The John Robins Vibemail - Issue #8
Hello to all and sundry! Come to think of it, spare a thought for poor old Sundry, never quite part of the gang, always hearing about the party you all went to, anxious about the fact he's not in any Whatsapp groups!
Speaking of which, I hope Wordle hasn't come to completely dominate your life. I'm frustratingly bad at it, I always get the word, but just can't manage those incredible two-guess solutions that my pals are able to land with remarkable frequency. I guess I have to concede that Wordle doesn't reward the well ordered mind, and will only deliver it's inner beauty to those who approach it in a vibe-based mindset. Not for the first time in my life, my spreadsheets have come to nothing. 26kb files created to shore up against my ruin, like digital sandcastles wrecked by the almighty tide. Ah well...
Were Elis here he'd now say "everything OK at home John?", I would say "No!" and we'd have a jolly good laugh before I asked him to plug coverage of the Winter Olympics in the style of a Brummie architect or some such.
To business!
Members Present
The Right Reverend Captain Sir Lord Johnny "Juliet Romeo" JR MPhil
Love of Content / Content of Love
I love content. I love Elis. And, dear reader, we love you. Awful lot of love knocking around whichever way you slice it. And so we thought we would get together for one last ride on the light fantastic before the streamed show format retreats into obsolescence in the face of things like summer and music festivals and groups of friends sitting under fairy lights in a harbour or whatever complete fiction you see on adverts for mobile phones / cider / life insurance THESE DAYS!
We're going to be joined by the fantastic Nina Conti, Alison Spittle and The Sinnerman himself Paul Sinha! There will be tales of dating disasters, poetry and even a love quiz! I love to quiz!
We took the bold decision to stream the show on actual Valentine's Day evening because Elis has a strict 'no snogging after 5pm' policy in his house and I am at a loose end on Valentine's Day until c.2058 when I intend to die a heroic death saving a cargo ship of Guinness from certain destruction. I think, perhaps, we overestimated the extent to which the general P shared our cynicism / apathy about the day itself and it turns out people do still genuinely have other plans for that evening, even in these uncertain times. So we welcome all who share our VD loose ends (not an ideal turn of phrase), but also if you're loved up and enjoying a romantic 241 offer on steak at your local Harvester fear ye not! It will be available to watch on demand for 72 hours after broadcast. Tickets are available here and as ever £1 per ticket will be shared between Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse and DR MZ.
Bespoke Love Content
If you want to share a message of love with a friend / partner / trusted accountant / local councillor on Valentine's Day, and just can't find the words to describe what their friendship / physical closeness / benefit in kind guidance / approach to anti social behaviour means to you, then why not enlist the help of one of the UK's most romantic lounge-based content providers and book a cameo from Juliet AND Romeo AKA JR.
Follow this link cameo.com/JohnRobins to find out what none of the fuss is about. I'm not available on the app however, as Apple's unceasing quest to monetise absolutely everything in life means it costs 25% more to book on the app.
How Do You Cope Series 3
A new series of How Do You Cope? With Elis and John will be coming very soon. I'm not sure if that is in the public domain or not so apologies to THE MAN if that's an exclusive bit of NDA betrayal or apologies TO YOU if you already knew that. I think the first episode lands at the start of March and it has been an incredibly rewarding and humbling series of interviews to record.
#TimeToTalk
I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who messaged me after the insta story I posted for MIND. I had not expected so many kind and moving responses and they really did affect me greatly. You can check it out on the highlights selection of my instagram page under the title #TimeToTalk. I'm also aware that the format does not really give space (nor would it have been appropriate) to engage with conflicting opinions about the broader mental health 'conversation' on social media. I do hope that the longer format of How Do You Cope? has covered some very legitimate concerns about this, and I would highly recommend Hannah Jane Parkinson's superb article 'It's Nothing Like A Broken Leg' And whilst recommending it I would also advise you that it comes with a trigger warning for discussion of self-harm and suicide. Apologies for the dramatic shift in tone there, but highlighting trigger warnings in a jaunty way is, I'm afraid, beyond my comedic ability at time of going to press!
Edinburgh
Hold on to your Ds! I'm going to be performing at The Edinburgh Fringe this August. Details are patchy but I can confirm that the show will be very much a work in progress, the room will be small, it won't be every day, it will be for the whole month, it will be finished in time to get to the pub and some of the material will be quite poor (if bolstered by some pretty impressive emergency crowd work). I'm hoping to sell tickets without inordinately expensive advertising, ideally replacing the usual budget of thousands of pounds for three posters and an ad in the brochure with two, or ideally one tweet. However, before anyone else has wind of it you will find out via this email list! Hurrah! (You may now release your Ds)
Any Other Business
Life rumbles on, I'm very much enjoying the new Trevor Sensor albums 'On Account Of Exile Vols 1&2'.
The Lovely Robin has released all the music he's made for The Moon Under Water podcast on his bandcamp page. He's a talented old goose so do check it out, and why not give his back catalogue a download. His music has, in many ways, been the soundtrack to the last twenty years of my life!
My transition into golfing beefcake can be tracked in my monthly column for Today's Golfer, a slightly different warning for these articles, they really are just about golf, and if you have no interest in golf they have very little to offer you, save a picture of me in a different top. But at the moment golf really is my hinterland, and as close a thing to meditation that I have been able to discover. So forgive me if I'm always wanging on about it.
Finally, this newsletter has increasingly been sent to people's SPAM folder, due to some unruly behaviour from some of Revue's other users. Whilst a superb platform, if they are unable to solve this problem the next Vibemail may well come from a different source. So do let anyone you know who signed up to CTS (Check Their Spam) and don't be surprised if the next update has a different font. Isn't life annoying?!
Love you all! THE PHEASANT HAS JUST ARRIVED IN MY GARDEN FOR HIS DINNER! ISN'T LIFE BEAUTIFUL?!