The coolest dude on earth answers the only question that matters.
When I am forced to listen to someone tell me self-serving things I either already or don’t want to know (think political candidates and sales people), and he or she asks if I have any questions I always ask this one.
I’ve mentioned the StoryCorps podcast a time or two before. I listen to podcasts all the time when working out, and occasionally in the car.
I continue to think the StoryCorps podcast, whose mission “is to provide people of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share and preserve the stories of our lives,” is a national treasure. I’ve gotten to the point that I only listen to it when getting my workout on lightly traveled country roads, so people won’t wonder why the old, bearded man is running down the road with tears in his eyes.
Occasionally, the StoryCorps crew will create an animation for one of the interviews. They use the actual interview and create very clever animations to help tell the story. Here is an example of one, in which a farmer in the 1950s demonstrates that back then, as now, there are progressive people beyond the city limits.
“Symbols matter, but the South as a region is far too nuanced to be fittingly represented by a Civil War battle flag with a contentious history. Southerners who agree have a responsibility to move into a new era, and to reclaim “Southern pride.” Because if the Confederate flag is my only means of displaying my Southern pride, then the South has already lost me.”
Source: Reclaiming Southern Pride—Without the Confederate Flag – The Atlantic (a very, very good article).
Amen. I love the south, but show me someone who displays the confederate flag in 2015 and I’ll show you someone who may or may not be a racist, but is definitely acting like one.
There are lots of reasons to be proud to be from the south. But hanging on to a symbol of the past that simply cannot be reconciled with the present is not one of them.
Criminal, one of my favorite podcasts, did a recent episode on the 1929 Lawson family murders in Stokes County, NC.
Like many others of the era, the Lawson murders became the subject of a murder ballad, originally by the Carolina Buddies, and later covered by the Stanley Brothers.
They didn’t mention it on the podcast, but it turns out there was a documentary made about the murders. I haven’t seen it, but the Amazon reviews, while few in number, seem reasonably positive.
This morning, while on the treadmill, I watched Ex_Machina. Here’s my quick review.
Title: Ex Machina
Director: Alex Garland
Genre: Sci-Fi
Why I Watched It:
It’s science fiction. I love science fiction.
Interesting Fact:
It has similar plot elements to the (original) Star Trek Episode “Requiem for Methuselah.”
Review:
I wasn’t sure about this movie based on the reviews I read, but this is an excellent movie. I loved everything about it. It’s great, topical science fiction, with a great story and some fine acting.
Best Thing About It:
Lots, but I’ll pick the actress that played Kyoto.
Worst Thing About It:
I can’t think of anything bad about it.
Rating: ★★★★★
More:
IMDB
Rotten Tomatos
I recently watched Mad Max: Fury Road on the treadmill. Here’s my quick review.
Title: Mad Max: Fury Road
Director: George Miller
Genre: Sci-Fi
Why I Watched It:
I love post-apocalyptic science fiction, and the original Mad Max was pretty good.
Interesting Fact:
The filmmakers paid a lot of attention to the tools and weapons used by the actors. With one giant exception, I thought the repurposing was nicely done.
Review:
I had really high hopes after reading some great reviews (it’s 98% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, for crying out loud), but this is the rare movie that has over-the-top action scenes and is still sort of boring. For much of it, I felt like I was watching someone play a video game. The last 30 minutes are better.
Best Thing About It:
Little bits of realism (art, repurposing whatever’s at hand) mixed in with the madness.
Worst Thing About It:
The guitar and guitarist standing on front of that car.
Rating: ★★
More:
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes
This
made me think of this.
A few weeks ago, my never-ending search for new authors led me to Sam Reaves’ new book, Cold Black Earth. Here’s my quick review.
Author: Sam Reaves
Title: Cold Black Earth
Genre: Mystery/Thriller (rural setting)
Interesting Fact:
I bought this book because the cover looks like rural fiction (recall my beloved South of the Big Four), but it’s actually a mystery/thriller set in rural Illinois.
Review:
It’s a mystery/thriller about a series of murders in and around an Illinois farming town. Most of the characters are farmers or the children of farmers, so the surroundings and much of the lifestyle elements are right in my wheelhouse. Add in a very realistic and scary depiction of some seemingly connected murders and a potential loss-of-farmland motive, and you’ve got a page turner. I really liked it.
Purchase Links:
Here’s a short film I put together to get the kids excited about sleeping in the cabin.
I’ve said for years that newspapers and magazines are obsolete media. By the time it’s in a paper form, I either already know about it or don’t care about it. I’m not kidding, the combination of caring about news and then getting it from a newspaper the next day seems like a logical disconnect Evel Knievel couldn’t jump over on a rocket bike. I find the evening television news to be only slightly less untimely.
But that doesn’t mean I’m ready to get my news from social media. The screen capture above, just taken from my Facebook page, explains why, perfectly.
The fact that some football player’s new tattoo is in a list (of 2 items) with the increasing tension in the Middle East tells me that what I thought was only the funniest movie ever made may also have been an accurate prediction of things to come.
If you want to know where I do get my news, there are three primary sources:
1. Rancho DeNada Times, the real time news aggregation page I created years ago. I can quickly scan the headlines and see if there is anything I want to know about.
2. My RSS feeds, via Feedly. I subscribe to Google News, The Atlantic, and NPR.
3. NPR audio, via XM radio if I’m driving or via my Amazon Echo if I’m at home.
If there’s something major happening, I’ll tune into CNN via the internet or on my TV, but that’s a rare occasion.
American culture is celebrity-obsessed, serially focused on the media created drama-of-the week, and attention deficient. As such, it’s important to decide where you get your news from. Otherwise, your experience may start to look like this:
Newsome.Org 