long grass and dandelions at the edge of a gravel path. The path stretches into the distance through open meadows flanked by mature trees under a clear blue summer sky at Osborne House, Isle of Wight.
Rush Hour at Osborne House

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 6/7; Exercise 5/7 and Move 6/7. (%). Morning walks: 0/4. Office days: 1/5. Total steps: 57,681. 14.7 hours in meetings.

Life

  • At the start of the week, I noticed the sun, which was a good indication of what was to come by the end of the week. On Monday, I was frustrated that I wasn’t up early enough to get out for a walk and enjoy it, but by the end of the week,I was enjoying the heatwave.
  • Andy Burnham, the well-regarded Mayor of Greater Manchester, was, this week, confirmed as the Labour Party’s candidate for the Makerfield by-election, due to be held next month. Why would you want to go from something a lot of people think you’re good at to something nobody will like you for, no matter how good you are?
  • The Office for National Statistics confirmed that net migration to the UK fell to 171,000 in the 12 months to the end of December 2025. Despite the figures, research published on the same day found that most of the public believed migration had risen, with only 16% aware that it had, in fact, fallen.
  • Friday, I headed to the station for what was supposed to be a straightforward journey to the Isle of Wight: train to Waterloo, onward to Portsmouth Harbour, then the ferry. The train out of Raynes Park was slow through the early stops but picked up speed after Earlsfield, which seemed good.
  • Related, London Waterloo was not good. A tree had come down on the line somewhere near Walton-on-Thames, and the knock-on effect was considerable. Everything was delayed, nothing was clear, and the app eventually informed us that our tickets could be used tomorrow instead. We made a quick decision: forget tonight, go tomorrow, do something else this evening. No stress.
  • Hence, frozen margaritas in the evening sun on the South Bank. Lovely.
  • So, Saturday to the Isle of Wight. The beach was busy. We managed to get a table at The Dell, where we had a few drinks and watched the world – including a couple of cruise ships – go by.
  • Sunday, to Osborne House. Although we have visited the house in the last five years, it was subject to COVID restrictions back then, and this time, the upstairs apartments were open, which we’d not been able to see before.
  • The weekend highlight was dinner at the Smoking Lobster. We started with a delicious tomato salad and the monkfish bao buns. My sea bass main was seared skin-side, with just the right amount of flake on the fish side; PY’s tuna was cooked to perfection, pink in the middle.

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  • The final episode of Race Across the World. It makes me want to travel and see more of the world. They did 51 days’ travelling, which is impressive: 12,000 miles from Palermo, Sicily, to Hatgal, by Lake Khövsgöl in Mongolia.

Weeknotes #173: Seoul European songs

A witty week of quizzes, Eurovision, playlists and Korean food.

Week commencing Monday, 11 May 2026

Menu cover for Six by Nico's Seoul-themed 10-course tasting menu, featuring bold white typography on a dark grey background with a vibrant collage illustration of Korean cultural imagery, including the South Korean flag, traditional armour, street food, and Korean signage reading "Gyeongdong Market".
Six by Nico’s Seoul tasting menu — ten courses, one city.

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 5/7; Exercise 3/7 and Move 4/7. (57%). Morning walks: 0/4. Office days: 1/5. Total steps: 39,620. 17.5 hours in meetings.

Life

  • Pub quiz Monday, and we came seventh. PY asked me if I thought all pub quizzes were like the one at The Alexandra. I said that I assumed most British pub quizzes are like ours: mainly social, only partly a trivia contest, and predominantly an excuse to spend two hours in a pub arguing over the name of an actor nobody can quite place.
  • I admit I only came up with the last bit of that line while writing my diary this week. It didn’t actually cross my lips when I was asked.
  • I watched the Eurovision semi-final live on Tuesday. Of the six songs I thought were the best, San Marino (featuring an appearance by Boy George) and Estonia failed to qualify. We had to watch Thursday’s on catch-up.
  • Related, this is the most ‘political’ contest I can remember. I find myself thinking back to chiding Sir Terry Wogan for losing his sense of humour. How quaint that all seems. How I wish that were still the most political thing about it. So, I wrote something about it.
  • Relatedly related, to a small party on Saturday to watch the songs. A lovely evening, and what seemed like a nail-biting finish. Bangaranga!
  • ChatGPT made me a playlist for the Isle of Wight Festival, uploaded it to Apple Music, and explained why it had selected the songs: “It is less a tasteful critic’s guide than a data-led greatest hits tour of the line-up.”
  • Thursday’s dinner was at Six by Nico for the ten-course Seoul tasting menu. Everything was great, but the main courses were fantastic. Black pollock in a Seoul Korean sauce with mussel, clam and ssamjang was outstanding, and the Korean fried chicken — which sounds straightforward enough — was superb. I would happily have eaten considerably more of it.

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  • Race Across the World, episodes six and seven. At one point, I welled up a bit. Almaty looked very impressive. Mongolia looks deserted.
  • There was a lot of chatter in the news about the prime minister and whether he would be challenged. I really liked reading former MP Tom Watson’s take on everything, especially his description of how journalists can get themselves worked up about shenanigans: “You can hear the tremor in journalists’ voices whenever a Prime Minister starts to wobble. Nick Robinson’s voice climbed two semitones this week, and accelerated into that special Today programme register reserved for wars, resignations and arrests.”

Weeknotes #172: tables, darts and democracy

Volunteering, politics, table tennis and Wembley brought a lively week.

Week commencing Monday, 4 May 2026

Graffiti handwritten in white marker on the dark background of a Starlight Express show sign at Wembley Park. The text reads: "you have reached the end of the line… This Train Terminates here". To the left, the original sign features colourful beams of light streaking diagonally against a deep blue, star-filled cosmic backdrop.
Cheeky graffiti marks the end of Starlight Express at Wembley.

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 6/7; Exercise 2/7 and Move 4/7. (57%). Morning walks: 0/4. Office days: 0/4. Total steps: 35,862. 14.8 hours in meetings.

Life

  • More table tennis volunteering on Bank Holiday Monday. The competition moved into the knockout rounds, but the draw was announced late on Sunday night, so nobody was expecting a big influx of people supporting the teams playing. There were still four tables in play at all times, but there wasn’t a very big crowd, and neither of the positions I was given had much traffic.
  • Related, on my way on Monday, I saw a removal van at the Troubadour Theatre, which I assumed was there to pack up Starlight Express, as the show had finished the day before.
  • Wednesday, I attended a drinks event with some interesting people, but I really should’ve left after we’d had the drinks and not gone to the pub afterwards. We ended up across the road at Flight Club until midnight.
  • Polling day on Thursday brought some good news for PY, but early results pointed to a historic collapse in Labour’s support, so bad news for Keir.
  • On Friday, the scale of Labour’s losses became fully apparent. Across England, Labour lost nearly 1,500 local council seats but managed to hold on to my local council, Merton.
  • Saturday, back at Wembley. There was a new location, courtside, by the expensive seats. I wasn’t mad keen to spend time right down by the tables because one wrong move could throw somebody’s game, and that would have been bad.
  • Finals day opened with a bit of a show. We were in the arena for the rehearsals before the public was let in. There was a lot of pyrotechnics involved. It looked impressive when it was performed in front of what they said was a sell-out crowd. Certainly, the seats around us were very busy, which made the volunteering session go by quickly.
  • After the shift, we stayed until we were certain China’s women’s team had it in the bag.
  • On the way home, I noticed the graffiti on the Starlight Express signs. I thought it was quite moving.
  • Oh, and home for the men’s final. Thrilling game; China won. I can only imagine the noise in the arena. I was disappointed the BBC cut the feed before the medals.

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