“How Are We Distracting Ourselves From Reality Now???” (Or HAWDOFRN, for short) chat/therapy group!

[GrahamS. 803]

I’ve gotten a little tired of trying to think of a Movie of the Week, especially since we all have so many choices. I created this thread for anyone to talk about anything they want. It could be about movies, books, games, etc. people have been escaping into. The materials could be “good” or “bad.” Hopefully this thread will prompt discussions about stuff that’s out there. Or it could just be a safe space to rant about someone who sneezed near your groceries. 

[GrahamS. 803]

Ok, I just rewatched Clueless for Unspooled and thought it would be fun (I watched it many years ago). But I fucking hated it. As someone who was a teen and twenty-something in the 90s, I thought the film mostly consisted of painfully dated 90s references that weren’t funny. Plus, I didn’t find any of the characters’ ultra upper-class problems compelling in any way because they weren’t really developed as people. I am interested in what they’ll say about it on Monday’s live stream.

 

[GrahamS. 803]

Also, for stuff that I’m reading: The Hunger, a historical fiction horror novel about the Donner party (BTW, demons play a role here and the cannibalism is not really on the menu as much as you might think). It’s really good and has the added benefit of making me realize how relatively lucky it is that I wasn’t born in pioneering times and that I wasn’t a member of the Donner Party. 

[GrahamS. 803]

Just watched Juliet, Naked, a romantic comedy with Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke and Chris O’Dowd. Genuinely enjoyable! On Hulu.

[TheeCupcakeKid 25]

This morning I had the TV on while I worked from home and had the volume turned all the way down. I usually put it on a movie that I have seen, and let it play without the volume on so I can answer phones. It was left on the news, and it was so depressing. It was all about COVID-19, shootings, kidnappings, deaths, etc. I could not take it any more and I could not even hear it, and was not truly watching. I immediately texted my hair girl and told her that my hair had gotten long enough for a ponytail (!), and I needed to get it cut and colored my usual blonde with rose gold highlights as soon as possible. I told her I needed extra pink because I really, really need happy hair right now. 

[TheeCupcakeKid 25]

This is a great topic you set up! I know I can have lots of posts throughout the day, I hope no one minds. I am also in an online book club focused on horror right now.

[GrahamS. 803]

2 hours ago, Autumn H. said:

This is a great topic you set up! I know I can have lots of posts throughout the day, I hope no one minds. I am also in an online book club focused on horror right now.

Thank you! Sweet! I know everyone is processing our time with the coronavirus differently and can all use an outlet. Sorry you’re having a rough time with the news today—I think we’re all having a rough time with it. Personally, I’m taking a vacation from it this week. I hope you get your happy hair!

I hope everyone feels free to post As much or little as they want, (about whatever they want). Autumn, I’m glad you replied so it didn’t feel like I was rambling to myself (a thought that has occurred more than once). The horror book club sounds fun—horror is one of my favorite genres. I’ve recently gotten Into reading horror novels by women. The Hunger was the first, currently working on The Shining Girls. Both are really good. What are you reading?

[GrahamS. 803]

Also, for people who want a podcast that combines laughs, feelings and therapy, I HIGHLY recommend Staying In with Emily and Kumail. And this one, of course!

[TheeCupcakeKid 25]

I am in The Horror Virgin Podcast group we are on FB and there is a new episode every week. It is hilarious. And we started a Book Club that goes with it. Right now we are reading The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. We read The Troop last time. In May we will read a book that has been made into a movie or TV show, and June will be Blockbusters, so something maybe like Jaws. 

[Omaxem 232]

This week:

  - I won't be making half my salary for April and May, i'll be making a third of my salary for April and May.

 - My bedroom now looks like this:

[GrahamS. 803]

On 4/27/2020 at 7:23 AM, Omaxem said:

This week:

  - I won't be making half my salary for April and May, i'll be making a third of my salary for April and May.

 - My bedroom now looks like this:

Sorry about your job/salary. 

Your bedroom looks much cleaner (and brighter and greener!) than mine right now. I’m still in my “I’ll dump this shit over here and pick it up later” phase.

[GrahamS. 803]

Been awhile since I posted here. I am lucky to have my parents two blocks away from me, so I have family to spend time with, although I am also pretty much the only person they see in person every day, so it’s overwhelming sometimes. Our entertainment tastes don’t exactly match (my dad) could spend the whole evening watching the news/PBS shows like Father Brown), so it’s a bit of a chore finding something that entertains everyone equally. I’ve done a decent job, but suggestions are always welcome....

what we’ve been watching recently: 

Schitt’s Creek—we’re new to this one, but enjoying it.

The Blues Brothers (holds up surprisingly well)

Stumptown

Pain and Glory (the latest Almodovar, which was quite good)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (unfortunately the season seems to have halted)

Too many TV shows that we’ve started, are good, but have a hard time feeling compelled to continue (Mrs. America, Ramy, Dead to Me). If there are any particularly great episodes of these, I might keep going).

If it were up to me, I’d juice it up with thrillers or pulpier shit, but I have to appeal to people who are in their 70s. I know this isn’t really a problem—world being what it is—but it is....mundane 

I think the new Kumail Nanjiani movie is on tonight, maybe we’ll watch that....

[GrahamS. 803]

I am also dealing with the stress of not knowing where I’ll be working next school year, or what it will look like, so I do have more urgent things going on then “what will we watch tonight?” Just to clarify. 
 

 

[theworstbuddhist 572]

36 minutes ago, GrahamS. said:

Been awhile since I posted here. I am lucky to have my parents two blocks away from me, so I have family to spend time with, although I am also pretty much the only person they see in person every day, so it’s overwhelming sometimes. Our entertainment tastes don’t exactly match (my dad) could spend the whole evening watching the news/PBS shows like Father Brown), so it’s a bit of a chore finding something that entertains everyone equally. I’ve done a decent job, but suggestions are always welcome....

what we’ve been watching recently: 

Schitt’s Creek—we’re new to this one, but enjoying it.

The Blues Brothers (holds up surprisingly well)

Stumptown

Pain and Glory (the latest Almodovar, which was quite good)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (unfortunately the season seems to have halted)

Too many TV shows that we’ve started, are good, but have a hard time feeling compelled to continue (Mrs. America, Ramy, Dead to Me). If there are any particularly great episodes of these, I might keep going).

If it were up to me, I’d juice it up with thrillers or pulpier shit, but I have to appeal to people who are in their 70s. I know this isn’t really a problem—world being what it is—but it is....mundane 

I think the new Kumail Nanjiani movie is on tonight, maybe we’ll watch that....

If you have access to them on BBC America or some similar network, I highly recommend everything to do with Inspector Morse, which at this point encompasses three TV series (Inspector Morse, Inspector Lewis, and Endeavour) and hours of excellent acting. Also enjoy the Miss Fisher mysteries from Australia (two TV series and a film, so far) and a series called Fortitude starring Stanley Tucci, Michael Gambon and a bunch of other ppl. Hot Ones on Youtube is weirdly fun. Masterchef Australia, again if you have access to it, is surprisingly compelling and structured quite differently from the American version.

[theworstbuddhist 572]

If people are still looking for recommendations, I've been enjoying the new podcast by Joel McHale and Ken Jeong, The Darkest Timeline. As you might expect there is a lot of Community related content, but even if you're not into that show there's a lot of funny stuff. For example, the following stretch of the latest episode where Pedro Pascal talks about his dad taking him to some HDTGM fodder in the late 70s.