TTE23 – Pandas, Podcasts and a Partridge

I’ve got some more yummies for you this week. Whether they’re chuffsville or cheese-city, please let me know what you think via twitter at @jamiesmartcom, on my Facebook page, or in the comments section. At the end, I’ll tell you how you can get one of your #enthusiasms featured in a future edition.

1. Something fantastic I heard this week
I was listening to the Guardian’s Science Weekly podcast when I heard these words fall from the lips of the physicist Carlo Rovelli. Spot on!

“The difficulty’s not getting new ideas; new ideas are cheap. I mean there are plenty of new ideas. It’s getting rid of the old ideas; that’s the hard part.”

2. The superb Podcast I heard it on
The Guardian’s Science Weekly podcast often has fascinating guests explaining interesting phenomena. Recently they featured Carlo Rovelli, author of the bestselling stocking filler, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics. I really enjoyed listening to him, and you can do the same here (44 minutes).

3. Some of the most deservedly viral videos of all time (and brilliantly effective adverts to-boot!)
If you want a glimpse into my dark sense of humour, have a look at these adverts for Panda Cheese. As well as being simultaneously hilarious and troubling, they’ve helped Panda sell a boatload of cheese. Creative genius from start to finish. (4 minutes)

4. A weird and wonderful town
I’ve relocated to Glastonbury while writing my next book. It’s a pretty weird and wonderful town, with lots of new age shops and a clientele to match. I spotted this van at the side of the road, and thought it sums up the feel of the place.

5. One of my top 5 TV comedies of all time
Steve Coogan’s masterpiece is the series I’m Alan Partridge. The series finds its eponymous host living in the Norwich Travel Tavern, and the humour comes thick, fast and dark. The first series is fabulous and the second is nearly as good. You can find them here.

That’s it for this week. If you have questions, suggestions or want to let me know what you’re enthusiastic about, just tweet one of yours and put my twitter name @jamiesmartcom and the #Enthusiasms hashtag in there so I can find it. If I’m enthusiastic about something you’re enthusiastic about, it might just get featured in a future TTE.

Big love
Jamie