Sproing

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Hello from out here on the Thames Delta. I’m writing this early in the week, because on Saturday I’m off to London to see Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore. I write that in hope, because yesterday (Sunday) I lifted a bucket of soaked coir compost in what was apparently the wrong way, because something in my lower back went sproing and I am now barely mobile. And today, Monday morning, I woke up to discover some animal had overturned a huge 30 litre pot that I planted garlic in and tore off its chicken-wire covering, which makes me wonder if we secretly have bears out here.

…

“Secret Bears.” You can have that band name for free.

My garden supervisor remains unimpressed.

In this letter:

• space

• seeds

• new watch

• Deliberate Disconnection

• Graveyard Gallery

• Here Where We Live

THE WORLD SERVICE

SEEDS

I’ve moved something like 60 pages of material out of the office this week, including the outline and first draft of a new project I generated this week, PROJECT MACHU PICCHU. Not exactly back on track, and I probably could have done better if standing and sitting weren’t currently so uncomfortable, but I’ll take it.

Next week is personal projects - I need to advance PROJECT BORLEY and fully get into novelette PROJECT SODA SPRINGS, as well as develop some stuff intended specifically for this newsletter.

This is where we go back to the notebooks: all the ideas saved, the seeds of new things.

I may have bought too many seeds.

I hated watching the Artemis II launch. Those goddamn SRBs scare the hell out of me. Solid Rocket Boosters, once lit, cannot be unlit, and there are very limited options for throttling them. Generally speaking, once they’re ignited, they don’t stop burning until they’re out of fuel. The Artemis Space Launch System uses extended SRBs. And once the fireworks are touched off, that’s that. And if you were around for the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, you’re never going to smile when you see SRBs. One of the SRBs developed a fault immediately post-launch, the burn from which collapsed the external fuel tank it was strapped to - and remained lit. The collapse of the tank rotated the SRB and it tore Challenger apart. And the damned SRBs KEPT GOING and eventually had to be destroyed remotely.

So, yeah, Artemis II has been cool and all, but I was hoping NASA would have a classier way up than SRBs. 

At least the damned boat is crew-rated now - although crew-rating a vehicle by sending it on a transLunar injection was kind of batshit - and Artemis III is a low earth orbit mission to test docking systems. This whole new focus on the Moon seems to be all about establishing the foundation of what will doubtless be called Trump Moonbase by 2028. Presumably someone finally explained to the administration that there weren’t going to be boots on Mars by the end of the term. Aside from all the other concerns, nobody is currently in the position to loft the required crew vehicle for the trip - if the Mars boat isn’t the size of the ISS, people are going to go nuts during a journey that will be at least nine months each way, and if you’re not carrying enough materials to make a nine-month trip worthwhile, what would be the point beyond political scores anyway?

In any case, the internet would have gone all CAPRICORN ONE on it. Even Artemis II is now the subject of a blizzard of conspiracy theories. This sort of thing used to be the province of “ufologists” who were certain sure of the testimonies of people insisting they met Barack Obama on Mars bases. I mined out a bunch of that stuff for THE WILD STORM (UK) (US).

OPERATIONS

SPUTNIK 1957

Sputnik 1957 are a team of Ukrainian watchmakers who source old Soviet-era watches and restore and repurpose them. I’ve had my eye on them for a year or two, and when I got an unexpected large payment last month, I decided to keep a little bit back for myself and treat myself to the one I’d been coveting.

It showed up in around ten days, I suppose - which is pretty good considering it’s coming out of Kyiv.

In a nice box.

As you can see, there was some kind of fake radiation dosimeter complication built into this one, which dates from the 1970s and has been converted into a wristwatch from its original form as a pocket watch. It is a gorgeous, shining restoration job.

And it’s really pretty, as well as being unusual.

Manual wind, which I appreciate, and smooth as silk. Sits well on my wrist.

Their watches are generally a couple of hundred quid - not cheap, but not monstrous, either. And buying them supports Ukrainian workers, right?

Sputnik1957 - go and have a browse, they’re lovely things to look at.

ORBITAL

asylums

Kickstarter: REAL LIFE COMIX: ONLY IN NEW YORK, edited by Doug Latino and Dean Haspiel, 216 pages, includes Bob Fingerman, Drew Friedman, Peter Kuper, Ann Nocenti, Noah Van Sciver, Ron Wimberly, Jonathan Ames, Moby, JG Thirlwell, Carol Tyler and a whole bunch of others.

So nice to see Peter Kuper listed in there - I’m a great admirer of his graphic novel THE SYSTEM:

THE SYSTEM is a systems novel told without dialogue or captions, and it works brilliantly. Here’s a link to the book’s page. It’s one of those things I think every comics writer should read - which, given what I just said, probably sounds kind of perverse, but I have long believed that one of the chief skills of a comics writer is knowing when to shut the hell up and let the art carry the story.

Apparently Scritti Politti’s SONGS TO REMEMBER is being reissued, which gives me the excuse to run my favourite Scritti song, which is nobody else’s favourite Scritti song:

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Artist, writer and educator Rain DeGrey moved to the wilderness after a lifetime in California and this is the record of her discovery of the land and the seasons. This is her newsletter.

Todd Blackwood is the creator of NOSFERATU: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL. See more of his art on his IG.

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OPS

HERE WHERE WE LIVE

I’ve known Molly Crabapple for far too long. This is her best book. I believe it’s into its fourth printing already.

HERE WHERE WE LIVE IS OUR COUNTRY, Molly Crabapple (UK) (US)

This won’t be for everyone, but I saw Teresa Hackel play a few months ago, and I wanted to own something by her: Köln 60 is her and two other people improvising, and it is strange, spooky and unpredictable. You can stream it for free at that link.

I go to this local monthly event called Konsztrukting Soundz, which has exposed me to a lot of experimental sound making. I never know what I’m going to hear when I go, which I absolutely love. I go in without any expectations, and for three hours I am completely offline, open to everything, and have no idea what’s going to happen. That’s where I saw Teresa Hackel.

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How many watches do you own?

I mean, since I showed you my new watch:

And that’s me. More and bigger letter next week, but now it’s Saturday morning and I’m off to London. Do something you like. It’s good for you. See you next Sunday.

W