Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to Episode 597 of the podcast that dares to ask when.
This week: inventive creeps; waist matter; accidents will happen; mass class; size matters; suit sweet; flattery will get you everywhere; safety last; party downers; mystery porn theatre 3000; wedding dress rehearsal; worst man’s speech; fake out; high prize; imbalanced journalism; sensible bulwarks; cricket loss; football of confusion; soccer to us; Ted Lasso will rope you in; good models; explore your characters; the songs that keep on giving; we liked Guardians of the Galaxy 3; movie suffering; déjà view; Gamora and Gamora; mask appeal; Jane Austen’s Confusion; petting a live horse; honest comedy; great expectations; the real addiction; there goes the enablerhood; Question of the Week – Sneakers respond; more Guardians love; to boldly eat; the fortress of introversion; golden Gord; and, finally, Chris Robert’s songs on demand service..
Question of the Week: What is your least favourite holiday?
Sub-question of the Week: What is the best film trilogy?
Thanks for listening.
And a hearty thank you to good sport, Chris Roberts, for providing us with a song this week based on fellow Sneaker Brent Tannehill’s epic free verse classic “The Country and the City”.
You heard the man! We’re having a Sneaky Dragon potluck to celebrate 600 episodes and you’re invited! Please RSVP to sneakyd@sneakydragon.com to get the secret password.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Least favourite holiday? Why, Labour Day, or course – it signifies the start of 10 months of labour for me, coming on the heels of a glorious summer vacation.
My least favourite holiday is Good Friday. Although I appreciated the day off school as a young child, I found it horrifying and depressing to hear about the torture and execution of the founder of a religion. And I thought crucifixes, especially the life-sized ones at the front of Catholic churches, were just gruesome. Imagine visiting the holy place of a new religion and seeing a carving of human figure hanging from a noose or with their head on a chopping block. And imagine parents put smaller versions over their kids’ beds. Social services would be knocking on their door pretty fast.
For best trilogy, I’d have to go with the original Star Wars, unoriginal as that choice may be. Although, is it really a trilogy or a stand-alone movie with a two-part sequel? (I cite the Leia kiss as primary evidence.)
And congratulations to the songwriting team of Tannehill and Roberts for their successful inaugural collaboration. I look forward to hearing your follow-up hit.
Louise, I’m going to jump on the Star Wars bandwagon with you and nominate the original Star Wars Trilogy as my absolute favorite trilogy. I lived, ate, breathed, slept and grew up with that cultural phenomenon and I’m not even close to being done with it…
The Twitter thing is tricky. I understand the desire for goodhearted people to want to counter bigotry, fascism, and disinformation. I have tried to be a rational voice for science and spread kindness and care online when possible. But algorithms on many (or most?) of the largest social media platforms don’t necessarily reward good faith argument and support for the marginalized, they reward engagement.
Trolls and bad actors drive conspiracy theories, fearmongering, and hate to amplified trending levels both among themselves and through our collective outrage. YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter have blown up right wing extremism far out of proportion to its actual popularity due to their relentless push to garner more eyeballs, because advertising impressions outweigh all other considerations. Twitter in particular is a problem (IMO) because Elon dissolved the bulk of its moderation teams. I’m persuaded by those who know the back end(s) better than I that ignoring hateful rhetoric and abusive messages is a more effective strategy than engaging to counter the bad stuff with good, as well as calling out the platforms for failing to adhere to their own policies. But YMMV.
Enough blather! Enough blither! My least favorite holiday is Valentine’s Day. Too much pressure on those in relationships to, y’know, DO something. Something extravagant. Also too many single people feeling lonely and left out. I’d be up for celebrating Love Day, where we express general magnanimity, kindness, and affection for each other.
Best film trilogy is Richard Linklater’s “Before” series, with Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke. I’m forever charmed and riveted watching what are, basically, three extended, intimate, vulnerable conversations between two people spanning nearly 20 years from first to final.
I’m going with Marcus above and say Valentine’s Day is my least favorite holiday too. It was more fun when we were younger and dating but Susan and I just let it pass on by. We don’t have chocolate candy in the house and I’d rather surprise my wife with flowers when she least expects it, not on the one day when I’m supposed to buy them…it’s much more fun that way!
I know I said above to Louise that Star Wars was my FAVORITE trilogy, but is it the best, like you asked? Favorite and best meaning two separate things, if you look at it objectively the best produced trilogy goes to Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings.” The films came out the same time every year for three years in a row, they were epic in every way and they still hold up to this day. They even had a huge built-in fan base! I do love those three films and I remember walking into a Christmas party directly after seeing “Return of the King” telling everyone it would take the best film Oscar the following year…and I was right.
Star Wars still made more money and maybe THAT makes it the best but I have to give credit to Jackson and company for pulling off “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy the way they did, producing them back to back to back.
Have a great week Sneakers, one podcast to rule them all!!
Hello again Sneakers!
Surprised nobody’s yet put in a bad word for that most bittersweet of holidays: New Year’s Eve. My feelings on this yearly ordeal is best represented by Shirley MacLaine’s tear streaked face in ‘The Apartment’.
I really came here to put a word in for an extraordinary trilogy called just that:
‘Trilogie 1/2/3’ by Lucas Belvaux. A thriller, a farce, and a melodrama featuring six principal characters popping in and out of each other’s stories. It’s a fascinating and often very clever experiment, even if not 100% successful. Since the action is simultaneous you can start with any one of the three. I commend it to you!
Much love to all –
Night folks!
Peter.