Recently updated blogs

Enjoying the garden at the new house What did I enjoy? Spending time with my peers and the Product & Platforms senior leadership team, and with my own leadership team for Digital Urgent & Emergency Care (UEC). Both teams have now been fully staffed and stable for long enough that we can have rich conversations and challenge each other. That wasn’t so true even a few months ago. What did …

We pretend that our present system is democratic, yet the people never have the chance or the means to express their views on any problem of public life. Any issue that does not pertain to particular interests is abandoned to collective passions, which are systematically and officially inflamed. ― Simone Weil, ‘On the Abolition of All Political Parties’ (tr. Leys)

I look forward to this race every year—a chill fall half marathon at the base of the Tetons is usually a great way to close out my season before winter sets in, but at this moment the AQI in Jackson Hole is 235, firmly in the “very unhealthy” range. Instead, I’m reading a study on the impact of air pollution on running performance to reassure myself I made the right …

We get asked all the time what our favorite dog enrichment activities are. We did write the book on it, after all! And, as always, the answer is actually, “It depends.” Enrichment is about meeting an individual’s needs to allow them to perform species-typical behaviors in healthy, safe, and appropriate ways. While individuals within a particular species have similar needs (like the 14 categories of canine enrichment that we outline …

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I had to give an impromptu presentation about something I didn’t know much about. The goal of the task was to see how well we could ad-lib a presentation under pressure. Everybody in the room had to think of a topic whilst waiting for our turn. The person next to me couldn’t think of anything and asked me what I …

I started the third cycle of the intermediate Joe Wicks HIIT. Last cycle, because they were required, I begrudgingly (got Lachie to buy) a set of weights. However the first session in cycle three tells me I need a second set leading me to wonder… is Joe Wicks in the pocket of big dumbell? Chaz’s new haircut makes him look like Eleven from stranger things. Two different parents whatsapp’ed me …

The past three months have seen a deluge of policy proposals being floated that, either directly or indirectly, would be damaging to the pub trade. While it’s likely that most of these ideas will never be implemented, some of them will be, and the desired direction of travel is all too clear. There is a well-known quotation from Hilaire Belloc, reproduced in the sidebar of this blog, that: “When you …

Miseristhenes the SocialmediaiteThis is part V of my all the things(!!!) blog series where I attempt to make sense of all the things I've gotten myself into these past 5-10 years, and I figure out how to Marie Kondo my professional hobbies. In this post, I turn my attention to social media! The topic that connects us, and divides us, and has gotten the "it's complicated" label since Elon Musk …

Three painterly Pomme Gris apples bask in today's mellow September sun.

Kyoto City Map Kyoto, just a three-hour bullet train ride from Tokyo, feels like a world apart. As Japan’s cultural capital, it boasts a unique charm with its picturesque streets and distinctive architectural style. Traditional wooden houses line the charming streets, while temples, colorful shrines, imperial palaces, and zen gardens dot the landscape. Unlike bustling Tokyo, Kyoto exudes a calm and tranquil energy, inviting visitors to slow down and savor …

Matthieu (Pierre Deladonchamps) just received the call that his father died. The father he never met. The father he didn’t even really knew existed. The father he couldn’t meet in life but now must get to know in death. His mother always told him that Matthieu was the result of a one-night stand. But the affair was much more complicated than that. Matthieu travels from France to Quebec for the …

Retro Kid You & Me Retro Kid is the musical pseudonym of producer Jake Juba. Based out of Copenhagen, Retro Kid constructs tastefully arranged pieces of electronic music, blending ambience and hints of pop to create abstract-yet-emotive sound collages. In his latest single, You & Me, Juba has made a dedication to his girlfriend, Gry, and the challenges they experience as new parents. In the face of the multitude of …

Here’s some stuff I’ve experienced lately (and not necessarily only new releases). In addition, our free Stream Team community has a lot more daily action happening on the recommendations front too. Slow Horses (TV): This lowkey might be the best show on TV Will & Harper (Movie): Touching and funny Blue Sisters (Book): Still in the middle of this now that I’m a BOOK CLUB GUY, but really feeling each …

I continue to check my little dashboard of San Francisco COVID numbers each morning to figure out whether going into the supermarket to pick out the best avocado is worth the risk or will be an embarrassing thing to explain to the medical professionals treating my long-COVID-induced dementia. Lately, all the SF numbers have looked pretty-safe. (I blogged a few weeks ago when the numbers, overall, looked safe enough to …

I love hat puzzles, and this one, posted on Facebook by Konstantin Knop, is no exception. Puzzle. The sultan decided to test his three sages once again. This time, he showed them five hats: three red and two green. Each sage was blindfolded and had one hat placed on their head. When the sages removed their blindfolds, they could see the hats on the other sages but not their own. …