Rob Wickings's Blog, page 38
June 19, 2020
The Cut – Issue 6
Another week down. The shops reopened, but frankly we’re happy behind the walls of our compound, letting all the goodies we need come to us. Queueing, we have decided, is not our bag. We may never shop in the old-fashioned way again. Anyway. Let’s do this. Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.
We’ll start with some rotten news so as to get it out of the way. Comics Twitter has rung this week with multiple accusations of predatory behaviour levelled at creators Cameron Stewart and Warren Ellis. Ellis in particular has long been a favourite at Excuses And Half Truths, so this news stings hard. Neither have yet addressed the accusations directly, although Ellis’ primary comms vector is his email newsletter that lands on Sundays. Should make for an interesting read if it arrives. Our stance at The Cut is clear—we stand with, believe and support the women in these cases.
More on the situation from comics retailer Mike Sterling of Progressive Ruin: https://www.progressiveruin.com/2020/06/18/buy-a-cd-said-the-guy-obviously-in-his-50s/
Ugh, that was depressing. Let’s move on. A few years ago, one of X&HT mainstay Rob’s side hustles was writing a blog on ethical fashion. Those of you that have met him and see the way he dresses may be surprised by that. Although he hung up his on-trend writing cloak a while back, our news feeds still tickle with the occasional tip from fashion land. This piece, on the way That Darn Situation has affected the business and will likely complete upend its traditional business structures, is fascinating and speaks to the one big truth we’re all facing—everything is changing, and faster than we can possibly imagine.
Talking of change, the sudden uproot and dunk of Edward Colston’s statue earlier in the month continues to resonate in all sorts of unexpected ways. Our engagement with public artworks has flipped as we discuss and try to contextualise them in ways we would not have considered before. Colston has long been a divisive figure in Bristol’s history—the music venue named after him has been planning to change its name for years, so perhaps we should not have been surprised when the bronze hit the water. Here’s a slightly different interpretation on events from The Quietus, viewing the whole incident and its aftermath as a work of art in its own right.
https://thequietus.com/articles/28402-colston-statue-bristol-essay
The video of the week has to be this extraordinary lockdown version of Alien. The invention and lateral thinking that has gone into the set and creature design is simply jaw-dropping. The end result gives a real sense of the original while having it’s own identity. This cheered us up enormously.
We have long been fans of animator Richard Williams. The Readership probably know him best as the mastermind who melded live-action and animation in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. His magnum opus, however, was The Thief And The Cobbler, which remained unfinished at the time of his death. Comic Book Resources takes a deep dive into the history of the project, and a glimpse of what might have been.
https://www.cbr.com/the-thief-and-the-cobbler-tragic-tale-of-unfinished-masterpiece/
A couple of foodie things. This love letter to London wine bar and restaurant 40 Maltby St came to us courtesy of @smugfacelazybones on the Twitter. It’s just the sort of elegiac and evocative food writing we really enjoy. We also recommend signing up for the Vittles newsletter. Some really tasty stuff awaits you.
https://medium.com/@vittles/menu-12-vh-18-9067201d0db9
We also thoroughly enjoyed this Eater video in which chef Nyesha Arrington was challenged to come up with Tacos two ways from the ingredients and materials in her home kitchen. Watching a skilled cook problem-solve and retrofit a recipe is endlessly fascinating to us, and the food Nyesha eventually produces looks so, so good. We were entranced, helped no end by chef Arrington’s engaging and easy camera presence. We think you’ll dig it.
Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings is a great source of thoughtful and insightful essays on art and culture. We have lost days in her archive. This piece on the love letters of Moomin-mamma Tove Jansson is lovely, having something of the atmosphere of the books. Bracing, ethereal and slightly melancholy. Suits the mood of Situation-World, don’t ya think?
https://www.brainpickings.org/2020/06/12/tove-jansson-letters-tuulikki-pietila/
And finally. In a screeching doughnut-turn of tone, we were cheered by this set of interviews with the people behind and sometimes inside some of our best-loved TV puppets. Sadly it’s missing the most surreal of them all, Gilbert The Alien, but this is still a lovely wander round some sweet memories of Saturday morning and weekday afternoon telly.
This week’s End Music features Washington sludge-monsters Melvins. Their first TV appearance in 1995 shows them in typically noisy, snarky form, running rings round a hapless interviewer before melting the front row with a caustic blast of grungery. Volume to eleven for this one, please. Further context via Dangerous Minds: https://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_melvins_mind-melting_first_ever_television_appearance
Here endeth the japery. It’s been a weird, slightly sad week for us, with occasional bright spots. We hope yours has been better. Thanks as ever for joining us here at the coalface of the information mines. See you in seven.
June 12, 2020
The Cut – Issue 5
Right then. Another week, another appalling clusterfukc of decade-defining events crashing into each other like horny bulls in the crockery department of a soon-to-be-shuttered Debenhams. So much noise. So much mess.
You know what state the news is in. Let’s kick back, crack open the first of several bottles and slide into a different state of mind. Here is the place, now is the time. This is The Cut.
We start with a couple of movie links. We have to admit Andy Sidaris is a new one on us. Even now, we’re not sure his films would be entirely to our taste, and we love violent 80s cheese. However, you have to admire any film-maker that finds his or her oeuvre and sticks to it, no matter the criticism.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/andy-sidaris/andy-sidaris-movies-hard-ticket-to-hawaii/
Back in 2010 Excuses And Half Truths ran a set of posts about the three defining elements of science fiction set design—the corridor, the door and most importantly, the chair (you can check that blast from the past out here, apols for the broken pic links). The glorious and, by definition, exceedingly geeky site Film And Furniture recently featured a deep dive into the way cutting-edge homeware design often finds a space (excuse pun please) in la cinema fantastique. Do have a look, there’s some choice future seating solutions to be found in here.
https://filmandfurniture.com/2020/06/space-age-furniture-in-sci-fi-films/
A couple of music links. We were saddened to hear of the passing of Steve Priest, bass player for that most under-appreciated of glam rock bands, The Sweet. Steve was the prototypical ‘hod-carrier in make-up’, the sort of bloke you’d watch your mouth around, even when he was dressed in skin-tight glitter pants and a feather boa. Especially because yadda yadda etc. He embraced the skewed delights of glam in a big meaty bear-hug. If even Bowie tells you to tone the slap down a bit, you know you’re onto something…
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jun/05/steve-priest-the-sweet-bassist-heavy-metal
We were more heartened to read this piece on the mighty Blixa Bargeld, late of Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds. His band Einsturzende Neubauten have always been a refreshing blast of noise, heat, light and rubble. Their new album is no middle-aged compromise, although Blixa’s anguished howl has matured into a rich, dark baritone. There’s a great live version of Where The Wild Roses Grow where he takes Kylie’s vocal part. It’s delightfully odd.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/18/blixa-bargeld-interview-einsturzende-neubauten
Feeling hungry? We’re skewing heavy on the food links this week, so belly up to the table and let’s get to it. First up, the terrible dilemma facing those of us who, rather than embracing the culinary opportunities of lockdown are suffering more than ever—because they simply can’t cook.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/dining/dont-know-how-to-cook-coronavirus
This piece by Stephanie Shih on feeding yourself in times of protest is both moving and powerful. You can’t just feed your belly with rage when you’re down on the streets.
https://www.grubstreet.com/2020/06/stephanie-shih-grub-street-diet.html
One from Bon Appetit, who we really hope work through their own set of difficult times and learn from some pretty egregious mistakes. This, on restaurant owner Tomme Beevas and his survival strategy during chaotic times is a prime example of really good, thoughtful and inclusive food writing.
https://www.bonappetit.com/story/tomme-beevas-protest-support
The Cut is a sucker for Garden And Gun, despite the aspirational style of a magazine that could come across as a Southern take on Tatler. Once you get past the over-eggy descriptions of beautiful plantation homes there is some genuinely great writing. This, on Latria Graham’s losing battle to save her family farm in South Carolina, is elegaic and ultimately heartbreaking.
https://gardenandgun.com/articles/a-dream-uprooted
Let’s lighten the mood a little, although for some this may be one step closer to a cardio-vascular incident. One trend we hope not to see again as restaurants reopen is serving food on things that are not plates. Creativity in presentation is one thing. When you can’t easily eat the dinner you have paid good money for because it’s hanging off an antler or dolloped into a pint pot… well, that’s a different kettle of fish. Which reminds us. WHO EATS FISH FROM A KETTLE?!
Anyway, this Bored Panda listicle starts almost reasonably before going off-piste and soon after off a cliff. Take a few deep, calming breaths and dive in.
https://www.boredpanda.com/weird-food-serving-restaurants-we-want-plates/
Closing out our food section, this Serious Eats post on the fairy tale Strega Nona is rightfully, hilariously furious on unsauced pasta. Some butter, pepper and cheese at the very least, right?
https://www.seriouseats.com/2020/05/why-i-hate-strega-nona.html
A quick stop at the comic stand. Our Ninth Art correspondent writes…
The 1967 Spider-Man animated series was regularly repeated on Saturday morning TV when I was a youngun (those of you tempted to comment that there was no such thing as telly in the 1860s should hold their goddam counsel). Even back then I was drawn to its outright psychedelic oddness. This Youtube video essay digs into the background and offers up evidence to show it’s more than just meme-fodder. It may in fact be the purest interpretation of Golden Age Marvel yet!
Sticking with Marvel, this strip on The Nib by comics artist Ronald Wimberley digs into how the job of colourist can sometimes be about more than making sure Spidey’s underoos are the right shade of crimson. This is nicely done, with a killer punchline.
https://thenib.com/lighten-up-4f7f96ca8a7e/
Onto the home straight, Readership, as we dig through the miscellanea we couldn’t jam in anywhere else.
If like us you’re a computer user of a certain age (mentions of Babbage’s Difference Engine from the back row are not welcome) these papercraft versions of classic old boxes will get your nostalgia gland twanging hard (or that’s just the angina playing up). Simply print, cut, fold and glue! Special kudos for throwing a truly delightful Conion boombox into the mix. Now here’s a quick project for the end of lockdown.
http://rockybergen.com/papercraft
For those moments when you fancy a boxset binge but you just don’t have the patience, here’s an edit of every episode of Parks And Recreation. Well, one second of every episode. You still get a good hit of the flavour, we think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gpec9XaDrI
And yes, finally. How’s the hair? Did you succumb to the lockdown buzzcut? Are you instead choosing to let your freak flag fly high, unfurling your antennae and letting the cosmic vibrations tingle at you? Here at The Cut there’s nothing we want more than–well, a cut! Until the heady day arrives, this reminder of past glories at the legendary Cuts salon is so evocative you can almost smell the wax. Some great shots in here.
Our Exit Music this week is a bracing blast of folk punk from Boston’s own Dropkick Murphys. The boys did a hometown gig at Fenway Park stadium recently to raise funds for local charities, which would have been full to the rafters if it wasn’t for That Goddam Situation. Playing to an empty room, the Murphys still raised the roof. They’re joined for a rollicking version of American Land by a special guest from Freehold, New Jersey. Turn this one right up.
That’s us for another week. As ever, the world changes with every spin round the axis. It’s a wild time to be alive, which makes our job that much easier and difficult at the same time. So much crazy stuff to pick and share. The Cut is born as our reaction and coping mechanism to strange tides and weather. It’s helping us a lot. We hope it’s helping you too. Stay as sweet as you are, Readership. See you in seven.
June 10, 2020
A Little Green
Let’s start with a basic, inalienable truth—I am no gardener. For proof, look no further than the green spaces over which TLC and I have control. The main bulk of our long, slender garden is in my wife’s tender care. It is a lush, endlessly variant display, embracing accident and the joyful understanding of plants being plants and growing where they will. There is a sense of order, but also spontaneity.
About two-thirds down, we reach the area I call Copse End in my rare charitable moments, but more often Hell’s Half Acre. The end of our garden is backed onto by a stand of trees bordering the local school. Home to all sorts of wildlife, but also brambles, ivy, nettles and bindweed. To keep it under control requires tenacity and the understanding that plants are plants and once a week down there just ain’t gonna cut it.
Readership, Hell’s Half Acre is my responsibility. It is and has always been an abject failure. To be honest, that end of the garden has been a struggle from day one. When we bought the house it was home to a bunch of concrete raised beds, a slumping shed and a skeletal greenhouse. I tried growing veg down there for a while, but the work needed to keep things shipshape proved to be beyond my limited talents and incredibly limited patience. I love gardens. I find gardening to be dull, hard work with no lasting sense of gratification. If I paint a wall, I know I won’t need to do it again for several years. If I do some weeding, I’ll have to do it again next week. Ugh.
The thing is, Copse End is the sunny bit of the garden. In summer you can bask in sunshine down there until 8 in the evening. It seems like a waste to let it devolve into chaos. So we pulled out all the beds, laid lawn, put up a summerhouse. It was lovely down there for a while. But Copse End does not wish to be tamed. At least, not by someone with my limited sense of purpose.
We have now decided to ‘rewild’ Copse End to an extent, embracing the wildlife and making it something of a meadow garden. We planted apple trees, let the grass grow. It still looks like shit, don’t get me wrong. But for now, at least, we’re a bit more relaxed about it. Who knows, if the finances allow we may have to go full suburbanite and get a gardener in to keep things at a low rumble. Gods know, I’ve had enough.
We’ve therefore staged a tactical retreat. The veg growing operation has moved to the top end of the garden. Potatoes in bags. A veg trug for beetroot, carrots and garlic. Pots of chili and cucumbers. A big herb planter keeping us well supplied in mint and parsley. We even snagged some tomato plants from a neighbour. Having this activity close to the house erases the excuse that it’s too hard to get out and do a little watering, or keep an eye on how things are growing. Everything is two steps from the front door. Much easier. I’m actually starting to feel more in control.
Sensing my increased confidence, TLC set me an honest-to-god gardening project. I retasked an old pallet into an upright planter. Honestly, a very simple job. Take your pallet, paint it (we had fashionable black, but use what you like) and flip it on edge so what would be the bottom is facing out with the slats horizontal.
[image error]Three coats of Ronseal Blackbird later…
Get hold of some weed-suppressant membrane, and measure to four times the height of each trough. Double it over, and staple firmly to create the base into which your plants will go. This may take longer than expected if your stapler, like mine, won’t fit into the gap properly.
[image error]Shonky yet durable, much like yr humbl authr.
Then the fun and easy bit. Pick your plants, add a layer of dirt to the bottom of each trough, fill as you see fit and add more compost to cover the gaps. See? So easy even a fucknuckled dolt like me can do it!
[image error]Don’t ask me what’s in there.
Meanwhile, we’ve also been adding green to the inside of the house. TLC has garnered an interest in house plants. When she gets a notion in motion, I find it’s best to step back and let it happen. Subsequently, a procession of plant deliveries has rolled through the front door. And you know what, I’m enjoying the new additions to the family a lot. TLC’s eye is always excellent, and she knows I like succulents and cacti. So we have some of each. Cheeky little lads and lasses, with distinct personalities. She declared the Chinese Money Plant was called Polly (something to do with the plant’s taxonomic name) while I christened the trio of pals on the front room table Snake-locks, Catlick and Spiny Joe.
[image error]Top to bottom: Snake-locks, Catlick, Spiny Joe.
I may have been on furlough too long.
However, there really is something about a house plant. They seem to generate an aura of calm and peace. It’s difficult to be angry around an aloe. Much apart from the benefit of oxygenating plants in the house, they do make us both smile. They ask very little, and give a great deal. Millie the cat could learn something from them.
And yes, we do talk to the plants. I mean it would be impolite not to wish them good morning, right? No harm in a little gentle conversation.
Let’s return to the simple truth with which we began. I am no gardener. I still feel like a dunce before TLC’s knowledge, vision and enthusiasm. I seem to spend a lot of my time in mortal combat with stinging bastards that want to do me harm. But it’s exercise and fresh air and I can always reward myself with a beer at the end of a day’s hard slog down Copse End.
I am no gardener. But I’m trying to get there.
June 5, 2020
The Cut – Issue 4
It’s Friday, and the world is changing faster than we can keep up. Thank goodness The Cut is here to help you through the confusion, right?
(There is a distinct possibility increased confusion may result from reading this despatch. We refer you to the terms and conditions in the sidebar.)
Let’s begin by addressing the obvious main story of the week. I could fill the whole issue with links and stories relating to the murder of George Floyd and the fury it sparked. The thing is, we here at The Cut are working from a position where lack of knowledge stands in the way of being able to comment constructively. Instead, we intend to quietly learn more, leaving space open for other more appropriate voices to be heard. There are many resources out there if you want to educate yourself. We found this freely-distributed Google Doc to be of use.
That being said, we feel with our food remit we can at least bring more light onto the ongoing danger to a major BAME community resource in the UK. Nour Cash And Carry has served the people of Brixton for twenty years, occupying a prime spot that allows customers in from both Market Row and Electric Avenue. The market’s landlord, property developer and EDM artist (yes, really) Taylor McWilliams, claims the site is needed for a new electricity sub-station and intends to close it, despite input from the power company that other sites are available. To the community who depend on Nour, this seems like just another example of outside money muscling in where it’s not wanted. More on the story from Brixton Blog—
https://brixtonblog.com/2020/06/nour-pressure-mounts-on-landlord/
We’ll close out this opening section with a nod to artist and thinker Austin Klein, who provides a handy road map for us in the days ahead…
https://austinkleon.com/2020/05/27/work-and-learn-in-evil-days/
Moving on. Art crit site Exmilitary have dropped a set of four free-to-stream films on the theme of the Eastern European Apocalypse. If, like us, you have a penchant for slow, surreal Soviet-bloc SF, you’re in for a treat. The star of the group is obviously Tarkovsky’s Stalker, but we’d also tag Żuławski’s On The Silver Globe. Dense, chewy and very good for you.
This article from Film School Rejects on the colour palette of director Michael Mann is full of fascinating detail on how he achieved his signature look. We have particular interest in the art of colour grading for film and this ticked a lot of our boxes very hard indeed.
https://filmschoolrejects.com/michael-mann-cool-colors/
We like to give you at least one story with the capacity to hinge your jaw wide open. This week, a tale of a commercial transaction gone ‘orribly wrong. Read to the end.
Small town America seems to be the place where surreal crime and dark secrets are hiding around every corner on Main Street. Seems to us the following list would be of use if you’re ever going to get the chance to do that iconic road trip—just so you know which places are really not safe to pull in for a refreshment break…
https://www.cracked.com/article_25953_5-dark-secrets-americas-small-towns-dont-want-you-to-know.html
We finish this section with a tale of experimentation in the furthest realms of the human experience, a particular kind of toad and an actor with a very niche side-hustle. The headline is a work of journalistic art all by itself.
https://news.avclub.com/spanish-penis-candle-mogul-accused-of-causing-death-by-1843896758
Time to raise the tone. Here’s the literary portion of our program. A genuinely fascinating look at how The Situation is affecting upcoming book releases, from plot ideas to the simple facts of a changed social landscape. Popular thinking currently believes dystopian fiction is on its way out, as we’re living a slow-motion collapse on a daily basis. We at The Cut are reading more SF than ever, reveling in the notion of characters not having to social distance or chatting in a space tavern over a foaming pint of Arcturus ale. Of course, as ever, we’re living in William Gibson’s world.
We were talking last week about vertically-scrolling web comics. There are many good ones out there, but we particularly recommend My Giant Nerd Boyfriend. Written and drawn in a pleasingly loose Kate Beaton-esque style by a tiny Malaysian cartoonist who calls herself Fishball, it’s a slice-of-life journal finding humour in the life she shares with The Giant Nerd Boyfriend of the title. It’s funny, touching, occasional moving but eminently scrollable. We think once you start you won’t be able to stop.
https://www.webtoons.com/en/slice-of-life/my-giant-nerd-boyfriend/list?title_no=958
And finally. This fun cartoony overview of the economics and marketing of yer actual high-seas piracy gets the balance of humour to information smack on, and therefore makes you feel like you’re learning while laughing. Do check them both. You’ll feel smarter for it.
https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2020/06/02/how-to-be-a-pirate-quartermaster-and-captain-edition-video/
Oh, finally finally. A new WROB show went up yesterday, in which host Rob talks about his life as an introvert while providing a themed soundtrack. He put a lot of heart in on this one, Readership. Tilt the guy an ear.
https://wrobradio.org/2020/06/04/the-introvert-special/
The Exit Music this week comes courtesy of The Raconteurs. This hour doco of a day spent at the legendary Electric Lady studios has lots of fun moments, as the band work up a cover of Blank Generation before a short gig in the evening. Hosted by that most rock and roll of film directors Jim Jarmusch, it’s a fun insight into the process of covering an iconic record. If you’d rather cut straight to the live stuff, skip to 20 minutes in.
That’s all from us this week. Stay safe, keep your head straight and, to quote Jim J from the music link above, don’t let the fuckers get ya.
May 29, 2020
The Cut – Issue 3
Here is your weekly reminder that it is Friday, just in case you’re losing track of time. Gods know, I am. But hey, good news! Friday means it’s time for another issue of your favourite* interwub digest—The Cut!
Seems bizarre, doesn’t it, that we used to travel all over the world, while now a trip to the local supermarket seems like a treat. A reminder, then, that there are other places out there than the local park. Pacific Voyages is a deeply peculiar travelogue focusing on islands, mostly in the Caribbean, that have been kept off the tourist trail for frankly very good reasons. Compiled by a globe-trotting bar owner who’s a little off-keel himself, Pacific Voyages shows what a big, strange world we live in, and is all the better for it.
https://www.pacificvoyages.net/
Something more on the care of extroverts during the lockdown, this time from one of my favourite introverts, Sophia Dembling. This piece is insightful, warm and caring. Right now, I’m very glad that I can manage on small sips of social contact. Others are less fortunate.
Meanwhile, in Harlem… This NY Times portrait of a teacher and bar-owner who spends his Sundays delivering sweet precious beers to his neighbourhood is a sharply-observed vignette on how things have changed, and how people are adapting. I cheerfully support some of my local brewers, who are incredibly busy after transitioning to delivery. I hope to be able to visit them again soon.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/nyregion/coronavirus-harlem-hops-beer-nyc.html
One more thing on Covid-19 and food—specifically, flour. Wessex Mills, based down the road from me, are a well-known flour producer who have found the explosion in demand for their product from the domestic market to be—let’s say challenging. This is a fascinating read that digs into why it’s so hard to get hold of a bag of Homepride these days. Someone save me a bag of bread flour!
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/20/business/britain-flour-mills-baking.html
Moving on to comics and books. This overview of a current online exhibition from the Society of Illustrators in New York is very good on the way female cartoonists have been routinely ignored or sidelined in the business. Hopefully this is changing as writers like Kelly Sue DeConnick, Alex DiCampi and S. Willow Wilson, artists like Amanda Connor and Tula Lotay and all-rounders like Kate Beaton and Olivia Jaimes redress the balance… a bit. Great to see an exhibition like this, and equally pleasing that it’s easily available to all.
With comics distributor Diamond’s shutdown and the temporary closure of many comics shops, the push to online has become ever more important. If you have a voice and a little talent, it’s getting much easier to make a name and a living for yourself in web-based comics. The vertical-scroller is massively popular, shifting from an Asian base to a worldwide phenomenon. I remember claims back in the nineties that the future of comics was based on independent contractors putting out their wares from digital shopfronts. Now, finally, that may be coming true. Although as a long-time ComiXology and 2000AD app user, I’m pleased the world is catching up…
This is just a squib, really, but it’s a lot of fun. How the most important meal of the day is described in some of our best-loved novels. I’m a great believer in the ‘black coffee and existential angst’ way of starting the day, but each to their own.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/books/breakfast-in-literature
My BIG RECOMMEND for the week. You will read nothing odder or funnier than this remarkable look at fandom, copyright and shape-shifter erotica. I’ll say nothing more. Go read and prepare to have your eyebrows end up in your hairline.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/23/business/omegaverse-erotica-copyright.html
Can’t believe I missed this long interview with possibly my favourite author, William Gibson. His new novel Agency is out now, but really you should read his previous book The Peripheral to get a handle on the characters and the major conceit around which it revolves. This is a great piece though, which lands on a lot of fun facts and stories. Some zinging one-liners in here as well. No spoilers. Jack in.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/16/how-william-gibson-keeps-his-science-fiction-real
And finally. Just one music article this week, but it’s a strong one. Taking the music played by two of my favourite artists, Steve Earle and Drive-By Truckers, this Paste piece looks into issues of representation, protest and not preaching to the choir. Both The Truckers and Earle are making career-best music right now that hits at the heart of what America has become. Go read, then listen.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/the-curmudgeon/curmudgeon-steve-earle-drive-by-truckers/
As we’re talking Steve Earle, he features in this week’s Exit Music. Here’s a seven-song gig he did for The Current last year. Worth it just for the killer version of Copperhead Road.
That’s it for another week. When next we meet, it’ll be June. Blimey. Enjoy the sunshine.
*possibly not your favourite, but keep it to yourself.
May 25, 2020
The Ovaphobe’s Guide To The Perfect Egg McMuffin
Breakfast—the most difficult meal of the day. If, like me and my foodie hero Nigel Slater, you find the prospect of a drippy fried egg or a moist omelette a source of nausea, then breakfast can be tricky. How do you like your eggs in the morning? As far away as possible, please.
Now this does not mean, and in direct contradiction to the clickbait title of this piece, that I have a phobia. I’m certainly not allergic or medically intolerant. I have no problem with cakes, pancakes, egg fried rice… Even quiche and a hearty tortilla are meals that I both make and enjoy. As long as the end product isn’t too wet or sloppy I can deal.
This is, of course, a sadness for TLC, who loves her an egg. If she wants one I usually down tools and let her at the pan. She whips up a pretty mean scramble, which she doses with a gory splatter of ketchup. I have to be in a different room while she scoffs it.
This is a sadness for me too, as I believe that Food Is Love and I am therefore remiss in my husbandly duties in not sorting her out with eggy goodness. The problem is I don’t really have the experience in cooking the little blighters. She knows how she likes her eggs in the morning. I’d only mess it up.
Sidebar this whole tragic situation for a moment, and let’s talk fakeaways. With restaurants closed and some only recently opening for delivery, the early days of lockdown featured a lot of online instruction on home brew recreations of favorite fast food feasts. You want a Big Mac, or the classic taste of eleven herbs and spices? you got it. Even IKEA got in the action, releasing the recipe for their iconic meatballs and cream sauce.
My own guilty pleasure is a Mickey D’s breakfast. Double sausage, cheese, no egg of course, and a hash brown or two. Greasy, gooey joy. In the week before McDonald’s closed, TLC and I had a shared breakfast in a retail park on the outskirts of town, which is how all things should be consumed. In the car, groaning with unsuppressed gluttenous ecstasy.
Forward a few weeks, and I took a shopping trip into Caversham. Some veg from Geo Cafe, including the most expensive and ludicrously flavoursome tomato I have ever tasted. The Caversham Butcher for bacon and their frankly pornographic chicken Kievs. Then, ignoring the queues at Waitrose, I slipped into Iceland.
Don’t you judge me, Readership. I like their frozen fish. Stay away from the party food and they do some interesting items. Also, you know, it’s a local supermarket without the queueing. Yeah, sure, every so often I fancy something a bit—you know—dirty. Maybe a Pukka Pie. Maybe a frozen deep-dish pizza. Yes, Papa Gees is round the corner and their ‘za is the greatest. But you tell me, honestly, hand on heart, sometimes you gotta have that thick crust action. I swear, one day I’ll open up a Detroit-style joint. The Motor City Diner. Crust as thick as a baby’s arm, molten brick cheese spider-webbing from a sauce the exact consistency of Heinz Cream of Tomato, the whole thing heavy with sausage and hot pepper…
Sorry, lost myself for a moment.
Anyhow, there’s me in the aisles of Iceland, eyeing up the cheese and bean slices (I SAID DON’T JUDGE ME) when I spotted them. Breakfast-style sausage patties. And in a basket right by the freezer, some genius had stacked a pile of English muffins.
I had to do it. There was no choice. The Universe had spoken. What kind of a fool would I be not to listen?
Which led to a dilemma. What kind of breakfast monster would I be to make sausage McMuffs without offering the eggy option to TLC? Food Is Love, dammit. Research needed.
Thank you, YouTube. A lot of people have been down this road before me, and I felt comforted to be in the hands of experts. Turns out that the egg in an Egg McMuffin undergoes a hybrid fry-poach/steam process which cooks it evenly and thoroughly without drying it out. A covered non-stick pan and a cook’s ring is all you need. I had both. It was game time.
Step one was easy. Sausage and hash browns (because it’s not breakfast without hash browns) went in the oven. Muffins split and ready. Grill on. Egg pan warming.
[image error]
One problem. The cook’s ring I had was too big for the diameter of the muffin. Quickly, I improvised. I crafted a new ring out of folded foil made to the dimensions of the bread. Clever me, right?
Those of you with more experience than me can perhaps see where this is going. I cracked an egg into the ring only to have it run underneath, spreading to the full width of the pan and almost instantly burning. Did I swear? Fuck yes I swore. Did this deter me? Fuck no it did not. Breakfast was at stake. Food Is Love, and love conquers all.
[image error]
Egg two went into the thick steel of the cook’s ring, with my hack inside to close down the circumference. Bingo. We have egg puck. I stirred the yolk up into the white a little, put a couple of tablespoons of water into the pan, shut the lid and gave the whole thing a couple of simmering minutes to cook through. Just enough time to toast my muffins and melt some cheddar over the sausage patties.
Then it was just a matter of the build. Butter on the muffins. Egg on, then sausage, a swirl of brown sauce, lid. Hash browns attractively arranged on the side. Breakfast is served.
[image error]
How was it? Well, the sausage was slightly breadier than I would have liked, and to be honest cheddar just doesn’t cut it in this context. You need le fromage plastique for the fully dirty McMuff experience—it adds an element of goo that is required if you don’t have the egg. TLC however, declared it delicious and thought she could live without cheese. I’d pleased the audience, which was the main thing. And MAN it was filling. We barely needed lunch, even after a long stroll to try and work off the calorie hit.
I will do this again, perhaps with a more bespoke patty and a cheese post-it. But until such time as we can sit outside Argos again and cram the real deal into our face holes, my version will do very nicely indeed.
May 22, 2020
The Cut Issue 2
It’s Friday, which means it’s time for another rummage through Rob’s browser history (well, the bits I’m happy to share, anyway). Welcome one and all to the second issue of The Cut!
Let’s start with a few film links.
David Fincher’s Zodiac is one of his most divisive movies. To my mind, that’s because it refuses to tie up the story with a neat bow. Instead, Fincher chooses to let the fact that the case has never been solved guide the narrative. Zodiac is a film with no easy answers and is all the more disturbing for that.
Film School Rejects has a great deep dive on the movie. If, like me, you’re a fan, there’s plenty to like here. If not, well, this might just persuade you to take another look.
https://filmschoolrejects.com/zodiac-david-fincher-best-film/
Much as I hate to bang on about Mad Max: Fury Road—oh, who am I kidding? I love the film. It’s a triumph of will over circumstance, an action movie that’s as much a feminist art film as it is a bone-crunching display of mind-boggling stunt work. As rumors of a Furiosa prequel start to percolate (helped no end by the news that Director Of Photography on Fury Road, John Searle is coming out of retirement to step back behind the camera) the five-year anniversary of its release is becoming more special. Witness this Daily Grindhouse article on the continuing legacy of Mad Max: Fury Road.
http://dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/mad-max-fury-road-2015/
If you’re in the mood for a little light viewing, can I suggest Reprobate Press’s Movie Guide For Shut-Ins? Some truly weird and wonderful stuff for you here. Week Nine includes features like the bizarro Elizabeth Taylor psychodrama Boom! and British horror fairy-tale freak out Pervirella. Yes, I said Week Nine. There’s plenty more in the archive. Start diggin’!
https://reprobatepress.com/2020/05/13/the-reprobate-movie-guide-for-shut-ins-week-nine/
Some light reading on what we here at The Cut like to call The Situation. We’ll try not to focus too much on the horror of it all, promise!
First up, Fast Company have a great piece on how The Roots, one of the world’s finest hip-hop collectives, have given themselves the lockdown license to push their creativity to new levels. A bit depressing if the extent of your creative output has been to reorganize the kitchen drawers, but still, hopefully inspiring stuff. Questlove’s DJ sets are the bomb, by the way.
Over at the New York Times, Ann Friedman has a fascinating piece on the struggle extroverts are facing in these isolated times. Introverted me hadn’t really considered the existential crisis some people are facing in not being able to socialise in the way they need. An eye-opening article for me, and perhaps for you too.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/style/extroverts-introverts-isolation-coronavirus.html
A tip from Ann’s newsletter (which I can very strongly recommend) is poet Sabrina Oprah Mark’s extraordinary article on fairytales, motherhood, job interviews, life during lockdown and, yes, bread. I’ll say nothing more. Get on this one.
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/05/07/fuck-the-bread-the-bread-is-over/
Finally, it’s easy to point the finger at the UK government for their failings in dealing swiftly with The Situation. It becomes easier when you have access to a precise timeline of the decision-making process (or lack of it). Created by the Led By Donkeys lads, this is less confrontational than their Brexit commentary, but in its quiet way even more devastating. Check it out, and prepare to get angry.
Moving swiftly on to something more soothing. Actor Vincent Price is best known for his horror roles. He also had a reputation as both a bon viveur and cook. He even snagged a cookery show with ITV in the seventies! The link below leads to a couple of recipes snagged from an album Vincent made in which he talked through the preparation of some delightful meals—in his own inimitable style. It really is quite special.
http://www.voicesofeastanglia.com/2011/10/cooking-with-vincent-price.html
You may, if you’re a fan of director and all-round good egg Duncan Jones, that he has a new project on the go. Not, alas, his long-gestating film adaptation of 2000AD’s Rogue Trooper, the thought of which still gives me a dose of teh squeees. instead, he’s teamed up with writer and badass Alex DiCampi to create the third part of his “salty Cornetto” Mooniverse saga. MADI is the tale of an enhancile mercenary who takes on a risky job to save herself and her squad from a lifetime of indentured servitude.
Illustrated by a huge rollcall of comics talent, this is the must-check comic of the year. The Kickstarter went live on Wednesday–at the point of writing this, it’s smashed the £40,000 pledge target by a factor of 4, with most of the month still to go. Stretch goals await, so be like your old pal Rob and snag a copy. You know it makes sense.
More background and a link to the Kickstarter right here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/z2comics/madi-once-upon-a-time-in-the-future
As a sidebar, Alex’s first book, historical romp The Scottish Boy is out this week. I backed it through Unbound, and am very much looking forward to hearing the novel thunk through my letterbox. Check it out…
https://amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Y3D7H9X
And finally. As I mentioned last week, I’m still considering how X&HT works in the modern age, during The Situation and after. Writer and hedge wizard Warren Ellis has always been really good on this sort of thing, and his thinking in this linked series of posts has given me a lot to think about. Possibly a bit specialist, but I think it’s important to get the thinking out there. Is a text renaissance coming? All I’d say is that speaking personally, I prefer to read my information rather than listen to or watch it.
https://warrenellis.ltd/series/broadcasting-house/
Oh, hey, finally finally. I should make noise about the most recent WROB/DJ Unknown slapfight over on our sister site, right? Self-promotion is, I’m led to believe, A Good Thing. It’s another jazz mix with the usual melting pot of styles and genres. Maybe something nice to check out this weekend?
https://wrobradio.org/2020/05/19/wrob-vs-dj-unknown-the-new-jazz-mix/
Finally, finally, finally. Our exit music this week is a bit of a monster. It’s a show from the 1985 Purple Rain tour, with Prince and The Revolution at the absolute height of their powers. Climaxing in a 20 (!) minute version of the title track, it is a remarkable document of a remarkable time and a remarkable artist. This is well worth two hours of your upcoming Bank Holiday weekend, Readership. Crank this up. Let’s Go Crazy.
See you next week!
May 21, 2020
Little Pal
Noodling around, trying and failing to do some writing this morning, I was distracted by a rattling, buzzing sound. Eventually, focus blown, I went to investigate.
This little fella was caught in the interior window gutter, banging against the glass. No idea what he is. I want to say a damselfly? Carefully, I scooped him out with a napkin. He tiptoed off the paper and onto my finger. Where he stayed, perfectly content for the next ten minutes.
We shared a moment of peace and quiet, a simple thing that somehow has more meaning in these complex times. Not worrying about the future, or the bills, or the virus. Wandering about, admiring the delicate filigree of his wings glinting in the sun while he cleaned his face with his front two legs.
Eventually I persuaded him onto one of the potato plants outside. He perched there for a moment before spinning away, engaging almost immediately in aerial combat (or maybe courting) with another of his kind.
An ordinary Thursday at work would never have offered me this moment. I’m grateful, whatever else happens, that unusual times can offer up a gentle encounter with my little pal.
May 15, 2020
The Cut — Issue 1
I’m in the process of figuring out a few things about this site and what I do with it. There are a lot of clever people out there who see the humble blog making something of a comeback. I guess that’s something of a kickback against social media platforms and their restrictions. On a blog you can say what you want, how you want.
I’ve been going back through the archives of the site (and there are a lot of them—I’ve been on WordPress since 2005, and Blogger for a few years before that). It’s interesting to see how X&HT started as a ‘web log’ in the truest sense of the word. That is, a way of sharing what you’d been up to on the web. To a point, early X&HT looked a lot like my Twitter stream—links, snarks and short-form thoughts.
I think there’s some benefit to that format. Once a week, therefore, I’m going to try and post out some of the things I’ve found of interest in my travels through the aetherscape. I hope you find it of benefit. Call it a kind of cuttings collection.
In fact, let’s just call it The Cut.
Jason Isbell’s latest album, Reunions, drops today. His honest, unflinching music resonates hard with me, and has done since his days with Drive-By Truckers. In a typically wide-open interview, Isbell talks about how making Reunions nearly destroyed his marriage. You’ll never look at Listerine the same way…
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/11/arts/music/jason-isbell-reunions.html
The Quietus has a great piece on Island Records’ head honcho Chris Blackwell’s attempt to build a distinctive sound for his label around a crack team of house musicians and engineers. The end result—an almost perfect trio of albums from the magnificent and terrifying Grace Jones.
https://thequietus.com/articles/28234-grace-jones-warm-leatherette-compass-point-trilogy
It’s a heavily music-based Cut this week, helped no end by the fact that it’s Eurovision weekend. There’s a bunch of special shows on Saturday, making the most of a bad situation following the event’s cancellation—best bits, and showcases of some of this year’s entrants. My history with Eurovision has always been a bit contentious. On two separate occasions I swore I’d never watch again. My position has mellowed as I’ve grown up, and now Eurovision is a highlight, in whatever form it takes.
Here’s a post from the X&HT archives in which I celebrate a true high point of the competition—the 2016 Swedish-hosted show. Love Love Peace Peace!
https://excusesandhalftruths.com/2016/05/15/douze-points-eurovision-2016/
Dave Strickson is doing every music fan a favour by posting high-quality links to most of the BBC Radio John Peel sessions. This is an absolute treasure trove with something for everyone. Don’t assume this is an endless litany of Fall b-sides and indie clangulation. Go on, dive in!
https://davestrickson.blogspot.com/2020/05/john-peel-sessions.html
Moving away from music finally, it would be remiss of me not to loudly praise an amazing oral history of the endlessly fraught production nightmare that led to Mad Max Fury Road. Frankly, given the stones in director George Miller’s path, it is astonishing that a single frame was ever shot. I’m reminded of Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote which had a similarly cursed production. On the Fury Road, the ride makes the journey worthwhile.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/12/movies/mad-max-fury-road-oral-history.html
And finally… I miss pubs. I miss pubs so much. It’s difficult to walk down into Caversham past The Last Crumb and know we can’t pop in for a swiftie. Tristan Cross also misses pubs—so much so that he ended up building a version of his local in VR. Did it hit the mark? It’s no spoiler to say it’s not the same, but the work and passion Tristan puts into the project shines through. When the doors of Skehan’s in Nunhead reopens, someone owes him a pint.
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/i-made-my-local-pub-in-vr
To finish, something from the band that gave this site its name. I guess this one sums up the way we’re all feeling at the moment. See you next week.
May 10, 2020
Lockdown Lifestyle And Grooming
About eighteen months ago, I stopped washing my hair. OK, let’s walk that statement back slightly—I stopped using any sort of soap or shampoo. Instead, I made do with a daily swoosh under the shower, trusting the old saw about the natural oils in the scalp balancing things out.
Slap me dizzy, the strategy worked. I had a fortnight of horrors where the barnet felt like a chip shop wipe down rag and my scalp itched ferociously. I’d deliberately had it cut shorter than usual just before I started the experiment. Whatever happened, it would look ok. Well, acceptable. As long as you didn’t get too close.
After the initial fortnight my thin, flyaway locks began to feel thicker, healthier. The itching stopped. My bonce had never looked shinier. The approach might not be for everyone, but I was impressed. I’ve never felt the need to use any sort of detergent on my head since.
It’s just as well my hair looks after itself, because I can’t remember the last time I let it get as long as it is right now. As it’s able to stick up with no recourse to product, there is a distinct mad professor vibe to my daily look. I don’t mind it. In fact I might leave it a bit longer than I usually allow on the blessed day that I get to go back into a barbers.
I’m not indulging in the shaven-headed beardy look that a lot of my immediate circle of male friends and acquaintances are adopting. It’s not a look that would suit me. I’ve had beards in the past. Patchy, multi-coloured, scratchy chin fuzz. Beards did me no favours and TLC made it an early mission in our relationship to get me clean-shaven.
The habit, once achieved, has stuck. The razor and I do business twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays, a careful sudsy scrape under the shower. No mirrors, all done by feel. I have a good memory for faces. It’s a ritual that works well here in The Situation, a way of keeping track of time. A tactile, visual cue that hump day or the weekend has arrived.
In lifestyle news, last week had me in old jeans and a paint-spattered t-shirt, doing some decorating. The front room has been a disgrace for a while and we could put it off no longer. We’re on trend, apparently, with our choice of feature wall colour—a British Racing Green that hides a lot of the shonky plastering we did a few years back in a fit of lurid overconfidence. My respect for the plasterer’s art knows no bounds after that little adventure in clumpy amateurism, I can tell you. We went with Crown’s Steam Engine, ordered in direct from the manufacturer. The notion of going to B&Q really doesn’t appeal.
[image error]Elle Deco beckons, amirite?
We’ve also been grown-up with the art on the walls. Instead of drilling holes in the plaster or gods help us resorting to Command hooks, we spent a wee scrap of cash on picture rail hooks and wire and did the job properly. We have limited edition prints that we’ve scooped up over the years (including a lovely red kite from local artist and zine-maker Sam Knight) and put in nice frames from the Caversham Picture Framer, so it makes sense to treat the art with a little respect. Gotta say, it looks good, and was surprisingly straightforward. Not convinced that everything’s dead straight, but right angles in this house are a rarity anyway.
End result—the room in which we spend most of our time makes us smile every time we walk into it, and I had a quiet and contemplative week getting the job done. All very Zen and mindful. All very good for the head.
Of course, there’s still the back end of the garden to deal with, but that’s another story. Maybe I should just nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
