In Praise of Nice Things & Peer Pressure

In which good ideas come from LeBron James, The Fug Girls, and darling Louis Tomlinson!

Dearest Darlings of Dames Nation,

We are in the dog days of summer here in North America. I know that dog days refer to Sirius, but all that phrase makes me think of is lying on an even-hotter-than-anticipated bit of pavement, while wearing an unremovable fur coat. Unpleasant! Certainly not nice. Could we please have some nice things instead?

My esteemed colleague has put it perfectly

Animal is not sharing a “yes” of permission, though it might look like that to the more unhinged among us. It is instead a “yes” of exhortation. It is an insistent “yes”. A great big friendly barbaric yawp of a “YES”! We are going to have nice things, and we are going to do so with a vengeance. We are going to nice thing it up in such a way that those who would deny nice things to themselves, to us, or to anyone else who wants them gets a weird little tingle at the back of their neck and immediately thinks better of it. Because yes, we can have nice things, and by god, nice things we shall have.

I’ll start! You pick up wherever you’d like!

Nice Thing The First: Silly Stuff on The Internet. Remember when the Internet was fun? Like, reliably fun, every damn day? I SURE DO. I like when things are silly. Silliness is a respite from the unending spray of sadness and horror, and I demand the opportunity to enjoy it and be restored by it. Silliness is a mental wet wipe! It’s the emotional equivalent of ice-cold water from the hose on a hot day! Give me silliness or give me…something that won’t kill me but that will be powerful grist for my silliness millstones!

In an earlier draft of this newsletter, written on Tuesday, Silly Stuff on The Internet was Nice Thing The Fourth, and included the following paragraph (which I screenshot on Friday for posterity just before scrapping and rewriting most of this issue):

That stubborn, miniscule [sic[ flame of hope is a mighty inferno of joy now, I tell you what!!!

WELL. Imagine my totally gobsmacked, giddy surprise just before noon on Friday when King James announced that he was, in fact, coming to play for Philadelphia, after all! Seb & I FaceTimed while weeping; Boston Damespals Maggie & James called me to scream about it; my texts were flooded with all caps enthusiasm and too many exclamation points to count! I’m still slightly dazed that this — LeBron James is a Sixer — is actually happening?

Twitter delivered, as only Twitter can, with memes aplenty, and with real-time expressions of the joy erupting throughout Sixers Nation. (I’m exercising heroic restraint by sharing just two.)

Nice Thing The Second: Rewatching Deadwood. If you’ve watched Deadwood, and you’ve been reading this issue of TBD, you might could have thought to yourself, “Dame Sophie is really feeling her florid writing style oats this week, huh? I wonder why that might be.” Wonder no more, friends! It’s because I’m rewatching Deadwood in full for the fourth time.

King of jaw-clenching Sheriff Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant)

Fun fact: Deadwood is my favorite TV drama of all time. Why, way back in the olden times when it first aired, I loved to read Allison Lowe Huff’s weekly recaps over at Television Without Pity, of blessed memory! A few challengers for my affections have arrived over the years, but as wonderful as they are (hey, Babylon Berlin! What’s up, The Leftovers? Friday Night Lights forever! Reservation Dogs, aho!) none has taken Deadwood’s place in these four chambers.

Dazzled, Stricken & Horny: The Babylon Berlin Experience

I wasn’t planning to write about Deadwood, but Jessica Morgan rewatched and wrote about Rome for Drinks With Broads’s very occasional series, Does It Hold Up? I’ve decided to bow to this unintentional, yet beneficial peer pressure. In Jessica’s estimation, Rome merits a qualified upholding (an upholding with mild reservations, let’s say). As for Deadwood, I’m pleased to offer it my most unreserved upholding for its longevity. Every aspect I had hoped would still shine — the writing, the performances, the costume and production design — has proven both durable and durably influential over the last 25 years.

Consider Janie Bryant’s costume design. I see her work on Mad Men cited constantly, and with good reason; those costumes were gorgeous and substantive, every bit as vital to the series’ storytelling as Matthew Weiner’s writing. I wonder if Deadwood is an even more impressive accomplishment, given how layered the costumes are and how much work they have to do. Many are not just worn repeatedly, but exclusively — can you recall Al Swearengen wearing anything but that striped black suit over his union suit? — and among the main ensemble cast, must be visually distinctive in scarcely any light as well as full daylight. (Oh, dearie me, to answer this question, I’ll just have to rewatch Mad Men. Your thoughts and prayers are most gratefully accepted at this trying time.)

Speaking of the actors, I struggle to think of any casting directors whose work has been more influential than of Junie Lowry Johnson, Julie Tucker, and Libby Goldstein. I’m not even talking about Timothy Olyphant (although I could and will talk about him at length in an issue to come) or Ian McShane, but of all of the actors who’ve gone on to enjoy long-running starring or supporting roles on series like Justified, Breaking Bad, Bosch, Lost, The Walking Dead, and Hacks. What eyes for talent!

And he had way less range back then!

Nice Thing The Third: One Direction Listening Party. Just one more before I go! This week marked 16 years of One Direction. Longtime readers know what a balm to my heart and psyche they’ve been since they helped make my 2017 post-election grief more bearable. As the lads have pursued their solo careers and very tragically endured the loss of Liam Payne, fans have continued to celebrate the anniversary of 1D’s formation online every year.

A Brief Harry Styles Primer For Young Olds

This year, Louis Tomlinson got really into the spirit of things by re-listening to 1D’s entire discography and chronicling his song-by-song reactions in his Instagram Stories. What a legend. I’m not up to that completist commitment, but it is always a good day to listen to Four (aka the best darn classic rock album of 2014) and I’m always here for slept-on song recommendations from their catalog. Thanks for the (midnight) memories, LT, appreciate you!

I always want to hear about the Nice Things keeping Dames Nation sane, so please do share with the class!