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You Will Be Told What to Do20 August 2007

Wherein You are Told What to Watch

Superbad — I am nearly embarrassed at the absurd amount of enjoyment I have gotten out of The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and now Superbad. This must be what life was like for people who were really into Adam Sandler movies when he was at his peak of output. Except for the fact that these movies are, y’know, good. But my point is, suddenly there is this group (the Apatow Cabal, let’s call them) who are making movies at a steady pace that are exactly the movies I want to be made. And they are not mere flukes. They’re dead on gems every goddamn time. Pardon the hyperbole, but they are good to the point of being almost exhausting. I just wish the Cabal could manage to keep a TV series on the air.

Jekyll — If you get BBC America or the Sci Fi Channel or have the wherewithall to steal this show off the internets, I strongly suggest you do so with all haste. Frightening and hilarious and kind of sexy and a little bizarre all at once. James Nesbitt is the protagonist and antagonist by turns and brilliant in both roles, especially as he’s interpreting the writing of Steven Moffat. (Sidebar: You absolutely must see the Moffat-penned episode of Dr. Who entitled “Blink”. Just find it. Go.) There is something I enjoy, too, about the British openness to limited run shows. (Did I mention this is a mini-series?) There is definitely a tendency in American TV, once a show is successful, to not only ride it until it is devoid of virtue, but also three or five or eleven shows that are almost just like it. One reason I can enjoy Jekyll so much is I am at ease knowing I’ll never have to suffer through the Christmas Special.

Also, I should mention Jekyll features Michelle Ryan as the sexiest psychiatric nurse in history. She is officially the only reason I have any interest in watching the remade Bionic Woman series. (Oh, by the way, don’t read that Wikipedia article about Jekyll if you don’t want to know too much about what happens in it.)

Wherein You are Told What to Listen To

I must admit I’ve been a bit off music lately. But I’m dragging this damn iPhone with me everywhere and considering how much I paid for it there’s no way I’m not going to have something playing on it, so I’ve been going through a lot of talky podcasts lately. And here are the ones I’m demanding you listen to.

12 Byzantine Rulers — People who hang around me too long will almost inevitably be subjected to a rant about the Byzantine empire eventually. Regrettable, but unavoidable. Far better you should listen to this podcast series. Lots of fascinating things happened in the Eastern Roman Empire between the disintegration of the Western Empire and the Renaissance, but you practically never hear about them. 12 Byzantine Rulers gives an excellent overview of an amazingly complex stretch of about a thousand years and will give you some idea of how we got from antiquity to modernity. And if this series isn’t enough for you, just ask to borrow my John Julius Norwich Byzantine trilogy.

Radio Lab Imagine a less squishy version of This American Life with a lot more science and zero Ira Glass. You’ve got Radio Lab. If they released an episode every day I don’t know if I’d manage to listen to anything else.

Wherein You Are Told What to Read

F Train — Paul Ford is having a sudden burst of prolific-ness and it should not be missed because we don’t know how long it will last nor can we know when it will ever happen again. Also, he summed up perfectly my feelings about bike stores.

Wherein You Are Told Where to Click

Here.

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