Andrew Doran
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andrewdoran.uk
Andrew Doran
@andrewdoran.uk
160 followers 450 following 170 posts
He/him. Husband, dad of two teenage boys, Technology person working in Financial Services, over-enthusiastic, geek.

🎶 Co-founder of Album Club (https://albumclub.info), meeting every month since 2011.

✍️ Blogging since 2004.

🌐 https://andrewdoran.uk
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andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #352 — Doing thought work: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/11/26/weeknotes-352-doing-thought-work/
November 26, 2025 at 7:44 AM
andrewdoran.uk
Solving a micro.blog and Cloudflare connectivity issue: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/11/23/solving-a-microblog-and-cloudflare-connectivity-issue/
November 23, 2025 at 7:59 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #351 — Back in Barcelona: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/11/22/weeknotes-351-back-in-barcelona/
Sunrise over the Mediterranean as seen on my morning run. The view from the 22nd floor of the Leonardo Royal Hotel Barcelona Forum. Dinner at El Nacional in Barcelona. The Gartner Xpo hall.
November 22, 2025 at 8:46 PM
andrewdoran.uk
A small software change that delights: holding down a key on my iPad keyboard now brings up a menu of accented variations of that letter. This is a massive improvement over having to bring up the on-screen keyboard and doing a similar thing on the screen.
November 22, 2025 at 5:29 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Strava seem to have removed their activity map styles of ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘Pride’ and ‘Support Ukraine’. Presumably this is part of getting ready for their IPO and not wanting to have a potentially damaging narrative about whether the... https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/11/13/12688/
November 13, 2025 at 8:54 AM
andrewdoran.uk
Finished reading The Secret Public: How LGBTQ Resistance Shaped Popular Culture (1955–1979). An epic book in five parts, covering the mid-1950s, the early and late 1960s, and the early and late 1970s. This period is transformational for gay rights, ... https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/11/02/12662/
November 2, 2025 at 11:14 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #348 — Born ugly: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/10/30/weeknotes-348-born-ugly/
October 30, 2025 at 11:31 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #347 — Another detached retina: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/10/21/weeknotes-347-another-detached-retina/
Looks like we picked the wrong week to fly to a popper-fuelled party at Everest Base Camp. Grant-Lee Phillips at The Lower Third, London, 15 September 2025
October 21, 2025 at 10:00 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #346 — Hansen Sea-Cow: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/10/17/weeknotes-346-hansen-sea-cow/
October 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
andrewdoran.uk
It’s Album Club #176ref="https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/tag/176/" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">#176.
October 16, 2025 at 8:47 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #345 — Bath full of bricks: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/10/09/weeknotes-345-bath-full-of-bricks/
“In July, just as it was disintegrating, the GLF pulled off a major coup with the first official Gay Pride march in the UK. The culmination of the group's ideal of an open and confident, indeed non-commercial, gay scene, it had been planned for a while. It began in London on Friday 23 June with a dance at Fulham Town Hall and culminated on International Gay Pride Day, Saturday 1 July, with a carnival parade from Trafalgar Square to Speakers' Corner, followed by a Gay Day in Hyde Park.” — from The Secret Public by Jon Savage
October 9, 2025 at 6:33 AM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #344 — Some jacket required: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/10/02/weeknotes-344-some-jacket-required/
Stopping to fix a puncture on Saturday morning’s ride. Sadly our rider suffered a slow flat on the other wheel shortly after and decided to head home.
October 2, 2025 at 8:18 AM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #343 — En Seine: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/09/27/weeknotes-343-en-seine/
Graffiti near the Moxy Hotel. The cellar at Château Kirwan. Various vintages in the cellar at Château Kirwan. The cellar at Château Kirwan. Presumably some very intensive wine-based rituals take place here.
September 27, 2025 at 1:02 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #342 — Out of breath: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/09/16/weeknotes-342-out-of-breath/
A bicycle pedal and crank, sitting abandoned on the pavement. “During the week that followed, Andy Warhol had another breakthrough. On 23 November, he invited some friends over to dinner — including Muriel Latow, the owner of a small Manhattan art gallery — during the course of which he bemoaned the fact that his current work, in particular the cartoon paintings, was being trumped by his competitors Claes Oldenburg and Roy Lichtenstein. He begged his guests for ideas, offering $50 (around $430 in today's money) for the one that worked best. Latow wasn't terribly impressed with Warhol — she thought he was 'one of society's natural aliens' — but she came up with the goods once the cheque was offered. She told Warhol that he should paint 'something you see every day and something that everybody would recognize. Something like a can of Campbell's Soup? 'Oh that sounds fabulous,' Warhol replied, and rushed out the next day to the supermarket across the street to buy every single can of Campbell's in the store, an act that would launch him on his way to becoming the most famous artist in America.” — Jon Savage, The Secret Public
September 16, 2025 at 10:22 AM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #341 — Just the three of us: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/09/10/weeknotes-341-just-the-three-of-us/
September 10, 2025 at 7:56 AM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #340 — Dusty songfield: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/09/03/weeknotes-340-dusty-songfield/
September 3, 2025 at 10:32 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #339 — Lone Star: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/08/27/weeknotes-339-lone-star/
Javelina Stadium at Texas A&M University–Kingsville. Photo: Katie Doran Inaccessible‽ The latest Javelina Found myself up a ladder in our beech tree. It’s not often I look at it like this. I hadn’t spotted the bird’s nest before.
August 27, 2025 at 10:21 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Hosting our online WB-40 Album Club. Snowpoet’s Thought You Knew was a big driver for me to invest in a turntable as I wanted to immerse myself in the music.
August 27, 2025 at 9:07 PM
andrewdoran.uk
I was thrilled to discover that Deco Audio have moved from Aylesbury to Tring. Getting there from Berkhamsted is now half the journey it used to be. A friend and I popped in on Saturday for a chat about CD players and to scour their second hand music.... https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/08/25/12422/
August 25, 2025 at 4:10 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Finished Reading Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company by Patrick McGee. I picked this up after hearing Ben Thompson’s interview with the author on Stratechery. It’s a fascinating insight of how Apple’s focus on helping t... https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/08/25/12411/
August 25, 2025 at 12:15 AM
andrewdoran.uk
It’s Album Club #174ref="https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/tag/174/" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">#174.
August 21, 2025 at 8:59 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #337 — Macroscope: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/08/19/weeknotes-337-macroscope/
A funky mural in a random side street in Lisbon, Portugal.
August 19, 2025 at 9:13 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Lisbon: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/08/18/lisbon/
View from the rooftop bar at Hotel Chiado in Lisbon Our orange and white Cooper Black-adorned chariot Looking south down the busy, restaurant-filled Rua Augusta towards the Arch The Rua Augusta Arch, the Praça do Comércio and the statue of King José I, by Machado de Castro
August 18, 2025 at 10:10 PM
andrewdoran.uk
It’s Album Club #173.

Someone bought me a Look In Television Annual for Christmas 1982, around the time I turned six. I spent ages flipping through the pages over the next couple of years, staring at the pictures and reading about pop stars like ... https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/08/15/12344/
August 15, 2025 at 9:09 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #336 — Sleepy bones: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/08/06/weeknotes-336-sleepy-bones/
I’m not sure what ‘prebiotic’ means relative to ‘probiotic’, but this was pretty tasty. It took a lot of willpower to resist these GIGANTIC scones at Truffles cafe. They smelt incredible, but probably contained an adult’s recommended calorific intake for a fortnight.
August 6, 2025 at 10:22 PM