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site iconThomas RigbyModify

A Gen-X/Millennial cusp (Xennial), currently a creative technologist at Havas Lynx Group.
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Weeknotes: 2025-W52

2025-12-29 02:32:06

22nd December - 28th December

There are definitely two Tawny Owls in the village as I heard a distinct and prolonged call-and-response over some distance; one faint over the fields but the other in a tree right over my head — loud and terrifying.


Getting a head start on some work (actually tying up some loose ends I cba'd in the week before close down) –I know, working in the Betwixtmas, tut-tut!– and three things to note;

  1. A not-insignificant number of LLMs seem to be OpenAI under the hood
  2. I quite like Python as a language
  3. I'd forgotten the je ne sais quoi of having a beer while late-night coding

Slightly concerned I'm turning into my dad when I put on a 1972 episode of Ian Nairn travelling around Lancashire on a canal boat and found it fascinating.


Links of Interest™

#AdventJukebox 24: I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday by Wizzard

2025-12-24 17:13:20

"I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" by Wizzard

I own two Roy Wood singles; this and "Music to Commit Suicide By". This is the more festive.

My Year in Music: 2025

2025-12-24 05:50:01

a pixel grid heatmap showing when and how much I have listened to music. like the github commits one but for music.

Caveat

This is, naturally, not exhaustive. I use last.fm on my phone and my laptop to scrobble music I listen to while I'm on my own. As other people have pointed out, this doesn't capture music listened to with friends and family, nor does it log public music from the radio, bars, or shopping centres, for example.

tl;dr

the cover of The Cure Greatest Hits above two lists. The first is top five artists and includes The Cure, Orla Gartland, Chloe Slater, Placebo, and Arch Enemy. The second is top 5 tracks which are only the track list from Chloe Slater's EP Nothing Shines on this Island

A Social Media™-friendly shareable Wrapped image showing the slightly unhinged top 5 artists and tracks of 2025.

a still from a New Zealand TV show showing a young person in studded leather and Black Metal corpse paint eating ice cream on a bench with another person who looks wholesome and blonde and peppy (Never have I felt this meme so acutely.)

January

  • Top Artist: Annalisa (35 plays)
  • Top Album: Reroute to Remain by In Flames (17 plays)
  • Top Track: Bad Apple by Lambrini Girls (4 plays)

February

  • Top Artist: Chloe Slater (25 plays)
  • Top Album: choke enough by Oklou (17 plays)
  • Top Track: Nothing Shines on this Island by Chloe Slater (5 plays)

March

  • Top Artist: The Cure (32 plays)
  • Top Album: Quarter Life Crisis by Baby Queen (22 plays)
  • Top Track: Sheaf & Feld by Jim Ghedi (3 plays)

April

  • Top Artist: Fight Like Apes (34 plays)
  • Top Album: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess by Chappell Roan (15 plays)
  • Top Track: Crystal Days by Echo and the Bunnymen (3 plays)

May

  • Top Artist: The Cure (38 plays)
  • Top Album: Greatest Hits by The Cure (23 plays)
  • Top Track: Same Love by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with Mary Lambert (7 plays)

June

  • Top Artist: Katatonia (26 plays)
  • Top Album: STILL BLUE by iamamiwhoami & ionnalee (16 plays)
  • Top Track: Apply Some Pressure by Maxïmo Park (4 plays)

July

  • Top Artist: Placebo (39 plays)
  • Top Album: Lo-files by Bring Me The Horizon and lophiile (14 plays)
  • Top Track: (U)topia.drm by Bring Me The Horizon and lophiile (5 plays)

August

  • Top Artist: The New Eves (18 plays)
  • Top Album: "The New Eve is Rising" by The New Eves (18 plays)
  • Top Track: "No Comply" by Senser (3 plays)

September

  • Top Artist: NewDad (19 plays)
  • Top Album: "Cacophony" by Paris Paloma (17 plaus)
  • Top Track: "The Look of Love" by ABC (3 plays)

October

  • Top Artist: The Indelicates (20 plays)
  • Top Album: "The Feeding of the 5000" by Crass (17 plays)
  • Top Track: "Fight for your right" by Beastie Boys (3 plays)astie Boys (3 pla)

November

  • Top Artist: Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan (28 plays)
  • Top Album: "Quarter Life Crisis" by Baby Queen (17 plays)
  • Top Track: "Isobel" by Björk (5 plays)

December

  • Top Artist: Lily Allen (34 plays)
  • Top Album: "West End Girl" by Lily Allen (34 plays)
  • Top Track: "The Shadowsea" by Patrick Wolf (4 plays)

#AdventJukebox 23: Underneath the Tree by Kelly Clarkson

2025-12-24 04:58:52

"Underneath the Tree" by Kelly Clarkson

Baader-Meinhof Syndrome or genuine omnipotence, I will never know, but this 2013 banger seems to have been everywhere this year. Not many artists can pull off a Christmas song this grand. A modern classic.

#AdventJukebox 22: Baby It's Cold Outside by Cerys Matthews and Tom Jones

2025-12-23 04:04:14

"Baby It's Cold Outside" by Cerys Matthews and Tom Jones

The knowing gravel of Cerys Matthews somehow steers this song from creepy to funny. Welsh pop powerhouse Tom Jones also appears.

#AdventJukebox 21: Christmas in Hollis by Run-DMC

2025-12-22 03:32:14

"Christmas in Hollis" by Run-DMC

Another unmistakable riff; that funky brass, mixed with sleigh bells and scratching, supports a hilarious tale of finding Santa's lost wallet.