I've really deep dived in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in the past week. For a 14 year old open world RPG it still holds up remarkably well. Clearly a tonne of work was done by Bethesda to make the game run well on the Switch and it shows. Clearly you'll have the best visuals on a beefy PC but being able to play the game in handheld mode is so convenient.

I have some thoughts so far:

• The game is just ridiculously large, almost to the point of being overwhelming, the map is massive, the amount that you can do is crazy
• The controls feel so clunky at first, you feel slow and you don't know how to access basic things like items, magic and the map, it eventually starts to click after a few hours of play
• The level up skills tree was also confusing at first but I'm starting to understand it now, you really have to grind to level up, the game makes you work for it
• The weapons based combat is really basic, where things get interesting is using magic, I'm starting to get better at taking down enemies using different variations of magic
• Some of the quests and combat weirdly reminds me of playing the Star Wars: Jedi Knight games, especially when I started dealing with enemies who used lighting I was getting a real Star Wars vibe
• You go from killing a dragon feels impossible to it being relatively manageable
• The story is pretty interesting, Bethesda must have had a lot of excellent writers on their staff at the time
• The ties to Lord of the Rings is pretty clear with dwarves, orcs, elves and men
• Hogwarts Legacy clearly takes inspiration from Skyrim, the mechanics and general RPG style gameplay are similar

The day has arrived and the Switch 2 is for sale in Australia. I'll hopefully be picking one up in the next few months when I can afford it.

Sports Bizarre continues to be an excellent listen. This guys motor sports career is just bizarre:

Born in Medellín, he raced in stock car and motorcycle speed championships until the 1970s and claimed many victories. Londoño left for the United States in 1979 and took part in IMSA GT Championship races. The following year, he placed seventh overall in the 24 Hours of Daytona and twelfth in the Can-Amstandings. Londoño received support from coffee growing and drug trafficking and this enabled him to compete in the season-closing British Formula One Championship at Silverstone where he finished seventh. Despite his inexperience, he was selected by Ensign to compete in the 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix,[1] mainly for financial purposes. Londoño took part in the Grand Prix's acclimatisation session and recorded fast lap times before hitting Keke Rosberg and was thus not granted a super licence by the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile. He was therefore dismissed from the Ensign team.

Londoño's illegal support enabled him to race in three Formula Two events in 1981 with the Docking-Spitzey Team-Toleman and took a best result of ninth at the Pau Grand Prix. Despite the arrest of several of his sponsors which prevented him from participating in the 1982 Can-Am season, he continued to drive in the IMSA GT Championship until 1986 when he withdrew from motor racing. Londoño subsequently returned to Colombia and carried out illegal activities related to drug trafficking. A majority of his property was seized by the Colombian courts in December 2000 and he was murdered nine years later.

Some pictures from the past week.

This book really looks excellent. Apple hasn't done anything specifically wrong it's more like their choices have indirectly led to this complicated situation now where China have the best phones, electric cars and drones.

They have hundreds of football sized factories with amazing robotics and automation and an army of highly skilled workers who have essentially been trained by Apple. And these workers do ~12 hour shifts and they aren't paid well.

The drones part of this is particularly nefarious as that leads into military type technology which clearly is not good for the US.

I've been lucky enough this week to stay at my Aunties farm near Woodend. I brought my clubs up to have a bit of a hit and realised that Lancefield Golf Club was not too far from where I was staying.

I've played there twice and it is a brilliant place to play truly secluded golf. I played there Sunday afternoon with a mate and we saw ~5 golfers. I played there Thursday afternoon and saw only 1 other golfer. So nice and peaceful.

The course itself is also in decent knick. Sure it's a country course so it doesn't have perfect fairways and greens but it's pretty solid. It makes for a lot of fun and a good test.

This is hands down one of the best YouTube golf videos I've ever seen. The beauty of the trees at Northwood is just amazing. The actual birdie challenge was enthralling. The fact that he did it with the sun setting and the light just about to go out. The frustration of the dry spells and the elation of when he got hot. This is what golf means to me in a pure sense.

It was a unique time in human history and it also led to a very weird VFL Grand Final.

The roughness of play, and the high number of reports, suspensions and melees, drew heavy comment from sportswriters and public at the time. In more recent years, the game has come to be nicknamed the Bloodbath due to its violent reputation. In all, nine players were reported on fourteen charges during the game. Bottles were also thrown onto the ground by spectators.

It's particularly interesting in how South Melbourne were the more skilled team but just got bullied by Carlton's physicality.

As a Liberal Malcolm Turnbull often does have smart things to say.

Whilst they don't get everything right the moderate Liberal party is so much better than the Sky News hard right of the party.

All power to him as clearly this dude is incredibly fit.

In saying that, there is something suss about the Australian record. The heart rate. Random sections where he ran 400 metres in 23 seconds. The fact that he's clearly an influencer and not a standard runner. Food for thought.

This has to be one of the most hype videos I've ever seen for not a lot of payoff.

I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment. While I am both anxious and excited about the responsibility of the substantial work ahead, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an important collaboration. The values and vision of Sam and the teams at OpenAI and io are a rare inspiration.

What they do next we'll see!

I randomly got some Melbourne restaurants to try in my Instagram algorithm so thought I'd list them out here:

1. Flower Drum
2. Andrew's Hamburgers
3. Kalimera Souvlaki Art
4. For Heaven's Steaks
5. France-Soir
6. Bay Hotel (for Victoria's best parma)

I've never been to any of these places. There's a nice mix of more casual lunches and proper date night dinner type vibes. I'm sure Emma will like some of these options.

In the past couple of years I've slowly come to appreciate The Rolling Stones. For a long time I was a Beatles > Stones person but I think that equation is starting to shift. Maybe it's an age thing?

I'm even delving deeper into the history of The Rolling Stones. Events like the Altamont Free Concert are fascinating to me. There's also multiple great documentaries about the making of their albums which I appreciate.

There are 4 Rolling Stones albums that I really like: Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main St.

Each have great songs and just okay songs but as albums they're all brilliant.

The strong association with the delta blues is something I never really understood until recently. The Rolling Stones worship Robert Johnson and they cover him twice on these albums (Love In Vain, Stop Breaking Down).

When you listen to King of the Delta Blues Singers and come back and listen to these Stones records the connection is immediately apparent. It truely is an example of Everything Is A Remix.

The story of Exile On Main St and it's recording in a basement in France is incredibly cool. How they were able to somehow get the music out with various drug and personal issues; it defies logic. The fact that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are still alive is just nuts.

This is just so incredibly sad.

I don't often post personal golf related content but things have been going well lately.

I recently shot my best ever stroke play score of 82 at Patterson River.

I've really been loving my new Callaway Elyte X Hybrid which I can hit about ~180 metres and find a lot of fairways. Being in play off the tee more means lower scores even if I'm sacrificing a bit of distance not hitting 3 wood or driver.

I took some photos of my new hybrid before we got married but I never posted them.

The reality of posting a good score like 82 is that you can always get better.

My new goal is to break 80 which given recent form seems possible especially if the putter gets hot.

I haven't paid enough attention to the NBA this year but the Timberwolves are looking really solid.

They're into the conference finals with a 4-1 win in the conference semi and they'll face either OKC or Denver who will likely need to play a 7 game series.

Having a bit of extra rest should bode well.

The eastern conference looks wide open as well with the Knicks looking like they'll knock off the Celtics.

If the Timberwolves can make the NBA Finals they'll have a very good chance of going all the way especially if Ant fires.

This was super cool to see.

When you watch ex AFL players go up against amateurs it's just such a jump in skill, speed and strength.

Even at 44 Fev is still way better than everyone at this level.

Always love Theo's tech stack comparisons. It's something I think about a lot and I just find the topic interesting.

Looks like this course has some teeth. There's a 530 yard (484 metres) par 4. That's nuts. There's also a bunch of difficult par 3's and thick rough.

For comparison the longest par 4 at Patterson River is 423 metres and that tee box is only played a handful of times a month.

Since his battle with cancer began in 2023 and initially being given only a few months to live, Walls displayed his renowned courage and determination to fight the disease bravely before finally succumbing on May 15, 2025, aged 74.

This makes me sad. I always enjoyed his commentary on channel 10.

His move into coaching seemed a natural progression and he took the reins at Fitzroy in 1981.

A strict disciplinarian and a fine tactician, Walls was innovative and often a step ahead of the opposition.

In the early 1980s he invented 'The Huddle', which revolutionised how teams moved the ball from kick-outs.

The tactic, which had several variations, created space for the Lions' skilful running players out of defence and enabled them to move the ball efficiently into the forward half.

The huddle is a classic tactic that I remember fondly from junior footy.