PicoBlog

“Drag Me to Netflix” is the section of this Substack where I make up for my lack of interest in anything Netflix by watching the Filipino movies available on the platform. Fuck, guys, I’m trying! I treat you all as adults so, although we have different backgrounds and preferences, I see no point in including a specific content warning or spoiler alert. What makes the rape in A Very Good Girl out of place is that, whether seeing it unfold on-screen or ruminating on it after the credits, it doesn’t even have to be there.

Hello! Hello! I seem to be going through a phase and it’s all about cake. Walk into my kitchen and there are cakes in various stages of doneness and eatenness. Layers waiting for frosting. Frosting waiting for layers. Half cakes waiting to be given to neighbors. Whole cakes waiting for someone to take the last slice. We’re all so polite that we shave off nibbles, leaving some for the next person.

Sometimes you’re wandering around and just (desperately) need a quick espresso or want to sit down for an Aperol Spritz or a glass of wine. And I’m not here to chastise you for picking a bar or cafe at random and sitting down for a drink. That said, the bars in Rome are not all created equal. Even something as simple as an Aperol Spritz can be botched.  So how can you tell the difference between an authentic Roman bar and a tourist trap?

Gelato season is here! And what better way to celebrate than with a few scoops? When in Rome, it’s an absolute must. Once the weather warms up, I will happily forgo dessert at a restaurant and opt for a post-lunch or dinner gelato and a stroll. On hot summer days I’ll sometimes skip lunch entirely and just have gelato instead.  Gelato is usually translated as ice cream, but the recipes for Italian gelato and American ice cream are a bit different.

You’re gonna be hearing and reading a lot about New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the coming days. You probably already know that his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show last week erupted in a Jeffrey Epstein-flavored feud with late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. This week’s follow-up appearance where, among lots of other things, Rodgers called Dr. Anthony Fauci “the biggest spreader of covid misinformation” pretty much guarantees his name will be in our respective news feeds for way longer than anyone other than Aaron Rodgers himself wants.

ATLANTA — Janasha Bradford’s booth was the first to catch my eye. Her younger sister, who self-described as “the mouthpiece,” made sure I stopped to glean more understanding of their family business. Janasha Bradford is a financial advisor at Edward Jones and the owner of Mahogany and Friends, an independently, Black-owned publishing company aiming to bridge the gap in financial literacy for children by amplifying diverse voices while making it fun, accessible and inclusive.

On Oct. 30, 1938, at 8 p.m. Eastern, Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre broadcast the infamous “War of the Worlds” radio drama on the CBS network, reporting that aliens had invaded Grovers Mill, New Jersey. The menace grew throughout the broadcast as live music from “Ramon Raquello and His Orchestra” was interrupted by increasingly ominous news bulletins that chronicled a frightening alien invasion that spread well beyond the community outside Princeton, a smoke-choked reporter delivering vivid dispatches of the horror until he takes his dying breath.

Those were the days! Norman Lear’s death last week at 101 was heartbreaking. You figured that, just maybe, he’d somehow elude mortality’s greedy grip, continue producing groundbreaking comedy shows, and wisely weigh in on the state of the world. I enjoyed seeing Mr. Lear at an event at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, in 2016. It was a special place to see him because the sitcom that would most define him, “All in the Family,” was said to be set in Astoria.

The smell of warm butter and garlic landed a strong uppercut to my tastebuds as we walked through the door of Pomme Fritte, and I knew we were in the right place. I was salivating before we were seated at the back of this bustling institution. Our waitperson was a career server; he knew everyone in the restaurant, spouting off jokes and jabs as his large frame darted surprisingly nimbly between the tightly packed tables.