My dog, Blossom, does not play well with other dogs. She’s too excitable, and I can’t rust that she’ll fly off the handle around another dog. But there is a husky on our daily walk, which she is pretty friendly with. Tonight was the longest they’ve spent in each other’s presence: three minutes. There was lots of nuzzling and licking of fur. The fence helps keep Blossom calm.
🎧 Winding down your Sunday evening? May I suggest today’s SOUNDWAVE mix by Michał Milczarek? It’s a blend of ambient, trip hop, chillout and downtempo with music from Envee, IDRA, KMRU, meeting by chance, Julianna Barwick, Palette, and Thom Yorke.
Listen http://josephaleo.com/blog/soundwave-54-michal-milczarek/
Watching baby shark videos with the grandkid.
Peter van Cooten, founder of Ambientblog, is this week’s guest deejay on Soundwave. It’s more of a collage of sounds than a mix. Music by Biosphere, Lustmord, William Basinski and more. Enjoy! http://josephaleo.com/blog/soundwave-53-ambientblog/
I went to an on-site meeting today and it was the first time I’ve seen some of my teammates in over a year.
Last weekend I received my first vaccination shot.
I hadn’t had much luck getting an appointment. I seemed to miss every window. Not that I was anxious about it because I knew I’d get vaccinated eventually. Still, sooner would be better than later.
Saturday, I was out shopping for groceries. It was a little alarming because a guy was constantly coughing who always ended up in the same aisle as me. In the last, I don’t think it would have pinged my radar, but in a pandemic, it was a bit concerning.
While I was in line at the deli, my phone rang. It was a call from a pharmacy I had signed up for to be on their vaccination waitlist a few weeks earlier. They had some extra doses, and if I could make it to their pharmacy before closing, I could get my first shot. Could I make it? Most definitely.
I rushed to the register to be rung up. The woman at the register stopped and held up my cilantro and asked if it was regular cilantro or organic. I told her I had a vaccination appointment to get to and to charge whatever she wanted.
I got the hell out of the supermarket and made it to the Mercy Plaza Pharmacy. After filling out some paperwork, I got my shot. Didn’t feel a thing.
While I was waiting out my mandatory 15 minutes to see if there were any ill effects, the owner came by to check up on me. Hell of a nice guy. Turns out his pharmacy is independent and family-owned. He was proud of his teenage son for volunteering at the pharmacy during the pandemic. I was proud, too.
I had such a great time talking to the guy that weird as it may sound; I can’t wait for my next shot.
While I’m sad that Twitter shuttered Periscope, I have to admit I rarely watched it myself. It seemed like most people were posting videos of themselves smoking joints. I never understood the appeal of those videos. It’s like watching paint dry. Anyway, I guess I’ll be using Instagram Live until a decent replacement comes around.
Townes won. As usual.
I’ve been using Huffduffer to create my personalized podcast feed. It shines when you grab audio from YouTube videos. I’m currently listening to lectures by Mark Fisher, Eugene Thacker and interviews and short stories by Richard Gavin. Feel free to listen or share your feed.
Townes and Marci.
I’m so happy this podcast is live again even as I am saddened that John Bierly is no longer the co-host. RIP.
“Natural Consequences” — Swamp Things Podcast https://overcast.fm/+Rdntj9kQE
Cute little water tower.
Easter goofin’.
Sac graffiti.
Doctor Doom!
Sagat!
Vaccine shot, part 1.
I broke down and got a subscription to Paramount+ (enough with the pluses. Plusi?) to watch Star Trek: Discovery, Picard and Lower Decks. The first episode of season two of Discovery was great. But those flight suits, tho.
I grew up reading a lot of comic books drawn by Gene Colan. Gene drew everything from Batman, Detective Comics to Howard the Duck, but I think he shined in horror comic books like The Tomb of Dracula and Night Force. Gene had a distinct style that was sensuous. His artwork encapsulated Romantic paintings and pulp magazine covers.
Gene’s been on my mind a lot because I picked up his run on Night Force on ComiXology earlier this week. I loved the series, but I don’t think it was Gene’s best work. I don’t know if Gene was rushing to make deadlines or if the inkers couldn’t adequately convey Gene’s drawings or if there was some other reason, but Gene’s work seemed rushed and a little shoddy.
This post’s inspiration is Gene’s drawing of Merlin, a leopard that is a companion to the series main character, Baron Winter. One panel in particular. Take a look at the lower left-hand of the frame. When I saw it, I couldn’t believe my eyes; it looked like something I would have drawn when I was six-years-old. I flipped through the pages to see how he drew Merlin in the rest of the issue. Surely it was a slip-up. But no, in every panel, Merlin is either passably drawn or outright terrible. What the hell?
I hope I’m not dissuading you from reading Night Force because it’s otherwise excellent. And I still consider Gene a master at his craft but man, that leopard!
I’d like Kevin Michael Richardson to be the new voice of Siri. Him, and Elizabeth Peña (RIP).
