Weeknote 26

London conferencing, Re-Tour de Ned, Back in Brum

London conferencing

Saturday saw the return of one of my favourite web conferences, State of the Browser. This year it was hosted at London’s behemoth brutalist venue, the Barbican Centre. After a week of feeling pretty low, it was a good morale booster and antidote to meet up and socialise again with many Twitter folks and industry celebs I’d not seen in-person since pre-pandemic! My friend Dave Letorey never fails to make this event a success and attracts a diverse audience, not all dominated by privileged white guys.

Re-Tour de Ned

Made a pilgrimage north to Buxton’s Opera House on Sunday to see TV’s cycling pundit, Ned Boulting perform his fourth show in five years. Ned never fails to make the topic of French cycling sport, primarily the Tour de France, into an entertaining two hours of history lesson combined with an incredible solo act full of comedy and passion for sports road cycling.

Back in Brum

Heading home after my visit up north, I took a little extra time out this Monday for a brief visit to Birmingham. It remains one of my least loved UK cities: strangled by express ways, motorways, and HS2's Curzon Street construction that's currently carving a gaping hole in the city centre. On the culinary front, Brum’s a lot more favourable, with no shortage of inviting contemporary cafés and restaurants. I tried out Medicine Bakery & Kitchen for elevenses. For lunch I discovered Tamatanga which is the Midlands' answer to Dishoom or Mowgli.