Tom Nicholas

Structure and Studio Upgrades | The Friday(ish) Update

Added 2021-11-22 17:19:05 +0000 UTC

Welcome to another edition of the Friday(ish) Update!

Yes, it’s Monday again... But if I rename it the Monday Update, I’ll inevitably just end up not posting it until Wednesday…

What have I been up to this week?

This week, I’ve primarily been continuing with work on my next video about the "metaverse" and platform capitalism. I’m now at the stage where the structure for the video is pretty solid both in terms of the educational content and the creative aspects of how everything’s going to look. I’ve also got really strong drafts of around half of the sections, with the other half still in need of being transformed from notes into something more substantial.

One thing I’ve been trying out this time around has been giving myself permission to write non-sequentially. So, if I’m not feeling particularly inspired to tackle one section on a particular day, then I might choose to work on another section instead—this is in stark contrast to my old method which was to commit religiously to writing a script chronologically. While it all still needs to get written eventually(!), I’ve been finding this is a much less stressful—and therefore more enjoyable—approach to writing!

Alongside this, I’ve also been taking the opportunity this week to make some upgrades to the room I film in. While I’m lucky enough to have a good amount of space to film in, the room can have a fairly unpleasant and boxy echo to it. As such, over the past few months, I’ve slowly been making some sound panels out of wood and acoustic wool. This Saturday, I attached the first one to the ceiling and so far it’s stayed there which means I’ll start putting the rest up soon—if you suddenly don’t hear from me then assume that one of them fell down and landed on my head!

And outside of work?

This week, my partner and I had some friends round for dinner for the first time in a while. It’s been a busy few months for both of us and so it was nice to be able to hang out with some friends over some drinks and nice food!

We also went for a lovely day out at a stately home near us over the weekend and had a stroll around the gardens there. Afterwards, we popped to a pub that does a fantastic roast dinner that we used to go to a lot in the pre-pandemic times which I don’t think I realised how much I’d missed!

What I’ve been reading/watching/listening to

In the comments to last week’s Friday(ish) Update, Patreon supporter Muntasir recommended I check out McKenzie Wark’s book Capital Is Dead: Is This Something Worse?. I feel like this book had been following me around, tempting me to read it. Every bookshop or website I went on for months seemed to have this book in a prominent placement! But Muntasir’s recommendation tipped me over the edge and I picked it up later that afternoon! And… I’ve so far found it to be a really great read. Wark’s thesis is essentially that the rise of digital platforms has led to the end of capitalism and an evolution into *something else*. It’s an intentionally ambitious argument and, while I don’t agree with everything, it’s definitely a worthwhile provocation!

I also recently started watched Dopesick on Disney+. If you’ve got access to it, I’d definitely recommend checking it out as it offers a startling insight into the horrific operations of “Big Pharma”. I’m a really big fan of the film Spotlight and this seems to have taken more than a little bit of inspiration from that film. As well as starring Michael Keaton, one of its multiple narrative strands follows investigators trying to put together a case against Purdue Pharma for their creation of the opioid epidemic—this offers plenty of moments of real shock and/or pathos much like Spotlight. It’s therefore both interesting and entertaining—who could ask for anything more!?