That’s me performing a 50-ish minute set at my 40th birthday show. I set out to do 40 minutes but when I got the light, I had these jokes about cocaine and Jesus that I just had to get off my chest. It was such a great time and we packed the house and I’m so grateful for everyone who showed up or said a nice thing or helped out. I can’t think of a better way I’d like to commemorate crossing the line into middle age.
Random Thought
I’m not too into end-of-year or end-of-decade lists. I’m paying attention but I guess at the end of whatever time period, I don’t really wanna declare what I think is better than everything else. I just wanna keep enjoying things in the moment. If it were up to me, we’d move along seamlessly from Dec 31st to Jan 1st with no fan fair whatsoever except the fan fair you hold for every new day. And maybe if we focused less on years and months, we’d seek to get much more out of each single day instead since we wouldn’t be holding off celebrations for designated dates.
And if you’re gonna have a New Year’s Day, can we all agree that January was a shitty choice? Should’ve been June.
Movie I Watched Recently
The Alchemist Cookbook
This movie is really strange. It’s about a dude who lives alone in a trailer in the woods and fucks around with alchemy and magic and he’s on some kinda medication but he runs out of it so he goes crazy or maybe demons haunt him or who knows? There’s not a lot of clarity in what’s going on and that’s kinda cool I guess. There’s an antagonist but it’s like I can’t tell you who it is because it might be the protagonist who’s his own worst enemy or it might be something supernatural or maybe I have no idea whatsoever. I get being vague for the sake of art and it can make things interesting sometimes. But also, sometimes, I just wanna clearly know what the fuck’s going on. I guess you can file this movie under experience as well as a story. I’m not sure how it begins (they never explain why he lives in a trailer alone in the woods) and the ending feels a little Blair Witch-ish where like I’m pretty sure I know what happened, but I would’t be able to describe it to you.
TV shows I’m currently watching:
South Park
Please watch the new South Park Christmas Special. It might be my favorite South Park episode in years. It’s amazing. It’s wild. It’s funny. I dare say, it’s a masterpiece.
King of the Hill
My latest observation about King of the Hill is that mostly everyone is drawn ugly and at first that was sorta a turnoff. Like, why can’t you polish it up a bit and make it more presentable? But it’s grown on me. People in general, outside of cartoons, are mostly ugly. So why not cartoons? Gives it an odd realism that I was sorta looking over for years.
Book I’m Currently Reading:
I’m in between books. I ended one and haven’t started a new one. I will. I’ve just been lazy.
Album(s) of the week:
Idles
Let’s talk about the band, Idles. I had no idea who these guys were before my last newsletter. Then a good friend of mine posted a live performance of there’s on Facebook and I was hooked (shout out to Carlos).
So I listened to all their albums and here’s what I got on first listen:
1st album / Brutalism
Straight to the point. Idles are like a blunt object. They’re beating you over the head. They’re not pretty but they make sure you get the point and that’s beautiful. It’s in your face rock but it’s not punk or metal. It’s hard to classify so why bother? The lyrics are to the point and sometimes sarcastic and humorous. Idles seem like they’re here to take no shit from anyone and stick it to the man, but still find a way to manage to have a good time. This is an amazing debut album, a declaration that they’re not fucking around, so if fucking around is your thing, find a different band.
2nd album / Joy as an Act of Resistance
Great album name!
They sound a little more polished. Not too much. I don’t wanna misdirect here. If Idles were a weapon, they’d still be the one you wanted to use if you were into pummeling another person without any blades or bloodshed. If you were to listen to their first two albums on shuffle, you’d probably have a hard time telling which album is which. Consistency!
3rd album / A Beautiful Thing: Idles Live at le Bataclan
It’s the same band from the first two albums but now they’re live and talking a little shit in between songs and I am here for mid-song banter. Some bands are good at it, others are not. Idles are good at it. I’d see this band live. It sounds like a party but also like the host of said party wants you to hear some hard truths along the way, like if Jello Biafra met jello shots.
Here’s the original clip that piqued my interest in the first place:
Random sports thought of the week:
I was out and about at a bar recently and there was a Baltimore Ravens game on. I think it was their Thursday night game against the Jets. I haven’t watched a whole lot of football this season, but I was having a hard time keeping my eyes off of this game. The Ravens’ QB Lamar Jackson is a freak. He’s just fun to watch. Running, passing, always doing something, making something happen. It’s hard to explain. You’d have to watch or at least maybe Youtube some highlights. I hope he’s got a long, successful NFL career ahead of him.
I slowed down on my football intake because I haven’t found myself enjoying it that much. But this was different. I was all in. If I was a kid today, this would be the dude, my hero, the guy who’s poster I put on my wall and who’s jersey I’d wear. He’s unreal.
Random pro wrestling thought of the week:
I have a fever, and the only cure is the Kabuki Warriors. They got a big win in the main event at the TLC ppv this past Sunday against arguably the two top females in all of wrestling and possibly two of the top wrestlers, period, in the whole industry. Hats off to you.
Also, special shout out to PCO. He signed with ROH late last year and before that, he was one of my favorite wrestlers on the independent circuit. He’s 51 and probably has no business being as good as he still is. It’s insane. Anyways, ROH put their championship on him and even though ROH is in a rough patch, I couldn’t be happier for the man himself, PCO aka Pierre Carl Ouellet.
Weekly Top 5 List: Top 5 Christmas Songs
1- Christmas in Hollis - Run DMC
2- Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis - Tom Waits
3- Fairytale of New York - The Pogues
4- Father Christmas - The Kinks
5- Oi! to the World - The Vandals
Motivational Quote:
“It’s Christmas Eve! It’s the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we smile a little easier, we cheer a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year, we are the people that we always hoped we would be.” — Bill Murray
Hope you enjoy your holiday. Here’s to hoping we can always be the people that we always hoped we would be.
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@joshaintfunny
Upcoming Shows
Slow week comedy wise but I will be busy going to concerts and doing holiday stuff.