I came across Kevin Kelly via a piece on The Marginalia. Specifically I was put on to his latest book Excellent Advice for Living. In one of those wonderful touchpoints that you come across in reading – in the broadest sense – I saw that Kelly was also interviewed on The Knowledge Project. A really good listen, highlighting some of Kelly’s wisdom from his book and more besides. One particular piece of advice, slightly daunting in magnitude:
“Your goal is to be able to say, on the day before you die that you have fully become yourself”
Kevin Kelly, Excellent Advice for Living
I’ve started watching the new Star Wars TV series, Ahsoka. Despite the title reminding me of the WWE wrestler Asuka, the show is quite watchable. It is faster paced than Andor, less swashbuckling than The Mandalorian but lacks the backstory of Obi Wan. Set between the events of The Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, the show ostensibly explores how the apparent Rebel victory in the former returns to a neo-Galactic Empire in the latter.
One of my, admittedly few, frustrations with The Mandalorian is that it sits quite separately from the so-called ‘Skywalker Saga’ storyline, so you don’t get much insight into how the Empire snatch survival from the jaws of defeat. I am hoping that Ahsoka may shed more light. It is relatively early into the season – I am only on episode 2 – and the plot is still revealing itself.
Another frustration, which falls more broadly across the Star Wars universe, is the seemingly complete absence of health and safety from all building design. How many times do ships perch at insanely high-off-the-ground landing platforms? How often do those landing platforms, or similarly high balconies, feature a complete lack of handrails? Surely even long, long ago people were still worried about plummeting to almost certain death save for a simple banister or balustrade? As an acrophobic person, it is no wonder that the Empire found its supporters when the Republic seemed so blasé about it’s citizens wellbeing.
Last weekend I visited Frederick, Maryland. The lovely historic town has quite a reputation for craft ale. With the number of breweries and brewpubs into double figures, I was only able to sample five venues on the day. Four were breweries: Midnight Run, Rockwell, Olde Mother and Attaboy; plus the Brewers Alley pub.
Bad weather meant that I am planning to go back to Frederick when I hope to scratch a little more at the craft ale scene. In the meantime, I made some rough notes about our first stop:
One of the quirks of an American beer odyssey is trekking to a seemingly random strip on the edge of a sleepy small town, only to happen across another gem, another example of the craft beer revolution sweeping America. Midnight Run Brewing have ten beers on draft. No flights but reasonably priced eight ounce pours. The headline Stardust is a very drinkable IPA, although falls into that trap which any transatlantic drinker will find: even the more sessionable ales are over 5%; Stardust is 6%.
In the absence of small pours, I try the Timeloop IPA – very drinkable – and the Lower Intelligence Belgian Golden. Both fairly strong. I sample Timeloop first and reckon it won’t be beat but the Lower Intelligence has a strong yet smooth taste, what feels like a subtle 7.7%.
Popular too: double figures at half past noon. Similar culture/place making. Plus sport on, which you don’t always find in a brewery taproom.
Going through the day, all of the breweries were good: flavourful beers, good iconography and that careful interplay between brand- and place-making. On a wet afternoon, it was good to see all of the breweries were full, serving as sanctuaries to a cacophonous mix of people that you wouldn’t get in other types of drinking establishment.
Commonplace 