The Meerkat Muse: 4th of June, 2025
Ahoy there my good friends, and welcome back to the Meerkat Muse! Let’s hit the ground running shall we?
A Manic End to May
A lot happens at the end of May in my house. My daughter’s birthday is the biggest event, and involves at least one trip. Last year we had two theatre trips, either side of a comic con (and I came down with an horrendous cold). This time there were no theatre trips, but there was a lot planned, starting with Comic Con at the ExCel Centre in London.
This was an exhausting day. It was so knackering that I felt utterly drained throughout the following Sunday, and unfortunately for me I still had to contend with work! Still, it was a productive day at work, but less on that, more on the Comic Con!
For this, I dressed up as Scrooge McDuck, and on the Saturday at least, I appeared to be the only Scrooge in attendance. You might wonder why I chose Scrooge, and that’s easy: David Tennant voiced the richest duck in the world in the 2017 DuckTales reboot, doing an amazing job. He happened to be at the con, and I was fortunate enough to get my photo with him, alongside my wife and daughter. I also got to exchange a few words when my wife got his autograph.
He wasn’t the only celebrity photo we managed to get. Patton Oswalt, famed for a number of roles, was attending the con, and he happened to voice the delightful Remy in Ratatouille, one of my daughter’s favourite films. All in all, it was quite the experience, though as I said, it was very tiring. There’s a lot of walking about, a lot of queuing, and a lot of people jostling and bustling you around. I am no great lover of this, and my daughter certainly isn’t. Matters weren’t helped by arriving home very late, we got back in at around 9.15, having left the house at around 9 in the morning. 12-hour days are not my thing!
The Final Reckoning
On Bank Holiday Monday, my wife daughter and I ventured to the cinema, to take in what is quite possibly Tom Cruise’s final time playing Ethan Hunt, the leader of the Impossible Mission Force. A direct sequel to 2023’s Dead Reckoning, The Final Reckoning has a lot of nostalgia, leaning heavily into events from prior films, and also features some absolutely insane stunts. There’s a crazy underwater sequence, and the plane stunts are among some of the boldest, most crazy things I’ve ever seen Tom Cruise do on screen.
Was it a good film? Yes. I don’t know if I’d call it the best in the franchise, but it was certainly an epic send-off for these characters.
Not so Sunny Southend
My daughter had a wish to go to Southend for her birthday, and spend some time in the arcades. She likes the coin machines, so we sunk several dozen 2p coins into some of those, and we also visited Southend’s fairly big Waterstones bookshop, where she picked up some more books. We had chip-shop chips, and then seaside donuts. It was exactly what she wanted, and I think she enjoyed herself. There were presents too, and cupcakes (my daughter tends to eschew regular birthday cake, in favour of alternatives). It was a relatively quiet day, which suited her, and I dare say it suited me too.
Tiberius Boy
My interview with the one and only Tiberius Boy is now up on YouTube! Please check it out!
Aliens!
My dreams continue to take me to unusual places. One of my latest nocturnal adventures invoked the alien abduction narrative, only I was investigating an abduction, interviewing the alleged abductee, and sort of reliving their experience with them. The dream involved some stereotypical moments, including a secluded cabin in the woods. It wasn’t eerie, not like similar dreams I’ve had, but there was a deep sense of intrigue and mystery. The abductee was being held in some kind of government facility, possibly because people assumed he was mad, or maybe because of a cover-up, but I was still able to interview him.
This is far from the only peculiar dream I’ve had of late. The strangest, and perhaps most disturbing one, was about a family trip to Japan, which ended up involving a disaster. I also dreamt I was working at an old job, dealing with difficult customers. Those dreams are never fun!
A Joint Venture
My brother-in-law and I are working on a story. It’s early days, but he is quite prolific, and I am struggling to keep up! Our intention to seek out a publisher, and I’ll offer first dibs to my own. I can’t give much away, not yet, but a collaboration is quite exciting!
Changes
There’s been something of a shift at work recently, owing to the visit of a regional support manager, who so happens to be a manager of another store, but with some additional powers and responsibilities. He’s made some good suggestions, albeit some of it felt a little nitpicky. We are constrained by a serious lack of space in our showroom, and now it seems that the staff area might have to absorb some overspill.
In fairness, the store needed a boot up the backside. Some of the space was not being utilised correctly, and there’s a lot of blame for this. I also found some of the conversations to be rather… let’s say ironic in nature. Yes, I can step up more in my role, but so can other people, and there’s an element of people not always practicing what they preach which irks me.
I know that the changes the RSM has delivered have also irritated others. These changes are ultimately necessary, and will help to maintain store standards, so it will be a case of adapting.
June
As we move into June, the weather has remained sunny, and quite warm, albeit we have not yet hit the heights of summer. The pleasantries are said to come to an end soon, with rain on the way. In some respects this is not a disaster, though it has to coincide with the kids returning to school after half-term. June also brings anticipation, albeit anticipation tempered by reality. The Switch 2 is out tomorrow, and this ‘kat is very keen to get his grubby paws on one, but it’s a question of A: cost (manageable via the slippery slope of buy now pay later), and B: availability. Who is likely to have stock on day one?!
I shall leave you on that cliffhanger. Will I manage to get a Switch 2 tomorrow? Will I have to wait? I don’t doubt that if I get one, I will be posting about it in fairly short order! Take care all you freaky ‘kats!
