Yeah, so, in this week’s podcast we talk about the return of “Game Of Thrones.” In fact, we’re probably going to be talking about “Game Of Thrones” every week while these final two seasons air, so if you like “Game Of Thrones,” then this podcast is for you.
In our second segment, we review “War For The Planet Of The Apes.” I’m new to this series. I recently watched “Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes” and “Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes.” Smith is a huge fan of this series, so our reaction to the final installment might surprise you.
Plus, we chat about last week’s Emmy nominations, and our conversation takes a strange political turn while talking about the nominations for late-night variety show. It’s a good discussion, though.
You can listen to Dorking Out here, or you can find us on iTunes and Stitcher. If you listen to the show, I’d love to hear what you think. You can comment here, or on our website or Facebook page.
Yeah, so, I’ve been busy with work and being sick, which are both full-time jobs, so I’ve been slacking here. My apologies. I’ve got a ton of random things to say, so let’s get right to it. Here’s six things I’m loving right now.
1. “Easy” by Sky Ferreira
I went on and on about my love for the movie “Baby Driver” on the podcast, so I won’t repeat it here. But, man oh man, I love this song so much. I can’t stop listening to it. Even when I’m not listening to it, it’s still playing in my head.
When I got a new prescription the first thing I did was start ordering new glasses online, because it’s cheaper and it’s kinda fun. I’ve decided that since I have to wear glasses every day I really need more than two pairs. Basically, I’ve stopped buying so many dresses and started buying glasses.
I have some nice glasses that I got through LensCrafters, but even with eye care insurance I end up spending $200-$300 for a pair of glasses. I love those glasses, but I want some variety, and I don’t want to pay big bucks. My buddy Jennifer introduced me to Zenni Optical, and I’ve got a few really fun pairs of glasses for $25-$35 each. Seriously!
These glasses are my faves right now. They have a ’50s look about them, and I think they are super fun.
I wore them to my parents’ house last week, and my dad said, “What the hell is up with your glasses?”
Me: “I like them. I think they are fun.”
Dad: “I guess.”
Of course, I’m not going to take style advice from my dad. If I did, I’d have to get a pair of camouflage glasses … and grow my hair out … and dye it blond.
I wore them to the Oakland office on Tuesday, and a coworker said, “Oh, new glasses. They are … interesting.”
My “Toddler Grandma Style” is an acquired taste. I get it. But the truth is, I don’t really care if people don’t like it. I like it. I describe my style now as “I wear want I want.”
So anyway, I think these glasses below are pretty OK, too. They are not flashy. They are perfectly fine, everyday glasses.
It’s tricky when you buy glasses online. I’ve uploaded a photo to Zenni, and I try them on online, but you really don’t know until you really try them on if you’re going to like them. For example, these super-thick hard-rim glasses below are kinda fun, but I’m not sure I really love them. But for $25 I was like, “Why not?” I mainly wear them around the house, which is good, because I’m always fuckin’ up my nice glasses when I’m screwing around in the house – either rough housing with Calvin or just being a spaz.
I’ve got my eye on a few more pairs of glasses from Zenni, so be on the lookout for a lot of selfies on my Instagram.
We’ve had what was supposed to be a temporary logo for a year, so I asked my friend Jeff, who is a super talented artist, if he would help a sister out with a new logo. Look how great it is! It’s soooo awesome! I love, love, LOVE it!
Also, I forgot to write a blog post about this week’s show. You should listen to this week’s show. I didn’t get a chance to see “Spider-Man: Homecoming” before we recorded, so Ben Weddell from “Big Ben’s Movie Show” sat in with Smith to talk about it. I show up in the second segment to review “Glow,” which I think is rad, and everyone should watch it.
4. Roku
We got a Roku, you guys! It’s got a really intuitive interface that kinda reminds me of Tivo. We’ve been looking to ditch Comcast for a long time, because Comcast is stupid and crazy expensive. The Comcast On Demand sucks ass, and the only reason we were holding on to it was because we wanted TCM and local baseball. Roku has both of those things, plus it’s cheaper AND it’s got the Film Struck app. So long, Comcast. You’re the worst.
I love cooking shows, but I’m so over all the competitive ones. I used to be really into “Top Chef,” but I just hate all the manufactured drama. My mighty, mighty good man David and I stopped watching “Top Chef” when we discovered “Cooked” and “Chef’s Table” on Netflix. We just want to watch people cook while they talk about why they cook. I don’t care about some perceived slight of some asshole chef in a competition show in which they are all forced to live together, too. This is why I am in love with “The Great British Baking Show.”
It’s just people baking. It is a competition show, but the bakers are not really competitive. If anything, they are competing against ingredients and time, not each other. Everyone on the show is super nice and polite. And they are not super chefs. They are not James Beard winners or any kind of baking professionals. They are just regular ol’ folks who like baking. I find it very relaxing to watch it. I find is inspiring, too. I bought a book about baking bread, because BREAD!
6. Zootopia
My mighty, mighty good boy Calvin goes through phases with movies and TV shows. You might remember that a few months ago, Calvin was all about “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.” I never got tired of watching it. Now, he’s all about “Zootopia.”
I liked “Zootopia” a lot when I saw in the theater. I still think “Kubo And The Two Strings” was the best animated movie last year, but “Zootopia” is a solid movie. Calvin enjoyed it in the theater, too, but never asked about it again. It recently popped up on Netflix, and I thought I’d give it shot and see if he liked it. He likes it … a lot. I think we’ve watched it every night for the past two weeks.
His favorite part is always changing, but right now it’s when Officer Judy Hopps, on her first day on the police force, holds up her fist for a fist bump and asks “Are you ready to make the world a better place?” Calvin runs up and says, “Mommy, are you ready to make the world a better place?” And then we fist bump. I would be totally fine with it if he wanted to do this every day forever.
He’s also super into the Shakira song “Try Everything,” which plays in the movie and over the end credits. We’re listening to it nonstop in the car. He won’t let me sing or dance to it, though, which is a very strange form of torture. It takes all my will power not to sing or dance to it. I often fail, and he just has to deal with my terrible singing and dancing.
Yeah, so, in this week’s Dorking Out we review “Baby Driver.”
I love, love, LOVE it. I go on and on about my affection for this movie, and writer-director Edgar Wright’s other movies, including “Shaun Of The Dead,” “Hot Fuzz” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.” Oh, and how much I adore his TV series “Spaced.”
In our second segment, I try to process my feelings about the new season of “Twin Peaks.” Part of me thinks I want it to be more like the original series. Maybe I like David Lynch operating within boundaries and rules, because I miss the stories and characters from the original show. However, “Twin Peaks: The Return” is crazy and weird, and I can’t wait to see where it’s going next. Like I said, I’m still processing it.
And finally, we end our show with what we’re dorking out about, and I talk about the documentary “Nobody Speak: The Trials Of The Free Press,” which is currently airing on Netflix.
You can listen to Dorking Out here, or you can find us on iTunes and Stitcher. If you listen to the show, I’d love to hear what you think. You can comment here, or on our website or Facebook page.
All week I’ve been coughing, blowing my nose and having weird fever dreams. Good times. I missed three days of work, and I had to work from home on Thursday and Friday. I need to go to see “Baby Driver” for this week’s Dorking Out, but I’m still coughing. I don’t want to ruin the movie for everyone by coughing throughout the movie. I’m hoping by Sunday morning, I’m coughing less so I can see it before we record on Sunday night.
I’m so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I have been drinking Theraflu for more than a week. I’ve probably built up a tolerance to it, and I should consider switching to a different cold med. Or maybe I should start pouring whiskey in it. I hate taking cold meds. They make me feel loopy. Theraflu is one of the only ones that works for me and doesn’t make me high.
So anyway, at some point this week, I was in the fetal position in bed, trying to fall asleep, and I started thinking about the GOP health care bill, because apparently I wasn’t already feeling shitty enough.
I started thinking about how fucked up it is that we need to have a health care bill at all. Basically we need a health care bill, because if we don’t the health insurance companies will fuck us all until we all die. That’s it, right? They absolutely won’t do anything even remotely close to the right thing AT ALL. Unless there is a law, health insurance companies will not offer us a policy at a reasonable price that covers reasonable medical bills.
Think about how fucked up that is! If you need cancer treatment or you have a baby, instead of covering your costs, which is what health insurance should do, they will find a way to screw you over and make you pay for it. They want you to pay for health insurance AND your medical bills, because if there isn’t a law so fuck you.
Health insurance companies are not just mindless robots, they are owned and managed by actual human beings with hearts and souls (in theory). I don’t understand how they sleep at night. How do they justify trying to screw people over during some of the most stressful times in their lives? “I know you’ve been diagnosed with heart failure and you’re fighting for your life, I need to make another $10,000 to throw on my giant pile of money.”
What am I missing? Are health insurance companies like sharks? Just killing machines. Sharks gonna shark. Health insurance companies gonna health insurance company.
I also started thinking about the people who work for the Predator Trump administration, because – once again – apparently I don’t think I’m suffering enough. They are just lying, awful pieces of human garbage, aren’t they? How do they even look at themselves? How do they talk about their day at work with their spouse?
Terrible person #1: “How was your day at work, honey?” Terrible person #2: “Good! I bullied the White House Press Corp turning off their recording equipment and then I accused them all of being fake news. Then I lied about Trump’s Muslim ban and the Medicaid cuts in the GOP health bill. How was your day?”
Here’s the thing: It’s not just that these “people” have a difference of opinion. They are lying, and they know they are lying. But by lying they thinking they are winning. I’m not sure what they think they’re winning.
“Today I helped the president bully a senator, who dared not to support something we wanted him, too. It’s really exciting time for us. We’re so close to stripping away health care benefits from millions of people, including those with pre-existing conditions as well as children, the elderly and people with special needs, because our most vulnerable citizens are not really Americans. Fuck those people, am I right? I mean, get a job or something. Whatever.”
I have yet to hear one reasonable argument for the GOP health care bill … or one reasonable argument for anything Predator Trump has said or done. I assume that’s because there isn’t one. All I’ve heard is a lot of lies.
I continue to be super disgusted and embarrassed by Predator Trump. I haven’t mentioned it on the blog in a while, but I’m still donating money to organizations that fight for what’s right: the ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center and Planned Parenthood and SwingLeft.org. Oh, and I usually spend my evenings drunk dialing my reps. You should do it, too. It’s kinda fun.
Yeah, so, in this week’s Dorking Out with Chris & Sonia we review “Cars 3” with Juan Uriarte from the Instant Ramen podcast.
I’ve got a soft spot for the movie “Cars,” which many people consider a lesser Pixar movie. My mighty, mighty good boy Calvin has watched it countless times, which means I’ve watched it countless times, and it’s really grown on me. It’s no “Toy Story” trilogy, and it’s certainly not as imaginative as “Wall-E” or “Inside Out,” but it’s a nice, enjoyable movie.
“Cars 3” is more of a direct sequel to “Cars” than “Cars 2,” which is apparently more of a spy movie. I say “apparently” because I’ve never seen it. Whenever we’ve started “Cars 2,” Calvin says, “No, thank you,” and I say, “You’re right. This looks like a piece of shit. Let’s watch ‘Cars.’”
“Cars 3” isn’t as good as “Cars,” but it’s a good movie, and it’s got a few things to say about racism and sexism, which I wasn’t expecting.
In our second segment, Smith and I review “Rough Night.” Spoiler alert! We were disappointed, but it leads to an interesting discussion about the audience this movie was hoping to attract and then not giving that audience what it wants.
One more thing, this is our one-year anniversary. Let’s dance!
In honor of our anniversary, we will have a very special show next week, so definitely check it out.
You can listen to Dorking Out here, or you can find us on iTunes and Stitcher. If you listen to the show, I’d love to hear what you think. You can comment here, or on our website or Facebook page.
Yeah, so, in this week’s episode of Dorking Out we review “The Mummy,” starring Tom Cruise. It’s supposed to kick off Universal’s new Dark Universe featuring the Universal monsters, including the Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, Dracula and The Wolfman.
Instead of a Dark Universe movie, can we get a theatrical screening of “Mad Monster Party?”
I don’t want to spoil the review, but I’ll just say that the Dark Universe isn’t off to a very good start.
In our second segment, Peter Brown from Assignment X joins us for a fun discussion about the Dark Universe, the Marvel Universe, the DC Universe, and, well, all the cinematic universes.
You can listen to Dorking Out here, or you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher and YouTube. If you listen to the show, I’d love to hear what you think. You can comment here, or on our website or Facebook page.
Yeah, so, in this week’s episode of Dorking Out we review “Wonder Woman.” We brought in some reinforcements for this review; a couple of wonder women, if you will: Laura, Smith’s better half, and Margo D. from Book vs. Movie podcast.
We had a really fun discussion about the movie. Spoiler alert! We loved it, and it’s a total lovefest. I was surprisingly moved by the movie. I guess I needed a female superhero movie more than I knew.
In our second segment, Smith and I talk about the recent controversies surrounding comedians Bill Maher and Kathy Griffin. And then we end our show with what we’re dorking out about this week, which turned into shameless self promotion as Smith talked about his most recent Emmy win, and I announced that my other podcast, Old Movies, New Beer, has returned.
You can listen to Dorking Out here, or you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher and YouTube. If you listen to the show, I’d love to hear what you think. You can comment here, or on our website or Facebook page.
Yeah, so, in this week’s Dorking Out with Sonia & Chris we review “War Machine,” starring Brad Pitt, which is Netflix’s first big attempt at blockbuster filmmaking. We had mixed feelings about it.
In our second segment, we chat about “Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” and “Baywatch.” And then we end our show with me offering my thoughts and prayers to the men who are upset about a women-only screening of “Wonder Woman.”
You can listen to Dorking Out here, or you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher and YouTube. If you listen to the show, I’d love to hear what you think. You can comment here, or on our website or Facebook page.
Yeah, so, in this week’s episode of Dorking Out Smith and I talk about our favorite movies about journalism.
Why? We were inspired by the current trumpster fire that we call the White House. Great journalism is more important now than ever. And, as a pair of former reporters, we have a lot of thoughts and feelings about how reporters and the media are portrayed in film. While “All The President’s Men” and “Spotlight” are obvious examples of great, noble journalism movies, we tried to vary our picks to include comedies, too, which is how 1985’s “Just One Of The Guys” ended up on my list. How do I defend that pick? Well, you’ll have to listen to find out.
But before we get into nerdy journalism talk, Peter Brown from Assignment X stops by to talk about the 2016-17 TV season. Which TV shows got canceled? What were the surprise hits? We did some predictions at the start of the season, and we check back to see how we did.
You can listen to Dorking Out here, or you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher and YouTube. If you listen to the show, I’d love to hear what you think. You can comment here, or on our website or Facebook page.
Yeah, so, I’m going to try to deal with my anger by sharing six things I’m lovin’ right now.
1. Calvin’s Bedhead
So, we usually keep Calvin’s hair on the short side, but we haven’t had time to get cut in a while. He’s got great hair, and he’s got even greater bed head. See for yourself.
2. What Kind Of Cat Is This?
We have a stray cat friend, and we put food on the porch for her, but we bring the bowl back into the house at night. Well, one night I forgot to bring the food back inside. When I went to get the food, I saw this.
I took some video footage, because my mighty, mighty good man David was out that night, and I wanted him to see it, too. And now Calvin loves watching it. He thinks it’s hilarious that we have a skunk for a neighbor.
3. This Video
There’s a baguette vending machine (seriously – this is a real thing) in our nearby mall, and David had to try it out.
4. These Websites: The Daily Skimm, Small Victories, Swing Left & Wonkette
The Daily Skimm is an easy way to feed my anger first thing in morning. Basically, it summaries all the news you need to know in a short, fun email. I’ve written about it before, but I highly recommend it. You can sign up right here, if you want to try it out.
I also suggest you sign up for Small Victories, which helps me stay positive. When you sign up, you get an email every Friday with – you guessed it – small victories. It’s filled with stories about wins for the good guys. I really needed it today.
I want more small victories, so everyone should be giving money to Swing Left, which donates money to candidates running against those fuckin’ fuckers who voted for the death panels American Health Care Act. This organization just moved into a top 5 spot on my donation list. I also donated directly to Lisa Battista, who is running against that big tool Darrell Issa in California’s District 10. He just barely won in the last election, so he is super vulnerable.
You know what’s weird? I have pretty much stopped reading celebrity gossip and now I read political gossip. Who am I? My main site for this is Wonkette, which covers political stories, but writes it with such a angry, funny voice that it makes it just a little easier to deal with.
5. This Dress
I bought this fox-tastic (see what I did there) dress from Eshakti, and I looooove it. I can’t wait to wear it.
After ModCloth was acquired by Wal-Mart, I was looking for a new place to buy clothes. I love online clothes shopping. It’s my fave. My good buddy Jess recommended Eshakti, and it’s so great. The clothes are super cute and not too expensive. AND, you can customize the clothes. For example, I love this fox dress, but I wanted it a little below the knees, and you can ask for that! You can add sleeves, or make it a tank dress – whatever. It’s so cool!
6. Smith Got An Emmy Nomination
My Dorking Out cohost Chris Smith received another Emmy nomination this week for Instructional/Information Program. Now he will be even more insufferable on the podcast. In all seriousness, I’m super proud of him. He’s super talented and a good friend. Enjoy this moment, Smith. It’s the last time I’ll be nice to you for a while.
Actual footage of me celebrating Smith’s Emmy nomination.
