Books
The Last Lion Winston: Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932, by William Manchester: I went on vacation last month, and needed a vacation book. At almost 900 pages, the first volume in Manchester’s biography of the 20th century’s most famous drinker was the perfect choice. In addition to detailing Churchill’s early life, it paints a colorful picture of the British Empire at its ripe apex, and of the years where it was just beginning to spoil. Dripping with delectable anecdotes and interspersed with author’s reflections so articulate that they are basically poetry, it’s so rich and complex that you could pour it into a heavyset glass with a cube of ice. Best enjoyed by a crackling fire (my vacation was to Canada).
Podcasts
House of Carbs: I’m a Ringer fanboy and I’ve always loved listening to Joe House fulminate about some great meal he had recently in between defiant stands on behalf of the dignity of my beloved Washington Wizards, so I was always going to give House’s new food podcast a shot. It’s pretty silly, but given that House is a finance dude of some kind who only got a podcast because he’s college buddies with Bill Simmons, it’s not half bad. Give it a try if you want to hear famous food people describe their last meal or hear House’s preposterous gluttony lifestyle recommendations. Take the host’s advice and don’t listen hungry.
Movies
Dunkirk: From the moment I heard Chris Nolan was making a movie about Dunkirk, I was all in, and I wasn’t disappointed. If you like movies at all, go see it. Music, cinematography, (lack of) dialogue, acting, it all works together to make you feel the desperation of those men on that beach, and also maybe to reflect on how insane it is that World War II actually happened (please let’s not do that again). I was sitting in the middle and had the bucket of popcorn in my lap, which was a bad thing, because for the first 30 minutes I couldn’t stop stress-eating.
TV
The Crown: It’s the slow TV movement meets prestige drama. I’m only halfway through the first season, but so far, there has not been a single genuinely tense moment. That’s fine with me–it’s a pleasure to watch such expensively produced scenes from postwar Britain and well-acted portrayals of famous people from that time without worrying about the typical death and betrayal.
Game of Thrones: Speaking of which, Thrones is back. And I’m enjoying it, but not nearly as much as I’m enjoying hearing Mallory and Jason talk about it on Binge Mode. It’s really exciting to see major characters meet who haven’t met before and watch the plot convergence that we’ve all waited too long for speed up. But most things that happen aren’t shocking anymore, because the showrunners just don’t have the talent that George RR Martin had for layering rich crusts of foreshadowing while still surprising the shit out of you. By which I mean, every shocking thing that happens, I’m really not that shocked by it, because it’s usually been foreshadowed pretty obviously. (Watch them prove me wrong this week). Also, while I’m still hopeful that the showrunners will answer all the major questions of the ASOIAF universe, I have an aching suspicion that major things are going to be left out – and that some basic facts about the universe or its timeline will be altered from GRRM’s vision. And given that he may never finish the books, that would make me very sad. I wanna know what the deal was with the Doom of Valyria and the Tragedy at Summerhall! And Quaithe, and Asshai by the Shadow! Yeah, wishful thinking.