Days 2281 - 2294

 Aka Monday 15^th February - Sunday 28th February 2021

Lockdown III is still on, although we now have a road map out of it…and I’ll be able to get my haircut in about a month and a half! And I’m still running behind, so let’s get this bad boy done! This fortnight I brought:

‘Saint Maud’ (which I haven’t watched yet, but have heard good things about it), ‘Jiu Jitsu’ (which I thought would be a fun b-movie, with Nic Cage able to go full Nic Cage, but he doesn’t and the film is a bit of a mess and a bit meh)…

…and this month’s Mojo (mainly for the CDs, which were okay, but nothing special) and fortnight’s Private Eye (ever since I stopped commuting into London I’ve lost a lot of reading time and I find myself not being able to finish a copy of Private Eye before the next issue comes out, the same is true with my daily newspaper. Unfortunately without the hour the commute afforded me, I’ve just got too much competition for my reading attention)…

…and the postman delivered a lot of goodies:

...my copies of ’Sympathy for the Devil’, John Carpenter’s ‘Lost Themes III: Alive After Death’ and The Stooges ‘The Stooges’, ’Once & Future’ #16 and ‘American Vampire 1976’ #5, Rachael Smith’s ‘Hourly Comic Day 2021’, ’True War Stories’, ’Avatar: The Last Airbender – Toph Beifong’s Metalbending Academy’ and ’Music for Soundtracks Vol. 1’ by Richard Norris. I’ve listened to ‘Lost Themes III: Alive After Death’, while out on a walk, and it was enjoyable, typical Carpenter basically, moody and brooding sythns, although with a bit more guitars than the previous albums (I think), although I realised later on that I had my Walkman on shuffle, and I’m not sure if it sounds better when listened to in order! At the other extreme I couldn’t listen to the 2-CD edition ‘The Stooges’ (with John Cale mixes and full versions of some tracks) on the walk, as when I tried to play it on my laptop, and to rip it to my Walkman, it was covered in static and distortion, and not the sort of distortion that you expect from a Stooges album! But the CDs work fine on hi-fi’s, so I don’t think the CDs are faulty. Very odd, probably some kind of copy-protection. But from the hi-fi listen the alternative mixes don’t sound that different from the official versions. And I read Rachael Smith’s ‘Hourly Comic Day 2021’, which was an absolute joy to read, chock full of humour and humanness and really relatable, and ’Sympathy for the Devil’, a fun retelling of Lucifers fall, that is also full of humour and humanness and relatable, and I’m looking forward to the next issue…

…also re-read ‘Apocalyptigirl: An Aria For The End Times’, this edition has bonus content, early story attempts in the Apocalyptigirl universe, and I read ‘Firefly: Watch How I Soar’ & ‘Firefly: The Sting’, both of which do a damn good job in capturing the feel of the TV show, while playing to the strengths of being a comic/graphic novel, with some fabulous art work, especially ‘Watch How I Soar’ which focus on Wash, telling stories across his life.

…went for a Long Walk on the 20^th (but no Long Walk on the 27^th as I was feeling knackered, and decided to rest and recuperate instead):

…and last Saturday I spent way too long trying to sort out my mp3 player, I had transferred a couple of albums to it, as normal, but they showed up as drives on the mp3 player and not as music files, and they wouldn’t play. After an hour or so of googling, I had to copy all the working music files (and the mp3 player’s software) to my laptop, reformat the mp3 player, and then re-transfer the music back to the mp3 player, just to get it back to normal!

…and I did this fortnight’s G2 Crosswords:

Week 1

…and Monday’s crossword gets the week off to a grand start, as we only had to cheat on a tenth of the clues (two out of 19). The little grey cells are keeping up last week’s excellent performance, knocking over the clues like skittles are scoring multiple strikes. And we learnt that ‘Lyme Regis’ is ‘where the French lieutenant’s Woman lived on the Dorset Coast’ (we also learnt that Lyme Regis is in Dorset😊) and that a Gibbon is an ‘Arboreal ape – English Historian, d.1794’…

…and Tuesday’s crossword goes even better, as we only had to cheat on one of the 24 clues. We couldn’t get ‘erstwhile; from ‘former’, but the rest of the clues just tumbled like…things…that tumble easily…and we learnt that ‘voluble’ means ‘fluent in speech’ (we only got it by guessing the missing letters, deciding what fitted best with the intersecting letters)…

…and the same happens with Wednesday’s crossword, a couple of answers, like ‘Desdemona’ took a little dragging from the back of the little grey cells, but the majority of the 23 clues tumbled easily, and we only had to cheat on one of them. We didn’t get ‘palatable’ from ‘tasty’, but we did guess, from the intersecting letters and the hyphen, that a ‘large metal gong’ is called a ‘tam-tam’. And ‘infamy’, for 6 down, did set the little grey cells replaying the ‘Infamy, infamy…they’ve all got it in for me’ scene…

…and things take a little tumble with Thursday’s crossword, we had to cheat on nearly a fifth of the clues (four out of 25), which is better than I first thought. It did seem a tricker grid, but the little grey cells knuckled down and ground out a reasonable score, only missing a couple off obvious ones. And we learnt that the ‘mark used over ‘a’ or ‘o’ in Portuguese’ is called a ‘tilde’…

…there’s a little tick up with Friday’s crossword, taking us back to normal, as we only had to cheat on an eighth of the clues (three out of 24). 13 down was a little tricky, ‘salty liquid bead’, which stumped us for ages, till it just twigged, it’s a ‘teardrop’! And we learnt that ‘Eritrea’ is an ‘African country that won independence from Ethiopia in 1993’, that ‘largo’ means music with a flexible tempo and that ‘largo’ means ‘(musically) slow and dignified’… 

…and Saturday’s crossword ends the week on a bum note, as we had to cheat on nearly a quarter of the clues. Mainly down to too many easy misses, like not getting ‘stroke’ from ‘caress with the hands’, but we did learn that a ‘scut’ is a ‘shorttail e.g. of a deer’ and that the ‘Atacama Desert’ is a ‘600-mile arid plateau of northern Chile’…

 

Week 2

…and Monday’s crossword gets the week off to a damn fine start, as we only had to cheat on a ninth of the clues (three out of 26).And we have to give a nod to popular culture, like ‘Nam flicks, Andrew Lloyd Webber and The Beach Boys, which enabled us to get ‘put-put’ from ‘sound made by a small petrol engine’ or ‘sloop’ from sailing boat with one mast’ or ‘Cats’ from ‘musical based on TS Eliot poems’. And we learnt that ‘Gore Vidal’ was the ‘American author of Myra Breckinridge, d.2012’ and that a ‘church residence’ is called a ‘parsonage’…

…Tuesday’s crossword went even better, as the little grey cells powered through all the 24 clues without need for any cheating, like an invincible Mario rushing through Koopas. A tip-top performance…

…Wednesday’s crossword goes almost as well, we only had to cheat on a twelfth of the clues (two out of 24). Mario’s invincibility is wearing off! But we did learn that ‘plainsong’ is an ‘unaccompanied liturgical chant’…

…and things took a massive tumble with Thursday’s crossword. We had to cheat on a third of the clues (seven out of 21). I think the little grey cells were a bit burnt out, maybe. We did miss some obvious answers, like we went for ‘get your kit off’ for ‘undress completely’ instead of ‘get ones kit off’ or ‘koed’ for ‘knockout’ instead of ‘kayo’. But we did learn that ‘scherzo’ means ‘(musically) a playful movement’, that a ‘stack of dried grass’ is called a ‘hayrick’ and that a ‘female Ruff’ is called a ‘Reeve’…

…luckily things pick back up with Friday’s crossword, we only had to cheat on a twelfth of the clues (two out of 23). Although I think that the little grey cells aren’t 100% back to full strength as we missed ‘mischief’ from ‘bad behaviour’, but we did learn that the Colorado beetle is a potato pest…

…and Saturday’s crossword ends the week on an up note, as we only had to cheat on an eleventh of the clues (two out of 21). It took a bit longer to get through the grid, but the little grey cells did it and we dodge some of the traps, like for ‘pulse’ at first we thought it meant ‘pulse’ as in heartbeat, but then the lightbulb went on and we knew it was a trap and the answer was ‘bean’. And we learnt that ‘laic’ is ‘of those who aren’t clergy’ and that ‘food cooked or severed in a roll’ is ‘roulade’…

Days 2267 - 2280

Aka Monday 1^st February - Sunday 14^th February 2021

Still catching up with this blog entries, so this’ll be another quick one. Still in Tier 4 Lockdown, still spilt between working from home and working in the office, still bored of the restrictions, but still understanding of why the restrictions are needed and still annoyed at those that can’t be bothered to follow the restrictions (which means that the Lockdown will last longer!).

The postman delivered a load of stuff, including some comics:

 

…’Murky Waters:Tales From Beneath’, ’Far Sector’ #10 and ’Bad Machinery’ ‘Vol. 10: The Case of the Severed Alliance’, which I haven’t read yet (except that I did read ‘The Case of the Severed Alliance’ when it was released as a webcomic and know that it will very, very good). My glorious Kyle Starks stickers:

…some retro musical treats. The Stereo MC's album ‘Deep Down and Dirty’ and EP’s ‘Step It Up’ and ‘Deep Down and Dirty’, and Rae & Christian’s ‘Northern Sulphuric Soul’ album. Both the Stereo MCs and Rae & Christian deliver some top-notch UK hip-hop, the Stereo’s MCs on a more breakbeaty tip and Rae & Christian on a more downbeat, scratchy tip, and it was a joy to rediscover them:

…and ’Slough House’ arrived:

…which was a great read, lots of drama and pathos and humour. Mr Herron continues the high-quality storytelling and I’m looking forward to the TV series, to see if they can capture the essence of the books. I also read a load of great comics:

…I must especially highlight that ‘Future’ was a very enjoyable, cinematic, heartfelt treat, that it was interesting to see an early version of Alien in ‘Alien: The Original Screenplay’, the changes that the film made make sense and made a more powerful film, but the original screenplay is still fun and while it makes a great comic, it probably would have made a worse film. With finishing ‘ABC Warriors’ Vol. Two and ‘Nemesis The Warlock’ Vol. 4 I have finally got to finish the Nemesis/Torquemada story, which I first started reading backing in the late ‘80’s/early ‘90’s! The first half of the ‘ABC Warriors’ Vol. 2, which focused on the Time Wastes was great and tied into the Nemesis/Torquemada storyline, but the second half, which were self-contained storylines, wasn’t and was a drag to read, very hard to get through. I think the problem was that there was no overarching story or plot line and it seemed like the stories were there just to keep the ABC Warriors active/in print. And I finished the last arc of ‘Sex Criminals’ (and the special ‘Sex Criminals: Sexual Gary’) and it was a really enjoyable read (both the story and the excellent letters pages) tinged with a little sadness as this was the end. It’s bizarre how a story about people who stop time when they cum, was overflowing with humanity and compassion and fun and understanding.

…and I brought some Lego:

…I went for a Long Walk on the 6^th:

…and made spicy parsnip mash and pork steak, using a Nigel Slater recipe from The Observer:

…which was pretty tasty, although I think I overcooked the pork as it was slightly chewy (but it was still tasty)…and I did this fortnight’s G2 Crosswords:

Week 1

…so, after eschewing my normal exercise/Long Walk to avoid getting a cold, I get a cold anyway! But it doesn’t seem to have affected the little grey cells, as we only had to cheat on a ninth of the clues (three out of 26) in Monday’s crossword. Although we should have gotten those three – ‘uppercuts’ from ‘blows to the chine’, ‘castigate’ from ‘censure severely’ and ‘tied’ from ‘drew’ (we got stuck thinking about drawing, rather than sporting events!) – so maybe the rest of the week will be downhill from here on in…

…Tuesday’s crossword went okay, we just had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 24), which is fairly average. Of those four, we messed up on a couple, like for ‘wrap up gently for protection’ we went with ‘coddle’ and not the answer of ‘cocoon’, but the other two we just didn’t know. So, we learnt that ‘Aida’ is a ’Verdi opera’ and that ‘Reno’ is a/the ‘Nevada divorce city’…

…Wednesday’s crossword went much better, as we only had to cheat on a twelfth of the cues (two out of 24). The little grey cells just powered through the clues, like Jason and campers in a Friday flick. And we learnt that the ‘Royal Navy flag’ is called the ‘White Ensign’ (we got the ensign part, but not the white part) and that a ‘pair of glasses with a handle’ are called a ‘lorgnette’…

…and things go into a tailspin with Thursday’s crossword. We had to cheat on a quarter of the clues (six out of 23), which is pretty poor. I think the cold is upon us and is knocking the little grey cells out of their clue solving groove! Which is probably why we misread ‘most insignificant’ as ‘most significant’, which kinda changes the answers that you think off! And missed the other answers, which feel very obvious in hindsight, like ‘rued’ for ‘felt remorse (for). But we did learn that a ‘neap’ is a ‘type of tide’…

…and things pretty much totally turnaround with Friday’s crossword, as we only had to cheat on one of the 21 clues. The little grey cells are back in their groove! Just powering through the clues, often getting them before finishing reading the clues! Although I’m not sure how we didn’t get ‘landmark’ from ‘significant feature (or event)’…

…and the little grey cells are back out of their groove with Saturday’s crossword! We had to cheat on more than a third of the clues (eight out of 21). A very bad performance ☹ Some of the clues we just didn’t know, some, in hindsight, we could have guessed, like we should have guessed ‘Piaf’ for ‘French chanteuse (the Little Sparrow) d.1963’, but we did learn that a ‘quadtrain’ is a ‘stanza of four lines’, that a ‘caret’ is a ‘mark indicating text insertion’, that a ‘Satyr’ is a ‘lecherous man’ and that ‘Tunis’ is a ‘North African capital’. Hopeful next week will go better…

Week 2

…and Monday’s crossword gets the week off to a solid start, as we only had to cheat on an eighth of the clues (three out of 23). The little grey cells were well rested after the weekend and strolled through the clues, making only one slip up. For ‘officials who once made public announcements’ we went with ‘town crying’, instead of the right answer ‘town criers’. But we did learn that ‘Danish Blue’ is a ‘salted and strongly flavoured cheese’…

…and things take a right old tumble with Tuesday’s crossword, having to cheat on a third of the clues (eight out of 23). Some of the clues we just didn’t know, and some we just couldn’t reach and missed, like getting ‘oddballs’ from ‘eccentrics’ or ‘labour’ from ‘childbirth’, which are super obvious in hindsight. But we did learn that a ‘long pillow’ is called a ‘bolster’, that ‘Mongolia’ is a ‘land-locked east Asian country’, that ‘Omsk’’ is a ‘city 1,400 miles east of Moscow on the Trans-Siberia railway’, that an ‘Inca’ is an ‘old Andean’ and that ‘legato’ is ‘(musically) the opposite of staccato’…

…things bounce back with Wednesday’s crossword, we only had to cheat on a twelfth of the clues (two out of 25). The little grey cells have taken stock after yesterday’s disaster and are back and kicking ass! Although we should have gotten ‘coax’ from ‘persuade gently’, and having lived through the ‘90’s we should have gotten ‘Bosnia’ from ‘Balkan country, capital Sarajevo’…

…and we bounce further with Thursday’s crossword, the little grey cells powered through the clues like Pacman and we only had to cheat on one of the 21 clues, learning that ‘Italian dumplings’ are called ‘gnocchi’…

…things are still on the up with Friday’s crossword, only having to cheat on an eighth of the clues (three out of 24). And we learnt that an ‘Indian fig tree’ is called a ‘Banyan’ and that ‘Samoa’ is a ‘Polynesian country, capital Apia’…

…and Saturday’s crossword ends the week on a high note as we only had to cheat on an eighteenth of the clues (one out of 18). We couldn’t get ‘metaphor’ from ‘figure of speech’, but aside from that it’s a real bounce back from Tuesday’s massive stumble…