#007 An inaccurate representation of my life

Free mini-comic, I went to a gig, Two-peeler household?

Hello Diagram Club.

This week’s newsletter is intended to give an entirely inaccurate representation of my life, suggesting that I mainly spend my time at festivals, giving talks, and going to gigs. In actual fact my time is largely spent looking out of the window at things and giving the cat her fourth breakfast.

Cycling cartoon of the week

Last weekend I was at Greenbelt Festival, as I may have mentioned multiple times. My contribution was doing a brief talk as part of a panel, titled ‘Tread Lightly - Campaign’, talking about cycle campaigning. Diagram Club Paid members can read more about what I said (below, at the end of this email), but for everyone: I made a comic about cycle campaigning (How to be a cycle campaigner - above), which is free to download and print off in a foldable version.

You’ll find the pdf you can print, a larger version of the images, and inadequate folding instructions here: How to be a cycle campaigner. Info about the other (brilliant) participants in the panel can be found here. As I say, it’s free to download, print and struggle-to-fold, but if you find yourself making significant or regular use of my work then might I ask you to consider becoming a Diagram Club Paid subscriber (talk to a steward or click a button). Thank you!

Talking at Greenbelt 2024. That’s Wes, who organised us, on the left, Sarah, and Josh, drinking a can of water (no really). Venue is Hothouse, dedicated to climate-related topics.

Admin announcements / Matters arising

Thanks for your patience over the summer with slight newsletter-timing irregularities.

And hello to new subscribers, including many of you who may only, I think, have seen my Possible causes of your problems drawing. Welcome! There will be more cartoons on similar important topics, I promise. But in this newsletter we do also indulge in a certain amount of what can only really be described as, well, nonsense. I hope you enjoy being part of the mixture.

Please write in with letters I can reply to in the newsletter. I had some (genuinely) lovely responses to email #006 about the differences between a stoat and a weasel, but there’s only so long that that debate can rumble on.

In my shop there’s free UK postage this weekend - Saturday and Sunday. So a handy time to pick up, for instance, a cycling greetings card, which become rather more reasonable in small numbers (one, for instance) when you don’t have to pay postage. There’s also t-shirts, tote bags, mugs and more, for now using drawings from the cycling side of work. You’ll find the shop here.

Annotated photograph of the week

It’s a Greenbelt festival picture, or rather three. It might be too small to read - in which case apologies (please tell me if so). As I’ve said before - I love this festival, and these three annotated pictures are an attempt to communicate this. It should be added, in case there are misconceptions about my rock and/or roll festival lifestyle: This year, owing to reasons that aren’t that interesting to explain, we stayed in the Premier Inn.

Household problem of the week

A bonus annotated photo, for any sceptics who contemplate the possibility that Household Problems might in any way be a work of fiction.

Studio Playlist update

My regular feature, where I share a few tunes that are playing in my ‘studio’ and / or bluetooth speaker I carry around the house while I do the laundry, on this playlist. Standard disclaimers: I can’t imagine that you’ll like my music choices, so feel free to skip this / Please support artists by buying music, etc.

I went to see Phosphorescent, aka singer-songwriter Matthew Houck plus band at Koko in Camden this week. It’s hard to describe the music style: Americana comes closest perhaps, though it could be rock or country or folk. Sad songs with a slide guitar. It was exceptional, and nothing I can add to my studio playlist will communicate the live experience, but I’ll try. So yes, three songs from the same artist this week:

Phosphorescent - New birth in New England. Live audience favourite. It’s largely about sitting in a bar in New England and contemplating ordering an additional beverage, I think.

Phosphorescent - Revelator. Title tune from latest album. If this isn’t my most-played song of ‘24 so far I will be… surprised. A sad song, for sure. Quote: “I just have to keep trusting in the way I've always loved sad songs – they somehow flip from sadness into a thing of power and beauty and grace.”

Phosphorescent - This Land Is Your Land. Not one from the gig, but I absolutely love this cover of the Woody Guthrie protest song. To quote Matthew, again:

“I only know that it speaks to that looming thing that has stayed near me my whole life; That thing that wants nothing to do with fear or selfishness or pettiness or greed; That thing which blindly and stubbornly persists in believing in the sweetness of this world.”

These three added to the playlist, here. (Tracks I nearly included that were amazing on Tuesday, but didn’t: Down to go / C’est la vie / Any old miracle).

Colour of the week (unashamed filler)
Koko red

Remarkable music venue. Hadn’t been before. Don’t know whether it’s actually this colour or just a clever thing they do involving lights.

OK, that’s more or less it, for now. Content continues for Diagram Club Paid members below. If you’ve enjoyed this issue of Diagram Club, this button may well allow you to share. Thank you!

See you next week, in this very inbox, for issue #008.

Dave
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