The Saturday List — April 11, 2026

What I'm Watching, Reading, Listening to, and Rediscovering

It’s certainly, definitely, absolutely Spring! (At least where I live in suburban Chicagoland; YMMV.)

Let’s dive in with a list of what’s going on in my world through a few pop culture-ish things that I’m Watching, Reading, Listening to, and Rediscovering.

First, though, the all-important button:

Watching: ‘Vagabond Awake’ with Advice for Living (and Retiring) Abroad

This was a real dynamite find, thanks to my rather eccentric YouTube watching habits: He calls himself Vagabond Buddha and his channel is “Vagabond Awake” and two of his videos caught my eye.

First, here’s his general advice for someone who (1) wants to become an expat and (2) has Argentina on their radar screen. (To quote Liz Lemon, “I want to go to there.”)

Also, below is a screenshot from the above video and, if you buy two bottles of Trapiche — that’s probably the first name in Agrentine Malbec — you get the third free; 7321 Argentine pesos translates right now to about $5.25 US. So definitely affordable on the wine front, eh?

Okay, all well and good for someone who is thinking about Argentina, but what about another part of the world? The Buddha talks with a chap called Ed in…Vietnam. Ed may strike you as exactly the kind of American who would travel the world and decide to settle in Vietnam. This video goes into the specifics of how Ed lives — and does so astonishgly cheaply — in Da Nang. (Ed also talks about his dating life; feel free to fast-forward past that.)

Reading: Up, Up, & Away by Jonah Keri*

(I’ll explain the asterisk in a moment.)

I’ve decided to re-read this book for a couple reasons. One: The Cubs are playing at Wrigley this weekend and the Friday uniform choice has a real Montreal Expos feel to it.

Two: there’s a real need for nostalgia these days — at least I’m feeling the need for nostalgia — and the Montreal Expos are the ultimate nostalgia trip.

The book is excellent. A fun throwback to an era of baseball that was an absolute hoot — see below for evidence of a mascot being thrown out of a ballgame; something that could only have happened in Stade Olympique — and can make one pine for a franchise that decamped for Washington, D.C. in 2005.

Now, let’s talk about the asterisk. Jonah Keri, the author, did, in fact pen a great book in 2014.

He would also be arrested for domestic violence stemming from events in 2018, and he was found guilty and was jailed for his crimes in 2022. The Los Angeles Times wrote a really powerful article about his ex-wife, who was the victim of Keri’s abuse and is now a domestic-violence counselor in Montreal. A link to the article is here: Amy Kaufman’s story.

The LA Times article closes the article with this:

The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24 hours a day by phone, (800) 799-7233; chat, at thehotline.com; or text message, by texting “START” to 88788.

Listening to: 3 Really Fun 90s Songs…From Mazzy Star, Portishead, and Letters to Cleo

This video, of Mazzy Star singing “Fade Into You,” has 122 MILLION VIEWS. What’s a few more? The lead singer is Hope Sandoval and you may sense a theme with this song and the next two.

But, I’ll be honest with you, while Mazzy Star is excellent, there’s something about Portishead and its song “Sour Times” that…speaks to me. It’s so 90s. Lead singer Beth Gibbons is downright enchanting.

Remember when Parks and Recreation had Letters to Cleo as an act that performed at a festival on the show? Dang, “Here and Now” was such a glorious little tune. And I’m never gonna memorize the chorus, so here it is:

The comfort of a knowledge of a rise above the sky
But could never parallel the challenge of an acquisition in the
Here and now, here and now.

Vintage video performance here from lead singer Kay Hanley and the band.

Rediscovering: WKRP in Cincinnati, Opening and Closing Sequences

I’ll take “Underrated TV for 1000, Alex.”

WKRP in Cincinnati is more than just the show that gave us the “Turkey Drop” episode. Both the opening sequence — with a theme song performed by Steve Carlisle — and the closing credits were awesome; the closing credits may sound like gibberish because, well, it actually was gibberish, sung by Jim Ellis in a demo tape made for show creator Hugh Wilson.

And the ending; note that this particular YouTube video splices the song together three times, giving us a taste of some of the guest stars in the show’s history. (It’s…not exactly a Who’s Who, but hello Edie McClurg!

And we’ll see you next week!