This blog should be is on the fediverse now. It took me ages to figure out why it wasn’t working initially; turns out at some point in the last twenty years I turned off the REST-API (didn’t need it and it was a potential security issue to leave it accessible). And if you interact with posts on the account, your likes and comments should will show up here on the blog below the post in question. If you’re on Mastodon, follow: @blog@www.thierryheles.com
Life
On Friday, I took myself on a day trip to Cheltenham, primarily for the annual poetry festival. Specifically, I went for a reading by Joseph Conlon, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford who has written two epics, published as one volume, on the origins of the universe and the scientists who made important discoveries along the way. It was very, very good (the reading was also in a church, which is just chef’s kiss).
While I was in Cheltenham, I had to go and find out if that cult following of Guilt Trip was justified and let me tell you, the peaches and cream doughnut was absolutely up there with the best doughnuts I’ve ever had. The coffee was kinda meh but I will definitely be back for more doughnuts. Side note: I walked 22km that day, which is the personal best for the year yet, it seems (I installed Fantasy Hike a couple of months ago, which lets you follow Frodo’s journey and compete with friends).
On Sunday, I went pottery painting. I will show off my demon goblin child when it’s out of the kiln.
Entertainment
I finally listened to the Fiasko Fest 🇱🇺 episode with my friend Joël. I love the podcast anyway but it’s always a particular highlight when it features people I know.
The new season of Taskmaster is phenomenal. No notes. If you’re in the UK, it’s on Channel 4, if you’re anywhere else, it’s on YouTube.
On a related note, the Alex Horne episode of Dish had me in stitches. Another recommendation: this podcast interview with Joshua Jackson about losing his childhood home in the Los Angeles fire is such a gut punch but it also really made me appreciate what a great dad he must be.
Why did nobody tell me there is a new season of Kitchen Nightmares USA? Hey, I can’t always go to fancy poetry readings! And I’m a man of many interests – one of those just happens to be watching a Michelin chef gag in a mouldy walk-in fridge. 😷
I rewatched GoldenEye for the umpteenth time on Saturday. Five stars, no notes, the best Bond film ever made. It did also make me want to rewatch Remington Steele again.
Added to the rotation this week: Comme l’italien by Comagatte, U WON’T by INJI, and les filles, les meufs by marguerite.
Links
You can run the classic video game Doom on an air fryer. Bonkers.
Billionaires should not exist in a just world but I can respect Bill Gates’ commitment to giving away 99% of his wealth. Initially, the plan was for his Gates Foundation to keep operating for another 20 years after his death but now they’ve promised to give away the remaining $200bn by 2045. I like that he phrased it as giving “my money back to society”.
What the fuck (“peer-reviewed” lol). And while I’m swearing: fuck Meta.
Sarah Miller nailed it with her essay on the ridiculousness of old, rich white men claiming that everything has gotten better. And while we’re on capitalism, design platform Figma’s journey just keeps getting more fascinating (it’s nice that the merger with Adobe collapsed).
If you’re in Luxembourg, Joël wrote a good summary of what’s been happening with artist group Richtung 22 in Esch, a city that was the European Capital of Culture three years ago but seems hellbent on having no legacy in the arts.
Writing
The first week of the month is usually my most productive period because I meet up with fellow writers to read poetry, work on new material and give feedback. It’s genuinely been one of my favourite days every month over the past couple of years.
I didn’t put anything particularly decent in my notebook this time but that’s okay; sometimes you just gotta get the crap out. There was one line from another poet though that’s been stuck in my mind all week. I love that – being exposed to other people’s writing process was one of the things I missed most in life post-university.
If you’re wondering if any of my writing from that group has ever made it onto the blog: the short story Polaris and the poem Sakura did.
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