Since I can't drive or read a lot until my eyes finish healing and I can get new glasses, I'm sticking close to home these days, mainly just watching a lot of TV and movies. Here's the most interesting things I've seen so far --
1. An Unexpected Recorder Sighting
As a hardcore recorder nerd, imagine my surprise to see Cyndi Lauper playing a recorder during her performance of She Bop in her recent TV special A GRAMMY Salute To Cyndi Lauper: Live From The Hollywood Bowl. It was the highlight of the whole show for me, actually, so I snapped this photo off my TV set for posterity! You go, girl! The world needs more recorder music!
2. Vatican Hijinks
I finally got around to watching the 2024 movie Conclave and let's just say that I LOVED the ending! LOVED IT! Hahahahaha! Those of you who have seen it, you know why!
3. A Literature-Obsessed Cop
On my sister's recommendation, I binge-watched Annika, a two-season Scottish cop series streaming on PBS Passport. Annika analyzes every murder via a relevant piece of beloved literature in an ongoing monologue delivered directly to us, the viewers, breaking the fourth wall. In fact, she regularly takes us into her confidence in such "asides," revealing her thoughts, doubts and vulnerabilities. Highly recommended!
4. Beat Era Queerness
Also finally watched the 2024 movie Queer, with star turns by Daniel Craig as a fictionalized version of the postmodern Beat author-addict William S. Burroughs and Lesley Manville as a dangerous jungle doctor who is an ayahuasca shaman/researcher. I enjoyed the first half of the movie but it dragged in the more far-out last half. Good gay sex scenes though. OH, DANIEL!
