Rick Beato talks to Ed Roland of Collective Soul
I’m a huge fan of Collective Soul, and this wide-ranging interview is great. I learned so much. RELATED: This concert is so good.
Commencement Announcer Butchers the Names of Graduates
About ten minutes into the College of Nursing graduation ceremony at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, the woman announcing the new graduates’ names was replaced. Why? Because she was mispronouncing their names in a comical way. Of course, it went viral.
It was basically a real-world Key and Peele sketch.
Cheap Trick: Steve Albini Sessions 1997
The untimely death of Steve Albini led me to find the best recording session he ever did (yes, better than the Nirvana one). His magic touch takes Cheap Trick _In Color_ and makes it shine with rawness and energy. Take a listen.
Write Like Your Dream Employer Is Watching You
Zulie Rane writes and works at Medium, and she pushes the product with intelligence and meaning. I really like her unsolicited advice about writing in general: “You never know who’s watching—and who’s hiring. Medium gives you a wonderful platform to write like they’re watching.” I need to write more on Medium.
Pearl Jam Clubhouse Tour With Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament
Bill Simmons gets a tour of Eddie Vedder’s impressive baseball collection in the band’s home away from home. There is too much Cubs stuff, but I get it.
Dead Simple Sites
I’m a big fan of clean, simple, usually single-page websites. I have one myself at seanmcdevitt.com, but I’ve also found a new site called Dead Simple Sites that has been cataloging these types of web pages. If you like that sort of thing, here you go.
Behind the Music: Wolfgang Van Halen
I had no idea they were still making Behind the Music episodes. The Wolfgang Van Halen one is a journey through a relationship between a father and a son. They just happened to be Wolfgang and Edward Van Halen.
It’s a must-see.
Blue Eye Samurai
I’m late to the party, but this Netflix show is amazing. I’m not very far into it, but _Blue Eye Samurai_ is worth the time. Beautiful animation, a strong voice cast, and a well-executed story. Here’s the trailer from November so you can draw your own conclusions if it’s right for you.
Cobra Kai: The Final Season
One of my favorite nostalgia trips has been the last few seasons of _Cobra Kai_. It’s a great extension of that universe and has been a lot of fun. Season six will release its episodes in what Netflix is calling “a three-part event.” The first trailer provides a few teases.
Looking forward to this.
The Life of a Swedish Writer
In this hilarious video, international bestselling author Fredrik Backman takes the stage at the Simon & Schuster centennial celebration, humorously admitting that he’s only there because his agent insisted it would be good for his career. It just keeps going from there. I laughed several times.
The Jada Peebles Story
Joey Wagner has a great piece about University of Illinois Women’s Basketball player, Jada Peebles. The five-year student-athlete has a story to tell and Wagner hits it out of the park.
The Phantom Menace: Reviewed As if It Were the First Star Wars Film Released
Love this. Simon Dillon’s review perfectly captures why you should never start your Star Wars viewing experience with The Phantom Menace. Perfect tone.
Ex Machina and the Disconcerting Way That Sci-Fi Movies Age
This piece by Ben Ulansey is an excellent look back at science fiction technology shown in movies and television and how some of it is coming true. It also specifically looks at _Ex Machina_ on its ten-year anniversary. Truly chilling today.
The Onion & Global Tetrahedron
The Onion has been rescued from an agonizing death by private equity (see Sears, RadioShack, Deadspin, etc.) via an acquisition by people who actually care about the product and the people. Good name for that company, too.
Drew Carey & Phish
In the middle of Taylor Tomlinson’s _After Midnight_ panel show, Drew Carey reminded the audience that he built his career on raunchy material. He didn’t let up calling his attendance at a Phish show at the Sphere a spiritual experience that he compared with explicit sexual terms. Tomlinson is stunned into silence.
Deadpool & Wolverine
_Deadpool and Wolverine’s_ new trailer is filled with mutant mayhem. There are so many Easter eggs. Screencrush has found them all—they usually do.
My favorite is the Liefeld joke.
Connor Milton & Illinois Baseball
Have a week, Connor Milton! On Monday, he was named the Big Ten Player of the Week, and on Thursday, he was named the Scholar-Athlete of the Week.
Well deserving.
For All Mankind & Star City
For All Mankind has been renewed for a fifth season, and the show is getting an Apple TV+ spin-off called Star City. The new show will follow the same alt-timeline but from the Soviet perspective. The first two seasons of _FAM_ are fantastic, but the last two have not been as great.
Here’s hoping for a better S5.
‘Who Killed the Video Star? The Story of MTV’ Podcast
I don’t usually listen to miniseries podcasts, but this one caught my eye and then I just binged it. I’m a big fan of Dave Holmes, and this story about the rise and fall of MTV is fantastic. By the time this goes out, the last episode will be dropping. You can listen on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Midnight Special
I went down a rabbit hole of videos from The Midnight Special, the original late-night concert show. If you love 70s rock and roll, catch performances by Fleetwood Mac, Journey, KISS, Cheap Trick, The Cars, REO Speedwagon, and Humble Pie. There’s so much more.