dual personalities

Tag: TV

August 11, 2022

“I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD forever”*

by chuckofish

I was sad to hear that author Melissa Bank has died at age 61. She published just two books during her career, “The Girls’ Guide To Hunting And Fishing,” in 1999, and “The Wonder Spot,” in 2005, but I really liked both of them.

I discovered her during a difficult summer and her book made me laugh out loud. She was funny like people I grew up with, but she was kind too. The cultural elites dismissed her work as “Chick lit” but isn’t that par for the course? Rest in peace, Melissa.

Are you watching the second season of Only Murders in the Building on Hulu? I love that two out of the three leads are old guys who are over the hill and detached, but keep getting pulled back into the world by weird circumstances and their new friend Selena Gomez.

Its tone is unusually sweet and the humor is not spiteful and/or political. It has a lot to say about loneliness. They make fun of their own progressive plot twists. I watch every episode twice! Once to see what happens and a second time to enjoy the dialogue. Is that weird? I don’t care. Here is an interview with one of the stars, Steve Martin.

Well, I continue to be amazed by the fact that I still, nearly a year and a half into worshipping at my new church, am unable to get through a service without crying. Even if I make it through the hymns, the doxology, sung by an inspired congregation at the end of the service, gets me every time. This says something important about singing. “When we make a habit of singing every day, whether we’re up to our necks in mud or not, God is praised and we’ll be encouraged.”

Even to your old age, I am He,
And even to gray hairs I will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

Isaiah 46:4

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

*Psalm 89:1

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April 20, 2021

“So now I’m going back again/ I got to get to her somehow/ All the people we used to know/ They’re an illusion to me now”*

by chuckofish

The 1970s is not my favorite decade. Although it is the decade of my long lost youth and beauty, I view those years with some horror and a bit of loathing. Lately, however, I have been revisiting the decade and finding comfort and, yes, even some joy in it.

Last weekend when daughter #1 and I recovered from one long bout of babysitting with a margarita at Club Taco, we listened with pleasure to the 1970s playlist being piped in. It wasn’t just the booze. I enjoyed hearing Don McLean, the Eagles, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Bob Seger, the Who, Fleetwood Mac, even the Bee Gees, and so on.

Besides listening to music from yon olden days, I have to admit that I have been watching reruns of Adam-12, a show I wouldn’t have been caught dead watching as a teenager when it was first on TV (my father was a big fan) but with which I am now quite taken. In fact I watch it every weeknight instead of the evening news.

It looks like I’m not the only fan out there:

Love the Coldplay mood music

As you know I’ve also been watching Starsky and Hutch and Banacek from the 1970s. Where is all this nostalgia coming from (and where is it going) you ask. I couldn’t really say. But there is comfort to be found in the adventures of old Pete Malloy and Jim Reed and comfort is what I’m looking for I guess.

Don’t judge me, but I think this guy is next on the list.

Maybe the point is, when you get to be my age, you don’t care if it is cool to do something. And I can’t always be reading the Psalms.

P.S. I also like these kiddos doing covers of music from the 1970s.

P.P.S. Today is my birthday!

*Bob Dylan, “Tangled Up in Blue”

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January 4, 2012

Guess what’s out on DVD?!

by chuckofish

Season 2 of the best show on TV, Justified, is now available on DVD.

the incomparable Timothy Olyphant

I love this show. The writing and characters are wonderful! Here’s a favorite “prayer” from the first season:

Dear Lord, before we eat this meal we ask forgiveness for our sins, especially Boyd- who blew up a black church with a rocket launcher, and afterwards he shot his associate Jared Hale in the back of the head out on Tate’s Creek bridge. Let the image of Jared’s brain matter on that windshield not dampen our appetites, but may the knowledge of Boyd’s past sins help guide these men. May this food provide them with all the nourishment they need. But, if it does not, may they find comfort in knowing that the United States Marshal Service is offering fifty-thousand dollars to any individual providing information that will put Boyd back in prison. Cash or check, we can make it out to them. Or to Jesus. Whoever they want. In your name, we pray. Amen.

Justified reminds us of how good TV can be. Why aren’t all shows this good?

Season 3 premiers January 17th. Don’t miss it!

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