Two of my favorites bring it home. Common and Ana de Armas are in it, too.
9.0 The Informer
Category: Consumption
Amazing Race 32 contest
Yes it’s still going strong! Dan pointed out that season 32 was coming up, and we are all in on another round of betting! How old is Phil now, anyway? He looks exactly the same.
- Pick the team you think will win, and pick the team you think will be eliminated next.
- For winners, start with 11 points. If your winning team is eliminated, you lose a point, and you have to pick another.
- For losers, start with 0 points. If your losing team is eliminated, you score a point, and get to pick another.
- Contest winner is the one with the most points after the final episode!
Winner gets a prize! TBD, ha. Also:
If Dan wins, Mike hauls his shit to the dumpster.
If Mike wins, he gets a TOP SHELF VO from Danno.
RESULTS
| Ep01 |           |  |
| Ep02 | | |
| Ep03 |  | |
| Ep04 | | N/A |
| Ep05 | | |
| Ep06 | | N/A |
| Ep07 | | |
| Ep08 | ||
| Ep09 | ||
| Ep10 |
WIN PICKS
| Ep01 | Ep02 | Ep03 | Ep04 | Ep05 | Ep06 | Ep07 | Ep08 | Ep09 | Ep10 | |
| Dan | – | | | | | | | | ||
| Mike | – | | | | | | | | ||
| Larry | – | – | | | | | | | ||
| Jane | – | – | | | | | | | ||
| Winner | | | | | | | |
LOSE PICKS
| Ep01 | Ep02 | Ep03 | Ep04 | Ep05 | Ep06 | Ep07 | Ep08 | Ep09 | Ep10 | |
| Dan | – | | | | | | | | ||
| Mike | – | | | | | | | | ||
| Larry | – | – | | | | | | | ||
| Jane | – | – | | | | | | | ||
| Loser | | | | N/A | | N/A | |
SCORE
| Ep01 | Ep02 | Ep03 | Ep04 | Ep05 | Ep06 | Ep07 | Ep08 | Ep09 | Ep10 | |
| Dan | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | |||
| Mike | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | |||
| Larry | – | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | |||
| Jane | – | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 |
9.0 Pride and Prejudice (2005)
Rosamund Pike, Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan in the same frame, acting side by side? Yes please. Not to mention Judy Dench at her most wicked best, world-class Donald Sutherland, Talulah Riley of Westwood fame, and Tom Hollander, the quintessentially damaged supporting actor. Great cast executing a classic story.
9.0 Toni Erdmann
A bracing still life of moments between a dad struggling to use humor to connect with his daughter, and the daughter caught up in the priorities of “success”. Sometimes it’s heavy work finding the lightness of being.
9.5 Picard
This is the best space opera since Star Wars: A New Hope. Yes I went there.
It doesn’t have the sheer thrills and explosive pioneering of George Lucas’ master story, but it is a more mature story that deeply and believably develops all the ensemble’s motives, interweaves them, and delivers an epic ride. The execution is brilliant, with powerful performances all around. Wow. I’ll be rewatching this one as much as LOTR, Blade Runner 2049 and the Star Trek reboots.
To get a better handle on the source of its brilliance, peruse the Wikipedia page of the screenplay author, Michael Chabon. So much to mine there.
Coen catchup
Picked up on a few more Coen gems recently:
- rewatched Burn After Reading
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
- Gambit (written by, not directed)
Such good fun, from Tom Waits yelling “you measly skunk!” to Cameron Diaz’s ridiculous drawl to Brad Pitt crazy jamming to his Walkman drinking Jamba Juice…
Welcome to Raleigh, Weaver Street Market!
Finally got back on my bike today. I love my bike. It’s the tires. At over 100psi and just the right thinness, with Kevlar to keep the flats away, it’s the fastest way around downtown.
My adventure was only 2 blocks. That’s the distance to anything downtown, in my estimation. To misquote Everett from Oh Brother Where Art Thou?, “what a geographical oddity, 2 blocks from everywhere!” But in this case I’m not too far off.
Weaver Street Market opened in Raleigh today at 10:30am, and I was there to become a member (and get a t-shirt!). Sure I have everything delivered, from Purple Carrot to Papa Spuds to (embarrassingly) Amazon… so it’s a double win as it will get me off my ass and get me better produce.
I’m over 100 days in on this round of GI troubles, which means no meals all summer. My food comes from a bag on my back. Sad. So I’m obsessing about better days head. I read all the local restaurant menus, look into vegan meetups, I read cookbooks… I’m also targeting the oldest farmers market around, 2 blocks away (honestly it is), which has evaded me as it is only open Th-Sat. Wish me luck towards finding a better day! Peace.
Center for Biological Diversity Raleigh Meetup
I created a Raleigh-based meetup group for the Center’s Ignite Change action network. I’m excited to keep it going! (even though the first meeting was a bust because I cluelessly scheduled it to start at the exact moment that the Superbowl started! Doh.)
Here are some teasers for what’s to come. Tropic cascade is a fairly recent famous exciting biological observation showing that apex predators have complex positive effects on the layers of flora and fauna under them. Most famous is the example of the effect of wolves re-introduced to Yellowstone. Here is the link, followed by the TED talk of the guy who basically narrated it before it was brilliantly captured with Yellowstone footage. And more and more real-world amazingness. Fight for it!!
- George Manbiot spins out the initial Yellowstone yarn in 2013
- The amazing and beautiful Yellowstone wolf trophic cascade video
- The scientist who initially lit it on fire (with starfish)
- A longer National Geographic deeper dive into Yellowstone that hopefully survives copyright infringement…
- Trophic cascade, Australian style
Brisk Chicago weekend
I love the bracing cold, nothing feels better than warming up afterwards. We made great use of that this weekend, with quick trips to Float 60, karate, the new location of the Chicago Diner, Southloop Market, Pot Belly, and lots of warmup time with Beat Sabre, Rummicube and Roblocks. Thanks you two for being such smashing hosts. <3
9.0 Ozark
I’m done treating this show like the next season of Breaking Bad. It’s got all that, plus all the smolder of the first season of True Detective. Yes I said it.