3 Things - 4/10/23
Week of Apr 10, 2023
Bubs is back from vacation and we’re ready to share the 3 things we’re diggin’ this week.
[Bubba] There seem to be endless theories floating around the internet trying to explain why humans are more prone to cry on airplanes. Some skew more psychological (e.g. airports and planes are friggin’ stressful environments that the average person has zero control in), while others skew more physiological (e.g. low air pressure reduces the oxygen in our blood and can affect our decision-making and emotions). Whatever the reason, I can definitively say, based on recent experience joining the “Mile Cry Club”, that watching Aftersun (2022) does not help. Here’s a brief synopsis from former NYT film critic A.O. Scott: “It’s about a mostly happy experience — a father-daughter vacation in a resort town on the Turkish coast, with snorkeling excursions, hotel buffets and lazy hours by the pool — that ends in tears. Your tears.” I urge you to watch it. If you can blink back the tears, you’ll be treated to a beautiful film, expertly directed, with an Oscar-nominated performance by Paul Mescal. And I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll never think of SPF the same way again. Sun Protection Factor? More like Super Poignant Factor, am I right?
[Ashleigh] I am a Saturday Night Live person. I generally always have been, and likely always will be. I don’t stay up to watch it on Saturday nights (although thanks to my sister in law I have been lucky enough to go to a live taping!) but I love watching it on Sundays. I love the comfort in the formula that is Saturday Night Live. But I have to say, the last few seasons haven’t been great. Some episodes have been tough to get through and I haven’t watched all the way until the end. However, since this is a post about what I’ve been into this week – I’m happy to report that this season of SNL has been GOOD! Like, really good. Like, laugh-out-loud-funny-a-few-times-an-episode good! Molly Shannon’s episode last Saturday (which I watched this week) was really really funny. I think the new cast members they added this season are all young, hungry, and dare I say it… fresh. Sarah Sherman has been on for a few seasons now, and what a great addition to the cast she has been. She is just so weird and unconventional and so delightfully funny that I look forward to seeing what she is going to do each episode. Cecily Strong left halfway through this season and I thought I would really miss her, but I think her leaving let a few other people shine. I’ve love watching Ego Nwodim (I want to see her in more), Heidi Gardner (who was great in Shrinking), Chloe Fineman (she seems to be in everything lately, but for good reason - she’s very talented), and of course, cutie Bowen Yang.
Anyways, since this is about this week, here are a few sketches from the Molly Shannon episode that really got me:
[AJ] My late grandfather's Olympus OM-4 camera. This camera sat collecting dust on my bookshelf for years until this week when I decided to pick it up off the shelf, brush it off, and buy some new batteries and a fresh roll of black and white 35mm film. Why had I avoided the camera for so long? A major reason is because I was intimidated to use a film camera. What if all my pictures come out underexposed or overexposed? That's a lot of money spent to find out that you made a mistake. But as I walked around the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and Bed-Stuy snapping photos of whatever caught my eye, I discovered that I enjoy the mystery and the patience involved in taking film photographs. I used a light meter app on my phone to help me figure out which f-stop and shutter speed I should set the camera to depending on the light, but even that isn't a guarantee of a quality photo. There's a bit of a thrill involved in using a film camera, an uncertainty that feels foreign after a decade of using digital cameras and iPhones.
