Tweet of the Week
Gets you right here, doesn’t it?
Do You Think You’ll Make It?
Fans of James Joyce will know all about Bloomsday on 16th June each year, and since 2022 marked the 100th anniversary of Ulysses’ publication, the commemorations in Melbourne got some coverage. Now I’d never read Ulysses, but people love this book, and I was aware that it’s quite the undertaking. Well the spokesperson for the local Joyce community mentioned in that interview that one way to tackle it is to read one chapter per year. So I’m giving it a crack – I’ve just completed chapter two – and my 9-year-old daughter asked me about this really big book I’m reading.
“It’s called Ulysses honey, and it’s 100 years old. I’m just reading one chapter each year.”
“OK. How many chapters are there, dad?”
“18 chapters.”
“OK. And how old are you, dad?”
“I’m 42 sweety.”
…
“Do you think you’re going to make it, dad?”
Ouch!
And the worst thing is, I’m not sure that I am.
Between you and me – just privately – it’s fucking rubbish.
The two chapters so far have been an absolute slog. There’s no discernible story, just an endless stream of literary references shoehorned into meaningless dialogue – it feels self-indulgent, disjointed and incredibly boring. I’ve spoken to a couple of people about it and the conversation always revolved around how far they got before they chucked it in the recycling; never about how much they enjoyed it.
So, a serious question for anyone out there who’s read Ulysses. Has anyone read this thing from start to finish? Does it get any better? Did anyone actually enjoy reading it? I’m very close to giving up on it already, just two chapters deep.
Shoutout of the Week: Seanzor Design
You will have seen his work adorning the Plastic Craic headlines, but our very own seanzor is a bit of a designer across the AoS community. He’s done logos and design work for quite a few companies, podcasts, clubs and groups including ITC 2022 Winning Club Tough Crowd, Party at the All Points podcast, AoS Coach YouTube channel, Serpent Studios NY, Heralds of War podcast / streams, Call to Glory tournament, Battle Foam and more. If you’re looking for a logo or design done, Sean comes highly regarded among the community. https://twitter.com/seanzor21
A Selection of Sean’s Work
What did the fish say when it swam into the wall?
Dam.
Patreon Articles
I just wanted to clarify the distinction between the articles here on the site, and the Patreon-only articles that we’ve started posting too.
We’re not moving behind a paywall: we’re smashing out more long-form articles than ever here on Plastic Craic, which are and will remain free to read. The Patreon posts are complementary to that and not replacing it: so far we’ve got some thoughts on One-Eyed Grunnock and what he brings to your lists, initial hot takes on the model reveals from last weekend and a poll on which article people wanted to see next. This is “as well as”, not “instead of”, so it’s never going to replace or limit the content we’re pumping out on the main site.
Coming up
We’ve got another full slate of content scheduled here on Plastic Craic:
- We go deep on the recent Regiments of Renown releases: Are they cool? Are they good? Where would you use them?
- Our boy Calvin Rarie just smashed out a strong 4-1 with his Khorne list, so he’s spilling the beans on his list and matches. Awesome write-up this one, so get around it.
- And how ‘bout them Realmlords? Dave Kerr took everyone to school at Australian Masters last week, so find out how he did it, how he approached his games and how he feels about Age of Sigmar right now. Dave is a legend and three-times Masters winner, so this is not to be missed.
We’ve just had an absolute banger of a week and next week is stacked too. So if you’re enjoying our articles, and you value what we’re doing, please consider joining our Patreon. The truth is that this kind of coverage does take a lot of time and money, and we do it because we love it, but I’ve been covering the running costs out of my own pocket for a couple of years now. So if you’re in a position to contribute we’d love to have your support – see you in the Dojo.
If you’d like to help us continue with our work, we’d love to have your support. We’re the Age of Sigmar specialists, publishing regular AOS articles, including Patron-only posts on that platform. Please click here to join us on Patreon.
Plastic Craic 
Reading Joyce isn’t the same as reading a standard novel. It is not read for entertainment or plot, and it isn’t a book for most people. You have to be passionately interested in literature to enjoy it, I think. Just like most people, myself included, would never enjoy attempting an ultra-marathon or listening to experimental avant-garde jazz, or other niche interests. Ulysses’ countless allusions and it’s openness to endless interpretation is an enjoyable challenge to some, myself included, but it is definitely not for everyone. I see it as a treasure hunt of cultural references, ideas, creative ways of utilizing language, etc.
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