Below are some highlights from the non-book Inputs of 2023:
The English (Amazon Prime): T and I first watched this series together, but then I have re-watched the highlights so many times in the past year that it is causing marital discord. There is a scene with Emily Blunt and Ciaran Hinds in the first episode that I want to shave paper thin slices off and savor every day like acorn-fed Iberico. If you’re more interested in character actors throwing heaters than in plot, you could probably skip episodes 2, 3, and 4.
The Rest is History: Occasionally the references on this podcast are lost on me. “He's the type who would have had a lot of posh girlfriends called Minty”, what? In spite of that I’ve learned a lot and it is very funny, particularly when they’re talking about the French.
Tropical Brainstorm (Kristy MacColl): I didn’t quite meet a goal set earlier this year of listening to five albums at least five times each. It did lead me to institute a policy of “Album Thursdays”, which I’m enjoying so much that I’m calling the endeavor a success overall. I hit five listens and then some on TB. This album and KM in general is currently ascendant among the revolving assortment of affectations and personas cobbled together to form my personality at any given moment.
Dashing Diva Gloss Strips: When I wear nail polish I start picking at it the minute the first chip appears. These meanwhile are very sturdy and I don’t feel the same compulsion to destroy them.
The Gold (Paramount Plus): As the above items might indicate this show about a heist in London in the 1980s feels conjured up by the content gods specifically for me. The only thing missing from my particular interests would have been for one of the detectives and one of the robbers to have wild trysts in the gold smelting shack.
Women Talking: There’s a character played by Jessie Buckley in this movie who is curdled by resentment and radiates contempt for the idea of changing her circumstances, and I thought she was making a lot of sensible points but it turns out she is kind of a villain, which made WT the movie I tried hardest not to think about in 2023.
Condiment Corner:
Found the missing mustard while doing a pre-Thanksgiving pantry cleanout! Sadly, despite being labeled “firey”, this version would not be described as such by anyone raised outside the Land of the Midnight Sun. Not bad for the usual mustard vehicles. A favorite dish of my children is Brazilian-style chicken stroganoff with sauce made mostly of cream and mustard. Delicious if eaten with rice at maximally tolerable temperature, a condition that can barely be sustained to the last bite on the plate. I’ve taken to discreetly giving mine a little extra flavor boost, for which this suffices.