Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in. We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.
Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered. We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.
What role does culture play in helping you maintain your equilibrium when things get rocky?
Books, TV, music, favorite movies, live music, comics, drawing, painting, plays, theater, ballet, orchestras, concerts. Any of those? What do you turn to for calm when the world around you is on fire? Literally or figuratively! (Sometimes lately it can feel like both.)
The “rules” are always pretty loose on Medium Cool, so if your go-to things are swimming, walks in nature, or time with friends, feel free to sneak those in tonight, too. No nuns are monitoring the class, no rulers in sight! Promise.
Or if this doesn’t grab you, talk about whatever culture-related things you want.
TheOtherHank
I find that I like to listen to audiobooks that I’ve listened to before. That way I can pick ones that where I know I won’t get too worked up by unexpected plot twists.
Life has been pretty crazy this year and I recently finished listening all of Christopher Moore’s novels in publication order.
PS – I also swim laps first thing in the morning 5 or 6 times a week.
Orange is the New Red
I end up watching movies in which imperfect but good-hearted people prevail. Examples would be Mask, Erin Brockovich, Akeelah and the Bee. Not great films, but warm hearted.
piratedan
you reach for the comfort food of the soul….. for me it’s absurdist humor of MST3K, Monty Python, comedy greats like Carlin and Pryor. I also try to find music that takes me to a different place and time in my life (birth of my children, love songs when I was dating the to be Ms. Pirate) or books that I’ve read before that were so immersive for me that it’s like sitting with a friend who has known me for years.
WaterGirl
@TheOtherHank: @Orange is the New Red:
Yeah, when I’m feeling a lot of uncertainty in my own life, and I’m watching something where things could go badly, I sometimes skip to the last 5 minutes so I know if this person died or they found that person or not, or whatever, and then I can enjoy the rest of the movie without the stress of uncertainty there, too.
K488
I play Bach, either on the piano, or the organ. The Well Tempered Clavier got me through my divorce (a long time ago) and a whole raft of organ works (Toccata in F, c minor prelude, the Leipzig chorales) got me through a bad patch at the job I left ten years ago.
OzarkHillbilly
I don’t know. The one thing I am sure of is the culture that maintains my equilibrium, Is nothing most folks could recognize.
OzarkHillbilly
@K488: Bach helped me get thru my divorce.
Joseph Patrick Lurker
@WaterGirl:
When is baud making his triumphant return to this blog? The absence of his rapier wit is a cosmic bummer.
Alison Rose
As a voracious reader, books are generally my escape, though there are times when my mind is too at sea to concentrate on most stories. But at those moments, I find two rather disparate genres to be equally enticing as a go-to: middle grade fantasy and historical romance. Both tend to be fun and easy reads, usually with positive endings, and don’t require as much brain or heart space to process.
Music is always always helpful, too. Not necessarily upbeat songs, but ones that I love and that mean a lot to me or just always move me when I hear them. It’s like it helps me relocate myself within the song, and thus within the world, too.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
I’m going to sound like a broken record but watching Bull Durham always puts me in a better mood.
Same with 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation. Also like and Schitts Creek. Also have a soft spot for the USA Network’s Blue Skies era shows mainly Monk and Psych. I think Rutherford Falls on Peacock is great.
C Stars
Jidaigeki movies. Preferably with some martial arts. Not sure why. Maybe just very removed from my daily experience.
Misswhatsis
I listen to Georgette Heyer regency romances on Audible. The readers are excellent and I know how they’re going to turn out.
The Patrick O’Brien Aubrey-Maturin series is another calming listen.
Alison Rose
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: “Candlesticks always make a nice gift.”
Misswhatsis
@Alison Rose: right there with you. Lois McMaster Bujold’s Desdemona series, the Vorkosigan chronicles, Georgette Heyer: that’s what gets me through the tough spots.
Alison Rose
@Misswhatsis: I’ve still yet to read any Georgette Heyer, but she’s on my list!
Dagaetch
Reading fiction books not set in the real (current) world. I probably spend too much time reading the news and it can get overwhelming. There will be times my attitude just gets surly and depressive, and then I know I need to unplug and spend some time in a different world. Doesn’t have to be a positive book even, just one that lets me disassociate from reality for a while. After an hour or two of reading, I just feel better.
WaterGirl
@Joseph Patrick Lurker: Baud dropped in to the Music & Postcard thread last night. I asked if he was back, but alas it was just a drive-by.
Still great to see his name!
And Baud did post a link to Mike Pence’s exciting campaign tour.
Rachel Bakes
Reading. Need to spend some time with a book every day to feel like me. Romance is my genre of choice, historical or contemporary. Rereading favorites happens on a regular basis here. Some science/nature books to help with my second career as an environmental educator and takes me to a different part of myself.
Music helps also- Billy Joel has always broken through dams in my head to get to emotion. And occasionally actually playing the piano can get the angst or fury out in a way that nothing else does.
RSA
@Orange is the New Red: I read novels that fall into the genre of so-called “competence porn,” in the specific subgenre of ex-military operatives meting out justice after retirement. Lee Childs’s Reacher novels. Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X. Mark Greaney’s Gray Man. Maybe early entries in Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s Pendergast series. There are half-a-dozen others. They’re popcorn reading, with the writing being generally adequate and (the reason that I’m responding to your comment) with the plots leading to the good guys winning. That’s enough for me.
Suzanne
Goddamn Super Mario Bros. Or Zelda. I spent much of the early pandemic walking through Hyrule and the Mushroom Kingdom.
As for art-making…. pottery is my passion. Doesn’t exactly quiet the mind, though. Too much to think about.
Alison Rose
@WaterGirl: Oh Lordy.
This comment made me LOL: “One dude looks like he’s waiting for a sudden and welcome death.”
WaterGirl
@Misswhatsis:
I think you are not alone in that being helpful during really stressful times.
frosty
@OzarkHillbilly: Way OT but I didn’t catch you in the Garden Chat. Loved your comment about your bench: “I like to go out, look at the wildflowers, and feed the ticks.”
I’m stealing this!! As a tick magnet, I need to get a little humor along with the Permethrin and Doxycycline.
WaterGirl
@Suzanne: Games! How did I not think of games as I was making my list in the post???
UncleEbeneezer
Playing good music is probably my biggest cultural escape/remedy. Typically dark, romantic jazz. Something like this (I’ll play guitar or drums along). It’s not necessarily a solution or cure but it always makes me feel a little better and helps me process shit. If I can play with other musicians that’s great too (especially in a situation with a lot of improv) but there’s always been something about playing music alone that is special. Movie, tv, books, art etc., are all good but if I’m really down or anxious, they don’t really change that. Playing music (and tennis/hiking) are about the only things that do.
WaterGirl
@Alison Rose: Harsh but funny:
Alison Rose
Another thing I lean on when I’m struggling is rewatching videos from Last Week Tonight, Vox, and Wired. Some of them (especially LWT) I’ve watched a dozen times or more, but I think it’s the familiarity that helps. Something to focus on that I don’t have to focus too much on.
billcinsd
I’m going with the Game Show Network, Football manager video game and West of Loathing video game
Suzanne
@WaterGirl: Games and puzzles really help when I need to be chill.
Also stand-up comedy helps when I have shit to do.
Podcasts help keep me calm when I drive, because I kind of hate it. My favorite right now is “Past Present Future” with David Runciman. Also, is this a good time to plug Mr. Suzanne’s podcasts, “Barks Remarks” and “Rosa Remarks”?
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Misswhatsis: Coming here to say Aubrey/Maturin and Georgette Heyer, but you beat me to it. I flit from book to audiobook seamlessly, and it looks like Audible is re-releasing a number of Heyer audiobooks, so I’m stocking up for the end of the world. I’ve already got all the Patrick Tull narrations of the Aubrey/Maturin series, but I’ve been through that so many times I can recite most of the series to myself, so I’m taking a break from O’Brian for a bit.
Susanna Kearsley is another author that helps keep my head screwed on, particularly her Jacobite books. Katherine Kellgren really made them come alive in audio.
I just wish Kellgren had narrated some of the Heyer books before she died.
WaterGirl
@Suzanne: Sure! What are they about?
Gin & Tonic
Since this is about books, even though it isn’t an “Authors in our Midst” thread, I’ll note that I’ve received Jake Berman’s “Lost Subways” book, and it is everything I was hoping for and more. If he’s around, thanks, Jake.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Alison Rose: Oh Crash, you do make speeches.
Suzanne
@WaterGirl: Mr. Suzanne grew up reading the Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck comics. His two favorite artists who worked on those are Carl Barks and Don Rosa. So during the pandemic, he started a podcast about them, and he has really grown it. He gets all these guests who are artists and writers and other Duck fans (I did not know this was a thing, but it is). It’s such a niche!
Narya
Reading—nothing too dark. SF/F, non-gory murder mysteries, maybe an umpteenth reread of Tolkien. Springsteen, the Dead. Running to my running playlist—walking is fine for exercise, but I really need running to clear my brain. Watching sports.
WG, there’s apparently a site called something like “Does the dog die?” that provides the info you want.
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: High praise!
WaterGirl
@Suzanne: How fun for him!
WaterGirl
@Narya: Funny, I googled and found the site. But I got the creepy crawlies just reading all their topics for trigger warnings. Yikes! That site is definitely not for me.
I was thinking more like the TV show Without A Trace, where sometimes they found the person and they were fine, and sometimes they weren’t.
Sometimes I was okay finding out in due time, but if there was too much uncertainty in my life, I just wanted to know in advance so I could watch the figuring out process, but without the uncertainty!
Brachiator
The movies and music that most come to mind are those that energize me and are often calls to action.
But I used to pull out a translation of “The Odyssey” or re-read Joyce’s “Ulysses” because I enjoyed reading of wily Odysseus or the surprisingly resourceful Everyman Leopold Bloom as he traversed Dublin. For both men, heroism comes down to dealing with challenges and finding some degree of peace and acceptance.
Even when dealing with memories of loss and sadness, Bloom finds solace in the pull of life:
Related to all this is a short PBS Newshour feature on Emily Wilson, who most recently has produced a new translation of “The Iliad.” She is a fascinating scholar with some absolutely cool Homeric tattoos.
mvr
Back in the early aughts when the second Iraq war was still in it’s toddler stage Steve Earle, James McMurtry and lurking on this blog kept me somewhat sane. By the mid aughts it was building a cabin in the woods and those things.
Drive by Truckers and Tom Petty got me through the early part of the Trump administration (Including a kickass DBT show a few days before that guy’s inauguration. And now I listen to a good bit of Jason Isbell. And I’ve been going to concerts as much as I can. (Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra this afternoon; Wilco tomorrow night.) I’ve also taken to reading mystery fiction again. Not sure all this keeps me sane.
MagdaInBlack
I’m going to admit that my escape is pretty low brow, but I don’t care, it works. When I’ve had all I can take of the crisis and insanity of the real world, I escape to the mindless, ridiculous and unimportant: celebrity gossip. It amuses me, and as Dave Grohl said ” F guilty pleasures, if you like something fn like it” I like celebrity gossip as an escape.
Music is usually some form of blues.
AM in NC
@Misswhatsis: Aubrey-Maturin series for me too! When things are chaotic I want to visit with old friends.
I also just recently read a contemporary detective series “Bruno, Chief of Police” about a local police chief in the Perigord region of France. I am not generally a detective fiction person, but I got turned on to the Louise Penny books and then these – both series are full of great food, great settings, and interesting recurring characters. Nothing too hard to have to concentrate on, decent writing, and did I mention the food?
Narya
@AM in NC: I’m working my way through Three Pines as well.
I got about half through the Sister Fidelma novels, too, which might fit in this thread.
Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom
Comics! All of them from the smaller publishers like Top Cow. & Image. Monstress from Image by Marjorie Liu with gorgeous brilliant art by Sana Takeda is a brilliant steam punk dystopian adventure.
Stjepan Sejic also at Image is my jam. His Death Vigil is fantastic & I wish it was more successful. Fine Print is another amazing book, playing hob with mythology.
Finally, after watching the anime movie on Netflix at least 3 times, I finally got my hands on a volume of the manga of BLAME! by Tsutomu Nihei. OMGS, this is brilliant stuff. Fortunately, my library had vol. 1 because these manga are not cheap. Oh, & I’m finally going to buy that damn movie, since it’s obviously become comfort viewing, along with The Sandman & Mononoke. It appears my love for anime will never die. 😁
Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom
@Brachiator: Yes!😁 Can you believe she’s the first female translator of these monumental works? There are other bits & pieces about her on YouTube & I lurve her tattoos.
schrodingers_cat
Long walks, listening to music, drawing, coloring, painting exploring new media, writing. Watching youtube while coloring is super relaxing. I usually either watch art videos or catch up with the news in India.
Sure Lurkalot
@Brachiator: Dead thread, but Stephen Fry’s Troy audiobook is excellent as are his others…Mythos and Heroes. Greek myths and literature are great getaways for me too.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@UncleEbeneezer: I see we have similar taste in music. [I may have noticed that before in another thread. ]
For me, work has been the thing that gets me through bad times. I have been lucky that way. Music too but primarily work.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Brachiator: Thanks for mentioning Wilson’s new translation of the Iliad. I bought her Odyssey, but didn’t track her newer work. Just remedied that.
jame
I’ve got two rabbits, four ducks, and two cats – plenty of comfort, or at least distraction, from my woes. I also enjoy reading in bed, lately about ancient Egypt. If I’m really, really unhappy, and it’s something out of my control, I have to walk. Usually that helps me focus on my surroundings instead.
kalakal
walking
Listening to and playing music. Playing Blues guitar really does it for me, that and making strange noises on virtual synths.
Reading, a lot, I have a weakness for knock off fantasy that is available in huge quantities on Amazon Prime
Just lately I’ve gotten hooked on generative AI art via Nightcafe. I’m enjoying myself channeling my inner Chris Foss, Rodney Matthews, Roger Dean et al and creating images in the style of all those 70s SF and Fantasy book covers I grew up with. It does killer castles 😄
Glidwrith
What I choose when I need to stabilize varies a lot, but like many of you the common thread is something familiar, be it a book, movie, food, music or recipe that I’ve read/watched/eaten/listened to/made too many times to count. The main component is I don’t have to think, allowing myself to simply be or act on instinct. I don’t ask ‘why’, just do.
NotMax
Decent affordable cigars and alcohol. There. I said it.
Cooking also a a relaxant, in a turn off the world and putter around sense. Although after preparing anything which involves liberating pots and pans from the cabinet and/or using the oven I’m too equilibriumized to eat it the same day.
Music which has always proved a balm: Shostakovich’s 9th and Beethoven’s 3rd.
Alison Rose
@jame: I’m jealous of this menagerie.
K488
@OzarkHillbilly: Just getting back to this thread. Worked for me; hope it worked for you, too.
thruppence
Rereading Terry Pratchett, of course, and Miyazaki animated movies
Tehanu
Tolkien. After the 2004 election I re-read The Lord of the Rings for what was probably the 100th time, and then I re-read pretty much every other word he ever wrote, including the collected letters, the History of Middle-Earth, Farmer Giles, all the smaller pieces, etc. I’ve re-read LOTR again several times since then, including last year when a dear friend gave me his single-volume British edition on thin paper. I have a German edition that I’m planning to read with a dictionary next year when I retire; I studied German many years ago and I don’t really remember it, but I figure I can give it a try since I’m so familiar with the story. Also last year I finally read Tolkien’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight — I’d had it for ages but never read it — this was because I didn’t like the movie and I wanted to figure out why. Which I did, and in doing so discovered that Tolkien’s translation is, for me anyway, really lovely.
Torrey
@Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom:
With apologies for the pedantry, but in the interest of giving credit where it’s due, Caroline Alexander was the first woman to translate the Iliad into English (2016). Wilson’s translation is new this year.
Alison Rose
@Tehanu: I reread The Hobbit and LOTR a few years ago and it was so pleasant to revisit the worlds in the books. I’ve seen the LOTR movies many times, but I had only read the books a couple of times previously, in my 20s. I’d forgotten a lot about the stories and it was really nice to experience it again.
(Also Tom Bombadil 4eva)
Narya
@Tehanu: I’ve been thinking lately it’s time for the nearly-yearly reread of LOTR. And some LeGuin often helps, or select Tepper.
Tehanu
@Alison Rose:
@Narya:
Good on both of you. LeGuin, Tepper, Diane Duane, Barbara Hambly, Lois McMaster Bujold, Martha Wells — come to think of it, I might need to cuddle up with Murderbot again pretty soon!
Timill
@Tehanu:
Next Murderbot is released 11/14.
Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom
@Torrey: Whoops! My bad. Just the same, it is still startling to me that only very recently have women begun to translate these foundational works.
Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom
@Timill: The Left Hand of Darkness is a work of such profound uniqueness it still reverberates through my world view. Time for a reread!😁
eclare
@Alison Rose:
“Honey we all deserve to wear white.”
eclare
@MagdaInBlack:
I love celebrity gossip! As Miranda on SATC said, I love it, it’s my thing, let it go.
Splitting Image
Sometimes I get through tough parts by revisiting an old favourite, sometimes by experiencing something new. They both seem to work on different occasions.
Old favourites that I keep returning to:
The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine
The Pogues, especially If I Should Fall From Grace With God
Kraftwerk, especially Radio-Activity
Ellery Queen
Tolkien (Sometimes I will pick a random LOTR chapter and read from there.)
The 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice. This usually inspires me to binge on the books themselves and other Austen adaptations
An old strategy game by Koei called Bandit Kings of Ancient China. (long live that tinny Amiga music!)
Mike Oldfield, especially Ommadawn
Felt, The Splendour of Fear
Laurel and Hardy
Sid Meier’s Pirates! (another Amiga classic with 16-bit music by Bach and Handel)
Handel, The Water Music
Anything by Abba
The Byrds’ first five albums
Seconding Carl Barks’ Duck stories. I read a good many of them as a kid and they are still delightful.