Oh, and thanks for your earlier recommendation of Scalzi’s *Starter Villain.* Might be time to revisit the exploits of Charlie, Hera, & Persephone. I wonder what those foul mouthed dolphins are up to?
Andor is the best thing Disney has done in a long time and probably the best ever Star Wars thing. But I kind of feel the subject matter is a bit too real in these weeks before the new troubling times.
There was far greater shock and disbelief when Trump won in '16. A lot of my progressive friends seem to have forgotten this, or don't really care. I asked where is the outrage, the mobs, the tee shirts and p*ssy hats, the podiums and celebrities? They told me, what are you talking about?
Over at reactormag.com, the blogging/online arm of sf publisher Tor, there’s a Babylon 5 rewatch underway. A lot of its themes really resonate right now…
Mostly so I don’t need to look at his ugly mug, I’ve been reading my news for years. And while I’ve always loved the pomp and circumstance of the inauguration, I’ve booked a weeklong trip to a North American country that did elect a woman, just so I can completely tune out. We’ll all come back to it in one way or another as time goes on and fortunately I can read your newsletter after you’ve done the hard work.
This all tracks! I’ve been pretty much avoiding all politics except for text-based news. I put BSG on about 3 weeks ago for a rewatch. Then I rewatched Foundation (even with its obvious flaws) and have been catching the weekly episodes of The Silo. And while it doesn’t align with the whole*overcoming something* ethos, Lower Decks has new episodes airing now too. 😁
lol. I have watched that twice (Poker Face). Foundation is something I can put on and not pay that much attention to but is visually cool, like most of the stuff on Apple since they’ve taken over the *prestige TV* moniker from HBO (imo, at least). I’ve literally watched more non YouTube content in the last 2 weeks than I have in probably the 6 months combined. My streaming subscriptions are finally paying for themselves. Next up will be finishing off “Northern Exposure” from where I stopped watching early last spring. My sister texted me last night with “do you have any way for me to watch Rick & Morty s7?”. To put this in perspective, my sister, 50, does not own a TV and literally got her first cell phone a little over a year ago when she started grad school (fwiw, she’s not a total Luddite. 😁. She has a Mac and an iPad). The need for escape is definitely going around - bigly.
Since I don't read any fiction, I found Foundation really excellent; I have no idea what the books are about. I tried to reread Dune a few years back; it was as boring now as it was in 1977. The new movies are so awful I don't even remember if I saw part two or not ( David Lynch's mad version is way more fun; I can watch it over and over, but the new one? And does Timothy Chalamet ever actually play a different character in any film? Now, Fallout is worth the watch, so is The Witcher; gotta have some tongue in cheek with this genre. Silo I am having a hard time with. Say Nothing, about the Troubles in Ireland, is probably the best thing on tv right now; not escapist, but powerful.
Have you watched “For All Mankind”? I think it’s excellent. And it’s especially poignant right now given where our politics - and the space nazi’s place in it - is right now, even if it does track an alternate timeline.
Tried,will give it another shot. Watching old X Files reruns, never saw them the first time, I was too busy with career and family in the 90s. I'm an older retired white dude now, with some time. Started to watch Alien Romulus, decided I've seen this movie too many times before, and doesn't anyone have an original idea in Hollywood?
I bookmarked “Newhart” when Bob passed away earlier this year and while poking through “My Stuff” on Prime, discovered it again. I started watching that last weekend and despite some blatant misogyny (because, let’s be honest, that was still very rampant in the 1980s!!!) it holds up pretty well. Season 2, episode 4 (1983) basically outlines where we are today politically in this country. It’s uncanny coming from such a non-political show.
I started watching it for nostalgic reasons a few months back but only did 3 episodes, as I think the show didn't hit its stride for a few years. The classic body in the basement and Larry, Darryl and Darryl....I was trying to find the famous last scene of the final episode but I didn't see it in the one the had on whatever platform had it.
If you haven’t seen “Station Eleven,” it’s a really good series about US society in a post-pandemic world.
I have seen it -- and yes, it's very good.
I had a “Baltar 2004” t-shirt, iirc. Ah, when I was young and naive.
You and Ana started me watching BSG again and I thank you!
Oh, and thanks for your earlier recommendation of Scalzi’s *Starter Villain.* Might be time to revisit the exploits of Charlie, Hera, & Persephone. I wonder what those foul mouthed dolphins are up to?
Lol that BSG election is a doozy. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya!
"hard-working staff here" is either leaning too hard into irony or is disturbingly unironic "gilded age" ...
Andor is the best thing Disney has done in a long time and probably the best ever Star Wars thing. But I kind of feel the subject matter is a bit too real in these weeks before the new troubling times.
There was far greater shock and disbelief when Trump won in '16. A lot of my progressive friends seem to have forgotten this, or don't really care. I asked where is the outrage, the mobs, the tee shirts and p*ssy hats, the podiums and celebrities? They told me, what are you talking about?
Over at reactormag.com, the blogging/online arm of sf publisher Tor, there’s a Babylon 5 rewatch underway. A lot of its themes really resonate right now…
https://reactormag.com/tag/babylon-5-rewatch/
Mostly so I don’t need to look at his ugly mug, I’ve been reading my news for years. And while I’ve always loved the pomp and circumstance of the inauguration, I’ve booked a weeklong trip to a North American country that did elect a woman, just so I can completely tune out. We’ll all come back to it in one way or another as time goes on and fortunately I can read your newsletter after you’ve done the hard work.
This all tracks! I’ve been pretty much avoiding all politics except for text-based news. I put BSG on about 3 weeks ago for a rewatch. Then I rewatched Foundation (even with its obvious flaws) and have been catching the weekly episodes of The Silo. And while it doesn’t align with the whole*overcoming something* ethos, Lower Decks has new episodes airing now too. 😁
No, not Foundation. That was an objectively awful interpretation of Asimov's work.
At least stream Poker Face. Natasha Lyonne is spectacular
lol. I have watched that twice (Poker Face). Foundation is something I can put on and not pay that much attention to but is visually cool, like most of the stuff on Apple since they’ve taken over the *prestige TV* moniker from HBO (imo, at least). I’ve literally watched more non YouTube content in the last 2 weeks than I have in probably the 6 months combined. My streaming subscriptions are finally paying for themselves. Next up will be finishing off “Northern Exposure” from where I stopped watching early last spring. My sister texted me last night with “do you have any way for me to watch Rick & Morty s7?”. To put this in perspective, my sister, 50, does not own a TV and literally got her first cell phone a little over a year ago when she started grad school (fwiw, she’s not a total Luddite. 😁. She has a Mac and an iPad). The need for escape is definitely going around - bigly.
Since I don't read any fiction, I found Foundation really excellent; I have no idea what the books are about. I tried to reread Dune a few years back; it was as boring now as it was in 1977. The new movies are so awful I don't even remember if I saw part two or not ( David Lynch's mad version is way more fun; I can watch it over and over, but the new one? And does Timothy Chalamet ever actually play a different character in any film? Now, Fallout is worth the watch, so is The Witcher; gotta have some tongue in cheek with this genre. Silo I am having a hard time with. Say Nothing, about the Troubles in Ireland, is probably the best thing on tv right now; not escapist, but powerful.
Have you watched “For All Mankind”? I think it’s excellent. And it’s especially poignant right now given where our politics - and the space nazi’s place in it - is right now, even if it does track an alternate timeline.
Tried,will give it another shot. Watching old X Files reruns, never saw them the first time, I was too busy with career and family in the 90s. I'm an older retired white dude now, with some time. Started to watch Alien Romulus, decided I've seen this movie too many times before, and doesn't anyone have an original idea in Hollywood?
I bookmarked “Newhart” when Bob passed away earlier this year and while poking through “My Stuff” on Prime, discovered it again. I started watching that last weekend and despite some blatant misogyny (because, let’s be honest, that was still very rampant in the 1980s!!!) it holds up pretty well. Season 2, episode 4 (1983) basically outlines where we are today politically in this country. It’s uncanny coming from such a non-political show.
I started watching it for nostalgic reasons a few months back but only did 3 episodes, as I think the show didn't hit its stride for a few years. The classic body in the basement and Larry, Darryl and Darryl....I was trying to find the famous last scene of the final episode but I didn't see it in the one the had on whatever platform had it.