About 90% of the #content I’m able to engage with right now falls into one of two modes: High Intensity Narratives Totally Separate From This Particular Historical Moment (see: Wolf Hall, Babylon Berlin, GoodFellas) and Totally Absurd Comic Genius (Long or Short Form, Contemporary or Vintage).
If you have the mental bandwidth to share in the open thread, I would simply love to know what’s working for you right now, whatever medium it’s in (tunes, something you’re reading, no matter how slowly, tv, movies, videos, WHATEVER). Links? Let’s see! All you can muster is a description? Great, lay it on us!
Kicking things off, here are four minutes of perfection in the form of Donald O’Connor being a godlike genius of musical & physical comedy:
Contemporary Hilarity: this bananas little video starts out at 9 and goes allllll the way up to like 19. I have watched it at least 10 times today & have laughed so hard I count it as my abs workout forr the week: https://twitter.com/swembo2000/status/1247573058073706496
I think the mom is in on the joke. I love how he's marching around and ostensibly trashing the house but actually doesn't damage anything. The fact that his friend/brother/partner is playing LIVE, increasingly deranged "organ" is currently my favorite thing about it
Karen C. here. Totally Absurd Comic Genius for me has consisted of sketch comedies, which are not usually my thing at all but I guess maybe they are? Favs are I Think You Should Leave on Netflix, A Black Lady Sketch Show on HBO, and Baroness Von Sketch Show which is on IFC but I watched it via a Sling TV free trial. LAFFS!
Thank you for reminding me of I Think You Should Leave & A Black Lady Sketch Show! I find sketches of all durations easier to metabolize even than a half-hour sitcom these days. I LOVE LAFFS!
I absolutely MUST share the documentary Bathtubs over Broadway. Here's my pitch: MUSICALS, but WEIRD; under 90 minutes long; I laughed; I learned things that will be interesting to bring up at future dinner parties (when allowed again); and I HAPPY CRIED. No, not "cried because my emotions are a mess and everything comes out as crying" cried...actual tears of joy. Find it on Netflix.
My husband and I finally decided to start watching Bojack Horseman, and we're having a great time with it so far!
I read a lot, and I keep wanting to reread Tamora Pierce's Tortall books (lady knights). They're the ultimate comfort books for me, and I try to read them no more than once a year. But I redirected myself into The Blue Sword, about a different lady warrior, kidnapped to fight a desert war, which is very epic and serious. Another good recent read was Unnatural Magic, which had this awesome relationship between a domineering female troll and a meek soldier dude. It was so charming and fresh.
We watched John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch with our 4-year-old and his genuine love of Mr. Music brought me a brief bit of joy and a reprieve from watching The Secret Life of Pets 2 and Detective Pikachu back-to-back on a loop forever.
I’ve been trying to keep it light with Schitt’s Creek and the audiobook of The Wedding Date, but after the news today I broke down and listened to a John Prine compilation and Stay Awake, and spent some quality time sobbing. I think our current crisis hit me today in a way that it hadn’t before.
Schitt’s is, as you know, a goddamn delight. I’d been meaning to check out The Wedding Date since I read about it here, and I love it. If there are better people to shelter in place with than Alexa and Drew, I haven’t met them yet.
This is so random but HBO just released a movie called Good Boys and it was the funniest and (feminist?!) laugh break I have had in a while. All you need to know before watching is the best line from the film, which is: "Shut up, Atticus! Everyone knows your mom plagiarized that cookbook!" God I needed a belly laugh like that.
I just watched this thanks to your rec and it was so funny; thank you! The kids’ spot-on names were one of my favorite parts. Thor! Atticus! Brixlee! Soren!
The Bon Appetit YouTube channel. Especially Gourmet Makes, It's Alive, and the "Making Perfect: Pizza" Series. Also, "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" on Hulu. Subtitles mean you can't be on another screen and it's so beautiful and so quiet that I sat stock still for nearly two hours and soaked in the story.
Bon Appetit's YT is a standby family dinnertime watch for us. My husband ships Brad & Claire, and it turns out Alex Delany's family lives like 20 minutes away. I feel like we should somehow leverage our geographic proximity (I'm in South Jersey, you're in South Jersey, we all like food....????) to get him on board as a future guest editor
I have been rewatching my favorite murders of the charming variety (Miss Fisher), absurd variety (Criminal Minds), and real life variety (Forensic Files and Unsolved Mysteries). I haven't had the brain power for anything else except video games, which I have fully given myself over to at this point. Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing are the only creative outlets my brain can manage.
So I historically am a CRAFTY person and literally lovingly creating knitwork in Animal Crossing is the only remotely like creative outlet I can handle rn. I made the sweater from Knives Out though, so I'm proud.
I made one relatively simple dress and the flag for my island and that was so hard that I'm in awe of anyone who's making actualfax designs! (and I am also hoarding them shamelessly, of course) I've been generally taking it slowly overall? I have some friends who are full on grinding, but I'm more interested in the a) fashion and b) interior decorating, so I've been slow to actually revamp my town. (Which is a total 180 from the way I play Stardew Valley, where my goal is always to get those four candles from grandpa on the first try.)
I just devoured Erin Morgenstern's The Starless Sea. Transported me to another world filled with so many lovely literary references. It reminded me of reading Inkheart when I was younger.
I L O V E Deanna Raybourn's Veronica Speedwell mysteries. Adventurous lepidopterist Veronica Speedwell gallivants about Victorian England solving mysteries with her gloriously muscular taxidermist/surgeon companion Stoker. Sexual tension & banter, cast of colorful characters, lavish descriptions of 1880s London (and elsewhere). 10/10 cozy & delightful.
Also, watching anything with subtitles helps me focus on watching instead of dipping into my phone and continuing a mindless and anxiety-inducing Twitter scroll. Unorthodox on Netflix was super good!
We are watching Babylon Berlin (German w/English subtitles) right now in part for this reason. I haven't seen Unorthodox yet but am looking forward to it! The lead actress gave a great performance in Shtisel, too (2 very absorbing seasons on Netflix!)
the books of Here for It, by R. Eric Thomas and Lindy West's The Witches are Coming are both so incredibly well written and offer short, punchy essays which will make you laugh, tear up, punch the air, stomp your foot, and want to share it immediately with others! AND you can support an independent book seller if you buy them online, as an added bonus :) check out Nowhere Bookshop which is run by the amazing Jenny Lawson, whose book, Furiously Happy, is also an incredible balm to the soul in these Weird Times.
I've been listening to The Poppy War audiobook, not necessarily lighthearted but immersive and distracting nonetheless! Also streaming The Bold Type, I Love Lucy, and Bob's Burgers for my lighthearted content--they're hitting the spot so far
I seem to be doing the best with light mysteries right now. I reread two of the Goldie Schulz cozy mysteries, which follow the crime solving exploits of a caterer living in Colorado. They’re light and it occurred to me after I finished reading the first that another thing that is so soothing about them is that Goldie is really competent at figuring her way out of tricky situations, be they catering or crime related. I moved on to The Last Equation of Isaac Severy, which is a charming puzzle-mystery that people who liked The Westing Game or Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts would probably really enjoy.
Two lesser-noticed CW shows that I have been enjoying: Nancy Drew, which decided early on to shift heavily into supernatural silliness. Currently they’re dealing with a wrathful sea spirit. It’s not good, but it’s fun.
And Roswell, New Mexico which is much better than it has any right to be. It’s a remake of the late-90s show, but they aged the characters about 10 years. It may be a bit too real-world (for a show about aliens) if you’re looking for escapism, but it’s not afraid of taking its events seriously. A few episodes into Season 2, and it’s keeping the quality up.
-watching: just finished Succession. Wow those people are terrible and I love them. Gerri and Roman are my faves but every character is so fully formed. And the writing. God it’s good.
I’m also watching law and order like it’s my job—recording reruns from obscure channels on my parents dvr like it’s high school again.
Reading: I’m balancing three books at once. In print: Master and Commander, a Travis McGee mystery for when I get tired of naVal battles. On audio: I am listening to Ballet Shoes while I needlepoint which is super soothing. If any one has recs for similar middle grade/YA (school stories, found families) I’m all ears.
It's not exactly the same but Dodie Smith's 101 Dalmatians, which the disney movie was based on, has a great middle grade sweetness. the audiobook version is particularly a good experience
For Dodie Smith delightfulness everyone should read I Capture the Castle if they haven't already, its is absolutely wonderful and cozy and has the best characters living in an actual castle with a moat.
I have taken the advice of Dame Margaret and watched Queens of Mystery with my free Acorn trial; I liked it very well and hope it gets another season to further develop the things I would like to see more of.
I have also begun watching The Good Wife for the first time, and... friends... I am living for it.
The only things my brain currently has capacity for are largely cooking shows - I've been rewatching Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat near constantly (also rewatching Leverage, because it's my gold standard TV show). I've also been listening to Samin's new podcast, Home Cooking, which is a DELIGHT, as to be expected.
I just finished The Final Table on Netflix, which was entertaining and full of very pretty food and impressive techniques (although I feel like it's their attempt to make an Iron Chef show, which definitely did not work as well as Iron Chef, but was not great on addressing problems the food industry has had and is also a little too 'French cuisine is THE epitome of all cooking' which had me rolling my eyes).
David Chang's "Ugly Delicious" is a good go to if this is your genre. And it's only available behind a paywall right now, but "Mind of a Chef" is a great one, too. There are a couple of excellent movies, too. "Chef" with Jon Favereau and "Haute Cuisine" which is a woman who was a chef for the French PM and is now the chef at the research station in Antarctica
If you're looking for a good audio book to enjoy with grade schoolers and parents, try The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid by Colin Meloy (of the Decemberists). Fun caper, great characters, and Bronson Pinchot narrates and does all the accents.
The Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast ep with Keegan Michael-Key is worth several re-listens, as is the one with Tig Notaro. Perfect for cooking to...
I have enjoyed books set in totally different times (The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry and A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn), but today’s thing keeping me afloat is Queen’s set at Live Aid, which, yes, I am old enough to remember. 👵🏼 I haven’t seen Bohemian Rhapsody mostly because I can’t believe the time wouldn’t be better spent watching this a few more times. https://youtu.be/a87-SYfD0js
I put off going anywhere near it due to Clowns, but honestly the narrative that is helping me get by and distract myself right now is IT by Stephen King. I’ve been burying myself in it, either book or movies, for a week or two and surprisingly it’s helped. Funnily, the story I used as a coping mechanism/distraction during my last personal crisis was LOTR, so I think maybe I just cling to stories of 7-9 misfits coming together in friendship and using hope and love and strength to fight evil?
My focus being completely shot means I kinda have a scattershot approach. First Up. PBS overall is great but Lucy Worsley's documentaries are a delight, as well as Great Performances, so far I watched Celtic Women and k. d. lang. I also loved Moving Parts the Trixie Mattel Documentary (I being a sporadic Drag Race viewer at best). Books I just finished Guest Book by Leanne Shapton, which was the first thing I could bring myself to read. It's weird format makes it super palatable at least to me who is having a hard time reading. I also loved the YA Novel Only Mostly Devastated which I was surprised at how quickly I blitzed through. And lastly, the thing I have talked about the most is, The Secret Lives of Color which the book itself is a beautiful object but also it's broken down in to short details about specific colors so it's great to read a bit then put it back down. Also despite not really being a poetry person, Poetry has been super helpful to me right now.
Audiobooks are my go to right now. I've got Ted Chiang's Exhalation on right now, Carol is on tap. And the Fleabag the Scriptures to pair with the streaming stage show on Friday.
Right now I am only capable of the lightest, fluffiest of things. The merengues of media. I am:
Playing: Animal Crossing.
Watching: Derry Girls for the 2nd (....4th) time, Mel Brooks movies, romantic comedies of the Worst But Also the Best variety (27 Dresses, Bridget Jones' Diary, etc)
Reading: anything by Alyssa Cole but especially her Reluctant Royals series. YA rom coms, feminist fantasy (esp Tamora Pierce)
I can't focus on reading physical books right now, so I've been listening to the Witcher series on audio while I cook and do chores and play Animal Crossing. The narrator does a fantastic job with all the voices, and it's nice to spend time in a world where people can just go about their job of fighting actual giant monsters.
Mysteries, like so many others, because in times of uncertainty, mysteries are so . . . certain. Right over wrong. Firm conclusions. Neat endings.
Reading: the Faye Kellerman books. Years ago, when they were new, I read the first few Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus books, but I hadn’t read any in years. I recently have been reading the latest ones, when Peter has retired from the LAPD and he and Rina have moved to upstate New York to be nearer their children and grandchildren. Meanwhile, I’ve started listening to the first book, The Ritual Bath. Good writing, great characters, not too gory or intense.
Watching: on BritBox, just watched the latest seasons of Father Brown and Death in Paradise. Just started Waking the Dead, about a cold-case team. And just before the library closed, I grabbed Season 1 of Castle—even though we’ve seen all 8 seasons, it’s fun to go back and re-watch the first season, especially to see how the characters were always who they are, and to watch how Castle looks at cases with the novelist’s eye.
I just finished reading The Wicked + The Divine today and it was pretty great. About a week and a half ago I read all of Locke and Key. Thanks Hoopla app and Boston Public Library! Oh, speaking the BPL of I was just able to get my digital loan of Bellwether Rhapsody, so that’s next!
I truly cannot recommend the video game Stardew Valley enough-- it is deeply soothing (you play a farmer!), it is not super hard (I really didn't play video games before this one), there are magical details, and it is utterly absorbing. Also it's cheap AF and you can play it on pretty much any computer or Switch or whatever you may have.
Contemporary Hilarity: this bananas little video starts out at 9 and goes allllll the way up to like 19. I have watched it at least 10 times today & have laughed so hard I count it as my abs workout forr the week: https://twitter.com/swembo2000/status/1247573058073706496
I SHRIEKED at this video. SHRIEKED. It is so dumb and it made me laugh so hard!
That gets funnier and funnier. Is mom in on the joke? I thought yes, coworker I gchatted said no.
I think the mom is in on the joke. I love how he's marching around and ostensibly trashing the house but actually doesn't damage anything. The fact that his friend/brother/partner is playing LIVE, increasingly deranged "organ" is currently my favorite thing about it
Karen C. here. Totally Absurd Comic Genius for me has consisted of sketch comedies, which are not usually my thing at all but I guess maybe they are? Favs are I Think You Should Leave on Netflix, A Black Lady Sketch Show on HBO, and Baroness Von Sketch Show which is on IFC but I watched it via a Sling TV free trial. LAFFS!
Thank you for reminding me of I Think You Should Leave & A Black Lady Sketch Show! I find sketches of all durations easier to metabolize even than a half-hour sitcom these days. I LOVE LAFFS!
SCHITT'S CREEK
I absolutely MUST share the documentary Bathtubs over Broadway. Here's my pitch: MUSICALS, but WEIRD; under 90 minutes long; I laughed; I learned things that will be interesting to bring up at future dinner parties (when allowed again); and I HAPPY CRIED. No, not "cried because my emotions are a mess and everything comes out as crying" cried...actual tears of joy. Find it on Netflix.
YES SO GOOD! One of my favorites of the last year!
The only thing working for me right now is Mr Bean (currently on prime) and rereading Tamora Pierce novels. 10/10 would recommend.
Tamora Pierce rereads are so tempting right now!
My husband and I finally decided to start watching Bojack Horseman, and we're having a great time with it so far!
I read a lot, and I keep wanting to reread Tamora Pierce's Tortall books (lady knights). They're the ultimate comfort books for me, and I try to read them no more than once a year. But I redirected myself into The Blue Sword, about a different lady warrior, kidnapped to fight a desert war, which is very epic and serious. Another good recent read was Unnatural Magic, which had this awesome relationship between a domineering female troll and a meek soldier dude. It was so charming and fresh.
I love the Blue Sword & all of Tortall & am overdue for a reread of both
We watched John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch with our 4-year-old and his genuine love of Mr. Music brought me a brief bit of joy and a reprieve from watching The Secret Life of Pets 2 and Detective Pikachu back-to-back on a loop forever.
Grandma's Got a Boyfriend is so funny that I thought I was going to pee. And David Byrne!
He ain't kill my grandpa! He don't do nothin at all!
I’ve been trying to keep it light with Schitt’s Creek and the audiobook of The Wedding Date, but after the news today I broke down and listened to a John Prine compilation and Stay Awake, and spent some quality time sobbing. I think our current crisis hit me today in a way that it hadn’t before.
Schitt’s is, as you know, a goddamn delight. I’d been meaning to check out The Wedding Date since I read about it here, and I love it. If there are better people to shelter in place with than Alexa and Drew, I haven’t met them yet.
This is so random but HBO just released a movie called Good Boys and it was the funniest and (feminist?!) laugh break I have had in a while. All you need to know before watching is the best line from the film, which is: "Shut up, Atticus! Everyone knows your mom plagiarized that cookbook!" God I needed a belly laugh like that.
This one? I'm so glad to hear it's good! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPXqwAGmX04
Yes! Haha
I just watched this thanks to your rec and it was so funny; thank you! The kids’ spot-on names were one of my favorite parts. Thor! Atticus! Brixlee! Soren!
BRIXLEE. Human creativity never fails
The Bon Appetit YouTube channel. Especially Gourmet Makes, It's Alive, and the "Making Perfect: Pizza" Series. Also, "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" on Hulu. Subtitles mean you can't be on another screen and it's so beautiful and so quiet that I sat stock still for nearly two hours and soaked in the story.
Bon Appetit's YT is a standby family dinnertime watch for us. My husband ships Brad & Claire, and it turns out Alex Delany's family lives like 20 minutes away. I feel like we should somehow leverage our geographic proximity (I'm in South Jersey, you're in South Jersey, we all like food....????) to get him on board as a future guest editor
I found the Bon Appetit Kids Try... series on Hulu and it soothed me greatly. Watching kids react to foods they've never had before was some pure joy!
I have been rewatching my favorite murders of the charming variety (Miss Fisher), absurd variety (Criminal Minds), and real life variety (Forensic Files and Unsolved Mysteries). I haven't had the brain power for anything else except video games, which I have fully given myself over to at this point. Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing are the only creative outlets my brain can manage.
So I historically am a CRAFTY person and literally lovingly creating knitwork in Animal Crossing is the only remotely like creative outlet I can handle rn. I made the sweater from Knives Out though, so I'm proud.
I made one relatively simple dress and the flag for my island and that was so hard that I'm in awe of anyone who's making actualfax designs! (and I am also hoarding them shamelessly, of course) I've been generally taking it slowly overall? I have some friends who are full on grinding, but I'm more interested in the a) fashion and b) interior decorating, so I've been slow to actually revamp my town. (Which is a total 180 from the way I play Stardew Valley, where my goal is always to get those four candles from grandpa on the first try.)
I just devoured Erin Morgenstern's The Starless Sea. Transported me to another world filled with so many lovely literary references. It reminded me of reading Inkheart when I was younger.
Rosehaven!!!!!!! About two friends moving to a small town in Tasmania and trying to be real estate agents. Kind of like Playing House, Parks and Rec, Schitt's Creek. All three seasons on Amazon w/ Sundance Now. https://www.amazon.com/Rosehaven-Ep-1/dp/B077PJ3ZV2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=F9909FAD4TFU&dchild=1&keywords=rosehaven+season+1&qid=1586377802&sprefix=rosehaven%2Caps%2C611&sr=8-1
Oh my gosh, thank you for this. It looks amazing.
I L O V E Deanna Raybourn's Veronica Speedwell mysteries. Adventurous lepidopterist Veronica Speedwell gallivants about Victorian England solving mysteries with her gloriously muscular taxidermist/surgeon companion Stoker. Sexual tension & banter, cast of colorful characters, lavish descriptions of 1880s London (and elsewhere). 10/10 cozy & delightful.
Solo dance parties to 80's Nigerian pop and disco. https://open.spotify.com/album/2HrTsqwGyIXPvEAfZAwSYE
Also, watching anything with subtitles helps me focus on watching instead of dipping into my phone and continuing a mindless and anxiety-inducing Twitter scroll. Unorthodox on Netflix was super good!
We are watching Babylon Berlin (German w/English subtitles) right now in part for this reason. I haven't seen Unorthodox yet but am looking forward to it! The lead actress gave a great performance in Shtisel, too (2 very absorbing seasons on Netflix!)
My five year old and I just watched the Make Em Laugh clip and she laughed out loud the entire time. Thank you for that!!
She may like all of Singing in the Rain, I forget when I first saw it, but I grew up watching it and still have a soft spot for it.
It's the first movie I remember seeing. And I was wee. Probably 5. And Ate.It.Up.
I read 10 (TEN) novels about a supernatural mercenary solving werewolf crimes in a post apocalyptic Atlanta.
(The Kate Daniels novels by Ilona Andrews, they were great!)
I love this series! You should try the Edge series or Hidden Legacy series by the same authors (If you haven’t dived in already)
Y E S
the books of Here for It, by R. Eric Thomas and Lindy West's The Witches are Coming are both so incredibly well written and offer short, punchy essays which will make you laugh, tear up, punch the air, stomp your foot, and want to share it immediately with others! AND you can support an independent book seller if you buy them online, as an added bonus :) check out Nowhere Bookshop which is run by the amazing Jenny Lawson, whose book, Furiously Happy, is also an incredible balm to the soul in these Weird Times.
I've been listening to The Poppy War audiobook, not necessarily lighthearted but immersive and distracting nonetheless! Also streaming The Bold Type, I Love Lucy, and Bob's Burgers for my lighthearted content--they're hitting the spot so far
Omg, The Poppy War gets so dark! Totally not the end I expected. Things just get worse and worse and worse.
I seem to be doing the best with light mysteries right now. I reread two of the Goldie Schulz cozy mysteries, which follow the crime solving exploits of a caterer living in Colorado. They’re light and it occurred to me after I finished reading the first that another thing that is so soothing about them is that Goldie is really competent at figuring her way out of tricky situations, be they catering or crime related. I moved on to The Last Equation of Isaac Severy, which is a charming puzzle-mystery that people who liked The Westing Game or Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts would probably really enjoy.
I for some reason have only been able to focus on the tv show Psych. It's not perfect, but damn it's good comfort food.
Two lesser-noticed CW shows that I have been enjoying: Nancy Drew, which decided early on to shift heavily into supernatural silliness. Currently they’re dealing with a wrathful sea spirit. It’s not good, but it’s fun.
And Roswell, New Mexico which is much better than it has any right to be. It’s a remake of the late-90s show, but they aged the characters about 10 years. It may be a bit too real-world (for a show about aliens) if you’re looking for escapism, but it’s not afraid of taking its events seriously. A few episodes into Season 2, and it’s keeping the quality up.
Rewatching Parks & Rec and true crime books
I am
-watching: just finished Succession. Wow those people are terrible and I love them. Gerri and Roman are my faves but every character is so fully formed. And the writing. God it’s good.
I’m also watching law and order like it’s my job—recording reruns from obscure channels on my parents dvr like it’s high school again.
Reading: I’m balancing three books at once. In print: Master and Commander, a Travis McGee mystery for when I get tired of naVal battles. On audio: I am listening to Ballet Shoes while I needlepoint which is super soothing. If any one has recs for similar middle grade/YA (school stories, found families) I’m all ears.
It's not exactly the same but Dodie Smith's 101 Dalmatians, which the disney movie was based on, has a great middle grade sweetness. the audiobook version is particularly a good experience
For Dodie Smith delightfulness everyone should read I Capture the Castle if they haven't already, its is absolutely wonderful and cozy and has the best characters living in an actual castle with a moat.
Make ‘Em Laugh is truly one of my favourite moments in cinema!
It literally never fails
Frasier. Some of that writing is LOL witty.
I have taken the advice of Dame Margaret and watched Queens of Mystery with my free Acorn trial; I liked it very well and hope it gets another season to further develop the things I would like to see more of.
I have also begun watching The Good Wife for the first time, and... friends... I am living for it.
We just got CBS All Access and although Picard is our top priority, The Good Wife is next
The only things my brain currently has capacity for are largely cooking shows - I've been rewatching Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat near constantly (also rewatching Leverage, because it's my gold standard TV show). I've also been listening to Samin's new podcast, Home Cooking, which is a DELIGHT, as to be expected.
I just finished The Final Table on Netflix, which was entertaining and full of very pretty food and impressive techniques (although I feel like it's their attempt to make an Iron Chef show, which definitely did not work as well as Iron Chef, but was not great on addressing problems the food industry has had and is also a little too 'French cuisine is THE epitome of all cooking' which had me rolling my eyes).
David Chang's "Ugly Delicious" is a good go to if this is your genre. And it's only available behind a paywall right now, but "Mind of a Chef" is a great one, too. There are a couple of excellent movies, too. "Chef" with Jon Favereau and "Haute Cuisine" which is a woman who was a chef for the French PM and is now the chef at the research station in Antarctica
If you're looking for a good audio book to enjoy with grade schoolers and parents, try The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid by Colin Meloy (of the Decemberists). Fun caper, great characters, and Bronson Pinchot narrates and does all the accents.
The Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast ep with Keegan Michael-Key is worth several re-listens, as is the one with Tig Notaro. Perfect for cooking to...
I have enjoyed books set in totally different times (The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry and A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn), but today’s thing keeping me afloat is Queen’s set at Live Aid, which, yes, I am old enough to remember. 👵🏼 I haven’t seen Bohemian Rhapsody mostly because I can’t believe the time wouldn’t be better spent watching this a few more times. https://youtu.be/a87-SYfD0js
You have absolutely made the right choice, no question. That set is GOLD. I am also very fond of U2's set from that day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCKcULlEydo
Haven’t seen this in years- it’s a real tour de force!
Been reading Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti mysteries and totally enjoying the escape to Venice. They are excellent audiobooks also.
Venice! Sigh. Someday we will go for real.
I put off going anywhere near it due to Clowns, but honestly the narrative that is helping me get by and distract myself right now is IT by Stephen King. I’ve been burying myself in it, either book or movies, for a week or two and surprisingly it’s helped. Funnily, the story I used as a coping mechanism/distraction during my last personal crisis was LOTR, so I think maybe I just cling to stories of 7-9 misfits coming together in friendship and using hope and love and strength to fight evil?
You really can never beat a good fellowship, it's just narrative science!
I love Make Em Laugh!!
My focus being completely shot means I kinda have a scattershot approach. First Up. PBS overall is great but Lucy Worsley's documentaries are a delight, as well as Great Performances, so far I watched Celtic Women and k. d. lang. I also loved Moving Parts the Trixie Mattel Documentary (I being a sporadic Drag Race viewer at best). Books I just finished Guest Book by Leanne Shapton, which was the first thing I could bring myself to read. It's weird format makes it super palatable at least to me who is having a hard time reading. I also loved the YA Novel Only Mostly Devastated which I was surprised at how quickly I blitzed through. And lastly, the thing I have talked about the most is, The Secret Lives of Color which the book itself is a beautiful object but also it's broken down in to short details about specific colors so it's great to read a bit then put it back down. Also despite not really being a poetry person, Poetry has been super helpful to me right now.
And obviously, Animal Crossing
Audiobooks are my go to right now. I've got Ted Chiang's Exhalation on right now, Carol is on tap. And the Fleabag the Scriptures to pair with the streaming stage show on Friday.
Right now I am only capable of the lightest, fluffiest of things. The merengues of media. I am:
Playing: Animal Crossing.
Watching: Derry Girls for the 2nd (....4th) time, Mel Brooks movies, romantic comedies of the Worst But Also the Best variety (27 Dresses, Bridget Jones' Diary, etc)
Reading: anything by Alyssa Cole but especially her Reluctant Royals series. YA rom coms, feminist fantasy (esp Tamora Pierce)
I can't focus on reading physical books right now, so I've been listening to the Witcher series on audio while I cook and do chores and play Animal Crossing. The narrator does a fantastic job with all the voices, and it's nice to spend time in a world where people can just go about their job of fighting actual giant monsters.
I'm finally reading the Beka Cooper series by Tamora Pierce!
Mysteries, like so many others, because in times of uncertainty, mysteries are so . . . certain. Right over wrong. Firm conclusions. Neat endings.
Reading: the Faye Kellerman books. Years ago, when they were new, I read the first few Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus books, but I hadn’t read any in years. I recently have been reading the latest ones, when Peter has retired from the LAPD and he and Rina have moved to upstate New York to be nearer their children and grandchildren. Meanwhile, I’ve started listening to the first book, The Ritual Bath. Good writing, great characters, not too gory or intense.
Watching: on BritBox, just watched the latest seasons of Father Brown and Death in Paradise. Just started Waking the Dead, about a cold-case team. And just before the library closed, I grabbed Season 1 of Castle—even though we’ve seen all 8 seasons, it’s fun to go back and re-watch the first season, especially to see how the characters were always who they are, and to watch how Castle looks at cases with the novelist’s eye.
I just finished reading The Wicked + The Divine today and it was pretty great. About a week and a half ago I read all of Locke and Key. Thanks Hoopla app and Boston Public Library! Oh, speaking the BPL of I was just able to get my digital loan of Bellwether Rhapsody, so that’s next!
I truly cannot recommend the video game Stardew Valley enough-- it is deeply soothing (you play a farmer!), it is not super hard (I really didn't play video games before this one), there are magical details, and it is utterly absorbing. Also it's cheap AF and you can play it on pretty much any computer or Switch or whatever you may have.
Elder Scrolls Online! My first online multiplayer game. Perfect escape!