That Was The Week That Was - 26th January 2025

Sunday saw me heading to New York for a few days to meetup with Gary Hustwit to consult on a new film project through our joint venture Anamorph. I still find air travel magical – sitting adjacent to two huge jet engines as it propels you across the Atlantic. It's crazy that it's even possible when you stop and think about it. Mind you I think the postal service is equally as magical. Write an address on a piece of paper, apply stamp, place in a box on the street and have that thing appear anywhere else in the world. It's easy to take these things for granted as they're seen as an everyday experiences but when you step back and think about it, it's pretty amazing.

I decided against watching any films and instead was kept busy reading the latest issue of The London Review of Books which I highly recommend if long-form articles are your thing.

When I came to New York in June last year I had to endure the less than magical immigration process at JFK for over two hours. This time however it took about a minute, including the TSA officer commenting "They have artists for that now?" when I was asked what do I do, replying I was an artist working with computers. I then zipped through JFK, grabbing a taxi to get to my hotel in Midtown. I was staying at the Arlo Midtown. On reflection booking a room with a terrace in January was a bit dumb. I wasn't really going to be sitting out there in the -8 temperatures.

The next two days were spent in a workshop with the film directors just a few yards away on the same block. Some orange guy was being sworn in for something or other but nobody mentioned it. I also manged to get the chance to meetup with friends either in the evening or on the only free day I had – the Wednesday before my flight later that evening. On that day I met up with my friend Yuko who took me to her favourite Sushi place – Sushi W which serves a style of Sushi called Omakase which roughly translates as "I'll leave it up to you". There was only seating for sixteen so you need to make sure you book ahead to guarantee a seat. Each piece of Sushi was served one at a time, cooked in front of you and served by the chef. Absolutely delicious.

Earlier that day I braved the cold to walk down to Grenwich Village to head to C.O. Bigelow, the oldest apothecary in America. This body is not getting any younger so I need all the help I can get, picking up some of my favourite things from London's Dr Harris. Their Arlington range is a particular favourite of mine. My cold weather strategy of rolling up my roll-neck jumper to cover my face along with my scarf worked well enough so I didn't feel my ears were going to fall off and my mouth still functioned. You may ask "where was your hat?" Well I just don't suit hats – I look like an absolute twat, no matter what hat it is. And yes that is all that matters.

Getting back from New York it was final preparations for the Eno 24 hours global live stream event, starting on Friday 5pm UK time. Once the event began - showing six different versions of the Eno documentary, Nothing Can Ever Be The Same, a never before seen Laraaji concert and Devon Turnbull spinning Eno records in one of his listening spaces – it was wonderful to see people sharing images and videos of where they where watching the stream, from all over the world. Grant Gilbert also did some wonderful Anamorph bumpers especially for the broadcast.