Periodically, some variant of a meme pops up in my feeds that goes “Adulting is saying ‘maybe next week will be easier’ until you die.” Yeah, I know. Great thought to start your Monday, right? Well, author Oliver Burkeman has a different approach in what he’s termed this “age of bewilderment.” It’s not going to get easier, but once you let go of “being on top of everything,” you have some options. Your mileage may…
I posted about the accuracy of The Bear on Wednesday and I’m still into these sorts of YouTube videos, possibly because I’ve been watching a number of docu-drama or other historical films of late. Here, historian Dan Snow looks at five historical films audiences give high marks to… but we all know that doesn’t mean they pass factual muster, right? I like how he can rave about the storytelling power of a give film or…
The Bear, FX’s much-lauded, frequently-awarded show is coming back for its fourth, and potentially final, season. Readers of this blog may recall I love the show for a number of reasons, none of which are dependent on it being a comedy. In fact, an arguable element to admire in the show is its depiction of the inherent drama within a restaurant kitchen. But how accurate is that portrayal? Veteran chef and restaurateur Paul Liebrandt weighs…
On this uniquely American holiday, it’s perhaps not unusual to wonder who a typical American might be. And in his usual wonky way, John Green delivers: And if you want a more dynamic video about all the many people who are American, perhaps with stirring music you may have originally heard in The Truman Show, John Cena has you covered: E pluribus unum, indeed.
I’ve been looking more into urban planning for both story research and rabbit hole reasons and came across this video by the same folks who did some informative videos about cities I linked to a few years ago, so here you are: In some ways, I feel like this is draft research for an upcoming John Oliver segment, so no jokes or what do we do… because how bad or not is it? Your mileage…
It’s Friday, so let’s keep things light. Building on the post for Shakespeare’s birthday from two weeks ago, it’s worth remembering that writers, the folks who are supposed to be lovers of language will go ahead and just invent words. Without a permit! Why it’s outrageous! Possibly treaso- oh, who am I kidding? I run an outfit called Jabberwocky Audio Theater for crying out loud. I love nonce words. I’ll let Dr. Erica Brozovsky take…
While not being a chess junkie –yes, despite the ‘Bjorn’ connection— I nevertheless find learning various variants and cousins of chess to be interesting, from the traditional shogi to the fantastical tridimensional chess. One variant I haven’t played in an age is Hnefatafl or “Viking Chess” which, to my mind, is very thematic for an abstract game and enjoyably asymmetrical. So, to prepare you the next time some wandering Viking challenges you to a tabletop…
Amid the many pop culture phenomena Gen Xers were exposed to, one of the most pleasant for me were the Choose Your Own Adventure books. Appearing right at the end of the 70s and absolutely exploding in the 80s, not all the entries in the series were created equally, a fact that we young readers were well aware of as we recommended particular books over others. There were also certain endings that felt arbitrary or…
My last Roman history post appears to be from last August, but I admit I haven’t seen any Roman-related TV or movies since Gladiator II: Unexpected Sequel Boogaloo. So, if you, like me, want to check out some TV shows of films set in Roman times, here’s some insight as to what to pick: Granted, this might be especially for those of you who want to get your Roman war on. But if you just…
I’ve found myself looking up previous read books and old videos that speak to bigger pictures and “the vision thing” as we all continue to trundle through these interesting times. One video I revisited was a lecture Carl Sagan at his 60th birthday symposium at Cornell (he regrettably died just two years later). Evidently, the lecture was unavailable to the public at large for decades, but through a course of events, was recovered from its…