The only work adjacent thing this week is all the contract and compliance stuff got sorted so I was able to say that my new contract is with the GOV.UK team at the Government Digital Service. I’m starting Monday and am excited and a little nervous – despite what many folks think I have never worked for GDS and it has also been a while since I have been as consistently hands-on with teams as I will be here (I’ve done 10 weeks here, 12 weeks there so it isn’t alien to me and it is what I wanted but it is a change.)
I worry people think they are getting 2000s Mourinho when they end up with 2020s Mourinho but hopefully that isn’t the case!
Laptop has arrived (so now I have twin home/work Macbook Airs) and everything seems set up so (s)unemployment is almost over.
Pre-stickered laptop
I’ll be in the Bristol office a lot, the Whitechapel office regularly and the Manchester office quite a bit so if you are someone who works in one of those places and fancies a cuppa and a natter at some point let me know!
Bluesky has exploded in the last few days with people joining or dusting off accounts they had signed up for just to reserve their usernames. The Muskatwat continues to chase people away from X and it is clear that Bluesky is benefitting. It really has felt much more lively and hopefully it will continue to be a friendly/fun place to hangout. Unlike Threads which still feels like wandering into a festival by mistake, losing your friends for hours at a time and everyone else is high as fuck.
A chart showing activity from various countries on Bluesky. The UK, in blue, is experiencing a huge spike.
I’ve watched a GREAT DEAL of television and movies this week via a host of streaming channels. Most of it has been pretty poor to be honest but it was hot and I was tired. Here are some short reviews so you can avoid my mistakes;
The Instigators – Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, a Jack Harlow cameo and Doug Liman directing a Boston based heist movie – what could go wrong? Well – nothing really did but also nothing really went right. It is fine. Not good. Not bad. Just kind of…there.
Arthur the King – Mark Whalberg is deep in his ‘meh’ era. Just churning out films only a mother could love. This one also has Simu Liu and Missandei…oh and a dog. It is based on a true story and I am sure it made an interesting article in a niche publication.
One Fast Move – This is my own fault. It is a movie about motorcycle racing with Archie from Riverdale and Mark Sloan from Grey’s Anatomy. It is even worse than you think.
Young Woman and the Sea – This was unexpectedly fun. The story of Trudy Ederle the first woman to swim the channel. It stars Daisy Ridley (playing an American who travels to England for ‘work’), Stephen Graham (with a couple of brilliant, funny scenes) and an amazing turn as a total wanker from Christopher Ecclestone.
Self Reliance – Really not sure about this film. Was it good? I honestly am not sure. It wasn’t bad but I don’t know what it was or what it was trying to be. It is odd. Jake Johnson and Anna Kendrick are great, Andy Samberg and Christopher Lloyd have fun cameos but I found it…weird?
Jackpot! – I am a big fan of Awkwafina and tolerate John Cena but this was pretty bad….and Simu Liu again! He needs to fire his agent as he has been in a string of duds since Shang Chi! There are some fun stunts though and a couple of amusing moments…but yeah it is not good. Oh and Paul Feig directed it!
Umbrella Academy (4) – Well that was a sad way to go out. Season four was a long time coming, truncated and all in all quite the disappointment. It failed to really tie up any loose ends, introduced some icky subplots and odd diversions and generally made me wish they’d let it end at season three. Huh.
Bad Monkey – The more I find out about Vince Vaughn the harder he is to watch in TV or movies but I have given Bad Monkey a go because I love those Carl Hiaasen novels and Miami set crime shows just seem to work. This is another example of that – if beach noir is a thing this is it and two episodes in it has me hooked for the rest.
Bones binge – I’ve watched a LOT of Bones over the last month. For such a long running, mainstream network procedural it is regularly pretty weird and makes some unusual choices within the constraints of a tight template. I’d forgotten how long they kept the main characters apart from a romantic relationship point of view for a start (and then BOOM they are together and having a child) and the tone of the show is all over the place (in a very watchable way).
Went on a couple of graffiti explorations this week – leading to many more miles walked than I can really cope with these days (especially in the heat/humidity) but some amazing art in Bristol and Cheltenham to share →
Digital by Default 