Weeknotes 125

I didn’t get much sleep this week. I’m not having a great time.

Next week will be a three-day week because of the Platinum Jubilee, which is the most the Queen has ever (by remaining alive) done for me.

It’s notable how carelessly the official Platinum Jubilee site has been built: the animated countdown timer at the top is flickery and janky; there’s a beta phase banner on the page — will it move into live by Friday, I wonder?; and its entire content is obscured by an amateurish Cookie Control modal (not even the marginally less terrible cookie banner) despite this being a marketing page which doesn’t require cookies and would be far more effective without the extra hurdle.

I’m mystified that the government department responsible for “Digital” can’t get a simple web page right.

Conversely, the bank holidays page is really good isn’t it? Thanks GDS.

In a moment of weakness I bought a new iPhone. I realise it’s almost the worst possible time of year to do that, but after seeing my friends’ far superior photos of their London & Portland trips I realised I wanted to take a better camera with me when I travel again in August. So rather than wait until then, I decided to buy a phone now to squeeze a couple more months out of its peak position in Apple’s lineup before it instantaneously becomes old and shit one day in September.

It’s a beautiful and satisfying object with flat sides like the iPhone 4, which I like a lot more than the curved design of the ageing iPhone XS I traded in. It’s much faster than my old phone — I didn’t realise what I was missing — and the screen is also way better.

I haven’t taken many photos with it yet.

Shining Girls is still quite good, but also still a bit baffling, so I’m hoping next week’s finale will wrap everything up in a satisfying and intelligible way.

Also on Apple TV+, The Essex Serpent is turning out better than I’d expected. It’s beautifully shot and economically written, and I’m kind of gripped by the continuing ambiguity about what is Actually Going On. Claire Danes is great in it and, unlike Oscar Isaac, manages to pull off an impressive English accent.

I happily ignored Boba Fett when it came out but felt obliged to give Obi-Wan Kenobi a try for some reason. The first episode was kind of boring because of all the setup, but the second was much better thanks to [spoilers???] Leia, so I’m probably going to keep watching for a bit and see where it goes. You can definitely see all the money they’ve spent on it, which isn’t inherently entertaining but does work as a fun spectacle.

Licorice Pizza: great. Is it as confident and joyful as the video for Want You Back, though? Probably not.

I’m continuing to eat well and exercise regularly, and that’s helping to keep the ghost attached.

Let’s just say my Brighton Ruby talk isn’t finished.