After a long dinner to celebrate a friend’s birthday, I came home and struggled to fall asleep. The next thing I know, I started watching Mr. Palfrey of Westminster on Acorn TV and ended up binging on the six-episode season one. It is a beautiful little spy show, enhanced by a late-1970s sensibility and proper use of the English language. The plotlines are pretty simple, and it never feels taxing or anxiety-inducing — something you can’t say about the modern television experience.
The contemporary visual story is often loud — if not in sound, then in cinematography and pace. I much prefer a quieter, more nuanced storytelling approach. One of my favorite things I own is the BBC miniseries Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, a much better rendering of John Le Carre’s book when compared to the more recent movie. It is television at its subtle best. The BBC also made Smiley’s People, and while stellar in its own right, it lacked the perfection of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
In an attempt to make up for my lack of sleep last night, today turned into a day for slumbering and resting. In between, I have been re-reading Tinker Tailor, the book. What a delightful little treatise on human frailty. When reading this book, I came across this line that perfectly described the situation in Afghanistan today, as the trillion-dollar, twenty-year-long US military misadventure comes to an end.
"That in the hands of politicians grand designs achieve nothing but new forms of the old misery?"
August 15, 2021. San Francisco
Tweek: My week on Twitter
Some of the highlights from my week on Twitter — things I want to save and share, ICYMI.
August 13: So many of our so-called big algorithms – social, navigation, shopping, searching — exist solely to amplify and intensify human limitations, our vagaries & yes, our limited abilities (also known as stupidities.)
August 12: De La Soul has announced that their albums are finally becoming available to stream.
August 11: Russell Simmons @defjam is launching hip-hop’s first collection of NFTs titled “Masterminds of Hip-hop.” Never-before-seen or heard recordings+ artwork from pioneers like Public Enemy’s Chuck D., Doug E. Fresh, Big Daddy Kane + many more
August 10: Why something is rotten in the creator economy – this new drop from @ljin18 is a good read to get context on “creator economy hype” and how big platforms like @facebook @tiktok_us are going to kill the golden goose https://buff.ly/3jEIJvb