Let It Be Sunday

[H]ello my friends.  Today is the Winter Solstice which means… some of you are having parties and dressing up as your spirit animals, some of you are celebrating the new moon and the shortest day of the year, and some of your are holiday shopping like mad.  I hope there’s a lot of spirit animal gathering… just because that sounds the most fun.

The whole wide world is happening around us.  Here’s a glimpse at the world last week.  I read the Internet and this is what it told me:  

•  These are the worst words:  Taliban Massacres Students In Pakistan.  You know what would be much better?  Things like this not happening… that’s too much to ask I suppose. 

•  Earlier this year there was a celebrity-endorsed hashtag about the young girls being kidnapped in Nigeria by a terror group called Boko Haram.  Remember that?  They’re still missing and this is still a very big problem.  At Year’s End, Where Are Nigeria’s Kidnapped Girls? 

•  Remember earlier this year when Russia was like… YOU’RE MINE NOW CRIMEA!  And we were like… WHERE IS CRIMEA AND NOOO RUSSIA YOU CAN’T DO THAT!  And we sanctioned the heck out of them, and it didn’t matter, and we continued to talk smack about their kinda crappy Olympics, and that didn’t really matter either, and basically Putin was doing whatever he wanted which included a lot of bare-chested shows of force?  Well… it’s all catching up with Russia in a big way as the value of the ruble is in the dumps, big time.  But!  Let’s not forget we’re all connected.  Global economy.  It’s complicated.   Five Reasons You Should Care About Russia’s Falling Ruble. 

•  We really need to talk about the Serial Podcast finale.  Spoiler alert.  Look away now if you haven’t listened to the last episode.  Ok.  So things don’t always end neatly wrapped with a pretty bow…  especially real-life situations.  Satisfaction is elusive. That being said… WHAT THE HECK SERIAL PODCAST YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!  You mean to tell me that you’re for-real going to introduce the possibility of a serial killer in Have Min Lee’s murder during the very last episode and just leave it at that?  HOW HOW HOW does that account for Jay knowing where the car was located?  WHY would Jay make up that entire story if he had nothing to do with the murder?  No no no no no. No.  No.  What are you even doing?  I can’t with you right now.  I really just can’t.  

What did we really learn from the Serial Podcast.  It’s this:  there may or may not have been a pay phone inside the Best Buy… there probably was.  Don’t give your cell phone and/or car to anyone named Jay.  Stephanie knows something.  Don seems chill.  Adnan is still in prison.  What the heck is going on(?). 

•  Let’s talk about why podcasting is so delicious.   Towards a Critical Theory of Podcasting.  “Podcasts embody what is arguably the essential promise of the Internet: a means for surprising, revealing, and above all ennobling encounters with people, things, and ideas we didn’t know.”  That’s it exactly!  It’s the surprise!  

•  This particular episode of WTF with Mark Maron is 100% surprising.  It’s NUTS.  WTF Podcast with comedian Ms. Pat.   

•  Let’s talk about food.  This pie looks like exactly everything I’ve ever wanted:  Mississippi Bourbon Mud Pie 

•  Has travel become another exercise in narcissism?  Maybe kinda we’re the worst.   

•  My Family Love Story, by Seth Rogan This heartfelt and honest piece comes just as Sony Pictures shelves the release of that Rogan and Franco North Korean spoof The Interview.  On one hand, Sony’s shelving of the movie is like… YAWN Who even cares!?  On the other hand, we’re talking about a cyber attack and threats that coerced a major studio to lose a lot of money.  That’s unprecedented… that’s totally not what Americans do… and George Clooney makes some excellent points.

•  100 Most Important Cat Pictures Of All Time.  As if you’re NOT going to click on this.   

Let’s go to Cuba.  For real tho.  

Happy Sunday.

xo Joy