Hi folks,

Welcome to the second instalment of Finemore’s Five for Friday, my weekly roundup of the five things I can’t stop doing this week, I’m enjoying or are simply on my mind.

This week I am mostly listening to...

The Feelies : Crazy Rhythms (Chiropractic band in the most appropriate sense) - great post punk poppy sound. This is their debut album; spring is on the way. Listen to them on Spotify here or check out the album on Rough Trade here.

This week I am mostly reading...

You are the Placebo by Joe Dispenza : an amazing description of the power of self healing that we all have access to from miraculous recovery to changes in the thoughts we choose that allow us to take the first steps in a preferred direction. Joe advocates meditation as a ‘way in’... here's the link to the book.

There's also a great podcast on the same topic from the Ice Man, Wim Hof, psychologist Stanley Krippner (85 yrs young) and Chris Ryan Phd that you can listen to here.

This week I am mostly appreciating...

The sound of vinyl - analogue in a digital world is rebellious. Dig ‘em out.

This week I am mostly exercising...

My low back stabilisers and Gluteus Medius integration with an exercise called ‘Flying Aeroplanes’ - one of my favourites : great to do when cleaning you teeth. Try it. Here is me doing it on YouTube.

This week I am mostly pondering...

The cultural specificity of productivity and progress. Are these concepts just cultural norms and is the idea of continual growth an illusion on a planet of finite resource?

In the podcast below Wade Davis (Ethnobotanist, explorer etc) mentions the fact that as late 1910 it was legal for white immigrants to shoot and kill ‘indigenous Australians’. It was considered that indigenous Australians were 'not human’ as they were not ‘productive' in normative immigrant terms.

In Indigenous Australian culture it was sacrilege to change, destroy or build upon the perfection of nature. Nature above all had to be appreciated and respected which resulted in the perceived lack of ‘progress’. This murderous clash of culture has stuck with me all week. Great podcast.

Have a great weekend and see you soon.

Until next time,

Simon

PS - Would love to know what you think of these or if you've got any questions you'd like answering send them through and I'll do my best to oblige.