watching listening.

watching:

Salt Fat Acid Heat
This is a special on Netflix, and boy, do I love it.  It's based on the book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat, and each episode features Samin explaining and exploring what each of these four elements bring to food and cooking.  My first exposure to Samin was in the Water episode of the Netflix series Cooked (which I also highly recommend).  It was true in that one episode, and it is true in this new series: Samin is so incredibly fun to watch.  She is joyful, she is smart and knowledgeable, she is not a white man (which maybe isn't the most important thing, but it's more than a breath of fresh air to see a traveling food person be a woman of color), and somehow I also derive pleasure from watching her eyes roll into the back of her head when she tastes something delicious.  In the very first episode she sips olive oil from a wine glass in Italy, and at that moment I was like, "okay, what do I have to do in my life to be able to drink olive oil from a wine glass while in Italy?"  Her book is amazing, this special is amazing, and I recommend both to everyone.
Other places I've found and loved Samin: This video and this video where she talks about using salt properly in cooking (fistfuls of salt!!!!).  Also the December 11th episode of Julia Turshen's podcast Keep Calm and Cook On.  Samin talks about her life since becoming food famous, and I loved hearing about how she navigates newfound fame while also managing her anxiety and introvertedness.  I always love finding other examples of people who are deeply introverted but are able to "turn it on" in special situations.  Kindred spirits!

Crazy Rich Asians
I'm not a big RomCom fan, but I couldn't NOT watch this.  Here's the thing about this movie: I've seen a lot of, if not all of, these scenes before: the friends eating a meal while as laughter fades and music plays, the heroine playing dress up with her friends to find that perfect outfit, and of course the ones with the disapproving family member that has the heroine dramatically leaving in tears.  None of this is new.  What was new to me was the fact that I kept finding myself saying "Oh, THAT'S familiar" and "I've heard that one before."  This was relatable to me not because I am Crazy Rich, but because I am Asian and have Asian family members.  Our mothers and grandmothers say the same things to us, and they are interactions and conversations you don't have or see in quite the same way with white people or white people's media.  More movies like this, please!

Avatar: The Last Airbender
Every once in a while Jon and I have to rewatch this series.  It is too good to not revisit again and again.  I remember watching this show as it aired with my family growing up, and Jon remembers the weekend he binged the entire series with a roommate several years ago.  I hope our kids remember when they first watch the show (and truly understand what it's about) and love it, too.  Every time I finish the series finale there's this emptiness inside of me that I can't deal with and my first instinct is to immediately start the show over.  I wish it could go on forever.  And I wish there was a prequel based entirely on Uncle Iroh.
Our favorite character is Zuko, arguably the best and most fleshed out character in the series.  Rewatching his character journey this time around has been made even more fun for me after see this tweet, in which someone states that the literal opposite of Manic Pixie Dream Girl is Depressive Demon Nightmare Boy.  As it turns out, this is a character type that actually (accidentally?) does exist, and our favorite redemption-seeking fire prince is indeed a prime example.  I think this is my official favorite character archetype now.  So thank you, Twitter Stranger, for enlightening me, giving me a concrete phrase for this kind of character, and making my life better (because every time I think of another example of a Depressive Demon Nightmare Boy, it instantly makes me happy and giddy).

The Good Place
This is the best show on television right now.  You can't convince me otherwise, and it doesn't matter that there are a million shows out there and I've seen the tiniest handful of them.  I don't even know what to say to justify my claim, but I will say that the first two seasons are on Netflix, so if you've never seen it before stop reading this and go watch it right now.  It is beyond funny, the story is so intricate and amazing, and the cast is wonderful.  It also produces some excellent gifs, which I love texting to Jon all the time (our favorite is one of Ted Danson's character trying to pump his fists).  My all-time favorite episode just aired a couple weeks ago, and all of my crossable body parts are crossed that one of the actresses in the show gets all of the recognitions she deserves for how well she acted in that episode.  Only one bad thing has come into our lives because of this show and it is this:
Replacement swear words are used in the show: fork, shirt, ash-hole.  I've adopted "fork" and use it semi-regularly around the house. (I have never said the F word out loud in front of my family).  Theo has started to say "fork" too, when he perceives that something has gone wrong for him.  The problem is, Theo's pronunciation of the work "fork" sounds very much like the actual F word, so we have a little four-year old uttering "f*ck!" various times throughout the day.  Any attempts to get him to stop saying the word or to say "dang it!" instead only increase his desire to say his version of "fork!"  Theo's off school for two weeks, and hopefully it is enough time to strike the word from his vocabulary so we don't have to make any awkward explanations to his teacher.


listening:

The Good Place The Podcast
If you do watch The Good Place and you love it, please listen to the podcast!  It is wonderful and the actors of all your favorite characters make appearances.  Each podcast episode centers on an episode of the show, and it delves into what the actors did, what the writing and filming process is like, and other behind-the-scenes goodies.  My favorite episodes are the ones where Mike Schur, the show creator, is a guest, but really each and every episode is good, and also so so funny.

B.E.R.
Earlier this year after showing Jon the OG Teen Titans show, with morbid curiosity we waded into the world of Teen Titans Go.  It is strange and funny and sometimes gross and funny and not as good as the original show but it makes us laugh.  Our favorite episode is the best one: 40% 40% 20%.  It gives us The Night Begins to Shine, an 80s-style song by B.E.R. that we've played and danced to and sung along with countless times at our house.  A four-part special from the show gives two more songs from B.E.R., and with just these three songs we laugh and sing and dance and think of all the funny parts of the show we love.  Possibly the best thing to come out this is that Theo now yells at our Echo Dot: "Alexa!  B.E.R.!!"

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
I've been listening to music from this video game that I am 10000% obsessed with for the past couple of months.  At first it was a way to try to stop myself from playing the game for the millionth hour of my life since I got it nearly two years ago (only worked for so long before I caved and started over again), but then I couldn't stop listening.  This game's soundtrack is unlike any other Zelda game I've ever played, and at first I was a little disappointed.  No Hyrule Field song as I explore on horseback?  Where's the musical instrument / baton / wolf mode where you play little magical tunes?  Truly though, BOTW's soundtrack is underrated.  It is really lovely and beautiful, just like the game itself.  My favorite is the music for Tarrey Town and how the song grows and expands as the town itself does.
Anyway, this is truly the nerdiest thing I have ever admitted to doing, but I am beyond shame and embarrassment for it.  I've decided I'm completely done with the phrase "guilty pleasure" and I'm going to stop feeling bad or embarrassed for liking the things I like.  Let's ban that phrase forever, please!