Week 741 saw the writing calendar fill up a bit, with two gig reviews plus a handful of press screenings. It’s that time when the screenings bunch up a bit so the PR people can knock off early for Christmas, so there are a few January releases coming up shortly, it seems. (January releases for us, anyway; most of them seem to have come out in the States weeks ago.)
I spent an afternoon midweek reading What is Code?, Paul Ford’s magnificent long-form essay for Bloomberg Business Week (as blogged here previously). It was time well spent, reading Ford getting to grips with a complex subject as he wrote. I like that, a writer with knowledge and experience in the matter at hand but approaching it from the perspective, and understanding, of one on the surface above the mine, as it were.
Week 742 was divided between writing up my reviews of The Necks, that new Spielberg, Bridge of Spies, and the Johnny-Depp-starring Whitey Bulger saga Black Mass, and then three full days up to my eyes with subediting and page layouts and related stress and problem-solving before finally putting the penultimate issue of the year to bed on the Friday evening.
I was unwell for a couple of days during the week, so I had to bow out of reviewing the Chelsea Wolfe gig on the Wednesday night, but I did make it out on Saturday to see Over The Top Wrestling’s year-end show at the Tivoli, right around the corner from where we used to live, when we lived in the city centre.
Well actually, Bee and I saw 10 minutes of it before we had to skip out due to a sore back and upset insides on my part. It didn’t help that it was a standing show, either, amid a crowd of rowdy drunks. Ugh. Bad atmosphere for us. And as I said on Twitter, I’m done standing three hours for anything.
Anyway, I really can’t make any judgements on the quality of the event overall based on the opening match. But I’m going to another one in the new year — with a seated ticket — on the same weekend as the Insane Championship Wrestling stopover at the end of February, so I’ll be giving them another shot.
Week 473 was a mix of press screenings — three of them this week, including Victor Frankenstein — with paper production planning, some extra subediting work, and the usual first-week-of-the-month administrivia: getting paid, settling bills and so forth. Not to mention getting absolutely soaked in a downpour on Thursday afternoon. And having our bins stolen before collection night. (The company was nice enough to replace them on Friday, saving us from a rough fortnight.)
I was busy, but that also means I’ve managed to get caught up a bit so I can have most of this weekend free to switch off. There’s a pork shoulder roasting low in the oven for the rest of the day and the smell filling the house is making me drool already. Only a few more hours to go.