Monday 27 May 2013

#19 Some thoughts

The comprehension, rememberance and use of detail is what separates the accomplished from the wishful. Any of us can explain that the world was created in a large explosion but to explain in detail the calculations and theory behind this statement requires the acquisition of vast amounts of knowledge in the discipline of physics. The overwhelming desire to acquire such knowledge rests within the DNA, the fortunes, the life experience and the imaginations of the chosen few who elect to proceed down the path of discovery. Can the same be said of us? Consider again the level of detail in which you long to understand any area of life in which you have shown relative interest lately but know that your curiosity will not follow you down the dark, scary and most difficult path that leads to joy and prosperity without a big, strong, brave reason to walk beside it. The key to unlocking your curiosity is a peculiar shape but can be forged out of your natural desire to possess… anything, tangible or intangible. Positive and hopeful desire is an emotionally rewarding experience in itself and if wholesome in nature, should not be stifled by you or anybody else but let the fires of your wishes be stoked and fuelled so as to burn brightly in the night sky, which is otherwise dark and cold. Is not discontent a form of such hopeful desire? Is should be considered thus! Rejoice in the possessions and moments that you have yet to experience. No sooner will the fleeting glimpses of those destinations have passed through your mind, upon the accomplishment of your goals, than those of a much needed and enjoyed holiday. It is not just the discovery that the physicist enjoys but also the study of physics itself. The reward and accomplishment of dreams is shortly followed by an empty gap unless the next challenge is considered and lined up. This gap will last for as long as you permit it and for as long as you ponder it. Take the things for which you believe you will be most remembered and pursue them wholeheartedly. It was innovation and marketing that Peter Drucker said were the two characteristics of business. The product may be an idea rather than its physical counterpart. What’s true in business is often true in life. You have to come up with an idea and you have to market it, to yourself. Look at the London skyline. Are the heights of the buildings not as unpredictable and varied as the branches of a tree? Look at the tube map. Was the pattern of the network devised by any one individual? Do not worry too much about which path you will take or the circumstances that may befall you. Half of it is out of your hands. Enjoy the extent to which you can make the best of the rest of your time here.

Saturday 18 May 2013


#18 Low frequencies

Tom rarely went to school. He sometimes turned up at registration in the morning to announce to his classmates how much he'd spent on beer that weekend and that he was heading out for a run or to get a tan. It's important to show face. The great thing about being in sixth form was that we were permitted to fill out our own registration forms, even by proxy. As a result, the records show that Tom had a rough couple of years. At least between all the suspensions, rare and in some cases completely unique new illnesses and personal days, he had the opportunity to discover himself spiritually by partaking in numerous religious experiences, which sometimes lasted months at a time.

One benefit of not having to go to school is that you have more time to work and Tom spent a fair amount of cash on his car, including its sound system. On the occasions that Tom dropped by the school to say hi to his friends, we would sometimes ride around, tailgating the other drivers at speed whilst listening to incredibly loud music out of custom made speakers. To see Tom's Ford Escort was to hear it first.

My father always had large speakers. If you're going to get speakers, why wouldn't you get big ones? I've liked trance and house since my mid teens. It's an easy way of achieving uniqueness without really having to do much. Unless you're from Manchester. Everyone in Manchester likes electronic dance music. I grew up in a detached house with liberal parents. Shortly before attending university, I discovered Digitally Imported.com, which provided the constant steaming beat by which I lived for three years and led to the discovery of many of the tunes I would listen and run to over the course of the next decade. The website is still going strong.

I'd wanted a subwoofer for a long time. Perhaps because I had extraordinarily little else going on in my life at that moment, I finally decided last week that I should have one. It came on Wednesday. Why would postal services deliver things during the day? People are at work during the day. Anyway, they left it with our neighbor who, in her retirement has involuntarily turned her house into a post depot. You don't really want your neighbors to know that next door just got a sub but there's a chance she wouldn't really know what it was so maybe we'll get away with it.

If I ever had to get arrested for something, I would choose loud music.

Sunday 12 May 2013


#17 Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary is one of the six people I follow on Twitter, the others being Wings For LifeLance ArmstrongTony RobbinsPwC and Charlie Sheen. I don't use Twitter very much.

An entrepreneur in the fields of wine and social media, what made me follow Gary was his persona. He's  loud, slightly self absorbed and like a lot of successful public speakers, talks in concepts much of the time rather than going in to technical detail. This makes a lot of his speeches accessible and entertaining, which is why I can sit and watch any of the thousand episodes of Wine Library TV despite not really being that interested in the drink. I don't mind people that are slightly into themselves. The people I don't like are the angry ones, the intolerant ones and the ones that don't make time to talk to you at all.

During the advent of Twitter and the explosion in YouTube's popularity, Gary grabbed hold of a webcam and started making a video blog about the wines that he tasted as part of his job as the owner-manager of a wine company. After months of doing this, he started to develop a large following and became known as a person that knew how to grow a business successfully online. He's written books about it.

That's probably enough on Gary Vaynerchuk. I wanted to put this in here too: Earlier today, my house mate Naomi was spreading pesto on pieces of bread. She said that she used to do it when she was younger and tell her brothers that she was eating mashed up grass.

Monday 6 May 2013


#16 Doughnuts

God, it's eight thirty on Sunday night and I'm tired. Can't believe I have to come up with this shit every week. Right, time for a blog update :)

This year, I decided to start making doughnuts. It was a logical step after perfecting the brownie recipe and whilst I don't expect to start selling these bad boys, perhaps I can highlight in a small way how important it is that Krispy Kreme must one day face competition and you know what? I hope it gets knocked off its over-glazed perch.

So what exactly is a doughnut? Well it turns out they have to be fried, so what I'm making isn't actually a doughnut at all. It's just a cake. Aw shoot. Maybe I should start frying them. Damn I really want a Sausage & Egg McMuffin on account of having just seen a Google picture of a doughnut that someone cut in half and put sausage, egg and cheese in the middle. There are also pics of people having done this with croissants, which is a lot more sensible.

So this weekend I ate three pizzas and two burgers and watched 29 episodes of The Office (U.S.).