iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 29/09/2026

My five favourite British movies: Four Lions Chicken Run Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit When The Wind Blows The World's End (Honestly, I could do a whole list that was *just* Aardman movies.)

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 25/09/2026

I've been excited to see #RayGunn for a long time now, and the trailer looks pretty damn great, but I keep getting distracted by Sam Rockwell's voice coming out of a character who should CLEARLY be voiced by Christian Slater.

youtube.com

Ray Gunn | Official Trailer | Netflix

YouTube video by Netflix

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Alex Zalben @azalben.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

After swearing off podcasts years earlier, a vapid host is forced to journey across the post-apocalyptic America he’s responsible for destroying, constantly challenged to pop out his microphone one last time in: OLD MAN ROGAN.

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Skybrush Threepwood @skybrush.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I say this without exaggeration: I would genuinely rather die than willingly trade away whatever faculties I have. I wouldn't trade it for anything, but especially not for this bullshit-machine. Life has a way of eroding our bodies and minds as it is; I don't intend to give it a fucking assist.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 22/09/2026

Top row: Best games from my teens Second row: Best games from my twenties Third row: Best games from my thirties

Top: Okami, Bully, The Last of Us
Middle: Dishonored 2, The Witcher 3, Uncharted 4
Bottom: Disco Elysium, Alan Wake II, Outer Wilds

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 17/09/2026

There's a new China Miéville novel out this year?!

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 16/09/2026

If the people of Pissington really want to leave the UK, it's our patriotic duty to go down there with drilling equipment, lift the whole place out of Oxfordshire and dump it into the middle of the North Sea. Absolutely pathetic town full of absolutely pathetic people.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 15/09/2026

Sandwich shops are just reinventing the burger now.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 10/09/2026

For fuck's sake, this is just that one episode of Black Mirror!

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 10/09/2026

My hatred for Sam Altman has reached a point of incoherence I can only compare to Madeline Kahn in the 'Clue' movie. "Flames... on the side of my face..."

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 09/09/2026

I don't often remember my dreams, but last night's is crystal clear in my head. I was playing Willy Loman in an amateur production of "Death of a Salesman" but didn't know any of my lines, so I was desperately trying to find a script before the house lights went down.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 07/09/2026

I refuse to believe that five years have passed between those two photos. I brought my daughter home from the hospital yesterday; how the hell is she going to school already?!

Picture of a bearded man holding a newborn baby.

Picture of the same man holding the same child, this time on her first day of school.

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Skybrush Threepwood @skybrush.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Cold take: It's good if racists are afraid to open their fucking mouths. If more bigots were afraid to "speak up", it'd be the sign of a healthier society

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 02/09/2026

"Without saying your age, what is your favourite movie that came out when you were 20 years old?"

A picture of Tilda Swinton in Snowpiercer, looking like "Margaret Thatcher fucked Gollum." (You can thank Scott Weinberg for that gem).

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 02/09/2026

Gonna tell my kids this was Tim Pool.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 01/09/2026

I recently found out that Ask.com — the website formerly known as Ask Jeeves — was shut down earlier this year, and it made me unexpectedly melancholy. So I wrote a short story about it.

philwbayles.com

Letter of Resignation

A Short Story About A Butler

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 01/09/2026

Mispronouncing words is fun and we should all feel comfortable owning up to it. I was in my late teens before I learned that the stuff records are made from wasn't called "vin-yull."

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 26/08/2026

It's often been said, but bears repeating: Muppet Christmas Carol works so well because Michael Caine treated all his costars like fellow human actors. Muppet Treasure Island works so well because Tim Curry pretended to be a Muppet.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 26/08/2026

I was never really a big Rocky Horror fan the way some of my friends were, but I Tim Curry's wonderful voice was *everywhere* in my teens. I can't read "A Series of Unfortunate Events" without thinking of his narration.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 26/08/2026

Are we going to have to endure the death of every octogenarian in the world before the Universe finally picks the right one?

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Reposted by Phil W. Bayles

jamie loftus @jamieloftus.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

of all the tim curry performances that have shaped me, i want to shout out his unmatched performances on the series of unfortunate events audiobooks no multi-million production has managed to capture the world, energy, and mystery of my favorite books the way my friend tim in a booth could 👁️

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 26/08/2026

Heartbreaking: the worst person you know etc etc... Seriously, though, they couldn't have asked Jacqueline Wilson?

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 25/08/2026

I mean, I just had to watch #9To5 for the first time tonight. What an absolute treasure of a movie. Can't believe I'd never seen it before.

static.klipy.com

Dollyparton Laughing

Alt: Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda in "9 To 5"

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 25/08/2026

1. It's a perfectly cromulent [noun]. 2. Everything's coming up Milhouse! 3. This lesbian bar doesn't have a fire exit! 4. You don't win friends with salad. 5. No TV and no beer make Homer something something

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 25/08/2026

I'd have to think about which Simpsons quotes I use most, but I know that the phrase "perfectly cromulent" has basically embedded itself in my vocabulary at this point.

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Reposted by Phil W. Bayles

James B. Jones @jamesbjones.com · 21/08/2026

When people say they’re anti-AI, they’re clearly talking about generative AI in the arts and LLM slop that C-Suite jackoffs want to use to replace them. You know this. I know this. Everyone knows this. So the “then don’t use spellcheck if you hate AI” talking point is disingenuous horseshit.

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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 19/08/2026

People who don’t know the difference between ‘entomology’ and ‘etymology’ bug us in ways we cannot put into words.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 18/08/2026

People who refer to themselves as "thought leaders" are, without exception, morons.

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Reposted by Phil W. Bayles

gita “the formalist” jackson @xoxogossipgita.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

yesterday i was freaking out about my manuscript and @applecider.bsky.social told me to imagine myself as a cat bapping on the keyboard. anything the cat writes we can fix later, just go bap bap bap.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 17/08/2026

Now that I'm back from my holidays (boo) I thought I'd share my thoughts on the books I tore through while lounging by the pool and eating my weight in ice cream.

philwbayles.com

Stuff I’ve Been Enjoying — Summer Reads Edition

Or: How I Learned You Can Never Pack Too Many Books

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 16/08/2026

I'd back a dump truck of money to Michael Chabon's house and buy the rights to "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay". Find young actors, shoot it over the entire 15 years, Linklater-style. Do the superhero stories (like the Escapist's origin) as self-contained episodes. It would RULE.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 16/08/2026

In my family we've been talking about "turbolumps" on airplanes ever since my brother first came out with it at four years old.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 15/08/2026

Obviously the movie will be good because Joe Brumm is writing and directing, but I'm very torn on the 3D. I think the 2D style is a huge part of the show's charm, but this does look better in motion than I thought it might.

m.youtube.com

The Bluey Movie - Official Teaser Trailer | D23 2026

YouTube video by IGN

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Skybrush Threepwood @skybrush.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Sometimes I say "AI could never," but in this case, it's more just "an AI user could never," because they don't have the inspiration and perseverance.

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LiLBaz @lilbazza.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Call me an unrealistic utopian lefty, but everyone should be able to study whatever they want for free at any age bc learning for learning's sake is one of the most liberating, enriching, empowering, horizon expanding things we can do both for ourselves as individuals & collectively, for society

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 13/08/2026

University, like everything else in life, should be an exercise in figuring out what you AREN'T as much as what you ARE. I did a journalism degree before I realised I wasn't a journalist, but thanks to my French degree I got to figure that out while working in Paris!

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Bob Chipman ("MovieBob") @bobchipman.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

ChatGPT really is just Tamagotchis for people with senile dementia

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 13/08/2026

The more I think about it, the more I realise the Clacton by-election is a reverse Alien Vs Predator situation: whoever loses, we win. Either Farage is beaten by a bin and gets the humiliation he deserves, or he retains his seat and Parliament immediately reopens the investigation into him.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 13/08/2026

Stardew Valley and Minecraft. Dropping me into the middle of a big open area and asking me to "do whatever you want" just gives me choice paralysis.

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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 13/08/2026

If you're collecting your A-level results, relax. You're an 18 year old on Bluesky, of course you smashed them - you are a massive fucking nerd.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 12/08/2026

The great thing about dorks (and I speak from experience) is that we're well aware, at all times, just how far above our weight we're punching. We basically look at everyone else around us going "Do you all SEE this?! I have no idea how it happened either!"

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 12/08/2026

The #XteinkX4 was the the device that finally made me understand the appeal of e-readers. Sadly the company has announced they're discontinuing it, so get one before they run out.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 12/08/2026

Remember: if you see someone get punched in the face for wearing the pervert glasses, no you didn't.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 10/08/2026

Mark Zuckerberg's "essay" about the future of AI is just a bunch of childish rambling by a deeply unserious individual. He might as well promise that everybody gets a unicorn that shits their favourite ice cream.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 10/08/2026

Yet another reason, if one were needed, to hate Mr Beast.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 09/08/2026

My wife thought that "Panic" by The Smiths ended with Morrissey singing about "Hank the DJ" over and over again.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 08/08/2026

1. Leopards Ate My Face 2. Milkshake Duck 3. Oh So You Hate Waffles? 4. Moon's Haunted

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 08/08/2026

This was fun! As someone who often spends time imagining what their Desert Island Discs would be, it's nice to have a poke in the #CriterionCloset, even just virtually!

My picks from the Criterion Closet — The Long Good Friday, La Haine,
WALL-E and Dr. Strangelove

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