The Swipe Volume 2 Chapter 4
This week we consider the art of whistling in pop, have thoughts and opinions on criticism and enable restraint. Lots to see and do this week. LET’S GET THINGS STARTED.
Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.
Rob is reading…
Heat 2 by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner. I wasn’t sure about this—revisiting the characters of a stone classic rarely ends well. But by looking backwards to the first encounter between Hanna and McCauley and forward to the further adventures of Chris Shiherlis in Central America, Mann and Gardiner tease out fresh perspectives while writing a cracking yarn. The prose is snappy and percussive, the plot rockets along and the whole thing unspools like—well, a Michael Mann movie. For which we can all be grateful. Yes, there are plans to make a film of it.
Rob is watching…
The Tourist season 2 which is every bit as funny and exciting and sweet and violent as the original. The core relationship between Elliot and Helen gives the wild and crazy plot line an emotional depth and it frequently takes turns you don’t expect. Family, eh? Who’d have ‘em?
Rob is listening…
To this rather splendid primer on whistling in pop music from the New York Times. Sadly, they missed one important tune…
Any other suggestions, Readership?
Rob is eating…
according to a general list of ideas and ingredients which need using instead of my usual approach of opening the fridge after work and glaring at the contents, waiting for inspiration to strike. Having a baseline of suggestions makes my culinary life less of a struggle and helps to cut down on food waste. I should have done this years ago.
Rob’s Low-Key Obsession Of The Week…
If you played the original version of Dancing In The Moonlight by King Harvest at a wedding or party, you’d clear the floor. The crowd would demand the execrable Toploader cover and you’d be the dick for trying to be clever when all folks wanted was an excuse to shake their bits to a familiar tune. I could say that there’s no accounting for taste, but a couple of years of music retail taught me one important lesson—never sneer at the customer’s musical taste. They like what they like, and you don’t get to judge.
The Oscar nominations this week typically generated drama, which of course is the best way to get people talking about a tired and unrepresentative awards show. I don’t pay the list of runners and riders much attention. I’m sure Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig can go home and cry about the so-called snub on a mattress stuffed with Barbie profits. A bigger crime to me is the refusal to acknowledge the incredible work stunt people do every year, risking their skin for our entertainment. Luckily, Vulture magazine has stepped up. There are some jaw-dropping moments in this list.
Science fiction is a house with many rooms. The worrying thing is I not only recognised most of these sub-genres, I knew what books and movies are being gently mocked…
All The Types Of Science Fiction
Here is your regular reminder that Vittles is host to some of the best food writing out there, and you really should subscribe. The current multi-part series on Paris, its changing restaurant culture and how this informs a broader cultural shift is honestly fascinating. And, frankly, hilarious. Part five, on the way restricting your focus can free up creativity is deep, rich and very satisfying.
When I describe a restaurant as feeling ‘Parisian’ what I usually mean is that it’s tiny, open for three hours a day and run by a lunatic.
As a self-published author who views the book trade with a mix of suspicion and dread, I found a lot to agree with while reading this pseudonymous piece in The Fence on how to get your magnum opus into Waterstone’s. Folks, the game is well and truly rigged.
Getting Your First Book Published
A new Narnia book, written by acclaimed author Francis Stoffard, should be one of the publishing events of the decade. Instead, the Lewis estate is uninterested and The Stone Table is in limbo. Once again, the game is rigged. There’s always Archive Of Our Own, Francis. Publish and be damned!
The old saying ‘there’s nothing as dated as yesterday’s future’ still has a lot of truth in it. SF of the 60s and 70s based plotlines on concerns which matched the times in which they were written, with focus on the fear of nuclear war, climate change and automation. The visions of the future were rooted in the present. It’s fascinating to read what the experts of 1974 thought this year would look like.
I had, to my shame, never heard of Neil Kulkarni until his obituary circulated this week, followed by heartfelt tributes from the writers he inspired and took under his wing. In the face of an increasing backlash over the role of the critic, it’s striking just how much Neil was loved, not just by his peers but by writers who would take his example on move on up. This, by comics writer Kieron Gilles, gives the truest flavour, I think.
While we’re on the subject, this 2017 exploration of Elijah Quashie, the Chicken Connoisseur, seems even more relevant now than when first published. What and who is criticism for? Who gets to decide what’s good or bad, and under what context and background? We’re heading back towards the version of Dancing In The Moonlight we play at the wedding, aren’t we?
Criticism can be as simple as offering a compliment on a job or service well done. Which has its own pitfalls, as Mike Sowden of Everything Is Amazing points out. As a Brit, I know I’m terrible at both giving and receiving praise. I suspect a lot of the Readership is the same.
Lastly, I really want to big up this gorgeous reimagining of The Princess Bride with an expertly chosen alternative cast. The final image is perfect.
In a fine example of Rob Getting To The Party Late, here is my current low-key musical obsession. The perfect mix of rock chops, glam-punk attitude and fancy dresses are all excellent reasons to stan hard on The Last Dinner Party. They were on my radar but I foolishly viewed them as some sort of of novelty act until their recent appearance on Stephen Colbert’s late night show gave me a taste of what I’d been missing. And that pronunciation of ‘NU-THING MATTAARS’? CHOICE.
See you in seven, fellow travellers.
