Notes from Germany

I didn’t notice it in Frankfurt, but maybe that was because it was such a sunny day and after the 10 hour flight from Vancouver I was a bit jetlagged. Happy people enjoying the warm rays, walk the river under the watchful eyes of the statue of Karl de Grosse (aka Charlemagne), King of the Franks in the 9th century. Whether it was the weather, jetlag, or the cute little historical towncenter of Römerberg, I didn’t notice it.

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Started reading: The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie 📚

My Coffee Advent Calendar Experience

For the past couple of years, some of my Fission comrades would get an Advent Calendar from Revolver Coffee in downtown Vancouver. Revolver is a pretty famous specialty coffee shop around these parts. Each year they gather together some interesting beans, package them up in little baggies, and ship them out as a mystery box. Now that we are back in Canada, this is year the first time I got to participate with the daily tasting with my friends.

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Watched Sicario for Xmas day today. Not sure why but a re-watch had been building for a while. I guess I was visited by a lonely ghost of Medellín 🎥

Had a very busy year, so just binged the latest #DoctorWho in prep for Xmas special. Finally completely fell in love with Ncuti Gatwa in Rogue 💗 Happy to interleave with Flashcasts from my friends at the @incomparable@zeppelin.flights 🎙

Xmas lights along the shore at White Rock, BC 📸

www.flickr.com/gp/sandba…

Night shot of a large Xmas lights display taken from the pier. Below the lights reflect on the waves

Last day of school before the winter break! 🎉

Amazing review from @brainvsbook.bsky.social

This series is like if Silent Spring and Das Kapital had a baby and raised it in a pulp SF novel from the sixties, but then sent it to shojo manga finishing school.

Want!

brainvsbook.wordpress.com/2024/12/1…

Cover of Dark Green the manga, depicting a very thin young elf-like boy holding an impossibly thin sword

Listen to @uncannyjapan.bsky.social talk about how to make salt and the Salt God in Japan. Take a look at this shiogama 塩釜 at Jūrin-ji temple, built southwest of Kyoto in 850 and home to the famous poet Ariwarano Narihira.

See the full album here: flic.kr/s/aHsmMUh…

in a forest glade is a circular depression in the earth and a small stone well-looking object

Shannon Falls, just south of Squamish on the way to Whistler. 3rd highest waterfall in BC

Chad selfie in front of a very high mountain waterfall. He is pointing up at it.

I just got burned 🔥 🔥 🔥 by my 12 year old: “You ain’t got no rizz! The only thing you pull is push doors!” 🚑 🚑🚑

Just found out one of my favourite authors Pankaj Mishra has a new book coming out in Feb: The World After Gaza. Instant pre-order. 💸

His essay on Gaza in the LRB from earlier this year is magisterial. 🎓

Up to Day 8 on my #RevolverCoffee Advent Calendar. Been some fun ones in here so far. ☕

A pourover coffee in mid-stream. Beside the mug is a little notebook with tasting notes. In the background is the box the advent calendar coffee came in, and two boxes of candy canes

Reminded of Ibn Khaldun’s writing on solidarity and mutualism. That was in the 14th C. Asabiyyah is an important word to add to our political lexicon in this century too.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asab…

I read Limitarianism earlier this year, which I recommend. This visualization adds to her argument: eattherichtextformat.github.io/1-pixel-w…

H/t to @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social

Finished The Talented Mr. Ripley 📚

The interiority is remarkable. I wonder how people in 1955 took this book!? It must have blown minds and caused a controversy of some sort: witch hunt/book-banning/congressional hearings? The travel was super real too, she must’ve lived in Italy. 🤔

Was just doing the math: in a few weeks is the anniversary when I left home and secretly went to Japan as an 18 year old. (There is a whole story there!) Anyways, I am now a year older than my father at that time. Wow! THIS is how young he was! 🤯

From Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social

both the neoliberal consensus and the Palo Alto consensus have collapsed, leading the political economies of Washington DC and Silicon Valley to move in very different directions.

See the discussion on BSky.

Day 2 of #RevolverCoffeeAdvent and I really like this one! No spoilers, but it is from one of my favourite regions. ☕️

Smooth flight over the Rocky Mountains 🏔️

Snow covered mountain range out of an airplane window