Behind again, so I’m going to try to whizz through and get
back up to date and stay up to date (fingers crossed!)
During these days I got these two fellas via the postman:
…Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, made by SchweizerCraft (aka
Chris and Liz Schweizer), from their Kickstarter campaign. They look great and
are standing proud on my shelf. I just wish that I could have gotten one of the
larger sets, but que sera sera…
…and he delivered Sarah Horrock’s ‘Aorta’ #1 (which is about
mecha’s):
…and ‘Faithless’ #5 (I’m saving read them until the sixth
and final issue) and a CD copy of The Grid’s ‘Swamp Thing’ (a bit of nostalgia
at play, but it is a classic dance/pop hit)…
…and my copy of ‘The S.L.P.’ by The S.L.P., which is Serge Pizzorno’s,from Kasabian, solo band/music project/outlet. On first listen the album’s not
bad, but, for me, not as memorable as his Kasabian material. It reminds me a
little of some of the album tracks from ‘Kasabian’, Kasabian’s first album,
which were a little weirder than the hits, a bit freer to go somewhere unusual
and before the Kasabian sound settled in. So, like those tracks, I’m thinking
that ‘The S.L.P.’ will be a grower of an album…
…I also picked up these New Comic Book Day gems:
On the Bank Holiday today, I chilled at home, enjoying the
warm weather and reading some comics:
‘Death’s Head’ #1, an ok reintroduction of Death’s Head, but
it just didn’t have the spark that I remember from the Marvel UK days. But that
might be because it was the first issue and was focused on setting up and
explaining who the main characters are and what the rest of the series will be
about.
‘Once & Future’ #1, which was great, a really engrossing
introduction to the series with gorgeous art. It felt like a British Buffy,
although it feels very reductive to put it like that as it has more of an overt
political and cynical/older central character. Maybe a British Grimm would be a
better comparison? Either way I really enjoyed this issue and can’t wait for
the rest of the series.
‘Criminal’ #7, what can I say, ‘Criminal’ constantly
delivers great, relatable stories - while the peg for the story is the crime
that gets Teeg Lawless killed/dead, it’s really/mostly about growing up from
child to teenager/young adult and how that can strain and test friendships.
And in ‘Savage Dragon’ #244 and #245 we have the great patented
Larsen mixture of old-school superheroics with modern-day/real-world morality and
issues, all while experimenting with how the story is presented, e.g. #245 is told
in 12 panel pages (aside from the first three pages, which are a one-panel and
a double page splash).
…during this week or so I saw this newspaper stand, which
summed up what’s wrong with British reporting on Brexit:
…with one side misreading/misreporting what happens and the
other sticking to verifiable facts…
…I finished reading ‘Slow Horses’, which is a great spy novel,
feeling, to me, like a modern day Harry Palmer story, drawing you into its
story and keeping hold of you till the final page…I enjoyed it so much that I
brought ‘Dead Lions’, the sequel to ‘Slow Horses’, the next day…
I had also got and watched ‘Dragged Across Concrete’…
…which is an enjoyable crime story, where we get to spend
plenty of time with the central characters and understand why they are like
they are and how they get caught up with each other. It’s also very brutal and
rough, no-one gets shot and shrugs it off with a little red hole in their shirt
sleeve, bullets have real impact and body parts go flying. It kinda feels like
a cinematic version of a ‘Criminal’ story, where the crime is almost secondary
to the characters and why they are doing what their doing. But there is an
elephant in the room, Mel Gibson. Mr Gibson’s troubles have been well reported
and I did question whether I should buy this DVD or not, but I liked Bone
Tomahawk and Brawl in Cell Block 99, and I caved into my desire to see the
film. And it is weird to see him play a racist cop and it makes me wonder if it
made him reconsider his past actions, or gave him some insight or if he just
thought that his characters views and actions were perfectly fine and
reasonable.
…and I did the G2
Crosswords:
…Tuesday’s crossword goes much better as I only had to cheat
on an (nearly) thirteenth of the clues (two out of 25). If I’d known that
‘stratum’ was a ‘bed of sedimentary rock’ and hadn’t gone for ‘hidden’ for
‘concealed’, the answer was ‘unseen’, it would have been a clean sweep. The little
grey cells were firing on all cylinders and when they got stuck, all it took
was getting a couple of intersecting letters to get the answer, like the ‘r’
and ‘m’ in 24 across (‘negligent’) made ‘remiss’ obvious. Will the little grey
cells keep it up for the rest of the week?...
…and with Wednesday’s crossword the answer is maybe, as I
had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 24). It was a bit tricky to
get started, but once the little grey cells were up and running the answers
came pretty easily, although I did miss a couple of obvious answers, like
‘drake’, ‘tingle’ and ‘colluded’. And I should have gotten ‘hoarder’ from
‘magpie’, but my brain was stuck on another name for a magpie, rather than what
it might represent…
…while Thursday’s crossword confirms that the answer is a
no, the little grey cells won’t keep it up for the rest of the week, as I had
to cheat on nearly a quarter of the clues (five out of 22). I just had trouble
making the connections betwixt the clues and their answers. Like with 22 across
‘avoid committing oneself in a difficult situation’, I went for ‘hedge your
bets’ and the answer was ‘hedge ones bets’. But I did learn that a ‘pimentos’
are ‘sweet red peppers’, that a ‘damson’ is a ‘small plum’ and a ‘dale’ is a
‘valley’…
…but there was an uptick with Friday’s crossword, I only had
to cheat on nearly a seventh of the clues (four out of 26). I did learn that
‘Harlequin’ was the ‘foppish lover of Columbine’, but aside from this it should
have been a near clean sweep. I should have gotten ‘solace’, ‘Nicaragua’ and
‘Dromedary’, especially as I’ve watched ‘Evil Under The Sun’ countless times -
Diana Rigg’s character, Arlena Marshall, uses it to describe how ungainly her
step-daughter is (and it underlines her character’s shallowness), which reminds
me how enjoyable ‘Evil…’ is and that this coming Bank Holiday Monday is kinda ideal time for a
re-watch…
…and Saturday’s crossword ends the week on an okay, average
end of having to cheat on a fifth of the clues (five out of 24). Most of the
answer came easily enough, but the little grey cells couldn’t get those five
(although I did know that ‘Satchmo’ was a jazz nickname, I dismissed it as
‘Louis Armstrong’s byname’). But I did learn that ‘Brest’ is a ‘French Atlantic
naval base’, that ‘Sibyl’ was an ‘ancient seer – prophetess’ and that ‘largo’
means ‘(musically) slow in tempo and broad in manner’. So, a not too bad week,
will next week go better or worse???
…and then I did the
following weeks G2 Crossword:
…which got the week off to a flying start as I only had to
cheat on a twelfth of the clues (two out of 24). The little grey cells were
firing on all cylinders, flying the red Jolly Roger and giving the clues no
mercy. Although I should have gotten ‘scribe’ from ‘official writer’, I did
learn that a ‘patent medicine’ or "a medicine prepared by an unqualified
person, especially one that is not considered effective” is called a ‘nostrum’…
…Tuesday’s crossword went even better as I only had to cheat
on one of the 21 clues, ‘not based on reliable evidence’ – ‘ill-founded’, which
I should have gotten, but aside from that one the little grey cells were flying
high. They got ‘blind mans buff’ from just ‘_l_n_/__n_/__f_/’, which also meant
that I could get ‘mess tin’ and my reading of noir detective stories meant that
it was easy to get ‘suitcase’ from ‘valise’ and ‘down at heel’ from ‘looking
shabby’…
A quiet day, most
notable for doing today’s G2 Crossword which went a tad downhill,
compared to Monday and Tuesday’s crosswords, as I had to cheat on five of the 23
clues (although that does give an Illuminati score, which is nice). After the
sterling efforts at the start of the week I think that the little grey cells
are a bit worn out, but I did learn that the ‘railing at the side of a balcony’
is called a ‘balustrade’, that a ‘clef’ is a ‘symbol written on sheet music to
indicate pitch’, that ‘Alderney’ is the ‘third largest of the Channel Islands’
and that a ‘bear garden’ was a ‘scene of uproar and confusion’ (probably due to
confusion about what a bear garden is!)…
…and Thursday’s crossword feels like a complete nosedive,
with having to cheat on over a third of the clues, nearly half of them (eight
out of 21). It felt like the little grey cells had to struggle to get every
clue, with only a hand full coming easily and too many not coming at all! I
should have remembered ‘filthy lucre’ as it was the name of the Sex Pistols
reunion tour, and I shouldn’t have gone for ‘get married’ when the answer was
‘get hitched’ or ‘disappoint’ when the answer was ‘disenchant’. But, on the
bright side I did learn that the ‘Roman Catholic service read at 3pm’ is called
‘nones’. Hopeful the rest of the week will go better…
…and Friday’s crossword does reverse things and goes pretty
damn well, with only needing to cheat on an eighth of the clues (three out of
23). The little grey cells are back on fighting form (although I should have
gotten ‘snootier’ from ‘even more snobby’) and I learnt that the ‘canopy over a
four-poster bed’ is called a ‘tester’ and that a ‘dirndl’ is a ‘woman’s dress
in Tyrolean style’ (and that Tyrol refers to the regions of Austria, Altbayern,
and Südtirol)…
…Saturday’s crossword also went pretty damn well and I only
needed to cheat on an eighth of the clues (three out of 23). It was a tricky
start, but once the little grey cells kicked in the answers, most of them, came
smoothly (although, given how many Ninja Turtles cartoons I watched as a kid, I
should have gotten ‘splinter’ from ‘small, sharp sliver’). And I learnt that
‘kale’ is a ‘hardy cabbage’ and that ‘Snoopy’s imprecation’ is ‘rats’ and that
imprecation means curse or swear word. Roll on next week.
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