Automotive form, Eddie Murphy, DC, the Goodfellas/My Blue Heaven connection
I wrote a little bit on cars, form, and function. I’m firmly in the “function determines form” camp, but the future of cars has me wondering if this will continue to produce interesting forms.
Eddie Murphy is back out there. Dolemite Is My Name feels like a return to Peak Eddie Murphy form (Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop). I was surprised to learn the movie is not a tall tale about a name that is vaguely familiar, but the actual story of Rudy Ray Moore. The perfect over-the-top character for Eddie Murphy to take on. After you watch the movie, look up an actual Dolemite movie and imagine yourself in the 1970s; it is pretty wild.
Courtney and I went to Washington, DC for a friend’s wedding a couple weeks ago. The weather was nice, and we had a few extra days to visit a few of the Smithsonian museums. They’re a theme park of books you can walk through. An excellent use of taxpayer money!
The thing I most enjoyed about DC, and what I most wish Austin had, is the ability to walk in and through the city. The buildings are close enough together, particularly on the National Mall, that you walk from one museum to the next. Restaurants and hotels are a subway ride away; you’re riding through the city. Granted, the DC metro has plenty of flaws, but its density and availability (while we were there) beats the pants off the public transit options available in the sprawling cities of Texas. Austin is particularly bad about the public transit ratio to sprawl. 😝
Other stories told through moving pictures I’m currently enjoying: the HBO Watchmen reboot is good, deep, but pretty dismal. Shrill (on Hulu) is a fantastic showcase of Aidy Bryant’s (SNL) talent and a story worth telling.
Courtney was watching Goodfellas when I got home from work the other day, and so we took the opportunity to match the end of Goodfellas with the beginning of My Blue Heaven. They’re about the same guy! Perfect.