No-one ever reads the bits at the beginning and end of your emails. And yet, if you don’t include them, suddenly the whole thing suddenly sounds a bit rude and impersonal. That’s because email conventions have led to us expecting to see alleged “courtesy”, even when we don’t acknowledge it because everyone is absolutely aware that it’s only ever included for etiquette purposes.
If only there were a way of saving valuable time on the completely unnecessary – and yet also absolutely necessary – fake courtesy.
Hang on a second!
Brilliant. And I really love the fact that it occasionally makes a typo as well. It makes it seem all the more human, when it patently – isn’t.
An excellent analogue for the actual line which it is typing.
This is equal parts dull and mesmerising. It’s a guy rolling a tyre down a hill, which is ostensibly very boring, but weirdly, you get drawn into the video and you want to travel with the tyre, down the mountain. Where will it go? Who will it meet? Will it survive?
Amazing scenery, great drone work, appropriate music, and a story that ends all too abruptly.
I downloaded a few videos to watch while I was away, and this one entertained me during some restful moments on the beach.
I really enjoy Rory Sutherland stuff. He’s got a way of communicating things in a very approachable, easy to understand manner. Cutting through the jargon and difficult ideas to appeal to the layperson. That’s a valuable skill to have.
I’m not a marketing person, so I don’t know how relevant this sort of thing is in the day to day lives of actual marketing people, but I just love the different way that Sutherland looks at things that we just take for granted.
His thoughts on electric cars (6:20) are good example of this, and his ideas about people vs AI (42:19) will surely give some businesses some food for thought for the future.
He is good and you do want to listen to him. But (and here, perhaps I’m being a bit Rory) maybe his ideas aren’t that great and we’re just being taken in by his genial personality and his down-to-earth presenting style.
I don’t believe that though. A refreshing way of thinking.
I mean, discovered for me. He was already very much about, like when the Khoikhoi when Jan came to the Cape and the Indigenous Americans when Chris went across the pond.
I just found out about him for the first time yesterday.
Who is Derek Paravicini?
Derek Paravicini is one of the most extraordinary pianists and musicians of his generation, yet he is blind and has severe learning difficulties and is on the autism spectrum. Based in London, Derek performs regularly across the UK, and is also making a name for himself internationally having performed in venues across Europe and the United States. Derek has a repertoire of tens of thousands of pieces — all learnt very rapidly, just by listening.
Beneath his quiet charm lies a fiery, creative musician, whose astonishing improvisations and dazzling technique have wowed audiences all over the world, with many millions of views on his YouTube channel and a much-revered TED talk, that has been translated into 26 languages.
I came across him on social media on this Facebook reel, and I was “reeled” in (rofl!) primarily because I love the song in question, the beautiful Avril 14th by Aphex Twin:
Derek – as you will see below – gets played about 30 seconds of this and then just absolutely nails his version of it. Even picking up on the tiny excerpt of the gentle repeating phrase which makes up a lot of the beginning of the song, but not so much in the bit he hears.
I know – I know! – I share a lot of videos on here and tell you that it’s worth your time and effort watching through to the end. But this one just blew me away.
It’s definitely well worth your time and effort watching through to the end. Obviously.
Derek’s website is here, with all his links to social media readily available. He’s also part of the Derek Paravicini Quartet (who knew?), which you can find more about here.
