Blog #33: The Larry Bird of Blog Posts or Goodbye Summer

Officially, the first day of Fall is September 22nd, but oh hell, the entire west coast is on fire, let’s just call the Summer over.

 So, with that out of the way, it’s time to look back on the halcyon days when we were just forced to quarantine without hazardous levels of smoke and ash stopping us from even stepping foot outside our doors.

Here’s my top ten list of things I liked over the Summer:

·         Favorite movie: The Old Guard. This may be a rehash from an earlier post of things I liked, but if there is one thing I am, it’s consistent. It’s a perfect action written by Portland’s own Greg Rucka, and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (For Love and Basketball). After Fury Road and Atomic Blonde, Charlize Theron has firmly cemented herself as one of if not the top action movie stars on the planet (honorable mentions: Tom Cruise, The Rock, and Dave Bautista).

·         Favorite album: It’s a tie between Run the Jewel’s RTJ4 and The Chicks’ Gaslighter. RTJ4 gives us “Out of Sight,” my favorite song and video of the Summer. If you haven’t seen the video, check it out. It also gives us JU$T, which has been in my head a lot. Gaslighter was something else altogether. In fact, I wrote a way too personal blog that I decided not to publish, but suffice it to say, The Chicks were a big part of the soundtrack of my college years, and now they’re back in heavy rotation in my post-divorce years. The definitive album of love gone wrong and the fallout from broken promises and broken dreams. There’s even a little glimmer of hope in there on “Best Friend’s Wedding.” It’s not performative, but it’s brilliantly performed. These songs feel real. I love “Goodbye Earl” as much as anyone else, but this is what heartbreak really sounds like.

·         Favorite Television Show: Does Netflix count as television? Yes. Hell yes. Warrior Nun is my favorite show of the Summer, hands down. Weird and beautifully shot, it’s nowhere close to perfect, but that kind of adds to the charm of it. Want to know what it’s about? Warrior Nuns. What more do you want? Special Mention to The Great and Taskmaster (not new, but I just discovered it this Summer, so I’m counting it).

·         Favorite Town: Portland, OR. Whether it’s the smoke from tear gas canisters shot by our beloved PPB or from wildfires invading our houses, I just won’t quit you. Keep it weird, you glorious bastards.

·         Favorite Dog: Brisket.

·         Favorite Food: Also Brisket, but the traditional BBQ, my dog is still alive and well.

·         Podcast: Fake Doctors, Real Friends. Zach Braff and Donal Faison recount Scrubs episode by episode. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a full season of the show, but I love this podcast.

·         Book: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Ha, I bet you thought I’d say my own, but you’re wrong! That will be my favorite book of the Fall when it launches October 13th!

Well, you’ve fallen for it again. That’s only eight things.

But really, my heart goes out there to everyone caught up in these wildfires. Stay inside if you can, stay safe if you can’t.

Until next time, bye.

Blog #31: The NBA is back! But, I'm not going to talk about it here.

Hey there, reader.

It’s time for another top ten list. Like most people, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands the past few months, and I’ve consumed a LOT of content, so, here’s some what I’ve liked:

·         The Great, Hulu – Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult are amazing in this show. Visually, it’s like eight hours of Marie Antoinette (Sofia Copolla, 2006), but tonally, it’s much more. This series has it all: humor, grit, and a breeziness to the storyline I wasn’t expecting. This show may not be for everyone you know, but great for everyone that got the Copolla reference earlier and has a good sense of humor.

·         The Old Guard, Netflix -  Great for everyone, seriously. It doesn’t matter that it’s basically a fantasy conceit about a bunch of assassin types that live for hundreds of years, nope, this is an action movie for everyone. Charlize Theron is a badass in this movie, and I can’t imagine a bigger action movie star right now. If you haven’t seen it, watch it—even if your Uncle Steve who hates everything refuses to leave the room. I guarantee he will like it too.

·         Warrior Nun, Netflix – I liked it. A LOT. It’s far from perfect, but it works and works really well for me. The lead, Alba Baptista, is as charismatic as they come, and Toya Turner is a battle-hardened mentor-type that commands the screen from the jump. It was shot in Spain, and the locations are bananas—seriously beautiful stuff. Give it a watch if you liked The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and season 2 of The Order.

·         Speaking of which … The Order (Season 2), Netflix – I’ll be honest—I did not like the first season. This isn’t a critique blog (obviously), so suffice it to say, it just didn’t work for me. Season 2 did—in a big way. I guess the show figured out what it wanted to be and mashed the pedal down to eleven all the way across the mixed metaphor expressway. It’s a tongue in cheek show for geeks who like hidden SciFi and Fantasy gems like Grimm—geeks like me. The casting choices are just *chef’s kiss* amazing. This isn’t for everyone, but definitely tell your writing group, they’ll eat it up.

·         The Umbrella Academy (Season 2), Netflix – The squad has traveled back in time to 1960s Dallas, TX and has a lot of what you liked about Season 1 while still keeping it fresh. Although there’s no talking chimp mentor, we still get glimpses of young Pogo here and there, and there’s a talking fish in a man suit—not bad. Aiden Gallagher grounds the show in a homicidal Robin from Teen Titans kind of way (that’s a compliment, btw). The guy can seriously chew up scenery, he’s good. Ritu Arya is the bright spot of the new season, for me. Her take on Lila (the adopted daughter of The Handler) is brilliant and had me pulling for her regardless of where she landed on the good guy/bad guy scale.

Of course, Robert Sheehan’s Klaus steals the show once again. He finds himself at home as a cult leader using lyrics from TLC’s mid 90s anthem “Waterfalls.” I’ve been a big fan of Sheehan since Misfits, which if you haven’t seen—go find it!

I’m beginning to think Netflix is making programming specifically for me.

Ok, so, this isn’t actually a top ten list. Sucker. The bullet points should have given it away. So, my other quarantine discoveries and recommendations are found on YouTube (at least in the US).

• TaskMaster – created by Alex Horne and hosted by Greg Davies, the panel show pits five comedians against each other to complete strange tasks for arbitrary points and prizes. I swear to god, I could watch unlimited seasons of this show.

• 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. Remember the unlimited seasons comment from above? Well, this one pretty much has it, which is great because it’s addictive.

(ed. note: there are actually 125 episodes, I looked it up)

Countdown isn’t a show in America, but apparently, it’s a big-brain institution of a game show in Britain. Only this version is with comedians. If you like TaskMaster (or the Big Fat Quiz of Everything), you’ll find a lot of the same comedians on this show. With the exception of Nick Helm. I’d never heard of the man before this show, but he is incredible. His poetry is both heartbreaking and hilarious and most of the time no one knows what to do with themselves while he’s reading it to a very game Susie Dent.

So there it is, another blog in the bank. We did it. Next week, I’ll probably write about The Chicks’ new album. Spoiler alert: I love it. I just want to dedicate a whole post to it.

I love you, bye.