I’ll be changing the structure of these newsletters until the end of October: I’m studying for an exam and I won’t be able to write as much or as well as I’d like, but I’d still like to share what I’ve enjoyed in the past week.

Hope that’s alright with you, and let me know if you have any suggestions.

Three things I enjoyed this week

🎼 One song

Neutral Milk Hotel’s In The Aeroplane Over The Sea – this track is from one of my favorite indie/folk albums. It’s eponymous album is considered a modern classic by many, and it’s not hard to see why:

📹 One video

Wired’s How 250 Cameras Filmed Neill Blomkamp's Demonic – fascinating look at how Blomkamp filmed his latest project. I used photogrammetry myself for my university capstone project and it’s intriguing to see how artists use these kinds of technologies to tell a story:

📖 One article

Mark Manson’s What is Wisdom? – I’ve been following Manson since the release of his fun and expletive-ridden book in 2016. His latest newsletter on wisdom is especially pertinent in the current environment:

Paradoxically, the price for diversity is constant stress and anxiety. Diversity means differences and differences mean conflict. Highly extraverted people annoy highly introverted people and vice versa. Highly religious people offend highly non-religious people and vice versa. People from rural and urban areas have different life experiences and different values. People with differing beliefs yell at each other, fight, and complain about how awful everyone else is. 

Yet this perception that everyone else is awful is evidence that everything is alright. The fact that we’re exposed to enough diversity of thought and lifestyle to be so annoyed by everyone demonstrates that the system is working. In a sense, democracy requires constant dissatisfaction. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature. 

Went down the history rabbit hole of the Rubik’s cube this week. The Smithsonian Magazine has a short and sweet write up of how Erno Rubik came up with the twisty puzzle:

At first glance, the cube seems deceptively simple, featuring nine colored squares on each side. In its starting state, each side has a uniform color — red, green, yellow, orange, blue, or white. To solve the puzzle, you must twist the cubes so that eventually each side returns to its original color: The challenge is the astounding number of potential variations — more than 43 quintillion of them.

To master the cube, you must learn a sequence of movements that can be performed in successive order — the subject of several best-selling books as well as online tutorials. And the evolution of the cube — from a three-by-three-by-three shape to larger four-by-four-by-four and five-by-five-by-five ones — offers different complicated mathematical principles of group theory.

– Hope Reese, writing for Smithsonian Magazine

This piece couples well with the Rubik’s cube’s history entry on Ruwix, the speedcubing wiki:

The Rubik’s Cube had made its mark on the world. In 1980, the same year that the cube was released worldwide, it won the Toy of the Year Award. The cube hooked both youngsters and adults, and by 1982 over 100 million cubes had been sold.

The apparent simplicity but incredible difficulty of the puzzle stumped millions, and very few people even today can say that they have solved a Rubik’s Cube without a guide or tutorial.

– Ruwix

Three (other) things I enjoyed this week

🎼 One song

Sufjan Stevens’ The Predatory Wasp of The Palisades is Out To Get Us! – one of my favorite tracks from the multi-instrumentalist and folk musician Sufjan Stevens, it recounts their experience in a Methodist summer camp they attended in their youth.

📹 One video

The Wall Street Journal’s How TikTok's Algorithm Figures You Out – this fascinating deep dive into TikTok’s algorithm helped me visualize how content is aggregated and distributed on the platform. A must see for anyone interested in how some of our feeds suss out what we might like to see next.

📖 One article

The Wall Street Journal’s These People Who Work From Home Have a Secret: They Have Two Jobs – this article is a wild ride: never knew people could have enough bandwidth to juggle multiple full time jobs.

Alone in their home offices, they toggle between two laptops. They play “Tetris” with their calendars, trying to dodge endless meetings. Sometimes they log on to two meetings at once. They use paid time off—in some cases, unlimited—to juggle the occasional big project or ramp up at a new gig. Many say they don’t work more than 40 hours a week for both jobs combined. They don’t apologize for taking advantage of a system they feel has taken advantage of them.

– Rachel Feintzeig, writing for The Wall Street Journal

1. Notable Features

Math Rock gets its name from its atypical conventions: odd note choices, tilted song structures, odd time signatures, and other details that get music nerds frothing at the mouth — things that are just weird enough that you'd have to make a mental effort to keep up the first time you hear them, as if you were doing mental math.

Interestingly enough, the sub-genre is an offshoot of progressive rock, from which it gets some of the oddities above. I listened to bands like Dream Theater and Tool before and you can note some oblique references here and there.

One of my favorite qualities about (some) Math Rock songs is the emphasis on melody, often in the form of twinkly guitar arpeggios. These riffs, often from a Telecaster, round out the indie aesthetic that's often found on many bands.

2. My Greatest Hits

This section has quite a few embedded media: click on the article title above to read it in your browser for the best experience. Pressing play on the embeds below will automatically go through 30 seconds of each song, and you can always skip around the album tracks.

Let's start with the indie bands

• Animals, the debut album from TTNG (formerly known as This Town Needs Guns). It’s a testament to how a dash of Midwestern Emo can really add a spark to Math Rock. TTNG is one of the few bands that brings in vocals quite well, and Baboon is the perfect example.

• Grim by Foster Parents is a terrific LP that’s especially suited for background listening. Colors Casted is the song I'd recommend from it to get a sense of the band's sound.

• No Drum and Bass in the Jazz Room by Clever Girl. This band released one of the most beautiful and twinkly EPs in 2010 and then went dormant. It’s a favorite of mine, and Elm is a treat.

On to the rock and metal oriented bands

• Twin Galaxies by Delta Sleep. One of my favorite bands, due in no small part to the strong songwriting. Spy Dolphin is the song to hear.

• Grow, CHON's sophomore project. This project (along with their debut, Newborn Sun) is a perfect example of how a more traditional sounding band can have a more interesting dash with Math Rock elements. Suda is my suggestion for getting acquainted with them.

• New Levels, New Devils by Polyphia. These folks are what I presume happens to guitar shredders when they want a bit more from metal. Full of punchy riffs, harmonics, and hybrid picking, they're more suited to active listening. The aptly named G.O.A.T. is my recommendation.

…and trust the Japanese to be well represented

• the book about my idle plot on a vague anxiety by Toe. An iconic entry, this album is a masterclass in what Math Rock can be. 孤独の発明 (Kodoku no hatsumei) is a treat of a song.

• a fanatic socialist looked up at the stars... by a picture of her. This 5 track EP is a must listen, but if you're pressed for time then now I'm weaving hundred words would do.

• potage and On the boom, singles by Tricot. This Kyoto band dances with a unique flavor of Math Rock, with gripping vocals to boot.

Notable mention

• Remember Tera Melos? Looking back, it was a very odd entry point for me. Their third album X'ed Out can get a bit disorienting, and that's saying something considering they mellowed their sound since their earlier projects. Sunburn can give you a hint of their more accessible sound, and Slimed is… a bit of an acquired taste.

3. Is That It?

Far from it: there are many more bands worth listening to, from American Football all the way to King Crimson, and even other genre defining bands like Don Caballero or Hella. The world of Math Rock is as vast as it is diverse, but these are a good start.

I've always wanted to build the future. For the longest time I wanted to study engineering, and growing up in Mozambique meant casting my eyes outwards for the best education possible. I considered a few universities in a handful of countries, and fate would ultimately have me moving to South Africa.

Now I'm graduating from the University of Cape Town after a journey that took me 8 years from first application to degree conferred. Along the way I picked up two other degrees, made lifelong friends (🤞🏼), and got to live in the most beautiful city on Earth.

But I had to be rejected first. Three times, to be exact.

I. First Blood

In order to apply to South African universities I had to do the National Benchmark Test, or NBT. In high school I studied the Portuguese curriculum, which made tackling the NBT a bit of an uphill climb: many of the concepts were taught differently or just weren't much of a focus, meaning I had a lot of ground to cover. For example, we were required to use TI-83 calculators in math class, meaning calculus questions weren't concerned on whether we could draw functions or not. This lead to very involved questions, each often taking multiple pages. Contrasting that with the NBT's expectation for fully drawn functions meant I had my work cut out for me.

An unexpected wrinkle was applying from a different academic year: my school classes went from September to June, while UCT's calendar started in February. That meant spending an extended time out of high school after graduation1, and it was challenging to see classmates embarking on their college treks while I was poring over test prep – if nothing else, it was a potent lesson on how everyone lives at a different pace.

I went to write the test in a small town called White River, not far from the border between South Africa and Mozambique.

It didn't go very well, and I didn't get in.

II. Let's Hear That B Section Again

I realized I needed to double down on my studies, preferably with a change of scenery. A graphic design course in Cape Town seemed like a perfect fit, seeing as the faded billboards scattered throughout Maputo were always a point of contention for me2 – I thought I'd learn how to make them better. Plus, I would only have classes in the mornings, leaving my afternoons free to study for the NBT at a tutoring place called Master Maths. They weren't used to having people come in just to study for the test, but they didn't turn me away. Their Gardens branch gave me the support I needed to do well.

My graphic design studies were a great experience at the Academy of Digital Arts: I didn't consider myself an incredibly artistic person but thought that the design process could be reverse engineered. I had better luck at logos and layouts than at illustrations, and learned a great deal about how to generate visual ideas. I also improved my public speaking skills by having project presentations every week or two.

Living in town also had it's perks: the academy was on Upper Bree St., and I stayed at a backpackers on Upper Long. The late night conversations I had with people from all over the world were invaluable in expanding my understanding of different backgrounds, especially for someone who had only called Maputo home for most of their life.

I wrote my second NBT at UCT itself. As I shuffled along Upper Campus looking for the Leslie Social building, I passed by many spots where I would make great memories years later.

Not long after that, I got my results. I finally had a good score.

But it wasn't meant to be. Another rejection.

III. There and Back Again

I graduated from the graphic design course and went back for seconds, this time to study web development. The plan was the same, only this time I'd take no prisoners. Less longboarding to the V&A, more derivations and integrals.

I still put in the work at the academy, though: not only was I tackling front end development, but I was also doing audio and video editing as part of my course. It was a great mix of creative and technical work, and I learned many skills that I still use to this day.

I wrote my third and final NBT at the Beattie building, right across from Leslie Social. That's where I met the first person I'd share a classroom with at UCT. I remember both of us standing at the Plaza above the Jammie Steps, looking at the snow covered Jonkershoek mountains, wondering if we'd get in.

My third scores were modestly higher than my second ones.

And I still got rejected.

My runway was over. I wasn't convinced my scores were the issue anymore, and I had to know what was going on. I had sent emails after my previous rejections, but the responses were never concrete.

I picked up the phone, and had one of the most impactful calls of my life.

[...]
- Do you have my transcripts on file?
- Yes.
- Can you see the sworn translations?
- Yes. I see you're coming from Mozambique, which unfortunately means you'll need to complete your 1st year at a university there before we can consider your application here at UCT.
- Can you see that I studied at a Portuguese school?
- Yes.
- And can you see that I studied under the Portuguese curriculum, not the Mozambican system? The Portuguese curriculum is equivalent to Cambridge.

That's it. That's all it took for me to get in. **I'd get an acceptance email shortly after that.

With this weight off my shoulders, my second graduation was much more enjoyable than the first.

IV. Only First Years and Faculty Actually Wear Their Student Cards3

University life was quite different. First year physics and calculus were relentless. Engineering software could crash and wipe out hours of work (save often!). And the later engineering workload was unyielding. Instead of spending mornings on design and afternoons on math, I was spending mornings on inscrutable hieroglyphics (read: solid mechanics), afternoons in labs doing practical assessments, and evenings decoding the aforementioned hieroglyphics. I learned an immeasurable amount on not just a technical sense, but also on managing my time and finding out how I learn best. My experience interning and tutoring not only helped me cement many concepts that I only knew in theory, but also helped me better grasp the classes that came afterwards.

Interlaced with these studies were the Fees Must Fall protests, the drought, and the pandemic. These, too, were unforgettable teachers. I'll be untangling their lessons for years to come.

Yet this time period also added up to some of the most fulfilling years I've had. I've pulled late nights in Green Lab fueled by (questionable) energy drinks with energetic classmates who always had time for a laugh. I've submitted assignments only to see daylight streaming into the lab, meaning I had 2 hours to catch the bus, shower, grab a bite, and be back for an 8AM math lecture (pro tip: don't do this4). I've had hours long Dungeon & Dragons sessions on campus where takeout and tomfoolery were table stakes. I've laughed myself to stitches after seeing a friend spill all of his modeling headshots on Jammie steps at 2AM after a late night of exam prep.

And these are just the tip of the iceberg: if my experiences at the academy allowed me to expand my horizons and bring the disparate together, my time at the university allowed me to hone my work ethic and learn how to learn. Although the repeated university applications were challenging, the end result made persevering all the more rewarding.

My application essay was titled "A Minor Detour" and in it I waxed poetic about my winding path and my learnings, on how much of a different person I'd be without them. I enthused about my passion for engineering and all things technical. But most of all, I gushed about how awestruck I was when I first visited the campus during a rainy August day, about how an impromptu tour convinced me that the university was where I was meant to be.

To this day, I'm still awestruck. Life's so rich.

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