Bring Back the Music Video (and other thoughts)
March has been and gone and it felt 5 weeks long - in a nice way! It’s my favourite month so I am happy to luxuriate in it. My birthday was at the very beginning of March and that feels like a really long time ago.
It’s been a cute and cosy month of birthdays (so many birthdays), weddings (actually, just the one), friends, family (my sweet nephew turned 1 - one of the aforementioned birthdays), analogue experiences, events and work. Just the way I like it - a nice mix.
It is late right now and I am too tired to be finishing this (it has been sat in my drafts for the past 3 weeks) but - in the spirit of keeping things moving - I felt compelled to send this out before the month is officially over.
I am enjoying writing this newsletter so much but I am also my own worst enemy and queen procrastinator. I need to keep my foot somewhat on the gas otherwise it will be my next birthday before the next edition…
Anyway, here’s the remainder of my March thoughts and experiences -
Just Us feat. Doja Cat by Jack Harlow
I really like this new track by Jack Harlow and for the first time in a very long time, I actually bothered to check out the accompanying music video. I feel like music videos used to represent such a cultural moment for an artist when releasing new music and these days…it seems not as much?
This is a style of music video I’ve not really seen before and it’s….so simple and so sexy. First of all, it’s set in what looks like a really great restaurant. I want to be there. The people all look like they are eating great food. Bread baskets and Dirty Martinis. Yup.
Doja Cat looks amazing. I love her red mini dress and her blonde crop. Jack also looks HOT, which is not something I’m sure I’ve fully appreciated before. Certified loverboy status.
I like anything that mentions being a Pisces in the lyrics (Jack is, I checked). It’s full of great cameos - John Mayer! Mark Damon! Greg from Succession. I’m confused why food writer/chef Molly Baz and her husband are in it, but also not mad at it! It’s a perfectly random eclectic mix of people who I’m sure are all there very intentionally.
The storyline plays out as a scenario that sadly is all too much of a fantasy these days, whereby a guy and a girl actually connect IRL and lock eyes across a crowded room. So sexy and full of anticipation. You know, that thing that almost never happens these days where you spot someone you genuinely fancy at the next table. It’s definitely a fantasy because people are smoking inside (also - love).
N.B. The only part I don’t like is when Doja Cat throws a handful of endives at Jack in the kitchen. Very disrespectful to the prep cooks who probably spent five hours washing and prepping each leaf lovingly before service! Lol.
What I watched:
Obviously I am still live-laugh-loving White Lotus Season 3. I feel like I can’t talk about it unless I know for a fact that people are up to date - it’s too cruel to ruin it. But oof, Episode 6. IYKYK.
The latest Chicken Shop Date with Model of the Year Alex Consani is LOL. I feel like Alex Consani is the type of internet celebrity that I am almost too old to have ever come across. I feel like she mainly exists on Tik Tok (which I don’t have). However, thanks to the blessed gods of the algorithm, I have come across a handful of backstage tiny mic interviews on Instagram with the 21 year old model. She is a rare breed of person who is just preternaturally amusing and seems to effortlessly come out with epic one-liners. As the kids like to say - social anxiety hates to see her coming. Chicken Shop Date is the perfect format to tease these out the funniest parts of her personality. (AD: Would you go to Space? AC: No, I feel like I already give alien. OO-ee-ah-ooh.) The AD + AC combo is *chefs kiss*.
What I ate:
Babette - A sweet friend took me here for a belated birthday dinner. It’s a cute new French spot in quite a random location in Sheung Wang. The food was appealing and well-executed. It was definitely good but I feel like it’s one of those places that will be really good in 6-8 more months.
SERVO - I went twice this month for quick midweek lunches. Once, solo and a second time, for lunch with a friend. I can tell this is going to be a repeat offender for quick and easy mid-week lunches. The location is ideal and the menu is perfect for a satisfying-yet-I-won’t-fall-asleep-at-my-desk-later type thing. It’s small and fills up fast so a bit tricky if you don’t have long for lunch. I am going again for breakfast this week!
LPM - For a big group fun dinner. It’s always the same, in a good way. It’s nice to know what you’re getting with some places, particularly when with a large group I think. I feel like the service at LPM deserves an honourable mention for being a cut above the average - very friendly and knowledgable, yet not overbearing.
I had a few girlfriends over for dinner at home last week and made this pasta and these chicken meatballs. Fire combo, if I say so myself.
I also made the BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies ever by Broma Bakery - trust when I say this is the only cookie recipe you’ll ever need.
What I listened to:
I bought Chelsea Handler’s latest book “I’ll Have What She’s Having” to listen to on audiobook. I am three quarters of the way through so far and loving it. I love listening to Chelsea narrate it, too. I was worried I may have heard all of Chelsea’s stories already - but this version of Chelsea recounts her tales in a very different light. She is definitely older and wiser but still irreverent and non-conformist. I saw some reviews on Goodreads that commented (complained) that this book is more self-help than comedy, especially compared to her previous books and they wouldn’t be wrong but I enjoy this more profound version of Chelsea. There is one chapter in particular that has really wowed me so far called Dependable, Kind, Munificent, Free where she simply lists all the qualities she has decided to posses as an adult woman, and how she wants people to think of her. She says (amongst many other things) - “I am here for women, that is my purpose. I am here to lift, to inspire and to listen. There is not a woman in need that I wouldn’t try to help pull out of whatever hole she is in to help lift her up. I am here for every member of the LGBTQ+ community and for any person who doesn’t feel seen. I am here for the underdogs and I am here to demonstrate to compassion, empathy and love.” I promise it’s not at all as cloying and earnest as it sounds here - in fact, quite the opposite. Chelsea is merely matter of fact in saying this and I love her for it.
Remi Bader’s interview with Khloe Kardashian - this is the first episode I have listened to of Khloe’s (relatively) new pod. I really don’t follow too many ‘influencers’ on Instagram but for some reason, I have followed Remi for quite some time. I have always been drawn to her story and her personality and in awe of how she withstands the internet bullies, which are seemingly more aggressive for her than for most. She seems like a genuinely nice person with a good head on her shoulders, and she has been through a lot.
Jen Atkin on Chrissy Rutherford’s brand new pod, FWD JOY. I have read Chrissy Rutherford’s newsletter FWD JOY for a while now so you can imagine my delight when I saw she was transforming her long form interviews into recorded podcast episodes. Even better, the first one is with Jen Atkin. Jen has transformed her life several times over starting from her conservative Mormon upbringing, to hustling hairstylist in Los Angeles, to eventually becoming a hairstylist to the biggest stars in the industry, starting her own hair styling academy and hair product brand, the OUAI (a personal fave), workaholic, recovering workaholic, to eventually deciding to start a family after initially assuming she did not want one. Her house also burned down in the recent LA wildfires which is so crazy to hear her talk about. It’s so so so sooo good - if you have any interest in either Jen or Chrissy, I suggest you give it a whirl.
I am completely addicted to the song Relationships by HAIM. It has definitely been my song of the month. I have never really been hyperaware of HAIM’s music before, but this track has led me down a rabbit hole of all their past albums and suffice to say j’obsessed, shan’t be looking back.
OK, not to be that person and be so annoying but I have just realised in listing out all of the above that Chelsea, Remi, Chrissy and Jen are all PISCES WOMEN. It truly was PISCES SZN through and through.
March was a good month for Analogue Experiences:
Kehlani in concert - sublime. 10/10. I almost didn’t go but ended up booking a ticket veeerrry last minute and I’m so so glad I did! She was sooo good, she has a beautiful voice. If she wasn’t such a baddie she could be a Disney princess.
Macbeth: David Tennant & Cush Jumbo at the Donmar Theatre, by way of the cinema - but it still counts as analogue! David T and Cush J were both fab in their respective roles of King and Queen in the Scottish play. I loved the modernisation and use of tech and music, which in my opinion doesn’t always go down that well with Shakespeare, but it was pulled off very seamlessly for this production.
A Brunello di Montalcino Masterclass at Corney & Barrow - it is constantly one of my goals to actually learn stuff about wine, so I am finally doing it. It helps that these Corney & Barrow MasterClasses are led by my friend Ida, who makes the information less daunting and more entertaining. They host them regularly at their offices (see HERE) and there really are worse ways to pass a Wednesday evening.
There were other things - Art ‘Month’ (I only went to Art Central - it was cute) and the Rugby Sevens at the shiny new Kai Tak Stadium (did not go, but appreciated the spirit it brought back to town) - but I really do need to go to bed now. Sorry if I’m not making sense anymore, I’m practically falling asleep at my keyboard.
OK Love you bye,
AKB xoxo
How did I not know you are also a chicken shop date fan!!!!