EPISODE 929: WELCOME TO THE MIDWEST PRINCESS BRAT PARTY
Also, a Pesto Situation with an Eggplant Thing.
Hi and welcome to Pop Culture Spirit Wow, the Substack that wants to offer some joy to add to your Monday morning caffeine intake. I’m Jim McDermott, erstwhile host and ne’er-do-well. This summer has been like a Japanese speed train. Hang on.
THE WOWND UP
Speaking of fast moving objects, there’s an object flying through space at a million miles per hour. (Just to put that in perspective, the Earth moves around the sun at a rate of 67,000 mph. Mercury goes a little more than twice that fast.) Amateur astronomers found the object using NASA imagery, and no one can figure out what exactly it is. Some think it may be a failed star, or one of the first stars ever born in our galaxy. Also very cool: It is not headed this way to destroy us! Instead, it’s going to blast right out of the Milky Way galaxy, like me blowing past that stop sign because I was too busy singing Hamilton. (Great show, bad for driving.)
Slow down, John!
Meanwhile, in But Can Tim Walz Please Fix This?, HBO is so concerned about the possibility of fan threats toward the actress playing a new character in the upcoming second season of their hit adaptation of The Last of Us video game, they’ve had to hire security to protect her. Again, she’s not been seen on the show before. HBO’s concern is based strictly on how horrible people (dudes, you know it’s dudes) were to the video game version of the character, about which, one fellow cast member has pointed out, “Just a reminder: Not a real person.”
And Billie Eilish was on Stephen Colbert doing the Colbert Questionert (below) (also sic), and got into a conversation about how orcas are attacking sailboats in the Mediterranean, to which Eilish replied, “Absolutely, as they should.”
“What do you have against sailboats?” Colbert wondered. “That’s their home,” she replied. “People talk about shark-infested waters, but dude, that’s their home though.”
It’s a fun interview (continued below). Billie Eilish is fun.
THE EVENT YOU ACTUALLY MUST ATTEND THIS WEEK IS IN NEW YORK
I realize the event most people are going to be talking about this week is happening in Chicago (see below), but if you happen to be in New York City, I have something for you. The jazz club Birdland on 46th between 8th and 10th is having its twice-annual big band week. From Tuesday to Saturday, the house’s Big Band ensemble, which normally does a one hour set at 5:30pm on Fridays, will do 2 shows each night.
I cannot overstate how tremendous it is listening to this group of musicians play. The first time I went a few months ago, it wrecked me. The music was that beautiful.
One of the band members is pianist Kenny Ascher, who I mentioned here once before a while back. Kenny is the person who wrote the music for the song “Rainbow Connection.” Sometimes he plays a stripped-down improvisational version of the song as part of their set, and if you’re lucky as to see it, you will not forget it. And even if he doesn’t, you won’t forget his playing. He’s so damn good. They all are.
Mark Miller is the band’s lead trombonist, and has composed a number of pieces and orchestrations for the band. They’re tremendous.
Here’s a song he wrote for the band called “Your Smile.”
I cannot recommend this experience enough. You know those moments when on you’re on vacation and you walk into a place you know nothing about and find yourself in one of the most special experiences of your life? This is that.
If you’re in town, come see what I’m talking about.
WELCOME TO THE DEMOCRATIC ROMCOMVENTION
The Democratic National Convention is in Chicago this week, and it sure seems a hot ticket to a big party and/or the wedding of the year.
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz released a 10-minute video interviewing each other this week, which was pretty effective not only in getting their messages out but also in showing the kind of mutual affection and interplay they have.
Here’s Harris at the beginning, upon hearing Walz talk about eating “white guy tacos.”
Here she is listening to him talk about his favorite car’s 8-track tape player.
And here she is getting Walz’s voicemail when she called him to offer him the job of vice president.
Looking forward to what hijinks these crazy kids are going to get up to this week. Personally I’m rooting for the entire convention to stop for a Chappell Roan dance break.
Also, this was on Tim Walz Fixed Your Bicycle this week, and I feel seen.
MAYBE WE JUST CHILL?
Last week I got an email from Netflix telling me that they are discontinuing my subscription plan—one screen, Standard Definition, no commercials for $9.99 a month, and putting me on the $6.99 HD plan with ads. They billed it as a big improvement for me—higher quality image at a cheaper price—but the real point here is “Netflix needs money badly.”
The pop culture impact of Netflix remains enormous, but mostly when it comes to other networks’ shows. They’re like a clearinghouse for syndication, basically an online Blockbuster. Meanwhile their own content of late seems I don’t know, okay? Not great?
Ten years ago, Netflix was the thing that everyone wanted to be, even though it had no real plan to make a profit. Strange to think that today more and more it’s just the 21st century version of ad-filled network TV.
CHURCH CHAT
Honey, I am so with you.
If you’re looking for an entertaining piece on religious stuff this week, I highly recommend Ashley McKinless’ reporting on the “Wedding of the Sea,” a ceremony held in Atlantic City each year which involves Mass in a casino, dollar bills stuck to the Virgin Mary’s dress, and a local bishop trying not to capsize (or expel his breakfast) as he’s rowed out to sea to throw a wreath of flowers. It’s a fun little piece.
I have a long overdue piece coming this week for subscribers about what it’s like to live with the vow of obedience. It’s the big finish, the Return of the Jedi to my poverty and chastity pieces. Come watch me save Darth Vader (or something)!
On Friday I’m going on vacation for 10 days, and there probably won’t be much of a peep out of me. But you never know. There may be something…
MOMENT OF WOW
Colbert ends his Questionert—his name is pronounced Col-BEAR, so they got playful and replaced “-aire” with “-ert” in questionnaire, get it?—with a fabulous question, well worth sitting with this week:
What are Five Words to Describe the Rest of Your Life?
It doesn’t have to be a sentence, it can be just five words. And I don’t know why, but I find just thinking about it to be very clarifying.
Thanks so much for reading. See you soon!