The Swipe Volume 1 Chapter 23
I joined Threads this week, along with, at the last count, 70 million other people. It’s kinda fascinating to see a new social media vector take off quite so quickly. Sign up is incredibly easy (which helps the speed of adoption), and it’s a lot of fun being around a lot of new folks, all finding their feet at the same time. I guess it shows how sick a lot of us have got with Twitter.
What sort of place will Threads be? Well, that largely depends on us. The keyword a lot of the app-runners are using is kindness. We as users have to facilitate that in our interactions. Resist the temptation to yell at complete strangers if they say something we don’t agree with. It takes a tiny bit more effort to be nice—but it’s worth that few seconds of thought. Take your thumbs off the keyboard momentarily and think. If you wouldn’t say it to someone in a pub, don’t say it on the socials. Trust me, we’ll all have a much better time of it.
Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.
Rob is reading…
Medea of Euripides, as part of the summer schedule at Reading Writers. I vetoed Watership Down for this. Would do so again.
Rob is watching…
This remarkable short, featuring special effects guru Simon Weisse, on the enduring popularity of miniatures in movie-making. Keeping it real!
While we’re on the subject, Adam Stockhausen, production designer on Wes Anderson’s latest, Asteroid City, breaks down the process of how the beautifully detailed environments in the film came together. It’s a lot of work, to put it mildly.
Rob is listening…
to The Dictators. Sadly sidelined proto-punk outfit who, frankly, slap and continue to do so. The definition of rock and roll survivors who played with everyone back in the day. They should have been massive. They still can be. Submit.
Rob is eating…
Courgettes. Oh gods, so many courgettes.
Rob’s Low-Key Obsession Of The Week…
The cosplay at this year’s Florida Supercon in Miami. The invention, imagination and craft on display is utterly mind boggling. Hit the slideshow and scroll baby scroll. 141 is my personal favorite.
Those of us with enough years under our belts will remember Vincent Price not just as a master of horror, but a bon viveur and cook. It was a little jarring to see Dr. Phibes speaking eloquently and passionately about food and wine, but his grace and dry sense of humor soon won us over. The chicken curry described in this bit from The American Bystander sounds properly nurturing.
The Healing Power Of Vincent Price’s Chicken Curry
Thanks to my mum and dad, I am a big fan of prog monoliths Yes, particularly the epic one-two of The Yes Album and Fragile. I can pretty much sing along to all the solos. A key part of their fast rise was keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman, who leveraged a burgeoning career as a session musician into massive stardom, creating some of the most delightfully bonkers rock moments of the seventies. He’s still playing, and still a delight. Grab your cloak and skate with me.
The Untold Story Of The Wizard Of Prog
The story of how Oscar-winning animation Monro was made is almost as much fun as the film. Building a cartoon may seem easy compared with the vast military operation that is your average film set, but there is another, equally daunting set of challenges to overcome.
Friend of the blog Kelly made sure this interview with the brilliant Alison Bechdel pinged my radar. It’s slightly annoying that all interviewers want to talk about her titular test. It’s a handy metric to see how a script skews in terms of the simplest level of inclusivity but, as Alison makes clear, it wasn’t intended to be a serious measure at all…
A fine example of how food, or the memory of food, or the depiction of food in a film, can spark memories and nostalgic warm fuzzies. I like how this story veers around a sort of detective story, anchored by thoughts of a very fine-looking sandwich…
I am, as I’m sure I’ve bored you with previously, a big fan of comics man John Allison. He has carved a peculiarly English path which doesn’t really follow any of the well-trodden byways. He does love all aspects of comics culture, though, and somehow has managed to get away with featuring some very well-known characters in his strips. Take Giant Days, the story of three girl students and their shenanigans in Sheffield. A recent story had Esther, Daisy and Susan wrapped up in a snooker-involved plot featuring a certain dark-costumed gentleman from Gotham. More from Comicsfx, annotations for those of you who don’t get all the references, and a chance to sign up and spend a tiny spot of money on the story itself. It’s under a quid. Come on.
Giant Days X Batman annotated
I kinda like this hippy swirly stuff from my pal Xav, who is posting his 60s-light show-inspired organic art on Insta. Worth a look, especially if you’re a fan of The Pink Floyd.
A fascinating peek behind the curtain of online ads and marketing which proves something I’ve always suspected—no-one in the sector really knows what they’re doing, and the algorithm doesn’t do what you think it does.
We need to use more of these unusual punctuation marks, particularly if text-based services are the base of our online interactions. Life would be so much easier if we all had a keyboard shortcut to a sarcasm mark, doncha think?
Another example of the socio-political stance this here blog has always taken. With some extra comics commentary. Cos it’s me, innit.
While we’re on the subject, Nate Stevenson’s Nimona finally got a big Netflix adaptation. Nate, in his usual loose but hilarious fashion, comics about the experience. It’s a fun little scroll, and I’m looking forward to watching the movie.
Jackie Down The Line by Fontaines D.C. nearly made it into this week’s Low-Key Obsession (I’ve been wandering around mumbling doo doo doo la la la to myself all week) but, hey, why not, let’s boost it to The Outro. Snarky Oasis vibes colour a character study of a person you really wouldn’t want to get involved with. Very good indeed. It will slip under your skin.
See you in seven, true believers.
