San Diego Mornings and more
In which I reflect on an early stroll by the water, talk about the arrival of virtual beings, and do a little 007 themed podcasting.
I love San Diego in the early morning. Actually, I enjoy the city at most times of the day, having been lucky enough to live there for a short stint back in the early noughties, and visited on a regular basis since.
A few weekends ago I was once more in SD, this time for the LavaCon conference, where I was promoting my newly minted enterprise content services consulting practice, The Content Pool.
When I’m on business travel one of my favorite things to do is to get up extra early, and head out to walk around my host city as the sun rises. There is something special about watching a city transform itself from the quiet of the early hours to the start of a busy day. It’s something I’ve done all over the world, from San Diego to New Orleans; from Tokyo to Melbourne, and many other locations. It helps me get in tune with my new surroundings and get a feel for the people, place, and culture.
Although I’ve experienced many San Diego mornings over the years, each one feels a little different and special, and this latest trip didn’t disappoint as I got to watch the sunrise from the area around the Seaport Village on the edge of the bay, before heading back to my hotel for a good breakfast and a day of business networking feeling refreshed and recharged.
Other Stuff
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Word Slinging
From Max Headroom and the Geico Gecko to the arrival of virtual training assistants, in my latest Reworked article, I took a look at the growing adoption of Virtual Beings in the workplace. You can find it right HERE.
Pages and Screens
Books Read in 2023 “The Rivers of London” by Ben Aaronovitch.
Take a police procedural, throw in a touch of magic, a punch of urban fantasy, a dash of horror, and mix it with British folklore and tales of historical London and you get a compelling start to a new series about a police constable with a sense for the other world being drawn into helping solve weird crime cases.
Add in a dash of Monty Python references, nods to various British pop culture icons, and enough sardonic sarcasm and you get an entertaining tale of discovery, longing, and personal growth to go along with the mystery.
Enjoyed this one so much, I immediately went out and picked up the second book in the series.
Before They Were Beatles Updates
The Before They Were Beatles podcast - Despite the lack of new episodes over the last couple of months, the podcast audience continues to grow, and this last week passed the 70,000 downloads mark. Thanks again to everyone who has given the shows a listen.
Some unforeseen family events have slowed down the research for our new upcoming series, The Forgotten Beatles - but it is on the way, it may take a little longer than I originally anticipated.
The September issue of the Before They Were Beatles newsletter is now online with a focus on John Lennon’s boyhood, and lifelong, best friend, Pete Shotton - who will play a pivotal role in the evolving Beatles story.
You can sign up for a subscription below.
Podcast Procrastinations
It’s been a 007 couple of weeks on the podcast front as over at the On Her Majesty’s Secret Podcast network we covered the La La Land extended soundtrack from The World Is Not Enough on the Bond Music: Six of the Best show, while the Rogue Agents crew discussed the BBC radio adaptation of Diamonds Are Forever, which starred Toby Stephens in the role of 007
Weekly Web Round-Up
Batman On The Cover - The journey through Batman’s comics publishing history continues this week as we kick off July 1968 with the latest issues of Detective Comics and Batman.
Only two new DC titles to choose from this week, but I have to go for the cover of Batman #203 with Batman presenting that fantastic cutaway of the Batcave. I can’t tell you how often I studied that image the first time I saw it. Then there are the models of the Bat vehicles on the table, plus the fact that the cover combines the art of two legendary Bat artists Carmine Infantino and Neal Adams meant this remains one of my all-time favorite Bat covers. As a bonus, as well as a new four-page spread showing the details of the 1968 era Batcave, this 80-page giant issue included reprints of older stories covering the origins of the Batpalne, the early Batmobile, Batman, and many other Bat-gadgets, written by (at the time uncredited) Batman co-creator Bill Finger. For years this issue was the closest thing we had to a Batman “technical manual.”
Where on the Web is Alan?
You can now find links to all the places you can find me online, websites, newsletters, social media, and more in a single LINKS page on my personal website.
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See you next time
Alan J. Porter