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Category: Entertainment
While I Was Away
…okay, sick as a dog, I took the opportunity to watch a few videos on EewwwChoob, more or less at random. (Thank you, I am much better thanks to Zithromycin and various other modern medical miracles.)
Because I wasn’t in shape to do any deep diving as such, I just flitted from one topic to another, but luckily I managed to save a few URLs that may be of general interest. Mostly, I concerned myself with topics of fairly recent vintage that I knew a little (or hardly anything) about, other than their titles and a simplistic overview. (Earlier histories, e.g. late 19th century, WWI, WWII and so on until say 1980: got those covered, thankee.)
So here are some of the ones I did spend some time on. Feel free to watch them yourself, as the interest grabs you.
Ferrari 412 (Iain Tyrrell, of course, plus a whole bunch of his other restorations, also Jay Leno of course). I think I watched well over two dozen of them.
10 U.S. Places Not Worth Visiting been there, and I agree with all of them*.
Bill Burr …always.
Then came I Do Cars. Listen, I have NO automotive technical interest whatsoever, but I got hooked on this guy’s thing, and couldn’t stop watching them. No excuses, no reason… it just grabbed me.
And of course, the “watch again” movies** and TV shows. Of recent interest, Barnwood Builders on Discovery+, because I love ordinary people doing skilled work, and having fun while doing something worthwhile. (Johnny Jett is brilliant.)
I’ve omitted all the F1-geeky and Brit football videos, because I know from experience that Reader interest on this topic is slim to nonexistent.
Have fun, as I did. At worst, save the URLs for the next time you’re as sick as a dog.
*I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon, but I imagine it’s pretty much as described.
**No unwatched movies because I had no attention span and just wanted moving wallpaper while I coughed up my lungs. Also, several people wrote to me suggesting great movies to watch. Didn’t get to any of them, because I was feeling that crap. Next time, or sometime soon anyway. Thankee, all of you.
Never Again
Watched the Oppenheimer movie the other night with New Wife. I of course was familiar with the whole Trinity/Manhattan Project/Oppenheimer story, so I was able to follow the plot reasonably well.
New Wife knew very little about the topic, and as a result she fell asleep about a third of the way through; she couldn’t make head or tail of the thing because the dialogue was indistinct and often obscured by the ambient noise of the movie set, so boredom set in and off into dreamland she went, the lucky girl..
The fault is mine because I should have paid more attention to the opening credits.
Director: Christopher Nolan.
FFS, when is this pretentious asshole going to be tossed onto the garbage heap of cinematic history?
I have complained — often — about the current moviemaking trend of mumbled dialogue and over-loud soundtracks. Nolan doesn’t just fall into the trap of this trendy nonsense: he positively revels in it, and is proud of the fact that his movies are profoundly indistinct, both in terms of his characters’ dialogue and in the lack of lighting.
Oppenheimer was a fine example of all his nonsense. And it was a shit movie.
I’m never going to watch another of Nolan’s movies, ever again. Fuck him, the arrogant swine.
The Way It Used To Be
I don’t know if you had any plans for the next eight hours, but here’s one way to spend them.
Racing the way it used to be and quite honestly still should, especially when it comes to the sound of the engines.
Footnote from former bandmate Knob, who lives there and knowing my love for F1, sent me the link:
We watched from the roof terrace at Café Milano. Best place on the track. Hired by the Bentley Drivers Club UK by my buddy Mark, who is also great mates with one-time F1 Champion Jody Schecter. Jody just sold his F1 car collection on Saturday at Sotheby’s Monaco auction. Got €6.7m for his Ferrari 312T !!
Also, went to the Eddie Jordan chat with Red Bull designer Adrian Newey on Saturday evening at the Yacht Club. Some interesting stories.
Must be nice to be one of the Idle Rich…
Oh, Joy
In an email I received from Circuit Of The Americas (COTA):
Eminem and Sting to Perform at the Formula 1 Pirelli* United States Grand Prix
Oh yeah, that’s going to get me to endure traffic jams, endless walks to and from the “remote” (and are they ever) parking lots, probably with copious mud as well, and either rain or blistering sunshine during the race itself, of which I can only see a small portion because F1 seating, and which that little twerp Verstappen is going to win anyway.
And then afterwards, be stuck in a crowd of drunks listening to Eminem’s illiterate doggerel (I’m sorry, I meant “rap music”) and Sting warbling on about Saving The Green Planet / Tantric Yoga Sex With My Wife Trudi / whatever.
Did I mention that all the above is available for only $250 per ticket, excluding parking?
Pass.
And hand me the remote.
*Considering that F1 uses Michelin exclusively for their cars, how did those sneaky Italians get their tires into the act?
Au Revoir, Paddy
I’ve spoken before of my distaste for “holidays” which simply serve as a catalyst for “social drinking”, not the least because like New Year’s Eve, they put a whole bunch of amateur drinkers out on the streets and behind the wheel of a car.
Most egregious of these is St. Patrick’s Day: a time when, as the marketing goes, everyone turns Irish and drinks Guinness, Bushmills and Tullamore Dew.
Except me. This would be like commemorating “St. Boromir Day” when I wear a Cossack hat and drink chilled neat vodka till I fall over. What a farce.
Still, let me not be a killjoy. There are always the costumes:
Makes you proud to be “Irish”, dunnit?