A busy old week, what with writing triumphs and social gatherings and an emergency plumber call out just when I was getting cocky. Things never run as smoothly as they could (including the first draft of Chapter 21, lost in a version conflict—gods I love repeating myself) ,so you might as well just enjoy the ride.
This chapter brings you alien tacos, the attempt to steal Graceland and a very insistent seagull.
Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.
Rob is reading…
Nothing. I’ve been writing instead. Victory at the Reading Writers Spring Competition sparked up the wordsmithy instincts and I’ve been riding the waves of inspiration. After last month’s fumbled 200 word a day challenge, I suddenly feel back on track again.
Rob is watching…
Welcome To Wrexham, season 3. A warm, witty celebration of community and enduring spirit in the face of adversity. Sure, people hate the fact that a couple of Hollywood types have gotten involved and pulled the Welsh team up by their bootstraps, but how is that any different to the billionaire owners of the Premiere League? At least it feels like something positive is coming out of the arrangement and the show has a lot less of Rob and Ryan than you might think. It’s all the football I can deal with this month.
Rob is listening…
to The Boss showing exactly why he’s The Boss. In front of an Irish crowd, this could have gone wrong but Bruce and the E Street Massive nailed it.
Rob is eating…
Alien reproductions of crappy fast food Tex Mex
…well, not really, but I could go a taco right now.
Rob’s Low-Key Obsession Of The Week…
Sorry, I love the insistent seagull.
Belgium’s most famous cub reporter has a certain I-don’t-know-what when it comes to style. Not everyone can pull off that trouser, sock and brogue combo, but the wee chap wears it well.
So much so that the Belgian national squad have made a very sharp choice on kit colour going into the Euros. Looking good, lads!
The story of how Graceland was very nearly foreclosed on and sold off is one which twists even more strangely the more you get into it. A long read but one you should spend the time on.
I heartily recommend you pull this up on full screen, crank up the sound and take a journey with me. I am a boy with his head in the stars and oh my days this short film spoke to me.
Should we be surprised that SF legend Ursula K. LeGuin had a self-run website? It’s crufty, barely working but full of her personality and charm. Sometimes you can just be too slick.
Holy crap, Ursula LeGuin had a blog.
We lost James Chance this week. Massively influential on the no-wave scene of the late 70s and early 80s, his thumbprints are all over bands from Talking Heads to LCD Soundsystem. A true original. Go ahead, contort yourself.
If you believe AI translation will bring all languages together into one easily-parseable argot, the New York Times has news for you. It ain’t that simple.
Linda Thompson. A heroine of mine, who has withstood all manner of adversity, from marriage to folk legend and famously difficult human Richard Thompson, to the loss of her incredible singing voice. How do you deal? You write an album and get your big address book of heavy friends to perform them for you. Ex-hub is even on guitar duty. Also: best album title of the year.
Can you imagine, as the Queen Of Soul suggests, this pair as a duo? Could the world sustain such beauty? Perhaps it’s better that we only have this little scrap of wonder. For me, for today and the weekend ahead, it’s enough.
See you in seven, fellow travellers.
EXCUSES AND HALF TRUTHS 