What I watched: The backs of my eyelids. Keitel and I are both worn out, and although we have a list of things to watch (many recommended by you smart cookies), we both end up falling asleep on the sofas ‘til it is time for bed. (After we take part in the nightly DUAN, of course!)
What I read: Fang & Metal: A Science Fiction Vampire Detective Novel (Vampire Detective Midnight Book 4) by JC Andrijeski.
You should probably start with Vampire Detective Midnight Book 1, “a gritty, romantic new series set in a futuristic, dystopian New York populated by vampires, humans and psychics trying to rebuild their world after a devastating race war nearly obliterates the previous one.” I think it is much more a police procedural than a romance genre. Also, he earns extra money in a vampire fight club. It’s a quirky series. Andrijeski often does rockin’ Spotify playlists to go with her books; try To Black With Love or Black Hawaii.
What I listened to: A bit more chill this week (maybe why I can’t stay awake?) Damien Jurado’s fairly recent record What’s New Tomboy. I like this track, The End of the Road:
And then a bit faster, Brenden Benson, Richest Man, from Dear Life. He also plays with the Raconteurs.
How about you? Alright, Saturday morning folks – hit me with your good stuff to watch, read, and listen to. My playlists are getting stale, and I swear I will watch your recommendations as soon as I drink more coffee . . . much more coffee.
I cannot recommend “Mrs. America” highly enough and will not write an encyclopedic appreciation of it, but don’t be put off by its ostensible subject matter, Phyllis Schlafly and the defeat of the ERA. There are a lot more riders issues that are explored. It’s an all-star cast and they are all superb. There’s only nine episodes I think but I wouldn’t binge it. Take it one at a time and let it settle before you move on to the next one.
While watching it I was reminded of my own memories of the ERA battle. My mother was vaguely against it. The following dialogue is not verbatim but you get the drift.
“Would you want to use the same bathroom as girls?”
“I don’t think that’s what it specifically calls for but if all the bathrooms only had stalls why not?”
“Because women take forever in bathrooms and you’d have to line up outside. Trust me. Your sisters go into the bathroom and it’s like they’ve set sail on a transatlantic cruise. And what about gym. Would you like to take gym classes with girls?”
“We do already. Once a year we have dance classes. It’s to get us ready for Prom.”
“Really?”
“Yes. This year I was paired off with a girl I had never met and we hit it off and I’m going to Prom with her. I didn’t tell you this?”
“What dances do they teach you?”
Oh, all kinds of stuff, it’s really fun. We started off with a simple box step, moved on to the fox trot, the rumba, the cha-cha-cha, the hustle…”
“Are you really going to do the fox trot at your Prom? I lived through World War II and we didn’t fox trot at my prom.”
“I think it’s to get the girls and boys comfortable dancing with each other.”
“Can you teach me the fox trot?”
“Sure!”
God bless the late 1970s public school educational system.
As a late 1970s high schooler I remember being appalled by the restraints Ms. Schlafly felt were appropriate for young women.
Not sure why spell check changed wider to riders up there but it should be “wider issues”.
Beyoncé dropped a new single yesterday for Juneteenth:
Beyonce is always good!
We stayed awake and watched the first two episodes of Marcella season 3 last night. So good . .
watching… eh… ive decided its schlocktober…so ive been watching stuff like this
and this
reading…still the expanse….tho.really im not reading at all..as im not sleeping and as such not going to bed
and listening….well…im supporting the locals
We should combine my too sleepy with your not sleeping and come up with just the right amount of sleep!
that sounds like a wonderfull plan!
I’m getting ready to start Watchmen. I didn’t quite have the mental bandwidth when it came out, but everything I’ve heard is that it is outstanding, and Tulsa today seems like the best time to start.
On the subject of Tulsa, Dave Weigel of the Washington Post notes that out of all of the merchandise sales there, he is seeing no market for anti-Biden stuff. That is an interesting point about the enthusiasm problem Trump faces.
Keitel is interested in the series, as well.
…I know probably more than is healthy about the original comics & to begin with was slightly confused by their decision to fold the series into that context but honestly it was really a pretty great set of arcs they wive together with an impressive amount of actual historical context & I’d thoroughly recommend it
It’s absolutely superb. I was seriously dubious. Read the comics, saw the Zack Snyder movie (I didn’t actually HATE it — there was some solid stuff), and thought, eh, let’s give this a try. It was riveting. I’m sorry they won’t be doing a second season.
Watched/Watching: The Americans. A former co-worker suggested I watch and she was right. Excellent show. Very well written and acted. Also is kind of funny rooting for Soviet spies, but considering they set the show during the Reagan era it’s pretty easy to do.
Read: Texas Flood, which is the first real authorized biography of Stevie Ray Vaughan. Amazing that it took this long for something to finally come out, but its an excellent book–and even though Jimmie had to sign off on it, he certainly didn’t make the writers soft-ball the book.
Listen: Sonny Landreth – Hell at Home, from The Road We’re On.
…the americans is another show I would vouch for being well worth the time…for whatever that might be worth
(Pauses to add this to play list.)
…it’s kind of cheating because ai didn’t read any of them this week but Hannibal’s post about possible extraterrestrial life reminded me that the trilogy that starts with “the three body problem” is pretty great
…it’s translated from the chinese & here & there some stuff is maybe lost in translation but it comes at the question of why interstellar communications aren’t a thing from a different angle to most & I found the whole trilogy a pretty good read
I am still deep in the Sandman Slim series ( it is a whole lot of books) you suggested; will add this to my growing list of “good stuff to read”.
…I always find it reassuring to know that I have something in the pending pile…the idea of running out of books may be something akin to a phobia for me, now that I think about it?
Public Enemy also dropped a new song!