A Christmas Folly

I am keeping this post short and sweet. First of all, Merry Christmas to all that visit this blog, regularly or irregularly, with many thanks for your patronage as well as sincerest wishes for the coming New Year from everyone in Folly Ground. Let’s hope that 2021 brings some relief and optimism back after what has been a pretty abominable year all round.

Secondly, I hope some of you have managed to get a glimpse of the once-in-a-lifetime astronomical treat that is the Great Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the skies above. It has apparently been visible since last Saturday the 19th, and will be continue to be until Wednesday the 23rd, weather permitting. The planets are at their closest approach to each other tonight as I write these lines. If not, try to catch a live stream of the event online; there seem to be plenty of those on YouTube at the moment.

Finally, this post, just as the last one, comes with a bit of music: The Sundays’ terrific ‘Here’s where the story ends’. Perhaps not the most relevant or Christmasy track for this post, but some of the lyrics sure do resonate with our collective present circumstances.

So, Merry Christmas wherever you are and however you may be!

Delaying tactics

Procrastination: the invisible and soul-destroying force that prevents Paul on doing what he’s supposed to do, namely his school work. He knows he has left everything too late, spent too much time doing other, more pleasurable things*, and now it’s all catching up with him; the sudden realisation that he has much ground to cover, and the very real possibility that he may fail to do everything he needs to on time. Consequently, he now feels as if he’s the only person in the entire universe suffering from this shameful affliction.

I tried to find pertinent songs about procrastination to go with this post, but surprisingly it appears that this ubiquitous condition is not a subject much expounded on by musicians, at least not in my record collection. In the end, I chose the Dream Syndicate’s ‘Tell me when it’s over’ as the chorus of the song could plausibly describe the way Paul feels at this moment in time.

* See ‘Phantom flight’, ‘A gallery of phantoms’ and ‘Epistolary’ posts below.

Sleepless

Alas, Luci’s laborious and occasionally desperate efforts to get a good night’s sleep continue. A gently humorous take on a decidedly unhumorous subject, as anyone who has gone through something like Luci’s predicament will attest to.

Lunch break

Incidental material from Raf and Luci’s lunch break. The aim this time was to try a different format (tabloid size) and layout, and see how the sequence of images works out. I also wanted to try and create a small cityscape out of found images and graphics in order to establish a sense of place. It has taken me a long time to reach a satisfactory result, and there’s still lots to improve on. But it’s a start.

P.S. Note that ‘Nebular’ is being advertised at the Luncheonette (opening panel). For more information on ‘Nebular’, see my post of 19 August below.

Armies of the Astral Plane

The panels below are work in progress for the second issue of Folly Gound, which is slowly taking shape. The setting is the ‘Vinyl Frontier’, the most contemptuous record shop in Folly Ground, and Flo’s workplace. The staff there have very definite opinions as to what constitutes good music and what doesn’t. This latest vignette is such an example, and involves Flo, Luci, and Luci’s friend Johnny Pyro, singer and guitarist with the band ‘Armies of the Astral Plane’.

The Armies of the Astral Plane are one of Folly Ground’s favourite bands. They made an appearance in the first issue: a full-page advert for their single ‘Subtle Doctrine’ was featured (see below). Also, a press release from the Diocese of the Doom & Gloom Faith announced them as the house band at the ‘And the end shall come’ theological conference, organised by the Holy Moses Institute for Disenfranchised and Dislocated Priesthood (HMIDDP). The press release also included a quotation from Johnny.

Advert for the single ‘Subtle Doctrine’ by the Armies of the Astral Plane. Folly Ground #1, April 2020.

Advert for the single ‘Subtle Doctrine’ by the Armies of the Astral Plane. Folly Ground #1, April 2020.

The Armies of the Astral Plane have a heavy psychedelic sound accompanied by rather esoteric lyrics, which are very thoughtfully written by Johnny. Luci and Raf are friends as well as huge fans of the band, something that really annoys Flo; he much prefers the Carthagenean Eunuchs who have a very, very different sound (and who were also prominent in the first issue). But that’s a subject for another post.

If you want to be reminded of Folly Ground’s musical ‘rivalries’, you can still leaf through the first issue. Just hit ‘Home’ in the menu above.

Also, if you care to comment, the comments section below is open for the next few days. It’s always helpful, and much appreciated, to get personal impressions from time to time. Or you can just say hello! Alternatively, if you know of anyone who you think may enjoy the world of Folly Ground, please feel free to spread the word, or use the ‘share’ button below to do so. Word-of-mouth is always the best recommendation, and I am very grateful for every visitor who takes an interest in this blog in these especially bleak times.

Radio life

The three panels below came about rather serendipitously. For what seemed like the longest time, I had no idea of what to draw. A few things popped into my head, but nothing really enthused me much. On a whim, I started listening to my old Psychedelic Furs records as they vaguely seemed to go well with the coming autumn ambience; upbeat but not happy. I was pondering whether their songs have aged well (I think they have even though they sound of their time) when I started thinking about obsolete sound technologies — a topic particularly fascinating to me as a member of a generation which migrated from the analogue and the digital in their teens and twenties. From there, I eventually got to thinking about radios, specifically transistor radios. Then finally, I made the mental leap to the popular Top10/Top20, etc., radio shows that I used to listen to as a kid on a weekly basis without fail. In fact, I think I still have some tapes I had made of them packed away somewhere. However, I was never very fond of most radio DJs and their incessant chattering, especially when it extended over the beginning of songs. So, without further ado, this week’s post is for those who, like me, used to listen religiously to the various chart countdown shows on the (analogue) radio way, way back in markedly different decades. And for those who (still) enjoy the Psychedelic Furs!