JANUARY

WATCHING

  • Soul (New Pixar) – Very different, surprisingly? abstract.

  • Attack the Block – Aliens in the ends

  • It’s a Sin – Loved it. Heartbreaking, but full of joy. A love letter to gay culture. Loved the characters. Loads of rave reviews - BFI one is good.

  • Back, Season 2 – I can’t decide how I feel about this, at the end of season 2 it feels like we haven’t really learnt much more about the mysterious Andrew. I want to know WTF is up with him. And then this woman appears…

  • The Simpsons – Seasons 8 – 10 (beginning to not want to complete my resolution to watch every episode from the start) but not enough to stop.

  • Pen 15 - Season 2 – So much FUN and SO cringe! The first kiss scene is hilarious, and reminds you of what a weird age it was to be 13ish – not quite a proper teenager, not a kid. A no mans land of pretending.

  • The Kiss of God – Surfer doc, a sad story of bipolar disorder.

  • I am not ok with this – A Carrie inspired coming of age, which was super easy to watch and got really good, aaaaand then got canceled. Which is rubbish as it felt like it was just getting started. A COVID casualty.

  • Sound of Metal – Really good. Riz Ahmed is, like, amazing. We don’t know much about his life, how long he’s been a drummer etc. We don’t know what he will do now… It focuses on the very scary, immediate moments of deafness, and how he has to adapt.

  • A very British Scandal

  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

  • Call My Agent – Perfect lockdown viewing - really funny, great characters. And 4 whole seasons to binge. Plus French subtitles mean you actually have to pay attention and put your fucking phone down!

READING

  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey – I hadn’t read this before but I love the film, and now I love the book. Disturbing, sad, and troubling but with moments that made me grin – gleeful to get one over on Nurse Ratchet, hopeful seeing the patients change and become emboldened from McMurphy’s antics. Our insightful narrator, the Chief, and the hazy scenes he describes are disorientating and pull you in. The end is devastating but inevitable.

  • David Hockney: A Life – Really enjoyed this. As colourful as his landscapes, this biography takes you through all of Hockney’s artworks and his exploration of new styles, whilst in parallel what was happening in his personal life – his inspiration. The book gives you a real sense of Hockney as a person, and it makes me love him more.

  • How to Change your Mind – Just began this, recommended by a colleague and so far so good. (All about Psychadelics)

  • The biggest story in the UK is not Brexit. It’s life expectancy – by Danny Dorling for The Correspondent

    ‘The UK has reduced public spending to 36% of GDP by the end of 2019 from a peak of 41% in 2006’

  • Sound Design, the obsessive beat-making of Madlib by Hua Hsu for the New Yorker

  • Various New Yorker articles (new year, new subscription)

LOOKING

LISTENING

OTHER STUFF

  • I’m working on a branding project for a cannabis company at the moment, so have been looking into all the weed brands - Tokyo Smoke is a gorgeous brand, with really beautiful (expensive) products like this ashtray/bong/grinder.

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