TV

#ThursdayThoughts: Seriousness intermission with a some TV, Netflix edition.

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It’s grey (or gray? was that ever settled?) and rainy today, not right at this moment but probably soon. I may end up in the rain or not, that’s up to the weather at this point.

It’s been a week of serious, heavy topics and I want a little break in our little space here, so I’m going to talk about some stuff I’ve been watching lately, and then if that makes you want to talk about some stuff you’ve been watching lately, seems like a good deal.

First, Girls5Eva, which used to be on Peacock and moved to Netflix. There are three seasons including the newest one; all of them are available now. It does worry me that it means that Netlflix won’t be making more, but it’s a gem, no matter how many episodes there are. I’ve decided to watch from the beginning again and then into the new season. It’s even funnier the second time; the first I didn’t know what to expect.

Outstanding cast, relatable characters, and wild talent. Highly recommend.

Second, Blown Away, also Netflix, they’re all Netflix, as it happens, is a competition show about glassblowing. Though it follows the elimination one by one method, it’s really more about the art than anything else, and the finished products are incredible. There’s something special about this particular show, I’ve tried some of the other less conventional creative challenges and none are quite as compelling as this one.

Maybe it’s all the broken glass?

There are four seasons now, so that is a nice bingeing opportunity, if you’re so inclined.

And finally, I’m early into this one, but I’m enjoying Doctor Slump, a Korean drama on Netflix. It’s the story of a pair of high school academic rivals who hit their lives’ low points at the same time, and it has, at least so far, a good emphasis on mental health. Currently there are a number of doctors protesting plans to increase medical school admissions in South Korea, though I wonder if some of the conditions depicted in this drama are an underlying current of the protests.

It’s tough to know, because we don’t get the full picture here, but it’s not the first drama I’ve seen showing the Korean medical system as unrelentingly demanding, not that training for doctors in the US is any easy stroll. And of course it’s a drama, so it is, by nature, dramatic. No one should take Grey’s Anatomy literally.

What’s very real, though, is the approach to treating mental health in this show as any other ailment, also deserving of recovery as opposed to mere coping. There are still two episodes to air as I write this, not that I am close to caught up, so I can’t say which way this one will go, but a friend I trust with these things assures me it’s a very fun watch.

So that’s what I’ve got moving across my TV right now, please feel free to share yours and have a perfect Thursday!

Check out  my full-length novels (affiliate links): 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#WednesdayWisdom: It’s OK to stop

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I was chatting with a friend on Twitter (HI!) who is watching that Korean show that everyone is talking about (“everyone,”), The Squid Game. I tried the first episode, and while the first part was interesting, the violence made me turn it off.

She was partially through, and found it disturbing enough she needed a break. I told her I just read an article on how it ended, and she’s considering doing the same. And that got me thinking.

Obviously.

Sometimes we grind though things because we feel some kind of obligation. There may not even be any external pressure, we just feel like we “should.” But while it’s OK for art to be challenging at times, it doesn’t have to be.

It’s also OK for entertainment to be entertaining. Isn’t it what it’s there for?

I’ve done it myself, I used to do it all the time, pushing through books I didn’t like, watching television shows I realized I dreaded sitting down for, shows that left me feeling tense, or uncomfortable.

And I’m not talking about those suspenseful shows that keep you edgy but you want to know, I mean like Housewives who only annoyed me.

We don’t have to sit thought it. We don’t have to sit through any of it. And if you’re curious, there is never a shortage of entertainment writers more than happy to explain in extensive detail every nuance, every twist, and every character.

Have a great Wednesday, and remember your free time is yours.

Check out  my full-length novels (affiliate links): 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#WednesdayWisdom…Handmaid’s Tale?

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The feeling that we’ve transported to the early days of Gilead has me on the fence about what used to be one of my favorite shows. My only hope is that they tear the whole thing down.

I’d enjoy that.

But otherwise, it’s pretty intense, and given everything happening now, including the dehumanization of women in several states, it’s a tough watch.

I’ll probably watch it.

But I’ll have to brace myself.

What we need now is hope, even if it seems out of step with reality, even if hope feels pointless. Because once you settle in to it all being pointless, then, well, it is.

Here’s hoping for a happy ending.

Check out  my full-length novels (affiliate links): 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

Wobble through Wednesday

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woman punching red heavy bag

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I had a fantastic workout this morning. Kickboxing with Erica on Daily Burn, and wow, did it wake me up and get rid of some aggression. Had a decent breakfast, and discovered “Forever” on Amazon. It’s weird.

I love it.

A little bummed because there’s a bit to the concept of something I’d started, but it’s funny how creativity is like that. Someone wrote a poem about it, I wish I could remember who and find that poem again. I thought it was Gwendolyn Brooks, but I’m not sure.

Anyhow she compared inspiration to a herd of cattle thundering past, and you have to grab it by the tail before someone else does. It’s so true; sometimes it’s like there’s something in the air. If you don’t use an idea, someone else will.

And in this case, I think so much better than I was leaning toward. Oh well, it happens to all of us.

Watch it, though. It’s a very well-crafted show.

So that’s me on Wednesday. I hope your personal week is looking up, because our collective one is, well, something else entirely. The small things matter right now.

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

It’s Friday night lights out for me

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I’ve never watched the show “Friday Night Lights.” I missed it when it was airing, and put it on my list to watch on Netflix, and now, it’s not there. Unless I pay for it specifically (I’m not paying for it specifically) it’s gone.

Shows like that have risen onto and fallen off of my radar. There’s one right now, “This Is Us,” which I’ve never watched. I could watch it, I could catch up on it, but for some reason, I kinda just don’t want to. But there may come a day, far off in the future when I think, hey, I never did watch that show.

And here I’ll be again.

Sometimes you put things off because time feels short and it’s not worth jamming it in between other obligations. Sometimes you put things off and because you forget about them. And sometimes you put things off because you think they’re things you should want to do but deep down inside, you don’t.

Learn to identify those things.

Otherwise they become part of the noise and clutter of “should haves,” “should wants,” “should dos.” And when you keep up with all of those shoulds, you can miss out on what you really want.

In my case, it’s not to spend $20 a season on “Friday Night Lights.”

Check out my recaps of the hit new show “All My Traitors.” Recap of episode 2, “Lock Him Up” is available now!

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

 

#AtoZChallenge: TV Talk: TV!

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Sue, the most-complete T-Rex ever found, at the Field Museum in Chicago.

Silly me, racking (grammar nerd alert: I checked, and the correct racking in this cliche is the one without the W. Are you surprised? I was) my Monday-morning brain for a T-word when the obvious choice was right in front of me. Literally.

I love TV and I’m not at all embarrassed to shout it from the rooftops. Well,maybe not rooftops, because that’s a really good way to convince people that you’re somewhere on the other side of off, and then they can’t quite look you in the eye when you pass in the lobby and it’s all kinds of awkward.

Sounds like the plot of a sitcom, dontcha think?

Anyway, it’s possible I don’t always watch TV for the same things other people do. Or maybe we’re all doing it, but we just don’t talk about it. Like my UK police procedurals I treat as my own private tour, from from London to Shetland and around again. Never focus on the bodies; always focus on the sweeping views and the interesting nooks and crannies only the locals would know. If you look around the death and depravity, they’re very charming.

I haven’t watched one set in Ireland yet, though, so if you know of one I can stream, please share!

There are my “bottom of the pile” shows, ones I watch because I like seeing between the cracks of what people mean to show us. Those shows include the so-called “Housewives” (none of them seem to be real ones), where over-privileged women screech at one another that they’re owed apologies. Those shows are a form of people watching, but only if you don’t buy into their sleight of hand, only if you look at the corners they’re desperately trying to hide.

And then my favorite group: the Pinnacle Shows. Combining superior writing, acting, and almost always, cinematography, they’re my event shows. “Doctor Who,” “Orphan Black,” “Fargo,” “Better Call Saul,” “Wynonna Earp,” “Call the Midwife,” “Outlander.”

No doubt shortly “The Handmaid’s Tale.” And probably “American Gods.” There are many on the streaming services as well: “Grace & Frankie,” “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Orange is the New Black,” (if it recovers), “Transparent.”

There’s no particular genre; no particular aesthetic. Their common thread is superior storytelling paired with extreme talent in all aspects of the production. Some of them — “Breaking Bad,” its prequel, “Better Call Saul,” and “Fargo,” — are far outside my usual genre selection, but they are too special to miss.

It’s as though television has swapped places with film; it’s the long format now, offering worlds up on worlds with mere presses of buttons.

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

 Sign up for my spamless newsletter!

#AtoZChallenge Entertainament! TV Talk

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By Tomascastelazo (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Quick reminder, Aunty Ida is only $0.99 for a limited time! If you’ve liked hanging out here, wait until you meet Aunty Ida.

Time for TV Talk! Which is all about entertainment. Which starts with an E. What’s that, hypothetical reader?

It’s totally legitimate! Entertainment IS an e-word and today’s show, “Chewing Gum” is A++ entertaining. There’s no such grade as A++?

There is now.

So “Chewing Gum” is a British comedy created by, written by and stars Michaela Coel. You might recognize her from the British show “The Aliens.”

No, hypothetical reader, you don’t? Come on now, I’m not the only person who watched that show. Probably.

It’s a good show, but back to “Chewing Gum.” It also features Susan Wokoma, who appeared in the equally brilliant “Crazy Heads,” and “Crashing.” Wokoma, like Coel, is a natural comedian, and so, with this show you have that magical combination of perfect, precise performance coupled with witty, razor-sharp material.

I told you it was A++.

Coel stars as Tracey, who lives on a housing estate (the flowery UKian term for public housing) with her mother and sister, Wokoma. She navigates the awkward moments of young adulthood in excruciatingly hilarious comic fashion, written with just the right amount of push and restraint.

I admit I’m a sucker for the shows written by the stars, something that seems to happen regularly in the UK. It allows for such a range of talent, and the material is always so suited to the performances.

Two seasons (series on the other side of the Atlantic) of “Chewing Gum” are available on Netflix US, and you need to start watching it now. Small caveat, though: like many British shows, a series is just six episodes.

Use them wisely.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

 Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only) ($0.99 for a short time)  and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

 Sign up for my spamless newsletter!

TV Talk: Binge It! Humans

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OK, sci-fi TV buddies, I’ve been going through some serious withdrawal since the gripping, “Orphan Black,” “12 Monkeys” and fantasy fav, “Grimm” fluttered away to hiatus. And don’t even get me started on our year-long time-out from “Doctor Who.”

So, thumbing through my various watch lists, I came across “Humans.” Wow.

A species of my absolute favorite British-American hybrid, “Humans” explores what happens if we have truly human-like artificial intelligence. I’ve got to wonder, given all the science-fiction writers who’ve warned of what will come, why we continue to pursue it, but hey, some people never read to the end.

Unlike much American-based sci-fi, British science-fiction isn’t about explosions and bullets and chases, whether in space or in the future or in the past or on the way from the past into the future. British shows tend to explore the cultural questions, the impact on relationships, the way technology shapes our interaction with the world.

There’s a deeply reflective quality to it, both in the examination of issues and in the sense that it — like all good sci-fi — mirrors us back to us through a more palatable filter.

“Humans” accomplishes all of these things while still remaining captivating television. It’s quick, the plotting inevitable yet not predicable, and the acting is phenomenal.

It’s also got Jen (Katherine Parkinson) from “The IT Crowd,” so, I mean, there’s that. And she’s amazing.

“Humans” airs on AMC in the US and Channel 4 in the UK, and will be released in the UK first; it’s coming back to the US some time in 2017. Plenty of time to catch up! It’s available to stream from Amazon Prime, or directly from AMC, though you’ll need your cable provider info.

In or near Chicago in October? Come see “Me Inside Me Presents: Witch, Please,” on October 1, 8, 22 and 29 at Donny’s Skybox Theater at 7 pm. Tickets available atSecondCity.com.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

 Sign up for my spamless newsletter!

TV Talk: Binge It! My Mad Fat Diary

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It’s another British show! You all know how much I enjoy my across pondular entertainment, and this one was exceptional. Though I strive to make these TV talks spoiler free, there is one aspect regarding the structure of the show I have to raise, but I’ll try to keep it academic.

Still with me? Fab.

“My Mad Fat Diary” follows Rae, a 16-year-old girl living in Stamford, Lincolnshire in 1996. Recently released from a psychiatric ward, we’re with her, through the tool of her diary, as she navigates teenaged life out in the world. Based on Rae Earl’s (purportedly) real diaries from 1989, published as My Fat, Mad Teenage Diary, it’s a must-watch for anyone who’s ever, you know, been a teenager.

Though it’s about teenagers, it isn’t really for teenagers. It’s a show packed with truths about who you think you are versus how others see you; truths about relationships in all directions; truths about coping, no matter your stage of life.

It’s extremely well-written, with fleshed-out, believable characters, and enough humor to balance its sometimes stark subject matter.

But perhaps the most intriguing thing about “My Mad Fat Diary” (and here’s the possibly spoilerly bit) is the use of the unreliable narrator. It’s very much a first-person story, and that choice is used to excellent effect later on in the series.

It’s those seemingly small writing decisions that accumulate and tell a compelling, must-watch story. And it’s a complete story. The entire show is available to stream on Hulu.

Or binge. I dare you to try to stop.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

 Sign up for my spamless newsletter!

 

 

TV Talk, British Edition: Miranda

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Oh, British television. How I love my British TV, from comedies to cop dramas.

So many cop dramas.

But Miranda is not one of them. Nope, Miranda — a sitcom written by and featuring the hilarious Miranda Hart — encompasses so much of what I love about British television.

Let’s start with the writer-driven material. Very little of what we have on television here comes from the minds of the people who star in it, and while Hart didn’t completely produce the show herself, it feels like she might have. Which only adds to the sense that the Miranda on the show would genuinely be a friend if only she didn’t only exist for half-hour bursts. When actors create their own characters, it leads to a different kind of depth.

And a different kind of performer on TV.

Here, all nearly all actors, but particularly women, must be smoothed to a near-Photoshop perfection, whether on or off-camera. Women must conform to certain standards, unless cast specifically because they don’t, making that a vital aspect of the character.

Here, the fear of deviating from established beauty norms radiates from the screen. Often casting makes female characters intended to reject beauty norms laughable, such as the young Hayden Panettiere as a nerd on Malcolm in the Middle.

But not in the UK. No one but Miranda Hart could have brought the character of Miranda to life. And there, she was given the freedom to do it.

Yet this show isn’t a statement, it’s thirty minutes of laugh-out-loud moments where we can recognize ourselves, our own human awkwardness, the funny side of how we relate to others and the world around us. Miranda is a cozy blanket of humor, kind and inclusive; it’s that warm glow from a window on the street, coming from a room where we’re all invited.

All seasons of Miranda are available to to stream on Hulu. But I warn you, take it slowly. You’ll miss her when it’s over.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

 Sign up for my spamless newsletter!