). This beautiful little book with blessings for all occasions was a gift of our dear friend Sister Catherine, who missions to children on the Navajo and Zuni Reservations in New Mexico. I perused it when she gave it to us. But picking it up again now amid the present crisis, its texts (and no less its title) have a new layer of meaning. Consider these verses from the poem,
There are poems about travel that are especially poignant to me in present circumstances.
's yearlong Bible-reading study continues telling the ancient story of Israel. This book, which chronicles King Saul's fall and David's rise, includes David and Goliath (ch. 17) (and
as the Saul character). I should have mentioned last week that we're accompanying the reading with videos from the nonprofit animation studio,
). The studio's outstanding quick-draws are a joy to watch and learn from (también disponible
What I'm Watching
Doctor Who s12 (2020) (season 38 overall) (
BBC trailer). Whenever there's a new doctor, you're not sure whether it's you or the actor who isn't hitting stride. Excited as we were about the debut of Jodie Whittaker as the first female Doctor, in 2018 (eat dust,
James Bond), series 11 was further complicated by the departure of storyline mastermind Stephen Moffat (still waiting on
Sherlock s5, Stephen!). Whatever the reason, series 11 felt like a string of unconnected afterthoughts, despite heroic efforts by the cast to make us care. Finally series 12 reintroduces the concept of arc, and I feel like we're back on track, story-wise. The scripts still need work, as they condescendingly tell us rather than show us the writers' social agenda. But looking past that, we quite enjoyed
e7's devilish villains, and we're looking forward to the concluding
Cyberman saga.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina s3 (2020) (
Netflix trailer). Guilty pleasure, I admit, but this Archie Comics reimagining is too clever to resist. Where
Doctor Who lately clubs you over the head with social allegory,
Sabrina catches you unawares like a
Maine lobster. If
Riverdale is an artificially flavored orange pop for the brain,
Sabrina is a delicate hazelnut gelato. Amid exquisite sets, the narratives are intricate, the characters are surprisingly multilayered for a live-action comic book, and the actors perform whimsically.
Lucy Davis as Aunt Hilda Spellman walks away with best supporting actress. We're only getting started in s3, but we're already absorbed and delighted.
Young Sheldon s3 (2019-20) (
CBS promo). Comedy break. This show remains as strong as it premiered. I am one of that odd contingent that doesn't like
Big Bang Theory but adores
Iain Armitage's young Sheldon. That said, even I was moved by the closing scene of
e16 in the Caltech cafeteria—after my wife explained it.
Late night. All our favorites are back, reinventing themselves in this time of crisis, and, as
John Oliver put it to Stephen Colbert, "committing union infractions out the wazoo" to keep us laughing. For HBO's
Last Week Tonight, Oliver just posted his
third viral installment. Production of the CBS
Late Show has been a family affair in Colbert's Connecticut home; when did his kids all grow up? His tech snafu with
Daniel Radcliffe was an instant classic, and I
enjoyed his gin-infused dialog with
Ryan Reynolds. We're looking forward to
Tooning Out the News, premiering officially on CBS All Access on April 7. Producing Comedy Central's "
Daily Social Distancing Show" from his New York City sofa, Trevor Noah has been killing it. His correspondents haven't missed a beat—see
"What Day Is It?," Video Chat with Roy Wood Jr. and Jaboukie Young-White, and
Ronnie Chieng with Andrew Yang on universal-basic-income-come-lately—and the
Daily Show graphics team rallied in force this week. Finally, a mellow highlight of the week was
Monday night's musical "Homefest" on James Corden's
Late Late Show (
CBS). Who needs a studio?
What I'm Eating
Garlic. A lot of garlic. Now's the time. In quarantine, you don't have to worry about any
close-talking strangers. Vampires beware. Thanks, by the way, to whoever gave us this great gift pack of
Terra Delyssa organic infused olive oils, which we rediscovered in the cupboard when we feared our olive oil stock had run dry.
King cake. And everything else in the freezer. My culinarily gifted Louisianan wife made this for Mardi Gras, when
I was in Bissau,
and froze some for me. I've been told that if we're ever allowed to
return to the grocery store, I might get gumbo. Damn you, quarantine!
Billy’s Bistro.
We’re ordering for curbside pickup this weekend.
Remember, if you can, support your local
businesses!
What I'm Drinking
Peet's Major Dickason's Blend. Peet's bestseller. We're grinding the beans. It gets the job done. It's dark, which I like; my wife likes that less. We also tried this week
Community's Private Reserve Holiday Jazz, which I gave to my wife for Christmas as part of a haul of Community coffees to tide her over while I was (or would be, but am not now) in Africa. We both love Community coffees. But there was something off about this one's florals that I couldn't get over. I'd give you the rest of it, but I breathed all over it, so now it's a biohazard.
McQueen and the Violet Fog (
Vimeo). This is a truly special gin, bearing the unique flavor of a 100% neutral cane spirit from Jundiaí, Brazil, which is just north and inland from São Paulo. Among 21 botanicals, its six "signature" ingredients are basil, rosemary, fennel seed,
calamansi, star anise and açai. It's small-batch distilled from maceration and vapor infusion in a single copper pot still.
Wine Enthusiast's Kara Newman
gave it a 93: "This gin is clear, with a distinctly sweet candied lemon peel fragrance.
The soft palate finishes with mild violet jazzed up by white pepper and
a hint of coriander. Tailor-made for an
Aviation." The name of the gin comes from a darkly quirky poem by
Atticus; the last two stanzas are printed on the back of the bottle.
What I'm Wearing
This was a gift from my mom-in-law. She gets me.
What I'm Doing to Stay Sane
That's my weight bench from high school in the 1980s, today in my garage. It's lived with me in five states. "Do we really need to move that?," my wife asked in Arkansas in 2011. "They have gyms in Rhode Island." "Why, yes," I said presciently, "in case the gym closes
because of a pandemic."
Happy weekend!
Yeah, it's actually the weekend. Like I can tell the difference....
