A Savory Selection of Sweet Summer Entertainment

Yes, I know the summer is going to be over in about a month for many of us. For some, another year of college awaits. For some, grad school (YIKES ME!), and for others the wonderfully fruitful job market beckons. I have spent my summer mainly reading, watching TV and movies, swimming, listening to music, and weakly attempting to prepare for medical school (also enjoying Youtube). But seriously, how do you even prepare for medical school. Excuse my french, but FFFFFFF-EEEEEEERRRRR. I wanted to share some of my especially beloved tv shows/books/music/movies/etc. that were great in getting me through hot, boring days. Perfect summer selection commence!

-British Dramas, specifically MISFITS

I have always been a great fan of everything British, as anyone who knows me can attest. So, of course, I have spent a bit of time watching several British shows this summer and have been delighted by some and underwhelmed by others. I mentioned the wonderfully delightful BBC Sherlock Holmes in another post, so check it out. If you love witty British humor and subtle & psychological character development, a great pick that is quite short. I was actually quite disappointed by the British detective drama Luther. Idris Elba himself is too cool for words and Ruth Wilson actually sparkles as a charming murderer, but this show does not give its great actors enough complexity. It is the kind of show that thinks its central character(Elba’s Luther) is more compelling and shaded then he actually is. However, if you love Idris Elba, it might be worth checking out.

But to get to my real point, the best teenage/sci-fi/dramedy I have seen in a long time has got to be the compelling, gritty, and raunchtastic show Misfits. It has been often described as a mix of Skins and Heroes. As a very very very loose description I can go along with that statement. It is essentially a show about five social “misfits” who are in community service for various petty crimes. One day they are caught in an electrical storm and somehow end up with super powers. The show follows their antics as they try to deal with their powers and the problems these powers bring, as well as navigating their dynamics with each other. The reason this show isn’t a simple mix of Skins and Heroes is; while the show does have the celebration of teenage hedonism, it is grittier and less glamorized then Skins; also, while it does have some of the epic, grand destiny sensibility of Heroes, it does not have the comic-book, almost stylized self-seriousness of Heroes. Above all, this show revels in its own morbid hilarity. There is violence and death galore; its horrible and hilarious and a part of their lives they have to accept. And the script is razor sharp, constantly biting, and obscenely unrelentingly funny. These young adults are real and not always noble. Basically, watch this show if you like young people being crazy, funny, romantic, and gritty, and also if you are a sci-fi fan. Unlike Heroes, which just dragged itself along after Season 1, Misfits is the rare show that gets better every single episode. Note: The most magnetic character, Nathan, is played without abandon by Robert Sheenan. Many fans were upset to learn he was leaving after Series 2. However, I believe this is a show that got even better in Series 2, and several other characters have become equally compelling as Nathan. It is very unfortunate he is leaving the show, but I think that Misfits can still be worth watching.

(ALSO also, endlessly impressive soundtrack)

Is Non-Fiction Historical Reading EVER Fun? Hell Yes.

I stumbled upon one of the best books I have ever read last week. I found that I really wanted to be less stupid and maybe read an intelligent nonfiction book, so I randomly picked “The Mindset Lists of American History” off the self at my local library. This book is essentially an analysis of American History for 1898 to, yes, 2020-30 ish (can’t remember). The catch is, this book started from the idea to make lists of the American people’s mindsets in various decades in history. What was considered normal in 1898, versus 1950? The authors McBride and Nief made lists of the ideas, technologies, and social norms that governed American is different times, explained the mindsets of Americans, and guessed at what we would think is normal in 20 years. The thing that makes this book so interesting is that it is written in the first person. You feel like you are hearing someone talk about their life in that time. The book covers things from the everyday (“In 1983, there have always been the Grateful Dead”, “In 1898, folks have always been intrigued by trained fleas, Siamese Twins, and ‘egresses’ “) to the grand dramas and social issues of the day (“In 1957, subversives could be anywhere”). This book is compulsively readable and exciting. I was actually waiting in anticipation to see how America would change. An entertaining and intelligent read.

Music

I love liking new things. This summer in particular, I have really stepped out of my “comfort” zone with my musical explorations. I think if you have any true love of music, you really have to try and listen to other things, really try, because that can upon shockingly fresh musical experiences to you. Part of this was done through Misfits, funny enough. The show has an excellent selection of “British club music” in many scenes, and Dubstep, something I don’t know much about. I had previously decided dubstep sucked, but I was wrong. This song in particular just freaking kills!

Also, though not really out of my comfort zone, I discovered great band called Bastille, and have so far listened to two top-notch songs by them that are swift and catchy and deep.

Cooking

I just cooked the most epically random food ever. Sweet Potato and Banana Casserole, Grapefruit Chicken (I don;t even eat chicken), and Oatmeal & Apple Crisp). Prepare for epic failing. I may have skipped certain missing ingredients like “eggs” and “brown sugar” and “nutmeg”. I am sure I approximated the intended flavor anyway.

(http://southernfood.about.com/od/sweetpotatocasseroles/r/bln411.htm)

(http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grapefruit-chicken/detail.aspx)

(http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/apple-oatmeal-crisp/detail.aspx)

Entertainment Weekly Coverage of Comic-Con

It is good. And look at this awesome picture of some of the Game of Thrones actors in….modern attire! (plus gourgeous individual shots)

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20399642_20512173,00.html#20991769

Plus Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Cast

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20399642_20405688,00.html?stitched#20816084

Paul Cast ( SIMON PEGGGGGGG)

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20399642_20405688,00.html?stitched#20816073

Vampire Diaries Cast

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20399642_20405688,00.html?stitched#20816067

The Girls of Community + Pierce

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20399642_20405688,00.html?stitched#20816054

AND, just look through the whole damn slideshow!

 

(Unclever)

Yes, I AM alive. Life has been so overwhelming. I have many interviews for medical school. Obviously very good, but stressful at the same time. Get to see New Haven for the first time in two weeks! Oh, the second you think things can’t get more stressful, they do. Maybe life after college will actually be hard??? In movie news, I saw The Social Network this past weekend, and it is  a viscously brilliant comment on the origins of our facebook society.

I lurve me some Jesse Eisenberg, and he did something actors don’t usually do…he SURPRISED me! I never thought I could dislike any Jesse Eisenberg character but I totally did in this movie. Well, not exactly…I felt a deep ambivalence towards his character. It might be obnoxious calling this movie Oscar worthy, because the whole system of the Oscars is false and self-congratulatory, but he deserves a damn Oscar nomination. The supporting actors were so fucking authentic and elite and human that they actors who played Eduardo (Andrew Garfield) and the Winklevoss brothers (Armie Hammer) deserve nominations as well. Another random recommendation if you have any free time…read Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. I am really not up to a thorough review, but this books is EMOTIONALLY DEVASTATING and PAINFULLY BEAUTIFUL. Don’t worry, its sad in a very enjoyable sort of way. Okay, moving on. I am too lazy to write anything else that is coherent, so I am drudging up so lazy poetry from the summer to fill space. Let you eyes glaze over.

hindilovesongbellydance

shimmies out of speakers along

the floor leaving filmy sighs on the wall

you listen in hopes of solace

roommates make noises

and sizzles

with oil outside your room

you see traces of bollywood in

the exaggerated dramas played out

in your erratic brain

in the horrible buffet down the street

in your bored imaginations in class

(you imagine each fellow student in

an orchestrated soap opera)

in the unnerving stares of strangers

well, the world currently is the

confines of your small room

you miss your childhood place, the

one with neon moss and fairies

you wonder what you will do tomorrow

the next day, the next week, next

month, next year, and at death

what a terribly trail of thought

you think of the money you will

save and use for travel

you read through self-absorbed old journals and see you have written

the same thing forever.

maybe if you were not such a slacker

you could imagine something wonderful and it

then could exist.

The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance

Excellent excellent song. Did not even realize it was a Vampire Weekend cover. Sorry Vampire Weekend, I love you to death, but B.o.B. really did this song justice. I Know this because I heard Vampire Weekend sing it and completely forgot it in an instant. Then I listen to the B.o.B. cover, and listened to it about 10 times in a row. That song would be ironic on the soundtrack of The Kids Are Alright. I am dying to see that. I have had a bit of a wild summer. Wild as in stressful. Life really stares you down the summer before your senior year in college. Medical school applications flood in, take all my money, and make me write bullshit proclamations. Sounds like the rest of my life. I find myself increasingly disappointed with the world around me. Not because of med school apps. I am actually looking forward to med school…especially if I can go in New York. That would be a dream. No, this disappointment comes from realizing the harsh reality of things. I will not get political here, because I find the Flame War video by College Humor quite amusing, and I don’t want to be one of those people. I am speaking more abstractly here. With all this “anti-incumbent” talk, Tea Party people, Prop 8, the Islamic center that is supposed to be built near ground zero, general wars going on everywhere, etc, I just want to scream how much everyone sucks.  I can see how people have become so polarized. When you see people spewing hatred, and turning everything you believe to your core to dust, it really makes you want to be completely radical in the other direction. Damn, I went and got all political. SORRY. But I can’t just become some crazy liberal either. I can’t tote the evils of war, the necessity of religious freedom, the deep racism and homophobia that live in this supposedly equal country. There would be no point. I don’t really know enough about politics to talk smack anyway. But when I see people preaching hatred as some way of protecting this country, it confounds me. How can we live in a world where people are still so prejudiced? Duh, I said to myself, wake up to reality. When I get this way, movies are a deep comfort. Watching a better world makes you believe that it can exist. People create movies because they have a vision of how things could be or should be, or reveal the true face of how things are. The Siege is one great example. This movie predicted the anti-Islam wave that would hit this country after a terrorist attack BEFORE 9/11 even happened. Way to tap into the vein of prejudice. I do not speak to get into politics, or even discuss that Islamic center being built…I am not here to argue anything. I just am deeply saddened and disappointed by people’s reactions. Milk is another excellent example of a movie that reveals something about society. This movie is based on the true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to hold public office. I don’t need to tell you how inspiring this movie was. And it came at an essential time in this country’s history. Seeing what Harvey Milk could do, even at that time, inspired me to want a better world, where citizens of this country of different sexual orientation are given the rights they deserve. In this country, “gay” people (gay is an annoying word, just an observation) are treated like second class citizens. In this day and age, in the words of Margaret Cho, we live in a facist state. But there remains hope for “society”. Prejudice in all forms towards all kinds of differences will eventually be defeated. It just depends on how long it will take. When I have stopped and allowed myself to think about the state of things, it is almost too unbearable to comprehend. It hurts, but it must be comprehended. So, sometimes a rambling, mildly incomprehensible blog post is needed for a cathartic release. Ahhhhhh. That helped. Movies and music next time!!!!