I’m Jon, and this is my – what we used to call – digital home: part notebook, old-time blog, part archive, and a record of the things that catch my attention. I write from London about places I go, things I see and hear, and the ways media and technology turn up in everyday life. That might mean travel, radio (the very best mass medium), music and theatre, advertising, or simply something from the week worth remembering.
The site has been online in one form or another since 1999. These days it grows mainly through weeknotes, with occasional longer pieces, while the archive preserves writing from earlier versions of the web—and of me. There are photographs and audio here too.
Latest Writing
My latest writing: weeknotes, reviews and occasional longer pieces about the places I go, the things I see and hear, and whatever catches my attention.
- Weeknotes #183: keys, leaks and a book suggestion
- Weeknotes #182: graduations, glasses and glory
- Weeknotes #181: heatwaves and show tunes
- Weeknotes #180: pride and pop
- Beetlejuice: It’s Showtime
- Weeknotes #179: heat, goals, locksmiths and delays
Jon’s best bits
I’ve been reviewing old material, trying to find my “best bits”: the end-of-reality-programme showreel. It’s been an interesting exercise, and after 31 and a half years of writing, I’m gradually curating my favourites. I don’t always agree with my past self, but it’s been fun.
- Mine is the last voice you will ever hear — Frankie’s “Two Tribes” was the sound of my last weeks at school in 1984. We played it loud enough for the air-raid siren to carry across the school grounds.
- My Name’s Not Bond — I always wanted to be a secret agent. A perfectly normal business trip to Helsinki confirmed that I don’t look good in black and, truthfully, Judi Dench scares me a little.
- Piccadilly Magic — Piccadilly Radio: my childhood’s loudest imagined universe set to an 80s pop beat.
- Is Email Bad? — In 1999, after six years of using email, I was beginning to think it wasn’t as great as it could be. Ping, here comes another one.
- Moscow: War & Advertising In A Week — I went to Moscow to plan an ad-serving implementation as war broke out between Russia and Georgia. I missed the war but met smart, interesting people.
- Two Minutes Silence — At 12 noon, a bus stopped across the junction, and the driver switched off the engine. A silence descended upon London.
Say hello
My professional summary is on LinkedIn, but you’ll sometimes find me on Threads (@curns), Instagram, flickr or Blipfoto.