The Monday Mix (23/01/2023)
Hi friends,
January is such a weird month. I’ve mentioned this before but it really does feel like you’re just waiting for it to be done, so spring is a little bit closer. I don’t mind the cold weather, but when it’s too cold, that’s a different story.
Not much to report this week, just working away on various things, and waiting for January to be over and things to warm up a bit. One thing I am enjoying is the Australian Open tennis, which is ongoing at the moment. With Federer retired, Nadal injured and Djokovic vulnerable, it does feel like there’s finally going to be a changing of the guard. The same is true on the women’s side where the tournament feels wide open. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the new Netflix series, Break Point, I recommend checking it out.
It’s not as good as Drive to Survive, but it’s still interesting and shows how lonely and unforgiving life is on the tennis circuit. I was surprised it appeared to be that lonely, just goes to show what you don’t realise when you aren’t immersed in certain areas.
Navalny’s Right-Hand Woman
A fascinating interview with Maria Pevchikh, who is essentially Alexei Navalny’s second in command at their Anti-Corruption Foundation. The piece is worth reading if you want to know just how perverse and crazy Putin’s Russia is. It looks at the foundation and the events surrounding Navlany’s poisoning which is surreal. It’s a good primer for watching the documentary on Navalny, which I did yesterday. It’s a great watch and gives you much more respect for him, and his team, including Maria who risks everything to expose the corruption and brutality of Putin’s regime.
The capture of an Oligarch’s Yacht
Following on from the above piece, this one looks at the capture of a superyacht belonging to a Russian oligarch. The increasing proliferation of these yachts is a sign the global economy isn’t working. They are essentially floating luxury villas, and there’s no real need to own one. The fact that people can, is, at least to me, that tax rates aren’t high enough. This is money that would be better spent on improving schools, hospitals and infrastructure yet it’s being used to build floating monuments to hubris.
The Culture Wars Look Different on Wikipedia
Interesting piece on how contentious issues are resolved on Wikipedia. As someone who still edits there occasionally, this piece was largely on the money. Rather than the mudslinging you might see elsewhere on the web, difficult conversations, such as the ones broached in the article, are civil on Wikipedia. This is a good thing as the encyclopedia is a fountain of knowledge for the globe, which is even more remarkable given that it’s entirely from volunteers. Maybe, there’s a lesson the be learned in how disputes are settled on Wikipedia that can be applied to the rest of the web.
Book I’m reading - The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
An interesting novel that I’m two chapters into. It follows a butler who takes a trip away from the country manor he works in, to the English countryside. Not much has happened so far, but I can feel the suspense building up and I’m anticipating what is about to unfold. I enjoyed Klara and The Sun, so seeing as this is one of Ishiguro’s most famous books, I’m optimistic it will be just as good, if not better!
Quote I’m pondering: – “A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?” – Albert Einstein
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom