Status Update: #TheHourlyWreck

So.

Most things I can't control right now, but one thing I can do is offer recommendations of things to read/watch/listen to.

Last week, I tweeted recommendations every hour M-F, 9:00-9:00, using the hashtag #TheHourlyWreck. That's 65 different books, podcasts, movies, and tv shows!

I'll be jumping in with a second full week of hourly recommendations starting next Monday, March 30.

In the meantime, remember:

• Stay home
• Support small businesses (order online from independent bookstores and buy merch from restaurants)
• Be mindful of the bandwidth you're using to stream things (maybe don't do everything in HD, huh? let's not break the internet)
• Complete the census online

And here are all of the things I've covered so far in the #TheHourlyWreck (see the twitter hashtag for links):

1. Travel Man
2. Dr. Gameshow
3. One Good Turn
4. Party Girl
5. The Allusionist
6. Widdershins
7. Harold and Maude
8. Mystery Show
9. Gentlemen & Players
10. Russian Doll
11. The Art of Process
12. The Guardian's "Blind Date" series
13. Superstore
14. Song Exploder
15. To Say Nothing of the Dog
16. Three Identical Strangers
17. Ologies
18. Check, Please
19. The Good Place
20. David Tennant Does a Podcast With ...
21. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
22. Green Wing
23. 99% Invisible
24. Good and Mad
25. Some Kind of Wonderful
26. Front Row
27. Be Prepared
28. W1A
29. The Library Book
30. Hairspray
31. Everything Is Alive
32. The Best of It
33. Britain's Best Home Cook
34. Giant Days
35. The Spy Who Dumped Me
36. Pop Culture Happy Hour
37. Trick Mirror
38. One Mississippi
39. I Know I Am, But What Are You?
40. Nothing Like a Dame
41. Nobody Panic
42. Castle Waiting
43. Taskmaster
44. Eloquent Rage
45. Wine Country
46. Welcome to Night Vale
47. Crosstalk
48. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
49. Brat Farrar
50. Pride & Prejudice
51. The Bright Sessions
52. Paris to the Moon
53. Us & Them
54. You're on an Airplane
55. His Girl Friday
56. Standard Issue
57. 2D Goggles
58. Schitt's Creek
59. Cold Comfort Farm
60. North & South
61. Victoriocity
62. Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles
63. This Way Up
64. Day for Night
65. Colossal

List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 7

While we're in the zone of fulfilling my pop culture requests, I would like to put forward some additional items for consideration.

See Part 1 here.
See Part 2 here.
See Part 3 here.
See Part 4 here.
See Part 5 here.

See Part 6 here.

Item 13: The Psmith stories transposed to contemporary NYC and starring Natasha Lyonne

P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves stories are iconic and the recent series adaptation of the Blandings stories is quite good fun (Rec. #379, Rec. #431). The Psmith stories, however, are largely an untapped resource frankly crying out for a modern take. Example: Psmith, Journalist (Rec. #289).

And who better to be unruffled, game for anything, and quick with a sardonic takedown than Natasha Lyonne? Dooooo iiiiiiiit.

Item 14: A book from Kashana Cauley

Kashana Cauley has written so much, in so many places! (New York Times! Rolling Stone! The Believer! Slate!) The time has come for a book, please. A collection of essays? All the cool Twitter people are doing it!

And Cauley is indeed a cool Twitter person. See: List #66, Rec. #662.

List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 1

The success of Knives Out means that Rian Johnson is going to make more Benoit Blanc content. This is good! I approve.

Several female writers whose work I follow closely have new books (see List #93). This is also excellent!

Parasite was the surprise winner of the Best Picture award at the Oscars last night. Good job, everyone!


While we're in the zone of fulfilling my pop culture requests, I would like to put forward some additional items for consideration.

This list will likely occupy us for a few weeks, at least.

Item 1: Richard Ayoade and Aisling Bea in a romantic comedy

Last year was a big one for Aisling Bea! She mainstreamed it alongside Paul Rudd in a Netflix series and, more delightfully, created and starred in her own brilliant show (Rec. #831). Richard Ayoade is a perennial favorite of mine (List #63).

They've demonstrated ample chemistry together in an episode of Ayoade's Travel Man series (Rec. #396). More of that, please!

Item 2: Sled Dog stories from Blair Braverman as a series of children's books

The content for this one pretty much already exists as Twitter threads. It just needs a publishing deal!

Dogsledder Blair Braverman is already a published author, and she puts her words to excellent use when sharing tales of puppies learning to run, field trips off the farm, and messages from the pack. See Rec. #609 for direct links to even more examples of Sled Dog Story Time, and get ready to Feel Things.

List #94: Best of 2019

The Allusionist: Best Language About Language, Rec. #855

The Art of Process: Best Art About Art, Rec. #863

Be Prepared: Best Reason to Stay Indoors, Rec. #851

Come From Away: Best Reminder That Not All of Humanity Is Terrible, Rec. #852

 
David Tennant Does a Podcast With ...: Best Listener, Rec. #847

The Guardian Blind Date: Best Vicarious Dating, Rec. #865

Knives Out: Best Time at the Movie Theater, Rec. #856

Nothing Like a Dame / Tea with the Dames: Best Overheard Conversations, Rec. #860

Alexandra Petri: Best Way to Reflect on the Year, Rec. #866

"Quite Good, Considering [Rosalind's a Nightmare]": Best Earworm, Rec. #858

Russian Doll: Best Worst Day, Rec. #846

Simone (The Good Place): Best Outfit for Any Situation, Rec. #854 

Superstore: Best Season-5-and-Going-Strong, Rec. #848

This Way Up: Best Depictions of Relatable Human Emotions, Rec. #862

Three Identical Strangers: Best Ripped-from-the-Headlines, Rec. #864

Alie Ward: Best Campaign Promise, Rec. #859

Wine Country: Best New Endless Rewatch Potential, Rec. #850

Rec. #859: Best Campaign Promise (or at least one of the top ten I've heard)

Alie Ward, host of the podcast Ologies, tweeted this plan:
"I'm excited to announce my candidacy for president here is my speech: all the golf courses become dog parks"

I mean, I'm in.



(I somehow haven't recommended the Ologies podcast yet, but it's very good!)

Rec. #824: The Field Museum

Chicago Series

What: The Field Museum in Chicago is one of the world's largest natural history museums. Permanent exhibitions include animal halls, Underground Adventure, and the much beloved SUE the T. Rex.

How to get it: If you can't make it to the Field Museum itself anytime soon, you can at least follow SUE on Twitter (@SUEtheTrex). Bio: "Legendary Fossil. Apex Predator. National Treasure. New Suite Getter. All Caps Name Haver. "They/Them" Pronoun User. LARGE M U R D E R B I R D."

Rec. #790: Talia Lavin's Philosophers Online

"wittgenstein: posts long, incomprehensible threads without knowing how to use the thread function. big time trust fund energy. has a cartoon avi to obscure that he looks like this (mega hot)"

What: Talia Lavin, writer and former fact-checker for The New Yorker, made a Twitter thread imagining famous philosophers existing in an online world. It is both hilarious and accurate.

Representative tweets:
"sartre: your posts make him nauseous. he retreats from Online but always comes back to the discourse. cafe selfies. sees through media cycle bullshit but it drives him insane. big polyamory guy. mad that simon de beauvoir has more followers than him"

"kafka: still on facebook, so heartachingly sincere you make a dummy profile after deactivating just to read his posts. wins flash fiction contests. deeply neurotic and posts about his health problems from time to time. strong needs a hug vibe."

Connections to previous Wreckage: Talia Lavin was previously featured as part of List #66: Public Voices to Pay Attention To. Hungry for more philosopher talk? List #68 has a whole lot of content about The Good Place.

How to get it: Jump into the Twitter thread here. Find Lavin on Twitter @chick_in_kiev.

Rec. #783: Rami Ismail's Thread on #PeacefulMosques

[Text of tweet: Since several news networks emphasize that the mosques at the Christchurch shooting were #PeacefulMosques, as if most aren't: Hey muslims, tell me something painfully mundane and common at your mosque, whether you visit it five times a day or one time a year. Non-muslims, RT.]

What: This twitter thread does what it says it will -- highlights the mundane and ordinary at mosques, to counteract media coverage of mosques as places of conflict.

Representative responses:

"at my local mosque, the third floor has been abandoned and completely taken over by pigeons"

"The water cooler next to the sadaqah box leaks often and I hate having wet socks, so I have to dance around the wet spots to drop the donation."

"The battle of the thermostat in the ladies' prayer room. We compromised and the menopausal women now have a fan blasting in front of them."

How to get it: This thread was started by Rami Ismail (@tha_rami).

Rec. #780: "What is the weird thing that you say to your dog?"

What: Dog stuff on Twitter is one of the rare delightful corners of the internet. Last month, Emily Nussbaum paused in her work as tv critic for The New Yorker to ask a very important question: "What is the weird thing that you say to your dog?"

The resulting thread is a joy, reminding you that dogs are great and some people are okay, too.

Representative responses:

"God-Emperor of Whatchu Dune"

"Why are so much cry? We are not cry girls."

"You put the goober in gubernatorial."

"Come inside guys!" Then quieter, "It’s the zeitgeist."


One of my possible responses:

"Who's a pickle pudding?"

Initial reaction

... Still thinking about it

Connections to previous Wreckage: Emily Nussbaum was part of List #66. Dogs on Twitter (as a concept) was Rec. #747.

Rec. #771: Aparna Nancherla Explains Politics in One Tweet

Text of tweet: "politics is easy. someone says something. then someone else says, you are a liar and i would wage my wife on it! you have no wife!!! says the first person. everyone bows. infrastructures continues to crumble."

How to get it: Jump directly to this tweet here. Follow Aparna Nancherla on Twitter @aparnapkin.

Connections to previous Wreckage: See more at Rec. #762 and List #66.

Rec. #770: #BorkBook on Twitter

What: Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson) writes poems in the voice of her dog and shares them on Twitter with the hashtag #borkbook. Perfect dab of sweet without sugar.

Representative lines:
"I call to order 

this meeting 

of the 

good boi club 

is just me 

an the cat 

who is not always 

good"

"there is one place 

where my bed goes 

an it is 

here 

not there 

I am too polite 

to move it 

but will stand over it 

an look perplexed" 

How to get it: I have done you all a solid and provided the Twitter advanced search results for Dawson's #borkbook tweets here. 

Dawson is also a successful author who frequently shares writing and publishing advice, so do check out her whole Twitter output (@DelilahSDawson).

Rec. #765: Prompt from Louis Virtel - Celebrities Who Best Owned a Single Year

What: Here's a fun prompt to have rolling around in the back of your head during (what I hope is) a short work week.

Today's essay question: celebrities who best owned a single year.

Sample responses:
1954 - Grace Kelly
1964 - The Beatles
1984 - Prince
1987 - Cher
1993 - Steven Spielberg
2008 - Tina Fey


Connections to previous Wreckage: See more Louis Virtel with Rec. #406 and Rec. #753.

How to get it: Jump in to the still-ongoing thread here.

List #71: Best of 2018

The Big Family Cooking Showdown: Best Replacement for the BBC's Great British Bake Off, Rec. #717

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Most Positive TV Twist, Rec. #707

Burn, Burn, Burn: Best Road Trip, Rec. #723

Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Best Return of the '90s Snarky Brunettes, Rec. #743

Captain Awkward: Best Advice on the Internet, Rec. #705

Check, Please: Best Webcomic Now in Print, Rec. #735

Chess: Best Live Musical Performance, Rec. #721

Colossal: Best I-Guess-It's-Technically-SciFi, Rec. #713

"DecaDance/Chicago": Best Live Dance Performance, Rec. #703

Dogs on Twitter: Best Reason Not to Rage-Quit the Internet, Rec. #747

Dr. Gameshow: Best Way to Keep Up with NYC Comedy When You're Not in NYC, Rec. #719

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Best Place to Discover New Sketch Comedy Duos, Rec. #749

An Emmy for Megan: Best Short Form Comedy Concept, Rec. #751

Flo & Joan: Best Musical Comedy Duo, Rec. #709

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee: Best Righteous Fury on the Screen, Rec. #739

Janeane Garofalo: Best Return of the '90s Snarky Brunettes, Rec. #743

Giant Days: Best Continuing Comic Book Series, Rec. #711

Good and Mad: Best Righteous Fury on the Page, Rec. #737

The Good Place: Best Recent Evidence of the Genius of Allison Jones, Casting Director, Rec. #745

The Good Place: Most Deserving of Implicit Trust, Rec. #757

The Great British Bake Off (Channel 4): Best Replacement for the BBC's Great British Bake Off, Rec. #717

The Guardian: Best Photography Curation, Rec. #729

Making It: Best Replacement for the BBC's Great British Bake Off, Rec. #717

Only Connect and Victoria Coren Mitchell: Best Match of Host with Show, Rec. #755

Paddington 2: Best Movie Featuring Sally Hawkins Underwater, Rec. #701

Helen Rosner: Best Insight Into the Food World for Non-Foodies, Rec. #715

Schitt's Creek: Best Serenades, Rec. #733

The Spy Who Dumped Me: Best Buddy Comedy, Rec. #725

Taskmaster: Best Embrace of Meaninglessness, Rec. #731

Louis Virtel: Most Welcome Podcast Guest, Rec. #753

Visages Villages: Best Road Trip That Is Also a Buddy Comedy, Rec. #727

W1A: Best Faux Documentary, Rec. #741

You're on an Airplane: Best Return of the '90s Snarky Brunettes, Rec. #743

Rec. #747: Best Reason Not to Rage-Quit the Internet

***BEST OF 2018***

Dogs on Twitter

  

Dido, via @hels

Brian, via @lindaholmes

Glory, via @BlairBraverman

Helen Rosner (@hels), Linda Holmes (@lindaholmes), and Blair Braverman (@BlairBraverman) are all A+ purveyors of cute dog content, but really --- you have a lot of options.

(See also Rec. #544, Rec. #545, Rec. #547, Rec. #607, Rec. #609, Rec. #684)

Rec. #715: Best Insight Into the Food World for Non-Foodies

***BEST OF 2018***

As a food correspondent for The New Yorker, Helen Rosner has written about #MeToo in the restaurant industry, the politics of a spice retailer, hair dryer cooking techniques, the truth about MSG, the thematic use of food in various tv shows, and justice for iceberg lettuce.

As a prolific tweeter, Helen Rosner (@hels) is a clever, prickly, chatty, devoted dog owner who has no patience for bad faith arguments.

(See also Rec. #438 and List #66)

Rec. #697: Deleted Wiki Titles

What: "Deleted Wiki Titles" is a delightfully benign Twitter bot. It posts, as you might guess, article titles that have been deleted from Wikipedia.

Representative tweets:
"Moon ducks"

"Category: Films featuring umbrellas"

"GoatSurfing"

"How to trick people into thinking you're a wizard"

"List of puddles"


How to get it: "Deleted Wiki Titles" is on Twitter - @DeletedWiki