Weekend Update #1
It's been a week at work which I am sort of treating as a write off. My body clock still hasn't quite shaken off the remnants of jet lag following our trip to New York (that and I've probably had a bit too much screen time before bed) so I've felt little enthusiasm for my craft this week. I was perked up slightly by an annual seminar delivered by a professor from the University of Oxford to me and my fellow colleagues. Since leaving formal education, I've developed a love of learning. I only wish I had that enthusiasm while I was at college!
Listening…
Kendrick Lamar's new album GNX. Pretty much like everyone else in the world right now. But there's good reason — it's his best record since To Pimp a Butterfly.
More thoughts on this at some point in the near future.
Playing…
The Outer Worlds on PC. I started this originally on PS4 but never played more than a few hours. I picked up a discounted copy on Steam hoping to find a reason to give it another shot.
I know this title didn't reach the dizzying heights of Fallout: New Vegas, also developed by Obsidian Entertainment, so perhaps that tainted my aborted play through. But so far, I am enjoying myself. While I do enjoy a sprawling open-world RPG, sometimes playing in a world which is more compact and less barren out is refreshing. Just need to resist looking at the Steam Black Friday deals…
Speaking of Obsidian Entertainment, the studio is releasing a new game called Avowed in February. Ralph over at SkillUp has a nice preview on it. I'll definitely pick up a copy.
Watching…
Slowly making my way through Shrinking on AppleTV+. Jason Segel is one of my favourite "big time" comedic actors and Bill Lawrence is the creator of my favourite sitcom of all time, Scrubs. Zach Braff directed a couple of episodes in this season of Shrinking too.
Truthfully, I don't love this second season as much of the first. Something just feels a bit off but I can't put my finger on it. It really isn't a bad show, far from it, but I think it struggles a little hitting on the right blend of the more adult comedic themes and the serious tones and subjects which permeate it. For me, Scrubs worked because the juxtaposition between the goofy comedy and the serious was much more stark. Shrinking doesn't benefit from that as the comedic side is, relatively speaking, less striking.