Rec. #696: Taskmaster (U.S.), season 1

What: Taskmaster is a very British game show, where various comedians and minor celebrities are given pointless/bizarre tasks and then judged on their successful completion and creativity. This is not that. But! We've imported the concept, some challenges, and the show's sidekick/creator (Alex Horne) to the U.S., and it works pretty well!

The U.S. version is led by Reggie Watts, and some challenges include: draw a horse while riding a horse, make the longest continuous noise, impress a mayor, and do the most surprising thing with a potato.

Such good-natured, vaguely competitive nonsense is unusual for American shows and much appreciated. 

How to get it: The U.S. version of Taskmaster aired on Comedy Central (and I do genuinely laugh during each challenge, so that's good). You can buy episodes from your usual sources.

Rec. #695: Beecharmer

What: Nellie McKay in a duet with Cyndi Lauper. They are a markedly good fit, and "Beecharmer" is basically the platonic ideal of a combination of their styles.

Representative lyrics:
Sewed everything he said
Together with a thread
Repeatin' in my mind
Each word like a rhyme

Like a penny serenade
Liltin' through a song
He says the record's overplayed
Where did I go wrong


How to get it: "Beecharmer" is from Nellie McKay's album Pretty Little Head (Rec. #320). 

Connections to previous Wreckage: For more McKay, see Rec. #206, Rec. #320, Rec. #608, and Rec. #667.

Rec. #694: Quote for These Times #17

"He was one of the unexpected things that happen in politics, and he happened with great thoroughness."

--- from "Hermann the Irascible: A Story of the Great Weep,"

The Chronicles of Clovis,
Saki, 1911

(See also: Rec. #172)

Rec. #693: Revisiting List #37: Some of the Best TV I Watched in 2013

[Originally posted January 6, 2014.]

Best Overall:

My Mad Fat Diary

(Rec. #283) (SSoW #25) (List #26)

I appreciated, admired, and adored a lot of stuff year, but my feelings for My Mad Fat Diary are in a different stratosphere. It tore me up. It made me giddy and livid and soul-achy and triumphant and reverent, and not a single emotional beat felt unearned.

Best Actor:
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black

(Rec. #340) (QfFC #10)

The first season of Orphan Black did a lot of things right, but the most important thing it did was introduce us to the jaw-droppingly talented Tatiana Maslany.

She is our queen now, you know. Long may she reign.

Best Show Cut Down Before Its Time:
Bunheads 

I haven’t watch Enlightened yet, but otherwise I stand by this one pretty strongly.

Best Show That Should Be Terrible by Now but
Somehow Really Isn’t:
Portlandia 
(SSoW #6)

By all rights, Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen should have completely run out of ideas about fifteen episodes ago. At the very least, their funny/not funny ratio should be getting worse. It’s not.

Best White Male Showrunner Who Is Not Wholly Oblivious to His Privilege [tie]:
Michael Schur (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
(List #63, Rec. #537, Rec. #619, Rec. #620, Rec. #621, Rec. #622, Rec. #623)

Look at the realistic presence of women and non-white dudes in Michael Schur’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine! 


Bryan Fuller (Hannibal)
(List #53, List #29)

Look at the fully realized female characters that Bryan Fuller created for Hannibal! These did not exist in the original story by Thomas Harris. In the novel, for example, Alana Bloom and Freddie Lounds are both men.

Rec. #692: Revisiting List #47: Some of the Best Movies I Saw in 2014

[Originally posted January 5, 2015.]


Movies in Theaters

God Help the Girl: "Do you often sing to people?"  "No. Never, really. Just you, just now."
(Rec. #361)

Pride: "I've had a lot of new experiences during this strike. Speaking in public, standing on a picket line, and now I'm in a gay bar."



Movies at Home

Across the Universe: "Music's the only thing that makes sense anymore, man. Play it loud enough, it keeps the demons at bay."
(Rec. #334)

Fay Grim: "An honest man is always in trouble."
(Rec. #323)

Happy-Go-Lucky: "You keep on rowing, and I'll keep on smiling."  "Hmm. Are we there yet?"
  "Ha! We got a hell of a way to go."
(Rec. #377)

Stories We Tell: "When you're in the middle of a story, it isn't a story at all but rather a confusion, a dark roaring, a blindness, a wreckage of shattered glass and splintered wood ... It's only afterwards that it becomes anything like a story at all, when you're telling it to yourself or someone else."
(Rec. #343) (SSoW #3)

Rec. #691: Behind the Scenes with the Biggest Soul Stars of the '70s

What: Photographer Bruce Talamon spent a decade following R&B and soul artists in the U.S., and now 300 pictures from his archive have been collected into a book.

The Guardian shares some of the images, as well as insight from Talamon, in this article.

Representative quote: "Backstage, publicists [back then] didn’t snatch the Jack Daniel’s out of the artist’s hand or take the spliff out of Bob Marley’s mouth. I could shoot all night long and nobody ever said: ‘Put your camera down.'"
How to get it: "Behind the Scenes with the Biggest Soul Stars of the '70s" was published in The Guardian this past July.

Rec. #690: Stage Fright

What: In my continuing quest to demonstrate that the cliche of the "Hitchcock blonde" represents a selection of titles and not Hitchcock's full oeuvre, I present to you Stage Fright --- starring the very brunette Jane Wyman.

(Hitchcock brunettes and redheads tend to be the main protagonists. Hitchcock blondes tend to be objects/ride-alongs. See List #30 for more.)

In Stage Fright, Wyman's character embarks on a caper to prove that her crush's lover (a very vampy Marlene Dietrich) is a murderer. Wyman detects, disguises, and chases her way through a series of suspenseful (yet playful!) twists and reveals.

Representative quote: "After all, there must be a lot that doesn't appear on the surface. I mean, like wheels within wheels. Who - who knows what goes on in a woman's mind?"

Connection to previous Wreckage: As mentioned above, you might also check out List #30: Nine Hitchcock Films Starring Non-Blondes.

Rec. #689: Limericking on Twitter

What: Maybe you'll feel better about the news if it comes to you in jaunty rhymes?

Representative tweets:
"The White House intends to insist
That trans people do not exist
And by definition
Can’t have recognition.
However, they do and are pissed."


"A noted celeb, Taylor Swift,
Gave Dem politicians a lift.
She wrote in a note
That two have her vote,
And many a pepe was miffed."


How to get it: Limericking is on Twitter (@Limericking) and is also affiliated with Canada's National Post.

Rec. #688: Free Fallin' (Susanna Hoffs & Matthew Sweet cover)

What: "Free Fallin'" is a fan favorite Tom Petty song, and rightly so. This particular cover version only amplifies the dreaminess with the addition of soaring vocals from Susanna Hoffs on the chorus.

Falling never sounded so much like soaring as it does here.

Connection to previous Wreckage: I would like to posit that a Susanna Hoffs cover is always a good idea. She should cover every song. All of them. All the songs. Another favorite is Hoffs covering "I'm Ready to Move On / Wild Heart Reprise" from Bleachers. See List. #62.

How to get it: This cover is from Susanna Hoffs & Matthew Sweet's aptly named Under the Covers, vol. 3. Volumes 1 and 2 are also excellent.

Rec. #687: I Pulled a 1,500-Year-Old Sword Out of a Lake

What: When this piece appeared in The Guardian last week, I saw more than one person declare it to be the only good thing on the internet.

They are not wrong.

Representative quotes:
"Daddy was begging me to rush so he could watch the World Cup final, but I like to take my time about things so I ignored him."

"People on the internet are saying I am the queen of Sweden ... I am not a lady – I’m only eight – but it’s true I found a sword in the lake. I wouldn’t mind being queen for a day, but when I grow up I want to be a vet."

How to get it: "I Pulled a 1,500-Year-Old Sword Out of a Lake," from Saga Vanecek, was published in The Guardian on October 19. The original story about the sword's discovery was published in the same source on October 5.

Rec. #686: Revisiting List #54: Some Comfort When You're Sick, Part 2

[Originally posted October 7, 2015.]



When you're sick, the media you consume must walk a fine line ---
not too peppy (gets grating),
not too sad (can't run the risk of additional nose blowing),
not too serious (attention span is basically zero),
and not too overtly hilarious (laughing hurts).

I speak from recent experience. Your personal mileage may vary.

[See Part 1 here.]

6. Hyperbole and a Half [book and/or website] (Rec. #7) (List #35)
Potentially breaks every single rule I've laid out above. But worth it.

7. Paris to the Moon [book] (Rec. #39)
You can imagine that you're Adam Gopnik and The New Yorker is paying you to write about what it's like to be sick in Paris. Or just imagine you're in Paris.

8. The Royal Tenenbaums [movie] (QfFC #40)
Sometimes moving slowly and sullenly in ill-fitting clothing makes you cool as heck, not just inept and zoned out. Soundtrack probably has a lot to do with that, though.

9. The Undertaker's Gone Bananas [book] (Rec. #16)
Teens sleuthing through their own angst. Plus, someone hides a head in a TV set. This is the sort of thing you can appreciate right now.

10. Who Do You Think You Are? [TV, some episodes streaming on Hulu]
You can make snap judgments about whether you find each celebrity likable, which is very soothing.

Rec. #685: Revisiting List #54: Some Comfort When You're Sick, Part 1

[Originally posted October 6, 2015.]



When you're sick, the media you consume must walk a fine line --- 
not too peppy (gets grating), 
not too sad (can't run the risk of additional nose blowing), 
not too serious (attention span is basically zero), 
and not too overtly hilarious (laughing hurts).

I speak from recent experience. Your personal mileage may vary.

1. Black Books [TV, streaming on Hulu] (Rec. #68)
Bernard Black provides scads of modeling on ways to be grumpy and misanthropic.

2. Original cast recording of Chess [music] (Rec. #501)
Dramatic and gorgeous and ridiculous. If you're slightly out of it due to being medicated, all the better.

3. Cold Comfort Farm [book and/or movie] (Rec. #34), (Rec. #158)
Maybe if you are pathetic enough, Flora Poste will come and fix your life.

4. The Daughter of Time [book] (Rec. #228)
If you're bedridden, this will make you feel like you too could solve mysteries that are centuries old ....

5. Cherish [movie] (Rec. #29)
... Or like you can be housebound and catch your own stalker.

[See Part 2 here.]

Rec. #684: Three Fluffy Puppers Being Cute

Source

 Source

Source

Happy Friday.

Rec. #683: Beth McCarthy-Miller on The Good Place Podcast

What: The Good Place -- The Podcast has consistently offered an enjoyable behind-the-scenes look at the work of making one of the best television shows currently on the air. The guests (actors, writers, directors, members of the production team, etc.) range from "good and interesting" to "excellent and fascinating."

Beth McCarthy-Miller, director of last week's episode of The Good Place ("The Snowplow"), falls into the second category.

Representative quote:
Host (Marc Evan Jackson): "Beth McCarthy-Miller, what's good?"
Beth McCarthy-Miller (in a satisfied growl): "Bill Cosby going to jail."

Connections to previous Wreckage: See Rec. #586 for more about the podcast and List #68 for assorted Good Place content.

How to get it: Get The Good Place -- The Podcast from your favorite purveyor of podcasts. New episodes drop on Fridays and focus on the television episode from the previous night.

Rec. #682: Infra Realism - Deserts Saturated with Colour

What: This photoset from The Guardian highlights work from photographer Katie Ballis's "Infra Realism" project. Ballis converted a digital camera for infrared, giving us a startling look at nuances that are usually just beyond the scope of the human eye.

How to get it: You can see the full series on Ballis's website and even buy prints if you're feeling particularly spendy.

Connections to previous Wreckage: See more cool photography here.

Rec. #681: Damn These Vampires

What: I mean, sure? Maybe the Mountain Goats are right. Maybe we feel like this because of vampires.

Representative lyrics:
Crawl till dawn
On my hands and knees
God damn these bite marks
Deep in my arteries
Crawl till dawn
On my hands and knees
God damn these vampires
For what they've done to me

How to get it: "Damn These Vampires" is from All Eternals Deck, the 2011 album from the Mountain Goats.

Rec. #680: Behind the Episodes of Schitt's Creek, Season 4

What: For season 4 of the extremely likable show Schitt's Creek, creator/co-star Dan Levy talks with his cast mates about each episode.

These are short, two- to three-minute videos that also include clips from the show, so they function well whether you watch them before or after the episodes themselves.

Representative quote: "It was one of those things where you know that it's coming, and you don't get a lot of prep time. There was no rehearsal. The only thing that I did was acquire a bottle of Prosecco. And ... had some."

Connections to previous Wreckage: For more content related to this show, see List #59: Great TV Shows, Terrible Titles; List #63: People in the Media I Actually Liked in 2016; List #65: "S" Is for ... Socially Aware Sitcoms; Rec. #490; and Rec. #595.

How to get it: The Behind the Episode videos are on a YouTube playlist. Season 4 of Schitt's Creek is now streaming on Netflix.

Rec. #679: Revisiting Quote from a Fictional Character #9

[Originally posted November 4, 2013.]

"I have your knife, Mr. Roat."

--- Susy Hendrix,

Wait Until Dark, 1967

(Rec. #26)

Rec. #678: Revisiting Quote from a Fictional Character #26

[Originally posted March 31, 2014.]

"All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people."

--- Alexander Bullock,

 My Man Godfrey, 1936

(See also List #42: In Praise of the American Screwball Comedy)

Rec. #677: Out of Context Parks & Rec

 

What: Do you miss Parks & Recreation? Me, too. Please enjoy these screencaps until the inevitable reboot/reunion/revival.

How to get it: Out of Context Parks & Rec is on Twitter -- @NoContextPawnee.

Connection to previous Wreckage: If this seems like your kind of thing, you'd likely also enjoy Rec. #455: No Context The Good Place.

Rec. #676: Opening Lines -- Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles

"It was Binelli's brainchild and only he knew all the specifics. Many many lists were involved. They were drawn up, copied, distributed, et cetera, with the terse minimum of words regarding the next set of Assignments and travel arrangements. We waited for them like someone might wait for something else. Christmas say, or aurora borealis. Dawn."

--- Finley,

Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles, Kira Henehan, 2010

 (Rec. #195)

(Quote from a Fictional Character #75)

(List #51) 

Rec. #675: Stay Here

What: Netflix series Stay Here cleverly combines home renovation/decoration with travel shows, as it focuses on revamping sort-term rental (STR) properties and highlighting local experiences. Hosts/consultants/revamp team Genevieve Gorder and Peter Lorimer tackle everything from a houseboat to a vineyard cottage to a Brooklyn brownstone.

As Gorder handles the rebuilding and designing, she retains her relatable-cool vibe first shown on Trading Spaces (and also gets an executive producer credit here). Lorimer, who deals with marketing and business plans, mitigates the potential real estate smarm with his Britishness and sincere enthusiasm (although he does still use the phrase "social media moment").

How to get it: Stay Here's first season is eight episodes, and they're all streaming on Netflix.

Rec. #674: [Nothing But] Flowers

What: This 1988 song from Talking Heads could believably have been written at any point over the last thirty or so years. (Because we've learned nothing.) The video for "[Nothing But] Flowers" is stage managed to within an inch of its life and features the late, great musical genius Kirsty MacColl.


Representative lyrics:
This was a Pizza Hut
Now it's all covered with daisies
(You've got it, you've got it)

I miss the honky tonks
Dairy Queens, and 7-Elevens
(You've got it, you've got it)

And as things fell apart
Nobody paid much attention
(You've got it, you've got it)


How to get it: "[Nothing But] Flowers" was the second single from the album Naked. The video is on YouTube.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Find more Kirsty MacColl with Rec. #259 and Rec. #391. Find more David Byrne with Rec. #187 and Rec. #362.

Rec. #673: Lady Bird

What: Now that we're entering a new season of awards-bait films, it's worth looking back to appreciate Lady Bird, which was deservedly lauded last year. Once again, I come back to Katie Presley's spot-on assertion that the thesis of this film is "attention is love."

Writer/director Greta Gerwig generously and intelligently gives attention to every corner of one year in the life of Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson. Period details give context without being attention-grabbing; minor characters are presented as full and layered people; and the dialogue is so authentic that it includes sentences that my mother and I have actually said to each other.

Representative quote: "The only exciting thing about 2002 is that it's a palindrome."

How to get it: Lady Bird is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

Rec. #672: Revisiting Quote from a Fictional Character #32

[Originally posted May 12, 2014.]

"In 10 days, I'm going to set out to find the shark that ate my friend and destroy it. Anyone who wants to tag along is more than welcome."

--- Steve Zissou,

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, 2004

Rec. #671: Revisiting Quote from a Fictional Character #93

[Originally posted November 12, 2016.]

"That's what's so tough --- just having to put up with it. It's a bloody awful shame, I know. But you'll feel a bit better by and by, I promise. Yes, you really will. There'll be tea, and sand castles, and your birthday, and Christmas. It's just as bad as can be now, I know; that's why things have got to get a bit better."

--- Lucy Culpepper,

The Embroidered Sunset, Joan Aiken, 1970

Rec. #670: An Axe for the Frozen Sea

What: We all have our own coping strategies. I adopted a dog at the end of 2016. Author Megan Stielstra has taken up axe throwing. The beautiful essay "An Axe for the Frozen Sea" details the rage, tension, release, exhaustion, ... and rage that underlies her life now.

Also, she shares some axe-throwing tips.

Representative quote: "Of the two [axe-throwing centers] in Chicago, one is twenty minutes west of our apartment. I learned this in September on the day Betsy DeVos rescinded sexual assault protections on college campuses."

How to get it: "An Axe for the Frozen Sea" was published in The Believer (Logger) at the end of last month.

Rec. #669: Elaine Stritch - Shoot Me

What: Maybe now is a good time for a bracing splash of the late, great Elaine Stritch's blistering attitude.

Representative quote: "I like that expression --- the immediate family. Do you know what that's always meant to me? They're available."

How to get it: Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me is currently streaming on both Netflix and Hulu.

Rec. #668: Canine-Human Lookalikes in Pictures

What: Photographer Gerrard Gethings embarked on a project to find 50 human/dog pairs. He started with the dogs, then searched for promising-looking human counterparts. This photoset from The Guardian gives us 10 of the resulting pairs as well as insight into the overall process.

Representative quote: "I’ve been taking photographs for a long time so am well versed in administering dubious compliments."

How to get it: "Canine-Human Lookalikes in Pictures" appeared in The Guardian last month.

Connections to previous Wreckage: See more photography here.

Rec. #667: Change the World

What: Nellie McKay is a top favorite of mine, and "Change the World" is a reminder of how vastly better she does melodic think-patter than Rex Harrison ever did.


Representative lyrics:
Hurry now
Pack your bags
Adieu, you mall scallawags
Got my sneakers velcroed
Snap my bookbag on
Goodbye little zip code
How can I go wrong


Connections to previous Wreckage: Additional McKay music is featured in Rec. #206, Rec. #320, and Rec. #608

How to get it: "Change the World" is from 2004's Get Away from Me (Rec. #206), McKay's stunner of a debut album.

Rec. #666: Micro SF/F Stories

What: Are you eager for a short burst of distraction that nevertheless tends to tonally reflect our pervasive sense of doom? Friends, I present to you the "Micro SF/F Stories" Twitter account.

It's exactly what it sounds like it is.

Representative tweets:

"A spaceship landed. An alien emerged, carrying an oblong black object. 'This is yours,' it said, 'but I can not find a Blockbuster.'"

"Halfway through the date, she'd say 'The reason I am here is to say you are the Chosen One.' When someone reacted correctly, they would be."

"Nowhere in The Great Book Of The Rules Of The World does it say the world is fair. In fact, it explicitly says the world is not fair. Then it adds: 'but no person is the world.'"

How to get it: The Twitter account for Micro SF/F Stories is  @MicroSFF.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Find more Twitter recommendations here.