Rec. #406: Louis Virtel on Twitter

What: If you feel like you're gagging on an endless stream of Bad Takes that are also boring, allow me to offer you self-described "verbal voguer" Louis Virtel on Twitter as a palate cleanser.

A sampling of recent content:

He also guest hosted the podcast Pop Rocket for awhile (all to the benefit of the show).

[If you think he looks familiar, you might recognize him from this low-key viral Jeopardy clip.]

Rec. #405: What Resembles the Grave But Isn't

What: This poem by Anne Boyer is a bracing start for the new year. Get your boots on, kids -- it's survival time.

Opening lines: "Always falling into a hole, then saying 'ok, this is not your grave, get out of this hole'"

How to get it: I found it via her Tumblr.

Rec. #404: The Old Reader

What: An RSS reader (aka feed aggregator) is one of the best things in the world, and I remain flummoxed why everyone doesn't use one.

Maybe it's the tech-y sounding abbreviation (Rich Site Summary, for what it's worth), but they're free and also ridiculously easy to use.

The main thrust is that you can get all of your content from All the Websites in one place. You can organize your feeds into folders if that's your thing (it certainly is mine) and save/share posts as you wish.

But also! It lets you get around some of the most annoying things about online content.

• No videos playing as soon as you get to a site
• Streamlined readability (even compared to having an ad-blocker)
• No random content pushed at you from sketchy sources -- you choose the sites you want to see
• Things are organized chronologically
• You don't have to worry about constantly checking for updates because it saves things for you

I experience the internet (including Twitter and Tumblr) almost exclusively through my RSS reader and whenever I browse the Wide Wide World of Web without it, I feel like this.

And this.

How to get it: I use The Old Reader (named after the original Google Reader experience), but there are many options, like Feedly and NewsBlur and NewsTab.

Rec. #403: Mystery Show

What: Starlee Kine is basically a real-life Dirk Gently. Her podcast, Mystery Show, was tragically -- tragically -- cancelled after just six magical episodes.

In those six episodes, though, she manages to cover video rentals, Fellini films, VIP meet-and-greets, dog-piling, maximum morning height, lunchboxes, cowboy chefs, decorative belt buckles, and much, much more.

Opening lines: "When I was a kid, my little sister and I found an old safe in our grandparents' garage. This was in Palm Springs, California, so picture palm trees, swimming pools, desert heat so hot you can see it swirling in the air."

How to get it: Through the Gimlet website, or however you usually find your podcasts.

(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)