2025-07-14 16:19:11
Blessed with movie star good looks and cursed with a secret, newly-divorced mum Sonja has been coerced into smuggling cocaine into Iceland by a shady international cartel.
The reason for being caught in "the snare" isn't explored in detail, perhaps saved for one of the other books in the trilogy, so there's a nice sense of mystery as well as social commentary; you are only two bad choices away from becoming a drug mule, or something.
Sonja is smarter than your average mule though and part of the fun of this book is reading the elaborate methods she employs to smuggle the drugs into the country.
I called the twist two thirds of the way through but, to be honest, some of the clues were a bit obvious.
That said, I'll continue with the trilogy; I love Sigurðardóttir's writing style and the attention to detail. Plus the story is just getting going!
2025-07-13 18:13:46
Opened the week with a fair yen for cups of tea; not the usual chai latte, but "proper" tea. Yorkshire Tea, working-class-strong, splash of milk, and a sugar. Must have had five during the day. If I sleep tonight, I might keep it up!
Wore a funky shirt to work in the midst of the heatwave and got a surprising number of compliments!
Put together some slides at work and did it so well that, long story short, I now own that project. Remember, kids, the reward for good work is only more work and no good deed goes unpunished 😉
Every Friday, in our weekly team catch up, we take turns at running a quiz for a bit of the old organised fun and remote team bonding. This Friday was my turn. The 11th July has been "Mohito Day" since about 2017, apparently, so my questions were all about cocktails! The whole thing was well received by everyone. A delicious topic for a sweaty day at work 🍹
I've been enjoying watching the grass change over the last few months; buttercups, daisies, clover, and birdsfoot. Tiny splashes of colour through the green as each plant flowers.
Managed to carve out half and hour one lunch break to follow a YouTube yoga tutorial. I'm not yet honouring the curvature of [my] spine
but I enjoy both the stretching and the quietude. Namaste.
I am old enough to stop being afraid of many things. I will never stop being afraid of teenage girls.
Colin Walsh, "Kala (A Novel)"
2025-07-11 17:50:05
Have you heard Waitress? They're bonkers
. I love recommendations that come in like that! Imagine Harley Poe singing for Mindless Self Indulgence with Daisy Berkowitz from Marilyn Manson. That's "Merry Mephisto".
Opening with gorgeous 80s synths, "Fuck Me Eyes" by Ethel Cain evokes feelings of Starship and Kim Carnes, cigarette smoke and glitching super-8 footage of Golden Hour Americana. Cain has a old soul and an accomplished narrative style that makes for poignant observational lyrics. At a touch over six minutes, those lyrics — and the stories they tell — have room to breathe and grow instead of being rushed in a traditional three minute release. She is an exceptional artist and this new single continues to demonstrate that.
In Ethel Cain's "Similar Artists", I found Flower Face and I can see similarities. Flower Face comes across more bombastic but her breathy vocals are a fabulous counterpoint to the music that vacillates between melancholy folk and distorted grunge. I particularly enjoyed "Biblical Love". If you like that Rilo Kiley/Jenny Lewis sort of indie, give it a whirl!
I have to concentrate today so Bring Me The Horizon's new album is perfect background music — or is that muzak? Chillhop remixes of their top hits, this album will be my go-to when I'm reading documentation at work! Have a listen to "Kingslayer" for a good introduction to the idea. More bands should do this!
2025-07-11 04:57:53
Recently, former White Stripes frontman, Jack White became the “reluctant owner of a cellular telephone for first time”. Previously, Ed Sheeran admitted he "hasn’t owned a cell phone since 2015". See also Dolly Parton's claim to be a “low-tech girl in a high-tech world” and how she only communicates by fax (which I highly doubt!).
Sheeran and Parton both say the driving factor is the overwhelming immediacy of conversation that phones allow. White complains that people use phones for "shallow" reasons out of competition for attention.
In a world increasingly "digital" having a phone is bordering on a necessity. As White himself points out he "can’t listen to my music in my car, can’t park at a parking lot by myself because of QR codes, etc. etc.". Which means that someone else has been doing that for him.
Someone had been following this man around carrying a phone to do all of the digital tasks on his behalf.
Not everyone has that luxury! Of course Ed Sheeran doesn't need a phone — his entourage will manage a lot of the stuff we peons have to do ourselves like some kind of savage ape.
White's rejection of "phones" based on some people's toxic social media usage is little more than an immature knee-jerk reaction, throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
There's a selfishness and a snobbery inherent in these excuses that smacks of privilege. Three affluent white folks with the clout and the cash to choose to opt out.
2025-07-07 19:58:48
Conventional wisdom holds that five star reviews are fanatics, one star reviews are curmudgeons, and it's only useful to read the three star reviews for an accurate portrayal.
This is because when humans are driven to write reviews by extreme happiness or extreme anger, the results are usually less nuanced and emotional than calmer considered reviews.
I like one star reviews. Not only are they often hilarious, they're usually a pretty good barometer of whether I would like something.
I've read one star reviews of books because there's too much queerness, for movies because there's not enough action, and hotels because the staff don't speak English. Each and every one of these is a good thing in my opinion.
2025-07-06 19:58:09
I'm sitting in a wicker chair by the open back door listening to birds in the sweltering late evening, nursing a bottle of gradely warming lager, and reading a book. I feel like a teenager and, for the first time in a long time, I wish I had a cigarette.
I reached my 7th anniversary of working for Havas. This is the longest time I have ever worked for one company. The in-company career moves have kept it fresh as well as supporting different agencies and clients — I've had enough variety to not get bored!
There was a music festival on nearby called Hide and Seek. I checked out the lineup and hadn't heard of a single artist. Although, Dungeon Meat sounds like a band I very much should have heard of!
With the wind in the right direction, whenever there was a lull in the traffic noise, I could hear the faint but persistent uhn-tsch-uhn-tsch floating over from the festival ground. It reminded me of the raves that would happen on the field behind my parents' house growing up.
A big thanks to Ruben for mentioning me in his blog's birthday post. I echo his sentiment that [being included] is not something I’ve often experienced before, so it felt extra special to me.
I have not been back here for more than ten years. Facebook was how we kept in touch, for a while. Gradually the fake-casual online chats died down, and we politely liked one another’s photos
This illusion of communication. People have always relied on certain excuses to explain why they lose contact – lost addresses, incorrect phone numbers. The internet simply removes those old justifications
Colin Walsh, "Kala (A Novel)"