January, 2020

Force fields explorer racing home the ancient star

SALLY SALT: Who are you really? Baron Munchausen isn’t real. He’s only in stories.BARON MUNCHAUSEN: Go away! I’m trying to die. SALLY: Why?BARON: Because I’m tired of the world. And the world is evidently tired of me.SALLY: But why? Why?BARON: Because it’s all logic and reason now. Science. Progress. Laws of hydraulics. Laws… of social dynamics. Laws of this, that… and the other. No place for three-legged cyclops… in the South Seas. No place… for cucumber trees… and oceans of wine. No place for me. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (Terry Gilliam, 1988) Increasingly, I see myself morphing into a…

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Mind Hive (2020)

Tremendous. Wire’s new album is atmospheric. Autumnal. Claustrophobic. Menacing even. It’s like the nights drawing in. For me, it’s very much a brutal soundtrack to the period we’re currently living through. Droning guitars and dark-ambient synths (developing from their 2016 album, Nocturnal Koreans and 2017’s Silver/Lead). Newman and Lewis sing about Russian oligarchs, populism, state-sanctioned mass-killing, the hopelessness of conformity, those left washed up on the margins. Wire have always drawn heavily on a cut-up, surrealistic approach to lyrics, often mixing the personal and societal. According to bassist/singer Graham Lewis about the song Primed & Ready, “The lyric/text for this…

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Old man don’t lay so still, you’re not yet young

Back to work after my surgery. I’d expected pain at some point during the day… but nothing. I guess I’ve moved beyond feeble stage now. We watched the first episode of Succession, the HBO drama. Incredibly engaging (though every time we saw Brian Cox, I couldn’t get Bob Servant out of my head).

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When feeding time has come and gone They’ll lose their heart and head for home

Bearing in mind I take surveys and polls with a terribly large pinch of salt, the report by Mintel, consumer analysts, about the growth of vegan products in the UK suggests a number of things: only 1% of UK are vegan (not sure this shows any change); 88% of Britons who eat non-meat substitutes say they would still eat meat in the report, people do not appear to cite animal cruelty or exploitation as a reason for not eating meat: When asked about the benefits of eating less meat, 25% of consumers cited improving the environment, while 32% said it…

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He’s cooking in the woods, a brush fire in your neck

Today I’ve been thinking about a couple of environmental articles I’ve read. Both present a similar viewpoint: individual changes to consumption or recycling won’t impact the environmental crisis the planet is facing. The first, I work in the environmental movement. I don’t care if you recycle. by Mary Anaise Heglar, argues against apathy, despair and a sense of nihilism that pervades some of the environmental debate. Industries and governments have transferred responsibility onto individuals and “it’s victim blaming, plain and simple.” Heglar says: We need to let go of the idea that it’s all of our individual faults, then take…

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I will hide and you will hide And we shall hide together here

Another day recovering. Better than yesterday where my wound hurt every time I moved and throbbed continually through the day. I forget that when you are “ill” or “recovering” that’s what you’re actually doing. Last week I imagined I could recuperate by reading and writing, popping out a little. In reality it’s been hard to do very much except sit watch 25 year old episodes of The X-files and feeling grim. The days go quickly, so even if I did want to be hyper-productive, I wouldn’t get the time before the kids are back and the evening routine begins. No…

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This is some parade, yesiree Bob

Magazine reading. I subscribe to Wire magazine and it’s great to see the main feature is about Wire and their new album. Also read some tech magazines… but the less said about this nerdish preoccupation, the better. Very sore after my walk out yesterday. Surely I didn’t overdo it just having a little walk. I was told that someone’s partner took 6 weeks to get over a similar operation and go back to work. I’m looking at going back on Monday! Listened to an episode of The Writers Panel podcast interview with Paul Tremblay that was very interesting in terms…

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Legion of Super-Heroes #3

Genre: SuperheroSeries: Legion of Superheroes (2019)Publisher: DC My favourite issue so far. The Legion is off dealing with Ultra Boy’s father on Rimbor and Mordru on Planet Gotham while Superboy brings Damian Wayne into the 31st Century. There’s more to Aquaman’s trident than simply producing water and there seems to be an important reason the Legion don’t want Robin in the future (they appear to be manipulating timelines). I’m glad Robin isn’t sticking around and, though I understand the guest spot being used to push sales, it’s good to see that there is going to be a plot reason for…

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The Dollhouse Family #3

Genre: horrorSeries: The Dollhouse FamilyPublisher: DC Just wow. I had no idea how good The Dollhouse Family was going to be when I started reading a few days ago. In this issue time passes quickly both in the main and secondary storylines. Alice grows up, goes to university and has a child, Una. The dollhouse returns and attempts to reinsert itself into her life. In the nineteenth century, Joseph Kent abhors his son, who he considers the offspring of his coupling with a demon and responsible for the death of his wife. He goes in search of a magical metal with…

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