Weeknotes 2022.15: Spring will spring, no matter what

The world feels as if it is spinning apart, and it’s not doing wonders for my mental state. It is at least a comfort to know that spring is here. The world keeps turning and the trees keep blooming. I’ve visited the bluebells at Wanstead Park twice in two days, and saw some spectacular trees (I think I wonder what it’s like being a plant and living life without reading the news with mounting existential dread.

I finished the campaign for Halo Infinite. I really hope we get more campaign content for the game—it’s simply delightful. Although how you’d squeeze any major plot beats in is beyond me—if the game needs to remain playable as an open world game, you can’t remove any of the infrastructure to facilitate that (ie you can’t kill off the pilot who ferries you around, or the Master Chief himself as the player character.)

In other sci-fi news, tonight’s Doctor Who easter special, Legend of the Sea Devils, was fun, but felt like it was lacking ceremony to be this Doctor’s penultimate adventure. There was some occasionally infuriating dialogue and some ‘odd’ choices when it came to how to wrap up plot threads. But the final scene on the beach was a tender and heartbreaking delight, and the Jodie Whittaker Doctor’s last hurrah should be something else. Star Trek: Picard is also rumbling on, and seems to have settled into a rhythm of just throwing the kitchen sink into every possible script, with mixed results—but I can’t fault its ambition.

Bulb Watch: the daffodils are definitely on their way out now, and the last muscari are on their last hurrah. The tulips are coming, but have yet to bloom—and I don’t know if they’ll even manage to on our shady balcony. It’s worth a punt, though. The Sicilian honey garlic (Allium siculum) is also starting to form what look like they might be flower heads… we’ll need to see though. I also whacked some crocosmia into some gaps in the pots - we’ll see if anything comes up in summer and autumn. Not strictly bulb related, but the Erigeron I stuck into some pots has also started to bloom—hopefully this will be a very long flowering season.