What I Watched: Grimm, binging it on Amazon, I think someone here recommended it? There are 123 episodes which first aired on NBC between 2011-2017. According to Rotten Tomatoes, it scores 89% and is described as “Portland detective Nick Burkhardt, descended from a long line of warriors known as Grimms, defends his city from magical creatures known as Wesen, which are part human and part animal. Fighting alongside his partner, Hank, colleague Sergeant Wu and friends Monroe and Rosalee, Nick faces off against internal and external forces, including his police captain, Sean Renard.” I like it best when it sticks to hunting fairy tale monsters, but it veers off into romantic angst now and again, which doesn’t add much to the plots.
Trailer Season Two
Trailer Season Four
What I Read: Oh, I read all the things. Here’s a list of a few:
The four books in Hailey Edwards Black Hat Bureau series. Surprisingly good stuff. Rue Hollis is an evil witch looking for redemption, who is teamed with a golem, acquires a soul moth familiar, and has a half demon/half fae love interest (horns are erogenous zones). They act as a paranormal FBI, solving creature crimes and searching for her real origin story. Folks who like Tilly Wallace or Rachel Aaron books will like these. The most recent book, Black Wings, Gray Skies, just came out in April, and features BooHag bad guys and a desire to eat hearts again (being a recovering black witch isn’t easy).
Murder on Madison Square (A Gaslight Mystery Book 25) by Victoria Thompson. I’ve mentioned her work previously, and I really like her historical authenticity – the research shows. While one could read these books randomly, if you start with book one, I think you will become a fan and want to read them all. Her website says “Former policeman Frank Malloy is frustrated when a woman requests his private detective services to implicate her wealthy husband in adultery, the only legal grounds for divorce in New York state. Although Mrs. Bing seems genuinely distressed about her marriage and desperate to end it, she refuses to tell Frank the reason she absolutely must divorce her husband and admits she has no legal grounds…The following week, Frank and Sarah happen to be attending the first ever auto show in Madison Square Garden when they meet the woman’s husband, Alfred Bing, who has invested in a company that produces one of the electric motorcars on display. A few days later, the newspapers report that millionaire Alvin Bing has been found dead, pinned beneath one of the wheels of his very own motorcar.”
Jayne Ann Krentz writes historical romance novels under Amanda Quick name, contemporary romantic suspense novels under Krentz, and futuristic romance novels under the name Jayne Castle. She has a style – you either like it or you don’t. Her historical novels have been set after the depression and before WWII, with enjoyable descriptions of glamorous apparel and Packard roadsters and Hollywood glamour. Her most recent book is When She Dreams, by Amanda Quick. Penguin Random house says “Return to 1930s Burning Cove, California, the glamorous seaside playground for Hollywood stars, mobsters, spies, and a host of others who find more than they bargain for in this mysterious town. Maggie Lodge, assistant to the reclusive advice columnist known only as Dear Aunt Cornelia to her readers, hires down-but-not-quite-out private eye Sam Sage to help track down the person who is blackmailing her employer.”
What I Listened To: Born Ruffians – Chrysanthemums; Foxing – Go Down Together; Suggs & Paul Weller – OOH DO U FINK U R; and Kasabian – SCRIPTVRE.
Thank you for playing Brain Drain! What’s going on in your world, dearest DeadSplinterites?
I watched Korean Pork Belly Rhapsody on Netflix. It’s a two parter about Koreans and pork, but only part one is about pork belly. It’s subtitled and it shows every single part of whole pigs being cut up and cooked, so it’s not going to work for everyone.
It looks like there are more “Rhapsody” shows about different ingredients in Korean food, which I think I’ll check out.
@bluedogcollar did it inspire you to try new pork recipes?
I’d love to, but I’ve never seen uncured pork belly in my grocery. They also were cooking things like whole pig head and feet, which also don’t show up. The show talks about how hard it is in Korea to sell parts which are eaten most in the US like shoulder and ham.
I watched Senior Year the new Netflix movie starring Rebel Wilson. She is a popular cheerleader captain who falls (literally) into a coma before prom and wakes up 20 years later with an obsession with finishing her senior year as Prom Queen. I was disappointed at how lame it was because I totally love this genre. The AV Club reflects exactly how and why I felt let down by this movie. I can’t help but blame the three male writers for the fumble. Why yes, #misandry is my middle name.
@HammerZeitgeist misandry is A-OK when properly applied.
Senior Year looks… cringy. At best. Although, honestly, maybe it’s just that I can’t stand Rebel Wilson. Something about her just ruffles my fur the wrong way.
I was delighted to learn that HBOMax has the Christopher Guest/Eugene Levy ouevre, so I binged/rewatched Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration.
I am currently reading Tina Brown’s The Palace Papers, a look at the British Royal Family in the years since Diana died. It’s a huge disappointment and here’s why: I was given The Diana Chronicles as a gift. I was not among those in The Sainthood camp, and thought I knew more than enough about her, but I read it and it was so well done and there were so many bombshells, at least one every three pages, that I was captivated. Unfortunately while The Palace Papers is also well done, I don’t think I’ve learned anything I didn’t already know. I think the reason might be that Chronicles came out in 2007 and while the internet certainly existed lots of social media didn’t, so there was more to learn about every topic. There is some sympathetic stuff about Meghan Markle I didn’t know, specifically her Hollywood time. I could never be an actor, and I know lots of (non-famous) actors.
@MatthewCrawley you can look at it as backstory content for future Celebrity Sunday posts. There must be recipes of the royals around somewhere.
I am way ahead of you. At some point I’m going to write up the winner of the Platinum Jubilee Pudding Contest, in which people were invited to submit a “pudding” (liberally defined) that would encapsulate the joyous rapture surrounding this glorious event celebrating HM QEII’s remarkable 70 years on the throne. The winner was…
A lemon Swiss roll and amaretti trifle. The precise recipe has been printed in many places without variant so I know what it is. I won’t be able to make it before I post but I’m going to suggest ways that the Anglophile home chef can simplify what might seem like a very daunting recipe. Problem is I want to slot this in during the first week of June/end of May, so something or someone’s got to go because I’ve already filled my slots. I think I know what I’m going to do.
I can’t wait to eat Queen Elizabeth’s pudding.
@MatthewCrawley I will gladly reschedule one of my posts for this event. Look at the schedule and let me know.
@Elliecoo
Let me take Wednesday 6/1 then—the Jubilee kicks off with a four-day bank holiday (long weekend) the next day. This will give everyone enough time to gather their ingredients, make the thing, and consume it over the following four days. It feeds 20. And I think the creator is not lying. 1/20th of this recipe contains enough sugar to put anyone on the diabetes watch list. Not to mention the eggs, so many eggs.
If it’s meant to feed 20, I give it 2 days before it’s gone, here.
i’m listening to knockoff slayer
watching wise…ive just started the last kingdom…
im only a couple episodes in
but so far i’d say its pretty good
it’s like game of tits with fewer tits
I love The Last Kingdom. There really isn’t a bad episode.
How was Eurovision? Or is it tonight? @Farscythe.
@elliecoo its tonight
starts streaming in a couple hours if you feel inclined to watch
Serbia is in the finals and it appears their song has something to do with washing hands.
shame latvia didnt make it….they just wanted everyone to eat salad
*cringe*
I just finished Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn – have not seen the show nor read her other more famous book Gone Girl. I was in a Southern Gothic kind of mood and this was on some of the recommendations lists. Although, not as Southern or as Gothic as I was looking for – it was still pretty good. It revolves around a couple of murders which I figured out who the killer was really early on, but it was intriguing enough to keep me going.
Does anyone have any Southern Gothic recommendations that are not Faulkner, O’Connor or To Kill A Mockingbird? I’ve read through a few descriptions on some lists but nothing seems very interesting. I have no idea what I’m looking for. I think maybe Old Gods of Appalachia has ruined me.
I may have some Southern Gothic…I’ll need to look. Of course there is Ann Rice’s son who writes horror etc. in southern settings. @Lymond.
I loved early Anne Rice – up through The Witching Hour- which was great until the last chapter – which caused me to vow to never read another one of her books ever again. I can’t remember why I hated the ending- but I have never gone back. Maybe I’ll try her son.
Speaking of Anne Rice – my mother went back to school quite a few years ago to get a programming degree. She ended up having to take an English class where they had to basically do a book report from any author and then also write about that author. My mom wasn’t a big reader so picked Anne Rice because I had talked so much about The Vampire Lestat. I pretty much did the book report for her, but somehow she found a phone # where you could leave Anne Rice messages on a voice mail. My mom called and left a couple of messages about how much we loved her books. Lo and behold, one day I came in to my mom talking to someone on the phone. The way she was talking to the person I thought it was one of her friends. It was Anne Rice. She had called my mom to thank her for the lovely messages. My mom never did actually read any of the books but she got an A in the class because the teacher was so starstruck that Anne Rice actually called her back.
@Lymond that is a lovely story about your Mother!
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell might be worth checking out.
I loved Swamplandia, second the rec.
Watched: Black Sabbath, Paranoid, which is a one-hour documentary about the classic album with interviews from all of the band members, as well as other learned folk. Pretty good synopsis of the album, how it came to be, and the themes in the music.
Read: I’m in the middle of another fucking tome gifted to me by my oldest stepdaughter. I’ll be neck deep in this one for a while.
Listened: The latest stop on our tour of the best engineered albums of all time brings us to…believe it or not…Journey’s “Escape” album from 1981. As far as the music is concerned, it’s…your basic radio-friendly fare. However, it was engineered by Mike Stone, who was well known for his work with Queen. Believe it or not, the sonics on this album are really very good. Are they on par with masterpieces such as Black Sabbath’s eponymous first album or Kind of Blue by Miles Davis? No, they are not, but they certainly match up to other very fine works such as Crime of the Century or Band on the Run.
Do you like these books? Are you in a position to give some guidance? “I’ve heard good things about book X.”
OMG no. These books are so fucking long and so fucking boring. The problem is that she reads like you do so she probably plowed through this latest phone book in less than a week. At the rate I’m going it will be at least another month.
Put my wife on a plane to Belgrade at 8 this morning. Commencing temporary bachelorhood.
Don’t do anything that will frighten the livestock.
Sheep don’t tell.
Have fun on your visit to Chicago! I am looking forward to hearing about your “only in Chicago” meals.