My week of Monday 10 to Sunday 16 August 2026 was a good week. Productive. Filled with decent food, some of which I cooked myself. And there was wine. Let’s leave it there.
It was also another week when I didn’t really push the new-season crowdfunder, The 9pm Spring Series 2026. Despite that, and thanks to some very generous people, we’re now 42% of the way to the first target. Spring starts very soon, which means so will the pluggage.
For those of you following the saga of The Lost Module, the crate containing one-third of my stuff in storage which went missing, on Thursday I was told that the documents had some back from being assessed and was now with the boss of the storage company. I hope this means I’ll see some progress very soon.
This week’s photo is what use to be Gould’s Book Arcade in Newtown, Sydney, a horrible disorganised but somehow beloved secondhand bookstore. The building then sat empty for years — the business itself moved to smaller premises — until recently it was transformed into a funky “study cafe”. The Guardian wrote it up as Sydney’s hottest nightspot, “where shoes are off, laptops are on and customers drink matcha”, which is some impressive bullshit. But I reckon that O3 is onto something here. As I discovered last week, they’ve kept the outside exactly as it was. I didn’t go inside, though, because there was a queue to get in.
Podcasts
- On Friday I recorded an episode of The 9pm Edict with Scottish author and social researcher David F Porteous and it’ll be posted very soon.
Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #129. X wins against the eSafety Commissioner, Meta loses against New Mexico, calls to ban “pervert glasses” are on the rise, and much more.
Photos, Videos, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse
None of these this week. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear and when the occasional livestreams are scheduled.
Some Interesting Links
- The US Department of War just released the fifth tranche of UFO records, although I’m not sure whether anything there is particularly new.
- Here’s a local Korean restaurant that deserves a plug: Gisa Dining 115 in Campsie.
- Where do ibis actually live?
- There’s so much here that’s bound to make almost everyone cross about something: The 50 funniest comedians of the 21st century.
- Australia held its five-yearly Census this week so I thought it might be fun to scroll back a decade and read my lessons from the Censusfail omnishambles of 2016.
- This week’s suggested follow: I link to this from time to time, but it’s worth reading pretty much every week: John Birmingham’s weekly essay AlienSideBoob.
The Week Ahead
On Monday I’ll edit and post the podcast with David F Porteous, an easy way to ease into what will eventually become quite a busy week. It’s the usual mix of client work, administrivia, and podcast planning, with Tuesday or Wednesday probably focusing on some new content going live for Meanjin.
The Weekly Cybers newsletter will appear on Friday afternoon as usual, and then it’s a full weekend.
On Saturday night I’m heading to Takashi Wakasugi’s Wabi-Sabi Comedy (Encore). This is the show that I missed in May because I came down with RSV. I did see Waka’s work-in-progress show back in December, so I’m looking forward to seeing how it all came together.
Then on Sunday I’m heading to Bowral for TechLeaders 2026. The day begins with me having to get to Sydney Central station by 7.30am to catch the coach, so it’s going to be a long day — and the event extends into Monday.
Further Ahead
- Plateia Festival 2026, Earlwood, 19 September 2026. It’s another of those typical suburban street festivals, and as usual I’m looking forward to the food. If I go. Which I probably will.
Hmmm. It looks like it’s time to start scheduling in some more things!
[Photo: O3 Space in Newtown, Sydney, formerly Gould’s Book Arcade, photographed on 6 August 2026..]