July 2024 Pop Culture Diary
This month features The Bear, Snack Shack, Snacks, Paramore, and more!
Welcome back to the second month of my pop culture diary experiment. I was thrilled to get back in the habit of writing again and enjoyed the excuse to force myself to engage with culture rather than spend the summer with the same creature comforts I have for years and years. That said, I wasn’t totally immune from revisiting some old favorites, as you will see below.
The most helpful thing for me, if you enjoy the below, is to share it with someone you think may also enjoy. I had inadvertently not disabled the paid subscription feature last month - I don’t want nor plan currently to ask for cash for this. This is a project for me primarily. My goal, more than anything, is to share what I enjoy with you and hope you find something new to try. Sharing that message with others makes me happy.
Here’s what I enjoyed in July!
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TV
The Bear Season 3 continues the show’s hot streak as probably the best thing on TV right now, but it feels very much like Season 3A and not Season 3 as a whole, complete thought. I still enjoyed myself a great deal - “Tomorrow” and “Napkins” are two of the best episodes the series has ever released - but if you’re not already deep into the show (and likely have watched it all by the time you read this) I would almost recommend just waiting until Summer 2025 for the complete thought of this story to be finished.
Earlier this year I read Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends and enjoyed it with some issues. Having now seen the 2022 mini-series, I had most the same issues follow over to the show. For one, hilariously, Frances (Allison Oliver) and Nick (Joe Alwyn) have perhaps the least subtle affair in the history of television, going as far as to call it an affair in writing. But I felt cold through most the story, never getting the spark Normal People provided by comparison. It’s a sluggish 12 episodes that could have comfortably been 8. Surprisingly, it’s also not on Hulu anymore, despite being a much publicized follow-up to Normal People. If you can’t find it on their platform, you’re not alone.
Months of bugging my wife have paid off! We’ve jumped into Curb Your Enthusiasm - one of my favorite shows, but one I fell off of when it returned from a 6-year hiatus for Seasons 9-12. Revisiting Season 1 from 2000, I am shocked how much of a finished product the show is from the jump. Slightly more shaggy than its peak, but unlike, say The Office or Parks & Rec, Curb knows exactly what it is from the jump and only tightens more into form. Highlight of Season 1 is, for me, the waking nightmare of trying to get a prescription filled all night long in episode 109.
I have a vivid memory of stumbling upon a multi-day Ninja Warrior tournament on G4 as a kid and becoming enthralled with the original Japanese obstacle course series. I’ve never fallen for the American version, which always felt a bit overproduced compared to the original’s more bare, challenging aesthetic. I have found a YouTube channel that condenses the tournaments into 15ish minute recaps, and though I can’t understand a single word of it, I am enthralled. Daisuke Nakata failing out on the same obstacle in three consecutive tournaments doesn’t need narration to be compelling.
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FILM
Snack Shack! After months of hearing praise for this throwback gem, we finally threw it on for a lazy Sunday afternoon. It was charming, hilarious, and dare I say it made me nostalgic for the childhood of the early nineties that I never had, as I was born 3 years after the film’s 1991 setting. It’s a fun premise - two enterprising friends take over the community pool snack shack - with tried and true plotting - there’s a new girl in town, and she has both of their hearts - that ends up being a great time. Casting is great, but I am willing to own that this, not The Fablemans(!) was when I realized Gabriel LaBelle has It. Give me LaBelle stock pronto.
Got a chance to watch Federer: Twelve Final Days on a plane and found myself desperately wanting to see Roger Federer roll up into a Waffle House. This dude lives the most suave and opulent life, it would be hilarious to see him somewhere that isn’t manicured to perfection. I was glad this was a focused doc - it’s exactly what it says, this is not the Federer retrospective doc, but a slice of life for him retiring - but it did leave me excited for what will eventually come. This is largely drama free given that Fed is both completely okay with retirement and seemingly beloved by his most heated of rivals. Lightweight but successful.
I’d feel more conflicted about calling Alex Edelman: Just For Us a film were it not an hour and a half. But it’s a stand-up special that very much earns the extra run time. I’m a sucker for the one-man-show, one story with jokes peppered in style of special - it will shock nobody to see Mike Birbiglia executive producing a show that shares his stylings - and this is among the strongest I’ve seen in some time. A central story - Edelman, who is Jewish, attends a white supremacist meeting in NYC for, in a word, the bit - that absolutely supports the entire show hanging off of it. Razor sharp, laugh out loud funny, and decidedly self-critical in the best way.
I have not totally given up on the MCU, still showing up and doing my part to support the project even while seeing the quality falter from past highs. Deadpool and Wolverine is fun, but for the first time I noticed myself feeling like even my hold was falling. Then Robert Downey Jr. was announced as Dr. Doom and NEVER IN DOUBT WE ARE SO BACK YES I AM PROBABLY DELUSIONAL BUT I'M STILL HERE BABY.
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MUSIC
I caught up on Bandsplain’s episode on Paramore, diving right into Yasi Salek talking about one of my favorite bands for north of 3 hours. That prompted me to listen back through their entire discography and fall right down a wormhole for a day. Yasi is amazing, and this podcast is a delight. Below, Paramore’s albums ranked, with my favorite song from each:
Self-Titled - (One of Those) Crazy Girls
After Laughter - Hard Times
This Is Why - Running Out of Time
Riot - Misery Business
Brand New Eyes - All I Wanted
All We Know - Here We Go
I had “Slither” come on shuffle this month and remembered this being the first music video that ever scared the hell out of me. I think it was Scott Weiland looking ghostly white in a catacomb that actively gave me the creeps as a VH1 watching 10 year old in 2004. 20 years later I have largely come around on Velvet Revolver and their component parts of Guns N’ Roses and Stone Temple Pilots.
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READING
Continuing my summer trend of food-media consumption, I listened to the audiobook of David Chang’s 2020 memoir Eat A Peach. Chang is likely my favorite chef on Earth, and LA’s Majordomo is my favorite restaurant, so I come in with baggage to the positive here. I found the whole book to be way more open, reflective, and honest - Chang is very candid about his struggles with mental health and identity - than I ever would have anticipated. Meant exclusively as a compliment, this is Kitchen Confidential with extensive therapy.
I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I not only read every word of The Ringer’s ranking of every Entourage episode, but I could recall the majority of episodes individually when skimming entries. I haven’t watched the series again since moving to LA, in part because some of the stories age horribly, but I can’t help myself from knowing this is one of my guiltiest pleasures. I am absolutely all in on Cord Jefferson’s reboot pitch.
I loved the Conan O’Brien profile in the New York Times from Jason Zinoman, and have been greatly enjoying the Conan Appreciation Tour this year following his turn on Hot Ones. Between Late Night, The Simpsons, Conan on TBS, and the ripples of his comedy worldwide, I am not sure there’s someone more impactful to my sense of humor than Conan outside of my dad in the world. Though not in the piece, please take a chance to watch his Old Timey Baseball remote.
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GRAB BAG
Accidentally ended up re-watching the majority of Dragon Ball Z: Abridged on YouTube. I am firmly, forever in the camp that I prefer this fan-made parody - that is basically a concentration of the best parts of the series with a significantly less serious tone - is better than the original source material.
I adore Zapp’s Voodoo potato chips and may contend that they’re the best chip on the market. They also make a pretzel stick with Voodoo seasoning - think BBQ + Salt & Vinegar - that is delicious, even if it did briefly eliminate my ability to taste anything for a few hours. If they put a punch of flavor in, said punch is being thrown by Prime Mike Tyson.
I think I have eaten a Barebells protein bar every morning for breakfast for something like 6 weeks now. My wife Laura introduced me to the brand and they immediately became my favorite protein bar. Really interesting flavor combinations - Chocolate Dough being the standout - with a candy-bar like crunch to the coating. Very easy to eat while merging lanes on the 101 in LA - 10/10.