shipping news

#21 (2025)

Welcome

Welcome to a new issue of shipping news, my occasional newsletter of things of interest. Typical headings include analog, apple, cool tools, film and TV, in the garden, history, localism, nature, pen and paper, reading and writing, software and technology. And the interplay between them all. Amazingly, this is issue 21.

Thanks to everyone’s who been reading, and liking and making comments and suggestions. I hope you enjoy something in this issue.

film and tv: the dylan movie

Disclaimer: I’m a huge Dylan fan. He’s almost always my most played artist of the year whenever the Spotify or Apple Music annual reviews come in, so I was genetically predisposed to like A Complete Unknown, a new biopic of a couple of tumultuous year in music and the life of Bob Dylan.

And, like it I did, especially the over-arching emphasis on the MUSIC. There is plenty of music in this film and the relationships and politics came second and third to that. Chalamet is terrific as Dylan and, though some people have criticised Edward Norton as Pete Seeger as a bit over the top, I thought he almost stole the show.

It’s a terrific looking movie, with gorgeous renditions of 1960s New York but it’s the SONGS that keep coming that is the astounding part. Classic after classic as Dylan invented himself and re-invented music in the process.

Highly recommended.

A Complete Unknown - Movie poster

localism: back to basics

When international news looks bleak, sometimes you need to retreat to the locals and get back to basics. I saw this post on Mastodon, and it resonated:

Here’s a little thing you can do to contribute to the world being a little less terrible and your life being a little more interesting: your local river/creek/national park/nature area probably has a “friends of ...” group, go join it. It probably won’t be expensive to join (if it costs anything at all). They probably have a newsletter that will teach you things about the nature in your area, helping you pay better attention to it. However much you’re involved, you’ll be contributing to local nature having a voice- the group for my local bit of nature was recently able to convince an electric company to pay to replant an area they dug up while doing works. You’ll find out about nature focused activities in your community you can attend. (Joanna Holman - Mastodon- https://aus.social/@joannaholman)

So, I did what I’d been half-thinking about doing for a few years and joined BERG (the Balcombe Estuary Restoration Group) They are a local group that cares about some of the local waterways and reserves that I care about, and have written about, so it wasn’t a hard call.

I’m not sure how involved I’ll get; but I want to fly the flag of support in even the smallest of ways for the local groups that are doing good in the world against those who would do others harm.

The BERG home page

reading: the season

With all the hope and hype of a new football season about to start in Australia, it seems timely to recommend the new book by well know Australian writer Helen Garner on her observations and reflections as she follows her grandson in a season of AFL footy. She sits on the sidelines watching him train and goes to his games and, as the season unfolds, so does her sense of him, of young men playing together and the connections between them.

The ABC review said that the books creates ‘a tender portrait of youthful masculinity’ and indeed it does. As a longtime committed feminist, Garner’s insights into what makes young men tick are perceptive. But as much as it is a portrait of adolescent males, it is also a revealing portrait of grandparent-dom and the strange intimate peripheral place where grandparents live.

The Season, by Helen Garner (Text Publishing)

And, if you’re interested in reading more quality writing about football, from a different perspective, take a look at Martin Flanagan’s body of work. I read one of his earlier works, The Call last year, which looks at Tom Wills and his role in the origins of AFL football, among other, more important, things.

The publisher says:

Thomas Wentworth Wills is an Australian Icarus. Having grown up among the Djabwurrung people in western Victoria, he was sent to the Rugby school in England. Returning in 1856, he promptly revolutionised colonial cricket and opened the door for the evolution of the indigenous game we know as Australian football. In 1866, he coached the Aboriginal team which later: became the first Australian cricket team to tour England, despite having suffered in the war being fought at the countrys frontiers between white settlers and the lands Aboriginal inhabitants. Tom Wills died a neglected and forgotten figure. His life is an Australian tragedy, but it bequeathed to the nation a unique and hopeful legacy. The Call is a remarkable novel. In charting the history of one mans life, it takes us to the birth of sport in this country, and to the horrors of racial struggle which continue to this day. His story is lyrical, subtle and true.

You can get that HERE.

tek: mastodon and the fediverse

Why anyone would still be on Musk’s X platform is beyond me. And the same is almost as true of Meta. The ‘tech bros’ are damaged goods and even Apple seemed happy to roll over and get its tummy tickled, donating technology to Trump’s inauguration and, following Google’s lead, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico in their mapping services.

Apple doesn’t seem to have walked back its diversity policies under the old DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) but Google, Meta, Amazon, Pepsi, GM, Boeing have all quietly scaled back their DEI initiatives, giving you the impression that just maybe they weren’t serious about them in the first place. Or, as Groucho put it, “Those are my principles and if you don’t like them … well, I have others.”

All of which has seen a growing move towards the ‘fediverse’. The Fediverse (a blend of “federation” and “universe”) is a decentralised network of interconnected social media platforms and web services that operate using open protocols, allowing users on different platforms to interact seamlessly.

Instead of relying on a single, centralised service like Twitter or Facebook, the Fediverse consists of independently operated servers that communicate with each other using federated protocols. This means users on one platform can follow, like, and comment on content from users on different platforms, much like email works across different providers.

It also means that an evil billionaire can’t buy the whole thing and turn it into his personal cesspool. Oh yeah, and no ads.

One example of a fediverse tool is Mastodon, a decentralised alternative to Twitter/X. I’ve been using Mastodon since I quit X and it has come a long way with some great apps like Mona, which I use on the phone and the Mac. Joining up is still a bit fiddly but painless enough, and free.

Another is Pixelfed, which is trying to be an Instagram replacement. A bit raw yet I thought, when I had a look. It will improve, and more are coming.

I guess the key message is: consider other options.

If you want to find me on Mastodon, I’m at https://zirk.us/@warrick_w

How Mastodon looks on an iPhone

My profile page on Mastodon

vinyl: the kallax revival

In issue 20 I promised I’d show the outcome of my investment in two Kallax shelving units from Ikea, my divesting of a couple of hundred books to make space (that was difficult) and my re-organisation of my vinyl collection (no more genres).

Here’s how it turned out. I like the look and the ease of access to the records. And, I like the border-less approach: Rory Gallagher sitting happily alongside Art Garfunkel, Marvin Gaye and the Gang of Four. Oh, for such open-ness and acceptance in the real world!

Here’s how it looks: eighteen squares devoted to vinyl and the bottom six for storage. More than enough for me at this stage and always room for more vinyl!

Kallax Revival