Trump is back. Sam Kuffel is gone. FEMA is next. Plus: ‘Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg’ (2024), ‘Roy Wood Jr.: Lonely Flowers’ (2025), and ‘A Real Pain’ (2024).
comedy
Another Week: Number 102
Hair and nails over 50, Cyber Monday deals, ‘My Effin’ Life,’ by Geddy Lee, ‘Cape Fear’ (1962), ‘Jim Gaffigan: The Skinny’ (2024)
Another Week: Number 71
White-crowned Sparrows have stopped by for their annual visit. Plus: ‘STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces’ (2024), and ‘Sergeant York’ (1941).
Another Week: Number 53
Finishing out 2023 in our living room, ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio’ (2022), ‘Gary Gulman: Born on Third Base’
Another Week: Number 49
Amy now on Piqray and attempting finger-sticks, ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On’ (2021), ‘The ABC’s of Book Banning’ (2023), Trump calls for government crackdown on the free press, ‘Kyle Kinane: Shocks and Struts’
Another Week: Number 46
No chemo this week because Amy is anemic; ‘Quiz Lady’ (2023), ‘American Symphony’ trailer, ‘Austin City Limits’: Margo Price/Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, ‘Albert Brooks: Defending My Life’ (2023)
Another Week: Number 42
Amy in the hospital all week: low platelets and edema replace headaches and vomiting; Tracy Morgan: ‘Takin’ It Too Far,’ Neal Young: ‘Comes a Time.’
Another Week: Number 39
Some uplifting cancer results, ‘Dark Winds‘: Season 1, ‘Daisy Jones & the Six,’ ‘Theater Camp’ (2023), Dua Lipa in Conversation With Patti Smith, Author of ‘Just Kids’
Another Week: Number 31
Caged for a week; Celsius Sparkling Orange caffeinated water; superseding indictment of Donald Trump, ‘Jim Gaffigan: Dark Pale.’
Another Week: Number 25
Cancer treatment as Habitrail; ‘Of Human Hearts’ (1938): Abraham Lincoln berates James Stewart for not writing his mom; Tom Petty & Garry Shandling
Another Week: Number 24
Hospital rollercoaster leads to chemotherapy, Trump indicted in Mar-a-Lago-documents case, ‘Being Mary Tyler Moore’ (2023)
Another Week: Number 23
Bad Friday at the hospital, ‘SmartLess: On The Road,’ ‘Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love,’ ’WTF with Marc Maron’: Episode 1436 – Warren Zanes
Another Week: Number 22
‘The Secrets of Hillsong,’ ‘Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming With Dave Letterman,’ ‘Bama Rush,’ ‘Platonic,’ ‘Kathleen Madigan: Hunting Bigfoot,’ ‘Shutter Island,’ and one very sad robin.
Another Week: Number 21
‘The Way to Heaven’ in a McDonald’s bathroom, ‘Lewis Black: Tragically, I Need You,’ ‘The Great’ Season 3, FRONTLINE: Clarence & Ginny Thomas, Tears for Fears: KCRW Live from The Village Studios, ‘A World of Calm.’
Another Week: Number 20
The robin nesting in our backyard, ‘Clarkson’s Farm,’ Season 2, ‘White House Plumbers,’ debt ceiling, ‘Jimmy O. Yang: Guess How Much?,’ ‘Air’ (2023)
Another Week: Number 19
A week of personal ordeals, Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska’ on ‘CBS Sunday Morning,’ ‘Somebody Somewhere: Season 2,’ ‘This Boy’s Life (1993)’
Another Week: Number 18
‘Stutz,’ verification in reverse, ‘Judy Blume Forever,’ ‘In Session: Stevie Ray Vaughan & Albert King.’ And do birds really eat grass seed?
Another Week: Number 17
Old greeting cards and photos, ‘Alex Borstein: Corsets & Clown Suits,’ ‘Rye Lane,’ ‘Tiny Beautiful Things,’ ‘Boom! Boom! The World Vs Boris Becker,’ ‘Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed
Another Week: Number 11
More snow, another power outage, ‘The Midnight Special’ on YouTube, ‘Tár,’ ‘Hello Tomorrow!,’ ‘Fleishman Is in Trouble,’ ‘Kate Berlant: Cinnamon in the Wind.’
Another Week: Number 8
A death in my family, Super Bowl LVII, ‘Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark,’ Mike Pence fights a subpoena, ‘Nate Bargatze: Hello World,’ Bing + ChatGPT = HAL 9000?
Another Week: Number 1
William Faulkner’s ‘The Sound and the Fury,’ movies ‘Moonage Daydream,’ ‘If These Walls Could Sing,’ and ‘The Banshees of Inisherin,’ plus Melissa Villaseñor, ‘This Way Up,’ ‘The Big Brunch,’ and Southwest Airlines flight cancellations.
‘Exporting Raymond’: ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ in Russia
Have you ever found yourself in a meeting, attempting to communicate what you know to be a sound and worthy idea, and yet every point you make is blunted and deflected by your collaborators? Perhaps there is some friction with their corporate culture, or a difference...
‘Cedar Rapids’ (Ed Helms, Anne Heche movie, 2011)
It's the quirks and surprises that make an offbeat movie like Cedar Rapids enjoyable. The basic story is strictly conventional: Naive insurance agent Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) is unexpectedly catapulted from his routine life in the Wisconsin hinterlands to the bright...
Simpsons World: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Seasons 1-20
Simpsons creator Matt Groening was on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday this morning to talk about The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" episodes, which — together with all of The Simpsons episodes from the first 20 years of the television...
‘Morning Joe’ Scarborough brews up Jon Stewart feud over Starbucks
Former Florida congressman Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC's Morning Joe, may be the electronic media's most tolerable conservative Republican. He may even have a new book, out just yesterday, urging his party back from radical recklessness to a more moderate...
May the 4th be with you: Happy Star Wars Day!
To celebrate Star Wars Day, please enjoy the hilarious Late Night with Conan O'Brien segment featuring Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog at the premiere of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones in New York City. You can see more classic Triumph and Conan segments...
Alchemist Theatre, Bay View, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin — The Alchemist Theater and Lounge, at 2569 S Kinnickinnic Ave. in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood. The Alchemist's show schedule includes several sketch and improv comedy offerings.[includeme...
Deep thought: Happy birthday, Jack Handey!
Jack Handey is a real person, and just to prove it, he got himself born 60 years ago today. Even Wikipedia agrees that "Handey is a real person, not a pen name or a character," so happy birthday, Mr. Handey. Even though Jack Handey has authored books — such as Deep...
‘The Digg Reel’
Here at the Mark Czerniec Internet Testing Laboratories, we like The Digg Reel. As a matter of fact, we have secretly been enjoying The Digg Reel since — well, since September 6, which is when we discovered Miro, the thing we use to download and watch The Digg Reel....
SNL skits: Fred Armisen, ‘Obama Plays It Cool’
Fred Armisen was jeered pretty roundly when he started playing Barack Obama on SNL, but I always thought he had keyed in on several quirky traits, and that the parody just keeps getting better and better. Last night's "Obama Plays It Cool" piece was his best yet....