Weeknotes 306

It’s getting darker and wetter outside.

Three times at the gym in the dark and wet.

Shit week but I had half a slice of Ole & Steen social on Thursday so that perked me up.

I can feel I’m getting close to burning out for completely avoidable reasons. I’ve been tiptoeing around it for months but my mission for next week is to stop politely tolerating it and sort it out before it becomes an emergency.

I’ve had neither the time nor the headspace to make an in-person appointment for my wrist pain. I think it’s slowly improving so with any luck this’ll be yet another problem I can solve by ignoring it for long enough.

I finished Project Hail Mary. I can’t deny it went down easily and stayed entertaining all the way through, which is impressive in its own right. I just don’t feel good about reading it because it was frequently childish and I can tell it didn’t nourish my brain in any meaningful way. I suppose that’s fine as long as it distracted me from the monotony of the gym, but overall I enjoyed the Tchaikovsky books more.

Will I watch the film?

I haven’t decided what to listen to next. I’ve got Piranesi, Shroud and Revelation Space already in my queue and I’m looking forward to Children of Strife in March.

The third episode of Pluribus was not encouraging: more filler and wheel-spinning, with no development of the characters or situation. What the hell is this show going to be about for an entire season two seasons? Just give me a sign! I want to believe!

I also watched All Her Fault (better title idea: Don’t Have Kids) and it wasn’t good. None of the characters are likeable or believable, the performances of the otherwise talented actors are over-the-top and unconvincing, the central couple have zero chemistry, and the wider group of friends & family don’t show any signs of liking or even knowing each other.

Even ignoring the absurdity of its plot, every individual scene comes across as cold and flat, which made it hard to care about any of the dramatic twists. The music is distracting too: one minute it’s overwhelmingly syrupy, the next it’s inappropriately whimsical. The whole thing didn’t really work for me.

Accurate critical review: Time. Unhinged five-star (!) review: The Guardian. I think Lucy Mangan might have carbon monoxide poisoning.

YOUTUBE SOMMELIER CORNER: Yesterday I played two of my favourite music videos back-to-back and enjoyed their concordance. Now you:

I also discovered yesterday that there’s delightful behind-the-scenes footage of that great video Buckles made for Jigsaw Falling into Place. You live and learn.