№ 766. Anomie

Quora

№ 765. Dilbert's Business Intelligence

 

№ 756. Friends

Screenrant

It was on a night out in 1995 in Los Angeles that Friends writer Adam Chase realised the show had become a phenomenon. Out for dinner, while he was writing season two, he overheard a conversation. People weren’t just talking about Friends: they were quoting it. “It became a constant,” he says. “You would go out and you would hear at least one or two people quoting our jokes, arguing about whether they were a ‘Rachel’ or a ‘Monica’.”

That was just the start. Launched 30 years ago this month, the sitcom – which followed six twentysomethings living in New York, largely hanging out in the fictional coffee shop Central Perk – would become a cultural touchpoint for a generation. At its height, it was broadcast in 60 countries, each episode watched by 22 million viewers, all bewitched by sarcastic roommates Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Joey (Matt LeBlanc), uptight siblings Ross (David Schwimmer) and Monica (Courteney Cox), spoiled-but-sweet Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), and kooky Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow).

№ 750. Bill Watterson's Speech

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE REAL WORLD BY ONE WHO GLIMPSED IT AND FLED

Bill Watterson
Kenyon College Commencement
May 20, 1990

№ 743.Happy Habits

Pinterest

№ 717. Typefaces & Fonts

When you read — a book, a traffic sign, a billboard, this article — how much do you really notice the letters? If you’re like most people, the answer is probably not at all.

But even if you don’t really notice them, you might sense it if something has subtly changed. That’s a feeling some people have had in recent weeks when they turn on their Microsoft Word programs.

Glasbergen

№ 682. Knockin' On Heavens Door

№ 523. If I Die Young

If I Die Young
The Band Perry
 

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
Oh-oh, oh-oh 

Lord, make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother
She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors
Oh, and life ain't always what you think it ought to be, no
Ain't even gray, but she buries her baby
The sharp knife of a short life
Well, I've had just enough time 

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song 

The sharp knife of a short life
Well, I've had just enough time 

And I'll be wearing white when I come into your kingdom
I'm as green as the ring on my little cold finger
I've never known the lovin' of a man
But it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand
There's a boy here in town, says he'll love me forever
Who would have thought forever could be severed by 

The sharp knife of a short life
Well, I've had just enough time 

So put on your best boys, and I'll wear my pearls
What I never did is done
A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell 'em for a dollar
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner
And maybe then you'll hear the words I've been singin'
Funny when you're dead, how people start listenin'

 If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
Oh-oh, oh-oh

The ballad of a dove
Go with peace and love
Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket
Save 'em for a time when you're really gonna need 'em, oh

The sharp knife of a short life
Well, I've had just enough time

So put on your best boys, and I'll wear my pearls

№ 465. California on My Mind

 Here's an unabashed California nostalgia. Old songs never fade. They're just remade into new music videos.




Here's another big city story tinted with the recurrent song California Dreaming --- Chungking Express.

№ 406. The F Word and the Orange Skull

Hail Hydra!

"A revealing story serendipitously showed up in my news feed this week. I learned that the billionaire chairman and former CEO of Marvel Entertainment, Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, is a longtime friend of Donald Trump’s, an unofficial and influential adviser and a member of the president’s elite Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. And Perlmutter and his wife have each recently donated $360,000 (the maximum allowed) to the Orange Skull’s “Trump Victory Joint Fundraising Committee” for 2020. I’ve also had to learn, yet again, that everything is political... just like Captain America socking Hitler on the jaw."

№ 387. Rants of a Mad, Underwhelmed GOT Fanatic Suffering from Withdrawal Anxiety

EPIC baddies deserve epic deaths! They’ve earned it. Measure for equal measure.

For example:

1. There is no cinematic poetry when Queen Cersei, who was responsible for the beheading of popular Ned Stark, her counterpoint in GOT’s moral fulcrum, would die whimpering in the arms of her lover/brother. Whimpering was uncharacteristic. It was so not her. This is the same woman who endured the walk of shame head held high and delivered the kiss of death to Tyene. Shame. To be buried under the rubble of the Red Keep was not her lot. She deserved more! For all the pain she caused, it is karmic symmetry for her to have a catastrophic end. That queen b*tch deserved a dire, nuclear destruction! Destruction that’s on the scale of the bombing of the Great Sept of Baelor. Shame. Missandei cried “Dracarys!” before Cersei had her head cut off in front of the Dragon Queen / best friend and her barfy BaeWorm. DRACARYS it should have been!

I can picture it now: crouched in the middle of the Red Keep’s map room, in tight, resigned embrace: the ashes of the lionine twins, dissipating, with just their golden manes floating in the snow of dust. Cue in GOT theme in four voices.

2. Deus ex Arya? Nah! I would have wanted the Night King torched by dragon fire.  Torched by, not one, but two ! (insert Count Dracula laugh track) So ok, fine, Drogon’s wasn’t enough. I get that. He’s too formidable and pivotal a nemesis to kill with just one magical creature. But to shatter because of Valyrian steel? C’mon! He lanced Viserion from the sky then resurrected it from the icy waters north of the wall. He also smirked and walked away from Drogon's pyrrhic breath! He’s surely more unbreakable than death by a simple prick of that pointy end. But with Rhaegal joining in the fun, after disposing of his blue-eyed brother Viserion, the Night King would have made a really toasty zombie! Apocalypse for the mighty undead who marched to annihilate the living with eternal winter. No less. See? Epic death.

3. Arya deserved a literal stab at Cersei’s manipulative heart. It would have been sweet justice. It would even out the score in the first season when she witnessed her father’s beheading. Plus, Cersei was on her list. At least, let her tick the murder off that list. Arya earned it. She trained for it. She bled for it for seven seasons! And then while nearing the top kill on her hit list, only to turn back after being told off by Sandor. Was that a Jedi mind trick, Clegane? And, was the Night King even on her list?!

(To be continued)

№ 386. Gaming GOT

"Next week promises to bring the Battle of Winterfell and plenty of bloodshed; the function of battle episodes is to test, strengthen, and shake up character dynamics. If Thrones’ main couple were more convincingly committed to each other, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” could have given elegant voice to a central question in advance of that fight: When humanity looks death in the face, will they think about love in opposition to destiny, or love as destiny? For Episode 3, fans will have to look to characters beyond Jon and Daenerys to see that tension meaningfully played out."

How the empire of the dead will be routed would be the mother of all battles. Or maybe not. There's still the Iron Throne to be won after the face off with the Night King.

№ 379. Deep Swedish Strokes: ABBA

№ 377. The Secret Life of Old Songs

This song about rediscovering our old selves and lovers made me smile. I paid no attention to it before until I watched "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" again, this time on Netflix. I actually liked how the movie tied up a lot of almost unrelated elements. Iceland, Greenland and Afghanistan were beautifully shot in wide panoramic format which just underscored the theme of a closeted traveler finally unmoored from the desk job and let loose to the chaos of the elements.

I didn't appreciate the movie the first time I watched it. I probably missed out on the many cultural references and the really stunning landscapes. But seeing it again in high definition and on a very big 70-inch or so screen made such a difference.

Escape (The Piña Colada Song)

№ 374. Retiro X

Chungking Express Art

She lip-reads her swift murders,
In urban-drenched neon monologues,
Fractured day dream sequences.

She sketches boarding passes on a tissue paper
Later thrown away, unread,
Melting in the midnight monsoon.

She sleepwalks in vindaloo alleys,
Concealed and armed by wigs and stilettos,
Tipsy with chaos, solitary and morbid deadlines.

Like the poisoned city she breathes,
She is livid, resigned and, cruel.

№ 361. Freedom

№ 334. LA Envy

In Annie Hall, Alvy Singer hates Los Angeles. He worships New York. LA, he thinks, is the antithesis of NYC. 

Seinfeld and the gang definitely loved New York, its minutiae, and nonsense. 

№ 51. Star Wars

Back in the early 21st century, Spider-Man 1 was shown in tandem with the much-maligned Star Wars Prequels (I, II, III). My friends were surprised why I preferred the Lucas films over the arachnid marvel. Spidey was, by many accounts, better told and more engaging. The prequels were a disappointment, read: Jar Jar Binks.

Jar Jar

First, I'm a sucker for sweeping narrative strokes and the macro-enterprise. Let me count the ways. The allusions to the aging and frayed Roman Empire on the brink of collapse, the Senate horsetrading and grandstanding, the clash of ideals and ideology, the memory of Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (1980s!), hyperdrive and light saber proved too strong a pull towards the dark side.