Weeknotes 297

London became cold and rainy this week. I like it so far. On Friday there were rainbows behind the Gherkin.

I’m getting tendon pain in my left wrist. I’ve put it in a splint and started making a conscious effort to type less (and relax more?) to give it (and me?) a break.

Three times at the gym.

In May 2024 I bought tickets for a Knower gig, a few months later it got postponed by a year, and on Thursday it finally happened. This might be the most time that’s ever elapsed between me excitedly buying tickets for a gig and then remembering I’m supposed to attend it.

I met Chris for a pre-show beer at the pub opposite the venue in Camden. There we bumped into jazz-adjacent computer man Rob, which felt like an incredible coincidence for about two seconds before I realised it was basically inevitable.

Doors were at 7pm but to avoid the usual frustrations we didn’t head in until 9pm, which turned out perfectly because Knower came on at 9:15pm.

They played a great set; musically they’re consistently the best live music act I’ve seen. On the other hand, gigs are a massive faff aren’t they? Noisy, sweaty, packed with — let’s face it — exactly the sort of insufferable prick who likes the sort of music I like.

It was due to finish at 11pm but by about 10:15pm I’d had my fun and headed off. There was of course no tube so I took the bus, which got stuck on Euston Road for half an hour and then unexpectedly terminated early at Angel, leaving me to walk the rest of the way home.

I watched Together, a fun, silly idea executed in a fun, silly way. It has the rhythm of a comedy without overt jokes, and isn’t as gruesome as I expected, or even scary at all really. Still, good stunt casting and good visual effects.

I also saw Weapons which is an excellent horror film, better even than Barbarian. It’s really well made and has an interesting structure, strong performances and convincing characters which keep it engaging all the way through, even after the core mystery has been resolved. Regrettably it has one or two jump scares but doesn’t overdo it. The ending’s extremely satisfying without feeling like the rest of the film has been contrived around it.

I’d better stop typing now.