The Swipe Volume 1 Chapter 26
Lurgy central at Swipe Manor this week. Probably a viral load delivered while being amongst crowds of people in That London. Oh well, a price worth paying for a great weekend—Diamond League athletics, an incredible meal at The Ivy in Canary Wharf (don’t listen to the haters, the Ivy Collection does great, affordable food with lovely service) and, although we didn’t Barbieheimer, it was cheering to see all the pink-clad youth out in force at the Vue in Westfield Stratford. Let’s hope the actors and writers can get the studios back around the table before this rare green shoot of growth chokes out.
Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.
Rob is reading…
Azimuth in 2000AD. The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic is on a creative roll right now, playful and experimental in a way you can only really try in a weekly format. The strip in question, by Dan Abnett and Tamil Bettin, seemed to be a baroque, dense exploration of a post-human future. Then last week it took an abrupt heel turn and revealed its true intentions, reintroducing a fan favourite. A beautifully crafted bait-and-switch.
Rob is watching…
Instructions on how to build a fractal chair. This is the sort of YouTubery which will happily eat up an afternoon if I let it. Any video featuring meticulous drilling and precision saw work is my jam (perhaps because in real life I’m so very bad at it). Kudos for the huge amount of time and effort spent building a ridiculously over-engineered, cumbersome and not very comfy looking piece of furniture.
Rob is listening…
To Sinéad O’Connor. We never deserved her.
Rob is eating…
Nigella’s Lasagne Of Love. Not just because it’s a great recipe, or because pal Kelly did such a great job of making it this week.
https://www.nigella.com/recipes/lasagne-of-love
But also because of this…
Can confirm a fanboi squee happened.Rob’s Low-Key Obsession Of The Week…
Hotel buffet toasters, which take no longer than domestic versions to brown and crisp a slice of white sliced, but somehow feel absurdly slow and painful to use.
If you’re sick of what your country is and seems to stand for, you can complain, agitate, become an activist—or you can just go sod it, and start your own micro-nation. In some ways it’s extremely easy, although upkeep can be an effort.
More film geekery, based around that most combustible of artistic materials—nitrate film. I sometimes come across the stuff as part of my day job. I can confirm it will go up in flames pretty easily and needs careful handling. Luckily, I don’t have to project it—that would be a stress-point too far, frankly.
Comics, sadly, suffer from the same levels of exploitation and abuse as other creative industries. When art rubs against commerce, there will always be friction and sparks. Joseph Illidge lays out the situation, and starts the conversation the Ninth Art has needed for decades.
A great, long interview with Howard Chaykin, a true one-off in the comics field. Even if you’re not a fan he’s worth listening too. Howard has a really distinctive voice. His fast-talking patter could have come straight out of a novel by Runyon or Chandler. He takes no prisoners and suffers no fools.
You need a break. Take five minutes. Have a look at this beautifully presented bit from the New York Times, pick an exercise and let the world go. Trust me. You’ll feel better.
Meditations For Uncertain Times
I hang onto clothes for a very long time, my time working for a fast fashion blog (yes, really) making me realise it was sensible to buy less but wisely, purchasing pieces which last. Recently, I finally had to clear out some cruft, taking a couple of bags to my local charity. The right thing to do, yeah? Well, maybe not…
The problem is that, with the onslaught of fast fashion, these donations are too often now another means of trash disposal—and the system can’t cope. Consider: around 62 million tons of clothing is manufactured worldwide every year, amounting to somewhere between 80 and 150 billion garments to clothe 8 billion people.
Brendan at Semi-Rad is a father now. In this hilarious bit he unpacks what that means and how things have changed for him. Spoiler—a lot.
I wake up most weekdays at 5:45am. Make of that what you will.
I’m fascinated by the conversations had around the new season of The Bear and how they have curved round to talk less about food and more about fashion. Now, I’m no clothes horse (despite the fast fashion beat mentioned above) and for the most part the simple, elegant t-shirts everyone seems to be losing their marbles over just look like t-shirts to me. The one exception—Richie’s mis-spelt Original Berf top. I want me one of those.
To finish, let me introduce you to the world’s most obnoxious academic. Yes, I know, it’s a broad field. But this guy is something else.
A rough week for popular music, as we lost both Sinéad and Tony Bennett. Tributes have been flowing, often smoothing over the rough edges of their personalities, the grit and bite which made them who they were, beginning the process of sainthood. It is, however, an excuse to indulge in the music. Here’s a show featuring Tony with one of his key collaborators, Bill Evans. It’s all the tribute he needs.
See you in seven, true believers.
