And onward out of May

the daily grind, tangible, things to check out and a little bit of advice.

The daily grind

I’m late this month, or have I been early on previous months? Who knows? But May has been a mad one. I was about a week in when I realised that I hadn’t put out a post and looking at my calendar and my upcoming work schedule, I figured that I wouldn’t be able to until closer to the end. I was totally fine with that, it was liberating actually. In a world where people think it necessary to constantly post any old shite, this world of blogging is suiting me just fine. It’s slow and easy, thoughtful and breezy, just like my wife used to describe me when we first started going out. I miss those breezy days…well, some of those days anyway.

splashes on door mats

The sun has been splitting the skies here in Bonnie Scotland, so much so that our reservoirs are sitting at 70%, usually 90% at this time of year (I heard this on the news, I’m not some mad water levels watcher…is anyone?) but today the rain was pouring, chucking it down as we say. I was sitting having a coffee in my conservatory with the door open and watching my youngest splashing on the door mat. Her wee chubby feet lightly thumping off the soggy mat, she was loving it and it made me grin from ear to ear. Now that’s breezy.

On to stuff!

Tangible

I was given a beautiful piece of work titled Tangible by the very talented Cliff “Q” Cumber. Cliff is a great illustrator and writer from England, currently living in Maryland USA. He had put up a post on the ACP Slack, where he wanted to send/give people something tangible, something they could hold in their hands and look over and think about, something real. So I answered and said, yeah, give me that, and I was glad I did. His thoughts behind it were along the lines of, in a world where everything is digital, everything is posted online for likes and comments and engagement, where everything needs to be validated by others, here’s something that is not like that. Here’s something that sits outside the Ethernet, something that you can have and hold forever, or not, depending on what you want to do with it and something pure and unforgiven by him, that does not need to be liked or accepted or even acknowledged.

In his words

Tangible is an intentional analogue experiment in slowness. It’s me resisting the urge to polish, post or explain. It’s not a portfolio. It’s barely a zine.

The result is something beautiful, something thought provoking and calming. It really did take me by surprise when I received it. I had forgotten I had asked/signed up for it. There was no cash exchanged, so I had no skin in the game, I wasn’t waiting for it, it just came and it blew me away, calmly. It really did make me think, it made me smile and ponder and take in what was in front of me, what was real and what was meaningful. There should be more of that.

Things to check out

I never managed to make my monthly trip to my comic shop this month, which is very much a bummer. However, it does mean that I’ll have a massive amount for my wife to grumble about in June. She says I spend too much cash on comics and not enough on things I really need, like footwear. Well, lucky for her I was at my mums house and my younger brother left two pairs of pretty much unworn shoes that he was throwing out. I’m not a fussy kind of guy and I believe in waste not want not. Ideal for work I say. As for trainers, hey, us comics folks look well stylish in grubby trainers. Hopefully my other brother is throwing some out soon.

Comics

Geiger - volume two - Creators, Geoff Johns & Gary Frank - Colourist, Brad Anderson - Letters, Rob Leigh. Image Comics/Ghost Machine.

This was another great instalment from the Ghost Machine imprint (at least I think that’s how you describe it) from Image Comics. I rattled through this in one sitting, couldn’t put it down, that should tell you everything you need to know. It follows the Glowing Man, Geiger himself, as he wanders through an apocalyptic wasteland with his two headed dog Barney. This time around he’s joined by Nate the once bad guy and Nuclear Knight now turned good guy whom has vowed to help the Glowing Man and try to right all the wrongs he has done. There is also a wee nod to another Ghost Machine…imprint, Junk Yard Joe, which I think was the first book released. That’s definitely one I want to check out. Geiger has been a great read and has left me wanting more.

Available wherever you get your comics, I recommend your local shop.

Sara - writer, Garth Ennis - artist, Steve Epting - colourist, Elizabeth Breitweiser - letters, Rob Steen. TKO Studios.

I’ve been sitting on this for a bit. I picked it up at my local comic book shop way back in March, when it was still dark and gloomy outside. I figured it would be perfect to sit with a bottle of whisky and devour the lot, book as well of course. Right time, right place kind of thing. However, the days rolled on and the sun eventually showed up and I still hadn’t got round to it. Having only heard good things about it, I thought I might wait until September/October when things started to darken down and the air became that little bit more alive. So it sat, staring at me behind my chair, taunting me, teasing me to pick her up. Man, am I glad I did!

This is a first class read with a top tier team. Sara is set during the siege of Leningrad in Russia during World War ii. A group of Russian snipers, all woman are caught up with a group of German invaders. The Germans, after hearing about the legend of a female sniper who has killed 100 men has sent their best to find her and take her out, not for dinner, bullet to the head kind of thing. This sets off a battle of wits between the women and of course Sara. A must to check out. Roll on the dark nights so I can pour that whisky and have a reread.

Available in most comic book shops and widely online.

Podcasts

Never Iron Anything - episode 174, Scarfe - with host Tony Esmond and joined by Eamon Clarke.

I didn’t think I knew who Gerald Scarfe was until until I gave this episode a listen and realised, yeah, I have actually heard of this guy and know some of his work. Scarfe is a very well known English cartoonist, illustrating everything from political satire to Pink Floyds the Wall, oh, there’s a little Disney in there too. A great episode, entertaining and insightful. I’ll need to get down to that bar. Listen here on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Advice

Never buy full price avocados, the ones on sale will always be ripe. But be sure to eat them within the week.

We’ll keep it at that for just now folks. Stay breezy and thanks for reading.

Dave.