Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

 If you're looking for a timely, rebellious, insightful and insane flick.....welp.....you have found it. And if you're like me and consider Running on Empty one of your favorite films and love books like The Company You Keep and have a lot of respect for Set It Off and Public Enemy and BLM and pretty much all things anti-government.  Yeah.  This one's for you. And no, it is absolutely not like your typical Paul Thomas Anderson film, which by the way, are not usually my bag.  But this one......well.....even though some of the plot was fairly predictable, I was still on the edge of my seat until the last scene.   Of course, the performances are stellar, but it's no wonder everyone is talking about Teyana Taylor.  She's like Dame Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love .....not a lot of on-screen time, but every second of it matters.  Of course my favorite is Benicio.  I mean, we go way back.  I haven't gotten over him since Traffic . ...

 Oh, Adam.....you majestic whiny delicate artist of a man.  If I had known you, I know I would have dated you and then hated you. I did and still do love Counting Crows and Adam.  I love how this documentary really takes you back to the 90's......the time of sensitive, intelligent bands and singer-songwriters.  I like how Adam is willing to make fun of himself and the time we all lived in because it did generate it's share of jokes.  I love that he talks about his dreadlocks and his old romances and how different celebrity culture is now.  It makes me glad that the culture, by and large, has stopped punching down, takes mental health more seriously and looks back with nostalgia at what was truly a very, real and sincere time of creativity in America.   My favorite part of this doc on former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, is that it is told in her own voice from her recorded audio diaries.  What a gift her lovely Texas voice is!  I love h...

 

 It's always brutal when South Park or the Simpsons manage to predict something.  But then again, Trey and Matt are clever scoundrels. So here we are again.  Another boring white woman talking about the weight loss conundrum.  Le sigh. I've talked about body issues , weight ,  and, uh, women's issues  on this blog before, and I'm sure I'll do it again.  I grew up feeling fat mainly because television, magazines aimed at teenage girls and other mean girls told me I was.  My mother never told me I was.  Neither did my big sister.  And neither did any boy I ever liked.  But society constantly did.  I grew up like most girls, feeling confused by all of that.  Once I got old enough to realize I was curvy and "filled out" and that wasn't a bad thing, I made my peace with it.  But I was always sad (and still am) when I see a picture of myself and I'm the heaviest women in it.  Sigh.  I guess it never goes away...

 Can we all just agree that New Year's Eve is the worst of the string of winter holidays?  I would even go so far as saying it's THE WORST of all the holidays.  I loved when Stanford Blatch defined a party as feeling very "forced festive".  To me, most NYE parties feel that way.  The idea that this is a big year-end blow-out and we'd all damn well better make it awesome! The reason I hate NYE is because it combines two of things I most hate about celebrations: cold weather and crowds.  Plus it's during a time of year when everyone has already spent all their money.  AND you usually have to the leave the house.  ADDITIONALLY, you have to stay up late.  It's a big F.U. from me on all this.   I would dare say that some of my happiest New Year's memories have been spent at home in my pajamas with either my child, an S.O. or happily alone.  I remember one unforgettable year of moving into a 3rd floor apartment on NYE.  I rememb...

 Cameron Crowe is not a grown-up man.  He has never been married. Or divorced.  He's not a father.  He's never raised his voice or cursed in traffic. He's still a virgin.  He still calls his mom every night. He's never tried drugs or even had a taste of liquor. He's a boy.  A sweet, sweet teenage boy. And this memoir, which dives into everything you think you know about Crowe, actually gives you a heartbreak all the while leaving you with a bit of a happy-sad feeling.  Hmmm.  The more I think about it, that happy-sad feeling is about the best way to describe a Cameron Crowe film.  The family sitch is not all that relatable (although I do see a little of myself in his mother, Alice) but the drive to be a writer and to be close to music sure is. When he talked about seeing his byline in Creem for the first time, I teared up a little. When he remembered his excitement from his early interviews with Kris Kristofferson and Glenn Frey, I felt that ...

 Found this story about the late and wonderful Jim Henson. I'm going to post it by my desk and remind myself of it every day this winter..... Here are the many memories of my horrific late winter, early spring pneumonia ordeal this past year. The year I turned 50 and honestly thought I might die.  And people, take care of yourselves.  Don't second guess what you know to be true.  And when you're down, stay down until you get well.  I would never want to learn this lesson the hard way ever again.  

 This non-fiction book focusing on case studies out of Atlanta could be your city and could definitely be mine.  It could be you and it could be me.  It's riveting, it's sad and it's atrocious.  It's the best and most necessary social-economic commentary I've seen in a long time. I've told many people that this book is the Nickel and Dimed of our time but instead of focusing on the wage crisis, this one is looking at the affordable housing crisis.  Doesn't affect you?  Think again.  It effects us all, but it desperately hurts a certain few.  And I hope to whatever god you believe in that if you still don't understand white privilege and the long-term effects of slavery and Jim Crow laws, that at least you have a better education after spending time here.   It will also make you never look at an extended-stay hotel the same again.  

  Lately, I've had to find music that can keep me working while not arousing any sort of emotion or distraction in me. Can you imagine how hard this is for a music nerd like me?  Highly complicated guitar "math rock" is working for me. And also this weird guy/band from Australia.   You know a video is weird when it is immediately accompanied by "reaction videos", so I won't even try to interpret what's happening here.  I just like the smooth slightly psychedelic vibe that doesn't remind me of anyone or anything bad ever happening to me.  I throw this on and get down on some heavy EXCELling.   You know......like we all do.

 I really hate not having anyone to commiserate over politics anymore.  On the other hand, I've kind of enjoyed taking myself out of the political landscape.  It all just feels so pointless now that we have tipped over the edge of decency and common sense in America.  It's sad and scary, and I've never felt more defeated as a voter and a citizen in my life. Maybe that's why I've started watching Homeland again now that it's back on Netflix.  And I can't help but wonder if it's back on streaming now that we have a real-live Manchurian Candidate in office. Of course, I never miss a chance to spend time with Saul . There are so many current issues to be grossed out by right now....ICE running rampant across beautifully diverse cities, outright non-apologetic bad behavior by elected officials from the top down, cuts across necessary food programs.....yeah....I'm still paying attention even if I don't say so. But the phenom I'm really bothered by...