no drum and bass in the jazz room - clever girl

I'll be honest - I have no idea how to write this. I'd love to be able to talk about this album but I don't really know the right words or feel like I have enough music knowledge to say what I really mean. Oh well. I'll try.

This is a great album. I love the jazz influence, I love the clever drums, I love the complex guitar. I love the bit where it goes "BA DA BA BA". I love the way it builds and falls and plays with rhythms and tempos. I love trying to listen to one instrument only to get dragged into something playful in my other ear. I love the emotions you can pull from the instruments. I love how it ends on a high and leaves you feeling pumped and hopeful.

BA DA BA BA

tags: music

permalink | posted by nathan on Thursday, the 5th of August, 2021, in an early evening lull

the princess bride

Whilst I was working for YouTube, they had a Global Summit in LA. We flew out there for a couple of weeks, spending the first by the beach, and the second in the city at the convention. It was a really great time: looking back it's a really good example of the kinds of things Google will do to foster a collaborative and friendly atmosphere that really builds relationships and friendships with coworkers. The event itself was pretty nuts: the picture below is of our private Snoop Dog concert on the last evening.

On one of the evenings we went out to a Pool Bar. It was a fairly small, busy place, and we got there pretty late, meaning we didn't get to play any pool (and almost got into an argument about who got the last game on one of the tables). One thing I remember distinctly about the bar was that it had a tiny little TV in the corner, which was playing The Princess Bride. As we weren't playing pool and the bar was a bit too loud to talk (plus I think I was pretty tired and a bit hungover), I ended up watching a fair amount of the movie.

The part I remember distinctly was the scene with Vizzini and Westley, where they try and outwit each other with poison in the wine. I still think the twist at the end of the scene is genius.

After that, the film went on my list and at some point we got around to watching it. It is very up my street. It's just very fun, and doesn't take itself too seriously. The physical humour is on point, the framing of a story in a story is great, and the number of fantastic lines is too high to count ("Is this a kissing book?" is a line Beth and I quote to each other more than I'd like to admit).

We watched it again this evening and after reading the book, I'm struck by how silly it is compared to how much darker I remember the book being. The humour is different too; it's almost slapstick in the movie, especially from the wedding to them storming the castle.

One of my favourites!

tags: movies

permalink | posted by nathan on Sunday, the 1th of August, 2021, when he should have been getting ready for bed

parkrun - 31st july 2021 - thurrock - 23:28

They started parkrun 4 minutes early, so we were getting out of the car as they were starting the countdown. A little sad as my watch said 22:55, but I did have to dump my bag and then get over to the start line. Think it could have been a much better time though!

Had some good running with other people today though. Paced myself against a couple of other guys, and beat one but lost to the other. Good fun!

tags: parkrun, running

permalink | posted by nathan on Saturday, the 31th of July, 2021, in an early evening lull

parkrun - 24th july 2021 - thurrock - 24:02

Parkrun is back!!!!

I thought it could be fun to keep a log of Parkruns as well. We missed the Wednesday 5k this month (v sad) but as the move is over I'm hoping to get more into it whilst we're living at Beth's parents'.

It was pretty humid and hot. It was raining just before we left and I wore my trail shoes, which probably wasn't the best idea as the ground was still really solid.

My time was 24:02, which was fine? Given how fit I feel at the moment anyway. It's kind of reassuring that I'm as fast as I was before I really started running. I haven't regressed past that, which is nice! And I know it comes back quite quickly. Anyway, onwards and upwards! Looking forward to more parkruns!

tags: running, parkrun

permalink | posted by nathan on Saturday, the 24th of July, 2021, when he should have been getting ready for bed

moving out part 2

We're done! I didn't end up taking too many pictures because it was much harder work than we thought. Still, we boxed everything up, got it all in the van, and unpacked at Beth's parents' house.

Driving a big old van through London was an experience as well. I'm glad I can still drive a manual car as well (it's been a while!). There was definitely a lot of revving involved though.

Lots of unpacking to do now. We've started but it seems like a pretty daunting task... One piece at a time, I guess!

tags: life

permalink | posted by nathan on Friday, the 23th of July, 2021, during the most productive hours of the day