What I Watched: OMG, best show ever. I’m a pretty even-keeled person, and while I can be amused, I rarely guffaw or laugh out loud. This show had me giggling from the first snide comment about the use of semicolons in texts (guilty) to the increase in drinking during the pandemic to the lack of hygiene to the changing name order and descriptors in the intro. Filmed during the pandemic, it is simply real and hysterically funny. Michael Sheen and David Tennant, who have obvious affection for each other, include their wives in the show. The satirical takes on actor’s ego, classical training (Royal Shakespeare Company) and “the business” are fun. But their commentary on Welsh vs. Scottish language and pronunciation is a grand thing (“we have been fighting the Scotts off for centuries, we’re not going to let you in now”). You need to see this!
Trailer One with Dame Judy Dench
Here is the full 22-minute episode one “Cachu Hwch”
What I Read: Lots of series new stuff, by author’s I’ve previously raved about.
- Nocturnal Quarry: a 1930s historical fantasy novella (Land Mysteries Book 2) Celia Lake.
- Feint and Doublecross (Tournament of Shadows Book 4) Tilly Wallace.
- Dangerous Flames: A Good Neighbors Novelette by Stephanie Burgis (necromancer wedding).
- A Sinister Revenge (A Veronica Speedwell Mystery Book 8) by Deanna Raybourn
All were fine additions to their oeuvre, none are the books should reading with the series.
What I Listened To: Mallrat – Teeth; Heart Hearts – When You Were Young; The Dandy Warhols – Minnesoter (an old song, new to me, rather dirty); and Ryan Adams -Tangled Up In Blue (a good version of a classic).
Thank you for playing Brain Drain! How are you, dearest ones? Darling DeadSplinterites, what is up with you? Please do share your status!
Watched: Cesar Millan, Better Human Better Dog. I watched the 1st season which is just like his old Dog Whisperer show. I haven’t bothered to watch the 2nd season because honestly after you’ve watched about 10 episodes he’s covered like 90% of the issues of how people do a terrible job at raising and training dogs because they think dogs are little people instead of…you know…dogs, with their own unique set of behaviors and social norms. So, yes, he’s worth watching to nail down that stuff, but after the first season you’re basically watching reruns.
Listened: This week’s stop on our very short tour of the best engineered songs of all time brings us to The Glow by Bonnie Raitt. This is the title track of the album and is an absolute masterpiece. I’m always fascinated by albums which have 9 songs that sound anywhere from decent to terrible, and 1 song that just blows you out of the water. In some cases it’s because the engineer is different on that one track; in others it seems to be because the engineer just really cared a lot more about it that time. In this particular case, it seems that the actual character of the song is very different from the rest of the album which required a more careful approach. This is more of a jazz torch song, than the R&B of the rest of the album. The drummer is using brushes and there’s an acoustic bass–which, holy shit, does that bass sound incredible. They used a microphone instead of the Dreaded Bass Direct which enables them to get more wood sound from the bass. The kick drum has a surprisingly solid punch considering the style of the tune. Bonnie’s voice is up front without being overpowering. But, for my part, the crown jewel of this recording is the Wurlizter. That thing just has all the character in the world, and the engineer brought out all of the subtleties of the instrument. This is a song that I can listen to on repeat, over and over and over again and never get tired of it–especially if I’ve got my good headphones on.
I know that Butcher dog is an excellent dog. Has she had an opportunity to go swim/fetch in the lake this spring?
Actually, yes, for the first time yesterday. We had three days of completely out of whack temperatures in the 80’s which warmed the lake up just enough for her first swim of the season. Her very first jump looked like she was expending six month’s worth of pent up frustration and energy. I think she set a new personal best for distance.
Of course, tomorrow it will be cold again (as it should be this time of year) and she’ll be looking at us like “why the hell aren’t we swimming?!”
Love this, go Butcher dog!
We had three days in the high 80’s as well. Next week looks to be mid-60’s to mid-70’s, more seasonally appropriate. The mini heatwave did force the lilacs, and the back yard and all the rooms where there are now vases of them smell amazing. I adore lilac season.
Watching the Hidden Lives of Pets on Netflix from BBC. Only got past the first episode because my personal and work life decided to kick me in the ass this week.
Watched last week, well, rewatched the Suicide Squad 2021. It was as gory and violent as I remembered it. Better DC movie than most but I liked Birds Of Prey and Wonder Woman more. For some reason the DC universe does female superheroes a little better than Marvel (haven’t seen Marvel Girl or She Hulk)
James Gunn seems to specialize in caustic asshole antiheroes but that can get stale after a while. The one guy that stood out was John Cena’s Uber patriot asshole. Could have been named MAGA dick.
Sorry about your work; I feel your pain. Please let us know about the Hidden Lives of Pets when you get a chance.
Staged! I second this show. @elliecoo it took you so long to get to it. S2 was not as good because it felt more, dare I say….staged? I don’t have access to S3. Can someone who does let me know how it compares?
@HammerZeitgeist, right? All that Scottish boyfriend viewing and I totally missed it. I agree, season two wasn’t as good as season one (hard to top it) but I think that season three was better than two, and it wrapped up the concept in an accident fashion.
I’ve been watching Beef. It is a fun ride, kind of like if Falling Down was a multiplayer game with almost all Asian characters.
Listening to PLAIINS
I have a bunch of chores today including first lawn mowing of the year and replacing all the guts of my BBQ, and grocery shopping. Fun times!
Beef has been added to the watch list. So the BBQ…is it one of those built-in to your outdoor area types? Otherwise, would it not be cheaper in time and stress to junk it and get another one? I am unwise in the way of the BBQ. We had one years ago, bought for the Keitel concept of a relaxing experience talking to neighbors and drinking a brew. The reality, that it was really hot outside after a day in the uncooled factory, and that I was no longer doing the cooking, quickly put a stop to it.
BBQ should have been an easy fix but again they sent me the wrong parts! 2nd time! I fucking hate buying this stuff off Amazon but that is the only option. The BBQ has no model # on it and I can’t find any paperwork. The measurements were right but of course, they have to change every model to have different burner sizes to discourage people like me that don’t want the throw another BBQ in the landfill. I’m not sure if I may have to break down and buy another or just keep trying to get the right parts. It is not an expensive BBQ.
I’m currently watching Am I Being Unreasonable. Daisy Mae Cooper is a bored, lonely woman, unhappy in her marriage and privately grieving a loss. A new friend enters and disrupts her life. If you like cringe humor you’ll enjoy this.
I read Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth. If you think you have the mother-in-law from hell you may understand how far Abby Lamb is willing to go to save her husband Ralph from the clutches of his dead mother. A ghost story that explores childhood trauma it’s funnier than you’d imagine.
@Hannibal I will give your book suggestion a read. Sometimes I need something other than Regency romance and paranormal creature books.
@Elliecoo My book choices have been a bit dark lately. I need to read some of yours. 🙂
Finally got around to watching AntMan and the Wasp this week. It was fine, had some good humor.
I’m probably not going to bother watching it again. I was irrationally annoyed that after they find Michelle Pfeiffer’s character who has been trapped in the quantum realm for like 2 decades, she’s still managed to keep a fresh supply of mascara and lipstick in there.
Sigh. We all know that stuff goes bad after 6 months💄💄
Not to mention she’s Michael Douglas’s love interest in the movie and she’s 14 fucking years YOUNGER than him! He’s aging well, I’m not saying this as an insult to him. But like was there really a need to try to make her look hottie mchott here given that she’s already a lovely woman who is aging very very well herself???
…picard & the mandalorian still going strong enough I don’t want to jinx it
…the sci-fi trilogy I’m now two down with one to go…& there was some clunky furniture moving to go from the resolution of the first one to the problem in the second one (fleet of knives) but I’ll go on ahead & complete the hat-trick (light of impossible stars)…not expecting anything groundbreaking out of them but they work pretty well for winding down
…took @farscythe ‘s advice & watched kill boksoon…which was fun…the imagining-how-this-might-play-out sequences weren’t too hard to get used to after the first one laid down a precedent but it would have lost me if they’d gone for the last one straight off…reminded me a bit of some samurai films that do a similar thing while two swordsmen face off but before the actual blades swing?
…& maybe a couple or three episodes into beef…which I think others have mostly covered this/last week
…anything else I watched…which was definitely at least something…apparently didn’t leave enough of an impression
…except a netflix short animated series called oni…which is basically a kids thing…but would probably go down well with anyone who enjoyed kubo & the two strings?
I agree regarding the Madalorian. I like the way Grogu is becoming more of a person as grows. Although I admit to small moments of “ewww” as the cult-like nature and controlling tenets thereof peek through the storyline.
nothing worth mentioning on my end….too much overtime
what little time i have left i use for music
red rum club – vanilla
i…have never seent anyone take that aproach to a music video before….catchy tune too
in todays case im feeling fairly bouncy tho
@Farscythe I really like Red Rum Club. Added to playlist. Here’s hoping that you survive the overtime!
oh no worries
i bitch and moan
but im a hardy bastard…..if i go quiet start worrying…..lol
if the whining stops i may have a problem
I finished book 3 of The Expanse. Am debating purchasing book 4 as I’m 17th in line on 10 copies at the library. Which means it could be three weeks before it’s my turn. It could be sooner than that if those in line ahead of me don’t “pick up” the book. I wish people were more proactive about returning digital library loans. Or there was an automatic prompt to return a book once you reach the end. I guess I should support the authors and buy a copy while I put my name down for book 5.
i mean….i would say do it….
but smart money says just get the box set if you are going to throw money at it
its worth the bucks….and its fucking wierd only owning book 4
But is it worth it to have the digital box set? I can’t read physical books yet because I’m always reading while holding the baby. So I don’t mind only having book 4 on my kindle. Plus I’m now #10 in line for the 10 copies of book 5.
Have you finished the series?
i dont know how much the digital set is….. but every book is worth the money
the first few set the bar and for the most part they all reach it
@HammerZeitgeist how are you? Have the in-laws left?
Hi hi! They leave on Monday. I’m doing mostly good. Redacted the rest because airing dirty laundry bla bla bla.
*points to above comment*
im on the last book…..everything up till this book ive read several times
i cannot recommend the digital series tho
cant brain a burglar with that shit
but also ive never had an e reader.