The Swipe Volume 3 Chapter 14
I think I have to make a deal over Eurovision this year. I love the songs, the manic vibe, the surreal quality of the whole big-tent circus. But once the songs are done and the judging machine grinds into life—well, I lose interest rapidly. I know C feels the same way—she’s talking about giving the whole thing a miss this year. So, we’ll see. I suspect we’ll watch the performances and find out who won the following morning. Rooting for the UK of course (What The Hell Just Happened? has strong musical theatre vibes which may help it out) but I’ll tag my personal choice below.
Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.
Rob’s Eurovision recommend:
It has to be Finland, who always understand the assignment.
Please note how Erika Vikman sells this without backing singers or much in the way of expensive staging (with one very big exception), bringing the noise through sheer force of personality. I love this.
Rob is watching…
Murderbot on AppleTV+. A smart new adaptation of Martha Wells’ stories comes loaded with just the perfect level of snark and humour. Alexander Skarsgård is perfectly cast. It’s a romp, what more do you need?
Rob is listening…
This great Mississippi Blues Trail playlist, inspired by Sinners. A very smartly made bit of cultural tourism.
Rob is eating…
We’re leaning hard into the seasonal bounty of late spring. I threw together a slumgullion of Jersey Royals, asparagus, radishes, green beans and salmon, bound with a quick blender pesto. It was pretty darn delicious and extremely low-effort. Oh, and spinach is a feature on every dinner plate right now. It’s gone off like a bomb in the raised bed.
Rob’s Low-Key Obsession Of The Week…
(through gritted teeth)
Steve the fish.
Look, you don’t understand. He has the arms. And the legs. AND HE’S ORANGE.
Mike Achim tells the story of a strange vibration which echoed across the entire planet in 2023. It mystified geologists worldwide. What caused it, and what that could potentially mean is pretty sobering, but the tale is still mind-bending in the extreme.
Ornithological geekery of the highest order. I’m not selling the story well. Go check it out and admire the sheer commitment to detail. As I write this the garden is filled with birdsong and I couldn’t tell you the difference between one chirp and another. It’s a nice soundtrack, though.
This next recommend is a bit rich, coming from a writer who uses a bespoke set of frameworks to push out your soaraway Saturday Swipe. But, if it really came down to the wire, I could lash the newsletter up using the simplest and most robust of programming languages (in fact, in the far long ago when it was a Blogger site called The Ugly Truth, I had to). If a doofus like me has a handle on HTML than all of us have a chance.
On a tangentially related subject, why buy new when you can fix? We used to own an incredibly complex temperature controlled kettle. The lid of it detached within nine months of purchase. I glued it back on and it lasted another couple of years. Now, I’m not saying I could tear down and repair something like that, but I’m certainly happy not to bin something if an ugly fix with Gorilla Glue or a cable tie will keep it in play. Reading has both a repair cafe and a library of things which are designed for just such occurances.
Jimmy Mackintosh is the Pints Correspondant for The Fence. His bone-dry, deadpan reports from booze-halls across the land are a regular on whatever passes for my social feed nowadays. I get strong reminders of the work of Jonathan Meades or Iain Sinclair whenever I find one of his despatches. Here are his 51 words for pubs.
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Speaking of the new school of journalism, can I also recommend The Bee? It focusses strongly on working-class issues and the writing is absolutely first-class. Here’s an interview with writer and musician Willy Vlautin to give you a flavour.
A charming moment as Damian Lewis and Mark Rylance come face to face with Thomas Cromwell at the newly re-opened Frick Collection in New York.
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One last thing.
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We Outro with new Wolf Alice. I had a hand in bringing this one to market, and I have to say it looks great. Great to see them back, totally glam and gorgeous.
See you in seven, fellow travellers.
