The Swipe Volume 1 Chapter 20
Watching the starry-eyed press coverage of Apple’s Vision Pro AR headset this week, I wonder how anyone who isn’t a tech journalist or a fanboy could possibly see any merit in owning the thing. Yes, there are some incredible technical innovations on display. But no-one seems to be asking fundamental questions about its use in the real world. I know we’re a long way off seeing Vision Pro on sale but I believe a lot of work needs to be done to persuade folks to lock themselves behind a pane of glass, however attractively designed.
I’ll have more on this next week. It’s starting to make me quite angry. Anyhoo, how are you? Slap on your hat and sunscreen and let’s dig in!
Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.
Rob is reading…
The Handle by Richard Stark. Part of the stash of books we picked up while in Northumberland. It’s a Parker story, so does pretty much what you’d expect. Black as pitch, hard as nails.
Rob is watching…
Videos on music tour logistics. Trust me, this is fascinating stuff. You have no idea how much work goes into the average stadium setup.
Rob is listening…
to Vienna by Billy Joel. Not deliberately, it just seems to be popping up in feeds and timelines. It’s a great song, which clearly seems to be having A Moment. When even Roy Kent describes The Stranger as his one perfect thing, you know the stars have aligned.
Rob is eating…
Home made pizza. Turns out you can do it good on a kamado-style grill. A summer-time game-changer.
I present a new diary heading, for those strange little moments which grab me by the scruffs and cuffs and won’t let go. I call this new bit…
Rob’s Low-Key Obsession Of The Week!
The way Brendan Gleason pronounces ‘marmalade’ in Paddington 2. There’s an R in there, dude…
We’re going to need to stay fresh as the new wave of hot weather rolls in. New research suggests the best time to do this is not when everyone does. Interesting news for advocates to the return to the workplace—will they decide to invest in shower facilities as a way to lure workers into the office?
Squeals of joy from your boy as he comes across a delicious repository of golden-age comics goodness. So much to see and enjoy. Come dive in with me.
I’m not a big one for ordering cocktails in bars, and anyway my tastes are simple—sort me out a negroni or variant of same and I am a contented bunny. I do feel Jason Diamond’s pain, though. No-one wants to try and guide a barkeep through a recipe when all you want is a simple glass of something tasty and head-spinning.
Jeremiah Tower on sandwiches. That’s it, that’s the post.
This CJR piece on sports website Defector is such a great read, nailing a lot of what’s wrong with modern web-based journalism and why it’s increasingly hard to find the good stuff. There has been a step change as Twitter has imploded—it used to be I could build up a whole newsletter with a quick scroll of my feed. That’s no longer the case, and the content vs. audience paradigm has become trickier to navigate. How do you lure good writers and a loyal readership while still keeping a portion of your soul and conscience intact?
June 23rd is Alan Turing’s birthday. This seems like a nice way to celebrate.
The following is not an interview with White Stripes drummer Meg White. It is, however, a fascinating look at one of rock’s most enigmatic and therefore misunderstood musicians.
TLC and I have become massive fans of Taskmaster and the season which has just ended was a highlight—possibly the best one yet. Why is it so good? A simple idea taken at times to the brink of absurd collapse, famous faces operating well outside their comfort zone and, above all, what the experience does to a disparate set of very clever people, bonding them in unexpected ways. Who’s the daddy?
Music preservation is a vital part of our cultural survival. In a world where physical media is sidelined in favour of streaming media hosted on servers we have no control over (I am as guilty of that as any millennial, although I have at least held onto all my CDs and vinyl), a backup in case of catastrophe is needed. Luckily, there is a plan, and it’s very, very cool.
Hey, you can get involved too! Make sure the tunes you love make it through the end times.
Lastly, we need to talk about smoking. There have been a couple of examples in my feeds recently of commentators waxing lyrical on the forgotten joys of the fag break. As a non-smoker, I never saw the attraction of hanging out in the cold and even on the occasions when I did join in, coffee in hand, it just seemed like idle chit-chat by the bins. Watch out though—there’s a quiet attempt to make the coffin-nail cool again…
We Outro with a glorious collaboration, a spark of lightning which was only bottled once. Jersey Girl, written by Tom Waits, sounded like a perfect song for Bruce Springsteen. The Boss covered it many times but only once, in 1981, with Tom alongside. The recording is a little janky and many of you will view the bar-room choir holler of the song as a godawful racket. Those like me will already be in bits, sobbing along with the chorus. Shalala, shalalala.
See you in seven, true believers.
