The Swipe Volume 3 Chapter 10
A bumper edition ahead this week, all the better to feed your greedy curious minds on this deliciously elongated weekend. I trust the Easter Bunny laid you plenty of treats and you’ve started the long slow roast of the festive beast. My haunch of unicorn went into the fire pit yesterday afternoon alongside woody herbs and a couple of diamonds for flavour. The meat should slide off the bones in perfect time for our celebration of nailing some poor Palestinian to a tree a few thousand years ago.
There may also be trifle.
Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you celebrate, welcome to The Swipe.
Rob is reading…
‘If on a winters night a traveller’ by Italo Calvino. A core metafictional text, a book about reading, a travel journal where the principal modes of transport are books. One for the bibliovores amongst you, and certainly not one to pick up if you just want a light read. But it’s brilliantly executed, lighter and funnier than you might expect. Hey, I picked up my copy for a quid in a National Trust book nook so the risk is minimal. It was if it had been waiting for me to jump in and take a ride.
Rob is watching…
Retroflix. A cornucopia of esoteric goodies—terrible horror movies, vintage animation, fascinating documentaries. Go have a dig and find something which provides an unreasonable amount of pleasure.
Rob is listening…
to this, obviously. Happy Avril 14th week, everybody.
Rob is eating…
Lincolnshire plumbread. A discovery from our visit to that fair county, this dense, heavily-fruited cakey loaf contains no plums. But it’s an energy bomb, a perfect accompaniment to your mid-morning cuppa. Try it with a toothsome layer of butter and a slice of cheese—Lincolnshire poacher, naturally.
Rob’s Low-Key Obsession Of The Week…
Vangelis’ music for neurosurgery. A lost gem from the synth master.
The work of the Hernandez Brothers has been part of my comics life for as long as I can remember. A stack of collected volumes of Love And Rockets has a proud place on our bookshelves. I’m behind the times, though—the book is still going strong and chalked up 40 years of continuous publication recently. The joy of the series is how the characters have been allowed to age in real time, letting you grow up alongside folks like Maggie and Hopey, allowing you to share their tragedies and triumphs.
This NYT article on solo dining seems deeply strange to me as a committed and cheerful advocate of the table for one. In fact, I first read it in a booth at Reading’s Honest Burger, and most of the folks sharing the space with me were also on their own. I have never felt strangely about eating on my own, or that I am somehow pitied or looked down on by the staff. I guess the negative view is an American thing—which says a lot all by itself…
This is a useful attitude to take when crafting a piece of art. It’s really easy to play to your base or pander to an audience you think want things done in a certain way. Why exclude anyone?
Here’s an interesting take on the choose-your-own-adventure story. You may end up with a slightly clearer understanding on your own particular world-view. Or, like me, more confused than ever. To be fair, I took the quiz twice and ended up with completely different answers both times. Perhaps my reality is more malleable than I thought.
Mic Wright, who’s on a tear at the moment on his Substack with daily updates, offers a shortlist of favourite fictional journalism movies. OK, all movies have a fleeting relationship with the truth, but Mic sets out his terms clearly. And every one of the films he picks is a cracker.
One for those of you who consider Tove Jansson’s tales of the Moomins to be happy, light stories of cute forest creatures. It’s Scandi noir for kids and the forests are dark and deep.
Travel Through Fearsome Forests And Swamps
Science writer Eric Berger shares some highlights of his long career and the particular skills he’s developed in interviewing some of the smartest, sharpest folk on the planet. And Elon Musk.
Film nerdery ahoy. I wasn’t planning on seeing Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, but I have to say it looks stunning, and I appreciate the effort in this little primer into the dark art of the aspect ratio. One question, though—what frame did Coogler himself prefer?
A short treatise on chicken and waffles because, you know, chicken and waffles.
As Mark Twain said, history may not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.
One last thing.
On Avril—excuse me, April 14th, 1984, the Cocteau Twins released this beatless masterpiece. Happy 39th birthday. The perfect soundtrack for the next few weeks. Let’s hope for sunshine.
See you in seven, fellow travellers.
