With ers Without You

A few observations on flying out of the Gold Coast this morning.

1. I departed through a new fancy boarding gate, they have scales in the floor to weigh carry-on stealthily. The new gates are also a bit confusing to reach.

2. for the first time in over 350 flights over 20 years with Qantas my carry-on luggage was weighed and subsequently checked in as luggage, aka taken off me. Which is fine, it’s the rules. But it’s also why professionals fly Qantas, because they won’t touch our carry-on. If that bag doesn’t arrive in Melbourne, I can’t marry a couple this afternoon.

3. the Qantas staff seem to be sick and tired of … gestures at everything … and can you blame them?

I had 14kg over two bags and was travelling only carry-on because I have a quick transfer and I’m low on faith in the Sydney and Melbourne baggage handlers. Here’s hoping for luggage success.

Over the microphone one of the crew has announced that it’s great to have us onboard, I’m sure it’s not.

Dr. Gabor Maté​:

“The road to hell is not paved with good intentions. It is paved with lack of intention.”

Tom Johnson on realising his attention span has become fragmented:

“Sometimes, I’d occasionally pull out my phone without any particular reason, unlock the screen, and just stare at it dumbly, not sure about which app to open.”

I’d like to start a coffee shop in Cupertino called Appel Perk

The Queensland government is rolling out a plastic ban, which is going to be detrimental to the Gold Coast surgical improvement market.

It’s hard to explain puns to kleptomaniacs because they always take things literally.

I don’t know which PAW Parrol parents need to hear this but: Mayor Goodway is the mayor of Adventure Bay and Mayor Humdinger is the mayor of Foggy Bottom with a population of one - which is him.

Both are current mayors in the generally same location.

“Hopefully this makes you really angry or confirms your preexisting biases and worldviews. Best of luck xoxo”

• The Algorithm

I’ve always wanted to see my work published, so when my friend Justin suggested I had been in a photo book called “Australia: A Celebration”, I went investigating.

$16! What a bargain!

Oh, there I am.

If you’re liking these photos, I reckon you’d really like my Unsplash portfolio where you can use all the images for free.

You just can’t sell them.

And there I’m not. No attribution, at the least.

No permission sought, or license payment made.

Off to the lawyers we go.

Craig Mod to Kai in Dense Discovery 194:

“It’s easy to be seduced by the world of potentiality. A book is always greatest before it’s written. You are intoxicated by what it can be. That’s very dangerous. You want to kill those seductions as quickly as possible, and one way to achieve that is fast iteration.

Make known the unknown; murder your fantasies.”

From my boy @JayT0pp’s email:

“The tourist seeks out culture because in our world culture has disappeared into the maw of the spectacle. Culture has been torn down and replaced with a mall or a talk ­show. Because our education is nothing but a preparation for a lifetime of work and consumption-because we ourselves have ceased to create.”

Allow yourself the uncomfortable luxury of changing your mind

Abortion Banned In Parts Of USA, So Children Can Live Long Enough To Be Shot Dead At High School

Kevin Kelly in The Need for World Government

“It seems obvious to me that planetary problems demand planetary government.”

Some personal news: we’re moving to Mexico later this year. It’s time to get off the hamster wheel.

“I want something more concise, more simple, more serious; I want more soul and more love and more heart.”

– Vincent van Gogh

Audio is such an intimate medium.

I was lucky enough to catch the final half hour of Laurel, Gary & Mark’s final breakfast show on Brisbane’s 4KQ. A station with 75 years of history, and a breakfast show that’s been on air for 16 years, and one of the hosts has been there for 31 years. It was beautiful hearing the stories and the way the show has impacted lives.

In a world so heavily motivated to move to short-form video the intimacy of audio won’t be long forgotten.

AM and FM radio might have to change business model, but the beauty of audio being freely broadcast across the airwaves will find a new home.

I would posit that one day in the near future someone is going to reinvent audio and it’ll be a game-changer. Podcasts aren’t the final solution - they’re fine but they’re a transition medium not the next medium, nor is Spotify or whatever Apple has at any time. Maybe radio has a hand in it, but some smart person is going to blow our mind with audio in a similar way that TikTok and Reels and YouTube have made impressive gains in video.

And I am here for it.

The audio is dead, long live the audio!