Ganache Mish Mosh
Once again I bring you an article replete with mini reviews of the pop culture I have been checking out, places of interest I have visited and more. It’s time for your semi regular dose of Mish Mosh, open wide.
Seth McFarlane does the impossible and returns for a second season of a show that just about everyone had committed to an early death when it premiered in late 2017. The reason for it’s renewal may heavily lay in the fact that yes, he makes a ton of money for FOX with Family Guy, and they probably want to keep him happy to an extent. I would like to think that it is more along the lines that over the course of the first season, The Orville proved to be a well written show that not only pays homage to McFarlane’s beloved Star Trek, but also blazes it’s own continuity with focus on strong characterization. The key to my liking of the show is that it is not what I originally feared it would be; Family Guy in space. Particularly the in your face and often needlessly crude humor of that show. Nope, here the writers give us mostly straightforward sci fi stories that could fit easily into a show with no focus on humor, yet they pepper in doses of jokes in moderation too. The second season premiere focused on the yearly ritual of one of the alien crewmembers….umm urinating. Yup, the episode’s framework plot revolved around bringing a character to his home world to pee. Yet when the scene played out, it was done in sincerity, and managed to show the camaraderie these characters have developed too. If you balked at The Orville for any reason and did not give it a chance, I recommend it heartily. It is one of the very few shows I look forward to on a weekly basis, and hope it sticks around a while longer.
I just finished the 4th volume of Neil Gaiman’s classic Vertigo comic series Sandman, and I hate myself. Why? Why did I sit on this? Everyone told me. I knew! Well, better late than never right? Four volumes in, and I am continuously amazed. The writing, the art, which is extremely fluid, as many artists worked on this volume and series are top notch. Matt Wagner and Kelley Jones are two of the pencillers, each known for their own differing styles and each page begs to be fawned over. Morpheus travels to Hell to free a soul he condemned there thousands of years ago only to find that Lucifer has put in his 2 weeks notice. Freeing the damned and bequeathing the key to Hell to Morpheus, Lucifer sets up the events that this volume are rooted in. Between Morpheus hosting potential new rulers of Hell at his castle, to an interlude about a young boy stuck over winter break at his suddenly very haunted boarding school, this volume is as good as and as different as the ones that have come before. I am not even afraid to admit that the way that Dream repays the soul he foolishly committed to the pit and millennia of torture and the pages depicting his “gift”made me cry a bit. If you read comics and have not dug into Sandman, listen to me and get on it. I’ll even go one step further and say that if you have never read a comic or even dislike the medium, but love great storytelling, read this book. Read it.
I was recently mocked while trying to discuss my love for this book on an upcoming podcast by known music aficionado Sir Jon. You know the guy who never wants to do any of our music related episodes? Well you know what they say about haters. Anyways, The Beastie Boys have been a favorite of mine for many years, and this book is an incredible damn thing. I liked the Boys enough when I first heard their License To Ill album when I was in 6th grade circa 1986, and remember them floating back around into the spotlight with the videos for Hey Ladies and Shadrach hitting heavy rotation on MTV a few years later. It was not until their 3rd album, Check Yo Head came out in 1992 while I was in my junior year of high school that I fully realize the genius these guys possessed. From that moment until now, I have loved this group, and been very interested in their artistry and personalities. MCA passed in 2012 after a battle with cancer and as a musical group, the Beasties ceased to exist. As friends and collaborators though, Adrock and Mike D have continued on and preserved more of the legacy with this book. Perfect to read in chunks, it is made up of photos, essays, faux Hip Hop report cards, a comic book and more. I cannot describe it any better than if you are a fan of these guys, you need this book in your life.
That is all for right now folks, keep checking in on the site and tuning in to both the radio show and podcast to hear more suggestions from me and the rest of the Six Pack!
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