In the Something Else category (15), in order encountered
- You Can Only Yell at Me for One Thing at a Time, Rules for Couples, Patricia Marx & Roz Chast (Hardback, pub’d 2020): Cartoons that explain how to get along with your partner. THB and DB (and another couple needing relationship advice) saw Patty and Roz talk about their book and play ukuleles, the book was pretty much a throw-in with the tickets to hear them speak and play. THB’s favorite: no need for both of you to follow current events in the Middle East. One of you can handle that and the other can keep track of where the TV remote is. DB does the heavy lifting here, she tracks the Middle East; THB knows where the remote is. Jared fixed everything up in the Middle East so now THB is doing all the heavy lifting.
- Ring of Fire, an Indonesia Odyssey: Two Brothers, Lorne and Lawrence Blair resurrect the journey of Alfred Russell Wallace in the 1850s, this time mostly in the 1970s, with a handheld camera and not much else. Five episodes (with a surprise guest and ending in episode five) of places you have never seen before on a journey you’ll never take (and can’t like the bros because these obscure spots in Indonesia have all been touched by the ascent of modernization). Highly Recommended
- I Know This to be True, On Truth, Courage and Saving Our Planet, Greta Thunberg (hardback): Part of a global series focused on original interviews that have been created to honor Nelson Mandela’s legacy and inspire a new generation of leaders. Slight and very specific: time is quickly running out to keep the planet from being in the endless cycle of a warming planet. As you know, THB thinks it is too late.
California Typewriter: a 2016 documentary (pic from doc above) about the revival of the typewriter focused around (a now closed) typewriter repair shop a few blocks from the loft in Emeryville. Streaming on Kanopy, a service that is offered through public libraries, you only need a library card to enroll and then (depending on the library) you get a number of free viewings per month (Berkeley gives more freebies than Oakland). During the pandemic, viewings are unlimited (and the libraries are of course closed). Highly Recommended- The Last Dance, a 10
part Netflix series focused on Michael Jordan’s life and career, moving back
from the 1998 season with many current interviews with the various participants
surrounding the team. Unusually open about what was going on then and how it is
seen now. One eye-opener, looking at it in 2020 terms: Michael only signed one-year
contracts. Now he would be the $400 million guy on a long-term contract (4-5
years). Recommended for everyone, it isn’t really a classic sports story about
how great it was to win a lot of games. Highly Recommended
- Weather of the San Francisco Bay Region, Harold Gilliam (soft cover, first pub’d in 1962 then
re-issued – with updates - in 2002): needs another update! Seems the basics are
the same from 18 years ago, the speed of climate change may make another
re-issue obsolete very quickly.
- American Utopia, an HBO film by Spike Lee of the David Byrne Broadway musical. Excellent, and THB wished he could have seen it live in September…washed away by the pandemic. Highly Recommended
- The Object in its Place, Ted Cohen & the Art of Exhibition
Design, Signe Mayfield: A joint project of the
Mingei International Museum (San Diego), the Oakland Museum of California and
the Museum of Craft and Design (San Francisco). A biography of Ted Cohen full
of pictures including several of THB and DB’s loft. We first got to know Ted
through a visit to his apartment which we coordinated as part of the Marin Art
Group (yes, we were living in Oakland then)…maybe late 80s…a loose collection
of collectors organized by Susan Cummins. Highly Recommended (for
pics of the loft)
- Ron Nagle, Handsome Drifter, Lawrence Binder(Author, former director of BAMPFA) Jan Verwoert,(Author), Apsara DiQuinzo(Editor), Dan Byers (Editor), Ron Nagle (Artist): Best art show catalog ever! Highly Recommended -especially if you saw the Nagle show (THB attended a walk-through with Ron and Apsara and went a second time with DB).
- Queen’s Gambit, a 7 part Netflix series closely based on the novel of Walter Tevis from 1983. Here’s THB’s 2017 review: a golden oldie from 1983 by the author of the Hustler (Tevis’ first book), this unusual coming-of-age story follows a young orphan as she rises quickly through the ranks of chess to challenge the Russians in Moscow. Highly Recommended
- Scene on Radio – Seeing
White, a
14-part podcast: Host and
producer John Biewen took a deep dive into what is going on
with white people, rambling along
with an array of leading scholars and regular guest Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika
(he’s terrific). Released between February and August 2017 and still extremely
timely. Highly Recommended
- What the
Constitution Means to Me, a film of a play by Heidi
Shreck, streaming on Amazon Prime: Based on Heidi’s effort at age 15 giving a
presentation at places like veteran halls in order to win enough prize money to
help her go to college. Now brought
current, focused on rights for women, people of color, and repression and
aggression by white males, using comedy and pathos. Highly Recommended
- In Flux: American Jewelry and the Counterculture, Susan Cummins, Damian Skinner, Cindi Strauss (soft cover, gift of the author): Connecting the resurrection of craft in an ancient art to the explosion of the 60s, a focus on the work (many excellent pictures) and the artists (want to know what hippies looked like?) and their representation of the times (not mainstream).
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