Hey team,
Happy anniversary of this Kafkaesque nightmare!!! We’ve been in varying states of lockdown for so long I could have finally read Kafka by now. I hope you’re staying strong, staying safe, and doing your best not to kill anyone else with carelessness.
Not too much to share about my personal or professional life at the moment so just enjoy these distractions from this mundane hellscape.
Stay safe/sane,
Bob.
Listen to This:
One thing you must know about me is that I love making playlists to share with people. So when the fine folks at The Good Times Co. recently asked me to create a playlist for them, I jumped at the chance.
This playlist was originally inspired by the “Don’t take life too seriously, you’ll never get out alive,” joke in Van Wilder: Party Liaison. It was meant to be frivolous and tongue-in-cheek but due to all of this *gestures at world* it got a lot more morose than I was originally planning. These are songs mostly about loss, heartache, pain, and the overwhelming weight of existence. Expect a wide range of sounds from artists like: Bright Eyes, Muzi, Spoek Mathambo, Fugazi, Weed Dealer, Earl Sweatshirt, Rose Bonica, and many more. Enjoy.
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6jKPChpBjpXZzJYEu0AGS7
Watch This:
This show is fucking hilarious. The simplest way for me to describe Florida Girls is as a cross between Workaholics, Broad City, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but set in Florida.
Schemes galore, moral ambiguity, drugs, alcohol, kleptomania- what’s not to love? It also has sincere conversations about race and class, but I can imagine it being branded as problematic by people who get offended on behalf of others.
Growing up on Umbilo Road, lower-class life is something I’m very familiar with. While it’s a comedy show and some things are naturally over the top, there are scenes that hit a little too close to home. Like, some of these characters remind me of my friends growing up. The show is just much funnier and often much darker than the lived reality.
You can find it on Showmax at the moment and check out the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kyOFNHLsak&ab_channel=PopTV
Play This:
Dorfromantik is an utterly charming and calming game where you build cute little landscapes of villages, trees, rivers, and other bits of scenery that I haven’t unlocked yet.
Here’s how they describe it: Dorfromantik is a peaceful building strategy and puzzle game where you create a beautiful and ever-growing village landscape by placing tiles. Explore a variety of colourful biomes, discover and unlock new tiles and complete quests to fill your world with life!
It’s one of those games that’s easy to learn but you’ll soon find yourself sucked in trying to build bigger and bigger landscapes. The tiles being random gives it that extra element that I enjoy out of card games like MTG. You plan towards possibilities and then have to figure out plans B and C as things fall apart.
You can buy it on Steam for R79: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1455840/Dorfromantik/
ICYMI:
Hallie Haller is a writer, director, and creative strategist who cares about media, the future and you. She is the writer and director of the utterly charming short film, Belovely, and is currently working on a couple of different documentary based projects. Hallie is also a ForCreativeGirls mentor, a One World Media documentary fellow for 2020, and a representative of Girls in Film’s South African chapter. Not only is she multi-talented, but she’s passionate about developing talent and collaborating with others.
https://almostperfect.co.za/hallie-haller-almost-perfect-podcast-90/
Werner Olckers is a musician, marketing manager, and sneaker enthusiast. You might remember him as the frontman for the indie-pop band Wrestlerish. Or you might have bought some sneakers from him at his sneaker boutique, Cop Capital. Werner has a wealth of experience under his belt as well as an encyclopedic knowledge of many facets of pop culture, so this is a fascinating and entertaining chat.
https://almostperfect.co.za/werner-olckers-almost-perfect-podcast-91/
The original ECW was known for pushing boundaries with its violent wrestling, absurdly dramatic storylines, and promos that blurred the lines between fiction and reality. It was a company built on taking things too far. Just ask Kurt Angle why he swore to never return to ECW after attending a show just to watch. That being said, it was also an immensely creative space where wrestlers were given the freedom to express themselves freely. Jerry Lynn considered themselves, “a travelling freak-show,” and the fans had a cult-like devotion to the brand. Looking back, ECW was one of the most influential companies in wrestling history. The entire “Attitude Era” probably would have never happened if it wasn’t for the chaos and mayhem that ECW popularised. Counter-culture becomes the culture and all that.
While some aspects of the original ECW may not hold up to today’s tastes and standards, these promos have stood the test of time and highlight ECW as a haven for talent.
