Day Twenty-Eight

Most of the time cryptic crosswords go right over my head, but I really like this one (no. 22):

 And the answer is U-Boat (aka about mixed up) 

Days Twenty-One to Twenty-Seven

Aka last Tuesday to Today

Not much happened between last Tuesday and Friday, mostly vodka & OJ’s, listening to music (lots of Portishead and Carole King) and podcasts, doing crosswords and watching crime DVDs.

My crime season was The Departed, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Heat, Inside Man and John Wick – all classic films that everyone should see at least once. It was a little weird to watch Peter Boyle in The Friends… as I mostly know him from Everyone Loves Raymond and Young Frankenstein, so to see him play such a dodgy character was a little weird.

Plenty of good comics out last Wednesday:

I also got Kyle Starks (http://kylestarks.com/) new book through the post:

Sexcastle (https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/sexcastle) was great fun and really looking forward to reading Kill Them All.

Saturday to today was mostly spent working on a job application (which I submitted a few hours ago) and, on Sunday, meeting my new nephew.

Then there was the sad news of Bill Paxton passing away, I think Aliens is my favourite Bill movie, with Weird Science a close second. Whenever he was in a film (or TV show), even if it was a minor part, he had great watchablility. Newman (@newmantron) has made a great video tribute which can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35l0cljqJxI&feature=youtu.be

Days Seventeen to Twenty

On Friday I pre-ordered 2023 A trilogy by the JAMS and ordered Classic GI Joe vols 6 and 7. Part of me is thinking “GI Joe!!! That’s just a glorified advert for toys”, but the reality is that Larry Hamas stories are really good and entertaining and carry you through. Plus I feel slightly bad about teasing adults who read Harry Potter!

The JAMS aka The KLF aka two many names to list here aka Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_KLF) have had a huge impact on me, from the music I listen to my beliefs, and are a constant inspiration. So much so that I should write a separate piece about them.

On Saturday I spent 50 mins on the phone getting my Office 365 fixed! I thought I had installed it right the first time, but no I can’t save or print anything, so I reinstalled and re-reinstalled and no joy. So, I left my number on the Office 365 support page and they called me back in 30 seconds and (after 50 mins) a very helpful guy sorted out the problem and re-re-reinstalled a working copy of Office 

365.

Worked some more on my application, but it was for naught as the job I was hoping to apply for closed early as they had received enough applications. Just goes to show that you did to strike when the iron is hot! At least I have text ready for the next application.

Sunday was basically a typical lazy Sunday, reading the papers and listening to music, mostly the Brian Jonestown Massacre. From their early work (Spacegirl and Other Favorites) to their latest album (Third World Pyramid). You can see a real consistently and growth from the early BJM songs to the latest songs and there’s a new album out on Friday! Oh happy day! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brian_Jonestown_Massacre)

On Monday, The Thing: The Expanded Soundtrack arrived. John Carpenter’s The Thing is one of my favourite films, it is tight, suspenseful, horrific and has a great soundtrack that heightens the claustrophobia and paranoia.

So-so on the crossword and Sudoku front:

Days Fifteen and Sixteen

Made the edits to Elvis Country so that the snippets of ‘I Was Born…’ are gone or as much as I can do (I’m no record producer or editor) and it’s a much better listen. It’s no wonder E was called the King.

Read the deluxe edition of ‘The Fade Out’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fade_Out) by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips and Elizabeth Breitweiser, a classic noir tale of murder and doomed attempts to get justice/vengeance/revenge. There’s flawed heroes, heels, doomed beauties and properly evil bad guys. It’s up there with Chandler and Hammett, beautifully written, drawn and coloured and highly recommended.

My next read was ‘Classic G.I. Joe Vol.3’, very different in tone from ‘The Fade Out’ but equally enjoyable to read, took me back to my childhood playing with my toys and making up my own stories and battles. Ah, the epic battles that were fought on the living room floor! Vol.s 4 and 5 to go!

Lots of new comics to read as well:

Did a little more work on the job application, so far so good, although I did forget the year I spent at the Royal London Hospital! Quick piece of advice, keep a good record of any training courses you do (title, who ran it, duration, etc.) and your previous jobs (contact details, salary, etc.) for when you come to fill in the application form, as it’s a pain trying to remember them as you’re filling in the form!

More crosswords and Sudoku’s:

Day Fourteen

Did ok with the crossword, but terrible with the Sudoku:

Now it's time for some disco music (courtesy of Joey Negro's Remixed With Love Vol. 2) and to start my application form!

Day Thirteen

A kinda burgh/aimless day today.

Read the second Transformers partwork, a load of other comics (and I should write more about them, maybe tomorrow, if you're lucky!) and started 'A Burglar's Guide To The City' (which has sparked some thoughts about how city's are designed (both by planners & architects and the people who live in them) and a desire to watch 'Heat').

Listened to the It’s A Fine Line album (which was very good, with some nice post-punk disco basslines) and a Hot Chocolate best of album (with a surprising number of great tracks, aside from You Could’ve Been A Lady, which is an all time classic).

Found a job I could apply for, but I’m not sure if I have enough experience to get through the paper sift, so not sure if I should apply for it. On one hand, what’s the point in putting in the effort of completing the application (to the best of my abilities) if I don’t think I’ll make it to the interview, but on the other hand nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Days Ten to Twelve

Sunday Lazy Sunday (and Saturday and Friday).

A bit of food shopping, housekeeping, reading (newspapers, Transformers, Sheriff of Babylon (most recommended) and other comics), listening to music (mostly the Brian Jonestown Massacre and 6Blocc), crosswords and a bit of TV (mostly King of Queens and Jonathan Creek).

I read the first volume of the Transformers partwork (http://www.transformerscollection.com/collection/), which was the UK tie-in to the Transformers movie and it took me back to those carefree days of thirty-odd years ago. Also made me a little worried that I’m wallowing a little too much in nostalgia (what with watching TV shows from 10-20 years ago) and not moving on enough (i.e. getting a new job).

The Brian Jonestown Massacre EPs (Groove Is In The Heart (http://www.junodownload.com/products/the-brian-groove-is-in-the-heart/3294874-02/), Open Minds Now Close (http://www.junodownload.com/products/the-brian-jonestown-open-minds-now-close/3298549-02/) and Dropping Bombs On The Sun (http://www.junodownload.com/products/the-brian-dropping-bombs-on-the-sun/3300932-02/)) were great, a maturing of the BJM sound (although that doesn’t properly convey the beauty and majesty of the songs, especially as the BJM sound encapsulates the different strands of rock ‘n’ roll since the Sixties).

Back when I was employed I would start the Guardian G2 crossword on the way into work and finish during lunch. But, as that has changed the crosswords have built up, so spent a few hours wondering what 5 across was (and then doing the Sudoku). I did ok and got the little grey cells got started.

Day Nine

Back up to London today for HASSRA Bowling League, catching up with friends, New Comic Book Day music shopping and watching Jonathan Creek on Netflix (Alan Davis looks so young!!! And Anthony Head with an America accent!!!).

Plenty of good reading:

Picked up the Crooked Man album:

And I think we won our match 8-6.

All in all a nice relaxed day.

Day Eight

A lazy day (again!) – fishfinger sandwiches, superhero TV shows, starting and finishing ‘Get Harry Ex’ and the realisation that I need to set a structure for my days to maximise job seeking.

‘Get Harry Ex’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Button_Man) is a great read, as the artist says in the introduction the story idea of man hunting man for sport is not new (although ‘The Deadliest Game’ and ‘Hard Target’ are the only examples I can think of right now), but it is perfectly executed with great style. There’s flashes of/reminders of ‘Get Carter’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Carter), ‘Harry Palmer’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Palmer), ‘Parker’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_(character)) and even a little bit of James Bond (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond), but without being a copy or rip off of those other characters/stories, Harry (and his world) is his own man.  Two thumbs up.

Back up to London tomorrow for New Comic Book Day (a day late) and bowling league!

Day Seven

So, I hadn’t notice that my new laptop was missing its battery pack, so a little bit of too and froing to get it replaced (and in hindsight maybe a little bit too grumpy with the shop assistants), but all’s well that ends well (is two So’s two too much?).

Which left only a few hours for job hunting, but nothing jumped out as being ‘special’, but there’s always tomorrow.

Been watching ‘The Thick Of It’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thick_of_It) to remind me of my employed days!

New Private Eye out tomorrow, maybe there'll be something about DH2020?

Days Three to Six

Well my old laptop lost the ability to log onto the internet on Friday, so no internet access until today when a brought a new laptop (except for my mobile phone, but it’s not quite the same on the teeny tiny screen!)

But about from trying to fix my IT problem the weekend was pretty lazy – frazzle sandwiches, music, dvds, vodka, dealing with all the gluten in frazzle sandwiches and lots of reading.

I read all of 100 Bullets and Brother Lono. It’s a whole lot less confusing when read as a whole and it hangs together pretty well. The stories that I had thought to be treading water/padding the story out to 100 issues, are more integral now – both to the characters and the whole story. There is some potential questionable issues around representation of women and sexual violence, but the story is set in a pretty dark and seedy world.

Monday/today was a bit more productive, although I feel like I sent most of it getting the new laptop set up, downloading software, apps, etc.

When I was buying it the shop assistant asked what I did and it was the first time I told a stranger that I’m unemployed (although technically I said I was between jobs, which is a little douche in hindsight).

Anyway, onward and upwards for tomorrow. Excelsior!!!

Day Two

So there’s nothing wrong with my copy of Elvis Country, it’s not dodgy mastering, having each song bookended with a snippet of I Was Born 10,000 Years Ago was Elvis’ artistic choice!!! So tomorrow is going to be spent try to trim the songs to just the songs!

Get two surprises today, the first was receiving my P45 - which in the past always seemed like a big deal, but now it’s meh - and my VES money - always nice to have a bank balance that is in the black J, although most of it is on its way to a savings account (to prevent any accidental splurges!).

I also used my leaving vouchers to buy:

1. Making a Point: The Pernickety Story of English Punctuation by David Crystal:

“Behind every punctuation mark lie a thousand stories. The punctuation of English, marked with occasional rationality, is founded on arbitrariness and littered with oddities. For a system of a few dozen marks it generates a disproportionate degree of uncertainty and passion, inspiring organisations like the Apostrophe Protection Society and sending enthusiasts, correction-pens in hand, in a crusade against error across the United States.

Professor Crystal leads us through this minefield with characteristic wit, clarity and commonsense. He gives a fascinating account of the origin and progress of every kind of punctuation mark over one and a half millennia, and he offers sound advice on how punctuation may be used to meet the needs of every occasion and context.”

2. A Burglar's Guide to the City by  Geoff Manaugh;

“At the heart of Geoff Manaugh's A Burglar's Guide to the City is an unexpected and thrilling insight: the city as seen through the eyes of robbers. From experts on both sides of the law, readers learn to understand the city as an arena of possible tunnels and picked locks and architecture itself as an obstacle to be outwitted and second-guessed. From how to pick locks (and the tools required) to how to case a bank on the edge of town, readers will learn to detect the vulnerabilities, blind spots, and unseen openings that surround us all the time. This simultaneously allows us to view the city from specific buildings and individual rooms to whole neighbourhoods through the privileged eyes of FBI investigating agents and security consultants, people dedicated both to solving and to preempting these attempts at devious entry. Full of absurd and marvelous stories of heists and capers, A Burglar's Guide to the City offers a kind of criminal X-ray of our built environment. Never again will readers enter a bank without imagining the vault geometry, or visit a museum without plotting ways to bring their favourite painting home with them.”

3. Get Harry Ex (Button Man), by John Wagner and Arthur Ranson:

“The world didn t seem to need a man like Harry Exton anymore. An ex-soldier and mercenary, Harry was a human-killing machine without a vocation, until an old colleague told him about The Game . The players, known as Button Men are paid to fight to the death in a modern-day gladiatorial contest. Organised by mysterious backers known as Voices, the killing game offers bountiful financial rewards... if you live. Harry decides to participate, but soon discovers that death offers the only way out!

The world didn t seem to need a man like Harry Exton anymore. An ex-soldier and mercenary, Harry was a human-killing machine without a vocation, until an old colleague told him about The Game . The players, known as Button Men are paid to fight to the death in a modern-day gladiatorial contest. Organised by mysterious backers known as Voices, the killing game offers bountiful financial rewards... if you live. Harry decides to participate, but soon discovers that death offers the only way out! Written by John Wagner (Judge Dredd, A History of Violence) with art by Arthur Ranson (Anderson: Psi Division, Mazeworld) Button Man is an action-packed thriller, deservedly regarded as one of the greatest strips ever to be published in 2000 AD."

1 is my ex-civil servant choice and 2+3 are my fun/heard good stuff about them picks (and defo not aides for my next career!).

Day One

No lie-in today! It was bin day so up early to take out the rubbish (no metaphor there!).

Got a chance for a little pottering about and thinking about what to spend my leaving gift on.

Then it was new comic book day, plenty of good reads, and off for leaving drinks for a friend (leaving DH for a better job - lucky for some :)), then back home for tipsy blogging (to go with earlier tipsy tweeting).

Plans for tomorrow - get my interview gear sorted and try to find a copy of Elvis Country that doesn't have dodgy mastering (no I don't want each song to ended with a snippet of I Was Born 10,000 Years Ago!!!)