The Swipe Volume 3 Chapter 3
We got through it, Readership. The first 57 days of January 2025 are finally over and we can get ourselves in shape for the challenges of the next four years. Were you dry? Did you vegan? Is there an untouched gym membership somewhere in your everyday carry, which will glare accusingly at you until you finally give up on it sometime in June? I did none of those things—in fact you could describe my January activity as barely there. However, I have been busy in my head, thinking, mapping, planning. The dark days of January are perfect for preparatory actions, readying for the swing of the season, waiting for the times when I will be woken by the sunrise rather than the buzz of an alarm. Tananarive Due has some advice for these pre-spring days, which resonated with me for all sorts of reasons.
Featured image from Jeremy Deller. More here.
Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.
Rob is reading…
The Wanderers by Richard Price. This vibrant, earthy portrait of a scruffy New York street gang in the 1950s is sad, funny, shocking and ultimately tragic. The characters jump off the page, the traps they twist themselves into obvious and horribly inevitable. Written in 1973, The Wanderers still rings all the bells and sets off the sirens. I gobbled this one down, a book-nook bargain that’s sitting with me weeks after I read the last page. Essential.
Rob is watching…
Inside The Factory. Now Gregggg Wallace has been replaced by eager and enthusiastic Paddy McGuinness, the show which reveals the secrets behind our favourite products has taken on a new lease of life. Its roots as an Open University production have been reasserted—I feel like I’m learning something about large-scale industrial production of mass-market materials, but with a light touch and a sense of wonder. If nothing else, please watch the episode on how 20,000 hardback copies of Pride And Prejudice can be printed in a little under four hours…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0027f48
Rob is listening…
to Marianne Faithfull. What a voice. What a life. What a legacy.
Rob is eating…
Chicken Milanese. Simple as you like—a butterflied and pounded chicken breast, coated in breadcrumbs, fried until crisp outside and juicy within, served with a portion of spaghetti in tomato sauce and maybe a little salad. I marinade the protein in yoghurt and salt for extra tenderness, which also means I can skip the beaten egg which traditionally would be used to stick on the crumbs. The long-lost but never-forgotten New Piccadilly restaurant in Soho used to serve this with a side of chips for extra double-carb coma potential. Lord, I miss that place.
Rob’s Low-Key Obsession Of The Week…
I have a copper bracelet, a long-time gift from a beloved relative, which is a pain in the patootie to keep clean and shiny. I’ve tried all kinds of alleged solutions, from baking powder to that Pink Stuff. A week ago, I noticed a single bright spot on the metal, caused by a spill of ketchup. So I gave my bracelet a half-hour soak in a squirt of Heinz’s finest. It has never been shinier. I guess the thick consistency of the condiment clings to the surface allowing the vinegar in it to do the work. Who knew (awaits the response from smarty-pants members of The Readership that this is a common hack)? One thought—if this stuff is so great at taking tarnish off copper, then why are we eating it?
Let’s stick with ketchup to start February’s first chapter. Is there a platonic ideal of this ubiquitous condiment? Can it be improved upon, and if so, how can you get your perfect version into an already saturated market and onto people’s tables?
As the movie about the first episode of Saturday Night Live reaches the UK, here’s a great long read on the man who brought the show to air and still, fifty years later, steers the ship—Lorne Michaels. You can’t say the guy isn’t tenacious.
Meanwhile, let’s look at a different level of comedy. Maybe not as smart or well-written, but to my mind no less funny.
John Merrick shares some thoughts on one of our most beloved food celebs, the man who has featured in some form in every episode of Saturday Kitchen. I suppose Rick Stein is a bit old-fashioned, an unreconstructed hippy with an element of self-entitlement, but he remains a comfort, a constant, and a friend to my kitchen.
I loved this portrait of Forrest Tucker, one of the last true stick-up men and escape artists. It’s full of twists, turns and surprises. I like to think that Forrest, who never succeeded in selling the screenplay of his story in his lifetime, would have enjoyed the 2018 film of his exploits. He was played by Robert Redford. Now that’s Hollywood.
The Clock Of The Long Now in Nevada is finally up and running—although it’s a bit tricky to tell with a device designed to measure time on the millennial scale which ticks once a year. This article in Asterisk goes deeply into the notion of deep time, and what it means to consider the future on a very large scale.
Time Is A Ride And You’re On It
Worrying news this week on the future of the Prince Charles cinema, an indie with a great reputation, a huge fan base of film nerds and late-night movie maniacs and sadly, not enough money. An online petition to save the joint has blown up—I hope the love can be translated into an actual rescue plan.
In brighter news, the building in which my mum and dad saw the Beatles and I watched movies like Gremlins and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind in the 70s and 80s is coming back to life this May. The Walthamstow Granada, then ABC, then EMD, has had a torrid life. Closed for years after a failed attempt to turn it into a church, vandalised, turned into a bar for a time, now given a proper glow-up before its new incarnation as a live theatre, comedy and film venue. I’m so happy to see the old place looking this good. A road trip to my old stomping grounds could be in order.
Before we finish, and with a nod to this week’s intro, some advice on how to handle your online life in the face of a fracturing social media landscape. Remember, it’s good to close the lid on your laptop sometimes.
You Don’t Have To Be Their Audience
One last thing.
The Outro is a celebration of the good new tunes I come across and the old favourites which pop round for an unexpected visit. I love this Phosphorescent track, although it was only while looking for a YouTube link to post here I realised it was a cover of a Grateful Dead track. I much prefer this version of Sugaree—it has a flex and bounce which the plodding original lacks. Shake it.
See you in seven, fellow travellers.
