My curiosity took me on a journey from Star Wars to Irish folk music
With Game of Thrones right at the centre of it.
Hello there,
After months of procrastination, I have finally published my first weekly newsletter. One fine day I realised that I could take advantage of me being chronically online and consuming content all day. And so began the idea about picking some of that best content every week and sharing it with an audience. Recently, I stumbled upon productivity content creator Ali Abdaal’s Sunday Snippets newsletter and it finally struck me how to present my ideas. That’s how The Friday Dispatch was born.
To make it easier to browse through my newsletters, I’ve divided the content based on its type. So, if you’re here only for recommendations on specific categories such as podcasts, music or books, you can directly scroll down to them.
Now that we are done with the most boring origin story ever, let’s dive into what I’ve been doing this week.
We had just got done with a major event at work and I was looking forward to a weekend full of video games. However, my PC’s power supply betrayed me and went kaput. None of the troubleshooting or fixes worked and I finally had to accept the demise of my old PSU. Fortunately, I had a spare lying around but it wasn’t powerful enough to run my graphics card. No gaming this weekend! It took me a couple of days of research and bothering my friends for suggestions to finally buy a new one. Friendly suggestion: If you’re buying a new power supply unit for your PC, it’s always wise to refer to the latest PSU tier list to browse for the best quality power supplies in the market based on reviews.
Last month, I got back into one of my childhood hobbies of doodling fantasy maps. I’m obviously out of touch but I’ve been watching a few tutorials by WASD20 and JP Coovert to get better. Here’s a fantasy map I sketched during the weekend, inspired by the Middle-earth map from The Lord of the Rings (map illustrated by Christopher Tolkien, JRR Tolkien’s son).
I hope that I’m consistent with this newsletter so that I can bring you some wonderful content to make your weekends fruitful.
Cheers to a great week!
🗓️ In this week
▶️ Videos
It’s extremely easy to capture a photo or video with your smartphone and upload it instantly. This is probably the era which is the most documented ever. I loved this video by Gene Yoon on how he has been capturing his life. My takeaway from the video is to be more aware of what I should be documenting rather than pulling out my smartphone at every moment. He also mentioned about letting others document your life. This piece of advice made me realise how it introduces a fresh dimension to a memory when you see yourself captured from someone else’s perspective. In short, make every click count.
I find it fascinating to learn how things work and this habit keeps me busy on YouTube. The latest video that blew my mind was by The B1M on how The Icon of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, is being built. I still find it difficult to comprehend the sheer scale of this ship. While the video showcases the overall construction, it also gives you a brief science lesson on buoyancy to explain how this “monstrosity” manages to stay afloat on water. I’ve been following this channel for several years and I would highly recommend you to subscribe for more construction marvels.
I tend to live a basic, frugal life so it’s always good to learn about people who have a similar lifestyle. In his Fix Your Finance series, Anshuman Sharma speaks with Bhasker who explains how he handles his expenses and investments. I strongly resonated with his choice to avoid spending time and money in activities that are mentally fatiguing. Common instances such as buying and maintaining a car, going for shopping, and more. It’s not worth the hassle and I am better off spending my money on other calmer things. He goes on to mention how this habit allowed him to save more money and build a strong portfolio over the decades.
🎙️ Podcasts
Lately, I’ve been listening to the Baghdad Soundwalks series by Echoes of History. It’s a podcast created by Ubisoft to further explore the worlds of one of its biggest video game franchise, Assassin’s Creed (Disclaimer: I work in the Corporate Communications team of Ubisoft India but Assassin’s Creed has my heart for over a decade). This series delves into medieval Baghdad which is primary setting of the upcoming game Assassin’s Creed Mirage. I love how the hosts delightfully talk about the intricate details that are being implemented in the game, and it keeps doubling up as a history lesson as well. If you’re an Assassin’s Creed fan or a history nerd, you must give it a listen.
📖 Books
I was finally able to complete the graphic novel The People of the Indus by Nikhil Gulati and Jonathan Mark Kenoyer. The Indus Valley civilisation has always fascinated me since I learned about them during my history lessons in school. The mystery behind their prosperity fuelled my curiosity and this novel tries to answer several questions. I highly recommend this beautifully crafted narrative that speculates some of the most astonishing discoveries from this ancient civilisation and how its influence had reached thousands of miles away, based on extensive research. Buy from Amazon.
Following a couple of failed attempts of reading George Orwell’s 1984 novel in the past, I have decided to give it another go. I regained an interest courtesy of repeated references from the book on social media. While I’m only a few pages in, I’m already impressed by Orwell’s world-building of the dystopia and what makes the unique characters tick in such a world. I’m looking forward to understanding the full context behind the iconic statements: “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” Buy from Amazon.
If you would like to know which books I’m reading currently, follow me on Goodreads.
Do you have any exciting recommendations? Some more interesting tidbits you would like to share from the content mentioned here? Or just simple feedback? I would love to hear from you!
🎵 Music
I primarily rely on the Spotify homepage for music recommendations. However, sometimes I enter the rabbit hole of reading and listening more about a specific artist or genre. This time, it was Peyton Parrish and I came across his music via an Instagram Reel. One song led to another and I ended up binging all his major releases on the same day. Peyton’s claim to fame was his cover of My Mother Told Me, a song from the video game Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. His cover was later added to the popular TV show Vikings. I enjoyed his Viking-core take on music, especially the albums Skalds of Metal and Rise of Vikingr. My other favourites were his powerful covers of Zombie and The Sound of Silence. Give him a listen!
I started rewatching the Star Wars prequels last week (thanks to all the buzz around the Ahsoka TV show). Towards the end of Episode II: Attack of the Clones, I heard something familiar. When the clone army is rallying up for battle, the background score sounds similar to the Game of Thrones title theme but with a faster tempo. The soundtrack is Confrontation with Count Dooku and Finale. After some quick Google searches, I landed upon Carolan’s Welcome – an Irish folk song from the 17th century. It was suggested by a Reddit user where he stated the similarity between the three soundtracks. This song was adapted and recorded by the Chieftains into a soothing track in 1979 and I’ve been listening to it throughout the week. There’s a calm and soulful harp version of the song as well. While the similarity in the tunes could be debated as a case of pure coincidence, I have bagged a completely new genre of music to explore.
Music mashups are exciting to me, especially when musicians combine Indian instruments with music from other cultures. I’m always on the lookout on YouTube for such covers and one of channels I keep returning to is Andre Antunes. After publishing hits like If Red Hot Chili Peppers were from India and Legendary Pakistani Singer goes Metal [Sanson Ki Mala Pe], his latest mashup is If System of a Down were from India. It combines the playing style of SOAD with a popular Indian song Ek Chatur Naar from the film Padosan (1968), and it’s glorious! Head over to his channel to listen to more such mashups with Indian music.
🚀 Looking for more?
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