Status:
Went to the Stirchley ward council election hustings tonight which was… interesting, I guess? I think I have a clearer idea of who to vote for now, which is the point, but I also have thoughts. Will see how I feel tomorrow but a hustings report blog post might be forthcoming.
Reading:
- The Angine de Poitrine Argument for universal basic income — Starts with the usual UBI arguments but I was happy to see the importance of the environment these artists and scientists are immersed in. I had a period in my 30s of living on fuckall income with plenty of free time and it only worked when I had some kind of structure, mentorship or community around me. Similarly my art career in my 40s was productive when I felt supported by the Birmingham scene but less so when I felt adrift from it.
- Do stronger borders ever work? — What’s that rule that the answer to a question in a headline is always no? The author’s book, Along the Borders, looks interesting, travelling along the myriad borders of the British Isles. "Nationalities are often strongest on the border, where people define themselves in opposition to their neighbours. Flags fly, dialects become stronger, and the distance between ‘us’ and ‘them’ grows. But borderlands are also the spaces in between, where centuries of history and culture merge and collide to create complex and shifting identities."
- The Prepper Delusion 🪜 — “You might think that after all of this I’d have a go bag always ready. But I don’t. What I’ve learned, across every one of these close calls and near misses, is that what keeps us safe isn’t the stuff we pack or stockpile; it’s the community we build before calamity strikes."
- Adam Greenfield on rediscovering role-playing games — I love that he went to Orcs Nest in London, a shop I believe I was at the opening of in 1987 (with schoolmate Phil who got me into gaming while I got him into comics) and which I’m amazed is still there. My history with the form is similar to Adams, spending far too much on Warhammer miniatures (back when they were made of metal) and never really playing with them. It was a strange chapter, one I never really revisit, although it did give me my first contact with zines…
Wishlisting:
- This Year – 365 Songs Annotated by John Darnielle — Don’t need it, can’t afford it, but a 500+ page book by the Mountain Goats guy about the stories behind the Mountain Goats songs… yes please.
Reposting:
- Pete’s zine timeline — Recovered from the Bugpowder Zine Archive, a chronology of my teenage discovery of zines in the 80s and my involvement with them through the 90s before fading away in the 2000s. Was thinking about this after reading Adam’s piece above and wanted to bring it back as I’m quite pleased with it. May well flesh it out more over time.