The Second Summer Of Covid. We are entering unknown territories, expected to act as if things are back to normal when they clearly are not. Will you be wearing a mask when you next go shopping? What happens if you get pinged by the NHS app? It feels to us that we have to navigate these strange new waters without a map or guidance, left by a government with other priorities to sink or swim. Strange days indeed.
Anyway. Let’s check out this week’s linkeration, which includes Nicolas Cage and a pig, the late renaissance of a pair of musical legends and a comic about wombats.
Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.
We all have a process, a method by which shit gets done. That can include a favourite place to work, a particular way to organise your desk and of course your favourite tools and devices. What happens, then, when one of those tools is discontinued? This bit in The Believer describes the dreadful moment when a writer realises their favourite pen is no longer being made…
Tool: Uni-ball Vision Exact Micro Pen in Black, $24 for a dozen
There’s a lot of noise about deepfakes, the process by which famous faces can be replicated using CG tech and puppeted, saying and doing anything the creator wants. The boys behind South Park have already created an eerily accurate version of Donald Trump for their show Sassy Justice. The technology is now sufficiently advanced for musicians to convincingly fake the voices of other artists and use them in their own songs. Want Eminem to spit rhymes you wrote? Totally doable. In fact, it’s been done…
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/9596987/deepfake-music-imitations-history/
On a similar subject, why is it that so many presenters and influencers sound the same? There is a very particular way in which they enunciate certain words and deliver set phrases. Turns out there’s a very good reason for the similarities. Doesn’t make it any less annoying to listen to, though…
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2021/7/13/22570476/youtube-voice-tiktok-influencer-sound
We love craft beer, as we may have mentioned one or twice in the past. One of the fun elements of the scene is the names brewers give to their creations. We’ve moved a long way from simple descriptors of the beer type. The names are as wild and crazy as the flavours. The fine folk at Siren Craft talk us through the thinking behind the titles…
This short piece on tragic vs comic mode gave us a lot to think about. It’s easier to write tragedy than comedy, which is a very good reason to try something else. It’s important to strive for positivity in the stories we tell, as we can find different, less-trodden paths to wander down. It’s good for the work and our heads. Less blood, more drink!
https://the-pastry-box-project.net/mandy-brown/2014-february-25
There are a lot of really interesting movies coming our way this summer. One of the more left-field entries sees the mighty Nicolas Cage take on the role of a retired chef forced back into the kitchen as he searches for his stolen truffle pig. It’s gonna be a trip. Eater spoke to the supervising chef on the film, Gabriel Rucker, about how he chose the meals Cage cooks on screen and taught the actor to sling pans like a pro.
https://www.eater.com/22567549/nicolas-cage-pig-movie-chef-gabriel-rucker-le-pigeon-portland
The following link takes you to a comic about wombats. They have a superpower we bet you didn’t know about. That’s all you need for now. Go read.
https://theoatmeal.com/comics/wombats
One from the Excuses And Half Truths archives now, which we don’t push enough really. This piece, taken from a series written during a trip Rob, TLC and her brother’s family took to Colorado in 2018 is one we really enjoyed at the time. It dunks a little unfairly on New Mexico but is otherwise a piece we know Rob is proud of. We hope you like it.
2021 could be the year of Sparks. The LA twosome, once memorably described by John Lennon as ‘Marc Bolan jamming with Adolf Hitler’ have a documentary out in the next couple of weeks, alongside a musical they wrote directed by acclaimed director Leos Carax. The Mael brothers have always walked their own path, creating music of rare depth and gleeful experimentation. Their influence is everywhere. It’s only now that we’re seeing it.
If Ted Lasso was on terrestrial TV, it would be the biggest show on the planet. Taking the brave choice towards positivity in storytelling we mentioned earlier, it’s a sheer pleasure to watch—funny, heartfelt and moving. We recommend snagging a trial month to Apple TV when the second season drops next week and binging the lot. Variety has a great interview with the two women who are the heart of the show. Hannah Waddington and Juno Temple chat about the way the writing and directing team chose to shrug off negativity and create something fresh and delightful…
https://variety.com/2021/tv/features/ted-lasso-season-2-hannah-waddingham-juno-temple-1235019877/
Our musical choice this week keys into the sense of anxiety we’re all feeling about next week. You’re allowed to be nervous. On the flip side, we want the pubs, clubs, theatres and gig venues open again. So, we face an uncertain future with a song that ties into those feelings, in a version we really like. Please enjoy Colin Hay and Choir Choir Choir performing Overkill, from a time when it was OK to cram into a hall without masks on and sing our hearts out.
See you next Saturday, lab rats.
EXCUSES AND HALF TRUTHS 