September Media
A very light month. We had the US Open up front, lots of football throughout, and with one exception I didn’t get into any shows or movies. So I’ll share some of the better, and longer, YouTube stuff I grazed upon as well. I promise to do better in October.
Movies, Shows, Etc.
Ted Lasso, season four. One episode left. I’ll save my thoughts and grade for when it completes.
Incomplete
US Open. The tennis was mostly good, especially on the women’s side. ESPN deserves credit for pouring so much time and resources into covering the tournament so thoroughly. But it felt like they made a push to ESPN-ize the event more than in the past. The thing that drove me the most nuts was coming back from a commercial break and going to their outside desk with Malika Andrews and an analyst and quickly breaking down the current match. Then they’d go back to the court and the players were two or three points into the next game. WTF??? Andy Roddick was a great addition. Caroline Wozniacki was solid with her analysis, but wasn’t the most compelling TV personality.
A for the tennis, B for ESPN
How This American Ecologist Built His Dream Life & Home in Norway. We are starting to think about our next real estate chapter. I wonder how S would react if I suggested an island in Arctic Norway.
One Man’s Alaska (1977). I had never heard of Dick Proenneke before watching this. Apparently he was kind of famous in certain circles. This video shows that he basically created the sub-genre of ASMR-y, living in the wilderness videos way before YouTube existed.
Happiness in Simple Things: My Off-Grid Hideaway, no talking. Like this one, for example.
1983: Meet the COMPUTER ADDICTS. This is amazing. Good thing we nipped that people spending more time on their computers than socializing thing in the bud back in the Eighties!
I’m sailing ALONE towards the North Pole! - Chapter 1. Beau Miles got Covid, thus didn’t release a long-form video this month. I needed a series to follow, and came across this Norwegian’s journey, sailing from the west coast of his native land to the Arctic. Not as silly as Beau but I’m going to stick with it. Sailboats are cool.
The Strange Radio Signal Coming From an Abandoned Factory. Pirate radio? Some weird abandoned transmitter that carries on by itself? A deadman switch to launch the nukes if our government gets taken out? No, the answer isn’t nearly that cool, and this video takes too long to get to there, but it is an interesting explanation for this “mystery” signal.
The Present. A powerful, and beautiful, film about an activist/adventurer doing his best to raise awareness about Huntington’s disease.
A Surf Trip to a Remote Island in Alaska’s Deadly Bering Sea. Apparently the YouTube algorithm has tapped into my reading history. A week after reading Nearshore, which had a surfer as its main character and featured a chapter in which he and a buddy surfed in Alaska, this popped into my feed. Gorgeous video, so I won’t complain too much.