The Swipe Volume 2 Chapter 33
Plague is in the house. TLC caught a nasty bug on one of her days in Oxford last week which has effectively laid her out flat for a week. As we share everything, it was only natural that she passed it onto me. Subsequently, after a morning at work where the numbers in spreadsheets danced a nimble foxtrot before my uncomprehending eyes and I felt my throat closing into a fist clenching acid-coated razor blades, I figured it was time to pay attention to the bleedin’ obvious and hit the eject.
So, today is Friday and I’m having a rare sick day. I’m wrapped in my cosies and bumbling round the house while C does a half-day of remote work. I plan to make a healing soup from leftovers and freezer finds, slump in front of some Star Trek but, more importantly, get a jump on this week’s Swipe.
See, even at my most vulnerable, my thoughts are of you, lovely Readership. I hope you’re grateful. Send hugs.
Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.
Rob is reading…
Hopeland by Ian McDonald. A wild mix of psychogeography, a theoretical primer on communal living and an urban fantasy featuring a heady mix of romantic tension, sibling rivalry and Tesla coils. It couldn’t be more me, really.
Rob is watching…
The new season of Only Murders In The Building, back on track and funnier than ever. The worrying sojourn to Hollywood is, thankfully, a red herring. The gang are back in the Arconia and working on the death of one of their own—Charles’ stunt double and best friend Sazz Pataki. Fear not, though—for a corpse, she has a way of showing up just when she’s needed. Further digs into the history of New York’s most homicide-prone hotel and a host of guest stars who, for once, don’t feel jammed in for no good reason. Only Murders, even when it’s not firing on all cylinders, is one of the best shows on telly. Season four is top tier.
Rob is listening…
If you can’t get behind three blokes wearing gnome hats serving up a juicy slab of stoner rock in an old greenhouse, then I’m frankly unsure what you’re doing here.
Rob is eating…
The aforementioned soup. Leek, carrot, garlic, pak choi, pancetta, a little tomato, home-made pork stock, beans. A bunch of thyme and a little tarragon. Fry off the aromatics in the bacon, throw in the stock, then the greens, allow to bubble until you can’t stand it any more. A few sourdough croutons on top, maybe a blob of pesto. The doctor is in.
Rob’s Low-Key Obsession Of The Week…
If you presented this to people from the early 2000s, they would consider it an especially unbelievable slice of speculative fiction. Oh, please, if you’re unaware, be careful searching for the meme source of the goatse religion Nate talks about. Nothing to do with goats. Not safe for life.
I linked to a primer on poetry comics last week. Here’s an example of what can come out of the exercise, using a very good primary source.
We missed Crowded House on their UK tour this time around—the stars simply did not align. Hey, we’ve seen Neil and the boys plenty over the years. The younger Finn brother is always erudite and thoughtful, and interviews with musicians in music (not music journalism) periodicals often give that little hint more into their processes and inspirations. Neil opens up to Guitar Player magazine, and we all benefit from his wisdom.
Of course, music journalism can dig up some insightful stuff, particularly if they invite a pair of songwriters into a safe space and just let them talk to each other about their craft. In Rolling Stone, upcoming folk-rocker Zach Bryan sits down with a hero, some guy from New Jersey you may have heard of.
Charles M. Shultz on how to be a good a citizen. In the season of The Great Pumpkin, it behooves us all to be a little more Sparky.
Look, we’re hopefully all working on our instincts around figuring out fake news from real, clickbait from useful, AI from human. It feels like the truth is slipping away from us, one bare-faced lie at a time. But sometimes a fake, made obvious and with the fib as part of the reason for its existence, can be fun. Reality, given the right circumstances, is over-rated.
This one is perhaps a bit nerdy, but I was drawn to this interview with on-air graphics designer for Saturday Night Live Marlene Weisman. Her tenure on the show came at a particularly interesting time, as digital solutions started to sneak into the mix alongside the Letraset and marker pens. The febrile, manic atmosphere of the show comes across very clearly here, and I’;m now excited for the Jason Reitman movie on the forst episode of the show.
Marlene designed the Wayne’s World logo. That has to pique your interest, right?
The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s 11:30.
Cinephiles discussing the oeuvre of Michael Mann talk about his crime dramas, his saturated colour palate, his innovative use of digital video. They do not, as a rule, talk about his second movie, psychosexual vampire fever dream The Keep. Mann himself would rather everyone forgot about it. Which is a shame, as a proper director’s cut of the movie would be a real treat. Oh well, we’ll always have the back matter. The book, by the way, is propulsive and pulpy. It’s the good stuff. Dig out a copy as the nights close in and our thoughts turn to the dark side.
Austin Kleon gives us a playlist of songs which sound like October. I can only agree.
As has become traditional, here’s Broken Peach with their latest Halloweenie mashup. Loving the Kiss warpaint.
Keep it spooky. See you in seven, fellow travellers.
