The Swipe Volume 3 Chapter 1
Here we are now. Welcome to Volume 3 of The Swipe, which to celebrate the new year features absolutely no changes to format, style or content. However, this first chapter is a bumper offering, as we always believe in value for money. Even more so as the sticker price on your Saturday Soaraway Swipe is bupkiss, nix, nada and niente. You lucky punters.
Before we get into it, I wanted to share Jason Chatfield’s take on the way cartoons serve as an early warning alert for incoming censorious regimes. Start with the funnies and see if anyone notices.
in an unrelated update, I have cancelled my Washington Post subscription.
Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.
Rob is reading…
I’m not sure what’s going on in this piece and I really want to vehemently disagree in a ‘how dare you I is much more sophistimocated and unpredictable in my tastes’ but sadly I am way too honest and have to admit the chainsaw fight in Mandy turns me into a quivering mass of joy-jelly every time I watch it.
Rob is watching…
The things you can do with a 3D printer and an inventive mind these days.
Rob is listening…
Stop everything. Bob Mould is back.
Rob is eating…
Pork and veggie stew. Basically a cubed pork shoulder thrown into The Instant Pot with root veg, stock and seasoning, then pressure-cooked into submission. Bring it back up to temp and wilt some greens into the hot fragrant liquid, get some fresh crusty bread and dig in. There’s your cure for the woes of the season.
Rob’s Low-Key Obsession Of The Week…
I have a couple of people in mind is all I’ll say at this juncture.
I always like to open the first post of the year with a litmus test for newcomers. If you look at the following link with excitement and a warm feeling of anticipation in your tummy, then you have found a safe space here and I welcome you to The Readership. Weird old books are a big Swipe jam.
Same vibe here, skewing further in the pulp fiction arena. I aspire to have the touch-type skills and DGAF attitude to crank out trashy novels at scale.
The uncrowned king of the trash-writer aesthetic was Barry Maltzberg, who never met a deadline he couldn’t leave in the fumes of his fat exhaust, and once wrote a novel in 27 hours. Beat that, Michael Moorcock. He died just before Christmas, still fizzing with stories. Rest in power, you magnificent wordsmith.
Finally in this accidentally-themed section of the newsletter, lawyer David Allen Green tells the story of how a book he remembered fondly from his childhood finally came back into his life decades later.
Moving on to a more self-care/New Year, New You set of links (the usual random nature of the material seems to be less so than usual, the universe is being strangely helpful this week), let us consider the imminent collapse of all social media platforms. Elno has launched Xwitter into a death spiral. Suckerberg is closing moderation, which will turn all things Meta into an ugly, boiling swamp of misinformation and hate. Bluesky is fine but underpowered and frankly a little boring. The time has come, my sweetlings, to take control of your own destiny and build your own field of dreams.
For The Love Of God, Make Your Own Website
Meanwhile Ian Dunt, whose Substack is a righteous beacon of rage right now, has a little advice for you.
Paul Crenshaw reminds us that we have always believed in foolish things, and have somehow managed to grow out of it. Even in stupid times such as these, there is no reason to believe the process will not continue as before.
Stupid Shit People Used To Believe
Finally, activist, artist and vengeful goddess Molly Crabapple sets out her stand for 2025 and fires off a salvo of good examples to follow. When the going gets tough, the tough get weird.
I Intend To Get Hotter And Weirder
Yes, I know we’re well into the month, but it’s worth checking out all the goodies which entered the public domain on the first of January. Plenty of new fun arts available for your remixing pleasure and delight. Writing from Hemingway, Faulkner and Woolf. Some early Mickey Mouse, Tintin and Popeye. Singin’ In The Rain! Dig in, find something fun and use it as inspiration for something new.
Everyone apart from me seems to be foaming over The Traitors. Not my bag, I’m afraid, but you all go ahead and enjoy. I am fascinated, though, by this insight into one of the methods which makes the show so addictive. It’s all done in the edit.
A deep dive into one of the greatest pieces of anti-fascist art ever made. As a new version of the man in the cape arrives on big screens this year, let’s look into the enduring influence of a massively influential moment in cultural history. As ever, Comics Do It Best.
One last thing before The Outro.
Actor Michael Shannon and Bob Mould team-mate Jason Narducy are up to their REM-based mischief again. They’ll be touring a full run through Fables Of The Reconstruction across the States in the spring. I have one comment—come to the UK, godsdammit! It’s the perfect time for this most wintry of records to get an airing, and it was recorded here in the first place. Look, just do one night at The Purple Turtle. You can stay at mine and I’ll pay for the first round of beers.
See you in seven, groovers.
