Blog 0172: After 3 months gardening leave and a 2,300 mile trip around the UK, Quantum Fax Machine Reading Lists are back!
I drove >2,300 miles around the UK from London to Land's End to John o'Groats and back to London in a VW Californian camper and lived to tell the tale.
Tags: braingasm, podcast, knwowledge, creativity, ai, gen-ai, generative, software, programming, engineer
Source: Photo of “The Duncansby Stacks” by Walter Frehner on Unsplash
[ED: This is a link-list post that points off to some other Quantum Fax Machine Posts. Plus a Le Jog 2024 trip report: 1/5 hats]
Braingasm
Thanks to some recent gardening leave, I was lucky enough to spend three weeks travelling more than 2,300 miles circumnavigating the island of Great Britain with my wonderful wife (sans kids and dog). Because of that trip, I wasn’t able to get the regular reading lists for September and October out on time, but fear not—what follows is a big link dump for all four reading lists for September and October. Enjoy!
Machine Intelligence Reading List
Elixir Reading List
Engineering Leadership Reading List
Irresponsible AI Reading List
LeJog 2024 Sinclair Edition
As for the trip, it was fantastic for almost all of it with tons of highlights. Here’s a few choice memories:
Land’s End
To complete “Le JoG” (Land’s End to John o’Groats), you must touch the sign in the island’s most southwestern and northeastern parts. We did that.
Just in case you didn’t know where you were, there’s a sign
The Minack Theatre
The Minack Theatre in Penzance is a genuine national treasure. Even with bad weather (which we were miraculously spared for the performance), it was an outstanding experience.
The rainbow was free with this evening’s show
We saw a local production of Duffy Beats the Devil, which was excellent both for the incredible view and the fact that what had earlier been 70mph winds and pouring rain held off for the precise duration of the show.
The Minack Theatre is really something
Tintagel
This was not a highlight. I can’t be sure if it was the Q-Anon nonsense from Camelot’s owner John Mappin, the curious pagan “Red Lady” witch initiation ceremony, or the fact that we were served the worst meal I have ever had the misfortune of experiencing at a venue making a serious attempt to be an actual restaurant. Perhaps it was all three. It’s a beautiful coastline. I’ll leave it at that.
King Arthur’s Table. Allegedly. Perhaps not.
Camelot is a lovely building. From a distance.
You tell me. I have no idea.
Sinclair Bay, far North-East Scotland
We stayed in a glamping cottage for two nights on the coast at Sinclair’s Bay in the far north-east of the Scottish mainland. The evening sky looking up into the Orkneys was genuinely remarkable.
Getting to put my feet up for two days after so much driving was also quite lovely.
John o’Groats
We did it!
Now turn around and head back
Sinclair Castle
It would not be a trip to the far northeast of Scotland without a stop at the eponymous Sinclair Castle (my very distant ancestral home). If this were a Grand Designs episode, Kevin McCloud might start with, “It needs a bit of work”.
Bring your wellies and a hard-hat
The Scotts love building their castles right on the cliff’s edge. Not great for the long-term stability of the building. In its day, Sinclair Castle was like a medium-sized village, perched precariously on the sea’s edge.
What Sinclair Castle might look like after some extensive repairs
Bamburgh Castle
In contrast to the bonkers nature of Camelot at Tintagel, Bamburgh Castle is stunning from a historical perspective, with an incredible view of an incredible beach. Lindisfarne oysters and lobster at the Lord Crewe, just nearby, was undoubtedly one of the best meals I’ve had in >9 years in the UK. This was a real highlight.
Source: cameradestinations.com
A final stop at Whitby
We had a quick stop-off on the way back to London to see Dracula’s home base when visiting the UK. Whitby Abbey Ruins was well worth a stopover.
If you are keen, there’s even a stone coffin you can lie in. For the photo opportuntiy.
Somewhere off a Motorway
You know it’s time to come home when you end up staying (for one night only, thankfully) in a concrete pitch near the toilet block of a suburban caravan park on an evening when the temperature has dropped well below zero. This was not a highlight; hence, no photos.
Thanks, Jen! ❤️
Huge thanks to my wife Jen for putting up with >2,300 miles of my driving without ever once complaining. Although I freely admit that my roundabout skills need some work. It really was one to chalk off the bucket list.
Le JoG 2024 Sinclair Edition
Regards,
Originally published on matthewsinclair.com and cross-posted on Medium.
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