Last month in pop culture

Last month in pop culture

April 2, 2023 / 1 Comment

Best TV show I saw: “The Reluctant Traveler.” Eugene Levy prefers the inside to the outside, the relaxing to the adventurous and the known to the unfamiliar. This show examines what happens when such a person travels, and because Levy is a brilliant comedian and actor, it’s a blast to join him on the journey.

I also enjoyed: “Poker Face.” Natasha Lyonne portrays a woman named Charlie who’s a human lie detector. When her unique ability lands her in hot water, she hits the road in her Plymouth Barracuda and ends up solving crimes in every town she hides in. Imagine if Jessica Fletcher and Columbo got on the mob’s bad side.

Best movie I saw: M and I celebrated the anniversary of our first date over the weekend. Back in 2006, we watched the romantic comedy, “Serendipity,” starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale, despite being 600 miles apart (we chatted about it in IM). Seventeen years later, we’re still together and still watching that movie (or visiting the restaurant of the same name whenever we’re in New York City).

Best thing I heard: My favorite podcast, “The Vinyl Cafe,” is sort of back, even though its beloved host, Stuart McLean, has died. His long-suffering producer, Jess Milton, has created a new podcast called “Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe,” where she posts a couple of classic stories from the shows and then adds a bit of behind-the-scenes commentary. I’m loving it.

I also listened to: “The Grimmcast,” another podcast featuring behind-the-scenes commentary, this one about the show “Grimm.” The series, which ran on NBC from 2011 to 2017, featured a homicide detective with the ability to see magical creatures. Claire Coffee, Bitsie Tulloch and Bree Turner, who also appeared in the show, are watching the program for the first time and sharing details about the filming process. They also interview other members of the cast and crew and answer listener questions. If you’re a fan of the show, as I am, you’ll dig this weekly chat. And if you’ve never watched “Grimm,” why not start now? It’s fun.

Best thing I read: “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus is one of those books everyone raves about but you put off reading because it can’t possibly live up to the hype. The plot certainly interested me: A woman working as a chemist in the 1960s faces discrimination, recrimination and even violence due to her intelligence and gender. When she becomes the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show, the heroine begins changing lives and seriously challenging the status quo. The cover art really turned me off, but on a whim, I decided to give it a chance and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

I’m also reading: National Trust Scones, a blog written by Sarah Merker that was recently featured in The New York Times. Back in 2013, Sarah and her husband joined the National Trust, a society that helps to conserve and manage historical properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Over the next decade, she would visit these sites, taste the scones on offer and write a blog post about each experience. Since discovering her blog, I’ve not only started reading the whole shebang from the beginning, I’ve also purchased her book about the experience. (Note to self: Visit Brownsea Island in the summer and Hughenden at Christmas.)

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Last month in pop culture

June 3, 2019 / No Comments

Best TV show I saw: “Gardeners World.” Thanks to BritBox, I’ve fallen hard for this BBC2 show about gardening. Hosted by the knowledgeable Monty Don, the program shares tips on starting a garden, maintaining a garden, designing a garden and prepping a garden for each new season.

As a very amateur gardener — one with a black thumb, no less — I have found this show to be invaluable while I attempt my first container garden (see picture above). Even if gardening isn’t your thing, “Gardeners World” is a lovely way to relax after a long week and remember the beauty of nature.

I also enjoyed: Dreaming about the future while watching “Escape to the Country” and enjoying the Devil’s antics during a rewatch of “Lucifer.”

Best movie I saw: M and I took in a second viewing of “Avengers: Endgame” before he flew to Texas for his summer roadtrip. As a huge Marvel fan (yes, I’ve seen all the movies multiple times), I found “Endgame” to be a solid conclusion to a long and exciting series of films.

I also watched: “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum,” which was better than Chapter 2, but still not the gut-punch that Chapter 1 was. That said, this fast-paced ultra-violent action film will satisfy anyone who enjoys a well-choreographed fight scene.

Best thing I heard: The “Tetris and the Seed Potatoes of Leningrad” episode of “The Anthropocene Reviewed” podcast. I learned a lot about both topics, the former more lighthearted than the latter, and continued to think about them in the weeks following the listening session. I give this episode five stars.

I also listened to: A bunch of classic tunes that I added to my “workout” playlist. Then I took said playlist to the gym. Haven’t been back there in months. Still hate absolutely everything about working out, but the tunes were good. New additions include “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio, “3 am” by Matchbox Twenty” “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette and a great cover of “White Rabbit” by Haley Reinhart (perfect for cooldown).

Best thing I read: “The Dreamers” by Karen Thompson Walker (no relation). A mysterious illness that triggers perpetual sleep hits a small college town in California and chaos ensues. I’m with Josh Lyman on this one; the apocalypse won’t involve zombies or nuclear weapons. It’ll be some pandemic of a disease we thought was cured a long time ago. However, if the end of civilization involves a sleeping sickness, I’m fine with that. Sure beats bleeding from the eyeballs or setting yourself on fire (I’m looking at you, “The Hot Zone” and “The Fireman.”).

I’m also reading: “The Lost Gutenberg: The Astounding Story of One Book’s Five-Hundred-Year Odyssey” by Margaret Leslie Davis. There are fewer than 50 original copies of the Gutenberg Bible in existence and only one (#45) has ever been owned by a woman. Davis tracks the entire life cycle of that copy, from its creation by Johannes Gutenberg to the obsessed collector who spent decades trying to add it to her private library. A fascinating tale for bibliophiles.

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My top 10 favs of 2017: A year spent reading, watching and listening to intriguing stories

December 21, 2017 / 3 Comments

This year, amidst the madness of the world, I consumed 46 books, 48 movies, dozens of TV programs and many podcasts. These were my favorites:

(Note: Not all were released during the past 365 days.)

MY FAVORITE BOOKS

1. “Voices in the Ocean: A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins” by Susan Casey
2. “The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well” by Meik Wiking
3. “It” by Stephen King
4. “When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II” by Molly Guptill Manning
5. “When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi
6. “The Year of Pleasures” by Elizabeth Berg
7. “So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading” by Sara Nelson
8. “Invasive” by Chuck Wendig
9. “Big Mushy Happy Lump” by Sarah Andersen
10. “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History” by Elizabeth Kolbert

(Honorable mentions: “Paul Hollywood’s Bread” by Paul Hollywood, “Tough Shit: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good” by Kevin Smith, “I Work at a Public Library: A Collection of Crazy Stories from the Stacks” by Gina Sheridan, “My Reading Life” by Pat Conroy, “Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself” by Alan Alda, “Simon’s Cat vs. the World” by Simon Tofield and “Obits: Reading behind the fine print” by Barbara Larsen)

Overall reading ratio: 51% fiction, 49% nonfiction; 51% male, 49% female.

MY FAVORITE TV SHOWS

1. Sense8
2. This Is Us
3. The Great British Baking Show
4. Stranger Things
5. Grace and Frankie
6. Madam Secretary
7. The Expanse
8. The Santa Clarita Diet
9. Penny Dreadful
10. Fortitude

(Honorable mentions: The Great British Baking Show Master Class, Timeless, The Defenders, Supernatural, The Closer, Pitch, Grimm, Haven, White Collar, The Following, Notorious, Iron Fist, The Good Place and Too Young to Die)

MY FAVORITE MOVIES

1. Hidden Figures
2. Obit
3. Collateral Beauty
4. Moana
5. Our Souls at Night
6. The Boomer List
7. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
8. LBJ
9. The Post
10. It

(Honorable mentions: The Orient Express, Hasan Minaj: Homecoming King, A Street Cat Named Bob, Me Before You, By Sidney Lumet, Going In Style, Baby Driver, Atomic Blonde, Patton Oswalt: Annihilation, The Big Sick, Wonder Woman, Hitman’s Bodyguard, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets and The Typewriter)

MY FAVORITE PODCASTS

1. The Vinyl Cafe
2. Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
3. The Daily from the NY Times
4. Death, Sex & Money
5. 99% Invisible
6. Criminal
7. Dear Hank & John
8. 10 Minute Writer’s Workshop
9. Nocturne
10. Radiolab

(Honorable mentions: Live from the Poundstone Institute, Smithsonian Sidedoor, The Nerdist, Lovett or Leave It, Reply All, Work in Progress, WTF with Marc Maron and You Must Remember This)
Speaking of gift guides…

December 9, 2013 / No Comments

I feel the need to call out the “Holiday Gift Guide” published on BOOKish.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the site, BOOKish launched earlier this year to promote books published by Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster*. I subscribe because I like receiving reviews and excerpts from new releases.

The recently published guide, which features recommendations from the site’s editors, claims to help you “find the right book gift for everyone on your list.” This is a worthy goal. However, if some of the gift categories are any indication, the site’s editors need a serious lesson in sexism.

Under the “For Him” category, there are book suggestions for political junkies, history buffs, sports fans, comic book collectors, music mavens and film buffs.

Under the “For Her” category: Books about parenting, sex, romance, cooking, being a good hostess and bibles.

Did I miss something or have we time-warped back to the 1950s?

BOOKish, please fix this guide. You’re doing a great disservice to your readers by assuming women care nothing about politics, history, comics, sports, music, film or, you know, the world outside of the home. Oh, and if the massive restaurant industry is any indication, your male readers probably want to become “kitchen maestros,” too.

* Transparency note: My husband once worked for Simon & Schuster and had nothing but good things to say about the place.
The Week in Pop Culture

January 21, 2013 / No Comments

(Snagged from Whitney Matheson of USA Today)

Best TV show I saw: “The Good Wife.” The “Live From Damascus” episode in season 3, about a class action suit against a software company that helped the Syrian government locate, torture and kill protesers, was particularly compelling.

I also enjoyed: “Criminal Minds.” The “Normal” episode in season 4, about a serial killer who is shooting blonde women as they drive along freeways in Southern California, featured a great performance by the always aesome Mitch Pileggi.

Best movie I saw: “Zero Dark Thirty.” Can’t say I really “enjoyed” the movie, but it felt fairly authentic. As for the famous torture scenes, I believe they were filmed in a way that wasn’t particularly entertaining or sensationalistic. In fact, I expected the scenes to be even more graphic.

I also saw: “The Silver Linings Playbook.” I’m pretty sure I was the only person in the theater who didn’t care for the movie. Normally I love a good romantic dramedy, however in this case, I felt the hero and heroine lacked chemistry. Nor did I believe that if they got together, they would last. Worst of all, I couldn’t connect with ANY of the characters in an emotional way.

Best thing I read: “It’s Been a Good Life” by Janet and Isaac Asimov. I’m about 30% done, and already I find myself wishing he was still around. He would’ve made a great interview.

I also read: “Death Notice,” the first book in the Kat Campbell series, by Todd Ritter. I’ve been waiting for two years to read this novel because it featured a killer who sent a death notice to the local newspaper’s obituary writer (before the murder actually occurred). Unfortunately, I found the story to be formulaic, and the characters too stereotypical.

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