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Tuesday 108: The Week

Andrew McDonald

21 Feb 2023 — 1 min read

Best thing I read this week: Late entry, but more easily accessible than Tony Iantosca’s Crisis Inquiry (which I very much enjoyed) is Sam Anderson’s NYT Magazine piece on a visit to Ghibli Park. Anderson evaluates the work of Hayao Miyazaki through a perspective as demanding as one of his films, exploring questions about art, entertainment, nature, legacy, and more.

Best thing I watched this week: Some of the most compelling elements of Anderson’s article are the questions left unanswered. I think this is also one of the driving forces behind Robert Altman’s McCabe and Mrs. Miller, which I saw for the first time this week. One of the best-known characteristics of the movie is its experimental sound design: Multiple conversations overlap to form a pastiche of dialogue that bleeds in and out of atmospheric noise—nails hammered into sheathing as a house is built, the creak of wagon wheels—a foggy inscrutability that draws you into the film, and works to make you feel closer to the characters as they carve out an existence on the American frontier. It’s not so much about what you do know as what you don’t.

Best thing I listened to this week: Pile, All Fiction. Layered, percussive, fully realized album that made me think of the best Radiohead at points, albeit a distinctly Pile album. A great record from a great band that’s somehow able to always do something new while simultaneously solidifying a sound that’s completely their own. It’s best heard as a full album, but as a friend pointed out, early singles “Loops” and “Poisons” (which I suspect is an ecological protest anthem) are both prime candidates for enshrinement alongside live-banger-rotation mainstays like “Special Snowflakes” and “Baby Boy".

Best thing I ate this week: I got a four pack of Topo Chico from the co-op. Real nice having those on hand. Classes up just about any meal.

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Tuesday 144: What we'll talk about when we talk about what it was like

Tuesday 143: Odds n' the end

Tuesday 142: Paperlife

Tuesday 140: Annoying