This is the tenth one of these things! Holy Shit!
It's also Valentine's Day today, so happy Valentine's Day to you! I love you!
Shorter But Every BIt As Good
I don't have a lot of time today. I have day-job deadlines to meet. And I'd like to take a walk. And maybe, you know, play some music? So I just have a couple of things to recommend today. They are really fucking good, though. I am not lying.
Let's go!
Don't Feed Monsters by Meri Dean
In last week's edition of this blog post, I told you to pre-save the album Don't Feed Monsters by my friends and musical collaborators Jason and Melissa Kadinger of Meri Dean. Now the album is finally here and available to enjoy! Track two, "The Laurel Tree" features my voice. It's in there; trust me.
I am very proud of Jason and Melissa. The album turned out great! It's a perfect showcase not only for their outstanding musicianship and taste but also for their quirky sensibilities. It's funky and earnest and weird and subversive. It's bold and surprising. It sounds really cool. It sounds like nothing else that's coming out of New Mexico, musically speaking. It's got a vibe. You can press play and just live in the album for a while. It's a great experience and you should check it out.
Why not stream Don't Feed Monsters now? Here:
The OA on Netflix
Recently I've realized that my favorite TV/film genre is something like "Mystical Supernatural Batshit Sci-Fi." Jupiter Ascending is a great example of this. Actually the entire Wachowski Siblings oeuvre, with the exception of Bound, probably, fits into this genre. Somehow The Matrix succeeds at being a legitimately "good" movie, but that's a rare exception. For me, the quality of the film or TV show in this genre is not nearly as important as the ambition and ideas being presented.
I was looking for a televised distraction to fill my late nights during the NBA All-Star break, which is happening right now. No Milwaukee Bucks games for a week. By the way, the Bucks have entered the All-Star break with, by far, the best record in the league. They had the best record in the league last season, too. To achieve the same record (60-22), all they have to do is go .500 for the rest of the season. Very impressive! I love those guys! Fear the deer!
Anyway, what was I talking about?
Oh yeah, The OA.
The OA has been on my radar for a little while, but for some reason, I've resisted it until now. Maybe because I heard it had been canceled without wrapping up its story. Maybe because critics I respect have panned the show. I should have known better about the latter point; most of the stuff in this particular genre is not beloved by critics. It's not for them. It's not meant to be reckoned with by the critical mindset.
So yeah, The OA is fucking great. It explores all the concepts that are dearest to me: life, death, afterlife, afterdeath, psychedelia, music, consciousness, incarnation and all that. I have watched the first five episodes of the first "Part." There are 16 total episodes across two seasons. I don't know much else, except for that it was canceled by Netflix and people got pissed off. Did it get picked up elsewhere? Will there be a The OA movie to wrap up the story? No idea! I'm trying to stay in the dark as much as possible during my watch. I don't even know what the titular "OA" stands for!
You should check it out if you're into the Mystical Supernatural Batshit Sci-Fi genre. You should probably avoid it at all costs if you're not.
Have a Lovely Weekend
I'm grateful to have such a lovely partner with whom to share my life. Annie and I are going to spend the evening together delighting in each other's company. We have a lot of love.
I hope you have love in your life, too. It sucks to not feel loved. I have been there. I've spent a ton of time there, actually. So if that's where you are, I feel for you. You should know, however, that anything is possible. Just look at me. Also, you are already made of love. You are pure and perfect. Thank you for choosing to incarnate here and now. You are doing the most important work in the universe and I love you for it.
Thank you. Stay tuned to the blog for more good stuff and shenanigans. But mostly good stuff.