PicoBlog

This is a mostly spoiler-free review of “Deadloch.” We’ll talk about the bones of the show (eh?) but no specific plot points or details beyond the first episode because you really should just, please, watch it. TAMMY: “Is that a body? Oh shit his dick’s on fire!” I can’t hammer this home hard enough: Deadloch should. Not. Work. And yet. And yet…! It does. Oh, how it does. Deadloch is 30 Rock meets True Detective.

Last week I promised to show you a source of the teaching that you shouldn’t trust your emotions. One of the most printed origins of this teaching is a wildly popular Christian tract. The Four Spiritual Laws is a well-known booklet used as a tool to walk potential converts through a basic understanding of the evangelistic gospel, maneuvering them toward deciding to “receive Jesus.” Bill Bright, who founded Campus Crusade for Christ, wrote this tract in 1952.

Lance Reddick stars as Renzo, an egotistical human warrior who has liberated the planet Farzar from evil aliens — it’s all part of the new Netflix sci-fi animated comedy series, Farzar, created by Roger Black and Waco O’Guin, whose previous animated projects include Brickleberry and Paradise PD. Black and O’Guin have been making outrageous comedy since meeting in college at the University of Georgia, and I spoke with them about their journey from Yucko The Clown on Howard Stern to animation, and with Reddick about pivoting from prestige TV to prank comedy.

Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” is topping the country charts, prompting the obligatory discourse over what it means for a white man to find success with a Black woman’s song. I don’t know why I torment myself like this, but I read the Washington Post’s article and spotted something odd: “I think the song in general is pretty reflective for a lot of people who do identify as queer, and also for a person of color — the song almost seems like an anthem for us,” Davenport said.

This the first in a series of articles that looks at the various Greek words that are translated into references about "hell" in Jesus’s words. As we saw with “satan,” the concept of “hell” is largely manufactured in translation based on dogma by conflating a number of words and concepts somewhat out of context. Readers may be surprised to learn that many of these references were clearly meant to be humorous. Or, perhaps not, if you read my previous series of articles on Jesus’s humor.

Anyone have a remedy for not falling down a YouTube rabbit hole of TV theme songs and opening credits? Well, keep it to yourself because I refuse to feel guilty about having spent much time looking at how classic shows, obscure shows and even current shows began every episode. Besides some of the great theme songs that are great on their own (which is why a lot of them ended up on the music charts), just watching opening credits has always been a kick to me.

Here’s my 20 minute Hopium-filled recap of what has been a very good year for Democrats, with special guest Sam Cornale, the Executive Director of the DNC. Enjoy peeps! Been a very good year, and I am optimistic about what we can do together in 2024. ncG1vNJzZmirpZfAta3CpGWcp51kjbS1zKilsJyTZLuwwMRommZsY2iBd4KVaw%3D%3D

The nonprofit Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls was founded in 2004 to offer free music education for BIPOC girls and gender-expansive youth. The program’s namesake is rock n roll ancestor Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton. The program might be Thornton’s most precious legacy since she isn’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has never been on the cover of Rolling Stone. There is no Hollywood biopic of her life.

I went looking for a little light ninja viewing action because, duh, that’s the irresistible name of the Japanese language Netflix series — “House Of Ninjas.” It delivered on that promise and then something slightly shocking happened — “House Of Ninjas” became complex, surprisingly deep, funny, incredibly well plotted, unique and, in a mere eight episodes for the first (of hopefully many) seasons, a riveting combination of world-building ambition with never a dull entertainment.