Media Diary (May 2023)

Hereā€™s some stuff Iā€™ve experienced lately (and not necessarily only new releases):

Silo (TV): Fascinating, and fills the Snowpiecer-sized hole in my heart

Master Gardener (Movie): Great performances all around

Search Engine (Podcast): Enjoyed the preview episode, can’t wait for the official launch

Fatal Attraction (TV): I was skeptical, but it hooked me from the start

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3 (Movie): Great way to close things out

The Secrets of Hillsong (TV): Obviously couldn’t stay away, and can’t believe they got Carl access!

Fast X (Movie): Exactly what I needed it to be (it’s about family)

White House Plumbers (TV): Into the goofy vibe

Platonic (TV): Just started, but curious to see where it goes, and can’t argue with the inclusion of my beloved Union Station Denny’s

John Mulaney: Baby J (Movie): Was definitely into it, especially as a study on coming back from a dark period

Angels in America (TV): Granted I’m twenty years late to this party, but wow

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Movie): I had no idea that he’d hidden his diagnosis for that long

Iconic America: Our Symbols and Stories (TV): Love the wide variety of interesting topics

2nd Chance (Movie): I wish I loved anything as much as this dude loves shooting himself in the chest

The Great (TV): Huzzah all over again!

Angel City (TV): A super interesting story, and totally surreal to see my former boss Kara throughout!

Media Diary (April 2023)

Hereā€™s some stuff Iā€™ve experienced lately (and not necessarily only new releases):

Beef (TV): Absolutely tore through this

Beau is Afraid (Movie): Still processing, especially the attic scene

Succession Podcast (Uh, Podcast): Incredible guests!

Mrs. Davis (TV): Love the whole vibe

Tetris (Movie): A total blast, and was great to get more details on names I’d seen on the legendary splash screen

Dave (TV): I always forget about this show, then it hooks me again every season

Somebody Somewhere (TV): Glad to see it back and showcasing an often-overlooked slice of America

Jason Isbell: Running with Our Eyes Closed (Movie): Have always been a fan, and this was an incredible look into his world (and really just as much into his marriage with Amanda)

Love & Death (TV): Just started, will see how it compares to the other one

Barry (TV): Always a fan, curious to see how this bring things to a close

Air (Movie): Fun, and it’s still a mystery to me as to why I generally enjoy sports-adjacent movies and shows, but not watching sports themselves

Waco: The Aftermath (TV): Put a Waco show in front of me and I’m obviously not gonna ignore it, especially when Gerri from Succession is playing a cult leader in flashbacks

Schmigadoon! (TV): Love the era shift, curious what they’d do if renewed again

The Mandalorian (TV): It’s fine, but maybe time for a minor “how did we get here?” life evaluation, especially after the Jack Black/Lizzo/Christopher Lloyd episode

Mastodon 201: You Guys, It’s Time

Back in December I posted a brief how-to for those interested in getting started on Mastodon. Since a) things have come so far since then and b) Elon has, against all odds, managed to make Twitter even more horrible, I thought I’d update my recommendations. Here goes!

Step 1:

On iOS? Start with Ivory (from the makers of the now-defunct but beloved Tweetbot). It’ll walk you through choosing a server. Starting with mastodon.social is fine, as you can always move later. A few other great app alternatives include Toot! or Ice Cubes.

On Android? I can’t speak much to available options here, but I’ve heard good things about Tusky. Same recommendation on just keeping things simple and starting with mastodon.social as your server.

On Web? You know the drill. Head to mastodon.social to get your feet wet.

Step 2:

Burn the Twitter boats. Unfortunately you can’t deactivate your account without your username becoming available a month later, so if you care, just leave it open and dormant. Better still, unfollow as many people as possible to help you break your daily routine. Trust me, a week or two later you’ll realize that between Mastodon, newsletters and RSS, you’re not missing anything. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Unfortunately, your window to use any of last year’s great “find your Twitter crew on Mastodon” auto-matching services has now closed (thanks to Elon shutting them down), but that leads us to the final step…

Step 3:

Follow, follow, follow! To paraphrase Punjab from Annie quoting Buddha, a Mastodon feed without people is like a night without stars.

Is the “following” process currently a bit more annoying than it needs to be (given the decentralized nature of Mastodon)? For sure, but I have faith that in the year of our Lord 2023 you can read a line of two of instructional copy and figure things out, especially when the alternative is a sea of hustlebro content, a bunch of click-addicted journalists afraid to abandon their fix and lots of LITERAL NAZIS.

So where to start? Many of the apps recommended above will help you out, but also definitely explore fediverse.info and fedi.directory.

In addition, I’m always a big fan of checking out who others are following so that I can poach them for my own list. Feel free to do so with mine, and here are a few of them that I highly recommend:

Hope to see you around, friend!