i’m listening to the billie eilish album, which means i’m feeling antagonistic, i think. probably ‘cause i ordered something green for dinner and couldn’t get into it.
onward to recommendation roulette…
victoria, i appreciate this question ‘cause it really had me digging, but i’d be remiss if i didn’t address what i perceive as a critical misunderstanding of the himbo.
the himbo is a dummy, yes, but he’s not cold-hearted! anytime a himbo hurts another person’s feelings, it’s a failure of logic, not a lack of heart. a cold-hearted himbo is simply an asshole.
and yet i still respect your quest. a few ideas for ya:
i think the baywatch remake will scratch this itch. it stars the rock and zac efron, at a stage where his body could only be described as unhealthily ripped.
significantly more stupid and less respectable than die hard is game over, man, the movie the workaholics dudes made for netflix. not for lack of trying, i’ve never been able to get into workaholics but i did reallly have my fun with game over, man.
as a last ditch effort, might i suggest that now may be precisely the right time to work your way through the cornucopia of fast and the furious projects? as an amuse-bouche, you could try the pacifer and see if you take a liking to vinn diesel. to me, this is the screen’s version of reading elena ferrante’s the days of abandonment before approaching the neopolitan novels.
don’t i know the feeling, katie!
when i’m cleaning, cooking, or doing something i don’t have to be totally mentally present for, i love to listen to musical cast recordings, or similarly lively albums. their high energy gives me what i need to actually finish my chores. my favorite selection is the 1994 Broadway cast recording of Grease.
the 1994 Grease cast is a real mixed bag — you’ve got billy porter, megan mullally, hell, even rosie o’donnell was there. maybe some people are comfortable with all of these people being in the same production, but i am not one of those people. each time i listen to “look at me, i’m sandra dee’” i’m newly surprised that that’s o’donnell’s voice. billy porter’s “beauty school dropout” is a prime example of how spirited this version of grease is. even if you’re intimately familiar with the motion picture soundtrack, it’ll feel totally new.
the grease soundtrack contains so many little moments that make me giggle. for instance, the image of being quite literally “born to hand jive” on the track titled just that:
Before I was born late one night
My father said everything’s alright
The doctor laughed when my mom laid down
With her stomach bouncing all around
The bebop stork was about to arrive
Mama gave birth to the hand jive
and only because it’s one of my favorite songs in the world, I have to mention “It’s Raining On Prom Night,” the melodrama of which will never not tickle me.
for a similar effect, i’d also recommend nancy sinatra’s sugar, or if you’re feeling real wild, why not revisit the black eyed peas’s monkey business?
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