Hi, friends. Like a terrible editor, I got sucked into a hole of moving, traveling, and singing “Just Like Heaven” more times than you can imagine. ABOVE IS AN ALMOST-COMPLETELY-ENCOMPASSING-AGGLOMERATION OF WHAT I HAVE DONE DURING OUR SEPARATION.
1. When we last met, I confessed a profound desire to throw a Johnny Weir party. My adoration has not dissipated, and has unquestionably intensified. Especially since I discovered that we get Sundance channel at home! Therefore, I can watch as much Be Good Johnny Weir as I want (until a certain roommate wants to watch Say Yes to the Dress). The show chronicles Johnny’s skating adventures leading up to the Winter Olympics, and will provoke you to shed tears of sorrow over not being best friends with Johnny Weir. Prancing around in fur hats?! Bubble baths with wigs?! If I haven’t convinced you yet, below is a teaser:
Oh, and PS. I am currently watching Pop Star on Ice, an hour and a half documentary on Johnny Weir, AND, I’m going to see him perform Bad Romance live this week. WIN-WIN.
2. Titus Andronicus recently released an epic second album, The Monitor, a cohesive collection of jangly, danceable punk songs with clever references and battle cries. I love battle cries, and the album makes me wish I was from Jersey. Furthermore, I have the attention span of a chipmunk. Despite this, I gleefully consume The Monitor (whose songs mostly exceed 5 minutes). They’re really nice guys who deserve all the album praise they’ve been getting (an unrelated fact that acknowledges I am biased). ANOTHER VIDEO:
A More Perfect Union
Titus Andronicus | MySpace Music Videos
3. While in NYC, I ate the most delicious cookie I had ever eaten. I’ve ingested many cookies, but all of them are now inferior to the magical Levain cookies. Various fortuitous events led to my introduction to Levain. My sister and brother in law saw Rocco DiSpirito mention his love for Levain on the Food Network + I was a block away from the bakery. The cookies are perfection: they are warm and gooey inside, but slightly crispy on the outside. It’s unfortunate that I don’t live in NYC, and cannot afford to have them FedEx’d to Chicago. This copycat recipe for the chocolate chocolate peanut butter chip cookies, however, is pretty good.
4. Have you ever eaten a sour patch kid, and thought, “self. I wish this was a vitamin.” I have trouble remembering to eat my vitamins, but not when I have One-A-Day VitaCraves Sour Gummies.
5. A couple of weeks ago, She & Him released Volume 2, a breezy follow-up to Volume 1. I have mostly positive feelings towards She & Him. Zooey always wears nice frocks, a fact that should have no influence on whether I like She & Him, but…it is a factor. Beyond the frocks, my greatest criticism regarding Volume 1 is Zooey’s chalkboard screeching voice pings. Example: the high notes in “Sentimental Heart.” Not cute Joanna Newsom screeches. Volume 2 is much stronger, and a great way to herald the arrival of Spring (sort of…it’s still cold in Chicago). I especially enjoy their cover of “Gonna Get Along Without You Now.”ALSO THERE IS THIS CUTE VIDEO, WHICH MAKES ME EXTRA EXCITED FOR MY FUTURE BALTIMORE BAND AND DANCE NUMBERS:
6. I’ve been watching a few excellent TV dramas, oddly all related to drug trafficking. Whereas watching The Wire is partly educational for my future move to Baltimore, Breaking Bad satisfies my curiosity regarding what it would be like if an accomplished science teacher cooked meth. This curiosity stems from college organic chemistry lab, where the teacher schooled us in lab technique, and our fate depended on purity and yield. Breaking Bad is amazingly engaging and well-written. It’s intriguing to witness the character progression of Walt, the science teacher who cooks meth (and has lung cancer…and has a son with cerebal paulsy…and he’s poor because he’s a middle school teacher). His thirst for power consumes his initial apprehension, and meth cooking grants him courage that he had never been bold enough to exercise prior to cooking meth.
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7 Responses for "Currently Obsessed: Be Good Johnny Weir, Levain Cookies, Breaking Bad"
I appreciate that Zooey Deschanel is wearing flats in that video, and also I applaud her mixing navy and black. I always thought that combo was a no-no, but if she does it, I guess it’s OK. However, she kind of gets on my nerves.
Minty, you are so observant. I did not notice the flats, but I can get behind that as well. Blue and black has my approval, as well as brown and black (sometimes). Sometimes she’s too cutesy for me. I was surprised to discover that she’s THIRTY. I also hated her character in 500 Days of Summer. However, I will still probably watch whatever she is in to see what she is wearing (SUPERFICIAL ALERT).
I wouldn’t say that Walt has a thirst for power, he just doesn’t want to leave his family desperately poor when he dies. He has a baby on the way (in the first season) and a kid headed to college which is financially trying for a high school chemistry teacher, but even more difficult for a high school chemistry teacher’s widow. I’m no saying that he doesn’t enjoy “breaking bad” on some level, but his drug manufacturing enterprise costs him A LOT along the way. By now, I’m sure you can tell that I love this show. I don’t know if it’s available through your cable company, but there should be a number of previous episodes queued up on the “On Demand” channel so you can see what I’m talking about.
BB-Thank you for your comment! I have seen every episode of Breaking Bad, a few episodes more than once, and Walt’s mounting obsession with power can’t be dismissed as trivial.
Yes, Walt’s behavior is partially driven by not wanting to leave his family in destitute, but this responsibility is questioned throughout the series. The motivation behind Walt’s behavior is a major theme of the show. Breaking Bad isn’t simply great because it’s about a high school teacher cooking meth. Audiences don’t have the patience to sit through that- it’s a doomed storyline. Rather, it’s the complicated substance behind the storyline which has allowed the show to last successfully through three seasons.
When we’re introduced to Walt, the storyline emphasizes how he is a victim. He’s an boring schmuck who lives an unordinary life (as Walt re-emphasizes multiple times during the series..he is an overqualified high school science teacher) and has too many life problems to count. He works part time at a car wash, where he gets ridiculed by students who have fancy cars and get their own high when they see their teacher washing their car. His apathy for life exists prior to discovering he has terminal lung cancer. After he is diagnosed, the idea of leaving money for his family is only a trigger to a lingering desire to capitalize on his mid-life crisis.
Now when Walt discovers something he’s GOOD at doing, it’s a rush. He’s had a life of being disregarded, and his success at making meth feeds into his existing sense of pride (astronomical levels of pride.) Walt’s confidence to wield this power comes out after Walt and Jesse start profiting. After Jesse visits Tuco in season 1, Walt visits Tuco on his own (episode 6). He puts on an “i mean business” hat, and makes serious demands to Tuco. This level of boldness is foreign to old Walt, and marks a major shift in his character. This power gives him a sense of renewal. In episode 7, I believe that this power leads to Walt’s uncharacteristic friskiness (Walt and Skyler have sex in Walt’s car after a school meeting and Skyler questions like “why was that so good” and Walt says “because it was illegal”). Season 2, Episode 10 is the best juxtaposition of Walt’s duties to his family and his drug business. Stuck at home recovering from surgery, he returns to a position of being a powerless invalid. He subsequently goes to a hardware store to buy a fancy water heater for his family, and notices some guys with suspicious (meth-making) supplies in their cart. After pointing out to them that they have the wrong supplies, Walt scowls “stay off of my turf.” It’s clear that Walt relishes the power he gains as the new meth king.
So, are Walt’s actions completely altruistic? I don’t think so. Sure he claims that everything he has done he has done for his family, but specific moments during the show makes his assertion dubious. I think this is becoming an even more interesting matter during this season, as Walt’s repercussions have caught up with him. Not only does Walt have to prove to Skylar that his actions were for the family, but he has to prove the same to himself.
Gonna agree with Tricia on this one. Remember how Walt turns down a job at Gray Matter? Elliott and Gretchen even offered to pay for his treatment, but he won’t take either of these generous offers. And when Gretchen wants to know what’s going on in season two, how does Walt respond? “Fuck you.” In making and dealing the best meth in the universe, Walt’s achieved a level of respect and success that he always deserved.
In fact, it’s been super interesting to see Walt try to apply his drug-king-pin-respect at home – moving back in and calling Skyler’s bluff. He’s basically telling her that he’s done asking, he’s done begging, even done appologizing: he’s just taking everything back. And Skyler is ready to rbing her A game to the power-play table, that’s why she’d F.’d T. This show (in addition to all the awesome drug stuff) manages to explore the modern domestic gender power struggle as well as Mad Men explores the same struggle with the benefit of 50 years of hindsight.
Pretty good post. I just came by your blog and wanted to say that I’ve really enjoyed reading your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!
Thanks for introducing me to She & Him… I love discovering new music. :)
I’ll return the favor: Check out The Bird And The Bee.
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