The Monday Mix (19/06/2023)
Hi friends,
Apologies again for not sending this out last week. I wasn’t feeling great and decided to give the newsletter a miss last week, as I spent the day in bed. We’re back up and running this week.
I was treated to a spectacular thunderstorm the other night, which kept me awake until 2 am. I can’t remember experiencing one while I’m trying to sleep before, but it was an experience, to say the least. Flashes of lightning through the curtains, thunder booming in the distance and the incessant beat of rain. It was intense.
I can’t say I enjoyed it, as I did wonder at the time, whether my house was going to get hit such was the ferocity and proximity of the storm. But, it did give me a greater experience of the power of nature and how spectacular these events are. Hopefully, there aren’t many more this summer though. One was enough!
Merseybeat
As someone who’s grown up not far from Liverpool and supports the football team, this was an enjoyable read about the Merseybeat phenomenon that swept the city, country and America too in the 1960s. The Beatles are the most famous Merseybeat band but there were many others too and they played a key role in the culture of the UK in the 1960s and the wider world.
The Ghost in the Machine
I’ve long been sceptical about ghosts. There have been tales about ghosts for centuries, yet there is no definitive evidence of them. In the age of smartphones, I find this remarkable. I went on a ghost tour in Edinburgh last year and again, despite the enthusiasm of the tour guide, I left wholly unconvinced ghosts are real. I also grew up in a city, Chester, that is supposed to be full of ghosts. Roman soldiers roaming the ancient walls, ghosts in pubs etc. I’ve never seen one or heard any tales from anybody else about one either.
This is a really interesting piece about a scientist’s discovery that might explain why so many people believe they’ve been in the presence of a ghost. It’s interesting and a theory I hadn’t heard about before.
MDMA and a White Supremacist
This is a remarkable article that states a white supremacist renounced his beliefs after participating in a drug trial where he took MDMA. This seems too good to be true but the article goes in-depth about what happened and MDMA itself. While the guy admits he still has racist thoughts and not everyone will have the same experience as him, it’s interesting to see something like this. I’m not sure what the implications are, but if MDMA can improve empathy between humans that’s a powerful possibility.
Music
This is an example of a Merseybeat and the anthem of Liverpool F.C. They play this song before every match and it is some experience to be in the stadium with 50,000 people belting this out. It’s a beautiful song and a personal one for me so I hope you like it as much as I do!
Book I’m reading - Berlin by Sinclair McKay
Berlin was the city of the 20th century. The Weimar Republic, the rise and fall of the Nazis, division between east and west, blockade and airlift, erection of the Berlin Wall and its eventual fall. Berlin was a proxy for the events that shaped the century. I’ve just started this book that looks at the history of the city in that century. It’s an intriguing read so far and one that’s got me hooked.
Quote I’m pondering: – “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom