The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Wednesday, July 24

Hey, everyone!

I open with a dispatch from Tottenham Hotspur’s preseason tour. You may have seen this by now, but it remains worth sharing:

Ramble of the Day

I go through a series of stages when doing some work, only occasionally getting to the final stages. I start by jotting down some notes in my notebook, and then I begin writing, and I hope I can get into a rhythm quickly. If I can’t, though, the next step is Spotify, where I have a number of playlists to choose from. (The last phase is when, in absolute desperation, I opt for changes in scenery.)

I only occasionally go to my master playlist of the music I like to listen to when I’m just moving through life. When I’m writing, I approach music a little bit differently. It’s all more important; I truly need to focus. I’ll sometimes go to whatever’s stuck in my head, like when I had Elton John songs playing in my head after seeing Rocketman. Sometimes I’ll opt for something that brings a feeling of high energy and intensity, so I’ll opt for something like EA’s 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa soundtrack. For a few months last year, though, I was dedicated to the Call Me by Your Name soundtrack.

I saw the movie around the time of its release, and truly enjoyed it for all the reasons it was worth enjoying. As is usually the case with me, I tracked the soundtrack on a whim of sorts; I had the songs stuck in my head, and on top of that, I really liked the sound of “Mystery of Love.” I quickly discovered that it was really easy to leave in the background while I wrote. In fact, on another whim, I started playing the song after I embedded it in this Hoddle and I’m already feeling more focused.

I’m certainly typing faster, which is a feeling I always try to simulate when I’m writing. I really like the feeling of the bones in my hand moving, coupled with the sound of the keyboard clacking. To me, they represent the feelings and sounds of progress and of productivity. It’s truly what I mean when I say I truly need to focus: I need to get on with the whole act in every sense, and that means being in the midst of the work.

I enjoyed quite a bit of success while listening to the Call Me by Your Name soundtrack. I very distinctly remember dashing back to a press box on a sunny spring day, the first of its kind after a winter of normal length, audio on phone and laptop ready to write up a story. I don’t think I remember the piece, but I remember finishing it quite quickly, quicker than usual, though I think I’ve beat that record a few times since.

I don’t know why I quit listening to the soundtrack. As you might be able to tell, it really does depend on my mood, but I actually haven’t listened to this soundtrack since probably that spring. There’s hardly a science to it; I’ve been just as productive with and without this soundtrack, and music in general. I just remember this as a very specific snapshot in my life, filled with nice sounds and good feelings.

tl;dr: The Call Me by Your Name soundtrack used to be my go-to soundtrack when I needed to focus.

Links of the Day

Lionel Messi has been banned from Argentina’s next World Cup qualifier after getting a red card in the Copa América.

David Squires covers kit designs and “humanity’s Banter Era” in his latest cartoon.

Transfer updates: Newcastle has signed Joelinton from Hoffenheim; Paris Saint-Germain has signed Xavi Simons from Barcelona

Today’s longer read: David Conn, Lionel Faull, and Atanas Tchobanov on Everton’s new shirt sponsor SportPesa and concerns about its profits off of online gambling for The Guardian