TPO#8: I dunno y'all
So. Here we are. One minute it seemed like we “merely” living through the mind-bending strangeness of the Trump-and-Brexit era, and now we are in the midst of something even weirder and more worrying.
The COVID-19 pandemic is broad in scope but intensely personal, and it seems to have infiltrated everything. Though one should always be wary of believing one’s own moment in history is unique, it’s hard not to feel like this isn’t unprecedented: not the phenomenon of a pandemic or a calamity itself, but rather the overlapped, self-reinforcing dimensions of both the disease and the torrent of news about it — the way in which the spread of the disease is itself linked to global flows of people, capital, data, stuff.
Here is a strange function of the ourobouros that is the current information economy: Pictures of bare grocery store shelves make people more likely to panic shop. I find the circularity of that unnerving — like the way feedback on a guitar amp accelerates into an unbearable high-pitched screech.
In addition to being in a pandemic, we are also in what John Pavlus called an Infodemic: a cacaphony of information. I’ve written some things about this phenomenon, a couple for my regular stint at The Week and another thing that should be in the Globe and Mail in the next few days. I’m still thinking about everything, and perhaps you are in the same boat as me: a bit overwhelmed and looking for things to contextualize it all.
For now, I’m just going to write assuming that you, like me, are worried and staying home a lot and are looking for things to distract you. So.
Netflix and Whatever You’ve Got in the House
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My friend Dave likes to say that 90% of stand-up comedy is bad and Dave is correct. This is why I like to link to the good ones, and the latest in that category is Taylor Tomlinson’s new Netflix special. Tomlinson is someone who I’ve watched for a while now after discovering some random YouTube clips a couple of years back, and it’s heartening to see her get more exposure. This special is smart, witty, and though Tomlinson is only 25, has a real cynical old soul quality to it. I suspect she has a long and successful career ahead of her.
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Speaking of stand-up: Watching stand-up comedy in a language you don’t speak is fascinating. I came to this thought watching while watching Frech comic Fary’s latest special on Netflix, Hexagone, the next installment of which will be coming in April. Fary is a child of immigrants, but firmly Parisian, and his humour walks this very interesting line between “natively” French and representing the perspective of an outsider. It’s not perfect: watching both his earlier special and this one, there are jokes really don’t sit right with me — but it’s hard to know whether to chalk it up to cultural difference, the inscrutablity of linguistic specificty to a foreigner, or if Fary himself is just a bit of a dick. I dunno. I think they’re worth watching, though; they still feel vital and smart and new.
In terms of pairings… oof, I dunno y’all. It’s some real “smoke ‘em if you got ‘em” hours over here, isn’t it? However! Stoneleigh’s Latitude Sauvignon Blanc sort of knocked my socks off. It should be widely available (or was) and at a bit over 20 bucks it is bananas good. If you can’t find it, I recommend drinking straight grain alcohol until things seem less bad.
Distractions
- I really liked The Mandalorian. It was exactly what I wanted from a Star Wars thing: light, fun, and a little bit weird. And this piece about the show’s filming is pretty fascinating, mostly because instead of blue or green screen, they used massive LED screens behind the sets in order to make the shooting of a glossy, effects-heavy show affordable. Interesting, right?
- There is a virtual library in Minecraft that houses uncensored journalism that is, among other things, being used to circumvent the censorship regimes of Saudi Arabia, Russia, and more. This is incredible.
- Maybe filter bubbles aren’t as big a thing as we thought?
That’s it for this week, folks… mostly because today is the first day I’ve had off in about a month. I’ll be in touch and, given the times, please feel free to be in touch with me. Seriously. Zoom/Skype/FaceTime hangouts, emails, texts, whatever. You know where you to find me.