October 2026

The Vibe

OK - so a weekend into November and October feel like the distant past!

It was fairly family-connected - Mum came to visit, my uncle passed away, and I headed up to Wollongong to celebrate his life with family. It wasn't a sombre affair, fitting for someone who never took anything seriously, even the most serious of moments. His passing was sudden, and it was a big shock to the family, especially my mum and aunt. I wrote up a farewell and took note of a life well lived, of small pleasures, and to honour a man who never sought to be something bigger than himself. In an age driven by ego and impact – or the complete malformation of them into a form of cancerous tumour – it was refreshing to see a gathering to celebrate something very different. Not a small man, but a small ego.

Mum got the news while she was on an Outback tour with my daughter. They were out seeing the country and building some core memories, the ones you speak about at funerals. Getting to see my cousins was great - it had been a while and I do miss having family locally, knowing that I rarely get to see all the kids, nieces and nephew (who just turned 18 this month!).

There's probably more retrospection I need to do in regard to all of this, a rethinking of life, the universe and everything. I might just need to add that to the current backlog of things to do.

We've been thinking about selling our house recently – partly to do with the rising cost of living, but more to do with wanting a bit more from where we live. I love our house and the nature around us, but I dislike our reliance on the car and the lack of walkable services. This post Where You Should Live: Five Factors to Keep in Mind captured a lot of the same sentiment my wife and I have had recently. I've joked that I miss being walking distance from a pub, but honestly it's become more of a desirable thing of late – perhaps of having a space outside of the home, and one that's built on a foundation of a social space. We've progressed to the point of having a few real estate agents through the house and discussing arrangements. Will keep you in the loop.

Events

On a professional note, the highlight of the month was presenting Blooms 3D at the HERGA conference – its first public outing. That felt significant. It’s been in development for most of the year and putting my name to it publicly is a different thing to working on it privately. The response was good and very encouraging, and it now sits alongside Learning Types and Learning Patterns as a proper open learning system.

We had a family outing to the Art Gallery to check out the Monet to Matisse exhibition, which was really well put together. There were a few pieces I really enjoyed (see the photo album).

I also went and saw Swedish doom-progressive-gothic metallers Katatonia. I haven't been to many gigs on my own; this was one of them, and I enjoyed the show. I'm not sure of the genre of such an act – they sit in between quite a few, but I've been a fan for a long time. I got totally into the groove at one point in the gig - it was transcendent. At some point the mood changed, or rather that the crowd around me changed, and that changed the vibe. But that sweet spot was fantastic so that's what I'll take away from the gig.

Photos

Watched

The missus and I enjoyed the two seasons of Ludwig we found and got through the rest of Ted Lasso season 4 – which was the most incoherent piece of television I've watched. I don't even know what the show is anymore; they seem to have thrown away the concept of a plot, and it feels like random vignettes of "vibes" pieced together constitutes a television series. Or I'm just getting old.

I wasted a couple of "old" movies with Ms A – Die Hard with a Vengeance and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Die Hard still holds up as a masterpiece – and it reminded me of my great movie idea – Class Action Hero – where, in the aftermath of the hero saving the day from a bad guy and a bunch of explosions and stunts, the affected citizens sue the hero and the city for their injuries and losses. Half action movie (told through flashbacks), half legal drama - how could you go wrong?

And while we're on the topic of good - how good is Slow Horses? This is how you do plot and characters and proper intrigue. Love this and Garry Oldman so much.

Listened

It's been a while since I've recommended a podcast – I haven't done too many series recently - but the Stalked podcast was great. Absolutely slammed it while travelling and found the whole thing incredibly engaging and harrowing.