Aka Monday 29th November - Sunday 26th December 2021
This month I was mostly quiet as I was still recovering, back to taking it easy and not overdoing it or other exertions…but I did get a haircut, which involved a bit of walking to the barber, which left me a tad exhausted. And on Wednesday 1st December 2021 I had a GP phone appointment to go over the results of my blood tests. This time they came back showing that I had high blood sugar, not high enough to cause diabetes, but high enough to be almost pre-diabetic, highish cholesterol, but not dangerous high enough to require statins, and low Vit D levels…so the GP recommended that I take a daily vit. D dose of 2000iu and that I cut down on carbs, sugar and salt…all just before Christmas! And as I’m still awaiting to have an angiogram we didn’t took about that side of things. I’ll have more blood tests in three months’ time to see if I have managed to get my blood sugar and cholesterol levels down…
...so far, I’m concentrating on cutting down/portion control rather than counting calories and grams of carbs and sugars. Once I’m used to having less, I can concentrate on the figures and grams and reduce it further…although I wager that my hunger lead to this comment “…on Sunday 5th December, thirty seconds after leaving home, to get the papers, it starts raining. Thirty seconds after I get home it stops raining! It’s enough to make you think someone is out to get you! It’s fine as I get ready to leave the house and when I do leave it starts raining and when I get home, within the time it takes to take my coat off and wash my hands and get the bird food ready it stops. The only time I was to be outside today and it rains! Coincidence or conspiracy!”…this was also the evening that Mother tested positive for Covid…
…which kept us cooped up for ten days of daily lateral flow tests, mine were all negative, which meant that I could venture out to replenish our stocks, but I didn’t go out for any other reason, just in case. We didn’t want to accidently pass on Covid. The worst thing was that we had the windows open during the air, ventilation being an important tool to prevent the spread of Covid. But all the fresh air led to a cold house, and I soon picked up a low-level cold which swiftly turned into a heavy cold. But that was the only discomfort and my daily tests and PCR test were all negative…during this time I did some reading and read ‘Cherry’ by Nico Walker…
…and it was a very absorbing and enjoyable read. In ‘Cherry’ our nameless narrator describes his live as he goes from late teens to his early/late twenties, describing the emptiness, the ruderlessness that many people feel or at least felt in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. Describing how he drifts through life, through school, relationships, joining the US Army and drug use, leading to opiate addiction. Kinda like a cross between ‘Trainspotting’ and ‘Jarhead’. The chapters are pretty short, leading one to think “I’ll just finished one or more…okay just one more” and so on till you’ve stayed up for far longer than you planned! A thoroughly enjoyable read, even when the characters are going through hard, desperate times…I also read Vol. 1 – Vol. 4 of the ‘Rouge Trooper’ volumes of the 2000AD Partworks, which transported me back to my youth with the tales of the genetic infantryman and his fight on Nu-Earth to get revenge for his fallen comrades. Stories ranging from straight-up war tales to satirical stories, all with glorious art…
…I also watched some enjoyable films and TV shows, including:
’The Signal’ – a nice horror story about a weird tv signal that sends people homicidal;
’Synchronicity’ – a nice time travel film ostensibly about a scientist trying to save his work, when really he saving something more valuable;
’21 Bridges’ – a cool crime thriller about a lone cop trying to bring in the bad guys while the whole city is against him;
‘Countdown’ - a nice horror film about what happens when you find out when you are due to die and what happens when you fight against it; and
‘Squid Game’ – I finally caught up with this show and while the bare bones story – rich people are dicks and poor people are very vulnerable and are willing to go far to try to get their head above water – isn’t new, but I really enjoyed how they pulled it off. The show looks great, the main characters are well rounded and the story isn’t scared to put them (and the viewer) through the ringer.
…I also picked up some music:
...and ‘This Ain’t Trip-Hop? Part One’ (also called ‘The Trip-Hop Test in the US) and it’s chock full of downbeat classics and reminded me how great and wide ranging the songs were that got called “trip-hop” and has this great cavort:
…which are nice. ‘There’s A Riot Goin’ On’ is cool and funky, although the lyrics feel a little buried in the music, and ‘Love’ is a nice remix/mix album of Beatles songs which makes some tired old songs sound fresh/freshier…I also got this Elmore James ‘Best Of’:
…which I got after hearing Dave Gahan and Soulsavers cover of "I Held My Baby Last Night" (on their covers album ‘Imposter’) and there’s loads of great blues/R&B songs on here. Definitely an album to revisit…I also picked up the latest Too Slow To Disco comp, ‘Too Slow to Disco NEO presents - The Sunset Manifesto’, which is a sweet collection of sun-drenched and poolside ready songs, which makes a pleasant oasis as one listens to it during these winter months, and ‘De Pelicula’ by The Limiñanas & Laurent Garnier, which I haven’t listened to yet…
…and I got a Curtis Mayfield ‘Best Of’, which I enjoyed and lead me to getting this Curtis Mayfield collection, 'Keep On Keeping On: Curtis Mayfield Studio Albums 1970-1974', which collects four of his albums:
…but it’s kinda weird, a few of the songs, like ‘Movin’ On Up’, ‘We Gotta Have Peace’, ‘If There's A Hell Below We're All Gonna Go’ and ‘Superfly’ do really stick in the head, but the others are more ambienty, in a sense they soothe your mind and relax you, they’re funky and cool, like soul ambient…and I picked up this month’s New Comic Book Day gems:
…and when I was picked up these beauties, I treated myself to this:
…’The Creeper’, taken from 'The New Batman Adventures'. ‘The Creeper’ has always been a favourite of mine, ever since I read the retelling of his origin by Andy Helfer and Keith Giffen in ’Secret Origins’ Vol. 1 #18 and his first appearance, reprinted in 'Detective Comics' #443, by Don Segall and Steve Ditko (I’d picked up both back issues from the dollar bins at a London Comic Mart as they looked cool and were dirt cheap). In both versions ‘The Creeper’ is a weird character, defo balancing that fine line between hero and psycho…I also picked up some magazines, the latest ‘Mojo’ and ‘Electronic Sound’…
…the ’Mojo’ because it had a free CD collection of Neil Young songs and I fancied familiarising myself with his work (which has left me pretty unimpressed…the songs are all technically well put together, they just don’t move me and feel dull, like demos for better musician/singer to finish) and ‘Electronic Sound’ for it’s round-up and the Tom Middleton and Coldcut interviews…and the latest ‘Lego Avengers’ and ‘Lego Star Wars’ magazines:
...and on Sunday 12th December there was the deciding race for the Formula 1 2021 Driver’s Championship…and it was a doozy of race, literally going down to the last lap. After a slightly scrappy start Hamilton had delivered a substantial lead, but then Latifi crashed, the safety car came out and the race officials screwed up and Hamilton's lead was taken away by the safety car and Verstappen, who had changed tyres under the safety car, won. In hindsight they should have red flagged the race, given everyone a chance to refresh their tyres and then restarted the race, but by fudging the rules we had a car with old worn tyres verses a car with fresh tyres and that’s not a proper race. I think that what happened is that the race officials know that they have screwed up decisions about Hamilton and Verstappen for several races this season and they tried to fudge a compromise to make it up. But in doing so they have tainted Verstappen’s win. Hamilton didn’t drive badly and lose position because of a tactical error and Verstappen didn’t cheat to win this race, but he was only able to overtake Hamilton because of the decisions the race officials made and that taints this Championship result, which is something that neither driver deserves. But it does set up a great start for next season!
…and I picked up this month’s National Lottery winnings:
…and this month’s glorious Kyle Starks Sticker Club stickers arrived:
…the post man also delivered my MacReady figure:
…I’m a big fan ‘John Carpenter’s The Thing’ and this figure was a Christmas treat to myself. It looks really good, but I’ve got the dilemma of do I open it or leave it in the box…or do I buy a second one and leave one in the box an done out???
…and to end on a Christmassy note I got some excellent Secret Santa prezzies:
… on Thursday 23rd December 2021 my symptoms flared up and I had to leave work at lunch and work from home for the rest of the day, I was back in work the next day, but I still felty rough and didn’t really feel back to relative normality till Boxing Day. But I still had a nice Christmas Day, got some top quality presents (and some cash):
…and I did the first weeks G2 Crosswords:
…and Monday’s crossword gets the week off to a pretty great start, certainly better than last week, as we only had to cheat on a twelfth of the clues (two out of 23). The little grey cells are back to fighting weight and sailed through the clues, only failing to get ‘regicide’ from ‘Oliver Cromwell, for instance’ and ‘equable’ from ‘calm’…
…and our form continues with Tuesday’s grid, we only had to cheat on a twelfth of the clues (two out of 23). The little grey cells knocked out the clues, only stumbling on a couple of mid-level easy ones, ‘password’ from ‘secret key to admission’ and ‘bred’ from ‘generated’…
…and things get better with Wednesday’s grid as, we only had to cheat on one of the 25 clues. We just didn’t know that a ‘loosely-coiled amount of yarn’ is called ‘skein’. This return to form ties in with my physical health getting better, so hopefully from here on out we’re back to where we were, back to normal and back to good health…
…things take a tumble with Thursday’s grid and we had to cheat on a fifth of the clues (four out of 21). We just couldn’t get a proper grip of the clues and we missed a few easy ones, like ‘symbolic’ from ‘meaningful’, and surely ‘schmooze’ means pleasing small talk, not ‘intimate and cosy gossip’, but we did learn that ‘odium’ means ‘widespread loathing’…
…Friday’s grid went a bit better, we only had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 24), maybe the little grey cells are tired out from the start of the week’s grids? Or the clues are getting harder? Either way we learnt that the ‘second largest of the Great Lakes’ is the ‘Huron’ and ‘tonsure’ is ‘Brother’s hairstyle’…
…and Saturday’s grid ends the week on an okay note, we only had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (three out of 18). Although we should have gotten those three we missed, as in hindsight they were pretty straight forward, like ‘rival’ from ‘equal’ or ‘passe’ from ‘outdated’. But now it’s time for the little grey cells to rest and get ready for next week’s grids…
…and I did the second weeks G2 Crosswords:
…which went okay with Monday’s crossword, we had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (three out of 19), but it was a chewy grid and not easy to get a grip on. But, with some extra time, the little grey cells managed to get the best of it. Although I’m a little annoyed that we didn’t get ‘manger’ from ‘source of stable food?’…
…and things go better with Tuesday’s grid, we only had to cheat on an eighth of the clues (three out of 24). The little grey cells have gotten rid of the post-weekend lurgy and bum-rushed the clues, although in their rush they did miss a couple of easy ones – ‘nutshell’ from ‘what surrounds a kernel’ (we got stuck on corn) and ‘ambushed’ from ‘set upon in a surprise attack’ – but we did learn that ‘mastic’ is a ‘putty-style sealant’…
…the little grey cells are certainly on tip-top form with Wednesday’s grid, as they only had to cheat on one of the 23 clues. They just tore through the clues, like a hot knife through butter (although that is mor slicing than tearing…but whatevs!). Only failing when we didn’t know that a ‘tumbrel’ is a ‘cart for taking prisoners to the guillotine’…
…things tumble slightly with Thursday’s grid, we had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 25). Partly because we leapt to ‘grief’ for ‘remorse caused by feeling responsible for doing wrong’, when we should have gone for ‘guilt’ and partly due to our poor horticultural and geography knowledge. Which meant that we didn’t know that ‘Broadstairs’ is a ‘costal town on the Isle of Thanet’ and that ‘honeysuckle’ is a ‘climbing shrub with fragrant flowers’…
…things perk up with Friday’s grid, as the little grey cells smash the grid, like a young Kool-Aid Man, and we only had to cheat on a twelfth of the clues (two out of 24). A storming comeback! And we learnt that ‘Sir Henry Wood’ was ‘conductor of the London Proms from their start in 1895 until his death in 1944’ and that ‘appease’ means ‘conciliate’…
…and we end the week with a stinking cold and a terrible go-around on the grid. We had to cheat on just over a quarter of the clues (five out of 22). We’re so bunged up that the little grey cells couldn’t think straight! We should have remembered that ‘ecru’ is the ‘colour of unbleached linen’ and that ‘nautical captains’ are called ‘skippers’. But we did learn that a ‘butterfly and moth expert’ is called a ‘Lepidopterist’ and that ‘Nicholas Nickleby’s school’ was ‘Dotheboys Hall’. A topsy turvey week!
…and I did the third weeks G2 Crosswords:
…and Monday’s crossword gets the week off to an okayish start, we had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 26). I think we’re still get that best cold hangover feeling, where your cold has gone, but you haven’t fully recovered yet and your body and mind still feel tired and sluggish. But we did learn that Jerome Kern was the Show Boat composer, that the ‘phlox’ is a ‘garden flower’ and that ‘lieu’ means place in French (which we should have guessed from the phrase in lieu!)…
…things tick up as Tuesday’s crossword is a complete triumph and we didn’t have to cheat on any of the 24 clues. The little grey cells out their heads down and just ploughed through the clues like superstars!...
…and the ploughing continues with Wednesday’s crossword, as once again, we didn’t have to cheat on any of the 24 clues. Can we keep this up and get a turkey?...
…nope, no turkey, things take a little slump with Thursday’s grid and we had to cheat on a seventh of the clues (three out of 21). I guess the little grey cells were a little burnt out, but it does mean that we learnt that ‘Matthew Arnold’ was the ‘poet who wrote The Scholar Gipsy (1853)’ and that ‘Aida’ is a ‘1871 opera set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt’…
…Friday’s grid goes a little better and we only had to cheat on a twelfth of the clues (two out of 23). Guess the little grey cells have overcome their burn out and we’re back on track. Although we should have gotten ‘mercantile’ from ‘to do with trade and/or traders’ and ‘acumen’ from ‘insightfulness’, but K sera sera…
…and Saturday’s grid ends the week on a solid note, as we only had to cheat on a tenth of the clues (two out of 21). We’re feeling better, and our Covid isolation is over, and I think that’s reflected in our clue solving and we seem to be back to our normal level – managing most of the grid and only having to cheat on a couple of them. And we learnt that a ‘gardener’s shallow basket’ is called a ‘trug’ and ‘nonplus’ can mean to ‘flummox’…a good end to an outstanding week, crossword wise…
…and I did the fourth weeks G2 Crosswords:
…and Monday’s crossword gets the Xmas 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, looking forward to some annual leave and finishing our Xmas shopping, so they steamrollered through the clues. Although that did mean that we missed some, in hindsight, obvious answers. Like ‘repent’ from ‘be contrite’ or ‘appeased’ from ‘conciliated’…
…Tuesday’s grid went even better and we only had to cheat on a twelfth of the clues (two out of 23) (was this the twelfth day of Xmas???). The little grey cells blasted through the clues, like they were skated across a frozen lake. And we learnt that a ‘Scottish church’ is called a ‘Kirk’ and that ‘Skipjack’ is a ‘type of tuna’. Easy peasy…
…and Wednesday’s grid went even better. Only had to cheat on a thirteenth of the clues (two out of 25). We were back at work, had a great day catching up with folk and just enjoying being in the office and the little grey cells dispatched the clues like Poirot working through suspects! But slightly
…things took a tumble on Thursday, my symptoms – chest pain & shortness of breath – came back with a vengeance and pretty much ruined the day and the grid. We had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 25). We did learn that ‘Canton’ is both a Chinese city and a Swiss state, but we should have gotten the other three, like ‘emergency’ from ‘sudden crisis’, but I guess we were having our own sudden crisis!...
…and Friday’s grid ends this Xmas week on a meh note, we are feeling better, but we still had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (again) (four out of 24). Instead of powering through the clues, the little grey cells tumbled through them, again we missed some easy ones, like ‘Epsom’ from ‘Derby venue’, but we are feeling a little better and we learnt that ‘small streams’ are called ‘Rills’…