We’ve hit the baker’s dozen of wasteland dispatches! I plan to celebrate with a little extra delicious nutrient paste derived from old comic books in my rations today.

Good morning, denizens of the wasteland, from my hovel on the shores of the Bow.

Well, it was morning when I started writing that, then the day happened and it’s evening now. Good evening, denizens of the wasteland, from my hovel on the shores of the Bow.

Where did the day go? I haven’t even looked at any of my feeds yet, for all I know I’m the only one left! Well, at least I have my books… *eyeballs fall out and shatter* that–that’s not fair… that’s not fair! There was TIME now!!!

I’m a little loopy today as I had a less-than-restful sleep. I usually go to bed around 10:30 and read until ~midnight. When I got into bed last night I discovered a tiny anarchist, who had been watching Hotel Transylvania 2 before I came and carried him to his own bed, had had some kind of demented cracker party. The sheets and duvet were mostly crumbs, which I continued to find throughout the night. Just around the time I had found the last of the crumbly bastard remnants and managed to sweep them away, muttering about retro-active birth control, the aforementioned tiny anarchist returned complaining of bad dreams.

No doubt something he ate.

The remainder of my sleep was disrupted by, what can only be described as, the noisiest breathing not powered by an iron-lung in history. Also, somehow the perpetrator, despite weighing under 50lbs managed to take up more bed-space than a mature, male rhinocerous. I was finally drifting off to sleep when the younger tiny anarchist arrived, kicking open the bedroom door like he was there to take out Osama Bin Laden. Seal Team Under-Six insisted it was time to wake up, no arguments that it was in fact 4:45AM would sway him. Eventually he was bribed back to his room with a tablet (you try being a good parent with boxer briefs filled with cracker crumbs) and I was finally allowed to sleep. For almost 45 minutes before the alarm went off.

So that’s my excuse for the lack of lucidity, tomorrow is another day.

Take care of yourself and don’t eat crackers in my bed, you swine.

Currently Playing: Grove of Whispers – “Cold Moon”

Currently (Re)Reading: SHIVERING SANDS: SEVEN YEARS OF STORIES, DRINKING AND THE WORLD, Warren Ellis

I made a mistake in naming these damn dispatches. It’s the 11th installment, but I’ve actually been in the wasteland since the 12th so this would be day 19… Workday 11 doesn’t have the same ring though…

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow River.

Many fine purveyors of drone and ambient music (and other genres, presumably) are offering discounts on digital discographies over on bandcamp during the pandemic. Times is tough all over, but if you’ve got some cash in the budget for music I suggest having a browse over there. I have acquired many beautiful sounds to roll around in over the next few weeks (and indeed, likely months). If we’re going to remain confined to quarters, no reason we can’t fill those quarters with beautiful things, and hopefully help the makers keep making.

Spent entirely too time wrestling with my podcast website over the weekend, I think I got it working, but the thing I did that fixed my problem should not have worked! This is almost worse than the problem persisting, I have fixed a thing but have no earthly idea why what I did solved the problem. Anyway, if you’re at all inclined you can listen to the bride and myself discuss horror movies over here.

Stay sane out there, denizens of the wasteland.

Currently Playing: Alex Bober – “Invisible Forest”

Currently Reading: THE WAKE, Paul Kingsnorth

I spent, let’s call it entirely too much time getting my podcast website/rss feed working again. My body is one gigantic stress knot and I don’t even have the option of self-medicating with liquor like the rest of you bastards. I am not to be trifled with today.

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow River basin.

The Black Polygons put out a new record today. It’s gorgeous. They previously had an album called À Travers that I have listened to a thousand times. I recommend them both.

Normally I’d post my reading roundup for the week (which I also apparently forgot to do last week) but I don’t have much to report. I finished nothing this week. I think I’m beginning to create new routines and so hopefully next week we’ll resume regularly scheduled reading activities.

Stay safe, take care of each other and see you on the far side of the weekend.

Currently Playing: Black Polygons – “Phasme”

Currently Reading: ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY, David Sedaris

Good morning, Great Unwashed of the Wasteland!

Isolation is beginning to make me have strange ideas. At midnight I was suddenly positive that I should get a synth-rig set up and start composing ambient music. I have no prior experience in this field nor any clue how I would do it even if I had ACCESS to a synth-rig, but at midnight it was so obvious that this was definitely what I should do. Hoping I have another stupid idea soon before I start looking up keyboards online…

Finally admitted to myself that I was not in the headspace to be able to read this Olga Tokarczuk novel I’d been very very very very very slowly picking away at via audiobook. I have a shelf on my Goodreads account called “on-hiatus” for such things and FLIGHTS has been moved to it. Luckily, my hold on one of the few David Sedaris books I’ve not read ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY came in so I’m going to listen to that instead.

Speaking of listening, an old post on one of my feeds introduced me to the Holger Czukay album “Movies” and I’ve been listening to it for half my morning so far. It’s outstanding. It was recommended as a precursor to Brian Eno & David Byrne’s “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” album, so if you’re a fan of that work then this is completely worth checking out.

One other musical recommendation before I leave you today: One of my favorite ambient artists SILENCAEON released a new album yesterday and it’s FANTASTIC.

Currently Playing: Oscar Peterson Trio – “Night Train“
Currently Reading: ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY, David Sedaris

Greetings from my hovel, fellow sinners!

Today on one of my feeds (I’ve forgotten which and don’t really want to go look) I was introduced to Hiroshi Yoshimura and specifically the album GREEN. Apparently it’s getting a reissue on vinyl, that’s neat. I like vinyl for the artifact, but can’t be assed to actually listen to any music that way. Fortunately Light in the Attic Records has also put it up on YouTube and (Spotify if y’nasty)

It’s beautiful and calming, which is what I need today. It’s all beautiful music all the time played over footage of Giant Bomb’s lockdown streams here where a certain amount of existential dread has finally begun to encroach. Full distraction protocols are being introduced. Screens set to only show me beautiful things and play beautiful music and news feeds are switched off. They get turned on for a very limited time first thing when I get into the office and then again sometime in the evening after the daily health officials briefing but are silenced again until a time when I have more mental bandwidth for them. Not a lot I can do down here in the hermitage anyway. I continue to think of you all and hope you are well.

Currently Playing: Hiroshi Yoshimura – Green
Currently Reading: Starting a reread of TREES, Warren Ellis & Jason Howard

All the systems I spent last week setting up for the people I work with have been in place long enough now for them to start breaking in ways I hadn’t anticipated. SO THAT’S BEEN FUN.

How we all doing out there?

There is a printer in my house for the first time in a few years and it’s worse than I thought. I just got a little inkjet thing and the speed it burned through this ink I bought is CRIMINAL. Printer companies can all collectively get in the fucking sea.

I’m surprised things aren’t MORE shut down out there than they are, but I suspect that’s coming soon. We’re in this for the long haul I suspect, so we better be good to each other.

Currently Playing: Nothing. I’m listening to people stream video games.
Currently Reading: Man… hardly anything. I need to read something FUN and stupid and distracting.

Staying sane/safe out there, denizens of the wasteland?

A bunch of big new video games came out this week! I have barely scratched the surface of the last big batch of video games I bought (Outer Worlds, Outer Wilds, Code Vein, Judgment) since I mostly just jump into Apex Legends or Modern Warfare whenever I get gaming time lately (I’ve also played a couple hours of the new Ori game and it’s rad), but I am pretty tempted by the new Animal Crossing and Doom: Eternal. I suspect I’ll hold off on them for a while, but it’s good to know they’re out there.

I like thinking about, reading about, talking about, listening to people talk about and watching people play video games as much if not more than actually playing them, so this is a good time to be housebound as there is no shortage of people playing games online. I’m a Giant Bomb premium subscriber so I pretty much have the Lockdown 2020 streams going all day when they’re on. Sometimes I mute the audio and just play music over it and just glance up occasionally to see whatever game is on, but often I just leave the audio be and happily work while listening to these technical strangers with whom I have developed some form of parasocial relationship. It’s very comforting.

Currently Playing: Lisa Bella Donna – “Destinations”

Currently Reading: FROM HELL, Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell