The First Last Jedi

Hello, again.  I thought I'd check-in (again) with a discovery.  I ran out of books to read on my trip home.  I finished Welcome to Hard Times yesterday, and Live and Let Die the day before that.  That makes seven books so far this quarantine summer!  Here's the full list:

1. The Raw and the Cooked by Jim Harrison (dropped at pg. 200)

2. The Ivory Grin by Ross Macdonald (Lew Archer Series #4)

3. Little Sister Death by William Gay

4. Masters of Atlantis by Charles Portis (majority-photo macro-blog post coming soon)

5. If It Bleeds by Stephen King (skipped title story)

6. Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming (James Bond Series #2)

7. Welcome to Hard Times by E.L. Doctorow (see above)

So, without books, I've been reading some comics listed in my observation journal.  Some highlight-worthy issues included Police Comics #23 and Marvel's Star Wars #45.  In that Star Wars issue, I began to notice some overlaps with my favorite Saga film, The Last Jedi.  First, foreshadowing of the infamous (groan) "Mary Poppins" scene:

But that's not all!  There's also foreshadowing for the also-infamous Holdo maneuver!  Spoiler warning for a comic book from 1981:

Wild stuff, folks.  Also, look at this cool spread:

And, of course, issue number forty-nine is titled "The Last Jedi" (see above).  I haven't read that issue yet.  I saw the preview while reading issue forty-eight, where Leia fights Darth Vader (kinda):

Who cares if these comics aren't canon anymore!  There's gold in them hills.  And I've proven that Rian Johnson read these.  If only Johnson read about Southern accents when directing Daniel Craig!

Hello Cruel World

Hello, it's me.  It has been a while, right?  Fifty-seven days, to be exact.  Quite a while considering a steady posting clip of (almost) every weekday in March.

Finals ended on Tuesday, so I thought I should attempt an update with that weight lifted.  But instead of pondering recent events, I thought I'd share what's helped me so far.  And, in macro-blog tradition, it's a "link listicle."  Follow me . . .

1. Bill Evans on Resonance Records

I came across these recordings after looking up the releases for Record Store Day 2020.  Evans was a staple of the Square Books weekday jazz algorithm.  Turning to these during finals weeks may be out of nostalgia.  But Evans is also the basis for "lofi hiphop beats to study to."  Jam bands and Bigfoot death metal can only be the studying soundtrack for so long.  (Here is my jazz playlist from the college radio and bookstore days).

2. Watch TCM

I've seen too many movies since March 11th to mention them all.  But I will use macro-blog favorite TCM as a sort of makeshift coffee filter.  Shoutout to TCM for overdelivering on the following three categories.  First, new discoveries!

Seeking a Groucho solo outing with Sinatra as the Zeppo stand-in?  TCM has 1951's Double Dynamite as part of a Jane Russell marathon.  They also had on Jerry Lewis' Three on a Couch on Monday night.  Second, recent additions to my observation journal's running film list!  Right after hearing about Stanwyk's Baby Face on Trailers from H*ll, the uncut version was ready to stream.

And third, observation journal deep cuts.  Preparing for their Bogdanovich podcast, I've finally seen Targets and Saint Jack.  I remember Targets from Jason Zinoman's book Shock Value.  And Saint Jack came up after enjoying lead Ben Gazzara in Killing of a Chinese Bookie. (I also learned from the pod that Bogdanovich interviewed Jerry Lewis for Esquire!)

3.  YouTube's Wu Tang Collection, as Curated by Tarantino

QT has made two quar-ppearances on the New Beverly's Pure Cinema Podcast.  And his second is an essential introduction to the imposing world of Asian action cinema.  Distinguishing the original and US titles referenced can be confusing.  But Tarantino's review page is a great resource.  And almost every title mentioned (minus the Shaw Brothers films) is on the Wu Tang Collection.  A standout so far is Hwang Jung-Lee, seen in Invincible Armour (see above) and Hitman in the Hand of Buddha.

4. (e)Mailing Lists

I'm still enjoying Ray Padgett's Flagging Down the Double E's.  I'm also still subscribed to Poets.org's Poem-a-Day (more out of obligation than interest).  I've also signed up for Violent Miracle's new compilation tape series.  Maggie told me about William Boyle's The Narrow Margin.  And TCM (again, I know) has moved their Now Playing newsletter to inboxes.  Which includes each month's programming schedule!  Coming in May is Herk Harvey's (of Carnival of Souls fame) infamous short "Shake Hands With Danger" (see above)!

4. Online Shopping (sans Amazon)

I've placed three orders this week, and none of them were through Amazon!  Square Books is sending a hardcover of the new Stephen King short fiction collection.  The End of All Music is sending its Record Store Day mixtape.  And USA Gundam Store is sending an HGUC 1/144 #40 MS-06F Zaku 2 (see above).  I'm looking forward to another model after last summer's 1/144 HGUC RX-78-2 Gundam build.

There's some honorary mentions I'll save for future macro-blog posts.  Too bad I still don't know how to end these!