Aka Monday 11th April - Sunday 17th April 2022
This is my first week back to work(ing from home) after a week off with Covid, and I still feel a little off, a little brain foggy, a little weak and breathless if I have to do anything strenuous, like I’m permanently at half strength (at best), but okay enough to be back working…I just need the occasional catnap to recharge…aside from recuperating and working this week and the PM (and Chancellor) having been found to have broken the law:
…and none really happens afterwards, it just washes off of him. Like, how come the Tory party isn’t bothered about their leader breaking the laws he literally wrote (a few weeks before breaking them!!!) while “normal” people received fines, some that went into thousands of pounds, that greatly affected them. And when there's a spoof front page to advertise a TV show about a political scandal:
...you can't tell it from the real headlines! I guess that it’s a perfect example of Tories putting Party before Country, like they always do. And then they introduced a racist policy to send people seeking refugee and help and safety to Rwanda, where, even if they do qualify for asylum, that they prove that they are genuinely seeking refuge, have to stay in Rwanda. It won’t allow them into the UK, like they wanted. Ignoring any family links, language links, etc. The worse thing is the suspicion that the Tories know that it won’t work and won’t stand up, but it will give red meat to their racist base and allow them to further their culture war on the left and “woke”/lefty lawyers. This current Government is just the worst collection of scum and villainy.
Anyway, aside form that I picked up some meagre Lottery winnings:
…picked up this week’s New Comic Book Day hotties:
’The Ghost In You’ – the latest ‘Reckless’ book from Ed Brubaker & Sean and Jacob Phillips, this story focuses on Ethan’s assistant Anna, as she takes on a job (as Ethan is out of town) connected to old Hollywood. And it’s a great read, Brubaker and the Phillips are on the top of their game and are producing great neo-noir thrillers.
‘Newburn’ #5, – by Chip Zdarsky and Jacob Phillips, and it’s a good story (Newburn gets locked up in prison) but it moves slowly and it feels a bit ephemeral, like you’re not getting full value for your money. Kinda like an half an hour long detective story that’s been drawn out to an hour.
‘All New Firefly’ #3 – by David M. Booher and Jordi Perez, was a fine read, focusing on Jayne and bit on Simon, and the story feels like it’s from the TV ‘Firefly’, but it does feel a little slight, like an issue is equivalent to a quarter of an TV episode, so you’re left wanting more. Maybe I should switch from the monthlies to the trades?
‘Image!’ #1 – is a new anthology series from Image Comics, which I mainly got for the first outing of Declan Shalvey’s upcoming 'Old Dog' series, and to try out stuff from creators that I wouldn’t normally read. But the rest of the stories felt a little meh and didn’t grab me and make me want to read other stuff by those creators.
’Rogue Trooper: War Machine’ – by Dave Gibbons and Will Simpson, which reboots/reinvents/reimagines Rogue Trooper. Gone are the bio-chips, but the betrayal remains and the violence/gore is dialled up. It’s a great looking story and delves much deeper into Rogue Trooper's psyche and we get to know this Rogue much more than the traditional Rogue Trooper. But I feel that the realism limits how many stories you can tell, that by bedded this story more in real life, you can’t do the “flights of fancy” that the original stories did. But it is a great story and is well worth getting. There are other stories by other creators in this volume, but none that gripped me.
…and I read ‘ZVRC: Zombies vs Robots Classic’ #1:
…which was a fun read. I can remember when they were first published, but I never picked them up as I didn’t know Chris Ryall and Ashley Wood’s work at the time, and I didn’t have room in my budget to try it out. But I’m glad that I can get them now. The art is great and the stories are kinda self-contained, but also fit together to tell a larger story. I also tried these savoury Hot Cross Buns:
…which sounded great, I love cheddar cheese and caramelised onion chutney, but these Buns hardly had any of that flavour, it was like a ghost/hint of cheddar cheese and caramelised onion chutney. Almost like a normal Bun had been waved over some cheddar cheese and caramelised onion chutney, rather than cheddar cheese and caramelised onion chutney being put into the Bun mixture ☹ I also watched ‘Choose Or Die’:
…which is a fun little horror flick about a haunted computer games from the ‘80s, with a little bit of 2020s politics thrown into the mix. It kinda reminded me a little of ‘Thirteenth Floor’ and ‘The Computer Warrior’ stories from the ‘80s Eagle comic. And I rewatched ‘Hot Fuzz’:
…which was as fun as ever, and is probably the best of the Cornetto Trilogy. I also got Lego Star Wars magazine:
…but didn’t get run to making the AT-AT yet. And I did this week’s G2 Crosswords:
…Monday’s crossword went pretty schwifty, we only had to cheat on one of the 18 clues. After their weekend rest the little grey cells are back to full strength and we only fell over not knowing that ‘ambit’ can mean ‘range – compass’…
…Tuesday’s grid went even better and we didn’t have to cheat on any of the 19 clues! Looks like our post-Covid malaise hasn’t impacted the little grey cells…just our ability to walk or lift or do anything strenuous without losing our breath or to not feel knackered all the time…
…things stumble with Wednesday’s grid, we had to cheat on an eighth of the clues (three out of 24). We were back in the office for the morning (and working from home in the afternoon) and it did wear us out more than we expected or hoped it would. Not looking forward to doing a full office week (minus the Bank Holiday) next week. That aside, we are still getting a bit of brain fog, as we should have gotten ‘mammon’ from ‘material wealth’ and ‘debauch’ from ‘corrupt morally’, but we did learn that a ‘Tree Frog’ is an ‘arboreal amphibian’…
…and we’re back to super awesomeness with Thursday’s grid as we didn’t have to cheat on any of the twenty three clues. Another clean sweep with the little grey cells smashing it again…maybe it’s because we weren’t over thinking things as our mind was mostly taken up with how corrupt and inhumane our Government is being…like grabbing for anything to distract from their disgusting behaviour. Makes one nostalgic for the sleazy days of Major’s Government…
…we stumble again with Friday’s crossword. We had to cheat on a fifth of the clues (four out of 25). We should have gotten ‘trisect’ from ‘cut three ways’ and ‘obelisk’ from ‘four-sided tapering pillar’, but we thought that an obelisk was a rounded pillar ala the obelisks from the Asterix books. But we did learn that a ‘trireme’ was a ‘Greek or Roman galley’ and that a ‘Pueblos’ is a ‘Native American communal communities in south-western United States’…
…and the stumbling continues as we end the week with having to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 24) for Saturday’s grid. I guess the little grey cells got distracted by the Easter Bank Holiday’s and chocolates, along with all the troublesome things going on in the world. But we did learn that ‘lawn’ is a type of ‘fine linen or cotton’ and that ‘Navarre’ is a ‘autonomous province of Spain, capital Pamplona’…
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