This week I was called to jury duty. I was so excited, and hoped to get on a case. But alas, I was not needed. As on previous jury calls, it’s nice to see a big random-ish slice of your community, and to get a view of how things work. I was surprised how much paper-shuffling goes on. All those perforated mailers getting torn and re-sorted and passed around over and over and over.
School
Oh boy. Should be able to knock out one of three course projects tomorrow. Hopefully the next two not far behind. Two classes to go.
Running
I’m doing mid-week hill workouts this month. Mostly “just because”. It’s been fun to red-line and learn where the limit is, if only for 20-30 seconds at a time.
Books
Native American Folklore and Traditions. Last weekend I went to the library and picked up some coffee table books to keep lying around. This one has cool old photographs, illustrations, and as-told-by vignettes of the lives from a few different cultures.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Maybe it’s because I kept trying to read this in bed with my mental battery at ~3%, but I simply could not follow a word he was saying. Another time! Great movie, though.
We Had to Remove This Post. A novella about a content moderator at a fictional social media company. Best when it touches on the socioeconomics that could lead someone into these roles. It is unrelentingly dark.
Music
Depeche Mode Week, cont.. Hit a rough patch and recovered!
- Exciter. “Dream On” has some outlaw country flavor to it, and also that slide guitar in “The Sweetest Condition“. “Comatose” has some interesting electronics whoops and gurgles. I appreciate the experimentation, in the abstract, but did not love this album.
- Playing the Angel. Distorted noise? That’s definitely “A Pain That I’m Used To“, and appreciate. Overall, not into the vocals.
- Sounds of the Universe. “Fragile Tension” and “Jezebel” are the winner, maybe?
- Spirit. The processing on the vocals isn’t my favorite, but I like the steady grind of “You Move“.
- Memento Mori. We’re back! What a rebound! One of my most-played albums last year. “Ghosts Again” and “Always You” both have a desperate achiness that gets me every time.
The Pointer Sisters, So Excited!. Saved By The Bell memes aside, the title track is so so so good. Honky-tonk piano adds a lil’ somethin’ you don’t hear much anymore.
Candi Staton, Young Hearts Run Free. Again, that title track is electric – perfect blend of depressing lyrics and intoxicating disco. Stuck in my head for days. “Summer Time With You” delivers the Barry/Marvin/dancefloor/orchestra/whispered romance you need this time of year.
Koffee was recommended by a run club buddy who’s into dancehall/reggae. Listened to Rapture and Gifted. I like “Gifted” and really like “Lonely“.
Brahms, Piano Concerto No. 1.
Articles & Episodes & Twoots
Against optimization. “Optimization presumes a kind of certainty about the circumstances one is optimizing for, but that certainty is, more often than not, illusory.”
“Mr. Jarndyce called me into a small room next his bedchamber, which I found to be in part a little library of books and papers, and in part quite a little museum of his boots and shoes, and hat- boxes. ‘Sit down, my dear,’ said Mr. Jarndyce. ‘This, you must know, is the Growlery. When I am out of humour, I come and growl here.'” (via)
“When you’re learning a trade, it’s almost impossible to be patient. You have no idea how it’s supposed to go, so you’re often doubting yourself. You charge through and see what it’s like first. It makes patience impossible.”
The collage-wall immediately communicates to an audience: “here lies a teenage girl.”
NSYNC – I Want You Back. Looking at their music video is so revealing. The varying levels of comfort on-camera, showmanship, dance precision. Contrast with “It’s Gonna Be Me” just a few years later (production value aside) – it’s easy to forget the development from beginners to experts!
The Musical History Lesson Buried Beneath the Song of the Summer.
Look how neat this tiny little TV is.
Our Incredible Journey catalogs when companies get acquired and throw their customers to the wolves, lol.
Movies
Godzilla Minus One. Loved this movie, and it has taken the crown for favorite movie of my watching year. I appreciate this as a period piece, and not just in costume – also works in an orchestral soundtrack, and heightened acting and staging that wouldn’t be out of place in the late 1940s. Fascinated by this idea of Godzilla being a creature known to locals, but barely a rumor elsewhere. Unresolved shame will keep you from love!
TV
The X-Files, s2e16, “Colony“. A bit disorienting, didn’t get the usual time to settle in. Clones being hunted down!
Abbott Elementary, s3e13, “Smith Playground”. Are Janine and Gregory getting together or what?
Bodkin, s1e5. Most interesting episode so far in terms of structure. Also appreciate the mostly-Elvis soundtrack.