Three Things: Absurdly Late to Everything Edition

What feels like a hundred years ago, I made this statement:

What was I thinking, straightjacketing myself in this way? Since that fateful morning, I've reverted back to my teenage insomnia, having dozens of sleepless nights. Just night after night of no sleep. I am that thing I said I wouldn't say. Day after day. Just constantly [redacted].

You know when you have little kids and they work themselves up into a frenzy just before a nap and you find yourself thinking: just sleep, though? All you need to do is sleep? Literally just close your eyes and sleep. For the love of god.

Yeah.

Anyway, here are three things I've enjoyed recently when I've been in my half-asleep delirium state:

🎥 Film: Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

I love Daniel Radcliffe. I've had a soft spot for him ever since I watched the behind-the-scenes DVD of Prisoner of Azkaban when I was sixteen. He was endearingly awkward. And I've watched him on and off over the years as he's taken on the weirdest roles imaginable. He seems, by all accounts, to be a genuinely nice person.

Anyway, Chris and I watched Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. I wanted to watch it when I first saw the trailer, but it passed us by until now. It's a silly, bizarre, and ridiculous send-up of Weird Al Yankovic and his rise to fame as a parody artist. It's over the top, but to such an extreme that it made me laugh out loud several times just because I didn't know what to expect next.

I'm not massively well-versed in the world of Weird Al but I deeply appreciate someone that can really take the piss out of themselves. And Radcliffe smashed it. So glad we watched it, I really needed that lift.

🎮 Game: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

If you follow me on TikTok you'll know how much these games have boggled my mind recently. Back in the DS era, I knew of the Ace Attorney games. I just didn't really have any interest in them. Law? I thought. Courtrooms? Bleh. The judicial system? Ew. Despite loving other visual novels of the era, they just didn't draw me at all.

For my birthday this year, I thought I might pick up the trilogy on the Switch. Floated the idea on BlueSky and got a lot of positive responses, so I went for it. I wasn't expecting it to be so funny. And strange. The very moment you start prodding near a line of questioning they don't like, your suspects explode, morphing instantly from cool and collected to absolute monsters. No subtlety. If all criminals could instantly crumble under pressure like that the world would be a more fair and peaceful place, surely.

Anyway I love it. Super chilled, I'm loving evenings heading off to bed with the Switch, quietly collecting evidence and accidentally humiliating Phoenix by picking the wrong answers.

🎶 Album: Petals for Armor, Hayley Williams

Now look. This is the most absurd one so far. How? Did I miss out on this album? I've always liked Paramore but I've somehow missed this. I read a really good interview in Pitchfork about Petals for Armor, Hayley Williams' first solo album. And then I listened to it and I love it, musically and lyrically. It's an album that speaks of the growth that only comes from having dug real deep in the dirt.

It covers so many corners of the feminine experience: from deep rage in Simmer, to a reawakening sexuality in Sudden Desire, to friendship in My Friend. By the time I got to Watch Me Bloom's joyful declaration: 'I'm alive in spite of me/and I'm on the move/so come and look inside of me/watch me while I bloom', I was euphoric.

Williams released this album in May 2020, which is when I was deep in the metaphorical dirt myself. She obviously worked through her shit a little earlier than I did. Had I found this album then, it would have given me some hope for the other side. Still, I'm glad to have it now.

Thanks for sticking with me. I've been busy, and my newsletter posting has been a bit sporadic. My consumption of media in general has gone downhill because I spend most of my evenings lying on the sofa, staring at the ceiling and questioning my life choices. But you know. Back to normal soon, probably. 🤞