We’re a month into Fall and, at least near me, the weather doesn’t look like Fall. 73 degrees, according to my vehicle’s thermometer; 70 according to my computer. One of the two is correct, but it’s nevertheless sunny and delightful outside. Thus explaining the fact that I am (1) inside and (2) putting together this newsletter.
I normally pen these on Friday — sometimes on Thursday if I’m feeling especially antsy — and actually enjoy the last-minute rush of finishing an issue.
In any event, a couple of the pieces grabbed me much earlier in the week and so half of this issue was finished by Tuesday. Huh?
Anyway, today’s Saturday, so…how about another edition of What I’m Watching, Reading, Listening to, and Rediscovering…a/k/a The Saturday List. (After, of course, the Button.)
Watching: Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald
It’s a rare occasion when something that parts of the internet calls a “must-watch” program turns out to be a must-watch program. Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald is such a documentary. (I watched it in one sitting on Tuesday.)
What’s different about this film, produced by Judd Apatow, is how all of the narration comes from Norm Macdonald himself. The footage is from the usual places: his Saturday Night Live “Weekend Update” stints, his appearances on Late Show with David Letterman, and his own podcast; it’s sprinkled with enough home-movie footage and interviews that you had the sense Apatow was one of the small circle of people who knew that Norm’s cancer was terminal. (Norm died September 14, 2021 at the age of 61.) Watch the trailer here, then head over to Netflix to watch the whole thing.
Reading: The Thomas Sowell Reader
Released in 2011, Thomas Sowell shares a series of essays in one book; and it’s a pretty good snapshot of how one of the greatest thinkers in American history…thinks.
He was already an elder statesman when this was released; today he’s still around and sharing thoughts and appearing on podcast interviews, but not as often because he’s 96 Years Old!
The Thomas Sowell Reader includes essays on things like Race and Ethnicity, Political Issues, and Economic Issues; Sowell is conservative but wants, as he writes on the book jacket, to “reduce the likelihood that readers will misunderstand what I have said on many controversial issues over the years.”
Listening to: Three Songs in the Running for Dave’s Song of the Year — Blonde Redhead, The New Pornographers, Morrissey
First, here’s the Blonde Redhead tune that dropped a couple months back. It’s called “Blood Spilled” and it’s excellent.
The New Pornographers are back and this song, which dropped earlier this year, continues to stay in heavy rotation on SiriusXMU. It, too, is excellent.
A couple of my online friends have seen Morrissey in concert over the past couple weeks and I’m darn jealous. I’ve spun through the new album, Make-up Is a Lie, and keep coming back to this tune: “Kerching Kerching.” It stopped me in my tracks, the video is amazing, and it’s already in the running for Dave’s Song of the Year. Please enjoy.
Rediscovering: M*A*S*H (The Movie); and RIP Tom Skerritt
When news broke on Thursday that Tom Skerritt had died at the age of 93, lots of people talked about his roles in Top Gun, or Picket Fences, or Alien.
Don’t forget he was in M*A*S*H, the movie. Watch the actual film — you can rent it on most of the platforms, it’s worth a few bucks — and check out the trailer here. (Skerritt gets third billing, right behind Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould.)
Finally: A Documentary Film About The Tomb of St. Peter…Featuring Two Really Familiar Faces
As a “Boomerang Catholic” — I grew up in the faith, switched to United Methodist in my 20s, and returned a year ago — I’ve been paying more attention to the intersection of Catholicism and pop culture; the addition of an American Pope to the mix has been something to behold for me. (Sister Bernadette told us in 5th Grade that we’d never have an American Pope.)
So I found this to be all sorts of cool: Pope Leo XIV makes an appearance in a film called Petros Eni; the documentary is narrated by Chris Pratt.
The actual film will drop in February, in time for Lent — you can read a write-up on the EWTN website — and, for now, we just have the trailer. Here it is:
On that uplifting note, try to have a new experience of some sort this week: go sit alone at the bar, or maybe waltz into a store you’ve never been in. Smile at a stranger for no reason. Take a walk outside. Things like that.
See you next week!
Dave