I had a cough due to cold this week (said in my best Forrest Gump impression), so I did very little reading and mostly did some watching. I was able to enjoy the brouhaha around the Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce romance, and I read a fan girl post from one of my favorite writers who happens to be my age, and she admitted she just got into Taylor Swift this year. She loves her, of course. Duh. And she wanted to know when others had discovered their love of Taylor’s gifted songwriting as well.
I can tell you that I have enjoyed a Taylor Swift tune or two since the beginning of her career, but it wasn’t until Ryan Adams covered her entire 1989 album in 2015 that I actually listened to one of her whole albums. It took a man (a very problematic man at that) for me to listen to one of her entire albums. Isn’t that so very gross and cliche of me? At the time Scott and I (mostly Scott) were very into Ryan Adams as a singer/songwriter. Ryan said Taylor’s 1989 helped him cope with the collapse of his marriage to Mandy Moore and that there is a joy to 1989 that is “its own alternate universe.” I listened to both albums quite a bit in 2015. I listened to Taylor’s Reputation in 2017 a moderate amount. But when Lover came out in August 2019, I remember hearing Keith Urban covering the title track at The Puyallup Fair a month later (people posted it online — I didn’t see it live), and I vividly remember thinking, Wow — her talent isn’t a flash in the pan. So I dug into her back catalog a bit more. Then the pandemic hit, and she wrote two of the greatest albums of the last ten years while everyone was hunkered down. And the rest is herstory.
I still hope the Chiefs and 49ers both lose somehow.
Speaking of music, this week Scott and I played Hitster with friends, and it was the most fun I’ve had playing a board game in years. Highly recommend.
Fool Me Once on Netflix. This series is an adaptation of Harlan Coben’s novel of the same title. “When ex-soldier Maya sees her murdered husband on a secret nanny cam, she uncovers a deadly conspiracy that stretches deep into the past.” I have read exactly one Harlan Coben book, and I didn’t like it very much, but I watched this series anyway, because I was sick. It was engaging enough, and British accents make every show 12% better. When I was done watching I looked up what Coben book I had read in 2016. Turns out it was Fool Me Once! I didn’t remember a thing about it. I am hilarious. This is also why I don’t typically read mysteries. I tend to find them totally forgettable. Also, you can, indeed, fool me more than once.
The Feud: Capote vs. The Swans on FX or Hulu. I watched the first two episodes that were released this week, and I don’t have a fully formed opinion yet. I will say that Tom Hollander as Truman Capote is funny, campy, creepy, slurry (he’s drunk a lot), and pretty brilliant. Speaking of feuds, I’m having a feud with Hulu that they don’t even know we’re having. I got rid of the streaming service, because I couldn’t stand the ads any longer. So Hulu is on my shit list. I still have FX and way too much other TV, but I’ll probably end up paying for the ad-free Hulu service at some point, because I can never remember why I don’t like something after a relatively short time. I’m terrible at grudges. Fool me once, and all that.
Monty Python’s Almost the Truth on Netflix. “The legacy of comedy group Monty Python, whose irreverent brand of humor has tickled the ribs of millions, is explored in this documentary.” I didn’t even watch Monty Python as a kid or particularly care for their show or their movies, and I loved this docuseries. Great bits of history and wonderful interviews with the surviving members at the time of filming in 2009 (Terry Jones has since died in 2020). It gave me a new appreciation for Life of Brian — a film I could never quite get behind — and Scott and I watched it again. Hey, I can be wrong about things.
Here’s yet another installment in my effort to revisit songs, bands, or music videos from the ‘80s that I ignored, didn’t know existed, or forgot about until recently. Hipsway was a Scottish pop/new wave band formed in 1984 in Glasgow. Not much exciting to report about them. I just like the song “The Honeythief.” Lead singer Grahame Skinner’s jeans are pretty cool. I think Rick Astley stole his look and moves from him.
I had not seen I Think You Should Leave, and Scott and I watched the first few episodes last night. I laughed out loud a few times, and I didn’t think a couple of sketches were funny at all. Scott liked it better than I did, so maybe I’ll give it another chance. Did he hit his stride in the Emmy season? This reminds me of Mr. Show — I love Bob Odenkirk, but that’s another show that was very hit or miss for me (I read his autobiography and he knows it) and I couldn’t stick with it. As I’m writing this I just realized I might just not be a huge fan of sketch comedy shows even though I love stand-up. Chappelle’s Show being an exception - loved it.
I'm curious if you've watched I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson? I watch a lot of comedy, and for my money he's the best short-form comedy creator out there right now. BUT - he doesn't resonate with everyone. The skits/shows are absurdist, a mix between Andy Kaufman and Nick Kroll (whom I also love). Speaking of Kroll, they recently put Kroll Show on Hulu and I still love Publizity, but some of the sketches haven't aged as well as I would have thought in just 10 years. It's weird how, in the age of everyone's-a-comedy-skit-artist on social, conceits just sometimes age faster.
Anyway, maybe a show for your future wrap-up.