Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to the podcast that always gives its listeners what it wants.
This week: trade name; Crunchy role; cool toons; bottle fatigue; a Guy’s guy; drawn to primetime; repeat until necessary; Backus plan; island life, astronuts; when good acting happens to bad TV; a Banks-able actor; The X-Files-men; unconclusion; Buffy stuff; the silents treatment; princes of comedy; our big organ; the death of slapstick; sleep disorderlies; hypnologic; stress test; bidding their time; post-op cut-up; secret parents; emotional rescue; anger-free zone; out on a liminal; detached home; checked his heart – nothing there; tequila mocking word; ain’t no challah bread girl; simply squeamish; they call me hyperstitious; a token of my extreme; Dave is scarified by Terrifier 3; what’s the story, mourning gory; number one movie; a rye sense of humour; a chilling moment; in the black; Meader made; Ian recommends Percival Everett’s James; Dave recommends James Vandermeer’s The Southern Reach Trilogy; and, finally, what’s happening?!?!?!
Question of the Week: How do you deal with your anger?
Sub-question of the Week: Who is your favourite film comedian?
Thanks for listening.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Greetings Sneakers from the northern regions of the great Lone Star State!
We all get angry from time to time, right? I’m terrible at it and I look like an idiot when I lose my temper. I’ve been known to take my temper out on the nearest inanimate object instead of someone else which usually leads to some regret from the damage I’ve caused.
Like Dave mentioned with Lezah, I kind of started all over and renewed my actions with my second marriage. Susan, my second wife, is an advocate of full exposure when it comes to feelings and any irritability we might need to overcome. I think I only lost my temper with her once years ago, otherwise we either give one another space or discuss it out as best we can. My first wife was almost 100% passive aggressive which led to long periods of silence and moody internal anger and it was exhausting. My track record is so much better with Susan, it helps when you can open up.
It’s rare, but if it’s just me and I’m having an issue, like at work, I’ll remove myself and try to process internally without losing my temper and looking stupid. Instead of counting to 10 to calm down, it’s like counting to 100 before doing or saying something I might regret. Listening to music really helps or calling my brother who’s always willing to listen and cheers me up.
I think you two know my favorite film comedian(s), do you want to guess? Here’s a hint, they paved the way to Sneaky Dragon for me years ago.
Any weighing in on “Wicked” yet? I took my daughter and son-in-law to see it over Thanksgiving weekend and I loved it. Call me crazy but I think they might be working their way towards some version of an Oz remake with part two. We’ll know in a year or so.
Get out and get your shopping done, visit Santa, wrap the gifts and thaw out the roast beast and Who pudding!
…and watch out for Mariah Carey.
Happy Holidays all!
I shy away from confrontation so I guess my strategy for dealing with anger is to keep it to myself until I figure out whether it’s better to poke the bear or let sleeping dogs lie. A thank you to Peter for introducing us to the word “hyperstition.” Looking into the concept further, I came across the phrase, “Hype makes it happen.” I guess that explains how Dave and Lezah ended up in a self-driving car this summer! And it explains a lot of what’s been going on lately in culture and politics. One website gave religion as an example of a force that creates reality out of an idea…like the belief that one particular area is a holy place. If enough people get on board with that, then they’ll pour resources into defending or attacking it, depending on their side’s agenda.
We took the five-year-old to see ‘Sherlock Jr’ with some friends last weekend: and the kids were delighted by it! As they proved, Keaton remains a peak film comedian. His physical ability, his invention and his daring are all hugely appealing: His acting style is also much more appealing to a modern audience; underplayed and precise, often in stark contrast to his co-stars. Some of the biggest laughs at our showing came from his minute changes in expression. A favourite tiny moment that must have taken hours of practice and preparation: Keaton is shadowing the villain, striding along right behind him in lockstep as the rotter stops and starts, all filmed in a long, unbroken tracking shot. At one point, his mark throws a lit cigarette away, and Keaton plucks it from the air and continues to smoke it without breaking stride. Sublime.
Who are the modern greats of film comedy though? Sacha Baron-Cohen? Ralfe Ffeinnes? Melissa McCarthy? All pretty good…
Just for Louise, another couple of examples of Hyperstition:
First, *that* episode of Black Mirror and the subsequent revelation about David Cameron’s involvement in a rather peculiar initiation rite…
Second, Vlodimir Zelensky, the comedian who played a comedian who became President… who became President. The world is a strange and beautiful place.