(Re)Statement of Purpose: Salvage

This year sucked my brain out of my head and made it a small, wormy thing that flinches at the beginning of each day.

Next year, it's time to reset. I want to root myself again in the things that I choose, instead of dangling in a perpetual state of horrified reaction.

Last month, Katie Presley posited that the thesis of the (truly excellent) Lady Bird is "attention is love." In 2018, I am determined to spend my attention wisely.

So, I'm trying for a reset on The Daily Wreck. Here's the new plan:

• One recommendation every day
• It could still be a book or a movie or a TV show or a website, but it could also be an article or a Twitter feed or a restaurant or a person or an object or ...
• Not everything will be happy, but I will be avoiding anything that leaves me with a lingering sense of dread or hopelessness or horror
• The posts will also show up via Twitter and Tumblr (and probably also TinyLetter)

Let's save and share the good stuff while we can.

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #28: The Great Museum

Stream what: This documentary examines every aspect of the workings of a Vienna museum, from curators to pest control to marketing to restoration.

Stream why: No narration, no soundtrack, but it's mesmerizing and unexpectedly funny. It really rewards close viewing with subtle visual gags.

Stream where: Netflix

List #65: "S" Is for ... Socially Aware Sitcoms?

These three shows seem to be flying under the critical radar, but they deserve some attention and kudos for their matter-of-fact approaches to being socially progressive.

Schitt's Creek

• Solid on: Sexuality. One of the main characters is pansexual -- this is not treated as a big deal, but he also gets to have sex without anyone being tragically killed off.
• Bonus points for: Having a mayor named Roland Schitt, but still not making all of the townspeople idiots.
• Notable scene: David explains his ... wine preferences.
• Where to stream: Seasons 1 and 2 are on both Amazon and Netflix.

Speechless

• Solid on: Disability rights
• Bonus points for: The younger sister is a supercompetitive jock, but there are no tomboy jokes.
• Notable scene: Explaining inspiration porn.
• Where to stream: Season 1 is on ABC.com and Hulu.

Superstore

• Solid on: Blue collar workers, immigration issues, unionization
• Bonus points for: Having a truly diverse ensemble cast that's not led by a white dude.
• Notable scene: The employees strike for workers' rights.
• Where to stream: Season 2 is on NBC.com and Hulu.

Weekly Wreck of the Web #19

[Some catching up to do ...]

Ten links of interest:

1. Any Half-Decent Hacker Could Break Into Mar-a-Lago

2. Verse Goes Viral: How Young Feminist Writers Are Reclaiming Poetry for the Digital Age

3. Dr. Katz Is Back in the Healing Business with New Audio Series

4. In Trump Era, Women's Views of Nation's Prospects Take a Negative Turn [hmm, wonder why]

5. Villagers Knit Jumpers for Elephants to Protect Them From Near-Freezing Temperatures

6. Updated Trump Doctor Letter

7. The Census Is Much More Important Than You May Realize

8. What We Lose When We Give Awards to Men Like Casey Affleck

9. Under-Dog: Hounds Photographed from Underneath - in pictures

10. Maria Bamford Spent Her Commencement Address Discussing Exactly How She Negotiated Her Fee

Weekly Wreck of the Web #18

[Some catching up to do ...]

Ten links of interest:

1. Google Is Super Secretive about Its Anti-Aging Research. No One Knows Why.

2. This Moscow Subway Car Brings an art Museum to Commuters

3. Escaping Poverty Requires Almost 20 Years With Nearly Nothing Going Wrong

4. Vanity Fair's Secret Talent Theater (playlist) [best are Janelle Monae and Rachel Weisz]

5. Cats Using Dogs as Pillows

6. Men Really Need to Stop Calling Women Crazy

7. The Resistance Now: Big, Angry Crowds to Fight Back Against Trumpcare

8. Scout, 16, Confronts Neo-Nazi at Czech Rally

9. Lena Dunham Directs Bleachers' "Don't Take the Money" Video

10. Correction: Republican Bloodsuckers Who Sentenced Poor to Die Didn't Drink Bud Light

Weekly Wreck of the Web #17

[Some catching up to do ...]

Ten links of interest:

1. Trump and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad First 100 Days

2. Samantha Bee on Trump, Trolls, and Comedy's Fraught New Normal

3. Samantha Bee on Her Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner

4. 17 of the Best Independent Bookstores in Chicago

5. The Winners of the Sony World Photography Awards 2017

6. Matthew Desmond on the Social Problem of Eviction

7. Allison Crutchfield on How "Sad Bastard Music" Rings Hollow

8. Emily's Cartoons

9. CHVRCHES | 'Down Side Of Me (Live)' | 7-Inches For Planned Parenthood

10. This Is a Science Story. It Is Definitely Not a Metaphor

Weekly Wreck of the Web #16

[Some catching up to do ...]

Ten links of interest:

1. Best of Media Corrections, 2016 Edition

2. Democrats in Illinois Just Unseated a Whole Bunch of Republicans

3. The Many Lives of Pauli Murray

4. When the Designer Shows Up in the Design

5. 30 Years in the Life of One Chinese Square - in pictures

6. A Rape a Minute, a Thousand Corpses a Year

7. The Radical Feminist Aesthetic of The Handmaid's Tale

8. New song from Blondie

9. What's the Environmental Footprint of a T-Shirt?

10. Why Mandatory Vaccinations Are Critical, Visualized

Weekly Wreck of the Week #15

[Some catching up to do ...]

Ten links of interest:

1. "What can I do to help Syria?"

2. Pepsi's Awful Ad Isn't an Aberration; It's a Symptom of Commodified Dissent

3. How Can the Resistance Ward Off Infiltrators?

4. Can Customs and Border Officials Search Your Phone?

5. "All I Brought with Me": Syrian Refugees Show Their Possessions - in pictures

6. Celebrating African Americans in Fashion

7. America's First Female Mayor Was Elected 130 Years Ago. Men Nominated Her as a Joke.

8. How Journalists Covered the Rise of Mussolini and Hitler

9. Margaret Atwood, the Prophet of Dystopia

10. MasterChef at No. 10 (Red Nose Day 2011)

Weekly Wreck of the Week #14

Ten links of interest:

1. Four Feminists Recall Life Before and After Roe. v. Wade

2. This Year's Best Science Photos Are So Good They're Basically Art

3. Point: How the Trolls Stole Washington

4. Counterpoint: Why Trolling Wasn't the Deciding Factor in the Election

5. Bookmobiles: Rare Historical Photos

6. Five Things to Do to Protect Yourself Under a Trump Surveillance State

7. Christiane Amanpour on journalism today

8. 5 Tools to Enhance Your Trump Coverage

9. "Tambourine Army" Hits Back Against Sexual Violence in Jamaica

10. Brie Larson to Play First Female Presidential Nominee Victoria Woodhull

Quote for These Times #8

[not to be confused with its sister ongoing feature, Quote from a Fictional Character]

"If it please God,

let less happen."

--- "Blandeur," Kay Ryan,

The Best of It, 2000

(Rec. #50)

Weekly Wreck of the Web #13

Ten links of interest:

1. Don't Get Your Undocumented Friends in Trouble: A How-To

2. The Women's Strike and the Messy Space of Change

3. Fascism Facts

4. The Attorney Fighting Revenge Porn [This was horrifying. These men are horrifying.]

5. The Many Faces of Bertie Wooster

6. "All Resistance Is Local": A Plan of Progressive Action for the Trump Years

7. Tank and the Bangas: Tiny Desk Concert

8. Vital Signs from ProPublica

9. New music video from Aimee Mann

10. Why Typography Matters -- Especially at the Oscars

Weekly Wreck of the Web #12

Ten links of interest:

1. Photographs That Show Action Figures Interacting with Everyday Objects

2. Gabby Giffords to GOP: If I Could Go to Town Halls After Getting Shot, You Can Show Up for Voters

3. The Future Is Female --- And Still Unrelentingly Misogynist

4. The "Day Without a Woman" Strike, Explained

5. The Walled Off Hotel by Banksy - in pictures

6. Startup Workers See Sexual Harassment on "Breathtaking" Scale in Silicon Valley

7. Inside Schitt's Creek

8. There's an Intriguing Sociological Reason So Many Americans Are Ignoring Facts Lately

9. Best Photos of the Day: Sydney Mardi Gras and China's People's Congress

10. Is Obama's "Wire Tapp" the End of Donald Trump? Maybe! A Holy-Shit-Y'all Investigation into WTF!

Quote for These Times #7

[not to be confused with its sister ongoing feature, Quote from a Fictional Character]

[Happy International Women's Day]

"There was a fashion just now, Noel complained, of writing and talking about women as if they were some separate, peculiar, and rather contemptible species, instead of ordinary human beings, with ordinary human qualities."

--- Crewe Train,

Rose Macaulay, 1926

(Rec. #84)

Weekly Wreck of the Web #11

Ten links of interest:

1. Malta's Secret Tunnels: Inside the Newly Discovered Underworld of Valletta

2. The Truth About GMOs

3. Photos: "This Protest Is Real News" & Other Favorite Signs from "Not My President Day"

4. NYPL Digital Stylist: Oscars Edition

5. Using 13,000 Pennies to Renovate an Old Floor

6. Drop in Teenage Suicide Attempts Linked to Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage

7. Based on a *True* True Story? Oscars Edition

8. The Complete 4-Page Guide to Surviving an Authoritarian Regime

9. Possibly the Most Exhaustive Study of "Manspreading" Ever Conducted

10. Think Different: Can Advertising Defeat "Alt-Right" Propaganda?

Rec. #402: Fly / Art

What: Like most good Tumblrs, the concept of Fly/Art is simple, and simply stated --- hip-hop lyrics on art.

It's good! I recommend it!

How to get it: http://flyartproductions.tumblr.com/

The updating scheduling seems to come in bursts, so don't be discouraged that the most recent post is from February 20.

Quote for These Times #6

[not to be confused with its sister ongoing feature, Quote from a Fictional Character]

"Now, he told me, I could see what humanity was worth. It could form the conception of justice, but could not trust its flesh to provide judges. Whatever it started was likely to end in old men raving."

--- The Fountain Overflows,

Rebecca West, 1956

(Rec. #224)

Weekly Wreck of the Web #10

Ten links of interest:

1. The Problem with Femvertising

2. Michael Schur's Response to "Are Liberals Helping Trump?"

3. Tragedy Plus Time: How Jokes Won the Election

4. What's on the Menu? Help the NYPL Improve a Unique Collection

5. Make the Fur Fly: Annual Ferret Racing in Yorkshire - in Pictures

6. How America Counts Its Homeless - And Why So Many Are Overlooked

7. Museums and Libraries Fight "Alternative Facts" with a #DayofFacts

8. Movie Theaters Nationwide Will Screen 1984 to Protest Trump

9. People Recreate Photos of Their Immigrant Ancestors

10. Tufts Is Offering a 5-Day Program to Train Mathematicians to Be Expert Witnesses for Court Cases on Redistricting and Gerrymandering

Weekly Wreck of the Web #9

Ten links of interest:

1. What the Fuck Just Happened Today?

2. Collection of Self-Portraits by Women Artists

3. Barney Frank: Here's How Not to Waste Your Time Pressuring Lawmakers

4. The Media Under-Reports Threats of Islamic Terrorism -- to Muslims

5. Art for the Public

6. An Idiot's Guide to Whataboutery

7. The 64 Stages of Trump Grief (Campaign Launch - Present Day) [Michael Schur, I love you, but you forgot PARALYZING DREAD]

8. Want to Help Fight Legal Battles? There's a Crowdfunding Site for That

9. The Original Trump Haters

10. Here Are Your 4 New Best Friends: "Okay." "Wow." "No." CHILLY AWKWARD SILENCE

Quote for These Times #5

[not to be confused with its sister ongoing feature, Quote from a Fictional Character]

"There is no such thing as inner peace. There is only nervousness or death. Any attempt to prove otherwise constitutes unacceptable behavior."

--- Fran Lebowitz,

Metropolitan Life, 1978

(Rec. #188)

List #64: Happy Birthday, Paul Abbott

Who: Paul Abbott is a master of darkly comic, often suspenseful, television series. The characters are complex; the dialogue is the sharper, more articulate version of how people actually think; and the humor bites through even the muckiest of muck.

Alibi, 2003

Hit & Miss, 2012

Reckless, 1997-1998

(Rec. #290)

Shameless (U.K.), 2004-2013

(Rec. #14)

State of Play (U.K.), 2003

(Rec. #104)

Touching Evil, 1997-1999

N.B.: People keep adapting Paul Abbott's stuff -- pay close attention to the years listed here and settle for nothing less than the original.

Weekly Wreck of the Web #8

Ten links of interest:

1. Reddit Is Tearing Itself Apart

2. Being Kellyanne Conway: Because Life Is Easier with Alternative Facts

3. Queer Muslim Women from the South: We're Here and We're Fierce

4. Dystopia in The Good Place

5. World's Largest Smog-Sucking Vacuum Could Rid Cities of Pollution

6. 33 Badass Women Leading the Resistance (on Twitter)

7. MoMA Forefronts Art from Countries Affected by Trump Travel Ban

8. The Politics of Pockets

9. Media Coverage of Domestic Violence More Likely to Excuse White vs. Black Perpetrators

10. A Moment with ... Ashley

Weekly Wreck of the Web #7

[Yes, I am behind on these. Oops.]

Ten links of interest:

1. Twitter Account Documents Jewish Refugees Turned Away by America in 1939

2. Michael Schur Got Himself a Tumblr

3. The Art of "No"

4. Thanks to Trump,  the Doomsday Clock Advances Toward Midnight

5. Rejected Porcelain Restored More Beautifully with Gold Lining

6. Just How Big Was the 2017 Women's March?

7. "Immigrants Are America": Protesters Mass at Airports - in Pictures

8. Immigration Ban Protest in Harrisonburg

9. My Time at Standing Rock Taught Me What We Need to Do to Resist

10. Samantha Bee to Roast Donald Trump at Alternative What House Correspondents Dinner

Quote for These Times #4

[not to be confused with its sister ongoing feature, Quote from a Fictional Character]

"Do you know why one can't take the law into one's own hands? ... Because the law is too big to fit in one pair of hands. So if you feel you've got a comfortable grip on whatever you're holding, you can be pretty sure it's not the law."

--- Mildred Benjamin,

Territory, Emma Bull, 2007

(Rec. #10)

Weekly Wreck of the Web #6

Ten links of interest:

1. Is Covergirl's New Coverboy a Feminist Coup or a Capitalist One?

2. Of Course Fiona Apple Made a Trump-Shaming Rallying Cry for the Women's March

3. Signs from Women's Marches Around the World

4. Hero Librarians Create Fake Reader to Save Books, Outsmart Algorithms

5. Aimee Mann Is Back and Bummed Out as Ever on Her New Album Mental Illness

6. Teaching While Black

7. The Otherworldly Genius of The Good Place [SPOILERS]

8. Broadway Preview: Spring 2017

9. Kitten and Cameraman

10. Cute Dog Things from Twitter

Quote for These Times #3

[not to be confused with its sister ongoing feature, Quote from a Fictional Character]

"Not that I want to be a god or a hero. Just to change into a tree, grow for ages, not hurt anyone."

--- Czeslaw Milosz

Rec. #401: The Good Place, season 1

What: The show begins when Kristen Bell's character learns from Ted Danson's character that she's dead and in "The Good Place."

First problem: She realizes she doesn't belong there.

Second problem: Everything that follows.

Comparable to: Created by Michael Schur, so it's tonally similar to his other shows, Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Privilege check: The show passes the Bechdel test and (misleading poster notwithstanding) features characters of a variety of ethnicities. It's not too heteronormative, although this particular universe is comprised of paired soulmates, which seems to preclude both polyamory and asexuality. Overall, especially for a rich white dude, Michael Schur (and his team) do pretty well.

How to get it: Stream the whole thing on Hulu, including episodes with extended cuts!

Perfect for rewatching the whole first season, which is probably what you'll want to do after the truly excellent season finale.

Quote for These Times #2

[not to be confused with its sister ongoing feature, Quote from a Fictional Character]

"You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read."

--- James Baldwin

Weekly Wreck of the Web #5

Ten links of interest:

1. Hong Kong's "Villain Hitters" Use Sorcery to Vent Political Anger

2. A Reminder that Brooklyn Nine-Nine Is a Great Show

3. How Some Cool Silent Film Effects Were Done

4. A Moment of Silence for Black and Brown Talent That Grew on Vine

5. Spectacular Rooftops Around the World

6. There Will Soon Be 100 Days of Anti-Trump Songs

7. The Internet Is Becoming Unreadable Because of Lighter, Thinner Fonts

8. Lin-Manuel Miranda Wrote a West Wing Song

9. Newspaper Lists Trump Inauguration as a Twilight Zone Reboot

10. Hidden Figures as a GIF

Quote for These Times #1

[not to be confused with its sister ongoing feature, Quote from a Fictional Character]

"How happy we were, and how little we realized how nice it was to be lazy and happy, without fear and anxiety and horror knocking at the back of one's brain like a little gnome with a hammer."

--- Henrietta,

Henrietta's War, Joyce Dennys, 1939

(Rec. #344)

Weekly Wreck of the Web #4

Ten links of interest:

1. Yoko Ono's Cleaning Pieces

2. I Am Not Your Negro Trailer: James Baldwin Talks Race Relations in America

3. Travel Man Christmas special ["48 Hours in Florence"]

4. Hong Kong in the 1950s Captured by a Teenager

5. The Best Photographs of Barack Obama's Presidency

6. This Artist Is the Only Person Banned from Using the World's Pinkest Pink

7. This Year's Golden Globes, Grammys, and Academy Awards Will All Be Hosted by White, Straight Men Named James

Three-parter from The Guardian:

8. Climate Deniers, Conspiracists and One-Percenters: Trump's Cabinet of Characters

9. Trump's Cabinet Picks: Here Are All of the Appointments So Far

10. What You Need to Know: Confirming Trump's Cabinet

List #63: People in the Media I Actually Liked in 2016, Part Two

Corporate media let us down in many, many, many ways last year.

But! Here are some media people I actually liked in 2016:

[See Part One here for #1-5.]

6. Nadiya Hussain

Who: Baker, columnist, author, television presenter

Two of the whats: The Great British Bake Off (tv), Nadiya's Kitchen (book)

Where:
For The Great British Bake Off (series 6) - YouTube, intermittently
For Nadiya's Kitchen - library or bookseller of your choosing

7. Daniel Levy

Who: Actor, writer, producer

One of the whats: Schitt's Creek (tv show)

Where: Amazon Prime

8. Kate McKinnon

Who: Comedian, actor

Two of the whats: Singing "Hallelujah" on SNL as Hillary Clinton (tv), Ghostbusters (movie)

Where:
For "Hallelujah" performance - Hulu
For Ghostbusters - rent, buy, or borrow from the source of your choosing

9. Michael Schur

Who: Producer, writer

Three of the whats: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place, an A+++ Twitter

Where:
For Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Hulu
For The Good Place - Hulu
For his Twitter - @KenTremendous

10. Ngozi Ukazu

Who: Web comic author/artist

One of the whats: Check, Please!
[you might think you don't care about fictional college hockey players ... you are so, so, so wrong]

Where: Start the comic here

List #63: People in the Media I Actually Liked in 2016, Part One

Corporate media let us down in many, many, many ways last year.

But! Here are some media people I actually liked in 2016:

1. Richard Ayoade

Who: Writer, director, actor (of the British variety)

One of the whats: Travel Man (tv show) (Rec. #396)

Where:
Channel 4 if you're in the U.K.; otherwise, YouTube

2. Samantha Bee

Who: Late-night host, author

Two of the whats: Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (tv show), I Know I Am, But What Are You? (book) (Rec. #285)

Where:
For Full Frontal - TBS or, you guessed it, YouTube
For I Know I Am, But What Are You? - buyable, borrowable, Kindle-able

3. Carrie Brownstein

Who: Musician, writer, actor

Two of the whats: Portlandia (tv show), The Realest Real (short film)

Where:
For Portlandia - IFC, or stream on Netflix
For The Realest Real - YouTube

4. Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins

Who: Comedians, hosts

One of the whats: The Great British Bake Off (tv show)

Where: Was on the BBC in the U.K.; PBS in the U.S.; sporadically findable on YouTube

5. Adam Goldman

Who: Writer, director, actor

Two of the whats: The Outs (web series) (Rec. #280), Whatever This Is (web series)

Where:
For The Outs - season one at TheOuts.com, season two on Vimeo
For Whatever This Is - at WhateverThisIs.com
(also, his twitter is really great)


[Read Part Two here for #6-10.]

Weekly Wreck of the Web #3

Ten links of interest:

1. The Guardian's Travel Photographers of the Year

2. On Twitter: Sondheim Lyrics

3. Americans — especially but not exclusively Trump voters — believe crazy, wrong things

4. Wes Anderson Officially Announces New Film Isle of Dogs

5. Considering the Ankara Assassination Photos As History Painting

6. Lagoon Table Created from Merged Travertine and Marble

7. Trump Supporters Especially Oppose Public Policies When Cued to Think about Black People

8. Watch Footage from New Broadway-Bound Musical Amélie

9. Trump victory spurs women to run for office across US

10. The Best Dataviz of the Year: The IIB Awards Winners 2016

List #62: Five Songs That Capture My Year

1. "Play for Today" - Belle and Sebastian

Key lyrics:
Life is a secret,
Death is a myth,
Love is a fraud,
It's misunderstood.
Work is a sentence,
Family's a drag,
This house is a trap.

Moment in time captured: March 2016

2. "I'm Ready to Move On / Wild Heart Reprise" - Bleachers, Susanna Hoffs

Key lyrics:
So put your shotgun back in the glove
C'mon and wait another year for the dream far away
To come home, to be brave
Snow is falling all the time
Snow is smiling all the time
I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready to move on

Moment in time captured: August 2016

3. "Head Underwater" - Jenny Lewis

Key lyrics:
I put my head underwater, baby,
I threw my clothes away in the trash
I stood barefoot on the blazing concrete,
I was waiting for the gut of thunder to crash

Moment in time captured: October 2016

4. "Impossible Year" - Panic! At the Disco

Key lyrics:
There's no good times
This impossible year
Just a beachfront of bad blood
And a coast that's unclear

Moment in time captured: December 2016

5. "God Draws Straight" - original cast recording of Here Lies Love*

Key lyrics:
As I turned on my walkman,
And all I could hear - every station was Marcos, he’s on every TV
In an appliance store window he fills every screen,
Then the TVs went blank and his face disappeared.

Moment in time captured: Maybe the future?




* For those not familiar with the show, this is the final song --- its lyrics are taken from the oral histories of participants in the People Power Revolution that forced an end to the Marcos regime in the Philippines