Hey, friends! I’m between holidays right now. I worked this week, will do another 3 days next week then I’m off until September – and it’ll be crunchy leaf season before you know it.
Work
Mostly catching up and keeping things (not least my brain) ticking over between leave.
The most satisfying bit was getting a major programme’s kanban board into better shape. Plus I read and fed back on numerous docs that were awaiting my review. So that felt productive.
Starting to feel excited for LFF, although it does contribute to an annual slow-down on delivering the BFI’s digital transformation OKRs, compounding the summer holiday hiatus. One of the BFI’s quarters each year is not like the others! There’s lots of good work progressing across my teams but the pace and juggling can get pretty frustrating (for all of us, year-round not just festival time). We’re continually improving our ability to estimate and plan stuff more realistically, though.
Not work
Home-wise, just chilling, watching stuff (below) and life admin. The not-so dreaded mum-in-law is also here visiting and we’re going out for a meal at my favourite local curry house.
Next Thursday we’ll find out Dylan’s GCSE results and get him enrolled into sixth form. Then it’s FrightFest. I’ve got a day pass for Saturday (culminating in Joy’s premiere) and a pass for Monday too. Should be fun!
That HMRC investigation turned out to be because Croydon’s pension team didn’t make a payment they should have in 2020, so it will get sorted now (but has still cost me an accountant fee, grrr).
🔎 Found, interesting 🧐
We deserve better than an AI-powered future – with this post, Jane Ruffino is my new favourite blogger and I want to be her friend.
See also: Nobody wants to use any software where she says, among other gems: “I can make the software as usable as possible, but I also need to remember that it’s not in the software where we’ll fix the problems that cause the software to exist in the first place.”
As a local, I liked this piece on the Crystal Palace TV and radio transmitter and agree it’s a homing beacon not an eyesore.
Also pleased to see a slew of good news for Croydon town centre: a cool exhibition of nostalgic collectables, Pinball Republic and other new stuff opening in the shopping centres, and pop-ups in long-derelict Allders. It’s not much but it’s kindling some hope.
Via Jukesie, The Product Model in Government by Marty Cagan and someone.
Via a post on LinkedIn, I laughed/cried at the diagram below. Shout out to the long-suffering content crew.
Trivial pursuits
🎬 Interstate, at the PCC as part of Duke Mitchell film club festival, a lot to like.
🎬 Alien Romulus, at WeNo Picturehouse, comfortably the 3rd best Alien film so go see it.
🎬 Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, fun. Belongs in a season with Freddy Got Fingered, Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, Bad Trip, Grimsby, Borat and Team America: World Police.
📺 Catfish, Veep, The Body Next Door (pretty wild true crime 3-parter).
🎬 The Mutilator, because the new sequel is in FrightFest (40 years later!)
🎬 Final Destination 3, because it came on Netflix, a fun silly watch with the kids.
🎬 Together 99 on BFI Player, by mistake (I meant to watch Together first).
🎬 Jade, an interesting mess.
📓 Cont. The Devil in the White City.
🕹️ I started Maquette but didn’t like its aesthetic or sappy music. Now I’m playing Donut County where you’re a hole, swallowing objects.
🎧 The Smile – Don’t Get Me Started and Stormzy with Chase & Status – Backbone.
🎧 I’m halfway through Tim Heidecker’s interview on Adam Buxton. He’s so likeable and interesting.
Distractions
- These aphantasia-adjacent brain surveys are fun to do
- Table flipper (click to randomise)
- Two old men complaining about digital disruption [TikTok]
That’ll do I reckon. Hopefully something here was interesting or useful – and if it wasn’t, hopefully you’ll come back another week anyway.
