Episode 74 - Queen's Gambit

Qualifying for the vaccine, rural vs. urban living, hiking in Benicia, celebrating Lunar New Year in lieu of Valentine's Day, rolling a coin over your knuckles, Trump's second impeachment acquittal, finishing "The Queen's Gambit" on Netflix, being less enamored with it than others seem to be, the serious portrayal of chess, likely inspiring a generation of female chess players, watching "Movie 43" under the influence, living under the yoke of smoking cigarettes as a teenager, the potentially cool but ultimately disappointing movie "Looper," Dostoevsky's "Notes from a Dead House," faking a translation, struggling to retain information, being cooler as a kid, disappointing others as a consequence of knowing yourself better, and the value of doing what you need to do for yourself.

Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 70 - Handyman

Taking an afternoon nap, Siri's shifting tone of voice, announcing the podcast MVP 2021, the synchronicity of receiving George Saunders' new book "A Swim in a Pond in the Rain," spending a week fixing things around my place, placing emotional meaning to otherwise meaningless tasks, killing a neighbor's cockroaches, a fart riddled news clip on YouTube, signs of the new normal at the grocery store, and the weaknesses of Tarantino's late films compared to his early ones.

Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 69 - The Cathedral

A return to form episode. Failing miserably at work this week, the attempted siege of the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, Trump inciting his base, questioning what the rioters hoped to accomplish, why there wasn't a stronger military opposition, the dubious body-cam footage of a cop shooting in California, taking a pistol shooting class yesterday, performing exceptionally well on the range, the cartoon characters populating and working the range, the adversarial relationship between gun owners and lawmakers in California, Dostoevsky's disappointing novel "The Adolescent," and a wrap-up of movies from last week including "Sexy Beast," "Capturing the Friedmans," "Mad Max: Fury Road," "Wild Strawberries" (plus a reading of Bergman's introduction to the script for "The Seventh Seal"), "2001: A Space Odyssey," "The 400 Blows," "8 1/2," as well the exceptional films "Safe" starring Julianne Moore and "Bad Education" with Hugh Jackman.

Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 67 - Creative Mechanism

Reflecting on one of the strangest years of our lives, feeling typically down around this season, remembering when shelter in place took effect, still having no clear end in sight, feeling unfulfilled creatively, not feeling connecting to songwriting anymore, a meta commentary on the state of the podcast, re-watching Akira Kurosawa's films and enjoying them more as an adult, a budding interest in recreational firearms, re-watching and evaluating M. Night Shyamalan's "Unbreakable," my gratitude for your listening to the podcast up until now, and best wishes for 2021.

Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 66 - Dereliction of Duty

A summary response to David Mitchell's novel "Cloud Atlas," a protracted discussion of my feelings about the latest Christopher Nolan film "Tenet," feeling frustrated at not being able to follow the plot, the conflict between clarity and high-concept, the duty of an artist to communicate clearly, still admiring Mitchell and Nolan's ambition, creative interests as a source of both emotional avoidance and meaning, and looking forward to new things in 2021.

Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 65 - Definition of Insanity

Waiting to do things until I really have to, reflecting on Bram Stoker's "Dracula," reading David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas" right now in lieu other popular fiction, the most recent season of The Great British Baking Show, one of the finalists reiterating the "definition of insanity" cliche, true insanity in the 1988 film "The Vanishing," Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" and the rise of the "new atheism," my brief dabble with Christianity as a boy, being converted to skepticism by a Carl Sagan quote, the bulletproof contrarianism of Christopher Hitchens, Tom Hanks' performance in both "Sully" and "Captain Phillips," feeling protective of my creative areas of interest, a summary of Korean films I've seen recently including "I Saw the Devil" and "The Man From Nowhere," the over abundance of digital content, feeling far removed from my former creative outlets, and wanting to recuse myself from future gift giving.

Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 58 - On a Spectrum

Reading "Slaughterhouse Five" three times since the last podcast, not fully understanding books after one reading, a basic synopsis of the novel's plot, the importance of structure and motivic development in great art, one superficial interpretation of the novel, my tendency to do things because I "should" do them, the self-awareness of Chuck Palahniuk, the importance of creative confidence, The New York Times' "Ten Meter Tower," the Japanese film "Onibaba," possible connections to Goosebumps and Marcel Marceau, why protesters tape their mouths, and a swift summary of the film "District 9."

Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 57 - Betraying the Muse

Suffering the current heat weave, the Bret Easton Ellis Podcast's second life on Patreon, the spooky synchronicity of the episode with Chuck Palahniuk, how the film adaptation of both author's most famous novels are better than the original, inspiration as a glimpse into the spiritual realm of creative ideas, which ideas work best for a film or a novel, the role of the artist as a spiritual medium, the social obligation of artists to strive for clarity, not betraying the muse, art that improves on the source material, the Great Work being carried out in the world through art, not recognizing yourself as the villain in literature, common themes of the Coen brothers, especially "Fargo" and "No Country for Old Men," their upcoming adaptation of Shakespeare's "Macbeth," the films of Christopher Nolan, and their merits, especially "Dunkirk."

Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 52 - Big Gulp Level Comfort

Happy birthday to the podcast, the state of the world since last year, the rampant California wildfires, the apocalyptic air quality here in the Bay Area, camping in 105 degree heat in Lakeport last weekend, a protracted commentary on Charlie Kaufman's frustrating new film "I'm Thinking of Ending Things," the case for clarity in the midst of creative complexity, Christopher Nolan's "Inception," the genius of Jonathan Blow's video game masterpiece "The Witness," and a few nuggets from the "Podcast Ideas" Google Doc. Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 36 - You're Not Gonna Make It

Re-recording the worst episode of the podcast, how I faired in finals this semester, complications with Chemistry, failing to feel accomplished, re-watching the James Cameron comedy/action classic "True Lies" with Arnold Schwarzenegger, a brief survey of the short story "Two Gallants" from James Joyce's "Dubliners," the need for today's artists to create consistently, audiences wanting an entire body of work to sink into, the very "first-film" qualities of the horror movie "M.O.M. (Mothers of Monsters)," the inevitable failure of your creative career, and using that as motivation to create what you want and not what you think will succeed.

Music by Disasterpeace.