Sunday life, the good life

The Looby List: Robots, a fun looking video game, font designing, lego, colourful clothing designers, the healthy benefits of birdsong and ice cream!

Hello,

How was your week? Our week has been a good combination of busy and quiet. I finished the first instalment of my new autobiographical (kinda) comic, last weekend we had friends over to eat hotdogs and ice cream (see below), and we went to an art reception/fundraiser, where I bought the sweetest little pot made by my super talented friend Julie. One extra exciting event has been the arrival of our new resident robot. Phil is working on programming the interface of a robot designed to eradicate airborne pathogens. He likes to refer to it as the killer robot, which I guess it is if you happen to be covid. We just have the 2-foot insides of the little guy with us, sitting in the corner of the kitchen, not the entire 6-foot phallic creature on wheels. But it still seems to have a face and makes a pleasant whirring sound as the fan cools it down. 

On the theme of robots, have you seen Brian and Charles yet? It’s got some good laughs. 

Here’s the rest of this week’s list:

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Anticipating

Oooh, I like the look of the trailer, and the description of the gameplay sounds promising. I hope it’s all that. Now in development for the PS5 & PS4, from the people who made Night in the Woods, creators The Glory Society and Finji. 

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Font Designing

I have been having a crack at designing some fonts based on my handwriting. I have created:

I use Calligraphr, and for a little while became quite obsessed with printing off templates, carefully hand lettering fonts in ink, scanning them and tweaking them until they sit more or less comfortably with the letters around them. My goal is to create my own font for my comics, and this is a first pass: 

The main font is actually one where I traced my handwriting in Illustrator, which I think reduces a lot of character, so I’m not yet happy and will continue to work on it. I’m dreaming of something warm and friendly, rounded but compact (gotta fit all those words in those little bubbles), and easy to read (obviously). I see that there is a new book out called Blaze Type: How to design fonts? which might have some valuable tips. 

“Whether experienced or beginner: learn everything you need to know to design fonts from A to Z. From sketching to design and production, you’ll master all the skills to become a professional font designer.”

I don’t quite understand why the title has a question mark. Is it how to design fonts? Or is it not?

Eventually, I might throw my hands up in frustration and commission a font from John Martz, which is kind of the dream.

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Making

In Dwell: Adult Fandoms Are Driving the Lego Market to New Heights, “The decades-old toy for kids is building on its longtime popularity with increasingly elevated sets designed specifically for AFOLs (short for ‘Adult Fans of Lego’).”

I consulted a Lego expert, and here is their list of the best sets for adults:

(L to R) Winnie the Pooh, Tales of the Space Age and Wildflower Bouquet
(thanks, CR)

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Dressing

Designers encouraging colour and boldness and absolute fun:

1. Eliza Faulkner Montréal

2. Molly Goddard London

3. Nooworks LA, SF

4. Ace & Jig Brooklyn, Portland

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Platonic Viewing

I checked out Platonic (Apple TV+) because I love both Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen, I love buddy comedies, and I needed something to incentivize me to get on the treadmill for 31 minutes. Some of the jokes wander around a bit, but it's still very watchable.

I rewatched Pride and Prejudice (2005) the other night. Fans of Tom Wambsgams from Succession might want to dip into this again, as Matthew Macfadyen really is a next-level Darcy. Sorry Colin, sorry loyal Colin-lovers. But! Now watching this again in 2023, and in another part of the world, I discovered that there is an entirely different ending. I was not prepared for the mushy, sexy(ish) final minutes that add an extra obvious "Oh, so they do kiss!" to the film. It left me thinking, "Well, that didn't seem necessary, why can't I remember that bit?"… and the answer is that I have never seen it before. For the first time, I witnessed the ending that had been specially added for North American audiences.

From Film Stories: "In the backlash that ensued, some bloggers picked up on the Sixteen Candles element, but it was former Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) president Elsa Solender whose comments stuck out. She said of the new ending: "It has nothing at all of Jane Austen in it, is inconsistent with the first two-thirds of the film, insults the audience with its banality and ought to be cut before release." - and in some regions it was.

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Listening

Juliana Hatfield is releasing an album of ELO covers in November, and her first single, Don’t Bring Me Down, is a sweet little summery cover. It’s a little restrained, but If it does nothing else, it will remind you that this song is pretty fun. 

Bird song… that’s right. It’s been warm enough to open our window at night and now, after a sleepless night, when the birds begin to sing around 4.30 or so, I can often fall asleep for a blissful couple of hours. Apparently, listening to birdsong has a direct impact on mental health and well-being. Listening to just 6 minutes of audio clips of birdsong can reduce feelings of anxiety, depression and paranoia in healthy participants. Here’s a very calming playlist.

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Crone Cooking: Ice cream

In an effort to cook 52 essential recipes by the time I turn 52 (March 2024), I have started a little list, and this week was dish number nine: Ice cream!

Well, my friends, this week I made a very healthy food - according to this article (which I can’t read due to the paywall in the Atlantic). Some scientists are claiming that eating ice cream is good for us (maybe?). Huzzah! Just ignore all the counterclaims with ideas like “people eat ice cream to cool down after they have finished exercising,” which sounds like a stretch. Embrace the research and get out the heavy cream and the eggs!

I used the New York Times instructions for making ice cream (ingredients above), following along with this video…

The smell of real vanilla that filled the house while I made the custard base for the ice cream was incredible. Making ice cream was a little fussy, but worth it. Thick, rich, and silky smooth, it was delicious. I recommend trying this out - the only mildly annoying thing is that it calls for an ice cream churning device of some description. I have the attachment for the kitchen aid, which worked okay(ish) though it started to jump around when the freezing mixture started to get thick. We served it with chocolate cake, and it was perfect. I will make this again, but next time I will whizz up a cup of mint leaves with the sugar and then add chocolate shavings as it churns. I have had the ice cream making attachment for years and never used it, thinking it would be incredibly persnickety and arduous. But it was super fun and enormously satisfying.

Next time it’s Cinnamon Rolls!

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Thanks for reading again this week. Please forward this to anyone you think might be interested and consider upgrading your subscription if you want to receive some extra content on Wednesdays (including the rad new webcomic, Welcome to Standalone).

xo,

Claire