Rec. #492: Revisiting List #12 (Things That Are Good for Wallowing -- Part 1)

[originally posted November 16, 2011]



Really, all anyone wants to do right now is wallow. So here are some things that are good for wallowing. More to come.

1. Don't Point That Thing at Me, Kyril Bonfiglioli (Rec. #31): Channel that bitter, slightly violent streak you have been nurturing lately.

2. Northern Exposure, seasons 1 and 2 (Rec. #35 and Rec. #161): It is TV, which is restful, but it is fairly smart TV, so you don't have to feel guilty.

3. The Princess and the Warrior (Rec. #71): If you don't speak German, you can always tune out the subtitles and just enjoy the pretty pictures. Even if you do choose to pay attention, you won't have to work too hard. The pace is generally brisk, but the plot is not complex.

4. The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup, Susan Orlean (Rec. #126): Are you sick of your own life? Here, have a look at some others.

5. Bad Machinery, John Allison (Rec. #138): It is a comic on the internet. You are practically reading it right now already.

Rec. #491: Quote from a Fictional Character #96

"Wait -- I can't let you give me your last eight dollars. Here's five back."

--- Jaye Tyler,

Wonderfalls (2004)

(Rec. #2), (QfFC #14), (QfFC #55) 

Rec. #490: Dan Levy & Annie Murphy Play 'Jam or Not a Jam?'

What: The game "Jam or Not a Jam?" is pretty self-explanatory, and this one is the best-executed iteration that I've seen.

Dan Levy and Annie Murphy play siblings on Schitt's Creek and that's the energy you see here. Highlights include Levy's fondness for songs he clearly listened to while cry-driving.

Representative quotes:

"You know, I interviewed Avril Lavigne ... I don't think she liked me very much."

"Dead silence. Is it a Yoko Ono song?"


How to get it: Posted on YouTube by CBC Music.

Connections to previous Wreckage: For more Schitt's Creek content, see Lists #59 (Great TV Shows, Terrible Titles), #63 (People in Media I Actually Liked in 2016), and #65 ("S" Is for ... Socially Aware Sitcoms?).

Rec. #489: The Fun Home Songburst in One Mississippi

What: Partway through the third episode of the second season of One Mississippi, Tig Notaro (playing a version of herself) and Stephanie Allynne (playing not really herself at all) have a fantasy sequence musical interlude. They sing a bit of "Ring of Keys," one of the standout songs from the standout show Fun Home.

I love these magical realism bits of One Mississippi, and this one is particularly well chosen. The snippet of lyrics fits the moment, but those familiar with Fun Home get gut-punched with some additional emotional layers, too.

How to get it: Watch One Mississippi (including this episode, "Kiss Me and Smile for Me") on Amazon, and listen to the cast recording for Fun Home wherever you get your music. If you're interested, there's a lyric video for "Ring of Keys" here.

Connection to previous Wreckage: Season 2 of this show also gives us the marvelous Sheryl Lee Ralph (Rec. #420).

Rec. #488: On Being 'Young, Gifted, and Black'

What: This article from Topic is about Nina Simone, Lorraine Hansberry, and the story behind the song "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black."

Representative quote: "We never talked about men or clothes or other such inconsequential things when we got together. It was always Marx, Lenin, and revolution—real girls' talk."

How to get it: Read the article (by Alexis Coe) and see the photos (curated by Janicza Bravo) on Topic here.

Connection to previous Wreckage: Topic also gave us the web series Ave Maria Bamford (Rec. #407).

Rec. #487: Captain Awkward

What: Captain Awkward, aka Jennifer Peepas, answers reader questions on a wide variety of topics. Recent columns include:

• When people want you to do complicated & unethical things, its okay to say no!
• 'Ware the Hovering Hobbyists
• My Fellow White People, Here’s One Simple Trick You Can Do About Racism TODAY!

Crucially, Captain Awkward suggests specific scripts for people, particularly when they are having trouble setting boundaries or saying no. Her suggested statements are straightforward, assertive, and completely rational. They are great.

Representative quote: "We can be glad people are moving in a better direction, it doesn’t mean we have to prove anything to them or get closer to them as a reward (for doing something they should have done all along, i.e. not be Nazis)."

How to get it: New content posts to the Captain Awkward homepage*, and you can also easily lose hours in the archives here.



*This would be a really great time to use your RSS reader. Just saying.

 

Rec. #486: Gun Violence Protests Around the World -- in Pictures

What: From The Guardian, a collection of photographs documenting the March for Our Lives and its sister marches.

How to get it: See the link here.

See also:

• Emma González wrote an executive op-ed for Teen Vogue
  
• Parkland students guest edit Guardian U.S.
• Wonkette reports from yesterday's march ("The Children Are Here, and They're Fucking Magnificent")

Rec. #485: What's Up

What: What's going on, indeed -- 1992 wants to know.

Representative lyrics:
And I try, oh my god do I try
I try all the time, in this institution

And I pray, oh my god do I pray
I pray every single day
For a revolution



[Go get 'em, kids.]

 

Rec. #484: Whatever This Is

What: The web series Whatever This Is follows three not-that-young youths trying to make it in New York. Sam and Ari are production assistants, and Lisa is a teacher without pay for the summer.

The show's central question -- how long are you expected to do work that you hate, for pennies, until it becomes something that you love that pays the rent?

Representative quote: "I'm so broke ... and I don't mean 'funny ha-ha' broke, I mean 'I had to pay for my own appendectomy' broke."

How to get it: The full series --- all 6 episodes of it --- are streaming for free on whateverthisis.com

Connections to previous Wreckage: It's from the same people who created The Outs! We looooove The Outs. (Rec. #280)

Rec. #483: DearCatCallers

What: Noa Jansma created the Instagram account @dearcatcallers to document one month of street harassment by taking selfies with the men who catcall her and quoting what they say. It's a simple, powerful step to highlight that there are actual humans at both ends of this kind of verbal assault (although, depressingly, these men mainly seem delighted about it).

Can I nominate Jansma for an award? It feels like she's earned some sort of award for doing this.

How to get it: Find the @dearcatcallers account on Instagram and read more about the backstory in this article from The Mary Sue. 

Rec. #482: Octopus Sculpture from a Dead Redwood Tree

 

What: Well, it's a simple process, really --- Take a redwood tree trunk. Carve with chainsaw. Admire the resulting cephalopod.

How to get it: I don't recommend acquiring this actual piece for your home, but you can read about it and its creation on My Modern Met. 

Rec. #481: The Cult of Mary Beard

What: "The Cult of Mary Beard" is a delightful profile from The Guardian about this beloved classical scholar. Think: a celebrity intellectual along the lines of Stephen Fry.

At this point, you may well be asking, "Why don't we have a beloved female classical scholar like the UK does??" I can only suppose that we have to prove we deserve Neil deGrasse Tyson first. 

Representative quote: "The learned but approachable figure you see on TV translating Latin inscriptions, carving up a pizza to explain the division of the Roman empire, or arguing about public services on Question Time, is precisely the Beard you encounter in private, except that in real life, she swears magnificently and often."

How to get it: Read the full, fascinating, envy-inducing article here.

Rec. #480: Let's Have a Kiki

What: The music video can definitely enhance the intensity of your fun with this Scissor Sisters song. First of all, there's the easy-to-follow choreography (which, by all rights, should have expanded beyond drag clubs and made "the kiki" the biggest dance craze since the macarena).

Then, of course, there's Tambourine Boy off to the side, having the time of his life.

Representative lyrics:
A kiki is a party
for calming all your nerves.
We're spilling tea and dishing
just desserts one may deserve.

And though the sun is rising
few may choose to leave.
So shade that lid
and we'll all bid
adieu to your ennui.

Where to get it: Watch it (and dance along) on YouTube here.

Rec. #479: Revisiting First Sign of Murder #1

"She lit her cigarette and leant over the window sill. She became aware of a new sound. It came up through her conscious thoughts, gaining definition and edge. It was a thin blade of sound, sharp and insistent. It grew louder. It was inside the building, an intermittent, horridly shrill noise that came closer. A hand closed round Roberta's heart. Someone was screaming."

--- Death of a Peer, Ngaio Marsh, 1940
(Rec. #381)

Connections to previous Wreckage: For other Marsh novels, see List #27, in which I wish Ngaio Marsh a happy birthday.

Rec. #478: List #66 -- Public Voices to Pay Attention To, Part 9

[Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8]

"Goodbye to Hope Hicks, an object lesson in the quickest way a woman can advance under misogyny: silence, beauty, and unconditional deference to men."

Jia Tolentino (@jiatolentino)

"My husband told me he thinks my sexual orientation is 'being right' and I've never felt more seen."

Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti)

"Stick to finance, bro. And don't talk about your mother like that."

Lisa Wade (@lisawade)

"You know #metoo hasn't gone near far enough when 'that lady judge should've been nicer to that guy who assaulted more than a hundred girls' is an actual take by media dudes."

Fannie Wolfe (@fanniesroom)

"guys I'm legitimately confused about how someone can stay friends with a Nazi and just, like, ignore their boner for genocide. I can't even pretend to like my friends' bands."

Andi Zeisler (@andizeisler)

Rec. #477: List #66 -- Public Voices to Pay Attention To, Part 8

[Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7]

"Pretty sure the right way to live life is to give no fucks but lots of damns"

Helen Rosner (@hels)

"speaking for Wonkette, we don't care if you click the link. Because we don't have ads, so we don't make money from your click. We make money from you giving us money, like proper socialists."

Rebecca Schoenkopf (@commiegirl1)

"I went on TV while nursing and you couldn't tell (until the end)"

Rachel Sklar (@rachelsklar)

"The host of the New York Times podcast sounds exactly like my therapist which makes listening to terrible news stories a little easier but therapy a little bit worse."

Melinda Taub (@MelindaTaub)

"The real chilling not funny horror of seeing the president's educational ideals wholly reflected in the phrase 'very weapons talented teachers.'"

Rebecca Traister (@rtraister)

[Part 9]

Rec. #476: List #66 -- Public Voices to Pay Attention To, Part 7

[Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6]

"Opinion: Betsy DeVos has definitely seen a school at least once"

Alexandra Petri (@petridishes)

"The worst thing you can do to an extremely petty person is not remember you are enemies. I say this as an extremely petty person."

Robyn Pennacchia (@RobynElyse)

"Don't get mad, vote. But also, get mad too."

Liz Plank (@feministabulous)

"It's kind of insane how the anti-semitic dog whistle 'globalist' has become an acceptable term used by POTUS."

Lydia Polgreen (@lpolgreen)

"my brand: got invited to a bachelor party in vegas so i decided on the fly to turn it into a women's studies certificate program"

Carmen Rios (@carmenriosss)

[Part 8, Part 9]

Rec. #475: Quote for These Times #10

"The kids just kept staring at each other as though in silent agreement that the world was for the most part unjust and often very noisy."

--- The Undertaker's Gone Bananas,

Paul Zindel, 1978

(Rec. #16)

Rec. #474: List #66 -- Public Voices to Pay Attention To, Part 6

[Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5]

"INQUIRING MIND: so, what can you do with a MA in transnational feminist theory?

ME: Epic. Twitter. Rants."

Samhita Mukhopadhyay (@TheSamhita)

"HINT: it's not 'flirting' with someone if you could sub out their part with a broom with a forced smile painted on it"

Aparna Nancherla (@aparnapkin)

"I never got why people watched cable news but now I understand that it's a little like eavesdropping on angry people at a diner, which I love to do."

Emily Nussbaum (@emilynussbaum)

"Taking down Confederate monuments is not erasing history - it's declaring that some parts of history belong in a museum, not on a pedestal."

Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk)

"People keep saying we got to find a 'middle ground' with the right but they elected an open white supremacist & misogynist to the presidency & now they're voting en mass for a known pedophile so ... I will just stay over here as far away as possible thank you very much."

Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo)

[Part 7, Part 8, Part 9]

Rec. #473: List #66 -- Public Voices to Pay Attention To, Part 5

[See Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, and Part 4 here.]

"I can't believe my favorite show of 2018 is Vine compilations."

Margaret Lyons (@margeincharge)

"Remember: Anyone who says they are for free speech and then launches into a whine about how liberals shouldn't criticize, protest or even heckle is not, in fact, for free speech."

Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte)

"Believing women and defaulting to empathy results in zero people going to jail. If someone tells you they've been assaulted ask them if they are okay and how you can help. You aren't a prosecutor."

Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell)

"Not going to 'give him a chance.' I'm going to resist every single thing he tries to do, b/c he's used every chance he ever got to hurt people."

Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz)

"We don't need a legal, economic and social system that ensures men get sex. We aren't in danger of not populating the earth. A hard-on isn't a crisis."

Tressie McMillan Cottom (@tressiemcphd)

[Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9]

Rec. #472: List #66 -- Public Voices to Pay Attention To, Part 4

[See Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.]

"I just told myself 'Nothing about arguing with that dude who is wrong on the internet is putting money in your pocket' & I feel like I just got possessed by my grandmother."

Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia)

"Of course Trump is susceptible to blackmail! That's why he's surrounded himself with a lawyer goon squad for 40 years."

Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior)

"I am perpetually amazed at the ability of lockstep, bad-faith arguments on the right to steer and transform national conversations."

Talia Lavin (@chick_in_kiev)

"Contrary to what some of my male colleagues appear to think, the point of tenure is not to make you hard to fire when you sexually harass your students."
Nancy Leong (@nancyleong)

"GOP: Look at all the women we've appointed to Executive Branch positions!!!! *begin slideshow of female relatives*"

Sarah Lerner (@SarahLerner)

[Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9]

Rec. #471: List #66 -- Public Voices to Pay Attention To, Part 3

[See Part 1 here and Part 2 here.]

"Believe me when I say that it pains me to describe Twitter as a bastion of nuance, but compared to the five o'clock news, it was practically a free doctorate program."

Andrea Grimes (@andreagrimes)

"They keep saying that having their reputation called into question is like death. What do they think rape is like?"

Kate Harding (@KateHarding)

"good morning to rihanna only"

Hunter Harris (@hunteryharris)

"How much flack you will get for criticizing a piece of art is directly proportional to how much people think it says about them that they like it."

Linda Holmes (@nprmonkeysee)

"The model minority myth seeks to put Black & brown people against each other. Let us be clear with policymakers that immigrant communities cannot be blackmailed or carved apart at any cost."

Deepa Iyer (@dviyer)

[Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9]

Rec. #470: List #66 -- Public Voices to Pay Attention To, Part 2

[See Part 1 here.]

"Twitter using women's empowerment for its ad campaign is like BP oil airing a commercial starring a duck in a bubble bath."

Lauren Duca (@laurenduca)

"I mean the ideological diversity in the Trump White House started out running the gamut from actual Nazis to people willing to work with actual Nazis to those who believed they could outmaneuver and contain actual Nazis while relying on their support. That's not far to fall."

Alexandra Erin (@alexandraerin)

"school teachers in a meeting: okay we have 45 seconds til the bell rings so who's gonna handle that? Chris? cool. okay BREAK!

profs in a meeting: I have prepared a 12-page report indicating why I don't think we should continue ordering hazelnut coffee. I shall now read it aloud"

Eve Ewing (@eveewing)

"TFW you realize it's 2018 and you have to read Dred Scott and research the Fugitive Slave Act because it's actually relevant to current policy."

Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady)

"Jake, I'm fat. You really worked out a mystery. I'm fat and powerful. In a few minutes I will forget about you. You'll be hearing about me for the rest of your life."

Roxane Gay (@rgay)

[Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9]