Packing is exhausting.
Pop Culture Ephemera
- Carl Hiaasen – Razor Girl (2016) (Published by Alfred A. Knopf): “In his love life Yancy specialized in devising scenarios that could lead only to unwise decisions.” This is the second book in the Andrew Yancy saga (the first being Bad Monkey). I’m reading this out of order since I have the first one too fresh in my mind from the Apple+ adaptation. If this becomes the second season, this will be better than the first story. The plot revolves around a woman who performs scams by causing car accidents while shaving her nether regions. This time it sets forth a series of events that include Hollywood agent Lane Coolman and his star client, Buck Nance. Buck, the star of Bayou Brethren (a hilarious satire of Duck Dynasty), is hiding out in Key West after an ill-timed viral video of him in the midst of a racist rant in a local bar makes him a wanted man. There’s a murder, Yancy’s battle against a new neighbor, and the usual Hiaasen comic relief of bodyguards and mobster as the most emotional of the characters. I don’t often stray from the Skink novels, but this caper is just pure fun. I hope the adaptation doesn’t stray too far, including the hilarious last quarter of the book.
- Happy Days – “The Howdy Doody Show” (1975) (S.2 E.17) (ABC): “Say, kids, what time is it?” – Buffalo Bob. Richie enters a Howdy Doody Lookalike Contest to try to get a picture of Clarabelle without his makeup. The picture creates an ethical dilemma for Richie. It’s interesting because this starts to set up Richie’s ongoing desire to be a journalist. This episode appears to be quite divisive among the fans of the show. It’s corny to bring in Howdy Doody, I will concede that point. There are some wonderful moments. Any episode where Richie ends up in a situation feeling uncomfortable is a good one. The look on Richie’s face when he’s sitting with the other younger children at the Lookalike Contest is one of my favorite moments of Season Two. The show is still on the rise at this point, and they are learning to balance comedy with dramatic moments to give it gravitas.
- Simple Minds – “Someone Somewhere in the Summertime” (1982) (from New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84): “Moments burn, slow burning golden nights / Once more see city lights, holding candles to the flame.” This has always been in my Simple Minds Top Five. I saw them in concert a couple of weeks ago, and it’s the one song that’s been emblazoned in my mind ever since. Technically their third single, it solidified their place in the new wave punk genre. Jim Kerr’s voice sits back deeper in the mix than I remember. Bringing forth that keyboard and guitar was a feature of some of my favorite bands of the ’80s. The weather is warm. Turn this up.
- The Phoenician Scheme (2024) (Directed by Wes Anderson): “Let’s communicate.” – Zsa-Zsa Korda. I really enjoyed the layered movie within a play within a movie levels of Asteroid City (2023). This new film simplifies the meta elements and pares down the plot. It borders on being cartoonish at points, and it’s relentlessly unserious throughout. Benicio Del Toro as Zsa-Zsa created an unforgettable character that ranks high among the Wes Anderson quirky characters. The triangle that Anderson is such a fan of portraying is filled out with his daughter played by Mia Threapleton and Michael Cera as Bjorn. Cera threatens to out shine even Del Toro with his equally deadpan humor. The scheme isn’t exactly clear to me. I’m not sure that’s even important other than we know that Zsa-Zsa is looking for redemption in the eyes of his daughter. This isn’t my favorite Anderson film and probably won’t be yours either. It is a fun entry to his filmography. If you walk away with anything, remember Zsa-Zsa’s motto – “If something gets in your way, flatten it.”
- Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning (2025) (Directed by Christopher McQuarrie): “Our lives are not defined by any one action. Our lives are the sum of our choices.” – Luther Stickell. Now fully in control of the series, McQuarrie directs his own “Mission: Impossible as written by Tom Clancy” spy film. I’m not saying that this isn’t a good film. What I was left with is that this is a film that is more about the movie-going experience than telling a logical, thoughtful story. The film suffers from too much self awareness that it’s the last one in the series. It starts slowly trying to catch the viewer up from the previous film. Then it stops too often to remember back to the previous entries to try to tie the series into a singular continuity that no one else asked for. The AI called “The Entity” is going to destroy mankind. That’s it. That’s the plot. It shouldn’t take three hours to get to the conclusion. I’m a fan of the series, but this one loses the thread too often. If you can overcome those bloated scenes, it’s just fun to watch Cruise run, jump, and die about three different times.
Best of the Rest
- I don’t know much about David Guetta other than familiarity with a couple of tunes. This single was released in the United States in 2007. The sample of Simple Minds “Someone Somewhere in the Summertime” is well placed. The BPM gives the sample a little more of a drive than the ethereal feel of the original. It works here, and you can’t help but bop your head.
- Entertainment Weekly (3/28/97): “Best Commercials of All-Time” #17: Chevy “Boy Meet Impala” (1958): “What a gal! What a night! What a car!” This commercial is before my time and just about before anyone-reads-this’ time. A $1 million campaign was huge for the late ’50s. Chevy needed to find a connection with the youth market. They were seen as “your father’s car.” They hit upon an ad that struck a chord of passing on the Chevy from dad to son. The boy looks ashamed of his hot rod as he’s about to take his girl to the prom. Dad offers his son the keys to the new Impala; rather a sporty choice, Dad. I just don’t have enough of an emotional connection to this old advertisement, but I respect the importance to Chevy.
- It’s become quite the year of Stephen King. Starting with The Monkey (2025) in theaters earlier this year, continuing with the new Holly book, Never Flinch, and then the recent Life of Chuck (2025). Now the small screen gets a chance with The Institute on MGM+ starting July 13th. I really enjoyed The Institute (2019) book. It’s another example of how Stephen King writes young teens really well. It should play over the course of a season as a hybrid of Firestarter, Stranger Things, and Doctor Sleep. I’m excited, but if it doesn’t work out, the film adaptation of The Long Walk will be close behind in July.
Sunday Morning Tuneage Flashback
- Sunday Morning Tuneage from 8/2/2009 was a 2009 San Diego Comic Con summary. I’m not going to go too deeply into the long piece as I get back into looking at where my life was at in the original Sunday Morning blogs. These were the days of costumes reflecting the popular films of the day. In 2007, the Con was full of pirates, 2008 brought Jokers, and 2009 was a mess of Cobra Commanders. I was more into attending panels of current/upcoming films and television in 2009. Among items I thought would be promising — Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Kick-Ass, Thirst, and Where the Wild Things Are. On the television front, I thought that The Cleveland Show (Fox) would fail, except I’d end up loving it. I predicted failure for V (ABC). Although it didn’t have huge success, it had a fun little run. I enjoyed seeing the casts of some of my favorites at the time — True Blood (HBO), Fringe (Fox), The Simpsons (Fox), and Weeds (SHO). What I take away the most is the brotherhood of those days when we had rather large groups show up for the Con. It was drinking, eating, and lots of pop-culture talk. Essentially what I do here, just with my crew. Next entry will return to the more traditional Flashback.
1975 in Review
- June – Detective Comics #448 (DC Comics): Cover by Jim Aparo. Written by Len Wein. Art by Dick Giordano. There’s a circus and Ra’s al Ghul trying to frame Batman for murders. Ra’s goal is to get Batman to join the League of Assassins. In the end, there’s a fight that causes the circus tent to collapse, and Batman chooses to save Talia al Ghul over capturing Ra’s.
- June 20 – Jaws opens in theaters nationwide. The movie became profitable in two weeks and became the #1 highest-grossing film by September 5th. It would redefine the summer season for the studios as a place for blockbusters.
- June 1 – Sport Magazine. Johnny Miller started the 1975 golf season with three victories. He made a furious push on Sunday of the Masters to challenge Jack Nicklaus and finish in second place. He was on a roll, and he would never reach that type of stretch again. I don’t imagine there was a Sport Magazine curse, but by this time, Miller was not the killer he had been just a month previous.
What the Hell Did I Put in My Mouth?
Sprite + Tea
The Arnold Palmer combination of ice tea and lemonade isn’t new and Arizona has canned the perfect version of it already. I was worried that this would just be a lame attempt at recreating the Arnold Palmer. What I got was a Sprite with a sweet aftertaste of tea. I find the combination delightful. Here’s the problem. It has become one of my favorite new sodas of the past few years. That’s not the problem. The problem is that it is loaded with sugar. So much freaking sugar. I have been enjoying it but I have to purposely limit my intake. It’s too bad.
Lay’s Bacon Grilled Cheese
It’s no surprise that these were the winners of the 2025 “Do Us a Flavor” contest. They were the safe entry in the contest this year. The chips are fine. There’s a smokey flavor that hits you first. The bacon flavor is the same that Lay’s has been using now for a few years. The cheese is a sharp cheddar that may have a little sour-cream flavor to soften the flavor. It ends up being a mediocre cheese chip with a little bacon flavor. I am less impressed with these when they do a version every summer.
Red Bull: Summer Edition
White Peach
This is one that I probably won’t think to pick up again, but it’s one of the better flavors of the summer. Red Bull has a good peach flavor in general. Their Nectarine Peach was one of their best. I don’t exactly know what the white peach should taste like, but here it’s a lighter, less sweet taste. It’s refreshing for a Red Bull drink. I can see where this would be a favorite of the dedicated energy drinker.
“Brilliant days, wake up on brilliant days
Shadows of brilliant ways will change all the time
Memories, burning gold memories
Gold of day memories change me in these times” – Simple Minds
