Friday Flames | 8.4.23
A weekly synopsis of what we figured out about farting cats, finding nirvana, and voluminous Pooh.
Current events are so strange this week. We now have enough indictments of the orange menace—still without any actual repercussions—that it's starting to feel routine. Plus, investigations into the unreported gifts to Justices Alito and Thomas seem to be going nowhere. Do we even bother with a legal system anymore?
Sinéad and Pee-wee
We’ve also been thinking a lot about how a pair of pop-culture dissidents like Sinéad O'Connor and Paul Reubens will be remembered. Each has an instantly recognizable, one-name persona, and each is known for a singular, infamous moment that went viral before viral was a thing. But their legacies deserve better. The commentary after Reubens's death especially shows that people remember accusations way more than the actual facts or legal outcome of a case. It all feels decidedly unjust.
More on that Monday. (Foreshadowing!)
This week on the podcast
To make important changes and find our next thing, we fiftysomethings often need to shift five decades of obsolete instinct and get our brains out of our own way. Ann Imig talked to us about how possible that is, along with how she envisioned becoming a life coach long before she created Listen To Your Mother.
Episode 11: "Wisdom is knowing how much you don't know."
Listen now (66 min) | If you’re a certain age and have the motive and opportunity for a life change but aren’t sure where and how to jump, Ann Imig has studied some data-driven techniques for getting unstuck. After careers in theater, writing, and ad sales led her to create
Happiness is a warm lap
Magda likes when Doug goes on vacation, because she gets to host his cat, Harry Pawter, who is a big, snuggly, sweetheart jackrabbit. He's currently zonked out on her lap and dreaming about either world domination or refereeing football.
And we thought cow farts were bad
Since we learned the French pronounce ChatGPT as “chat, j’ai pété”—which translates to “cat, I farted”—some French speakers have said they pronounce the American hard ch. So cats like Harry are not and should not be associated with AI, which still sucks.
Her hunny pot runneth over
A story about a Wisconsin fiftysomething who owns the Guinness Book record for collecting Winnie the Pooh memorabilia is amusing enough. But the real entertainment comes from her local news interview, when we learn she’s held the record for 15 years and works competitively not to relinquish it. Plus, tell us you can hear “Pooh here, Pooh there, Pooh everywhere” and keep a straight face.
Poll results!
The Barbie movie has clearly struck a chord with our subscribers, because a record number of you voted in last week’s poll to urge Doug to see it. (And an unsurprisingly large subset of those voters think Ben Shapiro should go bite sand.)
Currently watching
Doug watched The Flash, mostly because it was on in the room he was in. Dunking on the DCEU is tried and true and easy, but The Flash notably consolidates a lot of why the studios flail and the strikes persist. Over-meddling to protect against failure (which ironically ensures failure)? Check. Stunt-casting to revive old ideas nostalgia (including CGI images of dead actors)? Check. Pretty soon, someone will push a button and hork up “Fast & Furious 38” in ten seconds.
Magda re-watched The Princess Bride at the old-fashioned Redford Theatre, where the Rodents Of Unusual Size are even more unusually sizable on the enormous screen. Next up at the Redford: a double feature of Goldfinger and The Spy Who Loved Me (and that brilliant opening ski chase)!
Currently reading
Magda made it through Siddhartha, struggled through a book on cohesive group culture that was so misogynist she doesn't even want to mention the name, and DNF'd an Alexis Hall book. May next week be more fun, book-wise.
Doug finished and enjoyed How To Stop Time and has decided to re-read some Vonnegut. Because it’s fun to thumb your nose at people who think banning books solves anything.
A reminder about August
It's the end-of-summer season for pollen/ragweed/other crap, so if you're feeling cranky, headache-y, or just more tired than usual, it could be allergies (which you can grow into even if you've never suffered before). Try taking a Zyrtec every morning and drinking a lot of water to see if that helps any.
Next on the podcast
After Pastor Emily Swan was fired from her previous pulpit for being gay, she used that experience to establish Blue Ocean Church as a progressive, welcoming community for people recovering from their own bouts of intolerance or abuse. She sees this as the only way to redeem and restore religion in our lives.
Thanks for reading, and no more rhymes, now. We mean it.
Magda and Doug