Podcasts—
The history of Rock in 500 Songs: #99, Surfin’ Safari by the Beach Boys and #100 Love me Do by the Beatles. A great series that combines little known history, with musical references inspiring these songs ie what we heard on the radio, and music lessons on tuning guitars and modifying sound in the sound room.
Cautionary Tales: May 5, #4, When the Autopilot Switched off. Tools that aid us int he use of complex machines and our own psychology that often screws things up. A very good podcast that reminds me of my favorite rejoinder, “What could go wrong?”
Articles
27 Ugly Truths About Retirement https://flipboard.com/@gobankingrates/27-ugly-truths-about-retirement-5i3cs1rojb999jdg?from=share&utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=share
Expect Complete Chaos if You’re Heading to Europe This Summer
America’s Hospitals Are in Transition
Streaming:
It has been a hard month for Mormon Fundamentalists ie FLDS ( Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints). Two extremely difficult to watch but excellent shows, one a documentary and one a dramatization:
Netflix: Documentary: Keep Sweet, Pray, and Obey Details a Mormon Cult whose charismatic leader is ultimately convicted of sex crimes against children. Despite his going to jail, he continues to run the church and has devoted followers including the mothers of children given up as child brides. Some escape and provide compelling narratives to this story. Well worth the watch.
Hulu: Under the Banner of Heaven; We typically binge good dramas. This one had to be taken in slowly. It was also hard to watch as it explores the world of religious zealots who have literally lost their minds while committing murder in the name of their Lord.
On a lighter note, Netflix has a series called Outlaws, which plays to some simple entertainment rules, ie is not high art, but does have Christopher Walken and some fine characterizations as well as dilemmas all told with humor.
Books:
I am struggling with books right now. I am reading out loud to Kernie,
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal. I tried to discuss the themes in Spanish to my Spanish teacher who was amused and admitted she knew nothing of the Sikh religion which led to my next Spanish homework assignment……This book is interesting but not a great read—and it is not for everyone. The erotic portions read as in a heavy Harlequin Romance though I will point out, having taken a creative writing class, that writing erotica is extremely difficult to do if you want to do it well and not look—or feel, well, soiled, used, dirty…….
Seattle Play at the REP: Bruce—Improbable as it sounds, a musical based on the making of the movie Jaws. I enjoyed this work and once more, it inspired me to see Jaws, the first time since I lived in Los Angeles. I got a lot more out of the movie after this play……..
Comentarios