The Monday Mix (22/05/2023)
Hi friends,
I’m late in sending this out today so I’ll get straight into it with what I want to share with you this week.
Wine Heist
Just when you think you’ve read all of the crazy stories you’ll ever come across, another one pops up that makes you shake your head in disbelief. Two thieves managed to steal bottles of wine worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Michelin-starred restaurant in Spain. The lengths they go to steal the bottles are remarkable and just show that there’s a market in crime for almost everything. I’d never considered high-end wine as something people would steal but you learn something new every day.
The Stasi and The Swan
An old read but a fascinating one about three Americans who were arrested in 1997 for spying for East Germany. It’s an interesting story and highlights how people can get sucked into ideologies for what they believe are good reasons but end up working for a regime that’s nothing like the ideal image they had in their minds.
The Carbon Con
I’m not massively surprised by this article. It looks in the carbon offsetting industry and includes that. a lot of it is smoke and mirrors. I’ve always felt it was a strange industry. I remember paying an extra Euro or two a few years ago when I was travelling on FlixBus around Europe to offset my trip. I did it because it made me less guilty even though travelling by bus isn’t as bad as travelling in a car. Still, I paid but what did I pay for? Did the money go to ‘offsetting’ my emissions or not? I’ll likely never know but it’s unlikely I’ll ever do it again.
Music
I stumbled across this video of someone playing the music from the Interstellar soundtrack on the piano and had to share it. It’s always sounded amazing and you get to see just how intricate the composition is. It must take some skill to be able to learn how to play this arrangement!
Book I’m reading - The Dream of Europe by Geert Mak
Halfway through this book and it’s a good account of the past 20 years or so of European history. Gives a deeper look into the period and some personal stories behind the history
Quote I’m pondering: – “freedom would be not to choose between black and white but to abjure such prescribed choices.” – Theodor Adorno
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom