Days 982 - 988

Aka Monday 7^th October 2019 - Sunday 13^th October 2019

This week work went on as normal, as we waited for official confirmation (in writing) that we have been taken on as permanent employees…

…and the Postman delivered the third and final volume of Faith Erin Hicks and Peter Wartman’s ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender – Imbalance’ series, which I’ve been saving to read until I had all three volumes (and the time to sit down and read them!!!):

…and Warwick Johnson Cadwell’s ‘Ghost Train’, which is a great art book of scenes from the end of the pier (a wonky, haunted pier). Mr Cadwell has a very distinct art style, which grabs you and sticks in your mind and is perfect for conveying a sense of oddness and unease, like his work with Mike Mignola (e.g. ‘Our Encounters With Evil’):

…and I picked up this week’s New Comic Book Day gems:

…and I got the latest ‘Louder Than War’, primarily for the great Primal Scream interview, by Kris Needs, which delves into the Scream’s history, revisiting key moments and key tracks, reminding you why the ‘Scream stand out from their peers:

…and October’s 'Lego Star Wars magazine, which comes with models of a 'Jedi Interceptor' and an 'AT-ST':

…and I saw ‘Rabid’, a remake by The Soska Sisters of David Cronenberg’s ‘Rabid’, I’ve never seen the original, but the remake is an okay horror film, but it doesn’t have the panache and flare and shocks of the Sister’s ‘American Mary’:

…and ‘Blackout!’ by Method Man and Redman, which has got some good tracks on it, party bangers as the kids say, and isn’t laden down with skits and fillers. The album flows from track to track and often feels more like a mix rather than an artist album:

…and I did this week’s G2 Crosswords:

…and Monday’s crossword got the week off to another meh start, as I had to cheat on a fifth of the clues (five out of 24). I think that the little grey cells were a little sleepy and for most of those five clues I couldn’t make the leap to the answer, e.g. I know that a ‘hoofer’ is a ‘professional dancer’, but I just couldn’t make that connection at the time. But I did learn that a ‘riser’ is a ‘stair part’ and that an ‘escritorie’ is a ‘writing desk’…

…things went further downhill with Tuesday’s crossword as I had to cheat on nearly a half of the clues (nine out of 21), I think that the little grey cells had left the building for a team building day!!! But I did learn that ‘sorrel’ is the ‘sour-tasting leaves used in salads and sauces’, that ‘opprobrium’ means ‘censure’, that ‘Helvetic’ is the Latin word for ‘Swiss’/Switzerland and that ‘Dominica’ is the ‘largest of the Windward Islands’…

…things went better on Wednesday’s crossword as I only had to cheat on an eighth of the clues (four out of 24). The little grey cells team building day has paid off! Although I did miss a couple of easy ones, like I went for ‘second hand’ instead of ‘minute hand’ for ‘indicator that goes right round hourly’, but I did learn that someone who is a ‘rake’ is also a ‘roue’ and that ‘onyx’ are ‘semi-precious stone used in making cameos’…

…but Thursday’s crossword takes a bit of a downturn as I had to cheat on a quarter of the clues (five out of 21). The clues were chewy and the little grey cells had a bit of trouble with them, like for ‘17^th US state, joined 1819 (7)’ I went for ‘Alaska’, which isn’t seven letters long!, instead of ‘Alabama’. But I did learn that ‘taciturn’ means ‘uncommunicative’ and that ‘slater’ is a ‘layer of roof slabs’…

 …Friday’s crossword went much better, the little grey cells were firing on most cylinders, and I only had to cheat on an eighth of the clues (three out of 23).I did learn that ‘arak’ is a ‘strong drink distilled from fermented molasses’ and that a ‘hairy-skinned fruit (informal)’ is a ‘goosegog’, but I’d argue that a ‘prizefight’ is not exclusively an ‘unlicensed boxing match for money’… 

…and this upturn continued with Saturday’s crossword as I didn’t need to cheat on any of the clues! The little grey cells chewed right through the clues and easily got the answers. Will this roll continue with next week’s crosswords???