I always thought Nathan For You was hilarious but too mean to conscionably watch, but both seasons of the Rehearsal have me ride or die (in a plane crash) for Nathan Fielder. I think he is one of the only true geniuses in the TV world. I guess it's too late but lmk if you want me to write about him for you
shoutout to fernet espresso ice cream…shoutout to jalapeño summer… i wanted to do mcmurtry may so bad (ditto for middlemarch may) but unfortunately may has always been a month where i go insane in unproductive ways…next year………
now that i’m on summer break i am finally going through taruskin’s history of western music in earnest and learning what “roulades” and “cadenzas” are which is fun. (there was SO MUCH opera in the 17th century…) i have been listening to too much emo music trying to figure out the genre’s deal lately…braid, american football, the new home is where (album of the year), hop along (actual geniuses)…it turns out that most of these people can’t sing. been playing and replaying the new billy woods, the other album of the year…saw him two nights ago in phoenix and he gave the impression that he was sick of arizona and our bullshit, which i respect.
the world needs fran mag reporting on five hour mount everest video
I LOVE A CADENZA!!!! Roulade is new to me but I'm sure I would love as well. Emo music kind of came and went for me but obv Fall Out Boy was huge as someone from the Chicago burbs in the mid-aughts (everyone knew someone who knew Patrick Stump). Phil loves Billy Woods - I've heard a bit off this new album and think it's great.
I will plan to review the five hour Everest video once it's done. Mostly I'm like, they let a 19 year old do this? But that's the exact type of insane person who would climb Everest.
i hope to one day hear a cadenza live…fall out boy is next up for me, my brother loves them. at 19 years old i was having mental breakdowns, i salute this person and am even more intrigued now
Started watching Taskmaster because of Mantzoukas and the latest episode had two of my favorite moments so far: Matthew Baynton’s fatal “everybody!” and his clutch callback to it during his sacrifice in the final task of the show. “We were the monsters, weren’t we?” is also obviously iconic, and Stevie Martin talking about how hard she had to focus during drivers ed almost made me cry lol. great show.
The car task is an all-timer — ideal combo of bizarre and mean with a good trick (the license) and all the various guys. I like anything on British TV that reminds me they’re the country that invented Mr. Blobby and this was no exception. Baynton is sooo charming to me — the skinny posh-ish male Taskmaster contestants are often the toughest sell of any cast to me but I find him truly lovable.
The more Baynton fucks up the more endeared I am to him, like when he moved the trash bins for no reason and lost points in a task he otherwise was in the lead for. Real “papas orchard” vibes from him tbh.
I'll be commenting on the Lonesome Dove posts when I finish in late June. It's so big!! I think I would have finished in May if the audiobook actually existed lol (I'm 9th in line after starting in 14th at the beginning of May)
This season of Taskmaster is pure joy! The third episode especially got me with Rosie's pillow pratfall. Not since Jack Dee said "Krusty the Clown is questioning it" have I laughed so hard. Also did not realize until recently that Rosie is married to Chris Ramsey - No Way!
I am just finishing part one so McMurtry May is turning into a July Johnson June for me but I am enjoying it so far.
That’s a good season! Ardal and Judi Love are delightful.
Re: Nathan for You, I gave it a try after the show had ended because of an Errol Morris (trusted voice in comedy) review of the finale in the New Yorker. It has my stranger on the internet endorsement – the fandom is not just aspiring comedy bros lining up to buy Summit Ice merch! (though I think it's mostly that?)
Everyone is always “sadboy this, sadboy that” but have you ever let yourself get crushed by a jet engine to save the world while your sister gets to go to Harvard …..
im also Put Off by nathan fielder's whole thing but im curious about the plane........do I have to watch s1 of the rehearsal or can i jump straight to s2
I’m always surprised when I see people on tiktok depict themselves watching youtube on the tv (it seems wrong for people’s faces in vlogs to be that big!) at which point I am watching youtube on tv on my phone I guess. So maybe it is a thing? I still don’t understand why that would mean Lady Gaga would be there, but fun!
Also, while I’m on the subject of things you do for your job, your writing about Meghan Markle’s show really made me laugh! And I hope things with the job are going well in general
We definitely watch some YouTube on TV but not so much blogs as like… video essays (or episodes of TV from other countries). Funny enough I think the Everest blog would certainly benefit from big screen but it’s still too much vlogger face for my taste.
And thank you! As baffling as it was, Meghan’s show is some of the best (?) TV I’ve watched this year lmao
I think I had just missed him in NYC earlier in the week conducting for the opera. I have no idea how I'd missed him over the years but he's GREAT - so fun to watch conduct. I really loved the energy of the Philly orchestra.
I think what makes Dead Reckoning more “fun” is that the set pieces are so slapsticky and all the Entity dialogue (which I love) feels like it’s stuck together with wall tack- often feels just like a bunch of people making up stuff. It all runs on crazy logic which is why they can’t handle slowing down and killing Ilsa, they just immediately forget about her and it sucks.
Still liked Final Reckoning a lot as an Ethan Hunt movie because I have been moved by Cruise’s crazy journey over the years, less energized by like the actual story of the movie which is pretty bad. Oh well. They know how to hit the emotional beats and that’s more what I care about. Plus I think Czerny is wildly underrated in all three.
Have not seen much else- enjoyed Caught by the Tides but devoid of all context- but we get Wes next week and that will be a nice treat for us all
The lack of Ilsa of it all - I found I even missed Vanessa Kirby. I admire that the casts are relatively interchangeable but had a hard time squaring the Reckonings with the rest of the series. I think the train of it all in Dead Reckoning never worked for me - that sequence just looks SO bad I could never really surrender to it.
I'm looking forward to the Wes! Happy we get a two Benicio year between that and the PTA.
the part on the train where Kirby has to pretend to be Atwell is a series highlight I think both her and Czerny are so good in it. The rest of it I enjoy because it’s a bunch of people maneuvering around a tight space and trying not to be caught- which 1 does a little better- but I also like the Looney Tunes train crash where they’re dodging hot oil and a falling piano, which is a down shift from a real stunt sequence but everyone’s having a good time
The knock off Good Humor truck guy was back mid-May. Win! Whenever he sees me, he speeds up and away from me. WHYYYYYYY? I need to catch him. I have never seen a Mister Softee truck in its natural habitat. Is that not a Chicago thing?
MY ASS DIDN'T KNOW YOU SAW GAGA
omg we have to discuss
I always thought Nathan For You was hilarious but too mean to conscionably watch, but both seasons of the Rehearsal have me ride or die (in a plane crash) for Nathan Fielder. I think he is one of the only true geniuses in the TV world. I guess it's too late but lmk if you want me to write about him for you
Wait I’m curious……… let’s discuss later 🫡
shoutout to fernet espresso ice cream…shoutout to jalapeño summer… i wanted to do mcmurtry may so bad (ditto for middlemarch may) but unfortunately may has always been a month where i go insane in unproductive ways…next year………
now that i’m on summer break i am finally going through taruskin’s history of western music in earnest and learning what “roulades” and “cadenzas” are which is fun. (there was SO MUCH opera in the 17th century…) i have been listening to too much emo music trying to figure out the genre’s deal lately…braid, american football, the new home is where (album of the year), hop along (actual geniuses)…it turns out that most of these people can’t sing. been playing and replaying the new billy woods, the other album of the year…saw him two nights ago in phoenix and he gave the impression that he was sick of arizona and our bullshit, which i respect.
the world needs fran mag reporting on five hour mount everest video
I LOVE A CADENZA!!!! Roulade is new to me but I'm sure I would love as well. Emo music kind of came and went for me but obv Fall Out Boy was huge as someone from the Chicago burbs in the mid-aughts (everyone knew someone who knew Patrick Stump). Phil loves Billy Woods - I've heard a bit off this new album and think it's great.
I will plan to review the five hour Everest video once it's done. Mostly I'm like, they let a 19 year old do this? But that's the exact type of insane person who would climb Everest.
i hope to one day hear a cadenza live…fall out boy is next up for me, my brother loves them. at 19 years old i was having mental breakdowns, i salute this person and am even more intrigued now
update from 1:09 in: he lost his hat on the glacier
oh no...on the other hand he now has left hand of darkness swag
Started watching Taskmaster because of Mantzoukas and the latest episode had two of my favorite moments so far: Matthew Baynton’s fatal “everybody!” and his clutch callback to it during his sacrifice in the final task of the show. “We were the monsters, weren’t we?” is also obviously iconic, and Stevie Martin talking about how hard she had to focus during drivers ed almost made me cry lol. great show.
The car task is an all-timer — ideal combo of bizarre and mean with a good trick (the license) and all the various guys. I like anything on British TV that reminds me they’re the country that invented Mr. Blobby and this was no exception. Baynton is sooo charming to me — the skinny posh-ish male Taskmaster contestants are often the toughest sell of any cast to me but I find him truly lovable.
The more Baynton fucks up the more endeared I am to him, like when he moved the trash bins for no reason and lost points in a task he otherwise was in the lead for. Real “papas orchard” vibes from him tbh.
omg truly
I'll be commenting on the Lonesome Dove posts when I finish in late June. It's so big!! I think I would have finished in May if the audiobook actually existed lol (I'm 9th in line after starting in 14th at the beginning of May)
Take your time we’re not going anywhere!!!!
I love shallow
omg “FINISHED.” says so much with so little…
More tomorrow…
This season of Taskmaster is pure joy! The third episode especially got me with Rosie's pillow pratfall. Not since Jack Dee said "Krusty the Clown is questioning it" have I laughed so hard. Also did not realize until recently that Rosie is married to Chris Ramsey - No Way!
I am just finishing part one so McMurtry May is turning into a July Johnson June for me but I am enjoying it so far.
I looooove Rosie - I accidentally skipped Chris's season and need to go back and watch!!
That’s a good season! Ardal and Judi Love are delightful.
Re: Nathan for You, I gave it a try after the show had ended because of an Errol Morris (trusted voice in comedy) review of the finale in the New Yorker. It has my stranger on the internet endorsement – the fandom is not just aspiring comedy bros lining up to buy Summit Ice merch! (though I think it's mostly that?)
Everyone is always “sadboy this, sadboy that” but have you ever let yourself get crushed by a jet engine to save the world while your sister gets to go to Harvard …..
THIS
im also Put Off by nathan fielder's whole thing but im curious about the plane........do I have to watch s1 of the rehearsal or can i jump straight to s2
What Isaac said!!!!!
You can jump straight to s2! anything related to s1 is more or less explained but it really stands alone tbh
I’m always surprised when I see people on tiktok depict themselves watching youtube on the tv (it seems wrong for people’s faces in vlogs to be that big!) at which point I am watching youtube on tv on my phone I guess. So maybe it is a thing? I still don’t understand why that would mean Lady Gaga would be there, but fun!
Also, while I’m on the subject of things you do for your job, your writing about Meghan Markle’s show really made me laugh! And I hope things with the job are going well in general
We definitely watch some YouTube on TV but not so much blogs as like… video essays (or episodes of TV from other countries). Funny enough I think the Everest blog would certainly benefit from big screen but it’s still too much vlogger face for my taste.
And thank you! As baffling as it was, Meghan’s show is some of the best (?) TV I’ve watched this year lmao
I LOVE Shallow 😭
Is it weird that a star is born is a comfort watch for me? Gaga and Cooper's chemistry is like life affirming to me lol
No it is for me too - mostly just the first hour, but still
Yeah I usually turn it off when things start to go south
“Lena runs into Fran on her way back from the youtube upfronts” was one of my favorite stories of the year
omg congrats on gaga!!
also surprised this was your first yannick! i'm biased bc i used to live in philly, but even now in nyc he pops up a LOT.
I think I had just missed him in NYC earlier in the week conducting for the opera. I have no idea how I'd missed him over the years but he's GREAT - so fun to watch conduct. I really loved the energy of the Philly orchestra.
I think what makes Dead Reckoning more “fun” is that the set pieces are so slapsticky and all the Entity dialogue (which I love) feels like it’s stuck together with wall tack- often feels just like a bunch of people making up stuff. It all runs on crazy logic which is why they can’t handle slowing down and killing Ilsa, they just immediately forget about her and it sucks.
Still liked Final Reckoning a lot as an Ethan Hunt movie because I have been moved by Cruise’s crazy journey over the years, less energized by like the actual story of the movie which is pretty bad. Oh well. They know how to hit the emotional beats and that’s more what I care about. Plus I think Czerny is wildly underrated in all three.
Have not seen much else- enjoyed Caught by the Tides but devoid of all context- but we get Wes next week and that will be a nice treat for us all
The lack of Ilsa of it all - I found I even missed Vanessa Kirby. I admire that the casts are relatively interchangeable but had a hard time squaring the Reckonings with the rest of the series. I think the train of it all in Dead Reckoning never worked for me - that sequence just looks SO bad I could never really surrender to it.
I'm looking forward to the Wes! Happy we get a two Benicio year between that and the PTA.
the part on the train where Kirby has to pretend to be Atwell is a series highlight I think both her and Czerny are so good in it. The rest of it I enjoy because it’s a bunch of people maneuvering around a tight space and trying not to be caught- which 1 does a little better- but I also like the Looney Tunes train crash where they’re dodging hot oil and a falling piano, which is a down shift from a real stunt sequence but everyone’s having a good time
I do think more movies could afford a falling piano (I hear new Final Destination has this but I'm too squeamish)
The knock off Good Humor truck guy was back mid-May. Win! Whenever he sees me, he speeds up and away from me. WHYYYYYYY? I need to catch him. I have never seen a Mister Softee truck in its natural habitat. Is that not a Chicago thing?
They're everywhere! But maybe east coast.