What I’m reading: Dear American Airlines
What I’m listening to: After reading this Te-Nahisi Coates post — and its slew of comments — on Michael Jackson and his influence on a generation-plus of performers, I listened to a bunch of MJ’s stuff this weekend. Sure, it’s easy to goof on him for losing his mind and engaging in all sorts of bad craziness, but holy crap did he make great pop music. I’ll argue that Phil Collins had more hits spread out over the course of the 1980s, solo and with Genesis — and that MJ has never released a single remotely as offensive as Illegal Alien — but Michael Jackson & Quincy Jones had a run where they made the best pop music in the past 30 years, hands down. Plus, no one exactly made appointment TV to see the debut of a new Phil Collins video.
What I’m watching: Arrested Development. Oh, and Michael Clayton, which was dull, although I was happy to see the bad guy from Bachelor Party return and try to blow up George Clooney. But let me ask: WHY ARE YOU USING FLASHBACK? There was no reason whatsoever for the movie to have a flashback structure, except to show a car exploding in the first few minutes. It was an idiotic decision, making the car explosion tension-free when the flashback caught up to that moment. Why are filmmakers such cretins? Why can’t they tell a story without using a structural cheat? This isn’t Memento!
What I’m drinking: One day it’s Junipero & Q Tonic, the next it’s NyQuil.
What Rufus is up to: Stylishly trotting around the neighborhood in his purple & black coat/snood.
Where I’m going: NYC next Saturday for a birthday BBQ lunch at Blue Smoke.
What I’m happy about: Nick Saban and William Jefferson both lost. And my wife’s still alive in her NFL Loser pool! Thanks, Steelers!
What I’m sad about: I can’t expand my DirecTV DVR’s storage capacity with an eSata drive. (Well, I can, but only by shutting off the internal drive.)
What I’m pondering: My spreadsheet of holiday gift recipients.