Second Chance Saturday, Or I Must Have Been Wrong.
What I watched: Oh, my gracious, am I glad that I listened to the DeadSplinterati and gave The Expanse a second try (I’d voted a hard pass after watching episode one, season one some time ago). The Expanse is engaging and horrifying and nihilistic and devious and all the good things that make for an excellent dramatic series. We’re just finishing up season one, and I am happy to have many seasons to look forward to watching. So far, the only downside is that when they show people walking outside of a spacecraft or floating untethered my entire body clenches (not a big fan of roller coasters, either). If you have not yet given it a try, here are a few clips:
What I read: A few weeks back I semi-panned the works of Lawrence Sanders, specifically his Deadly Sin series. However, his Archy McNally series is super fun to read if you enjoy a constant barrage – a plethora – of obscure but specific words.
Archy was kicked out of Yale for streaking naked (while wearing a Nixon mask) across the NY Symphony stage and garnering more applause than the conductor. As a result, “Droll, detached twit “Archy” works as a private investigator for his patrician, august Palm Beach attorney father whose clientele consists of the wealthiest (and twisted) denizens of that exclusive Florida community.”
Archie waxes poetic about food and drink, and his descriptions of meals and cocktails would be well-placed in FYCE. There is still a very dated take on women, relationships, and fidelity, but the language is just plain fun. The mysteries and murders may have paid homage to the infamous mid-1980’s Pulitzer scandal that rocked Palm Beach.
Should you read these books? I think that you should. You can get the first three as a set for a low price on Amazon or get them for free from your library. Give the first three a try, to get “in the grove” – if you like them, do finish up the remaining six by Sanders or even the additional four written after Sander’s death in 1988 by Vincent Lardo.
What I listened to this week: A full assortment of mea culpa:
Badly Drawn Boy, You Were Right:
Dr. John, Right Place Wrong Time:
Mars Volta, Since We’ve Been Wrong:
So, darling DeadSplinterati, how ya’all doing? Are you still in the deep freeze, or are you thawing out? Are you pandemic-proofed with a vaccine? (Locally, access is rather Lord of the Flies.) Have you watched, read, or listened to anything worth sharing? Did you (gasp) have some fun? Please do let us know what is up with you!
Watched: I finally got around to watching Rise of Skywalker. I had put it off so long because I’d heard all the complaints about how the ending sucked. But, honestly, the movie was pretty good. Then again, I don’t know the difference between canon and an ion cannon, which allows me to enjoy the story and not get all wrapped up in the bullshit as to why this character would have never done that thing because of book number 45, blah, blah, blah.
Read: A very interesting article from 2013 on Smithsonianmag.org about a Soviet woman who became the top female sniper of all time and is #12 among all snipers. She was sent to the US on a public relations tour to try and get the country on board with a European invasion. The accounts of her interactions with the press are just mind boggling. Mrs. Butcher and I used to have a subscription to Smithsonian magazine so I love reading what they have online now.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/eleanor-roosevelt-and-the-soviet-sniper-23585278/
Listened: I can’t remember who it was here that turned me on to Raphael Saadiq–I think it might have been Loveshaq–but have been loving it lately.
Good morning, @ButcherBakerToiletryMaker. I too enjoy a quality older article. I will give Smithsonian magazine a look. (I read Wired online, also often has a random good read.) I can take or leave Star Wars (blasphemy) but find the oeuvre enjoyable (a saw the first movie in the theater when it came out, those fast stars in the intro were amazing at the time).
Rise of Skywalker bothered me in many ways, mainly because I was like WHAT HAPPENED TO ROSE’S STORY?? and IF YOU’RE USING HORSE THINGIES ON A SHIP IT JUST NEEDS TO TURN 90 DEGREES TO ONE SIDE etc etc
My understanding is that when Carrie Fisher died it threw everything into question. Ultimately, they didn’t want to go with a CGI Leia (which would have made the whole film unwatchable), so they took all the footage of her that was already in the can from the first two films and basically wrote the third one to fit around that.
As for the horses, I thought of that too, and then remembered I was watching a fantasy movie.
I’m glad you enjoyed The Expanse. I wasn’t really liking the 1st episode, but I really enjoyed the 2nd episode and the rest is history.
Odd to see Toronto landmarks pretending to be Mars or the UN (un, idiocracy style not U-N) like Roy Thompson Hall aka UN HQ or parts of the U of T campus (ironically where I took my only U of T course) or a now closed bar/dance club I used to go to from time to time as UN military bar.
@ManchCandidate, I really am enjoying, but those floating in space kill me. I bet that it is neat-odd to see those landmarks. If the university was smart, they would co-brand school tee-shirts with the Expanse.
I’m still not reading anything. I haven’t been sleeping well so concentrating is difficult.
I watched Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel on Netflix. I didn’t think it was as bad as some of the reviews suggested but it also wasn’t good. I’m sure everyone here know the story of Elisa Lam, the Canadian student who went missing in LA. The search for Lam captivated websleuths, conspiracy theories abounded. But it’s ultimately a tragic story about mental health. I would have liked to have seen more discussion about why Elisa’s story gripped internet communities and what responsibility society has towards the mentally ill.
Still doing Fun Music Saturday
Lyn Collins – Mama Feelgood
Hi @Hannibal. I am sorry for sleep woes, I too have been semi-insomnia plagued of late…it colors everything, does it not? (In shades of gray.) Fun music, I thank you!
It seems to be affecting a lot of people during the pandemic. I guess I expected less stress with trump out of the White House. Maybe I can catch a nap this afternoon. Oddly enough I sleep better when I’ve had a catnap. Otherwise, I sometimes get too tired to sleep!
…too tired to sleep is one of those that-shouldn’t-be-a-thing things about insomnia that is no kind of fun
…sometimes I think eating entirely too much manages to put me to sleep but it’s not all that helpful since it tends to mean I come to on the couch about 3hrs later & then go to bed & fail to sleep…plus it doesn’t work reliably
…when I’ve been in places where that sort of thing isn’t frowned upon I have to admit that some of the weed-based sleep aids have been pretty good to me…there are some you can take like sleeping pills but if you talk to the folks behind the counter they can often point you to a strain that’s predominantly CBD rather than the reverse & honestly I think that’s what’s worked out best for me…sadly under current circumstances there isn’t anywhere open I can get to that offers that sort of thing & that hasn’t been ideal to say the least
anything weed keeps me up for ever….and makes me seriously hate myself…thats why i stopped smoking the stuff…. my pleasant easy high turned into depression hell for some reason… dont know what caused the shift…
but not touching the stuff at least keeps the depression at bay…so hey i get to be happy sleepless..lol
tbh..,.the only thing that reliably puts me to sleep is alcohol…and thats not exactly a good thing either
(i was gonna say opiates…but id be lying…they just make me feel nice as i stare at the ceiling…..drugs just dont work like they should on me)
I’ve heard CBD can help, I’ll admit I’ve been skeptical. But it’s worth a try.
@Hannibal – Have you tried taking some magnesium at night before you go to bed? It’s a natural muscle relaxer and helps me when I need to sleep. I think it needs to be the citrate formula not the oxide – but you might want to read up on it. Also, you don’t want to take it every night, but you can a few nights in a row.
@Lymond I have not. I wasn’t aware it could be a sleep aid. I’m going grocery shopping Monday and will look for the citrate formula. Thanks.
@Hannibal – I take mine with some Vitamin D also – it’s supposed to help absorb it. Also, rubbing lavender oil on your head – especially around your temples seems to help me go to sleep. Nothing works all the time, but these are some things that help some of the time.
I appreciate all advice!
I saw the Netflix documentary on Crack. I knew a lot of what happened in terms of US government involvement and Iran Contra, but they left out the parts where Ollie North fucked with the DEA.
A human tragedy and another brick in the never ending race/class war in the US.
mines largely unchanged..still watching the expanse (season 3) still reading the dragonlance chronicles (book 3 now)
and listening to….
douwe bob
i dont know when we got a thing for country like music over here……but we do it quite well
@Farscythe you are right, excellent music!
I’m still watching The Good Fight. Just started S4. Michelle and Robert King are on a roll. The Good Wife, The Good Fight, Evil… their next show stars and is co produced by Uzo Aduba.
Playing Arkham Horror the card game. We only got two rooms in before having to go to bed. I see its potential for fun but it takes time to learn the rules.
I think The Expanse is the best show out there. I was very sad when I watched the last episode of season 5 last week – I wish there was a new episode every week year round.
What I’m reading (and listening to): I foolishly involved the Better Half in my surgical odyssey. He had three days on his own and he’s an incredible hypochondriac so he decided to tell a couple of family member and a couple of friends that I basically had one foot in the grave. You can imagine the chaos. One of my sisters called me and said, “It’s the kidneys, right, because of all your drinking? Listen, I have two perfectly healthy and functional kidneys and I’ll give you one of mine. We must be a genetic match. Who should I call?” “It’s my left leg and foot. You can keep your kidneys for now.” A friend called and said, very helpfully, “You know, if they need to amputate people do get along with prosthetic limbs. There are even Olympics devoted to it.” A rational, level-headed friend called, a college friend whom I’ve known for almost 40 years, and I took the occasion to wander down memory lane and she decided to tell me that she never understood my general friendliness. “It’s like you are a puppy. You said you’ve already talked to A and B [from college]. How do they even have your number? They were assholes then and I’m sure they’re even worse now.” “No, it’s not like that, to me—”
This is why I have been obsessively commenting on Deadsplinter. I live, normally, a drama-free life. I am, it is true, a little puppy-ish and friendly but I don’t know why people would waste the short lives given to them by being angry and judgmental all the time. It’s very freeing to let everything go. In the immortal words of Miss Doris Day (and my God people dressed so much better in those days, in the musical/thrillers at least):
Love you just the way you are @matthewcrawley
Puppies may well be the best things in the world.
Had to interrupt House of Owls to read Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal by Mark Bittman. The latter is a library book with a list of holds, so I don’t have much time to read it. I’m 120 pages in, and it’s pretty good thus far.
That Bittman book is very problematic, as numerous hostile reviews will attest. In a nutshell, if we go back to being a predominantly rural nation with a majority of the population living on small family farms, we’ll return to say, 1900. Poverty and pandemics were widespread and common. (I mean it is now, too, obviously, but what made 2020 so shocking was most people alive haven’t experienced anything like this.) The amount of land and natural resources, especially water but also energy, that would have to be devoted to this kind of lifestyle would be almost insurmountably high for a nation of 330 million people. A regional bad harvest, as were common up until WWII, think the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, would wreak unimaginable havoc. If you look at financial trends, the amount of money Americans spend on all categories of food declines every year, but it would rise sharply, as every visitor to a farmer’s market quickly comes to understand. I’ve been to farmer’s markets in California, which is a worldwide powerhouse when I comes to growing all manner of fruits and vegetables, and the prices of the food for sale is shocking. Now imagine you do not have an urban, industrial income to afford free-range hens and their organic, pesticide-free eggs, because you yourself are eking out an existence on your own small family farm, where you work from sunrise to sunset. You are mortgaged to the hilt, because in the spring you take out loans to buy seeds and equipment and whatnot, which you then pay back in the fall or winter, once the growing season is over and, you pray, you’ve had a good harvest.
Every so often in the “Times” or somewhere you’ll read about, let’s say, “Josh and Lisbeth, who abandoned their small one-bedroom loft in Williamsburg to take up a life of cheesemaking in rural Vermont.” Did they. What if we all did. “Hollyhigh Farms is a womyn’s-owned collective where they tend a vast apple orchard whose trees date back to the colonial period. Their organic, pesticide-free heirloom apples are unsullied by cross-breeding and can be found in many of Manhattan’s smarter restaurants. Small batches are sometimes sent to X Markets, where they retail for about $7 each. They’re smaller than common supermarket apples, but they’re exactly the same as what Jefferson’s cooks [slaves] would have provided his guests at Monticello.” Are they. And how am I supposed to afford a $7 apple if I myself am growing wheat on my family-run farm and have a profit margin of 3 cents a bushel?
No thanks. In the 1920s America went through a period of immense urbanization, as people across the country fled hardscrabble farm life and moved to cities, which boomed, and they lived tough lives, toiling in factories, lots of them, but with access to indoor heating and plumbing and access to public transportation and decent public schools.
As a quintessential urbanite and confirmed omnivorous glutton I’d last about two weeks on a farm before I threw myself down a well and hoped for a quick, relatively painless death.