iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 01/10/2026

I did the same as you: played the remakes of 2, 3 and 4, followed by 7, 8 and 9 all back to back. The RE2-make was definitely my favourite. Strikes just the right balance between horror and campy action without having to completely segregate them the way that Requiem did.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 01/10/2026

Yeah, it's the remake, and I'm enjoying it immensely. Gotta say, not as scary as I initially thought it was. And the Ishimura is such a well-designed space that it's a pleasure to explore. Thinking I might have to play the Silent Hill 2 remake soon, since it's on PS Plus...

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 01/10/2026

I've been pushing myself to play more horror games this year — I played a lot of Resident Evils for the first time, and I'm currently playing Dead Space — and Townfall does intrigue me. Though I'm wondering if it might be reaching the limits of my horror endurance...

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 01/10/2026

Every time a siren passes me I have to bite my tongue to stop myself saying "He's not gonna sell much ice cream going at that speed", in my best Eric Morecambe voice. Every. Single. Time.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 30/09/2026

Oh, Callie, you are in for a treat. I played the remakes of RE2, RE3 and RE4, then RE7, Village and Requiem all one after the other this year. RE2 was absolutely my favourite.

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

As the risk of sounding like a Philistine, this is giving very strong Scavengers' Reign vibes, which is making me desperately want a game in that setting.

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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 · 29/09/2026

Honestly, I could do a list of the five best British films that was ALL Aardman.

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

I'll be honest, the idea of playing a Plague Tale game without the rats really gave me pause. How well do you think it fits in to the wider story?

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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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Reposted by Phil W. Bayles

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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Reposted by Phil W. Bayles

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 · 22/09/2026

This is just objectively correct. Beetroot is the spawn of Satan.

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

Amazon tells me it's dispatching in mid-October, but who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky!

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 21/09/2026

I'm waiting for the physical version to come out next month! But yes, very happy to enthuse with you, my friend. (Also it makes me very happy to see that you've muted Tilly Norwood).

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

My four-year-old has learned how to tell the knock-knock joke that ends with the line "Orange you glad I didn't say banana?" and it's my proudest moment as a parent so far.

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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

Also, Lisa Nandy needs to grow a spine. Instead of saying "we're listening to them", she needs to say "these people are clearly racist morons and the country is better off without them."

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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

Oh my God, Matthew Rhys would be *perfect* casting for a modern-day version of Fawlty Towers!

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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

What did you think of this one? I've read "Babel" and "Katabasis" this year and loved them both, so I'm interested to read something of hers that's more grounded.

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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

I lived in London for a big chunk of my 20s and loved it, but my rent literally *halved* when I moved back to Sheffield six years ago. No idea how the hell I'd be able to afford living there now, especially with a young child.

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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

Dream Phil was absolutely convinced that the play starts with a monologue in which Willy Loman proudly declares: "I am a SALESMAN." I even looked it up online as soon as I woke up. The play does not start that way.

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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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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 03/09/2026

Would highly recommend you read "Redshirts" by John Scalzi; an *extremely* funny satire of Star Trek and the way it goes through extras at a rate of one per episode.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 03/09/2026

My brother and I have actually discussed divvying up September's releases between us and just swapping discs when we next meet up (while that's an option...)

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Reposted by Phil W. Bayles

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

I'm sure this is fine... but still, good luck!

From Fesshole: "Whenever an egg is heavier than I expect, I'm scared a dead chick is going to fall out when I crack it."

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

On the other hand, turning those experiences into a thinly-veiled novel can be a lot of fun. If you haven't read Nora Ephron's "Heartburn" I would highly recommend it. It's so wonderfully bitchy.

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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

Never thought about "American Psycho" as a point of comparison before, but that's an interesting one! I'll be fascinated to see how the novel adapts to screen, because in some ways it seems tailor-made for film but I also don't know how you'd do it without instantly giving the game away.

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

I had a similar feeling about Yesteryear. Got to the end and realised there wasn't much to it other than "Boy, tradwives are a bit hypocritical, aren't they?", which felt like a letdown, but I can't deny that Caro Claire Burke is a *very* skilled writer. I read the whole book in two days flat.

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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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