A Low Point in the Galaxy

Total Defeat

No matter how you slice it, these two recently purchased Star Wars X-Wing ships have to be two of the most lackluster models I've ever seen.  No matter what angle I viewed these things at, they both looked pretty awful.  My camera isn't the greatest but there wasn't any good angle to view these two ships from.

The TIE Silencer is so black, there is no good angle to view this model from.  No matter your position, it's just practically a void.  This model really needed one or two highlights, one or two additional colors to make something on it - anything - stand out.

The Resistance Bomber isn't much better.  From the pictures in the advertising, they suggest that this ship is going to be much more 3D than it really is.  The horizontal wings are so short that they barely register and the ship as a whole comes across as a mostly flat, vertical, upside down "L."  The paint job on the Bomber is miles better than the Silencer but that's not saying much.

It's been so long since I added anything to my collection and this isn't the return to a great collection that I was hoping for.  I either need to double down on these purchases and order one or two new ships that are effing great or I need to scrap the collection entirely and sell everything I have on eBay.

I love these ships of mine but the Silencer and the Bomber are truly the bottom of the barrel.  What I really could have used right now to restore my faith in these two games is the Armada Super Star Destroyer but since that thing has been out of stock all over for a while, I'll need to pursue other avenues.  A few great X-Wing models may not be good enough to get me back on track; what this loss of faith calls for are a few of the best Armada models and nothing less.

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You: An Open Door

Now That I Have a Haircut, When Can I See "Black Widow?"

Now that the barbers have reopened a little more than four hours ago in my city of Newark, NJ, naturally, the next question on everyone's mind is "Haircuts are cool, yo.  But what about the theaters?"

And that's not a bad question.  Short of the reopening of churches and about 35 million recently shuttered jobs, what the typical US citizen needs now more than anything else to take their mind off the mess that all our lives have become is some good all-American cheap popcorn, fake butter and gallons of flat Mountain Dew.  And if not a revival of 2019's "Cats," than at least a re-release of 2020's "Sonic the Hedgehog."

Seriously, while many cinemas may be gearing up to actually open their front doors in the next few weeks, the first question I'd propose is "What are they going to show?"

Soon after theaters started shuttering up last February, film companies quickly put the brakes on their planned release schedules.  But because winter is always such a dead zone for film releases, there wasn't even all that many film openings to halt.  January openings are always best ignored and so, the last legitimate films to open in theaters this year were February's new "The Invisible Man" and the Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus dramady "Downhill."  After mid-February, films either went straight to video on demand or were postponed indefinitely.

So considering we've had literally no films open in the past four months, what will theaters show when they reopen in June and July?  Except for Christopher Nolan's "Tenent," which currently has an opening day of July 31, 2020.  And that's it, really.

On June 11th, there was a story that Marcus Theaters, "...the fourth largest circuit in the U.S.... announced plans to reopen six theaters on June 19 with enhanced protocols in accordance with current local health and safety guidelines that will be used to help fine-tune future phases of theater reopening in weeks ahead, in time for summer blockbusters based on when studios release new films."

In that Deadline.com article, Marcus went on to explain that they will start by reopening four days a week and show the Harry Potter films along with the last recent films whose openings were brought up short by Covid-19.  Besides the aforementioned "Sonic" and "Invisible Man," Marcus also named "Bad Boys for Life" and :Jumanji: The Next Level" as possible screen-fillers.

Unfortunately, the six cinemas Marcus plans to reopen first are the Marcus Ridge, Renaissance, BistroPlex and Valley Grand Cinemas in Wisconsin; Majestic Cinema of Omaha in Nebraska; and the Roswell Movie Tavern in Georgia so who gives a shit?

On June 17th, the New York Post reported that "Cinemark, the third largest movie theater chain in the US, announced a phased reopening plan ... that will see all of its cinemas up and running by mid-July."  The chain, which operates 555 theaters globally, said it will open a handful of Dallas locations on June 19 with the rest of its cinemas following suit between July 3 and July 17.  Cinemark went on to clarify that it plans to have the "majority" of it's theaters open on July 10th and expected all locations to be open by July 24th.

Much like the Marcus chain, Cinemark also plans to offer moviegoers the chance to watch “classics” on the big screen like “Jurassic Park,” Ghostbusters” and “Inception” at reduced ticket prices. It will also screen new Hollywood releases, Disney’s “Mulan” and Warner Bros.’ “Tenet,” which come out July 24 and July 31, respectively.

Cinemark also spoke a bit about new safety precautions that will be in affect when their theaters reopen that amounted to little more than them promising to keep everything extra clean while employees continue to wear masks and gloves while providing hand sanitizer and seat wipes to all moviegoers.

AMC Theatres, the largest cinema circuit in the world, promises to open 450 of its U.S. locations on July 15 followed by the remaining 150 on July 24, in time for Disney's "Mulan" and Warner Bros.' "Tenet."

Are you starting to see a pattern here?

Aside from the promise to keep their theaters clean and the mandatory masks and gloves, AMC detailed how it plans to deal with crowds, social distancing and cinema capacity:

AMC will approach seating capacity limitations in four distinct phases. Phase 1, which commences July 15, reduces seating capacity to 30 percent. In non-recliner auditoriums, AMC will automatically block out every other row of seats for every showtime.

During Phase 2, capacity will rise to 40 percent and to 50 percent during Phase 3, which is expected to commence around Labor Day. Full capacity may not be allowed until Thanksgiving.

The US will continue to open its theaters on a state by state basis, with states deciding for themselves what's best for its citizens.  As of the second week of June, California was among the first to reopen cinemas and are currently allowing theaters to operate at a 25% capacity.

Links and Sources:

Marcus reopens theaters

Chris Nolan's "Tenent" draws a line in the sand for July 31st

NY Post Cinemark story

Hollywood Reporter's AMC story

California reopens theaters by the LA Times

Current World of Warcraft Characters

Toon Struck!

Lesia, level 80 warlock

Acrimoni, level 55 death knight

Marleenuh, level 30 paladin

Harmoni, level 21 mage

Tempe, level 20 hunter

Kidd, level 19 rogue

New YouTube series: The First 10 Minutes...

New YouTube channel featuring a new series called "The First 10 Minutes..."  In these videos, I'll simply record and post the first 10 minutes of every PC game I think interesting enough to warrant your attention.  Games I'll consider including are the ones with the best graphics, the most intelligent narratives or simply the ones with the most engaging openings.

The first two entries in this series are up right now.  Jessie from "Control" walking in to the Oldest House for the first time and Cal from "Jedi: Fallen Order" giving himself away on that opening planet.  Both games are currently the cream of the crop when it comes to visuals and represent the best the industry has to offer right this second.

We'll lose a lot of detail whenever we upload game footage to YouTube but over time, I'll look into streaming sites that can offer these games and my footage in much better light.

Until now, enjoy the first two episodes:

Control: the first 10 minutes...

Jedi: Fallen Order, the first 10 minutes...

Incoming: Xbox One Controller for the PC

Every great gaming laptop needs a great controller


Finding a site that has an Xbox One controller in stock was harder than I thought it would be.  No go at Amazon, Best Buy or even Walmart.  Going right to the source, Microsoft actually ended up offering the best price, reasonable shipping rates and speed and a great looking model to boot.

Mouse and keyboard are great for most PC games but when it comes to games involving fighting, driving or side-scrolling, a more precise means of control are called for.  These are the games that forced my hand, so to speak (forced it right into my back pocket to pull out that wallet yet again), games that I believe absolutely require a high performance controller:

Bloodstained
Dead Cells
Forza Horizon 4
Forza Motorsport 7
Killer Instinct
Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite
Minecraft Dungeons
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Street Fighter V

That's where this sexy beast comes in...

While I was in that bluetooth frame of mind, I pulled out the fairly new set of wireless D-TechNY headphones I'd bought last year for the Xbox One X, paired them up with the new laptop and I was golden.  They'll come in handy for the next five months, two large cushioned cans that will allow me to hear things over the nonstop fans and air conditioners I'll no doubt have running during yet another upcoming soul-crushing east coast summer.  I couldn't find any pictures of them online so you'll just have to take my word for it that they look fab in their fire engine red scheme.

Short of turning a corner into batshit insane uber-dork VR headset-wearing racing wheel cockpits, I can't think of anything else a top of the line gaming laptop needs in 2020.  Except the proverbial non-stop supply of great GPU-singeing games and that's exactly what I'm already getting with Microsoft's PC Game Pass subscription.  Maybe I'll point out a few of the recent highlights in an upcoming post...

"Beautiful Boy"

Just this.  That's all I'm saying.

Why NBC's "Hannibal" Was One of the Best Damn Shows Ever Created

How Do I Love "Hannibal?"  Let Me Count The Ways...

I wouldn't even acknowledge the existence of television until 1990's "Twin Peaks."  After that, I fell in love with Joss Wedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in the late 90's and then pretty much forgot TV existed again.  With streaming now making it easier to see things at our own convenience, I reluctantly began to search out the critically acclaimed or just plain weird.  Sure, give tons of credit to "Breaking Bad" and "Game of Thrones" but I only saw these shows way after the talk had faded and I could watch these programs in peace without fear of spoilers everywhere I turned.  But in my mind, the real modern instant classics of the 2010's were the BBC's "Sherlock" and the show we're going to talk about today: NBC's "Hannibal."  Here's some of the reasons why I continue to ponder and adore this adaptation:

*   It changes Thomas Harris' stories just enough to keep things unpredictable and interesting.  For instance, the final scene of the first season is an extremely clever reversal of the first introduction of Lecter in prison in "Silence of the Lambs."  The show changes some of the characters' genders from male to female.  Things happen in the show in a much different order than the books.  No matter if you've read all the books and seen all the films, the story of Will and Hannibal is rejiggered just enough to feel fresh and modern.

*   The second season begins with a brutal hand-to-hand fight between two of the main characters 12 weeks in the future and ends with a finale that is the most harrowing bloodbath I've ever seen on a network show.  Seriously, we're shown things that I've never seen done in a continuing television show before.  There are cliffhangers and then there's this and the almost year-long wait to see how this resolved itself was excruciating.  But now that all three seasons are streaming on Amazon Prime, you new viewers don't have to suffer that.

*   The imagery in the show is disturbing while also being beautifully filmed; never have you seen such violence and violations of the human form rendered in such picture-perfect detail.  Will starts out haunted and stalked by this imaginary stag, a large antlered mythical beast that by the second season has transformed into the pitch black form of an antlered man.  That image is, of course, Hannibal but distorted into something grotesque but beautiful.

*   It has a wicked sense of humor.  The dialogue is a rapid fire give and take of setups and then the blackest punchlines.  Its punishment of the Dr. Chilton character is a running gag that gets more delicious the crueler it becomes.  Actor Raúl Esparza is perfect as the greedy and opportunistic Chilton and the terrible situations this show keeps putting him in lets us know that the writers are in on the black humor of the show every step of the way.  It doesn't hurt that Esparza is so good at playing such a cad (and Hannibal never had much tolerance for the rude or crude).

*   The show is a foodies dream come true, showing exquisite preparation of the most exotic dishes, all lovingly photographed with a finer sheen than I've ever seen on the food network.

*   It's a love story in the grandest, most tragic sense.  On par with how Buffy and Angel could never overcome their differences and true natures, such is the relationship between Hannibal and Will Graham.  While both have a connection to the darkside that few other humans can even imagine, Will will always fight on the side of angels while Hannibal is, of course, pure evil.  At one point, Will explains their major difference so succinctly: "You revel in the darkness while I merely tolerate it."  Despite the monster that Hannibal is, his actual feelings for Will never seem anything less than valid and genuine and it's this pursued friendship by Hannibal of Will that remains poignant and affecting throughout the entire show.

*   And yet despite how terrible Hannibal is, he is also a master actor, a "highly functioning sociopath," to steal a quote from one of my other favorite shows from the mid 2010's about an unlikable antihero, the BBC's "Sherlock."  Hannibal is nobodies best friend although he can simulate one perfectly.  Early in the first season when he rushes in to save the victim of a throat slashing, you can almost see how wonderful this character could be if he wasn't so broken.  In the second season, he's given the chance to save a beloved character who is overdosing right in front of him.  He pauses a second, flips a coin, looks at the results and then brings them back from the brink.

*   The entire cast is to die for.  I almost can't describe how good Mads Mikkelsen is in the title role except to make a comparison with a performance that I still hold sacred.  Mikkelsen taking over the role from Anthony Hopkins and making it his own is the exact level of quality that Heath Ledger did the same with the Joker character in Nolan's Batman films.  Instantly, we forget that anyone else ever even tried to play this character and it's one that will stand the test of time, I'm sure.

Hugh Dancy as Will Graham is nearly as good but he receives a little less credit here just because I think it might be easier playing a good guy.  And Will is good through and Through.  Reveiled early on to be a dog-lover, Will can't resist taking home every stray he finds.  And despite his talent for getting into the minds of killers ("He has pure empathy"), he remains as vulnerable as a child.  There's never a moment where you don't feel for this character and just want to be his friend, to give him a hug as he puts himself in more and more danger bringing the baddies to justice.

Laurence Fishburne brings a bedrocks heft to the role of Jack Crawford and "Firefly's" fantastic Gina Torres plays his wife, who's thankfully given more to do than most TV characters' wives.  As fellow FBI agents, Hettienne Park is Beverly Katz, a Graham coworker who stands by Will when others won't.  Scott Thompson and Aaron Abrams are Jimmy Price and Brian Zeller, two agents on the forensic team who have to have a background in comedy considering how funny they both are here.  And for Hannibal Lecter's own psychiatrist, they brought in a heavy hitter who had the background and reputation and gravitas to play someone who we'd actually believe the devil himself would look up to: Gillian Anderson.  After all her years on "The X-Files," we can believe her to now be an esteemed professional in the psychiatric field.

Despite my esteem for this show, the first season isn't perfect but all of those early-footing faults can I'm sure be traced back to the network that bankrolled this bold and risky effort.  The format it starts out with, a buddy cop procedural chasing down new weirdo serial killers every week is so traditional, I actually dismissed this show after watching most of the first season.  The fact that it actually recovered and got interesting by those last first episodes indicate that the money guys seemed to let series creator Bryan Fuller off the creative leash and came to trust him more as the show went on.  The show settles into the extraordinary at the start of the second season and never lets up and as a whole, its the work of a supremely confidant and talented artist.  The fact that we actually got 3 seasons of this defies belief.

Buying a Computer During a Crisis

Even before I hitched my wagon to Amazon last weekend, I let Dell waste two weeks of my time.  I ordered a laptop from them, they said it would be here in two weeks and then right before that 2 week period ended, they said NOPE, DELAYED! and added another 3 weeks to ship time.  So I was grumpy about this whole thing even before I went to Amazon.

Amazon taking my money before shipping my computer didn't help my mood.  Them letting 4 days go by without being able to give me any idea when my order was going to ship solidified my belief that I had to move on.  CANCELLED and now waiting for them to return my funds.

Best Buy claims that as long as an item is in stock, a customer can pick up something in person at their store approximately one hour after ordering.  Because they have plenty of laptops that fit exactly what I'm looking for, I will give them a try as soon as Amazon returns that "premature" (stolen too harsh?) withdrawal.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Sorry, Amazon, you're not the only game in town.

Even during a pandemic.

Best Buy Pivots and Scores; My Complete Chromebook System is Finally Here

Waiting to receive that last item from my Chromebook package, the keyboard, it was obvious that there was a delivery problem.  Although Best Buy claimed to have sent it out on a specific date, neither UPS nor USPS ever admitted to picking it up.  After the delivery date came and went, I called Best Buy and they did something surprising and amazing: they took care of the problem in the best possible way.

"Yep, that sure does look like it's lost in transit," the customer service guy said after putting me on hold.  "How about we overnight another one to you right now?"

Best Buy's reaction and handling of this problem was of course, exemplary.  I did, in fact, receive the item the very next day as promised.  So, (kudos x 1,000,000) to Best Buy and that phone guy who helped me. 

So now I have this complete 2 in 1 Chromebook system that needs to be reviewed.  And so far, I don't have many complaints at all.

Snap the portable $199 Google keyboard onto the Pixel Slate and it switches the tablets software from tablet mode to "desktop."  Leaning into the tablet, you now get the impression you're dealing with a desktop and not a touch-controlled tablet.

On the very center bottom of the screen are still the icons leading to .  Immediately to the right is the icon that leads to the Google Pen applications and to the right of that, Google's version of Microsoft's system tray, the most important shortcuts to the system's core controls.

(to be continued...)

Springsteen Playlist: My Favorite Bruce

Best Bruce: 1973-2019

I made this playlist on 6/5/2020 for a friend of mine that loves Springsteen as much as I do.  It's hard for me to explain to the world how much this guy has meant to me over the years.  To start with, you have his music, with lyrics that are more akin to poetry than your standard rock n roll song.  His songs often posses such a strong spirituality without him ever overtly trying to sell someone on God or a specific religion.  There's the stories contained within his songs and his respect for all the women at the center of those stories.  To Bruce, these women are Mary, Wendy, Sandy, etc., always addressed by their first names.

After his music, you have the man himself.  Over the years, his decency and common sense, his insistence on always standing up for what's right, giving voice to those without one and allying with and speaking out in support of those trying to make the world a better place has always inspired me.

And so, my favorite Bruce songs.  Just to shake things up a little and give us a break from the overplayed studio versions, I've leaned towards live versions when available and when appropriate, acoustic performances over larger stadium productions.

After my friend, my sister Joanne, has had a chance to watch this and be surprised at my choices, I'll post a full set list naming every song.  Until then, enjoy the show!

Bonus videos

Springsteen on Colbert in 2016, discussing Bruce's top 5 favorite Bruce songs:

Amid Civil Unrest, Boyega, Lynch, Cooper and Trudeau React Appropriately and Professionally. And Trump? Not So Much

1)  Boyega

'Now is the time': Emotional John Boyega addresses protesters at London Black Lives Matter rally

2)  Lynch

3)  Cooper

How to bible pic.twitter.com/Kib5lTdlRt

— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) June 3, 2020

4)  Trump

The professionally managed so-called “protesters” at the White House had little to do with the memory of George Floyd. They were just there to cause trouble. The @SecretService handled them easily. Tonight, I understand, is MAGA NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE???

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2020

Great job last night at the White House by the U.S. @SecretService. They were not only totally professional, but very cool. I was inside, watched every move, and couldn’t have felt more safe. They let the “protesters” scream & rant as much as they wanted, but whenever someone....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2020

....have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen. That’s when people would have been really badly hurt, at least. Many Secret Service agents just waiting for action. “We put the young ones on the front line, sir, they love it, and....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2020

....good practice.” As you saw last night, they were very cool & very professional. Never let it get out of hand. Thank you! On the bad side, the D.C. Mayor, @MurielBowser, who is always looking for money & help, wouldn’t let the D.C. Police get involved. “Not their job.” Nice!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2020

5)  Trudeau

Books Bought in May 2020

American Heiress by Jeffrey Toobin

Antisocial by Andrew Marantz

Antisocial Media by Siva Vaidhyanathan

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Before and After the Book Deal by Courtney Maum

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

David Lynch: Beautiful Dark by Greg Olson

Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

God Save Texas by Lawrence Wright

In One Person by John Irving

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

Lost City of Z, The by David Grann

Looming Tower, The by Lawrence Wright

Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham

Nickel Boys, The by Colson Whitehead

This is Chance! By Jon Mooallem

Underground Railroad, The by Colson Whitehead

Weather by Jenny Offill

Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing by Robert Caro

Yellow House, The by Sarah M. Broom

Zookeeper's Wife, The by Diane Ackerman

Kazuo Ishiguro (7 books)

Toni Morrison's complete library (27 books)

A bunch of public domain work by Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Arthur Conan Doyle, Jane Austen and  Louisa May Alcott.

Finished:

End of October, The by Lawrence Wright

The Complete Works by Arthur Conan Doyle

Pixel Slate #2: Why No Review Yet?

I've been trying to wait until I receive this complete Pixel Slate Chromebook system before even thinking about posting my thoughts on it and that hasn't happened yet.  I've received the Slate itself and the Google Pen but not the keyboard.  It's Monday, June 1st as I write and post this and a Best Buy help desk employee claims I will receive the keyboard tomorrow on Tuesday.  Tracking info online for this item has been non-existent.  Like, literally, UPS tracking info claims they haven't even picked up the item yet while Best Buy says it shipped last week.  That employee swears I have nothing to worry about and that I should just give it another 24 hours.

In the meantime, my use of this tablet has been mostly wonderful.  Watching videos of the device before I received it, the tablet itself looked kind of chunky and thick to me.  Because it's almost 12.5 inches, it also looked a little unwieldy.  Was that because I've never held in my hands a tablet that large?

As it turns out, probably.  Using this tablet for the past week has been great and is often the case, the camera was adding 50 pounds to this device's girth.  In person, it's sleek, sexy and most important, light.  It's exactly 25.6 ounces or 1.5 pounds and actually feels lighter than that while holding it.

Another thing I worried about was the Intel processor inside.  We're talking about the M3 CPU, a chipset I knew nothing about.  Despite coming with 8 GB of RAM, would this processor be enough to power this large tablet with the breathtaking 3,000 x 2,000 resolution display?  From my early use, it seems yes.

While the model does offer i5 and i7 Intel variations, I chose the less powerful M3 for two reasons:

1)  This 2 in 1 portable Chromebook was not going to be my main computer system and in fact, be used mostly as a portable tablet.  All I wanted was for something that would demolish any mobile app I threw at it.  

2)  Best Buy was offering a deal on this specific model that was impossible to refuse: the tablet alone at almost half price with the $300 keyboard and Google Pen accessories thrown in for free.  An $1,100 computer system for less than the cost of a mid-range iPad Air.  Yeah, it was an offer I couldn't refuse and after actually holding the tablet in my hands, looking at it's high resolution display with my own eyes and watching it run lots of different programs and apps from the Play store, I've not regretted taking that deal.  Like Fredo in the boat, something can still sneak up on me and surprise me violently but... I don't think so.  The thing runs almost like a dream.

Other off-the-cuff thoughts:

The tablet holds a charge for a long time.  Like, a long, long time.  After charging it to 100% when I first received it, it's at 50% after a week of performing every kind of task: browsing, downloading and installing and running fairly demanding games and apps.

It shuts down and restarts up to front desktop like nothing I've seen.  Seriously, doing either feels almost instant, faster than my beloved Amazon Kindles, even.  But as the core of an $1,100 system, I guess it should, right?

Mini FAQ's

Why did you get a Chromebook?

Price; see above.  Also, I wanted a new tablet and this was the smartest choice in my price range.

What could you possibly do with a Chromebook?

How many people do you know that never leave their browser window when using a computer?

Personally, when I get a new piece of electronics, the first thing I do is try to push it to its maximum performance.  How easy is it to find something to run that causes this device slowdown?  I ran Asphalt 8 and the most recent XCOM.  Having received the Google Pen in the package deal, I ran lots of note-taking apps and tried to take down the goddamned thing with scribbling.  Nothing I threw at it caused the slightest dip in framerate.

So I installed Linux on it.  Because what the fuck all else am I going to do with the country still closed and my hair looking like this, huh?

Like Everyone Else, David Lynch is Bored.

David Lynch is one of my most favorite people of all time and most definitely my favorite artist.  Just watching him speak of something usually lifts that whole day.  He's just so joyous and sincere which, in case you haven't noticed, has been in short supply on the Internet since the day it was created.

He is also one of those rare cases of someone who seems to practice what he preaches.  He speaks often of his love of Transcendental Meditation and on the many ways it's improved and enriched his life.  And just listening to him speaks on the things he loves, he is obviously on to something.  He not only speaks of enlightenment but is one of the few people who I can believe has actually found it.

And like everyone else these days during the quarantine, Mr. Lynch seems to be getting quite bored.  So bored, in fact, that he seems willing to speak with anyone with a Zoom account.  Here he is talking with another practitioner of Transcendental Meditation (which I'll abbreviate to "TM" from now one), a fellow named Mario:

It's a typical Lynch interview, one in which Lynch is asked common questions such as "Where do you get your ideas?" and "What has TM done for you?"  And although I've seen and heard Lynch's answers to these questions many times, a Lynch interview is never boring.  His character and personality and decency are so vibrant that those positive qualities shine through in every one of his words and never fails to uplift me, to make me want to start new projects and examine new ways of dealing with stress and negativity.

That interview was posted on May 16, 2020 and here's another posted just two weeks before, on April 28th.  This one is with author and podcaster Susie Pearl, who seems to share lots of Lynch's interests and ideas on meditation, creativity and art.  Pearl also shares an amazing story about her own recent experiences with TM and describes one incident that might be an out and out miracle.  Here, Lynch is even more excitable and involved with the back and forth discussion and since Pearl is a better interviewer than Mario, it's a better overall watch.

Over on one of his own official YouTube channels, Lynch is documenting how he's keeping busy at home in a series of videos entitled "What's David Working on Today?"

Also on that channel, Lynch has been providing daily LA weather reports for the past 3 weeks.  This is a sweet reference to his pay site back in the early 2000's which, among other oddities, provided the same kind of reports (even from the same room!).  So, while kind of weird, there is a precedent to Lynch doing this kind of thing.  And let's face it; after a full three months, everyone is chomping at the bit to get out and clutching at straws to kill time and find some way to get through yet another day of social distancing and sheltering in place.  Some of us do that with creativity and work towards creating things.  I'm no artist and yet I'm never more happy than when working on a project, planning things and working out best ways to accomplish bringing ideas to life.

I was going to detail what a couple of other different artists were doing to pass the time during this downtime but I'm going to wrap up this entry with Lynch alone.  If I don't come back to this subject, I'd suggest looking up the new short iPhone film Martin Scorsese posted on Twitter last week and John Krasinski's newest YouTube project "Some Good News."  See how easy that was?  We just killed an hour together.

Links:
Transcendental Meditation Wikipedia page.
Supposedly the official Transcendental Meditation site here.
David Lynch Foundation YouTube channel.
David Lynch Theater YouTube channel.
David Lynch's music YouTube channel.

Carell Leads "Space Force" into New Uncharted Character Territory

"Boots on the moon by 2024!"

6 episodes into its 10-episode run, I kind of love Netflix's new work space comedy "Space Force."  It's sweet and friendly and kind, definitely more "Parks and Recreation" than "The Office."  None of that cringe-y, really uncomfortable "Office" stuff here.  Just some decent people trying to do their stupid jobs without being too terrible to each other.

It's first episode pilot is a rocky start because it's just honestly not very funny.  But after a few episodes, it becomes less cartoonish and the show seems to get more confidant and comfortable with what it's trying to be; it really hits its stride mid-season.  By episode six, I was occasionally chuckling out loud and mostly always had at least a smile on my face.

The cast is a mixture of highly respected comedians (Jane Lynch, Lisa Kudrow, Fred Willard and Kaitlin Olson), popular personalities (Ben Swartz) and newcomers (Tawny Newsome steals every scene she's in).  John Malkovich adds gravitas as the head scientist but is having as much fun as the rest of the cast in this silly but never broad or juvenile production.

Newsome and Jimmy O. Yang's botany scientist Chan develop the sweetest chemistry throughout the first season and it becomes so much more than the typical sitcom trope of "will they or won't they?"  The show comes up with ways to keep them apart and we become as bummed as they do because they're two characters that deserve to be together.  Take that, Jim and Pam!

Tawny Newsome steals another scene...

And then there's Steve Carell, who along with Greg Daniels is credited as show co-creator.  Carell is great here and gives us a fantastic portrayal miles from the needy Michael Scott from The Office.  His 4-star general Mike Naird is a by the books military guy who isn't so much incompetent as just someone who can't seem to make a correct decision to save his life.  His folly always comes down to choosing military protocol over hard facts and science.  Most of the show is of course a work place comedy but the show wisely fills out Carell's character by giving him a teenage daughter he's constantly at odds with and an absent wife he still sweetly pines for.  Carell remains at the top of his game here and can make me laugh by just silently eating a moon pie while frustrated; he's a joy as always.

Always at odds with the terrible instructions he's given from above, Carell and Malkovich frequently argue about how to best handle things.  In the last episode, an argument they have defines both these characters.  Malkovich screams at Carell and says if he had any integrity, he'd quit.  Carell responds with "The person in line behind me will be even worse.  I know I'm not perfect but I know I'm not the worst."  And that's Carell's character here in a nutshell.  A flawed human well aware of his limitations but always, always struggling to do the right thing.  It's just an all around fantastic character that I can't praise highly enough, especially in a sitcom based on one of the stupidest ideas in human history.

There's really no realism here but that becomes part of its appeal, its more of a fairy tale or a fable than a hard-hitting slice of realism that The Office was.  Despite none of the characters feeling realistic, there are tons of small nice moments between unexpected friends and allies.

The show treads a mostly successful line between political humor while still being accessible to non-Washington insiders.  There's in-jokes and references to current political players here if you want them.  Those in the know will recognize analogues to Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos but the show doesn't rely on this knowledge to enjoy it.  Besides, there's plenty of subtle stabs at broader pop culture milestones such as jokes about Bruce Banner and Wakanda and anti-abortion protesters dressed as the oppressed breeders from "A Handmaid's Tale."  In effect, the show gets away with having it's cake and eating it, too.

Trump is never outwardly named but his poor leadership is never far from the conflicts presented in each episode.  Obvious jokes about him abound, though and two jokes about the president rage tweeting feels like two too many, at this point.

At the end of the day, this is a fine first season effort that hopefully will be given room to grow and expand into funnier and more interesting directions.  So many ultimately great sitcoms needed time to mature into the classics we now consider them to be.  "Parks and Recreation" had a terrible first season before it regrouped and pivoted into a completely different direction.  Even "The Office" needed time to stop aping its original inspiration to grow into its own unique groove.  The first half of "Space Force's" first season is better than both of those sitcom starts and that bodes well for its future.  Let's just hope Netflix sticks with it and give it the room and time to become the 4-star success it could be.