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 60 - Never Celebrate Too Soon

President-elect Joe Biden's rocky road to victory, feeling reasonably optimistic about the results before Election Day, the doom and gloom of the initial results, rising hope as the tide of the results changed, the emotional experience of this election compared to previous years, recalling a history teacher's account of the pattern of past presidencies, Trump's last days in the White House playing out the final scene from Training Day, the misrepresentation of Rudy Giuliani in the recent Borat film, Biden still being a bit of of corn flake, the poor sportsmanship of Trump's supporters, never celebrating too soon, and a roundup of my recent reading including "Misery," "Fight Club," "Sphere," and "Jurassic Park.”

Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 53 - Vote Forward

Ominous camping conditions in Mt. Diablo State Park last weekend, getting robbed by raccoons, shying away from the video podcast for now, making sense of my nutty eighth-grade English teacher as an adult, making good on my commitment to the Vote Forward campaign, more thoughts on video game designer Jonathan Blow, using the "tears test" to determine if a creative project is worth your time, mediation, and cutting the podcast off early due to an attack of hiccups.

Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 25 - I Want Coronavirus

Discussed: The initial results of the Democratic Primary, the arrival of coronavirus in the United States, the ways I could leverage catching COVID-19 to my advantage, the results of my recent health scare that were never addressed on the podcast, my ability to catastrophize every situation, my future mother-in-law's recent visit to the Bay Area, my Spartan approach to playing and practicing the drums, lack of self-esteem and the root of laziness, and the idea that everyone you know and meet is doing the very best they can, even if it's not good enough.

Music by Disasterpeace.