labour day readers’ advisory: books and movies that celebrate labour
I spoke to a customer yesterday who was visiting from Denmark. He described himself as a trade-unionist, and he came to the library, looking for me, to learn about our…
what i’m watching
we movie to canada 2015-16. this year there’s a part 2.
From the I Have Too Much Going On, Systems Are Breaking Down department, this year's we move to canada awards omitted a big chunk of viewing. I was very surprised…
further thoughts on himym
A few weeks ago, I blogged about watching "How I Met Your Mother," a show that has been a huge surprise to me. At the time, I thought the show…
we movie to canada: wmtc annual movie awards, 2015-16 edition
I'm posting my annual movie awards later and later every year. I'm also watching fewer movies, because I'm watching more TV shows. When I come home on Friday or Saturday,…
14 thoughts on watching how i met your mother (first time through so no spoilers please!)
I was watching MASH when Netflix pulled the plug on our VPN. I found a new VPN... but now MASH is gone. One day I hope to finish the end-to-end…
call me lucky: a hilarious, heartbreaking, and inspiring movie
Barry Crimmins might be the most famous person you've never heard of.In "Call Me Lucky," a documentary tribute to Crimmins created by Bobcat Goldthwait, an A-list of comics talk about…
m*a*s*h re-watch update: still funny and other observations
Back in August, I started re-watching M*A*S*H end to end on Netflix. I promised updates… and here we are. (tl;dr: it’s great.) Random thoughts below. A huge number of M*A*S*H…
thoughts on re-watching m*a*s*h, one of the greatest tv shows of all time
Can the comedy-before-sleep slot be filled with overt social and political relevance? We’ll soon find out. After struggling through the last seasons of 30 Rock, I’ve rewarded myself by starting…
we movie to canada: wmtc annual movie awards, 2014-15 edition
Thanks to everything-on-demand media, and no thanks to my schedule that doesn’t permit me nearly enough time for baseball, Movie Season now runs all year, at least marginally. These annual…
everything is political: bewitched and "george washington zapped here"
You may recall that my current comedy-before-bed TV sleep aid is a sitcom from my childhood: “Bewitched”. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying watching its ridiculous, predictable humour and sometimes surprising messaging.…
two random observations arising from watching a tv show from my childhood
In September, I blogged about watching “Bewitched” on Netflix as my “comedy before sleep” show. I’m still watching it, sometimes taking as many as three nights to get through one…
we like lists: things we learn from tv detective and murder mystery shows
If you enjoy detective shows, murder mysteries, and legal dramas, you learn a lot of things that don’t necessarily reflect reality. Here are some things you may learn from these…
thoughts arising from the death of a defender of free speech
This week’s obituaries included the last living link to two landmark moments in the history of freedom of expression. Al Bendich was just two years out of law school when…
wmtc movie and series season now open: your suggestions are welcome
Baseball season was painfully short for Red Sox fans this year. When your team wins a grand total of 71 games it’s a chore to watch, and I gave up…
amazing but true: mlb does the right thing and increases fans’ access to the postseason
The biggest surprise of the 2014 baseball postseason isn’t the absence of both the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. It isn’t the Baltimore Orioles, making the postseason…
we like lists: list # 20: top ten reasons we love our favourite cult show or movie
For those who want the question with no context: Do you love a cult show or movie? What movie and why? List at least 10 reasons. (I wish everyone would…
sexism, magic, and pre-famous cameos: watching "bewitched" on netflix
The best use of TV, for me, is as a sleep aid. But I never thought I’d revisit comedies from my early childhood. I’ve watched a bit of comedy in…
we movie to canada: wmtc annual movie awards, 2013-14 edition
It’s time, once again, for the wmtc annual movie awards. To recap, my silly rating systems so far: – Canadian musicians and comedians (2006-07 and 2007-08)– my beverage of choice…
some thoughts on emily brontë’s wuthering heights
Cover of 1943 Random Houseedition with woodcut illustrations Emily Brontë published Wuthering Heights in 1847, under a pseudonym. Brontë died the following year, at age 30. It was the only…
shirley temple black, breast cancer activist, former child star, 1928-2014
Shirley Temple and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson Growing up watching old movies, I was a big fan of Shirley Temple, whose dimples, singing, and tap-dancing charmed my parents’ generation. Temple danced…