Hello All,

The prediction of Youtube, AI bots who can cry and bygone era of charm from this week’s interestingness.

1. Jamie Oliver’s most delicious Chicken and Mushroom Soup.

2. David Lynch talks about where ideas come from.

3. Predicting YouTube in 1980, describing a spacewalk in 1952, describing pocket computers in detail in 1950 and other Asimov things. Also, such dignified old world charm ( more on that in the movies section below ). When did talk shows shift from this to knowing mundane details of some insignificant actor’s diet plans?

4. Westworld S2 Ep 8 Kiksuya is probably the best episode of any TV series I have watched in a while. The depth of story/ plot, cinematography, music, and acting is superlative in this episode. Also, the whole episode is in a Native American language called Lakota :

   Excerpt from a review I read about the episode:-

   "With the best stories, sometimes there is very little to say by way of analysis. There might be nothing to decode, nor hints to speculate about. One full of loss, purpose, kindness, and yearning freedom. And so culminates another beautiful episode — my favorite of the series so far — about the weapon of memory, the refusal to stay in our lanes, and the peaceful gathering to bring people into a better world."

   Ramin Djawadi’s brilliant cover of Nirvana’s Heart-Shaped Box perfectly peaks at the definitive moment in the episode when the AI bot sheds a tear ( no spoilers )

5. Picture-based reference guides for anything and everything. It is difficult to explain this without a picture :)

6. . TV :

   • History 101 on Netflix: 20-25 mins of information-packed episodes on various topics.

   • Space Force It is such a joy to watch Steve Carell and Malkovich in the same frame trying to put boots on the Moon.

7. Music : Ludovico Einaudi plays 12 Songs From Home. How does this man barely even touch the piano and create such music?

8. . I have always wanted to read more and have gloriously failed at it. Sometime last year onwards that has changed a tiny bit. My current daily reading comprises of Cosmos, Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers and 20 years of Dilbert ( Scott Adams’s comments after every strip makes this version truly a collector’s edition )

9. Movies :

   • Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf watch this for vicious old world charm

   • Castle In the Sky

   • My Neighbours The Yamadas (From the Director of Grave of the Fireflies, Only Yesterday and Princess Kaguya). I am utterly in love with this not at all Ghibli-like animation style

10. YouTube algorithm springs up such gems at times. Say hello to the human-computer ( watch from around the 15th minute onwards if you like to skip to the magic bit ). Once again why is everyone so polite and dignified in this video/ TV program? When and why did we lose that?

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That’s All Folks. See you around next time.

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Hello All,

Here are a few things that I thought were worth sharing this week:

1. Only Alain De Botton can articulate a dystopian future in such a kind and gentle manner .

2. Arrabiatta Recipe that I am definitely going to try. Sun-dried tomatoes twist sounds so mouthwatering. If you are checking this out on your headphones, be warned.

3. Now that I have learnt Morse Code, I am ready for that basement life. On a lighter note, the whole thing is beautifully designed and keeps you effortlessly involved. You will learn to like and understand Morse Code in under 20 mins.

4. Twin Peaks
I can't say I am a fan of this supposedly pathbreaking TV show yet. But, I have to admit, right from the opening notes of the title theme, it got me hooked.

This is what David Lynch had to say :

“Just slow things down and it becomes more beautiful,” Lynch said to Badalamenti. He instructed the composer to imagine a young woman, clearly upset, emerging from the treeline. She gets closer and closer and the music swells towards a catharsis. Twenty minutes later the piece was complete. “Don’t change a single note,” said Lynch. “I see Twin Peaks.”
“When you finish anything, people want you to then talk about it. And I think it’s almost like a crime,” he once explained, when invited to unpack Twin Peaks. “A film or a painting – each thing is its own sort of language and it’s not right to try to say the same thing in words. The words are not there. The language of film, cinema, is the language it was put into, and the English language – it’s not going to translate. It’s going to lose.”


5. If you are utterly sick of all the insta live "masterclasses" and want to find something refreshing on instagram, I would suggest burying yourself in the world of Interior Design
At least, this way you can be depressed in a brand new fashion.


6. Watchmen and Watchmen ( TV series ) : I am 11 years too late to this masterpiece of a film. If only DC movies had carried on in this direction.( sigh ).

Thankfully the TV series is a worthy accompaniment!

7. The Genius of Rahman analysed by this genius of a person. He is the The Nerdwriter Indian cinema deserves.

Cinema Beyond Entertainment. Take a bow.


8. My all time favourite cinematographer, Roger Deakins has few things to say about the movies he has shot. I can listen to this man speaking about movies all day long.

9. I stumbled upon Monument Valley years ago while watching House of Cards and since then I have been on the look out for games with stunning minimal design and serene music. Alto’s Adventure is the only one that has come close. Finally, yesterday I found this list of games with similar visual language.

10. I can't believe I am listing down a tik-tok link here ( sort of ). The video made me look the song up. and I was convinced it was something from the 80s.

Blinding Lights : The Weeknd
Jaane Woh Kaise log the

Mothership of a collection ( 60s to 2000s songs that shaped modern music)

Thank you for reading.

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