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Greetings from 2021...

Today is a whole new day, of a whole new year.

What are you going to do with it?

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#TheAction

Last night we saw the new year in with music, dancing, great food and drink. With the help of Jools Holland and his Hootenanny the kids even managed to see in midnight

This last week I’ve been doing a lot of walking. Sometimes i’ll take a radio. It’s a way of reaching out. I’ll string an antenna up in a tree and call for contacts. I might not currently be able to drive any distance without good reason, but I can transmit there. Anywhere.

And as a result I meet new people and share stories.

One conversation felt like therapy as me and an ex-stranger chatted about this last year. I talked about how I was missing adventure. But then realised that this whole year had been one.

As much as constraints freak us out, they also force focus. They task you, can spur creativity and make you better.

Times for many have been hard. And really hard for some. Especially those who have lost loved ones.

But for most, we’ve only had limited freedom of movement and little freedom to mingle. All we had to do was find a way through. It’s important to remember our minds are free from constraint. These limitations may bring change, but they do not stop us living life.

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#ThePictures

The top 25 news photos of 2020.

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When three people recommend me a film in the same day I tend to watch it.

Glad I did. I really enjoyed Soul. We all did.

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#TheWords

I’ve mentioned him before but if Wim Hof does not live to be 110 years old i’ll be very disappointed.

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‘Hacking Diversity: The Politics of Inclusion in Open Technology Cultures’ looks like an interesting read. But at £70 I’ll probably get it from the library.

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How podcasts are becoming a Hollywood goldmine.

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#TheSound

This song popped up more than once in 2020.

Hope you managed to hold on to some of your dreams.

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Close your eyes and travel into forests around the world with Tree.fm

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#TheConsumed

I had to try the Moscow Mule mugs I got for Christmas.

They work!

On checking if it was safe to drink from these 100% copper mugs I found a lot of conflicting information varying from it’s perfectly healthy in fact beneficial, to you will vomit blood etc. So I turned to the dispatch’s resident chemist Dr James Bruce who said there’s nothing to worry about if you are only using them occasionally and for cold drinks.

First use was of course for a Moscow Mule (Ginger ale, vodka, lime and sprig of mint), but there are other ‘Mules’ I’d like to try. Just swap the vodka for:

• Bohemian mule: Absinthe

• French mule: Cognac and angostura bitters

• Glasgow mule: Blended Scotch whisky and St-Germain liqueur

• Jamaican mule: Spiced rum

• Kentucky mule, Horsefeather: Bourbon

• London mule Gin

• Mexican mule: Tequila

• New Orleans mule: Bourbon and coffee liqueur

• Plus a mocktail version for those that don’t drink.

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Nothing like a seasonal blow out to have you enter January with fitness on the mind. But no amount of vegan protein shakes can balance out the debauched gluttony that I’ve partaken in over the last couple of weeks. I do find them delicious though.

And that’s how I started today.

Some frozen pomegranate and raspberry, a small banana and a scoop of natural yoghurt ‘wizzed’ into an almond Purition. At about £1.40 per serving it’s not as cheap as porridge but it’s much more nutritious. I’d also prefer one of these over a pastie and sarnie lunch. Cheaper, just as filling and much better for the body.

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#TheThings

I said i’d share a couple of my recent gifts here and here is one that has got a lot of use.

This simple dutch oven has revolutionised how I make rustic sourdough boules. The straight sides make for easy access as well as easy extraction of great loaves made from really wet doughs.

And slicing the top of a wet dough is much easier with this little contraption.

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Strange little Apple prototype spotted in the wild. I’m still waiting for them to factor some kind of hardware crypto wallet into their next watch iteration.

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I can’t wait to head out on a bike again. Not a pushbike. Something like this…

Ok, maybe not exactly like that but if i do manage to sell my Triumph Scrambler (I’ve sold my Yeti via this email, thanks West!) i’d like a smaller bike. Something that will do 100+ mpg while I wait for electric motorbike tech to catch up.

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#TheWeb

• The decade explained.

• Thank you for adding yourself to the Documentally community map. I hope to get to meet some of you folk this year.

• Archeologists in Pompeii have uncovered the site of a Roman street food vendor. The kind of place you might buy a snack of duck, pork, goat or snail.

• DisCOs is a P2P/Commons, cooperative and Feminist Economic alternative to Decentralised Autonomous Organisations. Phew. That’s a mouthful.

• I’ve lifted a few glasses recently and all of them have had meaning. My favourite beer and whisky glasses were gifts, and I have port and wine glasses from my Mother and Grandmother. But as far as I know nothing treasonous.

• What might the future of events look like?

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#TheEnd

Thanks for reading.

If you’d like to get all the emails this year here is a special offer link.

Wishing you a peaceful 2021.

Of course there is no guarantee that this year will be better.

But we can be better.

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“Augustine of Hippo said, "The very pleasures of human life men acquire by difficulties." There are times when the entire arrangement of our existence is disrupted and we long then for just one ordinary day - seeing our ordinary life as greatly desirable, even wonderful, in the light of the terrible disruption that has taken place. Difficulty opens our eyes to pleasures we had taken for granted.” ~ Elisabeth Elliot

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Start fresh.

See you out there.

Over…