Welcome, friends and lovers to this, the officially mandated Smoochy Kiss-Kiss Flower and Card Shop Appreciation Day with extra snuggies for the hospitality sector. It is your job, nay, your solemn duty to spend big on bouquets and choccies because otherwise you will make Cupid cry. And you don’t want that, do you? DO YOU?
At Swipe Towers we will be taking the inevitable introvert option, snagging a meal deal and finding something loud and gory to watch on a streaming service. For C and I, it is the one day of the year when we don’t need to be all Smoochy Kiss-Kiss. Although we probably will. Romance doesn’t take a day off in our house, hells no.
Lord, we must be annoying.
Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you Smoochy Kiss-Kiss, welcome to The Swipe.
Rob is reading…
Maximum Bob by Elmore Leonard. We could all stand to read a little Elmore every now and then. He’s a writer with an innate sense of story and character and the chops to get out of the way and let those two elements shine. Maximum Bob is one of his best, a tale of revenge, extortion and bad behaviour all centred around the most hated judge in Florida. Like a lot of his work, there’s a screen adaption but seriously, on the page is the best way to enjoy the man’s work.
Rob is watching…
All the sliding. The Winter Olympics is, if I’m being honest, even more fun than the Summer version. It’s a little more piratical, a bit more daredevil. From the wild aerobatics of slope style and half-pipe, to the sheer lunacy of luge and skeleton (congrats to Matt Weston for his well-deserved Gold yesterday) the joy and camaraderie of a group of people who clearly delight in the challenge and sacrifice of flinging yourself off a mountain at speed is utterly intoxicating. Who needs football when you can have this?
Rob is listening…
To a short gig which has united all the horrible people in vocal hatred—which means of course I’m all for it. It helps that the music and performances are entrancing. I need to listen to more reggaeton, obviously, because this was great.
(It’s a click-through to YouTube but please take the extra five seconds, crank up the speakers and let your tailbone slip.)
Related: ND Stephenson’s 24-Hour Comic, looks like he had a fine time.
Rob is eating…
Another Sunday, another big batch cooking session, which is really helping with meal prep for we two busy bees. Chicken drumstick fillets—cheap, flavoursome, easy—were roasted after spending a night in olive brine and a salty rub. A quick, spicy take on a puttanesca with the aforementioned olives, chili and capers. Best of all, a massuman curry, that creamy, coconutty version of a beef and potato stew. The main protein, found in a gleeful moment of discovery in our local Costco, was venison, which worked brilliantly. Surprisingly cheap, unsurprisingly delicious. Keep your eyes open for it, we should be eating more Bambi.
Rob’s Low-Key Obsession Of The Week…
A big collection of mid-century films on the golden age of commercial printing. When most of what we do with words never leaves a screen anymore, it’s nice to look back and see how it used to be done.
Back to the Olympics for a couple of articles. Which of the alpine disciplines do you think is the most physically challenging? If you are one of those folks who thinks it’s all a bit easy because of the gravity assist then do I have a sport for you! Clearly based on the normal everyday life of a Scandinavian hunter, I still find it hard to believe that anyone competes in biathlon for the fun of it.
Then there’s curling, a sport which is simultaneously super-relaxing and unbearably tense to watch if you have skin in the game. Precise, tactical and unforgiving, it’s a favourite at Swipe Towers. Curling stones are objects of beauty. But did you know they only come from two places in the world, both of which are in the UK?
Right, I’m feeling a bit peckish after all that exercise. Let’s join Ruby Tandoh for Vittles, writing on the life and good times of arguably the first true food critic, Brillat-Savarin. Ruby’s one of our best new writers in the field, and this is excellent stuff. Dig in!
As it is Smoochy Kiss-Kiss Day, why not make the day extra-special with a fistful of smoked meat spiked on the remains of a bouquet you would have to have eviscerated to create the final object? Personally, I’d be delighted to receive such a bounty but I can see how it might not go down as intended.
On the horrors of auto-correct. Somehow, iOS seems to be particularly bad at aggressively replacing the worms I want with ones which really burger with my infection.
Jason Ward picks apart one of the great injustices of modern times—how Ultravox’s Vienna was kept off the UK Number 1 spot by one of the worst novelty records of all time. Seriously, whatsamatter us?
A quick music break. Couldn’t resist including this collaboration between three of my favourite artists in one beautiful moment. Let this one wash over you, it’s utterly gorgeous.
There seems to be an uptick in usage of a word with very negative connotations. Jeff Maurer from I Might Be Wrong takes a look and discuss the times when it may be appropriate. Personally, I’m with the nay-sayers, but I understand what he’s saying. Trigger warning for language and discussion of contentious ideas.
Phew, let’s finish with something lighter. A trackback to the start of the chapter and an interview with one of the key members of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl show. This feels like a cross between Macbeth’s worst day and the creative casting choices made by drama teachers to fit everyone on stage at the nativity show.
Stand Here And Be One With The Grass
One last thing. I’m sorry, this made me laugh, I’m not even sure why. Bonus cross-stitch for Kim.
The soundtrack to my boogie round the kitchen last Sunday was a Yacht Rock playlist, which seemed to include a lot of Steely Dan. Now, in the right place at the right time the works of Fagan and Becker slip into my head all too easily and I was especially receptive when in cooking mode. Consequently I’ve been bouncing around to My Old School all week. This version from The Midnight Special in 1973 showcases the robust guitar slinging of Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter, the man with the finest, most luxurious moustache in music.
See you in seven, fellow travellers.
EXCUSES AND HALF TRUTHS 
Oof I needed to see that cross stitch before VD! Too good…
Also the sliding. I love the sliding. Already planning for a week of keening when the snowboard commentators are no longer a daily joy in my life. You can keep your curling though…
Ed and Tim are the best! Agree, there will be wailing and tearing of garments when they slope off (pardon bad pun). Tempted to take up linocut again just to do a version of Measure Once.