What I Watched: Death and Other Details, starring Mandy Patinkin. I wanted to like it, but IMO it is a poor attempt to ride the coattails of Only Murders in the Building.
Here’s the first and last paragraphs from the blurb from Variety: Hulu’s “Death and Other Details” is a murder mystery about powerful families and generations of secrets. Fast-paced and complex, the series ebbs and flows between delightful chaos and complete bewilderment. Yet, despite the uneven pacing and other missteps, the whodunit of it all should keep audiences interested . . . Though “Death and Other Details” fails to maintain a balanced sharpness throughout, Patinkin and Beane work well as an unhinged duo determined to dig up the truth. While sometimes labored, the series asks viewers to consider things we overlook because of preconceived notions. It’s also a reminder that being stuck out on the ocean with a ship full of the upper echelon of society is probably the last place any sensible person would want to be.
On an unrelated note, I’m appalled by the constant commercials for gambling apps. FanDuel, et al. Who else thinks that advertising easy-access gambling is a bad thing? I know of a young person with a problem, always on his phone betting.
What I Read: A couple of next-in-series from authors whom you either like or you don’t – there isn’t much middle ground. Krentz sticks with grumpy, controlling, unevolved heroes with hidden romantic hearts paired with plucky heroines. J D Robb basically writes the same “feel” of a story, switching up the murders and moving the main characters ahead in the universe timeline. I appreciate both for what they are. There is no stretching of the brain cells to read them; for me they are comfort books from familiar authors.
The Night Island (The Lost Night Files Book 2) by Jayne Ann Krentz. Author’s blurb: Talia March, Pallas Llewellyn, and Amelia Rivers, bonded by a night they all have no memory of, are dedicated to uncovering the mystery of what really happened to them months ago—an experience that brought out innate psychic abilities in each of them. The women suspect they were test subjects years earlier, and that there are more people like them—all they have to do is find the list. When Talia follows up on a lead from Phoebe, a fan of the trio’s podcast, she discovers that the informant has vanished. Talia isn’t the only one looking for Phoebe, however. Luke Rand, a hunted and haunted man who is chasing the same list that Talia is after, also shows up at the meeting place. It’s clear he has his own agenda, and they are instantly suspicious of each other. But when a killer begins to stalk them, they realize they have to join forces to find Phoebe and the list.
Random in Death: An Eve Dallas Novel by J. D. Robb. Author’s blurb: Jenna’s parents had finally given in, and there she was, at a New York club with her best friends, watching the legendary band Avenue A, carrying her demo in hopes of slipping it to the guitarist, Jake Kincade. Then, from the stage, Jake catches her eye, and smiles. It’s the best night of her life. It’s the last night of her life. Minutes later, Jake’s in the alley getting some fresh air, and the girl from the dance floor comes stumbling out, sick and confused and deathly pale. He tries to help, but it’s no use. He doesn’t know that someone in the crowd has jabbed her with a needle—and when his girlfriend Nadine arrives, she knows the only thing left to do for the girl is call her friend, Lieutenant Eve Dallas. After everyone on the scene is interviewed, lab results show a toxic mix of substances in the victim’s body—and for an extra touch of viciousness, the needle was teeming with infectious agents. Dallas searches for a pattern: Had any boys been harassing Jenna? Was she engaging in risky behavior or caught up in something shady? But there are no obvious clues why this levelheaded sixteen-year-old, passionate about her music, would be targeted. And that worries Dallas. Because if Jenna wasn’t targeted, if she was just the random, unlucky victim of a madman consumed by hatred, there are likely more deaths to come.
What I Listened To: Fruit Junior, another new artist to me. Eight Hours; Poor Devil; and Bulldozer.
Thank you for playing Brain Drain! How are you, dearest ones? Darling DeadSplinterites, what’s going on? Please do share with us!
I was glad I took the time to watch this. He was fun to watch in his heydey:
Oh man, Butterbean. I’d forgotten all about that guy. I’m glad he’s getting his health back.
I had no idea who this gentleman was. The clip was inspiring and heartwarming; he was treated with compassion and respect, and Bean has such an engaging personality. Thank you for sharing it.
…so I wound up watching a slightly random thing from a little while back called “the outfit”
…it’s the sort of film that could work as a play…limited cast, almost all of it takes place on one set…which is a tailor’s shop
…but mark rylance’s tailor (& his assistant, who might be described as “vivacious”) notably cater to a very particular clientele of the less-than-lawful persuasion
…it’s…rather good in a mostly understated way that I’m something of a sucker for
I think that I’d like the Outfit; thank you for the suggestion.
Yup, I watched that maybe a year ago I think? I might have even mentioned it here, but who knows. That’s a good one.
…apologies if I forgot I’d heard of it…but maybe that’d be why I took a punt on it, in which case thank you kindly
Still watching Reacher. Got a kick out of seeing a diner I ate at a few times be the site of a big brawl between bikers and Reacher’s crew like Netflix/Ahnold Schwarzenegger’s Show FUBAR’s big fight happen at the church where a friend got married at. Thanks GTA film credits.
FYI, the food is typical diner food so nothing special but nothing terrible either.
I preferred Mandy in Dead Like Me and of course the Princess Bride.
How fun to recognize scenery in real life. Hallmark uses some drone shots of our town for “generic middle Atlantic city” in a few of their made for TV movies and shows. Also, Witness was filmed here.
I used to live in a shitty little mountain town called Las Vegas, NM. Terrible, terrible, terrible place to live. But it seems a great place to make movies.
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls009229053/
Apocalyptic desert vibes?
Big time.
Wolverines?
The thing about those gambling companies is they’re like the crypto gold rush. They’re raking in all the quick and easy money now, but before long their base will be tapped out and the company revenue is going to drop.
There are a lot of big investors dumping money in now, hoping they can cash out before the slide begins.
The gambling apps are concerning to me because of how addictive gambling can be and the gamification of other in-app spending.
There’s a silly facebook group I’m in, and one of the recent posts was a person anonymously asking for guidance if they could recoup some spending after they realized in a depressive spell they dropped like $400 on some stupid silly app game.
Comments were basically split three ways –
1. Well-intended advice to do things like take all saved payment methods off apps and to try to find a therapist.
2. Incredulity that someone could be that “stupid” and insulting the person and their situation.
3. A ton of people with some variation of “omg I did the same thing with (insert other app or game name) and it was so humiliating when I realized it.”
I’m not saying that limiting gambling to in-person would reduce gambling addiction. In Missouri, the legislation allows casinos to be on the waterfront because they have to be “riverboats” aka some part of the casino has to be floating on the water. Hence why there’s 5 casinos around St Louis.
But having gambling be something people can do sitting on the couch watching tv, standing in line at the grocery store, sitting on the toilet, etc etc, wow I can see that escalating things.
Some of my coworkers are busy betting on cricket and real football. They claim they’re good at betting, but they never seem to win.
I’m two thirds of the way through Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. I’m loving it! Thanks RIP? I think you recommended that author at some point. Summary from Goodreads:
It’s the first book I read from the Cosmere universe and I do feel like some inside jokes and references are flying over my head but that hasn’t stopped me from devouring the book. I’m sad that I’ll be finishing it tonight.
This will take me some Google research to catch up, starting with Cosmere. But neither you nor RIP have steered me wrong with other recommendations.
A nurse at an appointment I had yesterday mentioned a friend gave her Iron Flame for her birthday (but had yet to read it). She didn’t know it was a book two, and bought Fourth Wing while I was there. Best book recommendation of 2024, Hammer!
…aye…that’d be me who threw that in the mix a while back
…sanderson is sort of the anti-matter version of george rr martin in that he is insanely prolific…so there’s sort of a bunch of different continuities he’s been banging out book after book about…& the cosmere thing is sort of an over-arching thing that potentially pulls them all together into a unified universe of universes or whatever
…in a lot of ways the thing that tends to split the series out from one another is that each has a different “system” for magic…in the steelheart books they’re basically superheroes & a resistance a bit like a less x-rated take on the scenario in the boys…in another it’s a metal-based form of alchemy…in the stormlight books it’s…well, stormlight…which is a form of energy that gems can be invested with if left exposed to the elements during magically-induced/imbued storms…& so on
…& since there’s people who can move between realities you can kind of sew the whole thing into a big book-quilt if you feel like it
…but you can generally just stick to one panel of it if that appeals & the rest doesn’t without it being a frustrating process of feeling like you’re missing stuff you need to know to follow the story?
I like creative writer minds that contain many worlds. On a fast take from your description Stormlight appeals the most to me. Thank you for the cliff notes!
…those would definitely be my favorites. to be honest
…some of the others are fun…but those feel like the backbone of the thing to me…which may just be because they pander to me the best…though I think the fact the installments tend to be the chunkiest suggests to me that it’s not entirely in my head that it looks that way
…he sort of reminds me a bit of alan moore in comics…moore has made a career of riffing on the superhero trope…& sanderson has somewhat done a similar thing with magic
…along with things like finishing out robert jordan’s wheel of time & other examples of the adage that if you want something done it’s a neat idea to ask a busy person?
There is truth to that adage. Busy people “git ‘er done”, having zero time to waste.
Watched: Under the Banner of Heaven. Holy fucking shit, what a fucked up story. It’s a mini series based on a brutal murder of a Mormon woman by a bunch of even crazier Mormons. Everything about it is like watching a train wreck that you know is coming but can’t turn away from. The show is very well done, but goddamn I am never watching that again.
Listened: Gov’t Mule’s new album, Peace…Like a River
No Mormons will be allowed in the DeadSplinter cult.
*cough*
…charitable organization
…might as well take the tax breaks, right?
As you say, your Eminence. . . 501c3 all the way for those benefits.
The book by Jon Krakauer that it’s based on is amazing. Same name.
i watched the grand tour : sand job
well…the first episode anyways…which at 90 minutes long taxed my attention span a fair bit
its got some fantastic scenery porn but may,hammond and clarksons shtick is getting pretty old now…still funny when things go off the script or they are being absolute pillocks to eachother…
but yeah..its obviously very scripted…which isnt a problem…but it really feels it too….which is for me…
and you know…asides from learning how to absolutely never ever use a tow rope unless you want to get your head knocked off by the tow ball….dont expect to learn much of anything here….cept some tidbits about the scenery and that norway is at war with the dutch…
production values are great tho
Watched the return of the most missed man in late night comedy news! I missed Jon sooooo much! I wish he could be on every night and not just Mondays but I will take what I can get!
Listen to: Is grunge making a comeback?
and enjoying my weekly Titus rage!
…that jon stewart thing…I mean, yes I wanted it to be a satisfying watch but…there was a lot in there…& it was borderline cathartic to have it delivered that way?
Have you heard Soul Blind?
Very cool, sounds like Sound Garden meets early Smashing Pumpkins.