song of the now

There are some contenders for the esteemed GBAtT “Song of the Now” Prize.

I heard that Rhiannon Giddens plays viola & banjo on Beyonce’s latest album. “Viola” you say, lemme give a listen. Totally my cup of tea. If I had to, I would say “folk/blues”.

I asked a co-worker, who wears t-shirts of bands I like (Johnny Cash, RHCP, AC/DC), who grew up outside of the USA, what besides UK/USA rock did he listen to growing up. Baron Rojas. Totally 80s rock band. Surprised I didn’t hear them on the radio (well, they do sing in Spanish, and you know how American’s are allergic to “foreign” languages). He mentioned Los Jaivas, sort of prog-rock, they also use traditional Andean instruments (it works), and instead of JonAnderson’s hippy-new-age lyrics they used the poems of Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda.

Last Dinner Party – MsS introduced me to. I likes, especially “My Lady of Mercy”

BUT… the song of the now, also introduced by MsS, “OMG” by Suki Waterhouse. I want to write about how great this song is, how fun it is… but I’m lazy. The chorus kicks. The bass is subtle in awesome – listen loud.

Freedom is a Constant Struggle

by Angela Y. Davis – who, when arrested, President Nixon happy announced that a terrorist was arrested. Which considering, LOL, TrickyDick, LOL.

Important read. Professor Davis is a good writer. Learned some stuff… CIA was helping prop up Apartheid South Africa….dang it, can we stop propping up dictators and repressive regimes, please. The importance of intersectionality – free all people. Davis has been a supporter of the no prisons movement, which, I dunno if I agree with, like, Ted Bundy needed to be locked up for safety of the people.

“we constantly have to make connections…. Of always forgrounding those connections so that people remember that nothing happens in isolation.”

The Poppy War – R. F. Kuang

The Poppy War – R. F. Kuang     

I enjoyed the first third. Classic outcast goes to special academy, befriended by old mentor. Recommend the first third…however….

I had not done my homework, I didn’t know anything about the author, or the book, and was not prepared for the middle third. The genocide part of the story. Evidently the author, translates Chinese, and the middle third was based on Nanjing Massacre, which, I know very little about. The middle third was horrific.  

The final third was an OK wrap of the story, setting it up for the sequel.

2024 Oscar nominated Short Films

Last Tuesday, as a family we went to see the 2024 Oscar nominees for Short Film – Live Action:

• The After (United Kingdom) – let’s see, problem is Dad can’t miss his daughters dance performance, and let’s see how… well, that twist was out of nowhere.
• Red, White and Blue (USA) – I think will win, MrC and I were discussing how awesome the cast was, the nurse, only a few lines, delivered them perfectly. The main characters, awesome acting. MsS wants it to win. MrG voted it best.
• Invincible (Canada) – started with the end of the story, which, kinda dampened the emotional pull, I mean, we knew how it would end
• Knight of Fortune (Denmark) – MrG liked. MyBetterHalf liked best, a comedy, set in a funeral home, “it made me laugh, it made me cry, all the things are movie is supposed to do”
• The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (United Kingdom/USA) – fun to watch. And after the above, I see why they wanted the audience to leave on a happy note.

…and Friday, as a family we went to see the 2024 Oscar nominees for Short Film – Animation:
• War Is Over – my fav, and MrC’s fav. He and I noticed in the credits, Unreal Engine (used in Fortnite!)
• Letter to a Pig – Looked cool,
• Ninety-Five Senses – meh, although I believe MyBetterHalf votes this one to win
• Our Uniform – I liked the animation on top of different fabric, happy to see film from Iran.
• Pachyderme – this one was creepy
• I’m Hip – I wish I didn’t see this, it was just silly, and yet, not funny.

The Boys in the Boat (movie) & Race (movie)

Looking back, it appears the addage is correct, the book was better than the movie. The fam went to see The Boys in the Boat. There was little tension in the movie, it was alright.

A bit later we watched Race (Jesse Owens story), this movie was a bit better. But still, not much tension. The movie seemed to make Riefenstahl a sympathetic character.

Tomb Sweeping – Alexandra Chang

MyBetterHalf got me a Alexandra Chang’s collection of short stories Tomb Sweeping for Xmas.
Not really my cup of tea, but glad I read them. Most of them are depressing, some VERY depressing. My humble thoughts on the some of the stories I liked best:

• “Li Fau” – story is told backwards, and it’s not awkward, but OH MY this one was a gut punch of sadness.
• “Me and My Algo” – scifi, but only a few years away, scary of what we will get from our computers when they get just a tiny bit better at knowing what we like. Good.
• “Farewell Hank” – a comedy (?), his wife throws him his “Farewell Party” while he’s still alive, instead of waiting for a funeral to get everyone together, so Hank hears them say all the nice things they have to say about him. I dunno, kinda makes sense as a cool tradition that should (?) start.
• “Tomb Sweeping” honoring the dead, and ramifications today of Japanese occupation & war crimes during WW2.

today

MyBetterHalf is spending the weekend with one of her bookclubs, and so I:

watched with MrG – AC Milan ( MrG’s fav team) come from behind and get two goals in last ten minutes to defeat Udinese.

watched with MrC GreenBay -v- 49ers game, which had I cared would have been stressful, but was just fun entertainment.

was driven to bookstore by McS, because she finished a book with a cliffhanger and had to get the next one, and she wanted dumplings for dinner.

Godzilla minus 1

Good movie.
I would see it again.
The characters I cared about, the story was good, deals with PTSD, deals with destruction and devistation of war… and to make it worse, Godzilla shows up, and each time is a new wow of shock and awe.
Good movie.

It was made with a $15 million budget!?! wow.
I saw a video, saying “Hollywood should be embarrassed “by how good this was, and how good this looked for only $15 million.

Mean Girls

crashed mother-daughter time, and joined them to watch Mean Girls (the musical, the movie, 2024).

It was fun.

Last night & last weeked

Last night, at dinner, the five us of talked about: Pete Carroll being fired, the Pinkertons, and which snacks we liked from a “Snack of the Month” club my boss signed us up for. Later MrG & MsS practiced parallel parking behind our kidmobile, with their mom, whilst I walked around in the parking lot. When we got home, me, MrG & MsS watched MrC play a game of Fortnight.

Last Saturday, I forced the childrens to go hike in Carkeek Park with me.

Last Sunday, because according to MsS “ferry ride is more fun than a hike” we took the ferry to Kingston, had lunch, had a coffee, returned.