Lasagne and Nessun Dorma were made for each other!Įxplore The Internet Archive’s audio collection, a vast library aiming to give “universal access to all knowledge”. Make mealtimes more evocative by soundtracking your dinner with music that shares its origins with your food. Spin it at random, or alight on a place you’ve always wanted to visit – and discover what their daily soundtrack involves.
There are umpteen apps, but there’s something satisfying about the Radio Garden website, boasting an image of the world you can rotate, in order to find thousands of live broadcasts from anywhere on Earth. Edgar Wright’s comprehensive Sparks documentary is a great primer. Make a beeline for their weirder albums, the ones that history has cast aside – and decide whether the critics were right. Just as interesting as any musician’s imperial period are the times where they got it wrong. Photograph: your fate in the hands of a friend whose taste you trust – or even that you’re sceptical about – and ask them to bring you to things they love so you can see the world through their eyes. Uplifting … supermarket high-kicker Hannah Lowther. Recommended: Mikhail Baryshnikov’s 11 pirouettes in White Nights, Tamara Rojo’s 32 fouettés in Swan Lake or the uncountable headspins of 14-year-old B-girl Terra. Go down a better YouTube hole and be uplifted by superhuman spinners. It will be one giant leap not just in stance, but in how you view your body, every single energised bit of it. And what better example than all those upright spines in ballet? The Silver Swans videos, by the Royal Academy of Dance, are aimed at over 55s but could work for anyone.
Improve your mood by improving your posture. You could see your favourite comedians for free, and hear your own embarrassingly loud laughter when the show airs.
Offer yourself to companies that provide TV audiences, eg SRO. When you’re thrown a curveball, deviate from your standard script. It’s a philosophy, as Pippa Evans’ recent book Improv Your Life shows. Improvisation isn’t just some zany thing comedians do on telly. It’s not just about making your friends laugh: comedy teaches confidence and communication.įeeling sad, happy, angry, nervous? There’s a showtune for that! From Evan Hansen to Alexander Hamilton to Mary Poppins, find a character whose feelings mirror yours – then unleash that emotion. Study your favourite standup and learn their best joke off by heart. As William Morris said, bin whatever isn’t useful or beautiful. Decorate a room as if you’re a set designer, letting your imagination run wild.