January 2024

Excavation 1: Port Salut / we sell it

Drink wine when you don’t deserve it.

The first excavation really is some true archaeology. It’s an excerpt from Another Season in Hell that was published in PERVERSE – Issue 4A. This excerpt was published in August 2020 but, as can be seen in the excerpt itself, it dates back to at least ’24th May 2020, 20:48′. I was getting a lot of email updates from the Chief Executive of Sainbury’s at the time, which I felt was strange as I didn’t recall subscribing to a Sainsbury’s newsletter. I didn’t really shop very much at Sainsbury’s at the time either, and if I did, it was usually just a pre-work banana or a packet of crisps. The Sainsbury’s receipts absorb Sharpie pens really well and because I usually only bought one or two items at a time so the receipt would usually be quite square and that was pleasing. It was good for making mimih.

The marketing language of Sainsbury’s slogans has certainly crept into Another Season in Hell as well. ‘Making life taste better’ (1999-2005), ‘Try something new today’ (2005-2011) and the not-so-subtle nod to austerity in their latest ‘Live well for less’ (2011 – present) does not go unmissed.

So there you have it, a little history of the origins of Another Season in Hell – which before that was Another Year at Work – but I’ll get into that in another Excavation.