Ten Things, 2022-47
Here are ten things.
- First, a bit of personal housekeeping: after six months of post-infarct heparin injections and a mystery autoimmune infection that's scrambled the nerves of my fingers and toes, I am officially off medicine and in the clear. My medical and emotional annus horibilis has finally let up just in time for the last ~10% of the year.
- In case you thought that was the end of medical shenanigans: I noticed a few weeks ago that what once was sharp in my field of vision had started getting fuzzy, so I booked an eye exam. Long story short: I am now a proud card-carrying member of the #GlassesGang. I currently toggle between two pairs: the Mad Men (your classic brow line tortoiseshell deal) and the Elbow Patch Special (a pair with big grey frames that make me look like a uni professor who still rocks out to The Number of the Beast.)
- For GQ, in a sequel to one of my favourite magazine profiles, Zach Baron catches up with Brendan Fraser.
- For Mubi, Frank Falisi on the man, the myth, the legend, Jon Bois. The latest from the Dorktown crew, The People You're Paying to Be in Shorts, is very good.
- Here's a double feature idea for you: Tucker: The Man and His Dream and Speed Racer. These are two idiosyncratic movies about the difficulties and perils of being creative and independently-midned under capitalism's thumb; both have hoppin' jazzy scores (courtesy of Joe Jackson and Michael Giacchino, respectively) and a propendency for collapsing multiple diegetic spaces into one shot (Coppola uses physical sets the unite different locations, the Wachowskis use copious amounts of green screen).
- Albert Pyun, the B-movie legend responsible for such highly-stylized sci-fi/post-apocalyptic video store staples as Cyborg and Nemesis, is in ill health. His wife Cynthia Curnan has solicited positive messages and well-wishes in his time of dying. We here at Ahead on Differential salute Mr. Pyun for his decades-long dedication to cheap thrills and cheaper budgets, where a lack of resources never equalled a lack of imagination or fun.
- I've been reading Ted Kooser's The Poetry Home Repair Manual, which in insightful in a very homey, plainspoken way. This is geared towards beginners, and Kooser does a great job of laying out some fundamentals, but it never hurts to hear things like “let the poem you're writing find its form” and “don't be cute to the detriment of being clear.”
- With list season approaching, I listened to a handful of new-to-me 2022 albums; I really liked the new records by Alvvays, Built to Spill, and Danger Mouse & Black Thought.
- Steph got a milk frother recently so 'tis the season for eggnog lattes.
- From the ever-delightful Wikipedia Haiku:
Sorry, I don't have
time at the moment to read
the whole article