I learned an important lesson this week about anger.
Just before I was heading into work one morning, I spotted a message on internal comms which unfairly accused me of a mistake I hadn’t made. This filled me with rage. As I drove in, I built up a narrative of what had been said and how I should respond. On the approach to our facility, the car suddenly pinged up a low fuel warning, and I realised I had planned to take a slight detour to be able to fill up at the cheapest place in town (no secrets here, it’s Costco). I’d completely bypassed that, so had to refuel on a much more expensive forecourt.
In this case, then, anger had a genuine real world monetary cost, apart from the added stress and general bad mood. As I watched the gauge on the fuel pump tick up, I knew I had been taught something valuable, and I couldn’t help but smile.
The work thing? Turned out to be no big deal at all.
Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.
Rob is reading…
I discovered this week that my Reading Library digital subscription includes access to a service called Comics Plus, which is filled to the gunwales with great Ninth Art content. I’m currently reading Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Walta’s Sentient, a wild SF tale about a colonial expedition gone catastrophically wrong. Full of brave, wild choices and an utter fearlessness in the exploration of a strikingly nasty ‘What If…?’, it’s a space-borne Lord Of The Flies with a lot more gore. Great stuff, but I worry about disappearing down a comics hole and never coming back out. I mean there are twelve volumes of Saga in there!
Rob is watching…
MasterChef. The new presenting team, Anna Haugh and Grace Dent, are a perfect match and a real treat. They’re like a couple of aunties—Anna the sweet one with the core of sharpened steel, Grace the camp Cruella who will always have your back. It’s suddenly a lighter, funnier, warmer show and all the better for it. I don’t miss the old team at all.
Rob is listening…
The Aadam Jacobs Archive is a huge and growing repository of live music which, when you dive in and explore, contains unheard glories from at least one of your favourite bands. This is exactly the sort of thing the internet was built for. You’ll be doing yourself a dirty if you don’t at least have a poke about. Trust me on this.
Rob is eating…
I made hot dogs this week, for the first time in a long time. Griddled smoky links, long-stewed onions with a splash of vermouth, a slice of bonus bacon, mustard no ketchup in the Chicago fashion. All up on a soft split bun warmed through in the oven. Didn’t do pickles, which is to my detriment. Oh well, we can always go again. I’m looking at the rolls left over in the bread bin and thinking about lobster, crab and maybe some avocado.
Rob’s Low-Key Obsession Of The Week…
Matrix Music. It’s a very precise vibe. Here’s your primer.
Notoriously, writing is a highly underpaid job. In the UK, it’s estimated the average full-time scribe earns £7000 pa. The Baffler takes this sad state of affairs to its logical conclusion and agues that it isn’t really a job at all. Those who advocate AI in the literary field would probably agree.
But it was ever thus. Even in Roman times, writers loudly complained about being underpaid and ripped off. I guess the conclusion to take from this is the pursuit of writing is best taken on alongside either a big fat vow of poverty or a serious side gig.
Shardcore on a use for AI which I can really get behind. Everyone, meet JT.
Every time I hear California Dreamin’ I think of this sketch. A simple idea, so cleverly executed.
A long read on the most important UFO sighting in UK history. We visited Rendlesham Forest a couple of years ago (you can read more on that week of high strangeness here) and I can confirm it’s a zone where you can feel the weird in the air. No proof of anything extraterrestrial, but you can see how conspiracy theories burst into life.
You’re all smart folk, Readership. Well-read, educated in the ways of the world, smarter than the average bear. There’s no possible way I could persuade you to click the link below to find out just how clever you are.
Valtteri Bottas is a Formula One driver. That’s probably his side gig because, based in this piece on how he discovered and developed his need for speed, the guy is also an extremely talented writer. The sense of voice and character he puts across here is simply outstanding.
Last up, a link from PAL Jillian which—well, of all the places to have a crash with this particular cargo.
In summary.
We outro with a real growler from The Toadies, the title track of their latest album. Something of a love letter to the much-missed Steve Albini of Electrical Audio, this one really sneaks up on you. Reminds me of some early Radiohead, back when they were still a guitar band. Don’t let that put you off, this will put the spring in your step for the weekend.
See you in seven, fellow travellers.
EXCUSES AND HALF TRUTHS 