Days 2344 - 2357

Aka Monday 19^th April - Sunday 2^nd May 2021

I’m still catching up with this blog, still working one week in the office and one week at home, so this’ll be another brief one and it’ll cover a whole fortnight <shock, horror> 😊…and during the fortnight I spent a lot of time coping with the aftermath of last Sunday’s panic attack. Partly just getting over it, the feeling of dread and tiredness, but mostly worried that another one would strike. Strike while I was out shopping, at work, at home in the bath, just anywhere, which, with the second-guessing and worry, is almost as made as having a panic attack.

Aside from that I got my hair cut, it must have been at least six months since last had it cut. Just as a cut was due, we had a Tier 4 local lockdown imposed and then it became a national Lockdown. So, finally it has been cut and I feel more like myself, which also helps nullify the aftereffects of the panic attack. The cuttings on the floor looked like a small dog! Also:

…I got this month’s Mojo:

…which has some nice articles on My Bloody Valentine, Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth duets album and Funkadelic and an okayish cover CD. And the postman delivered:

…my Rachael Smith stickers arrived (a bonus for pre-ordering Rachael’s ‘Quarantine Comix: A Memoir of Life in Lockdown’, a hard-copy collection of the excellent comics Rachael created about Lockdown/Covd-19 during Lockdown and posted on Twitter):

…my copy of ‘Madi: Once Upon A Time In The Future’, which has been a long time coming (since I backed the Kickstarter campaign), and is a beast of a book:

…‘1980 – 1985 The New Mix In One Go’, a Yello best of, which is okay, but, aside from ‘Oh Yeah’, nothing that I feel a need/want to listen too again:

…and ‘Shake The Foundations: Militant Funk & The Post-Punk Dancefloor 1978-1984’ a compilation, which explores “the alternative dancefloor explosion which followed punk rock…from off-kilter funk and electronic minimalism to primal punk howls” and as it’s put together by Bill Brewster there will be defo a few all-time gems in there.

…I also picked up my New Comic Book Day comics:

…and read a load of comics:

…‘Wonder Woman: Earth One’ Vol. 1, Vol. 2 and Vol. 3, a superb re-telling of Wonder Woman’s origin, her early years in Man’s World and the future impact Wonder Woman has on the world…

…’Moonshine’ #24, Lou’s troubles continue, and the machinations grow…

…‘Buffy’ #24, ‘Firefly’ #27 & #28 and ‘Firefly: Brand New ‘Verse’ #1 & #2, the exploration of the Wheddonverse continues. ‘buffy’ continues to be a bit hit and miss, probably because there is a lot of pre-existing material to compare this new version too. A problem that isn’t shared by the ‘Firefly’ books who are free to explore the ‘Verse…

…‘Batman: White Knight: Harley Quinn’ #1 - #6, which further explores the White Knight universe and introducing some new villains to Batman’s universe…

…‘Savage Dragon’ #258, the continuing adventures of Malcolm and his family, and ‘Graphic Fantasy’ #1 and #2, which are reprints of the very first appearance of Savage Dragon in a professional comic…

…‘The Department of Truth’ #7 and #8, which provides us with some more background to the Department and sets up the next storyline…

…‘Write It In Blood’, a great tale of family, criminals and responsibility…

…‘Dead Of Winter’ #1 – #4, a fun tale of the zombie apocalypse featuring Sparky the wonder dog, which puts a fresh spin on the standard zombie tale of getting into trouble while looking for supplies…

…‘Retcon’ #1 - #4, an entertaining story which takes the idea of a reality altering crisis, sticks us in the middle of it and runs with the idea…

…‘Friend of the Devil’, the second of the Reckless books and it’s Brubaker and Phillips, what more needs to be said…

…‘Once & Future’ #13 - #18, and the story gets deeper and darker and wilder, one of my fave books of the last few years, a real gem…

 …‘Four Letter Worlds’, an anthology of short stories, some slice of life, some poetic and some confessional…

…and ‘Hell In Stalingrad’, an atmospheric tale of horror set amongst the siege of Stalingrad.

…I only had one Long Walk this fortnight (as I just felt too tired when I woke up on the first Saturday, just weary to the bone):

…and I did this fortnight’s G2 Crosswords:

…and Monday’s crossword gets the week off to a flying start as we only had to cheat on a tenth of the clues (two out of 19). The little grey cells flew through the clues, only stumbling on the two that we didn’t know and couldn’t guess, learning that ‘pertinacious’ means ‘dogged’ and that ‘Barcelona’ is the ‘Catalan capital’…

…Tuesday’s crossword went nearly as well, more flying little grey cells, we only had to cheat on an eighth of the clues (three out of 24). And we learnt that a ‘Prior’ is the ‘head of a male religious order’ (we went for Friar’), that ‘dashing, debonair young men’ are called ‘gallants’ and that ‘hie’ means ‘hasten’…

…Wednesday’s crossword went a little worse, we had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 23). I guess the wax on our wings is melting a little in the Spring sunshine! But we did learn that ‘brandy’ is a ‘spirit distilled from wine’, that ‘Ormolu’ is ‘gilt or bronzed metallic ware’ and that ‘Doric’ is a ‘classical Greek building style’…

…and now the feathers are falling out with Thursday’s crossword, as we had to cheat on a fifth of the clues (five out of 25). We did miss some easy ones, like ‘perky’ from ‘cheerful’ and we’re slightly annoyed with 19 down ‘I’m tearing my hair out!’, the answer is ‘aargh’ but my aargh’s go aaargh…it’s so aaargh! 😊…

…things perk up a little with Friday’s crossword, the little grey cells had caught an updraught and we only had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 24). And we learnt that ‘Oregon’ is ‘the Beaver State’, that ‘Honshu’ is the ‘main Japanese island’ and that an ‘eyot’ is a ‘small inland island’…

…and the little grey cells are soaring with Saturday’s crossword as we only had to cheat on one of the 22 clues. They just went through the clues like a hot knife through butter, pausing only to learn that ‘jogtrot’ means to ‘run slowly’…

…and Monday’s crossword gets the week off to an okay start, we had to cheat on a sixth and a bit of the clues (four out of 26). The little grey cells were a little sluggish after the weekend but managed to get the grid under control. And we learnt that ‘Warsaw’ is the ‘Polish Capital’ and that ‘Brut’ means ‘(of sparkling wine) very dry’…

…Tuesday’s grid went okay as well, we just had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 24). Our lack of historical knowledge let us down a little, otherwise we would have gotten ‘Parr’ from ‘Henry VIII’s sixth wife’, we also learnt that ‘free verse’ is ‘poetry without regular rhythm’ and that ‘fajita’ is a ‘Tex-Mex dish of grilled meat served as a taco on a tortilla’…

…things perk up a little with Wednesday’s grid as we only had to cheat on a twelfth of the clues (two out of 24). The little grey cells are fired on (nearly) all cylinders! And we learnt that ‘Cadiz’ is a ‘South-West Spanish port’ and that a ‘firkin’ is a ‘cask for liquids, butter, salt of fish’…

…and things tumble with Thursday’s grid, we had a terrible time with the grid and had to cheat on nearly a third of the clues (six out of 21). We had a real hard time making the leap from the clues to the answers and missed some obvious ones ☹ but we did learn that ‘Dirndl’ is ‘traditional Alpine peasant costume’, that ‘Yuletide’ is officially from ‘24 December to 6 January’ and that ‘buttocks’ are also called ‘nates’…

…and things perk back up again with Friday’s crossword, as we only had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 23). Either the clues got easier, or the little grey cells got a good night’s rest. And we learnt that ‘pelota’ is a ‘Basque game played with basket rackets’, that ‘Maryland’ is the ‘Old Line State’ and that a ‘Mahout’ is an ‘jumbo rider’…

…and the perkiness continues with Saturday’s crossword as we only had to cheat on one of the 21 clues. It looks like the morning walk supercharged the little greys cells ‘cos they powered through the clues, only stumbling when we couldn’t remember that ‘celeb’ is an abbreviation of star…

 

Days 2330 – 2343

 Aka Monday 5^th April 2021 - Sunday 18^th April 2021

I’m still catching up with this blog, still working one week in the office and one week at home, so this’ll be another brief one and it’ll cover a whole fortnight <shock, horror> 😊…and during the fortnight the postman delivered my new Converse:

…previous Converse have worn out fairly quickly, within six months they were fraying and the soles and been worn through in a couple of places, so I’m going to keep a watchful eye on this pair and maybe, if they wear out early, I’ll get some Vans instead, just to see if they are longer lasting… the postman also delivered some comics:

…this month’s excellent Kyle Starks Sticker Club stickers were also delivered:

…as was Bill Drummond's ‘Ration Book’ book (which came with a free short story):

…I’m big fan of Bill Drummond past books and works, so looking forward to reading us…and I brought and watched ‘Synchronic’:

…which is a weird little sci-fi tale that uses the idea of a drug which causes its users to travel back in time to explore the bonds of friendship and sacrifice. A film that gets you in the feels.

…and I read loads of comics:

…‘Full Tilt Boogie’:

…an entertaining tale which continues the story of Tee, a bounty hunter, her grandmother and cat as they journey through a far-future universe.

…‘Firefly’ #25 & #26:

…are set a few years in the future and seem to be set after the Dark Horse comics (or maybe that’s because the last arc touched on similar themes to the last (few) arc(s) of the Dark Horse comics), with the crew of the Serenity spilt up and having to survive and adapt to their new situations. Which does re-energise things and it’ll be interesting to see way their go with it.

…'Buffy' #22 & #23 and ‘Faith’ #1:

…which are perfectly serviceable stories, but I’m left wondering how much I would miss them if I stopped reading them. I guess I’m asking if I’m getting enough bang from my bucks. Something to ponder on.

…‘Henchgirl – Expanded’:

…’Henchgirl’ is the story of Mary Posa, a middle-rung villain, working for Monsieur Butterfly. Kristen Gudsnuk uses superhero tropes to look at what life is like when you’re in your twenties and stuck in a job, which isn’t best for you, but also pays you enough to have a mostly enjoyable life. It’s chock-full of humour and feelings and should be read by everyone, especially now that it’s been expanded with new comics/pages!

…read ‘Batman: Black and White’ #4 and ‘Detective Comics’ #1027:

…both are anthologies containing some outstanding stories told by outstanding creators, including plenty of new names to follow (or at least new to me). I’ve more or less given up on mainstream superhero comics/DC & Marvel, but these books make me think that I should at least be picking up the anthologies, because there are great creators in these books, whose solo-book work I wouldn’t have picked up. For example, I got ‘Batman: Black and White’ #4 for Becky Cloonan and Chip Zdarsky’s sories, but I was blown away by Karl Kerschl’s work and re-introduced to Daniel Warren Johnson.

…and ‘Green Lantern: Season 2’ #3 - #12:

…concluding Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp’s epic space-opera, and epic doesn’t seem grand enough word to use. But the art and writing are beautiful, I look at some of the individual panels and can’t begin to understand how they were created. The story touches on themes from ‘Seven Soldiers’, of future/higher creatures/generations playing with the past/present for their own ends. A totally engrossing read.

…on Monday 12^th April 2021 non-essential shops were allowed to open again!!! Which meant that I was able to pop to the shops and pick up this week’s New Comic Book Day comics:

…get this month’s Uncut magazine:

…which had a nice Q&A with Jason Pierce from Spiritualized, but the cover CD, covers of Dylan tunes, is a bit meh, none of the songs really stand out as being worth having. And I got ‘Bob Stanley Presents 76 In The Shade’ compilation:

…which I have listened too and can’t really remember any of the songs as being outstanding. I enjoyed it while I was listening to it, but a few weeks later I can’t remember any of the songs…

…and I went for a Long Walk:

…and I ended the fortnight having a panic attack (on 18^th April), which I haven’t had or felt near too in ages. It was just a complete feeling of something terrible about to happen, that I would shortly die. Not a nice feeling at well and one that screws up the whole day and beyond, the attack itself only lasted for a few hours, but the aftermath was felt for several weeks after. Just being in a state of worry that at any moment I would suffer another attack. But I know what can trigger them and how to handle them, so hopefully I won’t have another one for a good long while and if I do I’ll be able to minimise how much it affects me…

…and I did this fortnight’s G2 Crosswords:

…and Monday’s crossword gets the week off to a grand start as we only had to cheat on a thirteenth of the clues (two out of 26). The little grey cells were just knocking it out of the park and we learnt that ‘Morecambe’ is a ‘Lancashire seaside resort’ and that ‘Stevenson’ was the ‘Treasure Island author’ (which we recognised as soon as we clicked on reveal, but sometimes these things are too far back in the old memory)…

…Tuesday’s crossword goes almost as well, we had to cheat on a twelfth of the clues (two out of 24). Although we should have gotten ‘rebuffs’ from ‘snubs’, it was another powerful performance and we learnt that ‘augury’ means ‘sign of important things to come’…

…Wednesday’s crossword went a tad worse and we had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 24). I think the little grey cells were a little worn out today, but we did learn that a ‘marshmallow’ is a ‘pink-flowered plant – confectionary item’, that ‘Otalgia’ is a ‘pain in the middle or inner ear’ and that ‘fungous’ means ‘resembling mushrooms or toadstools’…

…and the terribleness continues with Thursday’s crossword, as we had to cheat on a quarter of the clues (five out of 21). At this rate we’ll have to cheat on all the clues for Saturday’s crossword! I’ll have to give the little grey cells a rest today, so they can get back up to speed. But we did learn that ‘Franz Schubert’ composed the Trout Quintet, that ‘billet-doux’ means ‘love letter’ and ‘deign’ means ‘condescend’. Hopefully tomorrow will go better…

…but things pick up with Friday’s crossword, as we only had to cheat on a twelfth of the clues (two out of 23). Looks like the little grey cells have bounced back! And we learnt that ‘Dortmund’ is the ‘largest city in Westphalia, with a top flight football team’ and ‘Ishiguro’ is the ‘The Remains Of The Day author’…

…and things fall down again with Saturday’s crossword, we had to cheat on a quarter of the clues (five out of 21). I guess the little grey cells hadn’t fully bounced back! Especially as we should have gotten most of those five, but we did learn that ‘anodyne’ can mean ‘painkiller’ and that an ‘eland’ is a ‘spiral-horned antelope’…

…and Monday’s crossword gets the week off to an okay, shaky start, as we had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 23). But on the bright side two of the four we had no knowledge or and no real way of guessing, so we learnt that a ‘theodolite’ is a surveying instrument’, that ‘Serbia’ is a ‘country formerly part of Yugoslavia’ (which we should have guessed) and that a ‘cowl’ is the ‘hinged metal cover of an engine’ and not just something superhero wears…

…Tuesday’s crossword went better; the little grey cells were on lighting form and we only had to cheat on am eighth of the clues (there out of 23). We did get stuck on ‘that being the case…’, thinking that the answer was Latin and not the simple, straight-forward ‘if so’, we re-learnt  that ‘Elba’ is the ‘Island that Napoleon was exiled in 1814’, and we learnt that ‘narcissi’ are ‘spring-flowering plants’…

…the middling approach continues with Wednesday’s crossword as we had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 25). I think the pollen season is getting to the little grey cells and making them sluggish. But we did learn that a ‘beryl’ is a ‘precious stone’ and that ‘piano’ is the ‘opposite of forte’…

…and the continuing continues with Thursday’s crossword, we had to cheat on a seventh of the clues (three out of 21). Not bad, but not great, like we should have gotten ‘Gainsborough’ from ‘Lincolnshire town – 18^th Century painter, but we did learn that ‘Aristophanes’ was a ‘Greek comedy playwright, d. c.385 BC’…

…and the pollen strikes with Friday’s crossword, as we had to cheat on nearly a third of the clues. Not a good performance at all. We just could not get a handle on this grid, the little grey cells were too knocked out and we missed straight forward ones like ‘Redwood’ from ‘Sequoia’. But we did learn that ‘excoriate’ means ‘criticise severely’, that a ‘cantata’ is a ‘vocal composition, typically with choir and orchestra’, and that ‘Hyderabad’ is a ‘city in India and Pakistan’…

…and the hayfever tablets kick in and Saturday’s crossword goes better as we only had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (three out of 18). Not great, but much better than yesterday! And we learnt ‘raiment’ means ‘apparel’ and that ‘remainder’ can mean ‘balance’…