Satire
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan is eating toast with his collaborator and wife Emma Thomas. His memorabilia bat-phone starts to ring. It’s the phone from the Adam West Batman TV series, the one in Commissioner Gordan’s office. The red one. The one that was kept under the glass serving lid — which I assume was to keep it fresh.
On the other end of the line is a budding writer who wants to pitch the famous director his next, big, conceptual, mind-bending movie.
“Wait, let me get Emma on the phone,” he says, before giving the go-ahead.
A muffled voice begins to talk…
Contrary advice to the writer told to read broadly
Cherry picking your way through ‘The Best Of…’ lists of the more acclaimed authors is a tried and true method for expanding your literary knowledge and improving your writing. It’s also nice on the bookshelf at home to have a touch point from Atwood through to Zusak.
If you only have a surface level understanding of classics, and Norwegian Wood is both the only song by The Beatles you know, and the only Murakami book you have read, then it’s time to stop reading broadly, and start reading deeply.
There is a blindspot that comes with selectively reading the prominent…
Satire
How the board meeting unfolded at Rolling Stone HQ
This piece is satire inspired by the recent article in The Guardian claiming Rolling Stone magazine is offering writers the privilege to have original content published for the small fee of $2,000.
“Okay, Agenda item 8: Flailing Revenue. As we know, the magazine industry is flagging, and business is getting a lot tougher. We have a really strong brand, but aside from that, we are a bit short new revenue streams. Does anyone have an idea on how we can increase our cash flow?
Silence falls across the room.
“If no one has any ideas, then we can just move…
You are a mixture of the five podcasts you surround yourself with, so make sure to spend your listening time wisely
If you want to improve yourself as a writer, then take a break from the drafting, go for a walk, and listen to Tim Ferriss interview some fantastic authors.
Long-form interviews provide an opportunity to be the fly on the wall as two experts discuss, in detail, their thoughts on a wide range of topics.
About the Tim Ferris Show
I have listened to so much of Tim’s podcasts, that I feel a closeness to Tim that would probably make him uncomfortable if we ever met.
When I talk to people in a one-on-one setting, over dinner, coffee, on a hike, or on the phone…
You are a mixture of the five podcasts you surround yourself with, so make sure to spend your listening time wisely
If you are looking for some Sales and Marketing industry chat from some of the best, then take a break from the office, go for a walk, and listen to Tim Ferriss chew the fat with the best there is.
Long-form interviews provide an opportunity to be the fly on the wall as two experts discuss, in detail, their thoughts on a wide range of topics.
About the Tim Ferris Show
I have listened to so much of Tim’s podcasts, that I feel a closeness to Tim that would probably make him uncomfortable if we ever met.
When I talk to people in a one-on-one…
You are a mixture of the five podcasts you surround yourself with, so make sure to spend your listening time wisely.
Whether you are a professional in the investment space or have a growing interest in money management, take a break from the day, go for a walk, and listen to Tim Ferriss interview some of the world’s most fantastic minds.
Long-form interviews provide an opportunity to be a fly on the wall as two experts discuss, in detail, their thoughts on a wide range of topics.
About the Tim Ferris Show
I have listened to so much of Tim’s podcasts that I feel a closeness to Tim that would probably make him uncomfortable if we ever met.
When I talk to people in a one-on-one…
It was a long road
If only Mount Everest was as easy to join at the peak as Bitcoin was, then maybe I would have felt like I had achieved something.
The process of buying Bitcoin was not that straight forward. In the early days, when it was going up (breaking $100, then $1,000, then $10,000) I heard a lot about it, but I did not know how to purchase it.
A colleague at the time recommended a platform to me, and gave me the run through on how to load AUD into the system, and then how to use it to buy Bitcoin.
I…
Tick-Tock
I have never routinely worn watches. Maybe, for around a week or so, I would form an interest in having a watch, because it was a refined look for a cosmopolitan 7 year-old like myself. But, like most kids, cosmopolitan or otherwise, I did not have a need to tell the time, nor did I have the capacity to remember to put it on everyday.
Flash forward to high school where telling the time might be useful. I still did not need a watch. There were bells for class starting and ending, and the general flow of people around the…
With cases under control, Singapore has begun allowing travellers to return
COVID has made me realise that international travel — or anything for that matter — is just a chain of human interactions. The virus spreads when we get too close, but often situations require us to be near enough to hear from, talk to, check in on, and hug. These are the people of Changi airport in Singapore during COVID times.
Arrival
Airport arrival lounges always look a little empty. The only people who hang around are lining up to use the bathroom or waiting for slower relatives to alight from the plane. Walking through to the terminal area was…
With less than a handful of flights a day, international terminals now resemble abandoned, commercial wastelands
My 2020 was bookended by two flights. The first, an anxiety inducing March flight in uncertain times from Singapore to Shanghai. The second, a late November, new-normal, return flight from China back to Singapore. Though the evidence of a recent negative test result eased any concern I had about boarding the flight, the whole process, from check-in counter to boarding, was unlike any previous journey I had taken.
Check-in
At the check-in counter for my departure flight, I wondered if the much-used analogy of never forgetting how to ride a bike would apply to taking international flights. Would I have…
Sean Hyatt
Essayist and start up-er based in Shanghai, writing stories from everyday life and doing business in China.
