I'm a researcher and programmer working in open data for international development and humanitarian relief.

I play bass and sing, listen to music almost all of the time, like cooking, spice and coffee a lot.

I'm open to new experiences and people, and love talking to new people.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've found that couchsurfers generally come with new conversations and experiences, and are interesting and fun. Why wouldn't I want to meet more of them?

Interests

The crossover between what I like to think about and what I'm paid to think about is quite broad, so I think about open data, international development, cooperative movements, and artificial intelligence quite a fair amount.

I'm always trying to create more time to think about other things though; see below for what I find interesting and love to talk about :)

• live music
• jazz
• hip-hop music
• python
• international development
• hiphop
• data science
• data
• visual art

Music, Movies, and Books

(amongst other things of course...)

Music: Hip Hop, Jazz, Fusion, Choral, World including - MF Doom, Madlib, Jaga Jazzist, Steve Reich, Bill Evans, Jaco Pastorius, Joni Mitchell, DJ Sprinkles, Kendrick Lamar, Eric Whitacre, Voices from the Lake, Phronesis, Eric B + Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Four Tet, John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussein.

Art and Aesthetics: Escher, Anthony Gormley, Suprematism, Minimalism, William Morris.

Books and Ideas: International Development, Iain M Banks, Daniel Kahneman, Greg Egan, Foucault, Analytic Philosophy (which I'd be pretty ropey on by now!).

Code and Tech: Python, data wrangling, linux, virtualisation, AI and machine learning.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Genuinely amazing: Interrupted an ongoing court case using the movie 'Limitless' - full anecdote on request.

Standard amazing: walking through the central markets of Dar Es Salaam trying for find conference clothes for a 6ft5 guy (me). It was stressful, but an entirely unique experience. SPOILER: I wasn't very successful.

Teach, Learn, Share

I love sharing music, jamming, cooking and appreciating food with people, and exchanging life experiences. If you get me tipsy I can rap along to quite a bit of Golden Age hip hop *at pitch* :P ('It was all a dream...')

What I Can Share with Hosts

Music, conversation, food, drink, fun.

Countries I’ve Visited

France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Tanzania, Tunisia, United States, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom