My Favorite Selfies from Copenhagen (2023)

I don't often take traditional selfies...or save the selfies I try to take.

I HATE how I look in traditional phone selfies.

But I do enjoy doing alternative-type selfies...mirror/reflection stuff and shadow stuff.

Here are some of my favorite mirror ones

 

 

I don't talk about Denmark much, because Israel and New Zealand kind of got in the way.  But I did love it there.

Two Things that Made Me Cry this Week

I almost-cry a lot.  As in teary eyes, choked up, and can't easily talk.

I cry-cry not so often and usually because someone pushed me to talk when I was almost-crying.

I rarely almost-cry or cry-cry about world news events or personal drama.

If I'm almost-crying or crying-crying, it's usually because of a TV show, movie, or a song.  And if it's a song, it's quite likely that it's a song from a TV show or movie.

Now onto two things that made me cry this week.

1. Shrinking, specifically the storyline surrounding Louis (Brett Goldstein).  

2. The various videos and scenes surrounding Helen Worth leaving Coronation Street.

Spotify Unwrapped (Part 2)

So...that's part of my Spotify Unwrapped.

Before Jemaine Clement came into our lives via Legion, my musical goals were centered around Dan  Romer and The Beatles. 

Dan Romer was a result of my listening to the soundtrack of Station Eleven and deciding I want to listen to everything he's ever made. 

The Beatles were a result of seeing the movie Yesterday and deciding I wanted to do a deep dive of all their music.

That one didn't last.  I think mainly because I realized I actually liked the Beatles songs better when Himesh Patel is singing them.

I just realized the first and last artist on my list are connected to Himesh Patel.  

Patel was one of the stars of Station Eleven.

How cool is that?

I should mention....I didn't do a screenshot, but I'm like in the top .002% of Dan Romer's listeners.  

I can still get the screenshot if anyone out there is needing proof.

Not sure why anyone would need proof.

But...who knows.

Oh! Well....there might be a very competitive Dan Romer fan out there. They might demand to see the

proof behind my declarations. 

***

The three artists in the middle are all from New Zealand.

Two led to three...fairly directly.

I'm not sure how I ended up finding four.  

I started listening to a lot of Māori music which may have led me to Stan Walker.

Or...I remember seeing someone using one of his songs on their Instagram post. Though for me to notice that, I would have probably already had to have been familar with his name.

***

As for the songs....

I think it's funny that, except for Flight of the Conchords, none of the artists match the songs.

In actuality, I think I did listen to Stan Walker's song the most. That would be "Aotearoa".  But I mostly listened to it on the Alexa Echo while showering. And Alexa is hooked up to Tim's Spotify account rather than mine.

There were multiple days where I requested the song on repeat.

***

I was kind of surprised that my most listened to Flight of the Conchords song was "Feel Inside".  But I vaguely remember, one afternoon, having it on repeat.

Also, I think there were many days where I'd be eating feta cheese. Or thinking about eating feta cheese. I'd think of the song and then want to hear the song.

***

"In Time" resulted from Coronation Street. 

I lost my link to the show when Hulu stopped carrying it. Then months later, Tim had digital credits from Amazon and offered them to me, so I could have a month of Britbox.

"In Time" played during a special episode featuring Lauren (Cait Fitton).  I liked the song; saved it, and kind of forgot about it.

Then I became re-attached to Coronation Street and was kind of a lot sad about saying goodbye. In my time of mourning, The song came on via shuffle and I then listened to it over and over and over.

I might have been crying part of the time.

(This event might have been too painful for me to remember and write about...but it's not. Because thanks to Black Friday sales, I currently have two months of Coronation Street)

***

"Something in the Water" was another song I added to my playlist and didn't give much attention to until...

We were watching The Walking Dead, and there was an episode involving poisoned water. And the song came into my head. I started listening to it and became slightly obsessed for a few days.

And though I mostly listened to the cover by The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, I started to also listen to Brooke Fraser's original version...and other music by her.

***

"Okay" is by Five For Fighting and is about October 7—the massacres, the hostages, the antisemitism, etc.  I love the song and also love that a musician I like is so supportive.

It's wonderful to learn about an artist BECAUSE of their advocacy.

But it's extra nice to already have liked that artist.

"Superman" is one of my favorite songs.

"Carried Away" is by the Aussie singer Jae Laffer. I didn't know him by name until this year but was familar with songs from his group The Panics. 

I added some of his songs to my playlist and then forgot the who the what and the why.

Then one morning during the days we were watching Our Flag Means Death, I heard "Carried Away" and assumed I got it from the show.

It seemed to fit so well.

It took me awhile and some confirming to convince myself it was not played in the show.

Even now, I feel unsure and am tempted to re-check.

Another song that I misplaced in a show/movie was...."Hi Gene" by Glenn Richards.

I added some of his music to my playlist after seeing Late Night with the Devil.

I guess I saw his name on IMDb and then decided to listen to a bunch of his music.

So then I thought that "Hi Gene" was played at the end of Late Night with the Devil.

But it seems that wasn't the case.

If I'm wrong about being wrong, please let me know in the comments.

***

Back to Don McGlashan, because I feel I didn't talk about him enough.  My favorite songs of his, thus far, are "All the Goodbyes in the World" and "Girl, Make Your Own Mind Up".

***

I wish there had been more Brett McKenzie on my list, because I listened to a LOT of his music. And not just Flight of the Conchords stuff.  

I'm also disappointed to not have more Māori music, because I listened to a ton. But I can understand it's absence, because I listened to such a variety of artists and a variety of songs.  I failed to consolidate enough.

I think if they had included genres on Spotify Unwrapped this year, I would have gotten something with Māori music and maybe something with Hebrew/Jewish music.

Really...all in all...I'd say that Spotify Unwrapped doesn't do a great job of representing my music experience.  Still...I'll probably still be obsessing about Spotify Unwrapped 2025.  

Bethany Had No Love Handles

I’m sadly no longer watching Coronation Street full time, because Hulu stopped carrying it.  But I step back into Weatherford here and there, such as when having extra digital credits from Amazon or Cyber Monday sales makes temporarily subscribing to BritBox a good deal.  

Anyway… I’ve been catching up by watching sporadic episodes from the last few months.

One storyline has Bethany (Lucy Fallon) hospitalized with a stoma bag situation, because her discounted liposuction in Turkey went very wrong.  

Her Uncle David (Jack P Shepherd) confesses he might be partly to blame.  Bethany had mentioned to him that she was researching Liposuction for a story… and, I guess, seemed intrigued by it on a personal level.  

David had made a joke along the lines of her having extreme love handle issues.

Even though she didn’t.  And David didn't think she did. He was just trying to be funny, not realizing she had body image issues.

The drama reminded me of times that men in my family have made little jokes/comments that crushed my self-esteem.

It could be that they actually wanted to lower my self-esteem… take away some of my power to make themselves more powerful.

But it could have also been that they were totally joking and wrongly believed I had a ton of confidence about the issue and would have taken it in stride. 

I also worry that I may have jokingly-insulted people, at points in my life, believing that they had self-confidence about the issue and therefore would be amused rather than wounded.

I don’t want to preach that we should stop joking and teasing.  

Maybe we just need to be more mindful… 

Maybe clarify we’re joking… if we suspect the joke wasn’t received in the way we intended.

And....

Maybe if we tend to roast someone in most of our interactions, we need to surprise them with a compliment here and there.

Things I Watched in 2023

Here is my yearly list of things I watched via various streaming platforms...and in one very rare time, at the movie theater.

Red denotes shows or movies I disliked.

Blue denotes shows I especially loved.  Though sometimes I forget the love I felt if a lot of time has passed between watching the show and making the list. The love often fades.  More recent watchings are more likely to be blue.  

Never mind that.  I'm ending that part of my tradition.  It's too hard for me to decide whether or not I simply liked a show or whether I loved it.  

I've divided the shows by location...in terms of where it was set rather than where it was filmed.

Some shows might be listed for multiple places.

If you're interested, here is my list for 2017, 2020, 2021, and 2022 list.

One big thing I almost forgot to mention is I completely changed the way I do my to-watch list.

My old way involved having a limited number of spaces for shows/movies on the list—idea being I needed to finish and cross off a movie or show before adding something new.  

Now I'm using the same method I use for my author's list. There is no limit to the number of things on the list.  And before adding to the list, I don't take time to make sure it's not already on the list. 

I'm fine with things being on the list multiple times. Sometimes I actually purposely add things multiple time, so there will be more of a chance that Random.org will choose it for me. 

I was going to list which seasons of a show I've watched, but I've decided that's going to make the list too clunky and complicated.  I might do it sometimes.

Warning: I might have things wrong about the setting of the Marvel movies we watched.  My memory is muddled.  If any particular experts want to help by correcting me, I would feel appreciative and not offended. 

AUSTRALIA

Neighbours-Having Neighbours return, and be available for me to easily watch, was one of the top best things that happened to me this year. I've been watching the current episodes and slowly making my way through the provided Classic Neighbours episodes.  

All Saints-Every few years, Random.org gifts me with another season of this show.  I feel emotionally attached.  

Deadloch- This was one of the very rare times that Tim and I watched an Australian TV show together.  I almost quit after the first episode, because I misunderstood what it was. I thought it was supposed to be a parody of shows like Broadchurch.  I was picturing like a Naked Gun/Airplane kind of thing.  So watching the first episode, it just felt really off.  Like the show had failed at what it was trying to do.  Then I realized it was more of a drama-comedy-mystery.  Or a drama-mystery with comic relief characters.  After accepting the show for what it was supposed to be, I loved it.  

DENMARK

The Bear Only one episode.  That particular episode gave me a lot of anxiety and dread, because we had plans to go on a trip to Copenhagen, and I was extremely anxious about traveling.  But it all had a happy ending. I ended up having a wonderful time on the trip 

GERMANY

All the Light We Cannot See-Wasn't interested in this when my parents highly recommended it but then became interested when I saw an actor from Dark was one of the stars. 

Unorthodox-Inspired to watch this after watching Shira Haas in Bodies.  And I had also read the book this year and liked that a lot.  

I'm hoping Disney doesn't cave to pressure and that we'll be able to see Haas in the new Captain America movie.  

ISRAEL

Fauda- Currently watching this.  I've read reviews saying it's biased against Palestinians.  From what I've seen so far, it seems much less biased than I would have expected from an Israeli TV show about the conflict. 

I think it shows Palestinians in a very sympathetic way and sometimes shows Israelis in a quite negative way.  Really...all in all, it seems fairly sympathetic towards both sides.  

A pessimistic, judgmental side of me feels some reviewers would see this show as unbiased and fair only if all the the Israelis were shown as completely evil, heartless oppressive colonizers and the Palestinians as angelic, loving, innocent victims.  

ITALY

Mrs. Davies 

A Haunting in Venice- I liked the set design but besides that...didn't really love this one. 

JAPAN

Invasion 

NETHERLANDS

Ted Lasso-I loved that episode.  Though like The Bear's travel episode, this one also gave me anxiety, because of our upcoming trip.  Unlike some people I know, I don't continue to confuse the Danish with the Dutch.  However, it still made me think of our upcoming trip, because of the canal, Europe in general, etc.  

NORWAY-

Thor: Love and Thunder I forget where else it takes place. In the Metaverse? The Multiverse? Another Planet?  

SOUTH KOREA

Uncanny Counter 

Extraordinary Attorney Woo- I tried working on Korean by rewatching one of the episodes repeatedly.  Then I got tired of it and stopped.

Burning-Critics and reviewer people seemed to like this one much more than Tim and I did.  

Business Proposal-Fictional Australians seem to die tragically from being hit by a car while walking, standing, picking up someone else's bulk trash, etc.  Koreans seem to be in danger of losing their parents as children and teens via a car accident.  This is the case for this show, Uncanny Counter, and also Sweet Home.  Are there others I've forgotten?  

I should say that I've watched a teeny tiny fraction of the Korean dramas that are out there.  There may be a more common way for fictional Koreans to die.

UNITED KINGDOM

Black Mirror 

Ted Lasso-The ending gave me a lot of sadness in the same way The Good Place gave me a lot of sadness.  I mean sadness for the same type of reason.  

Invasion

Bodies-I liked this show a lot until I read about the massive differences to the comic book.  I really need to stop trying to compare books with shows.  It messes too much with my head when there are huge changes.  Especially if the changes are enormous.  With the TV series, time travel seemed very much to be the main point of the whole story.  Then I learn that time travel didn't play a part at all in the original material.

Coronation Street-This...and now Neighbours...are my constants.  I don't rely on Random.org to pick it for me.  I try hard to watch it every day that an episode is available to me.  

THE UNITED STATES

Lucifer-I love this show to the point that I sometimes feel stupid for allowing my viewing to be ruled so much by Random.org.  It's sad to consider that it may be twenty years later before I watch season 5.  On the other hand, I think I will feel a huge loss when I finish watching the show.  So, it's kind of nice living my life knowing I still have two seasons left to watch

Nashville- Speaking of....This one took me a long time to get back to.  There were some years between my watching season two and three.  Again, though, it's nice knowing I have more seasons left to watch.

Mythic Quest 

Crown Heights

Bosch

The Peripheral-I liked the idea of this more than the result.  

Only Murders in the Building-I love this show. It brings me a very happy kind of nostalgia to see Steve Martin and Martin Short.  

Parenthood- This was a hate-like show for me.  

It was the most offensive show dealing with autism I have ever seen.  It made my blood boil. It's as if someone took the infamous Autism Speaks promotional video and said, Hey, let's turn this into a TV show. But I liked the other aspects of the show and enjoyed seeing how it actually does connect to the movie. 

Yellow Jackets- I'm not sure where the plane crashed, though. 

This is Us- I love this show...and it's another one where I worry Random.org won't ever pick again for me but at the same time am glad I still have seasons left to watch.  

The Good Doctor

The Last of Us

Law and Order- I watched just a couple of episodes while staying at my parent's house for a few nights. 

The Wire-Rewatched a portion of the first episode when staying with my parents.  They hadn't seen it before, and I had wondered if they might like it.  

Chicago Med- Another show my parents shared with me.  

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend-Rewatched a couple of episodes with my parents.  My staycation at their house  was like a TV show Show and Tell kind of thing. They liked this show more than The Wire.  To be fair, I loved The Wire, but it took me several episodes before I got into it. 

Servent-I'm impressed that this show took a very dark and depressing subject and somehow turned it into a wild, fun, addictive roller coaster.  

Spiderman: No Way Home 

Avengers: Infinity War  

Avengers: EndGame

Bodies Bodies Bodies 

Beef-This was beautiful.  I wanted...needed it to end a certain way.  And it did.  So I was very satisfied with that.  

Werewolf by Night- I think?  Or did it take place elsewhere?  I can't remember.  I Googled and couldn't easily find the answer. 

The Magicians

From- I became somewhat obsessed with this show.  I love it but at the same time I worry it borrows from the worst qualities of Lost (which I love, love, love while at the same time recognizing its flaws) 

Mrs. Davies

13 Reasons Why 

The Brady Bunch- I added a lot of nostalgic stuff to my list...and old stuff I haven't ever watched. 

To really feel old school, I sometimes add these shows by individual seasons. Because in the past, we just watched things as they came along via syndication.  We didn't start with episode 1.  So with The Brady Bunch, I ended up with season 4.  The one with the Hawaii adventure.

The Wilds-I'm not sure where the island is supposed to be.  I forget.  Though I Googled and saw it was filmed in New Zealand.  

I watched this after watching the first season of Yellow Jackets and declared that I preferred it much more to Yellow Jackets.  But then we watched season two of Yellow Jackets and...well now it's about even.

Mario Bros

The Bear

Black Mirror

Invasion

The Afterparty-Tim and I enjoyed this one a lot.  The premise is a lot of fun and well-executed.  

What We Do in the Shadows- I like the storyline about Guillermo's new development 

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia- I liked this show but much less than Tim does.  But I watched only the first season.  Maybe if I watch more seasons, it will grow on me more.  

Ratched-I liked this, but I I have problems with sympathetic character who we know are doomed to become villains. I had the same feelings about Bates Motel.

A Knock at the Cabin

Haunted Mansion- I liked this much more than I expected to.  

Totally Killer

The Blackening

Renfield

Loki 

American Horror Story: Hotel- Tim often rewatches shows that I haven't seen yet.  This was one of the rare times that I rewatched a show that he hadn't seen yet.  

Upload 

Leave the World Behind

Unorthodox-

Barbie-We watched this a few nights ago, and I loved, loved, loved, loved, loved it.

The Fall of the House of Usher-This is what we're currently watching.  So far, neither Tim nor I are loving it.  But hopefully we will grow to like it as we get further in.  

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special-(eta) Tim and I watched this one Christmas Eve.  We both loved the songs and are wanting to listen to more music from the heroic Kevin Bacon and Old 97's.

 I had some confusion—some annoyed-confusion—over whether we were dealing with A) A Kevin Bacon from a universe in which The Avengers and other Marvel characters are real people known for saving the world B) A universe where The Avengers exist as fictional characters.  C)A universe in which Marvel Characters exist but are unknown by regular people.  

Kevin Bacon's initial reaction gave me the sense that it was the third option which didn't sit well with me.  BUT...thinking about it...even if we lived in a world where people with super human abilities existed and are known of by the general public, it wouldn't mean these people would be commonplace.  And if some unusual beings came to our door, we might assume they were people in costume.  

Party Down (eta) The existence of this show scares me, because it has quite a few well-known actors and seems fairly well-liked.  Yet I've never heard of it.  

And I'm someone who spends a lot of time on IMDb.  

No, I don't think something supernatural is going on.  It's just...for me...evidence...that there's way too much content out there.  It's impossible to keep up.  That would be okay...except I have major FOMO when it comes to TV shows.  

The Other Two (eta)

LOCATION UNKNOWN 

The Menu-I found aspects of this offensive but also found it somewhat interesting and entertaining.  

From

NOT EARTH 

The 100 - Watched season 2.  It had been a long time since I watched season 2, so it took me awhile to get into it and to care about the characters again.  But once I did, I enjoyed it.  

Avengers: Endgame

Solo: A Star Wars Story 

Foundation-Tim offered to rewatch with me, because he liked it a lot.  I was unable to get into it, I dropped out.

Black Mirror-

The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special 

MULTIVERSE

(I struggled labeling this, because technically speaking all fiction happens in not-our-universe

Spiderman: No Way Home 

Avengers: Infinity War (I think?  I kind of forget, actually) 

Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse-I would have probably liked this more if I had seen the first movie, before going to the theater to watch this. Speaking of, I think this was actually the one time that Tim and I saw a movie at an actual theater this year.  Jack had invited us to go.  I think movie-going has become something we do only when it offers us a chance to go on a field trip with our child. 

Loki

MYSTICAL PLACE 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever- I liked the ending with the song much more than I liked the rest of the movie. 

House of Dragon-Tim and I had to really struggle to get ourselves to like this. We managed to sort of like it by the end but not enough to want to watch any future seasons of it.  

I can imagine that for huge fans of the Westeros universe, the show might have been satisfying.  But for me, it didn't ease my longing for Game of Thrones.  It just made me feel confused and frustrated.  The characters are just too distant from the GOT characters.

It's like...would a show about the great-great-great-great-great grandparents of Monica and Ross satisfy people who miss watching Friends?

Thor Raganok 

The Magicians 

Mario Bros 

Dungeons and Dragons-This movie does a good job of being accessible to those of us who never played the game.

Lost-I totally forgot I watched this (season 3) until looking at my records.  Which is strange, because I'm actually playing around with writing a novel about a fan of Lost. 

By playing around I mean I'm doing research, taking notes, creating character and family bios, etc. with no huge desire to actually write the novel.  

I'm having fun with the journey, though.  If I think about it as a waste of time, I tell myself it's similar to playing Minecraft or Sims.  It's just about having fun with my imagination and my love of researching.  

Yes, I'd rather have a finished product, and I'd want that finished product to be read and liked by others.  But if it's not read and if I don't even write it...that's all okay too.  

Thor: Love and Thunder-I'm struggling here, trying to remember if it would also fit into the multiverse.  Maybe all The Avengers movies do?  

The Santa Clauses- See? Tim Allen was not fired from Disney for not being Woke enough or too white. I've never actually seen the movies.  But I liked the show. A little bit.  It was corny but enjoyable.

ONLINE

The Peripheral 

Upload 

MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

How to be a Tyrant-One of the few documentaries I watched 

Lost-

Invasion

Behind the Attraction-Another documentary.  We watched only...I think two episodes?  I liked it at first but then I felt it got old after awhile. It was probably less about the subject matter and more about the format?   

Well....

That's it for now.  I will probably add shows/movies that I watch in the last few weeks.  

Read my novel: The Dead are Online 

TV Shows and Movies I Watched in 2022

Here's a list of what I watched in 2022...well in terms of movies and scripted TV shows.  I'm not including all the YouTube and Instagram videos...or the many videos my family shares via text. I also don't count the shows that I get a glimpse of when I go into the kitchen and Tim is watching something.  Although if I sit down to watch; then I count it.

Shows and movies are divided by geography—settling location not necessarily the filming location. I put some shows in multiple places if applicable.  

Blue font means I especially loved the show or movie.  Though lack of blue doesn't mean a lack of love...at the time. Sometimes I will love a show when I see it but then later my enthusiasm fades. I'm going to try, though, to remember my initial love for a show.

Red font means I didn't like it.

Orange font is for shows that I watched a little bit of when I had control of the remote control during MY 50th Birthday Disney trip.  I was so excited to have control of the TV and do the old fashioned thing of flipping through channels.  I decided if I sat down to watch at least 5-10 minutes of something (before flipping to the next thing), I was going to count it.  

There are certain shows in which I sort of lie about location because of spoiler issues. I'm not going to specify which shows, because that in itself would be a spoiler.  It's kind of like when people tell you there's a twist at the end of the movie and just knowing there is a twist ends up being a sort of spoiler.  

Also....I started writing this a few weeks before posting.  It gets a bit confusing, because things are a bit out of order.  Most of the stuff I watched in the past throughout the year.  But other shows, I watched in the midst of working on the post.  Because this post is ordered by geography rather than time-of-watching, with the more recent watchings, there's a Doctor-River Song sort of vibe.       

For anyone interested: Here's my 2017, 2020, and 2021 list.  

CANADA

Turning Red

The Handmaid's Tale 

Trevor Noah-I Wish You Would

COLUMBIA

Encanto

EGYPT

Moon Knight 

GREECE

Glass Oven: A Knives out Mystery

IRELAND

Belfast-Didn't remember to add this until January 5.  I had forgotten to add it to my Google Docs where I write down everything I watch.  I can't remember how I thought of it.  But then I went through texts to find the conversation with my parents inviting me over to watch.  Hopefully, I didn't miss any other movies or TV shows    

ITALY

The White Lotus-What we're currently watching.  It will probably be our 2022-2023 bridge show.  

JAPAN

Mushishi-I was bored.

KOREA

Train to Busan-Koreans are very good at horror.

Dr. Brain

Miss Granny 

All of Us Are Dead-I loved this and was disappointed that we didn't see any trick or treaters dressed as the students.

The Call-Very scary. I realized while watching that it was a scary version of The Lake House. And then with some Googling, I learned the Lake House is actually a remake of a Korean movie.

Seoul Station

Extraordinary Attorney Woo

SOUTH AFRICA

Chappie-I actually more-listened to this than watched.  I used the Netflix narration.  I enjoyed the experience.  

UNITED KINGDOM

Coronation Street

Ted Lasso-This is one of those shows where I also even liked the odd low-rated-on-IMDb episode.

Afterlife-I like this show.  BUT it could have done without the transphobic joke. I also found it annoying that the deceased wife was shown as being so overly perfect.   

Green Wing-It took quite awhile for this to grow on me.  But by the last episode of season one, I was okay with it. 

Cold Feet-The more seasons I watch of this, the more emotionally attached I get.  

Moon Knight-I think this was the first show we watched on our new big screen in the theater/media room.  

Doctor Who-Two years ago, I was very much into Jodie Whitaker as the doctor...like crush level.  Now as I plan to get back to the show I feel nothing.  I'm just eager for the 14th Doctor.  Though by the time I reach the end of the season, I'll probably be back in love with the 13th Doctor and heartbroken that she's leaving.  BUT...I'm excited for Millie Gibson as a companion. I had sat on our backyard bench crying with relief when I realized I misunderstood spoilers and that Kelly Neelan was not going to fall gruesomely to her death; she was just moving away from the street. Then to find out, the Tardis was picking her up? What wonderful news.  I'm eager to see her adventures with the Doctor.  I'm also hopeful that one day Kelly Neelan will return to Coronation Street.  

The Sandman - I love it but it took me several episodes to get to that point. 

I was confused and bothered by the show not seeming to be in the same universe as Lucifer. I wish they were more connected.  Or that we, at least, had answers to explain away the differences.  Why are Cain and Abel together in dream realm in The Sandman but in Lucifer Cain has supposedly been walking the earth for many many years?  Why does Lucifer have a human face in hell in The Sandman? Why wouldn't he be using his demonic face?

Thinking...From what I know, Lucifer is a spin-off of The Sandman.  And knowing that different realms have different timelines, maybe in The Sandman, Cain and Able are in a before-period.  And God punishing Cain comes after their time in the dreaming realms?  Or whatever realm they're in. I'm not 100% sure it's the dreaming realm.   

I personally would have preferred that they use the same cast, director, writers, mood as Lucifer.  I mean the casts would be different, because the central characters are different.  But I would have preferred the same Lucifer, the same Cain, the same Mazikeen, etc.  (Guest appearance kind of things  Or at least have Gwendolyn Christie-Lucifer mention or show that she/he has shift-shaping abilities.

Anyway....Although I never disliked the show, my like turned to love with the Rose Walker storyline.  

 UNITED STATES 

Nine Perfect Strangers

The Power of the Dog-We saw this with my parents.  My parents and I rarely agree on anything. But we were united in thinking this movie was quite awful. Well, I wouldn't say it was awful.  I think, as a piece of art, it's great.  But I found it very unenjoyable.

American Horror Story-I'm not sure which seasons we watched this year.  Maybe "Roanoke" and "Double Feature"?  I think most of my strong-liking comes from the settings.  

Criminal Minds

Cobra Kai-We watched two seasons this year

Empire-I watched one season of this in the beginning of the year and another towards the end of the year.

What We Do in the Shadows-I still love this show, but I loved the latest season a little bit less than the other seasons.

Ozark-I can't believe the priest that helped the family in Chicago and all those foster kids on that Island turned out to be such a violent shithead.  

Schitt's Creek-LOVED this show and was super into it.  And then suddenly I wasn't.  It's nothing about the show itself.  I think it's personal issues really.  I was going to tie my fading love to trauma.  But you know, I think what really happened is I got really into using headphones and am almost constantly listening to TV shows, audiobooks, podcasts.  Prior to that, while I did kitchen chores, I had this whole thing of re-watching Schitt's Creek.  But then I stopped.  And well, actually...part of that was because of climate-trauma and moving.  But mostly...I think it was the headphones. In my quest to re-watch...I left off at the second to last episode.  I think it's kind of this unfinished business for me. I feel uneasy about the whole thing.  

Scandal-This show keeps getting better and better.  The more outrageous it gets, the more I like it.

Orange is the New Black-Watched the first season.  Hope Random.org picks more seasons for me...someday.

Succession-One of my ChatGPT adventures was asking the AI to write a pitch for a crossover TV show between this one and Empire.  

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West Side Story-I tried watching this with Tim, thinking I was being supportive.  Because the original is one of his favorite movies.  I didn't like it...and I don't think he was as into watching the remake as I expected. 

The Last Man on Earth-This is such a fun show. 

Greenleaf

Stranger Things-I greatly enjoyed this but then all the Holocaust stuff kind of put a damper on things.  Still. It's a fun show.

Outer Range-We watched the whole season.  By the end, I had sort of warmed to it.  But looking back, I feel cold towards it.   

Brooklyn 99

Flight Attendant 

The Shining Girls

Shameless-I was less into the 2nd season than the 1st.  But I still liked it.  

Community 

 The Handmaid's Tale-Well...it sort of (partly) takes place in the United States.  Location-wise.  

Complete Unknown-I had to Google this movie to remind myself what it was. I now can remember it. BUT I have no idea of whether I liked it, disliked it or loved it.  I should check to see if I rated it on IMDb.  That might help.

Severance- This show is SO SO SO good.

Nope-This was one of those things where I didn't like something UNTIL talking to other people and reading about it...and thinking about it.  My initial feeling was that I liked it much less than Get Out and Us.  But later...well, I still prefer Us and maybe Get Out,  But now, I also like Nope.

Heredity-Super creepy.  I didn't like the message the movie (intentionally/unintentionally) sends about mental health and people with neurological differences. Well, I want to say more but it would be total spoilers.  I think what I'll do is write something at the way bottom of this post...  I didn't like the movie, because I found it offensive.  But I did like the movie, because it was so creepy. Although the creepiness scared me which I find unpleasant.  At the same time, the fact that it scared me impressed me.  

Station Eleven-This miniseries is so beautiful.  Although not exactly in its entirety. Some of the episodes were amazing. Others were mediocre.  I think Tim and I both preferred the flashback episodes.  It's a great story about stories, and it replies to the assholes who think writers, artists, actors, filmmakers, musicians are not doing important work or were a waste of space during the pandemic. 

 I became obsessed with one of the trailers—watching it repeatedly and memorizing the lines.  I like to recite it sometimes.  ALSO...the miniseries is part of what inspired me to work on turning bits of my blog and my novel into a book-book instead of just an online thing. 

The whole miniseries revolves around a graphic novel written by a woman who makes only a few copies before a pandemic kills most of the population.  It made me think of how my writing is very unpopular now.  But there's a chance it could be super popular during the apocalypse when there's less reading material out there.  Or it might not be popular, but it might be special to one or two survivors.  And that would be nice.  I mean...so sad about the apocalypse.  Of course!

The Bear-I probably would have liked this more if I didn't watch it while addicted to the color-water sorting game.  My heart and mine were more into the game. That being said...I still liked the show.  

Chasing Life

The Lost City 

Invasion of the Body Snatchers-I'm pretty sure this was the first time I watched the entire movie.  I think we watched bits and pieces during my childhood. It was scarier than I expected. It makes me want to watch more horror movies of the 1960's, 1970's, and early 1980's.  

Poltergeist-Wrote a whole post about this one.

Bosch-It's nice to see a universe where Sophia survives and grows up...well reaches her teen years, at least. 

Modern Family-The last two seasons.  Our family enthusiastically watched the first three or four seasons; then the interest faded.  A few years ago, Tim and I got back into it and watched some of it...kind of jumped into where they were rather than going back to catch up with what we had missed.  We kind of forgot about it (or really it got buried underneath everyone else in our to-watch agenda.  Then a few months ago, Tim started watching the whole series from the beginning. I asked if he'd mind stopping at season 10, because that's where we left off.  So we watched 10 and 11 together...actually a few episodes at the end of episode 9 as well.   

Reboot

Enchanted 

Just Go With It 

The Conners-This was comforting in that I'm-not-the-only-one-aging kind of way. 

Family Guy

Charmed

Young Sheldon

Legends

The Sandman

Wednesday - I like it.  But I'm tired of seeing the dance everywhere.  In some ways, I like social media trends. It's cool seeing humanity come together to inspire and copy each other.  On the other hand, I'm realizing I much prefer original content.  I mean nothing is 100% original.  But I think I prefer the stuff that's vaguely inspired rather than seeing the same thing (with tiny variations) over and over.    

Lucifer-Just got back to watching this...I'm on season 4.  I usually love it, but it's probably going to take me a couple of episodes to get back into it.  

VARIOUS

Don't Look Up-Sometimes comedies have very sad moments.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness-This is one of those movies where I feel I should like it more, because of the subject matter.  But I don't. I didn't like Wanda turning evil.  I have a huge soft spot for bad characters turning good and find the opposite depressing.  I mean I know she also did bad things in WandaVision.  But I think all that was more understandable...and also fun.  

1899

Everything Everywhere All At Once-I liked this much more than Doctor Strange. 

NOT EARTH

Obi-Wan Kenobi For the stronger Star Wars fans like Tim and Jack...going on Rise of the Resistance was like, Oh, it's just like the movie!  For me, I watch this TV show and think Cool! I feel like I'm on the ride I love so much!  I'm really NOT into the Star Wars franchise...compared to Tim, Jack, and other people. At least when it comes to movies and shows.  Yet I've decided my favorite land of all the Disney parks is Galaxy's Edge. 

Mandalorian-I wanted to like this and expected to like this but was kind of bored.  I think we watched only one or two episodes. We would have probably watched more, so I could give it more of a chance.  But there were too many other shows we wanted to watch.  Just for the record: Tim had already watched it on his own and liked it. (I don't want inadvertently smear his Star Wars fan reputation) 

Rogue One-This one we watched recently.  I started to have certain questions about the Star Wars universe.  If this is a whole galaxy, why is there a Star Wars look?  Why does the design and landscape of so many different planets look similar?  Tim tried to explain it away with the imperialism, because I think he thought I was referring to the Vader stuff.  But no...I was referring more to the rebel and town/village sort of places.  It all very much looks like Galaxy's Edge.  However, then we saw the palm tree area...which I appreciated.  

ALSO...during the movie I started to think they should make a PRE-PRE prequel about one of the planets before they all became intergalactic. I think it would be cool to have a  (first) UFO/alien encounter movie in the Star Wars Universe. Does anyone know which planet initiated contact?  Or were there multiple planets having success simultaneously?  Googling....

And now giving up.  It looks like there is a very elaborate and long history...thousands of years.  I can't easily find anything pre-republic.

Added weeks later: I just asked ChatGPT, and it says the planet Coruscant was the first to travel through the galaxy.  Cool.  Unless they're wrong.  

Andor-Watching this now (at time of writing...this post).  I've now thought of justification for why there's a Star Wars look so prevalent throughout the entire galaxy.  It's just like how, with the Internet, on Earth we're probably starting to see and will continue to see more similarities between different countries whether it be in conspiracy theories, architecture, language, art, popular culture, etc.  

I didn't much like Andor except for the storyline involving Andy Serkis. That I loved. I told Tim that Disney should make an attraction based on these scenes. Disney guests can pay to have the chance to build equipment for the Imagineers. It would also provide more career placements for cast members who tend to be snarky/grumpy rather than cheerful and friendly.  

Lightyear- But maybe they were sometimes on Earth?  I forget.

The Midnight Club-Not bad, but I liked it less than the Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass.  It was fun seeing Heather Langenkamp.  

MYSTICAL PLACE

Schmigadoon-We watched only one episode.  I love musicals.  But I didn't like the songs. And since the songs were a big part of the show, I let Tim know I wasn't interested in continuing with it.  I don't think he was either.  Sometimes, one of us will like a show the other wants to quit; then we end up watching it alone.  OR, in my case, I put it in my long too-watch list and hope that Random.org comes through for me.    

Some shows that Tim has dropped out of that I'm waiting for Random.org to pick for me: Evil, The Walking Dead, and Doctor Who.  Good news is...my last Random.org pick was for Doctor Who.  I'm excited for that.  

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Lost City-An island somewhere.  I was just trying to find out where it was supposed to take place and Google informed me it is similar to Romancing the Stone.  I vaguely remember liking that movie, but I guess I didn't remember the movie itself enough to recognize the similarities.

Westworld-I liked season four better than season three but much less than season one and two.  I was just thinking.  It's not just the loss of the main setting that bothered me. It's more Aaron Paul.  And I think Aaron Paul is wonderful.  I love him as Todd in BoJack Horseman.  I also loved him in The Path.  But in Westworld, he almost feels like a cousin Oliver. 

I think it would have been fine to add Paul to the cast. But they didn't just do that.  They made him the central character.  My heart wasn't with him.  It was almost like the creators were thinking...we can't have women robots or a Black man robot as our  main protagonist. We need a white man.    

Maleficent

Read my novel: The Dead are Online 

My issue with Heredity: The daughter in the movie acts...strange, different.  She seemed kind of autistic. As an autistic person myself, I had that secret wish that in the end, it would turn out that despite her weirdness, creepiness...it would turn out she was a good person.  Instead...if you dig deep and read what the director intended, the daughter was possessed by a demon all along.  Also, with the title and other scenes, the movie seemed to imply that the whole family was believed to have mental health challenges and/or neurological differences.  Instead, it turns out...they were just involved with demonic stuff.  The movie could provide a pretty big contribution to negative mental health stigmas.    

Pictures of Poltergeist

A couple of days ago, Tim and I watched Poltergeist on our big screen TV.

Poltergeist was one of my life's biggest special interests.  It is also has huge connections to what was probably my life's biggest psychological trauma.  

Although I watched it countless times as a child and had most of it memorized; I don't think I ever watched the whole thing after the trauma.

I also had never seen it on a big screen.  I didn't see it until it came out on video or HBO (or whatever Cable premium channel).

Also, the version that I most often saw was edited for television. I guess we video-taped it?  So, in that version, Marty (Martin Casella) hardly picks his own face apart, and there were some words missing.  "Bastard" was one I remembered.  I guess I had seen the unedited version enough times to have noticed, back then, that the word bastard was now missing.  

Anyway....I had mixed feelings about re-watching. I went from yes to no to yes again.  

The thought of watching it gave me a bad feeling.  So that's where the no came from.

The yes came from wanting to see the set design close up.

The cool thing about our media room is that the screen is big but also we sit close enough that we can easily see details.  (but not so close that it hurts our necks or makes us feel yuck)

Before watching it, I had to let Tim know two things.

A) I reminded him that the movie is connected to trauma for me and asked him not to make jokes or ask questions about how so and so died in real life.  He had done so on earlier occasions which made me anxious.  I just didn't feel like sitting in the movie pretending to be casual as he asked, So how did that girl die again?    

Note: Reminded might = told.  I had thought I had told him all this at some point.  But I may have just thought I did.   

B) I planned to take photos throughout the movie.

The good news is I enjoyed watching the movie.

At the end of the experience, I felt happy and not traumatized or sad.

Tim and I both seemed to share an enjoyment of pointing out the set design.

We were both excited about all the Star Wars toys in the children's bedroom.

My attempt at humor: We were talking about all the toys they have, and it ended up we were on the same wavelength about the family being upper middle class—all the Star Wars toys, the phone jack in Dana's (Dominque Dunn's bedroom ), TV in the kitchen.  The family has at least three TV's.

And I said something like, And they have a Poltergeist clown!  

There's a guy on Instagram (Stablight Creations) who makes replicas of the Poltergeist clown.  It's fantastic but quite expensive.  I mean...rightfully so!

Oh!  Tim had this brilliant idea of getting the Poltergeist clown and taking a photo of it watching Poltergeist.

Anyway....it felt really good to reunite with an old special interest.  And I can even feel a little spark of the special interest resurfacing.

I spent a lot of time reading the trivia on the IMDb page.  There's a lot of stuff I didn't know.  I think back in the 1980's, when we didn't have Internet, having a movie special interest was more about watching something repeatedly rather than doing extensive research.

(I did have the novelization of Poltergeist and read it many times.  I bought any magazine that featured Heather O'Rourke and watched any show she guest-starred on.  I also had a hobby of imitating O'Rourke and acting out scenes from the movies)

Shit.  I'm writing much more than I planned.  I really just wanted to write something short and share the photos I took.

But...anyway, the thing with the trivia that interested me most was that the original script for Poltergeist was much darker.  Carol Ann died and the family abandoned her.  The neighbors turned against them. It also involved an ancient Indian burial ground and Diane (Jobeth Williams) not wanting Carol Ann. Both of these things ended up being part of Poltergeist II.  

After I read that, I became slightly obsessed with this alternate version.  I started thinking about how it would be nice if real life horror stories could be exchanged for much lighter, cheerful stories.  

Then....I had a similar experience the next day.  This might sort of count as synchronocity.

I had known that Kelly (Millie Gibson) was leaving Coronation Street.  From things I had seen on the show and elsewhere, I thought she was going to be murdered.  

I really like Kelly and was sad and anxious about her upcoming demise.  Yesterday I sat watching with dread as Kelly is taken to the top of a building by hitmen.  I thought she was going to be pushed off.  But then instead, her boyfriend (Adam Hussain) saves her and gets shot.  The episode ended with this.  

I couldn't stand waiting, so I Googled for spoilers.  I learned Kelly doesn't get killed. She just leaves   I was so relieved.  I  actually started crying.  But it wasn't just tears of relief.  They were also tears of sadness and anxiety.  I guess it was about knowing that usually, in real life, when people get bad news,  they don't later learn they misunderstood.  

Both the Poltergeist and Coronation Street thing makes me imagine the Powers-that-Be having fights over what happens to us; one planning something absolutely horrible and another stepping in and pushing for something not-so-bad.

Another thing I've been obsessing about is the ghosts.  I don't think I thought about them much in the past.  But I'm really curious about their side of things.  

What's up with the ghost in the kitchen?  She or he seems to want to impress the Freelings.  Bending the silverware.  That trick with the chairs!  And then they becomes so cooperative with Diane.  It's like they had a game going on there.  Put something in the circle, and I'll move it for you!

The kitchen ghost wasn't so nice to Marty.  BUT as Tim pointed out, who goes into someone else's kitchen and starts cooking a steak?  In the middle of the night?  Maybe Marty deserved a little ghostly discipline.  

I'm guessing the Beast/Henry Kane is the main guy in the children's bedroom.  He's probably responsible for the hungry tree and later the possessed clown.  But I'm wondering if a more light-hearted ghost was in charge of animating all the toys.

Well...enough of me babbling.  Here are some of the photos:  

Carol Ann's nightstand

Carol Ann

Robbie is so lucky to own such an expensive
movie prop replica.

One of the Star Wars toys

 

What's with the Toys R Us sleeping bag?
Or blanket?
Cool moon thing.

Another bedroom shot

 

We got only a quick glance of Dana's bedroom. She seems to like old films?

Provoking the kitchen ghost 

They can afford a Poltergeist clown and Poltergeist themed
silverware. 

Freeling Kitchen decorations

Freeling Bathroom.
I love the pink and yellow towels.

 

Reminder that one should wear safety goggles and other protection when investigating a haunting. (or a not-haunting).

I so love that clown.

Early morning ghost parade on the stairs! Fireworks will follow!

I think this is a sad, powerful scene. I wonder how many parents of missing or dead children have done the same kind of thing.

I really appreciated the dialogue between these two—their relationship. It's something I didn't really care about when I was a child.

The Freelings can also afford cool optical effects in their house, so there's no need for them to visit the local science museum.

 

I have so many more photos.  They look good on my phone.  But when I tried to add them hear, I realized I didn't do a good job of framing them.  

For example: 

Well...maybe I'll add a few more of the badly framed photos...(small versions)

In other news: I know there are millions of people waiting for the next installment of my Eleanor Roosevelt series. I'm done writing part 4 and just need to proofread it. Hopefully, it's a little less awful than I imagine. I've been working on it for over a week. I can barely remember what I wrote in the beginning of it all. 

Note: Millions = zero

Read my novel: The Dead are Online