State of independence . . . or slothfulness . . . or obsession . . . take your pick

I celebrated my independence in America much like a sloth would (if a sloth were human and had a modicum of free will, access to modern pleasures, and has become obsessed with whatever he turns his mind to)--

• Reading--well, sort of; mostly articles on Islamic and American constitutional fundamentalism, which dovetail unsurprisingly well together. but I have a few books set aside to read this weekend, so we'll get there by and by . . .
• Watching TV--As noted previously in this blog, lately I am obsessed with the classic, gothic soap, Dark Shadows, these days. Perhaps because Coronation Street is inconsistently updated on HuluPlus and I lack the attention span to focus on subtitles on episodes of Engrenages. Maybe I'll make it to something long-form by Sunday. I have a yen to watch Plenty, a movie I missed when it first came around in 1985, mainly because it stars Tracey Ullman, who I also seem to be slightly obsessed with (in a pop cultural way) of late.
• Cooking--or at least planning to do so. I'm trying to find and perfect a Korean barbecue recipe that isn't loaded with sake, given that my current significant other (yes, there is one) doesn't drink and I don't do much myself.
• Game-playing--I'm also obsessed with the Sims 3 of late, specifically one family, the McDermotts. This was a pre-existing family in the Riverview neighborhood, which I've expanded and refocused, making them Irish immigrants (Liam, Siobhan, Ronan, Connor, Blaithin, and hopefully soon Maeve) to my pretend Midwestern community of Clemmons Landing, immigrants who grow vegetables, harvest honey, and raise chickens--as well as teach school, rock out, fool around, create potions, and try to improve their social skills with middling success. More than you ever needed to know about my private activities. Again, obsessed.
• Exercising--at least some cardio on Thursday night and a long walk yesterday through Frick Park on what had to be one of most pleasant, low-humidity July days I've ever experienced.

And today, a day after celebrating my independence low-key style, I have a major headache. Oh well. Two more days of slothfulness should cure that.


* * *

Some funny for your post-independence pleasure, the wisdom of The Onion to balance out all the bombast and banality with some most-welcome, much-needed chuckleheadedness.

"New Study Finds 85% of Americans Don't Know All the Dance Moves to the National Anthem"

"Little-Known Facts about the Founding Fathers"

* * *

And one last video from the "I Remember Donna" series:



This is from 2005, less than a year after I saw Donna Summer in concert at Wolftrap outside of Washington, D.C., about a year after moving back east. Sometimes I question why I moved back east, and sometimes I question my decision to leave the relative comfort of outer suburban Maryland and go north, middle-aged man, to the Central Pennsylvania. It was surely a work decision but also a life decision, adventure over the status quo. Both work- and adventure-wise, life has more or less played out well, although not always smoothly, excitingly, or as anticipated.

But we'll get to that. Not today but soon. Perhaps this weekend as a sloth will also allow me the chance to contemplate and communicate a bit more about my feeling and thinking at the moment. Less pop culture, more pop psychology.

It's worth the effort--as long as it doesn't get in the way of my Sims-playing and Dark Shadows-watching.

A Return to The Rover's Return

A scene from Coronation Street

Sometimes it's the little things in life that mean a lot. At least to me. And not including penises.

Finally finding a way to watch Coronation Street without moving to Canada or the UK--that may seem little to you but it's a huge deal for an Anglophile soap freak like me.


That must make me a Fairy Soap freak. But let's not call each other names.

Not that there would be anything wrong with going abroad, of course. Nevertheless, it's nice not to have to move right now, especially to a foreign country, and solely because of one TV show. Let there be a few programs involved. And some music.

Yesterday I subscribed to HuluPlus, in part because they recently began broadcasting episodes of Britain's longest-running soapie, Coronation Street. I know, I know, but really, this is significant to me: I've been watching this show in fists and starts since the first part of the 1980s, when it used to be broadcast on (I think) the USA Network during the early days of cable TV.

I've also seen episodes when I've visited Britain and Canada, where it's shown in the early evening, when in the U.S. we're normally watching . . . Wheel of Fortune.

Sigh.

So Corrie and me, we go way back. And not just Coronation Street: I've had a thing for UK soaps for some time. Initially, Coronation Street didn't impress me much--it seemed pretty dour in its '80s incarnation--but I quickly got hooked on EastEnders when it was shown on public television in the 1980s and 1990s. I still managed to catch it on trips to the UK and also got entangled briefly with the  characters and stories on Brookside (that body is still under the patio, for all I know) and even Emmerdale.

But the last couple of times I saw EastEnders, I barely recognized any of the characters and cared even less about the ones on screen. When I saw Coronation Street in 2005 and again in 2012 in the UK, and on several trips to Canada from 2008 to 2012, it seemed far fresher and funnier, though still very much a UK soap. Meaning the characters are more working- to middle class in income and more relationship-oriented, rather than being fantasy- and glamor-enamored like their American counterparts. In fact, I'd say in terms of "orientation," the British shows remind me of what American soaps used to be before people started coming back from the dead and their evil twins began making appearances during sweeps week. (Not that there's anything wrong with that either, but, well, maybe it's time to grow and change and get back to our roots.)

Yet despite the more reality-based approach, there's still plenty of drama, heartbreak, and humor on the British programs. As a result, I've been a furtive fan ever since.

And now for the low, low price of $7.99 per month I can be a more regular, reliable fan. Episodes are showing on HuluPlus (with limited commercials) with only a couple of weeks' delay. Just tonight I watched the episode shown in the UK on January 30th.

This is progress! This is what I've always wanted from media, to be able to learn about (or even escape to) somewhere else, to another world, either through a storyline, a character, or a taste of another culture. It hopefully explains some of the fascination with the South African soap, Egoli: Place of Gold, samba and bossa nova records, international movies, language studies, and French pop music, all of which I've waxed on about here.

But to get a little, I had to give some, and that something came in the form of dropping my $10-a-month subscription to TV5Monde, the French-language news and entertainment channel. While I was at it, I decided to reduce my cable bill a little, too, dropping from "HD Extreme" past "HD Prime" to "HD Select." And that meant that I also lost access to CNN International and BBC World (as well as BBC America and SoapNet, but it's OK, I don't really watch those anymore--and yes, I'm looking at you, Top Gear, as the internal combustion engine of all evil). I still get the basic run of American hi-def channels, including AMC (for MadMen), ABC (for Nashville), and PBS (for Downton Abbey), which are probably more than enough.

Nevertheless, I will miss the international news channels and especially TV5Monde, which aided with my French comprehension and kept me entertained with quirky movies and the occasional Vanessa Paradis sightings.

But I can always go back. I'm sure Verizon FIOS won't hold it against me.

Instead, with my Roku, my subscription to HuluPlus, my subscription to Netflix, and by renting movies and TV programs through Amazon Prime Video, I'm hoping to control my media choices a little better. And I'm hoping to expand my mind a bit--less didactic news programming, more creative film and TV. Or viewed another way--more fun, less drudge. Believe me, I need it right now.

Make no mistake, I'm still frustrated. Our America is such a small country in so many ways. So little perspective, such a tiny window to the world, constantly obscured by fog and soot and gray skies. Or maybe that's just my life in Pittsburgh. Nonetheless, I'm trying to grow where I'm planted--at least until I can no longer take it, rip myself out by my roots, and flee elsewhere, anywhere. Like somewhere that offers BBC World, TV5Monde, RTVE, RAI, and Deutsche Welle TV as part of a standard cable line-up. (Which, I hasten to add, is possible in border towns on the Mexico side of the Rio Grande. But not here.)

* * *

It won't be all soaps, American or international, I promise. I've also watched a movie that I was very eager to see, the South African drama, Beauty (Skoonheid). More about that soon, I hope. Plus I have lined up two Québécois films I've been trying to watch since 2010 or so--J'ai tué ma mère (or in English, Heartbeats, a lame retitling of a film whose title translates literally as "I Killed My Mother) and Funkytown, which looks to be French Canada's answer to Studio 54, Thank God It's Friday, and The Last Days of Disco, laissant les bons temps rouler into one. I have some Fassbinder films lined up, as well as some Italian neo-realism, and a few UK sitcoms.

Well-rounded. Which might also describe my butt if I spend the next few months doing nothing by watching TV.

Popcorn anyone?