hooligan gnomes

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Police believe the heavily bearded soft toys are being left not as thoughtful if out of season gifts but by burglars who are trying to test whether homes are empty.

If the gnome is not moved, burglars work on the basis that the householder is probably not around and their home is a decent target.

The gnomes began appearing on 1 September when two men said to be carrying Royal Mail-style bags were spotted in Broughton, Flintshire. They were reportedly looking at properties and placing items into residents’ gardens, including gnomes. The sightings were flagged up on the north Wales community alert page.

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH (Joel Coen, 2021)

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(Written and directed by Joel Coen from the play by William Shakespeare; starring Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Bertie Carvel, Alex Hassell, Corey Hawkins, Harry Melling, Brendan Gleeson, and Kathryn Hunter. Released 25 December 2021; watched 2023w36 via AppleTV+

Beautifully stark and minimalist, Coen's MACBETH feels like how I see many of the stories in my head: its influences – particularly Dreyer's PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC and Bergman's SEVENTH SEAL – fit like a tailored suit in the hands of a solo Joel. Denzel is, unsurprisingly, electrifying; Frances McDormand, similarly, perfection. Special props to Kathryn Hunter whose prophetic contortions injected just the right amount of the deliciously weird and strange into this ageless yarn. Mesmerizing.

DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M HERE? – Emeralds

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Washes over and propels forward, an aural whiplash of the best kind. Broad generalization (that only scratches the surface): what I imagine a collaboration between Steve Reich, Daft Punk, and The Cure might sound like.

staticy white screen, blue flowers, against black

accept / embrace

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Working still to accept that I won't have a "career" (whatever that looks like these days) as a writer and to fully embrace that I'll forever be underground, a blend of writing, pulps, underground comix, and cassette-trading electronica. Want to be the Jiro-restaurant, the little sushi stand in a subway station that strives only for perfection, knowing full well it can never be attained.

While there are mainstream things I’d like to accomplish – have to believe that I've got a Batman run in me somewhere, if only to satisfy the kid that hungers for it inside – I'm trying to be good with where I am and what I'm doing.