I read a random review for an animated series on Adult Swim called Primal, which is written and directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, the man behind Samurai Jack and a bunch of other animated properties you’ve probably heard of. This series follows the story of Fang and Spear, a dinosaur and a caveman (yes, I know) who come to reluctantly bond through shared experience. Because it stars a dinosaur and a caveman, there is no dialogue—much like Samurai Jack—but it is instantly compelling, and his skill in conveying emotion through expression and movement is still unmatched. There are three seasons so far and I’m doing everything I can not to binge them all; this is made easier by the fact that you can’t just listen to it like you would a podcast, although the sound design is gorgeous: it demands your full attention. It’s a visual treat to watch due to the things I’ve already mentioned plus the lush, vibrant landscapes in every frame. Highly recommended.
Rian Johnson has published all of the scripts for the movies he’s written (minus The Last Jedi) on his website; this should be required reading for any aspiring screenwriter. I’ll be diving into the script for Brick later this evening.
One of my favorite songs of all time. XTC wasn’t playing much live after releasing The Big Express, two albums before this one, but this is a rare live acoustic version of King for A Day, written and sung by Colin Moulding. Oranges and Lemons is one of the GOAT albums of the 1980’s, right behind Skylarking.
I’ve had the shambling, melancholy verse and chorus of Auto Pilot by Queens of the Stone Age stuck in my head for a couple of days now after using it for an Instagram Reel. I dislike the bridge but the rest of the song is aces.
Pitchfork did a great interview with Turnstile on the eve of their new album release: it’s great to see them repping Baltimore and getting their due. I really hope they are able to keep their feet on the ground and stay connected to their roots—it sounds like it’s working.
In high school, I was fascinated by the movie Road Warrior when it was shown—heavily edited—on TV. I bought a VHS copy and studied the cars and the stunts and imagined what I would do if I was in an apocalyptic wasteland. I settled on riding a motorcycle and traveling solo as my plan, and wrote my own stories about adventures avoiding gangs of bandits on the open road. The lure of post-apocalyptic scenarios has always been fascinating, even as I got older and learned just how bleak and unrealistic that world would be.
History professor and writer Bret Devereaux examines the real-world logistics and strategy behind Road Warrior-style mobile warfare: how realistic is it to have an army of gas-hungry, excessively customized vehicles manned by soldiers armed with bladed weapons? Because he’s a real-life professor, he goes into the nuts and bolts of the supply chain required to move such an army, and how (quite correctly) armies like this need a base of operations to work from. Refining gas, manufacturing bullets and growing crops doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and in order to raid other settlements at this scale you have to have a giant, vulnerable settlement of your own.
His analysis: huge war rigs are inefficient and vulnerable. Motorcycles are too small and don’t carry enough (I disagree). His answer, not surprisingly: Toyota Hilux. He looks at the various messy regional wars in Africa and the Middle East and points out that the Technical is the economical, dependable, and easily repairable common denominator across all regions. He posted the story five days ago and it generated a long and interesting comment thread, which is just as fascinating as the article.
I miss the old Web for stuff like this—20 years ago, conversations like this were everywhere.
(Via Metafilter)
I’d written about a self-funded documentary on the American Motors Corporation a couple of years back, and how they were running a GoFundMe to finance the production. At that point I donated and I’ve been getting regular updates since then. The producers finished production a couple of months ago and recently announced that it was available on PBS, and would be streaming on YouTube on May 22.
Turnstile, the Baltimore-based hardcore band, just announced a new album by releasing a video featuring the title track. As with their last album, they’re veering away from their hardcore roots and doing something…different. I’m glad to see them stretch their legs, and I hope the rest of the album is as good as Glow On was four years ago.
I’ve mentioned this song on here before, but it’s made a comeback in my brain this week: True Widow, Theurgist. Something about the groove has been stuck in my head since Friday. I’m waiting for them to release new music—it’s been nine years since they put out their last proper album. They’re still touring, but there’s no news about new songs.
I’m not sad to have this one going through my head this week: Beck’s Dreams, from the 2017 album Colors. Beck’s catalogue has always been pretty reliably good stuff, especially after Sea Change, and this album has more standout tracks than clunkers. No Distraction and Seventh Heaven are also fantastic tunes. This video is a live recording; I’m told his concerts are fantastic to attend and he puts on an excellent show.