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 Guy Moorhouse
convergenewsletter.com |
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| Hey, what's new?
A big hello to you. Especially to all you new subscribers receiving this as your first issue. Hope you like it! But if you don't, just unsubscribe. Easy.
A few things have caught my eye since the last issue. Firstly, I was quite enjoying the very surreal AI powered sitcom, Nothing Forever until it was taken down after accidentally broadcasting offensive content. Oops.
On a similar topic, I also found myself nodding along to quite a lot of what self-confessed nerd, Tom Scott talks about in his video about AI and sigmoid curves and how we're likely on the verge of huge technological and existential change.
It's also been both maddening and hilarious watching Twitter continue to flail about, this time shutting down their API with borderline no notice. It's totally fair to try to monetise access, but to just shit on loads of small businesses and great apps that helped the platform become something, is not cool. They should have given these teams way more of a heads up. Moves like these just feel like the last gasps of a dying beast to me. Which is really just a coded way of saying, get yourself on Mastodon. Yeah, I know it's clunky to get started, but it's worth your effort, I promise. (How to get started on Mastodon.)
OK, enough of my waffle. Onto the fine, fine links you came for... |
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Remarkable |
Letterboxd Year in Review Film recommendations From more than 227 million ratings cast by Letterboxd members in 2022, the films in this list were ranked the best of the best.
There's so much good stuff to dig into here. I've already watched quite a few of these, with lots more excellent looking titles to stick on the watchlist. 🔗 letterboxd.com | |
Matches Stop motion study I've been following Tomohiro Okazaki on Instagram for a while and he is some kind of genius. He makes these incredibly intricate, creative stop motion studies using matchsticks.
This link is a compilation of his loops and makes for a very mesmerising seven and half minutes. 🔗 youtu.be | |
TET Indie game I'm quite a fan of weird, thought-provoking games. This indie title from Charlotte Broccard is certainly one of those…
"Prepare a meal for the Vietnamese Lunar New Year dinner. But hurry, your guests are arriving soon! A short hand-drawn experience full of delicious surprises." 🔗 playtet.com | |
Wonders of Street View Location explorer Another internet banger from Neal Agarwal. This is a super compelling, fun way to explore locations round the world.
Get taken on an unusual journey via a curated selection of fascinating and noteworthy places in Google Street View. Just hit the "random" button to be taken to your next destination. It's kind of like a choose your own adventure, but with a map. 🔗 neal.fun | |
muted dot io Interactive music tools If you like tinkering and playing music like I do, you'll love this.
Probably better described by it's creator, Seb, than me, it's a "magical collection of interactive music theory tools & visual references to learn music online for free."
Great stuff. Think this will be brilliant for kids too. 🔗 muted.io | |
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Creative Spotlight |
Tommy Parker Illustrator Tommy is an illustrator I’ve been following for a good while. I absolutely love the humanity in his work — his depiction of people and use of colour is impeccable.
And he has a lovely site bringing everything together perfectly for your viewing pleasure.
I had the good fortune to get to work with Tommy a couple of years ago while art directing a project he helped on when I freelanced at Breakroom. 🔗 tommyparker.co.uk | |
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Watch |
Persepolis Film I recently watched Tehran, the TV series and it reminded me of this fantastic graphic novel made into full animated feature, by Marjane Satrapi. So I rewatched it.
If you've not seen, it's brilliant. A beautifully animated potted history of modern Iran through one woman's experience; from a precocious and outspoken nine-year-old as the Shah is deposed and the veil is forced on women, to a bold 14-year-old sent to school in Austria where she discovers music and sex.
Definitely worth a look. I watched via Studio Canal on Amazon Prime. 🔗 amazon.co.uk | |
SHRINKiNG TV series I picked up this series from an interview with Brett Goldstein (of Ted Lasso fame) as he exec produced it. And it does not disappoint.
It's perfectly paced black comedy about Jimmy (Jason Segal) who is struggling to grieve the loss of his wife while being a dad, friend, and therapist.
The whole cast shines for me, but it's especially nice to see Harrison Ford in something like this, which is quite off his usual piste.
I'm watching on Apple TV+ 🔗 tv.apple.com | |
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Listen |
A Linear Progression by tape_hiss EP On first listen I was pretty captivated by this ambient, housey debut from NYC producer tape_hiss. Lots of lovely dubby, euphoric beat patterns really scratch the itch for me here. Great stuff. 🔗 songwhip.com | |
Ultra Truth by Daniel Avery Album Love this new Avery album from the end of last year. It's full of melancholic chords and beautiful synth lines.
Lone Swordsman, his tribute to former collaborator, the late Andrew Weatherall is a particular highlight for me, both beautiful and tragic. 🔗 songwhip.com | |
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Read |
Rutherford and Fry’s Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything Non-fiction I just finished this brilliant, popular science book from Drs Hannah Fry and Adam Rutherford (of Radio 4 fame). I've been listening as an audiobook on my morning walks and it's perfect.
It's a kind of aural encyclopaedia of fascinating facts on everything from the history of the universe to the science of sleep to unconscious bias to whether your dog loves you and more.
Next up, I'm going to get my sons listening to it too as it's very accessibly written and I think they'll love it. 🔗 literal.club | |
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| OK, I'm out. Hope there was something in here of interest. It'd be magic to hear from you if you have a recommendation for a future issue, or just want to say hi. All you have to do is hit reply on this email — I read all the responses I get…
Cheers and have a great rest of your week. See you next time! (•◡•) / |
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