Direct feed of David's brain mush 2025-12-31T00:00:00Z https://davidbiddle.co.uk/ David Biddle 2025-12-31T00:00:00Z https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/2025-roundup/ <h2>Film</h2> <p>This year I watched 224 films, of which:</p> <ul> <li>164 were feature films (&gt; 1 hour long), 60 were shorts</li> <li>100 were 2025 releases</li> <li>5 were films I'd seen before</li> </ul> <p>My most visited cinemas were Showcase Avonmeads (33 visits), Cube (30 visits), watershed (19 visits).</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: I've limited myself here to films that got a UK theatrical or streaming release in 2025.</p> <ul> <li>Black Bag</li> <li>Bugonia</li> <li>Caught Stealing</li> <li>Cloud</li> <li>Fiume o morte!</li> <li>Friendship</li> <li>Good One</li> <li>I'm Still Here</li> <li>Marty Supreme</li> <li>Nickel Boys</li> <li>One Battle After Another</li> <li>Pillion</li> <li>Sinners</li> <li>Sorry, Baby</li> <li>The Mastermind</li> </ul> <p>The best 2025 short films I saw were <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Wjx-kNJ-o">My Info War</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY2xsuHcDkI">Daddy Superior</a>.</p> <p>There are still quite a few 2025 films I want to see so I might update this list retroactively.</p> <h2>TV</h2> <p>There's lots I haven't watched this year - I might come back to this bit. In poraticular I haven't watched <em>Pluribus</em> and need to catch up on <em>The Last of Us</em> and <em>The Bear</em>.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: here I've only included programmes which had at least 1 new episode in 2025.</p> <ul> <li><em>Big Boys</em></li> <li><em>Dept. Q</em></li> <li><em>Severance</em></li> <li><em>Such Brave Girls</em></li> <li><em>Taskmaster</em></li> <li><em>The Celebrity Traitors</em></li> <li><em>The Rehearsal</em></li> <li><em>The White Lotus</em></li> </ul> <h2>Music</h2> <p>Lots of good music came out this year, and I also went to some enjoyable gigs including Lorde, Autechre, Clipping, A.G. Cook and Jessica Winter).</p> <p>I also made some music this year - I haven't done much recently, but I did A.G. Cooks's School of Song course in October an that pushed me to get back into it a bit, and that's something I want to carry forward into 2026.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: albums or EPs listed as 2025 releases on Spotify or Bandcamp. I'm not including reissues, compilations, or rerecords (so doesn't qualify).</p> <ul> <li><em>Baby</em> - Dijon</li> <li><em>Blurrr</em> - Joanne Robertson</li> <li><em>choke enough</em> - oklou</li> <li><em>Dead Channel Sky</em> - clipping.</li> <li><em>digi-squires</em> - Nate Mercereau and Sam Gendel</li> <li><em>Essex Honey</em> - Blood Orange</li> <li><em>hexed!</em> - aya</li> <li><em>I Love My Computer</em> - Ninajirachi</li> <li><em>Lux</em> - Rosalia</li> <li><em>My First Album</em> - Jessica Winter</li> <li><em>Now You See Me, Now You Don't</em> - Marina Zispin</li> <li><em>SickElixir</em> - Blawan</li> <li><em>Stardust</em> - Danny Brown</li> <li><em>Thank You for Almost Everything</em> - Headache</li> <li><em>Virgin</em> - Lorde</li> </ul> <h2>Books</h2> <p>Last year I said:</p> <blockquote> <p>I think next year I might try and tackle some of the bigger books on the shelf to free up some space [...] so I expect the count to drop in 2025.</p> </blockquote> <p>I did actually do this, with some shorter books in between to stop it being too much of a slog. As a result, I only read 15 books this year. I've found it challenging but rewarding overall, so I'm going to continue the doorstop reading approach in 2026 - I'm currently half way through Vikram Seth's <em>A Suitable Boy</em> and really enjoying it.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: the best books of any age which I read for the first time in 2025.</p> <ul> <li><em>Harlequin Butterfly</em> - Toh Enjoe</li> <li><em>If on a Winter's Night a Traveler</em> - Italo Calvino</li> <li><em>Our Share of Night</em> - Mariana Enriquez</li> <li><em>The Books of Jacob</em> - Olga Tokarczuk</li> <li><em>The Hotel</em> - Daisy Johnson</li> <li><em>The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder</em> - David Grann</li> <li><em>Wolf Hall</em> / <em>Bring Up the Bodies</em> / <em>The Mirror &amp; The Light</em> - Hilary Mantel</li> </ul> <h2>Games</h2> <h3>Video</h3> <ul> <li>Civilisation VI</li> <li>Suzerain</li> <li>A Highland Song</li> <li>Strange Antiquities</li> </ul> <h3>Board</h3> <ul> <li>Bank Robbery</li> <li>Flip 7</li> <li>The Gig</li> </ul> <h2>Sport</h2> <p>I did more running this year - 608km total, the most I've done since 2022. I'm still slower than I used to be, but it's good to be back into it, and I've signed up for next year's Great Bristol Run.</p> <p>I didn't do as much bike riding as I'd like - I'll try to do more next year.</p> 2024-12-31T00:00:00Z https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/2024-roundup/ <h2>2024 highlights</h2> <p>2024 felt like a pretty good year for me personally - here are a few things I particularly enjoyed:</p> <ul> <li>getting a new nephew!</li> <li>learning how to develop and print in a darkrooom at <a href="https://www.negative-thinking.co.uk/">Negative Thinking</a></li> <li>helping with <a href="https://cubecinema.com/pages/projects/spend-a-penny/">the Cube's toilet renovations</a></li> <li>gigs by Charli Xcx, Danny Brown, Fever Ray and more</li> <li>seeing <a href="https://lyric.co.uk/shows/fangirls/">Fangirls</a> (a fantastic musical that desperately deserves a permanent West End run)</li> <li>a camping trip / walk / bird bothering in Slimbridge</li> <li>a trip to Portugal</li> <li>a delightful meal at <a href="https://www.bokman.co.uk/">Bokman</a></li> <li>some great exhibitions including Francis Bacon at the National Portrait Gallery and Deborah Turbeville at the Photographers' Gallery</li> <li><a href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/04/gov-uk-forms-in-motion/">GOV.UK Forms going into public beta</a></li> </ul> <p>These came off the top of my head so I think I should probably get better at writing this stuff down throughout the year.</p> <h2>2025 forecast</h2> <p>When I started doing these I said I didn't believe in New Year's Resolutions. I stand by that (I enjoy New Year and I have no desire to turn it into a deadline).</p> <p>What I will do here is mention a few things I'm looking forward to or hoping to do in 2025. Is this all just me skirting around doing any real self-reflection? Almost certainly.</p> <p>I am planning to:</p> <ul> <li>visit Ljubljana</li> <li>go camping again</li> <li>take more photos</li> </ul> <p>I am hoping to:</p> <ul> <li>move house, maybe, circumstances permitting</li> <li>take better photos</li> </ul> <h2>Film</h2> <p>This year I watched 188 films, of which:</p> <ul> <li>160 were feature films (&gt; 1 hour long), 28 were shorts</li> <li>79 were 2024 releases</li> <li>9 were films I'd seen before</li> </ul> <p>I watched one film (<em>Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl</em>) twice.</p> <p>My most visited cinemas were Showcase Avonmeads (37 visits), The Cube (25 visits), and the Watershed (22 visits).</p> <p>This felt like a really strong year for film to me - I had a lot of trouble whittling this list down to 15!</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: I've limited myself here to films that got a UK theatrical or streaming release in 2024.</p> <ul> <li><em>All of Us Strangers</em></li> <li><em>Anora</em></li> <li><em>Anyone But You</em></li> <li><em>Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry</em></li> <li><em>Crossing</em></li> <li><em>Dahomey</em></li> <li><em>Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World</em></li> <li><em>I'm Not Everything I Want to Be</em></li> <li><em>Immaculate</em></li> <li><em>La Chimera</em></li> <li><em>Love Lies Bleeding</em></li> <li><em>My Favourite Cake</em></li> <li><em>Poor Things</em></li> <li><em>The Zone of Interest</em></li> <li><em>Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl</em></li> </ul> <p>The best 2024 short film I saw was Leos Carax's <em>C'est pas moi</em>.</p> <p>There are still quite a few 2024 films I want to see so I reserve the right to update this list retroactively.</p> <h2>TV</h2> <p>I watched less TV this year, probably because I've watched more films, read more books, and generally got out more.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: here I've only included programmes which had at least 1 new episode in 2024.</p> <ul> <li><em>Colin from Accounts</em></li> <li><em>How to with John Wilson</em></li> <li><em>Industry</em></li> <li><em>Inside No 9</em></li> <li><em>Pachinko</em></li> <li><em>Rivals</em></li> </ul> <h2>Music</h2> <p>Anyone who knows me or has seen my Spotify Wrapped will be able to guess that my album of the year is Charli Xcx's Brat (I'm including all of the different versions on the list).</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: albums or EPs listed as 2024 releases on Spotify or Bandcamp. I'm not including reissues, compilations, or rerecords (so <em>Hosono House Revisited</em> doesn't qualify).</p> <ul> <li><em>Akoma</em> - Jlin</li> <li><em>Album 1</em> / <em>Album II</em> - Von Spar &amp; Eiko Ishibashi</li> <li><em>Brat</em> / <em>Brat and it's the same but there's 3 more songs so it's not</em> / <em>Brat and it's completely different but also still brat</em> - Charli Xcx</li> <li><em>Britpop</em> - A.G Cook</li> <li><em>Cascade</em> - Floating Points</li> <li><em>Challengers (Original Score)</em> - Trent Reznor &amp; Atticus Ross</li> <li><em>Evil Does Not Exist</em> - Eiko Ishibashi</li> <li><em>HIT ME HARD AND SOFT</em> - Billie Eilish</li> <li><em>Human Material EP</em> - Ambient Babestation Meltdown &amp; Borai</li> <li><em>Lives Outgrown</em> - Beth Gibbons</li> <li><em>The Lost Ones</em> - Florrie</li> <li><em>SOPHIE</em> - SOPHIE</li> <li><em>Statik</em> - Actress</li> <li><em>Wall of Eyes</em> - The Smile</li> <li><em>What's Wrong With New York?</em> - The Dare</li> </ul> <h2>Books</h2> <p>I read 37 books this year, which I think is a record for me, at least in recent years. This was partly helped by me buying an e-reader (I've read e-books before, but on phone or computer screens which are less pleasant).</p> <p>I think next year I might try and tackle some of the bigger books on the shelf to free up some space (<em>Ulysses</em>, <em>Our Share of Night</em> and Gordon Brown's <em>My Life, Our Times</em> are particular space hogs), so I expect the count to drop in 2025.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: the best books of any age which I read for the first time in 2024.</p> <ul> <li><em>Agent Lavender: The Flight of Harold Wilson</em> - Jack Tindale &amp; Tom Black</li> <li><em>Amberlough</em> / <em>Armistice</em> / <em>Amnesty</em> - Lara Elena Donnelly</li> <li><em>Beloved</em> - Toni Morrison</li> <li><em>Beyond Black</em> - Hilary Mantel</li> <li><em>Exteriors</em> - Annie Ernaux</li> <li><em>Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire</em> - David Remnick</li> <li><em>Pale Fire</em> - Vladimir Nabokov</li> <li><em>Pet Sematary</em> - Stephen King</li> <li><em>Time Shelter</em> - Georgi Gospodinov</li> <li><em>Voices from Chernobyl</em> - Svetlana Aleksievich</li> </ul> <h2>Games</h2> <h3>Video</h3> <p>Didn't play a lot of games this year, so I'll give a special mention to <em>Venba</em>, which is a really lovely indie game you can play through in a couple of hours, and <a href="https://www.assesmasses.work/"><em>asses.masses</em></a>, an all-day hybrid live event/ game thing I played in March.</p> <h3>Board</h3> <ul> <li><em>Bandida</em></li> <li><em>Burgle Bros</em></li> <li><em>Hanabi</em></li> <li><em>Jaipur</em></li> <li><em>Mysterium Park</em></li> <li><em>Point City</em></li> <li><em>The Fuzzies</em></li> </ul> <h2>Sport</h2> <p>I didn't really do any notable sport this year - I sprained(?) my back towards the end of 2023 which made it difficult and I think I made it worse by failing to take it seriously.</p> <p>I was meant to do the Bristol Triathlon again this year but I didn't, due to the aforementioned back injury but also the company running it went bankrupt. A new company is running it in 2025 but I don't think I'll be up to it. 2026 maybe!</p> <p>I did do some swimming (mostly at West Country Water Park).</p> <p>I think I'm pretty much recovered now, so I'm easing myself back into running. If I feel up to it I'm hoping to have another go at the Bristol half and do some longer bike rides.</p> 2024-12-28T00:00:00Z https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/photocopier-misuse/ <p>A festive cocktail.</p> <p>Ingredients:</p> <ul> <li>25ml spiced rum</li> <li>25ml dark rum</li> <li>2tbsp Averna Amaro Siciliano</li> <li>Angostura bitters</li> <li>cola (the sugar free Fritz Cola works well for this)</li> <li>a lemon</li> </ul> <p>Fill a shaker or a large glass with ice.</p> <p>Add both rums and the Averna and stir well.</p> <p>Strain into a cocktail glass.</p> <p>Add a small squeeze of lemon juice and a dash of bitters.</p> <p>Top up with cola.</p> <p>Garnish with a lemon twist.</p> 2024-12-03T00:00:00Z https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/GOV.UK%20Forms%20through%20the%20ages/ 2024-01-13T00:00:00Z https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/more-users-more-problems/ <p>Bad things happen when you think of your users as the problem to be solved.</p> <p>Better things happen when you think of them as the people whose problem you're solving.</p> <p>Great things happen if you think of them as your best allies in solving the problem.</p> 2023-12-31T00:00:00Z https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/2023-roundup/ <p>This year has gone pretty well, especially compared to last year which was a bad one. Good things that happened to me include:</p> <ul> <li>a promotion (I'm now a 'senior frontend developer')</li> <li><a href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2023/11/27/get-involved-with-the-launch-of-early-access-to-gov-uk-forms/">the product I'm working on went into Early Access</a></li> <li>holidays in Edinburgh and Warsaw</li> <li>I spent more time at the Cube</li> </ul> <p>I don't do resolutions but as usual I'll express a vague intention to do more posts here in 2024.</p> <h2>Film</h2> <p>This year I watched 122 films, of which:</p> <ul> <li>61 were 2023 releases</li> <li>117 were films I'd never seen before</li> <li>110 were feature films</li> </ul> <p>Eligibility criteria: I've limited myself here to works that got a UK theatrical or streaming release in 2023.</p> <ul> <li>Anatomy of a Fall</li> <li>Barbie</li> <li>Beau is Afraid</li> <li>Bottoms</li> <li>The Eight Mountains</li> <li>Godzilla Minus One</li> <li>How to Blow Up a Pipeline</li> <li>Killers of the Flower Moon</li> <li>Past Lives</li> <li>Pearl</li> <li>Reality</li> <li>Rotting in the Sun</li> <li>Rye Lane</li> <li>Sick of Myself</li> <li>Smoking Causes Coughing</li> <li>Tar</li> </ul> <p>My short of the year was Pedro Almodovar's <em>Strange Way of Life</em>.</p> <h2>TV</h2> <p>Watched less TV than usual this, year, which might be a good thing.</p> <p>I still need to finish <em>The Curse</em>, so I might add it to this list retrospectively once I'm finished.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: here I've only included programmes which had at least 1 new episode in 2023.</p> <ul> <li>The Bear</li> <li>Beef</li> <li>Ghosts</li> <li>The Last of Us</li> <li>Starstruck</li> <li>Succession</li> <li>Taskmaster</li> <li>Jury Duty</li> <li>Poker Face</li> <li>Time</li> </ul> <h2>Music</h2> <p>Eligibility criteria: albums or EPs listed as 2023 releases on Spotify or Bandcamp. I'm not including reissues, compilations, or rerecords, so Shifted Phases's <em>The Cosmic Memoirs of the Late Great Rupert J Rosinthrope</em> doesn't qualify.</p> <ul> <li>Choose Mortality - Flesh &amp; The Dream</li> <li>Desire, I Want To Turn Into You - Caroline Polachek</li> <li>Dismantled into Juice - Blawan</li> <li>Dolphin - Greg Foat &amp; Gigi Masin</li> <li>False Lankum - Lankum</li> <li>Gentle Confrontation - Lorraine James</li> <li>Heavy Heavy - Young Fathers</li> <li>Jarak Qaribak - Dudu Tassa &amp; Jonny Greenwood</li> <li>Jester/Prod1 - Martyn Bootyspoon</li> <li>Laugh Track - The National</li> <li>Love Hallucination - Jessy Lanza</li> <li>LXXXVIII - Actress</li> <li>My Back Was a Bridge For You to Cross - ANOHNI</li> <li>PARANOIA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE - Christine and the Queens</li> <li>Polygon - Galya Bisengalieva</li> <li>Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume... - Yves Tumor</li> <li>Radical Romantics - Fever Ray</li> <li>SCARING THE HOES - JPEGMAFIA &amp; Danny Brown</li> <li>Selvutsletter - Lost Girls</li> <li>Souvenir - Olof Dreijer</li> <li>The Ones Ahead - Beverly Glenn-Copeland</li> </ul> <h2>Books</h2> <p>Eligibility criteria: the best books of any age which I read for the first time in 2023.</p> <ul> <li>Black Leopard, Red Wolf - Marlon James</li> <li>Crook Manifesto - Colson Whitehead</li> <li>The Employees: A Workplace Novel of the 22nd Century - olga Ravn</li> <li>Harlem Shuffle - Colson Whitehead</li> <li>Piranesi - Susanna Clarke</li> <li>This is How You Lose The Time War - Amal El-Mohtar &amp; Max Gladstone</li> <li>Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin</li> <li>A universal History of Iniquity - Jorge Luis Borges</li> <li>A Legacy of Spies - John le Carré</li> <li>Seven Empty Houses - Samantha Schweblin</li> </ul> <h2>Games</h2> <h3>Video</h3> <p>Earlier this year we went to the <a href="https://www.bl.uk/events/digital-storytelling">British Library's Digital Storytelling exhibition</a> and as a result I've spent a lot of time this year playing more story-focused games. I've really enjoyed Inkle Studios's games in articular and I'm looking forward to playing their newest one, <em>A Highland Song</em>.</p> <ul> <li>80 days</li> <li>Detention</li> <li>Disco Elysium</li> <li>Firewatch</li> <li>Heaven's Vault</li> <li>I Was a Teenage Exocolonist</li> <li>Overboard</li> <li>What Remains of Edith Finch</li> </ul> <h3>Board</h3> <ul> <li>Dobble</li> <li>Herd Mentality</li> <li>Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza</li> </ul> <h2>Sport</h2> <p>This year I:</p> <ul> <li>Did the <a href="https://www.greatrun.org/results/1192/2545/">Bristol Half</a> again(02:05:05) 👟 - this was a bit slower than I'd hoped for, but there's always next year.</li> <li><a href="https://results.raceroster.com/v2/en-GB/results/r5744ttne3uyshaj/detail/7byzxu6we3yraz7k">Completed the Bristol Triathlon</a> (2:49:39) - a PR. <ul> <li>Swim: 35:50</li> <li>T1: 5:33</li> <li>Bike: 1:10:42</li> <li>T2: 2:22</li> <li>Run: 55:09</li> </ul> </li> <li>Did some bike riding with Newtown Park Cycling Club</li> <li>Sprained my back so have done less than I'd like in the second half of the year.</li> </ul> 2023-07-28T00:00:00Z https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/a-vary-difficult-friday-quiz/ <p>I got to host the work Friday quiz again this week - can you net 10 correct answers?</p> 2023-04-21T00:00:00Z https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/friday-quiz-cue-and-a/ <p>This week I got my big break when I was asked to fill in as quizmaster in the work quiz. Here are 10 questions whose answers are united by a theme.</p> 2022-12-31T00:00:00Z https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/2022-roundup/ <p>For many people this year will have been a good one, being the year that things returned to some degree of ‘normality’ after the pandemic. For me 2022 has been less good. The year started with my grandad dying, and got worse in September with the sudden death of my dad. I don't really want to dwell on those things here, but I'm grateful for the people in my life who've supported me through it.</p> <p>Despite the bad things that happened this year, I'm continuing my annual review of things I've enjoyed this year - even bad years aren't <em>universally</em> bad, and I think it's important to celebrate positive things when we encounter them.</p> <h2>Film</h2> <p>I usually do this as an unordered list, but this year I especially want to call out <em>Aftersun</em> - I know everyone else is also raving about it but it really is an oustanding film, and of all the films I've seen this year it's the one that has stuck with me the most.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: I've limited myself here to works that got a UK theatrical or streaming release in 2022.</p> <ul> <li>Aftersun</li> <li>All Light Everywhere</li> <li>Bodies Bodies Bodies</li> <li>Crimes of the Future</li> <li>Decision to Leave</li> <li>Everything Everywhere All At Once</li> <li>Flux Gourmet</li> <li>Jackass Forever</li> <li>No Bears</li> <li>Prey</li> <li>Vortex</li> </ul> <h2>TV</h2> <p>Eligibility criteria: here I've only included programmes which had at least 1 new episode in 2022.</p> <ul> <li>Bad Sisters</li> <li>Big Boys</li> <li>Derry Girls</li> <li>Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared</li> <li>Ghosts</li> <li>How to With John Wilson</li> <li>Starstruck</li> <li>Station Eleven</li> <li>Taskmaster</li> <li>The Bear</li> <li>The Rehearsal</li> <li>The Traitors</li> </ul> <h2>Music</h2> <p>Eligibility criteria: albums or EPs listed as 2022 releases on Spotify or Bandcamp. I'm not including reissues, compilations, or rerecords, so Franz Ferdinand's <em>Hits to the Head</em> doesn't qualify.</p> <ul> <li>Classic Objects - Jenny Hval</li> <li>Conduit - Coby Sey</li> <li>Crash - Charli XCX</li> <li>Dummy Corporation - Actress</li> <li>Hideous Bastard - Oliver Sim</li> <li>HOLY FVCK - Demi Lovato</li> <li>HOME.S - Esbjorn Svensson</li> <li>House Without a View - Lande Hekt</li> <li>In Concert &amp; In Residence - Sarah Davachi</li> <li>Kiren - Yasuaki Shimizu</li> <li>Last Man on Earth - Haythem Mahbouli</li> <li>Limbs - Keeley Forsyth</li> <li>Once Upon a Time - Romance</li> <li>Plonk - Huerco S</li> <li>Renaissance - Beyonce</li> <li>Streetlands EP - Burial</li> <li>Supernova - Nova Twins</li> <li>The Real Work - Party Dozen</li> <li>Who Goes There - Ambient Babestation Meltdown + JBS</li> </ul> <h2>Books</h2> <p>This year I continued with my attempt to read all the novels of John le Carré. I'm now firmly out of the Cold War and into events I actually remember and was politically engaged with at the time, which feels a bit odd.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: books of any age which I read for the first time in 2022.</p> <ul> <li>A Civic Technologist's Practice Guide - Cyd Harrell</li> <li>A Perfect Spy - John le Carré</li> <li>Grimscribe: His Lives and Works - Thomas Ligotti</li> <li>Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia</li> <li>Single &amp; Single - John le Carré</li> <li>The Constant Gardener - John le Carré</li> <li>The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays - Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, edited by Mary R. Lefkowitz &amp; James Romm, translations by Emily Wilson, Frank Nisetich, Sarah Ruden, Rachel Kitzinger, Mary Lefkowitz, and James Romm</li> <li>Wakenhyrst - Michelle Paver</li> </ul> <h2>Games</h2> <p>I didn't play many games this year. For video games, I enjoyed <em>Return of the Obra Dinn</em>, and sunk a bit more time into <em>Cuphead</em>. In board games, I got Burgle Bros. but haven't had a chance to play it yet, and I tried <em>Wingspan</em> which I enjoyed but haven't got my head round yet. I played some others but i haven't done a good job remembering or recording them, which is something to think about for next year.</p> <h2>Theatre</h2> <p>I saw a couple of good plays this year namely Punchdrunk's <em>The Burnt City</em> which lived up to my expectations despite the hype, and Gary Owen's <em>Iphigenia in Splott</em>, which I bought a discounted last-minute ticket for while in London for work, and which really moved me in a way I wasn't expecting.</p> <h2>Sport</h2> <p>At the end of January I broke my ankle while out running, which was incredibly painful and not particularly conducive to sport. I was lucky though - it was a minor fracture, and with a few weeks in a boot and some physio I was able to start training again - I even hit my distance goal for the year, which I assumed was a write off.</p> <ul> <li>Achieved a half marathon personal best in the <a href="https://www.greatrun.org/results/1146/7139/">Bristol Half</a> (01:57:56) 👟</li> <li>Ran over 1 million metres! 🎉</li> <li><a href="https://dbmaxresults.co.uk/myresults.aspx?uid=16421-2313-2-31405">Completed the Bristol Triathlon</a> (2:57:29) - my first standard-distance triathlon.</li> <li>Did my longest ever bike ride (Cycled 120km, from Bristol to Weston-Super-Mare via Clevedon, and back, with <a href="http://www.dasradklub.com/schools-out-3">Das Rad Klub</a>)</li> </ul> 2021-12-31T00:00:00Z https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/2021-roundup/ <p>Another year around the Sun. As with 2020, not exactly a vintage year on planet Earth, but still worth reflecting on.</p> <p>I said in <a href="https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/2020-roundup/">last year's post</a> that I'd try and blog more this year, but I didn't. I also said that I don't generally make resolutions and I'm sticking with that. I've written a separate post on <a href="https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/the-biggest-thing-I-did-in-2021/">the biggest thing I did this year</a> because this post is long enough as it is.</p> <h2>Film</h2> <p>Cinemas have been open for a lot of this year, which has been nice, but I've been keeping to larger, emptier screens wherever possible. My nearest cinema (14-screen neon behemoth <a href="https://twitter.com/showcasememes">Showcase Avonmeads</a>) was apparently once the busiest cinema in Europe, but is now virtually empty at most showings. Not ideal for them, but perfect for social distancing! That does skew the list slightly towards films with a wide release.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: I've limited myself here to works that got a UK theatrical or streaming release in 2021, which rules out Chungking Express and Desperately Seeking Susan among others.</p> <ul> <li>Annette</li> <li>Censor</li> <li>Dune</li> <li>Minari</li> <li>Old</li> <li>Palm Springs</li> <li>Petite Maman</li> <li>Sound of Metal</li> <li>The Matrix: Resurrections</li> <li>Titane</li> </ul> <p>There are also some films I haven't watched yet but which I think I'm highly likely to enjoy. I reserve the right to watch these over the long weekend and add them to the list above if I like them.</p> <ul> <li>Drive My Car</li> <li>Quo Vadis, Aida?</li> <li>The Power of the Dog</li> </ul> <h2>TV</h2> <p>Like last year it's sitcom-heavy and there are a few repeat appearances (<em>Ghosts</em>, <em>Succession</em>, <em>Inside No. 9</em>). <em>Halt &amp; Catch Fire</em> falls afoul of the eligibility criteria, so I'm calling it out here - I'm not going to stop recommending it until everyone I know (including you!) has watched it.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: here I've only included programmes which had at least 1 new episode in 2021.</p> <ul> <li>Ghosts</li> <li>Hacks</li> <li>Inside No 9</li> <li>Squid Game</li> <li>Starstruck</li> <li>Stath Lets Flats</li> <li>Succession</li> <li>Time</li> <li>We Are Lady Parts</li> </ul> <h2>Music</h2> <p>I got to go to a small number of live events this year, of which my favourite was Daði Freyr at the Trinity Centre.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: albums or EPs listed as 2021 releases on Spotify or Bandcamp. I'm not including reissues or rerecords, so Kid A Mnesia and Red (Taylor's version) don't qualify.</p> <ul> <li>Autumn Rituals and Refugees - Chris &amp; Nogi</li> <li>Before I Die - Park Hye Jin</li> <li>Civilisation - Kero Kero Bonito</li> <li>Dancing Spirits - Naoko Sakata</li> <li>Formula - Charlotte de Witte</li> <li>im hole - aya</li> <li>On the Edge - MMM</li> <li>Pilled Up on a Couple of Doves - PDP III</li> <li>Shock Power of Love - Burial &amp; Blackdown</li> <li>Spencer Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Jonny Greenwood</li> <li>Taqbir - Taqbir</li> <li>Theatre Extracts - Anushka Chkheidze</li> <li>WINK - CHAI</li> </ul> <h2>Books</h2> <p>In May I decided it was a good idea to give John le Carré a try. I'm glad I did! I'm going through his books chronologically and I'm about to start <em>A Perfect Spy</em> (1986). I didn't particularly enjoy <em>The Naive and Sentimental Lover</em> (1971) (his only non-'genre' novel) but the rest have been very good so far. This has skewed the list a bit.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: books of any age which I read for the first time in 2021.</p> <ul> <li>Call for the Dead - John le Carré</li> <li>Detransition, Baby - Torrey Peters</li> <li>My Work is Not Yet Done: Three Tales of Corporate Horror - Thomas Ligotti</li> <li>Paradise Rot - Jenny Hval, translated by Marjam Idriss</li> <li>Smiley's People- John le Carré</li> <li>The Honourable Schoolboy- John le Carré</li> <li>The Little Drummer Girl- John le Carré</li> <li>The Spy Who Came In from the Cold- John le Carré</li> <li>Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - John le Carré</li> </ul> <h2>Games</h2> <h3>Board games</h3> <p>Here are some board games I played for the first time this year and enjoyed:</p> <ul> <li>Battle Sheep</li> <li>Codenames (and Codenames: Duet)</li> <li>Coup</li> <li>Mysterium</li> <li>Pandemic Legacy: Season 1</li> <li>Patchwork</li> </ul> <h3>Video games</h3> <p>I recently got a Nintendo Switch and have since sunk a lot of hours into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuphead">Cuphead</a> - it's maddeningly difficult, especially given my poor hand-eye coordination, but it's also fantastic. I also played <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/329070/SpyParty/">SpyParty</a> - another one that I enjoyed despite being terrible at it. I played through A Way Out with my partner, which was a lot of fun (I loved the split screen mechanic) but i felt was undermined a bit by the ending.</p> <details> <summary> Spoiler </summary> At the end, one of your characters betrays the other, and then you end up fighting. Prior to this, the game is entirely cooperative, and works well for 2 players with different levels of ability and experience. After this point, it's just a matter of time until the more experienced player kills the other, and there's no alternative ending that allows you to avoid this. </details> <h2>Sport</h2> <p>Over the course of this year I:</p> <ul> <li>Came <a href="https://www.greatrun.org/results/951/4007/">2359th in the Bristol Half</a> (2:02:01) 👟</li> <li>Ran over 1 million metres! 🎉</li> <li><a href="https://dbmaxresults.co.uk/myresults.aspx?uid=16421-2313-2-31405">Completed the Bristol Sprint Triathlon</a></li> <li>Entered, but did not finish, the <a href="https://openwaterswimathon.org/">Open Water Swimathon</a> (I did around 3.6km, was aiming for 5km). I'll try again next year.</li> <li>Did my longest ever bike ride (70.3km along the Bristol-Bath cycle path and the Kennet &amp; Avon Towpath)</li> </ul> 2021-12-30T00:00:00Z https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/the-biggest-thing-I-did-in-2021/ <p>Earlier this year I decided to move on from <a href="https://www.zonedigital.com/">Zone</a> after 5 and a half years.</p> <p>Some things that will stick with me:</p> <ul> <li>Almost failing to turn up on the first day! The meeting room I was told to meet at for my induction shares its name with a <a href="https://www.greenekinginns.co.uk/hotels/the-channings-hotel/meetings/">hotel and meeting space</a> on the other side of town. It feels very silly to me now, but at the time I agonised over where to go before correctly deciding that the office was the safest bet.</li> <li>Building the <a href="https://www.gatwickairport.com/flights/which-terminal/">Gatwick Airport Terminal Finder</a> - this was one of the first projects I worked on during my frontend rotation, and a year and a half later I actually got to use it on my way to a holiday in Tokyo! It's still the only thing I've built that I've personally had a chance to use for real. It's a bit ropey, but it does the job and I'm still proud of it.</li> <li>The <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/customers/financial/barratt-developments-plc">Barratt Developments Replatform</a> - this was an enormous bit of work but it made a big difference. We exceeded our conversion rate target, but more importantly we did it <em>the right way</em> - by building a website that was faster, easier to use, and more accessible.</li> <li>A trip to Ashton Court with the Electrolux team for a game of disc golf. This was during last Summer when things had started opening up after the first lockdown. It was lovely seeing people again and the weather turned out nice.</li> <li>Innumerable amazing lunches with the Wednesday Lunch and Friday Burger crews!</li> </ul> <p>It had its ups and downs, like any job, but the teams I worked on were always incredibly supportive and looked out for each other. Everybody always says it's about the people when they do these posts, but it's true, and I think it would've been a lot harder to leave if I was still going into the office every day and seeing people!</p> <p>I left to take an amazing opportunity at the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-digital-service">Government Digital Service</a>. I'm working on a team called Collecting Information from Users (CIFU, pronounced sea-foo), which is looking at how we can <a href="https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2021/07/06/making-all-forms-on-gov-uk-accessible-easy-to-use-and-quick-to-process/">make all forms on GOV.UK accessible, easy to use, and quick to process</a>. I'm planning on writing a longer post in May looking back on my first year on the job, but so far I'm loving it!</p> <p>If you want to see the other stuff I did and enjoyed in 2021, check out my <a href="https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/2021-roundup/">2021 roundup</a></p> 2021-07-06T00:00:00Z https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/Making%20all%20forms%20on%20GOV.UK%20accessible,%20easy%20to%20use,%20and%20quick%20to%20process/ 2020-12-31T00:00:00Z https://davidbiddle.co.uk/blog/2020-roundup/ <p>I don't typically make New Year's resolutions, but I do find the post-Christmas lull a useful opportunity for reflection. This year I am sort of making a resolution, namely to update this blog at least occasionally (probably mostly with development/a11y stuff but we'll see), since I rebuilt this site in <a href="https://www.11ty.dev/">eleventy</a> at the end of last year and may as well make use of it. In the mean time, here's my rundown of stuff I enjoyed/did during the Earth's last sidereal period.</p> <h2>Film</h2> <p>My enjoyment of watching films is very closely tangled with the social and ritual aspects of a visit to the cinema - home viewing and its various distractions (phones, cats, the fridge) can't really compare. For that reason I've watched significantly fewer films since the first UK lockdown, and that's reflected in my list.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: I've limited myself here to works that got a UK theatrical or streaming release in 2020.</p> <ul> <li>Bacurau</li> <li>Da 5 Bloods</li> <li>Host</li> <li>Lovers Rock</li> <li>Parasite</li> <li>Portrait of a Lady on Fire</li> <li>Saint Maud</li> <li>Uncut Gems</li> </ul> <h2>TV</h2> <p>I hadn't thought about it prior to compiling this list, but now that I've written it down I see that my TV viewing this year has largely revolved around sitcoms. Also interesting (to me) is the fact that only one of these (the Good Place) was something I'd seen prior to 2020, and only one (Quiz) premiered in 2020 - the rest were established programmes I'd finally got wind of.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: here I've only included programmes which had at least 1 new episode in 2020 (so Seinfeld, which I binged all 9 seasons of and was pleasantly surprised by, isn't eligible).</p> <ul> <li>Ghosts</li> <li>Inside No 9</li> <li>Quiz</li> <li>Schitt's Creek</li> <li>Succession</li> <li>Taskmaster</li> <li>The Good Place</li> <li>This Country</li> </ul> <h2>Music</h2> <p>I've listened to more music this year, and I think I've covered a wider variety too - I imagine this is at least partly to do with not being in the office.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: albums or EPs listed as 2020 releases on Spotify or Bandcamp.</p> <ul> <li>Agalma - Drew McDowell</li> <li>Aralkum - Galya Bisengalieva</li> <li>Debris - Keeley Forsyth</li> <li>File Under UK Metaplasm - Rian Trainor</li> <li>folklore - Taylor Swift</li> <li>how i'm feeling now - Charli xcx</li> <li>Lickety Split - Martyn Bootyspoon</li> <li>Palimpsest - Lauren Bousfield</li> <li>SAWAYAMA - Rina Sawayama</li> <li>Shiver - Jonsi</li> <li>Solo Piano - Ella van der Woude</li> </ul> <h2>Books</h2> <p>In the interests of decluttering I made an effort to read some of the books that have been gathering dust on the shelf, rather than buying new, so I'm not limiting myself to 2020 works here. As it happens, both the oldest (either <em>The Decameron</em> or <em>The Thousand and One Nights</em> depending on how you date them) and newest (<em>Earthlings</em>) books I read made it onto the list.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria: books of any age which I read for the first time in 2020.</p> <ul> <li>Declare - Tim Powers</li> <li>Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead - Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones</li> <li>Earthlings - Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori</li> <li>Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi</li> <li>Mouthful of Birds - Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell</li> <li>The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories - Angela Carter</li> <li>The Chrysalids - John Wyndham</li> <li>The Decameron - Giovanni Boccaccio, translated by G. H. McWilliam</li> <li>The Odyssey - Homer, translated by Emily Wilson</li> <li>The Thousand and One Nights - Anonymous/Various, translated by Husain Haddawy</li> </ul> <h2>Games</h2> <p>I don't buy new PS4 games because I'm a cheapskate, and I don't play enough to do a proper list, so I'll just cover a couple of games that I did play for the first time this year. Early in the lockdown I played through the 4 main <em>Uncharted</em> games and enjoyed the cinematic storytelling and the puzzle elements, but found shooting faceless enemies again and again incredibly tedious (and learned about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludonarrative_dissonance">ludonarrative dissonance</a> in the process). I had much more fun with <em>Assassin's Creed Odyssey</em>, which had significantly more varied gameplay, as well as an open world and setting which were very rewarding for me as someone with an interest in the classical world.</p> <p><a href="https://www.chanceandcounters.com/bristol/">Chance &amp; Counters</a>, Bristol's board game cafe, was closed for most of 2020, so I didn't get to play as many new board games as I'd have liked, but I did enjoy:</p> <ul> <li>Azul</li> <li>Castles of Mad King Ludwig</li> <li>Love Letter</li> <li>Onitama</li> <li>Santorini</li> </ul> <h2>Sport</h2> <p>2020 was a mixed year for me doing sport - I was meant to take part in Bristol Sprint Triathlon (my first) in May but that was postponed for obvious reasons. But since then I've spent a lot more time running, breaking my personal best for a 5k and subsequently running my first 10k and half marathon. I've done a lot less cycling for practical/travel reasons, but have done more cycling for leisure, including riding the Strawberry Line for the first time and a lovely but challenging trip to Stanton Drew. I also played a few rounds of disc golf, a sport I was previously completely unaware of, which I enjoyed despite being pretty poor at it.</p>