I'm feeling _______ about the world, but how can we change it? (#36)
[CORRECTED] In this week's edition: Wooden satellites, change, and a cool Australian comedy.
Hey folks!
Welcome to Newsletter #36. I hope you had a great week.
Mine’s a bit rough - well, all the news from around the world and there was a lot on my mind when I wrote two of my political/social newsletters in one week.
So please forgive me if I’m a little tired and feeling worried for a few days. But it’s good for you to know that my worrying has subsided somewhat, and I’m catching up with some good folks in the coming days as I prepare to return to Canada again!
Also, bear with me in a transition as I am planning to put that link to the politics edition here so that you’ll just have this in your inbox/feed in future.
Otherwise, let’s just go through some quick news bites….
ICYMI
In case you missed what’s going on, here are some interesting stories that I came across this week:
The world has sent its first wooden (sustainable) satellite into space.
On the same topic, people are baffled as to why the position Britain’s oldest satellite was moved half a planet away.
An Australian public school with aboriginal design influences has picked up the Building of the Year prize at the World Architectural Festival in Singapore.
Japanese-style “Miyawaki” tiny forests are taking root in the UK - with 285 of these since 2022.
Australia is banning childen under 16 from accessing social media.
A night-cycling trend in China draws 100,000 people out in Zhengzhou as they cycle in the quest for good soup dumplings.
Photo of the Week
Some of my own street photography, this time from Toronto’s Chinatown.
Idea of the Week: Change (takes time)
I won’t say much about this week’s idea after what just happened south of the border. I’ll just leave this one out here if you need to think about what we can do, now.
As in…take action and not just wait for others to do so for us, or to hope the world will somehow change without our input.
I read this amazing short piece in LinkedIn the other day by a former colleague, Dillpreit, who’s a brilliant advocate for the environment. You can check out her profile here.
Change can really take a long time to unfold.
Indeed, the United States took a long time to change from being an ultra-institutionally racist country in the 1860s to instituting laws to enshrine civil rights for all its marginalise citizens….in the 1960s.
I can’t explain now how the above change took a decade because it’s multifaceted, and also why such changes haven’t make everyone’s lives sweet and rosy. But it’s just one example in our vast human world.
Now…given the technologies we now have and the expansion of human prosperity in the past century, we should be able to acquire the skills and knowledge to make positive world-sustaining changes quicker than what our predecessors could do.
Of course, the more privileged of us can do more, so it’s not going to be equal and by no means easy.
Nevertheless, knowledge and skills mean nothing if they are not used or practiced. So yes, even if it makes a dent, act and drive it. Because change takes time, and it’s never too late to get started.
Music This Week: Tommy Garrett
The 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett is a musical group assembled by Tommy (Snuff) Garrett, a record producer who’s had an illustrious career working with the likes of Buddy Holly, Cher and Brenda Lee.
Of course, the music for aforementioned group was performed by instrumental guitarist Tony Tedesco whose playing credits include themes from M*A*S*H and Batman (the TV series in the 1960s)
I’m quite glad I have this lovely record with me. As usual, this was procured in Montreal for less than the price of a coffee, and it’s great lounge/listening music with my homebrewed coffee or a cocktail.
The Read of the Week: Mastering AI
I’m thinking of getting more into Artificial Intelligence (AI) not just in terms of software development, but something in terms of regulation and governance. So I’m reading some stuff to prepare my case for a course I’m eyeing. Including this book, Mastering AI: A Survival Guide to Our Superpowered Future
Three chapters in so I am not going to rate this book, but from what I’ve gone through so far it’s an illuminating read if you want to know about the benefits and pitfalls of AI.
Author Jeremy Kahn’s extensive lists of contacts with industry insiders as a journalist uncovers the vast disruptive opportunities that AI will bring, but also the dangers of such technologies if they’re not properly regulated.
There’s no doubt that AI will change the world we know it today - this book is one of the few things that can help you to do understand that better.
Articles/Opinions This Week
How “working alone, together” - makes you more productive.
Do we need to hear more from celebrities in politics? Here’s Variety’s take.
Pet inheritance is a thing - and it’s complex.
Screentime This Week: Fisk
On that note about pet inheritance and moving on from Apple TV+, if you’re looking for something light hearted to deal with that ______ (insert preferred emotion here).
Let’s talk about Fisk, a very underrated Australian comedy that’s now in its third season on the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). The first two seasons are currently on Netflix.
Fisk is a lighthearted comedyseries that centres around the life of Helen Tudor-Fisk, a middle-aged lawyer who was abruptly fired from her Sydney law firm after fighting with a client that happened to be her ex-husband’s lover.
Freshly divorced, she is forced to decamp back to her hometown in Melbourne where she restarts her career at an unremarkable probate law firm run by a brother-sister duo (Ray and Roz Gruber) and their office clerk George. Why probate? Well, because in her words, she doesn’t have to deal with dead people.
Unfortunately that’s not how the law of probate and inheritance works, and we’ll see Helen’s character evolving across two series as she deals with hilarious oddball clients, dysfunctional family, and of course, her eccentric colleagues.
Of course, we’re also treated to Helen’s eccentricities - see that oversized brown suit in the picture? Spoiler alert - she has three of them, and it’s almost as though the creators have an eye for blending in Chaplin slapstick for the fun of it.
The comedy is the brainchild of comedian Kitty Flanagan (who plays Helen) and it leans heavily towards the dry comedic Schitt’s Creek humour with the dash of slapstick Chaplin on top. Ahhh…just like a latte with a dash of pumpkin spice.
And also that it’s set in Australia, lots of coffee jokes and Aussie slang in this one. The wife loves it, and so do I. Can’t wait to see the next season on Netflix!
Till then…see you in the next one.