And with that, July has entered the chat to provide one of the busiest months of 2024 yet. While I’ve complained about previous months feeling light on activity, there hasn’t been a shortage of topics this time around. Part of it because, yes, it’s my birthday. This is the first entry of this series that I write as a proud 35-year-old. Life has been treating me well so far, and I can only anticipate that the next 11 months will find me growing and evolving as a person. I’m in the back half of my 30s, meaning that I need to start planning for what achievements I want to do before 40. I’m a little scared that time has been moving so quickly, but at the same time, I have achieved a lot in the past two years especially that rank among my happiest moments. For as much as I still crave a sense of youthfulness, I long ago accepted that I have an “old person” mentality. Not in the sense that I watch The RNC and think “Those guys have something!” but more in that I try to value what I do on a deeper level.
Part of me believes it’s the right mentality to carry into the next five years. With that said, the week leading up to my birthday was a reminder of what gives me hope. Thanks to Vid-Con, I had a few days to spend with my main man Alex who was out with Dan to network and host panels. Whereas I’m a bit too rooted in “old person” mentality, they have some Fountain of Youth™ thing going on. Those guys really know how to keep a conversation going and I don’t know that I’ve laughed that freely in so long. Another hope for my next few years is to meet them on their turf in The United Kingdom, though we’ll have to see. I haven’t been back since 2013 and it really was nice to get out of The States for a few weeks.
I also went out with my family to see Inside Out 2 (2024) which got a spectrum of responses. Because my nieces are eight, they weren’t able to appreciate the narrative to its fullest. However, there were enough good memories attached to the visit that makes up for any apathetic response from them. Meanwhile, I loved it and would rate it as only the second film this year that I gave a very high rating after I Saw the TV Glow (2024). To put it simply, Inside Out (2015) is my favorite Pixar movie and because of my infatuation with the new one, I am declaring this my new favorite franchise from the animation studio.
Before I shift away from my birthday – which I do feel like I overhyped this year and apologize to my social media followers – I want to touch on one last thing. On top of receiving the gifts of Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy” in full and The Criterion Collection’s release of Dekalog (1989), I spent my birthday dinner trying to win tickets to see Ben Platt. For reasons that I will get into in an upcoming essay, it ended up being a meaningful night. As a big fan of Dear Evan Hansen, Platt is someone that I’ve admired for a long time. Long story short, he was everything that I wanted and a great excuse to finally see what The Greek was like. As I looked up at The Griffith Observatory in the hills, I couldn’t help getting Lana Del Rey singing “Hiking up Griffith” stuck in my head for several hours.
It's a night that I’m sure will live in my memory for a long time. While I don’t know that it necessarily qualified as a birthday gift in the same sense that everything else I’ve mentioned was, it was another bucket list item that I’m glad to have crossed off. If I can figure out how to see Andrew Rannells now, then I’ll be happy.
So enough about me. How was July 2024 in Southern California? In some respect, we’re entering a bit of a retro vibe. Rarely have I felt more grateful to live in Long Beach than right now. As I watch the news, I am finding surrounding cities a few degrees hotter. Death Valley got up to 130° and somebody died driving through there. Meanwhile, it’s hard to not feel my anxiety picking up when hearing about the rise in wildfires. More than anything, it’s the one thing that kicks up my anxiety about living here. I worry about the clouds of a distant fire filling the air and making it hard to breathe. If nothing else, it’s the one thing that I think the experimental Marilyn Monroe film Blonde (2022) got right. The opening scene perfectly captures the fear I’ve developed watching footage of cars driving through wildfires, doing their best to survive impending doom. Then again, this was all imminent given two years of record-setting rain. Not looking forward to whatever The Fall will bring.
But yeah, it’s just another hot summer in Southern California. I love this region with all my heart and think it has a fantastic community, but there are things about it that I’m less enamored by. For example, I really disapprove of fireworks and am for the rise in drone shows. Part of it is common sense empathy for war veterans and animals, but it’s also because this year was super bad for me. I had a full body attack and it took several days for my stomach to normalize. I ended up having to put on music to mellow out. I won’t say exactly what it was about Asukagender’s “Asukacore” series that put me at ease, but it really made things more tolerable. Then again, I had a year where I offset the fireworks by watching Apocalypse Now (1979) and it actually worked as some perverse surround sound feature.
I think another reason that July 4 didn’t feel special this year was because of where we collectively stood as a nation at the time. In the weeks leading up, The Supreme Court basically legalized the old Richard Nixon chestnut, “If the president does it, it’s not illegal” for a guy who infamously turned the nation’s capitol into ground zero for a terrorist attack. Add in any equal rights surrounding LGBTQIA+ or reproduction and it doesn’t feel like compassion is in high demand. I try to look at the flag and feel the pride I should for living in a land full of wonderful people, but I’m too distracted sometimes about the bad ones who use their freedoms to fear tactic the dissent out of the town square. As much as we’ve already come to terms with Target bowing out of Rainbow Capitalism™, the fact that bullies are winning over kind-heartedness speaks poorly of this country. How do you sing The National Anthem with that going on?
If there’s any consolation, I think that my July ended on a more optimistic note than it started. For months now, I have mentioned my general disinterest in Joe Biden running for a second term. I was too nauseous to watch the now infamous debate where he showed his age. I did watch the fallout with curiosity. Maybe there was a hint of vindictiveness, realizing that Biden has been in every election but one since I’ve been legally allowed to vote. I also felt that this was all a discussion that should’ve been had closer to The Iowa Caucus. My notion is respect the process. I don’t think Democrats have necessarily been disrespecting it, but I do think they haven’t been planning this election out thoroughly enough. That is, unless this was all a planned shake-up to offset The RNC’s stagnant mongering with significant levels of press.
To summarize, I grew up with a certain enthusiasm around presidential elections. When I was a child, I remember following the years Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were elected with eagerness of every new development. Even now, I’ll turn on C-SPAN and watch old debates to see less what the talking points were and more how the candidates used rhetoric. I even did this when Walter Mondale died a few years ago and started to understand why he seemed a bit “weak” in the consensus. I think 2020 was the first year where I chose to bow out in large part because it felt too obvious and depressing to watch. Biden was “my guy.” I bought into his wholesome professionalism and even his speech impediment connected with me. To see someone want to spend hours after debates talking to people about unanswered questions really spoke well of his character. To put it into context, I watched The Biden Inauguration three times in the first few days.
Which is a long way of getting me back to The RNC. Part of me believed that I was in the right head space to handle election coverage again. I watched to varying degrees coverage from the four night event. There was something farcical in attempting to appeal to a wider fan base with rappers and wrestlers who didn’t go by their birth names and performed drag while suggesting that Democrats couldn’t tell you what a woman was. There was border crisis coverage like hell. The citizens they pulled up were often the negative stereotypes from when I was a kid. At one point there was an old Black woman screaming and, for as prescient as her talking point was, part of me was sad to think The GOP was using this as a prop. The same could be said about their wall art that claimed to feature different religious denominations while only ever having Christians provide a closing prayer.
As dumb as it sounds, I heard enough people’s voices clipping through the TV that I ended up coming away liking J.D. Vance. No, it wasn’t because he was a “relatable” candidate. Yes, it’s strange to have a vice presidential candidate who is only three years older than me, however, I think it was because he was the only (and I mean only) speaker who appealed to emotion. He gave you stories about his family and legacy that feel like the textbook myth builder. Admittedly, anyone with greater analysis skills can point out how it was bad – and he did resort to the tired fear tactics – but I guess the simple fact that he was a cayenne in a room of ghost peppers made him preferable. If nothing else, it was more tolerable than the speech to end them all. Rarely have I felt somebody learn less from an attempted assassination than him. While I would’ve loved to think this led to a push on gun reform, instead it turned him into Adam Sandler in Funny People (2009): a hacky actor who almost dies only to spend his second chance acting worse.
With that said, I do love to joke, “He’s a changed man who will unified the country” just because it’s a nice chaser from the morbidity of The RNC. The America they present doesn’t make me feel welcome. My skin crawls at the transphobia and racism in the name of family values. There’s the lies agreed upon that amuses them. I grew up believing this was the land of compromise, and nobody in their great push for unification ever came close to proper insinuation.
Which is all to say that the last-minute reveal that Biden was stepping down has restored A LOT of faith in the election for me. The early buzz is reminding me of how Barack Obama felt to me as a teenager. Yes, there is the factor that she is from California and have been a fan of hers since watching her debate Loretta Sanchez in 2016. It’s also just that she feels comparatively youthful and has a track record that I’m more enthusiastic about. I felt this should’ve been revealed closer to January, but there’s still time to fix things. I don’t know if I’m totally in love with stuff like Charli XCX writing “Kamala is brat,” in reference to Brat Season™, but that may also be that I just haven’t fallen in love with that record like everyone else seems to have.
More than anything, it’s so refreshing to hear someone who feels invigorating and speaks in a way that connects with the nation. I am not a fan of the opposition basically using misogyny to try and take her down. I’m tired of the amount of Kamala Harris oral sex jokes that I’ve seen in just 72 hours. The only upside is that this means they don’t have anything anymore to use as ammunition. Imagine an election based on ethics and achievements over mudslinging. That’s the America I want.
So we’ll see how things go. All I’m going to say is that this has been quite the year. As much as I want politics to be boring, this will at least restore some faith in potential civility. It’s going to be more tolerable to hear her speak at The DNC next month. For now, I prepare for everything else going on in the world.
With apologies for that lengthy soapbox moment, I will return to talking about what made July meaningful to me. I kicked off the month by seeing MaxXxine (2024), the finale to A24’s first proper trilogy. While I wasn’t a huge fan of the film as a whole, I remain excited to know that Mia Goth now has a recognizable calling card. She has nailed this entire series and I can only hope it affords her more opportunities. Personally, none of them are as good as Pearl (2022), but then again I am for trilogies that feel more thematic than narratively connected if just because it gives you more to think about. Also, I do enjoy its depiction of the seedy side of Hollywood and how everyone is trying to get by in the shadows of larger icons.
Also, I recently saw The Peasants (2023) on Netflix and want to suggest that it’s one of the most beautifully animated movies I have seen. I have gotten into art history in recent years, so any chance to see it creatively interpreted makes me happy. The story was fine, but the experience of seeing a film that felt alive with purpose and effort really endeared itself to me. Given that I was a fan of the creators’ previous film Loving Vincent (2017), I am very excited to see where they go next. There was also Back to Black (2024) which was a bad movie, but I enjoyed Marisa Abela’s performance so much that I can’t wait to see what she does next.
In the realm of TV, I finally caught up on We Are Lady Parts. There was some sense that it wouldn’t come back for a second season simply because of how long it took. However, I have gotten Peacock in preparation for The Olympics and am happy to say that this is one of my favorite shows of the year. Not only are the songs fun, but I think the showrunners and cast do a great job of expanding on the world and creating something meaningful as well as entertaining. For as much as I haven’t been keeping up on TV this year, I am grateful to find stuff like this that feels so singular. I had a friend recommend Mrs. Davis which, as a huge fan of The Leftovers, will hopefully be in my noggin by the time August ends. Also, I want to commend The Emmys on finally nominating Reservation Dogs for awards. It’s long overdue for a show deserving of all the praise. Also, hot take but The Bear is a good show. I accept if you don’t love it, but it’s allowed to exist in the grey area in between.
Most of my attention has been in the music camp. There have been a few records every week that I have been excited to check out. I thought that I would briefly touch on a few of them that I feel are worth considering if you want some listening jollies.
The Great Gatsby cast recording is officially upon us. As someone who loves F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writing, I have been looking forward to this production for months now. With leads like Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada, it had to be a runaway hit, right? While it’s not my favorite cast recording of the year (Illinoise or The Notebook), I’m hoping this delivers. I am personally in love with the fashion of The Rollin’ Twenties so this stands to be one of the live performances that makes my heart flutter the most.
If you want some softer bedroom pop, Maya Hawke’s “Chaos Angel” and Clairo’s “Charm” are incredible records. They’re a nice comedown after stressful days and have been heavy in my rotation during this hot summer. Similar things can be said for Cassandra Jenkins’ “My Light, My Destroyer” though it focuses on more somber subject matter. It feels reminiscent of what attracted me to Julie Byrne’s record last year or Katy Kirby and Katie Pruitt’s a few months ago. Also, shout out to Dude Central’s “Where the Butterflies Go” which manages to use acoustic covers of Kanye West and The Ramones and turns it into one of the most devastating concept records of the year.
Finally, Childish Gambino’s swan song “Bando Stone and the New World” stands to be one of my Top 10 albums of the year. While I have been a casual fan for many years, the one-two punch of this and “Atavista” this year make me understand what’s so endearing about him. This record is a nice fusion sound that also includes a lot of pop-punk influence that feels genuinely mixed well. Put on headphones and enjoy “Lithonia.” It is one of the most sublime listening experiences I’ve had this year.
But before I leave this section, I probably should touch on the other thing. At the risk of losing street cred, I am going to talk about the guilty pleasure summer listening of Bloodhound Gang. This may have been stemmed from hanging out with Alex, whose humor tends to be a little more scattershot than mine. Something about our encounters got me to finally check out the band and… well, I can’t say I hate it.
One of the things about me is that I have formed appreciation for the datedness of 90s culture. Part of it was being a child during that time, but it also has been my therapeutic way of better understanding the world that was just out of reach because of my age. While this has mostly been through garage rock like The Breeders or Veruca Salt, something spoke to me about discovering what the deal with “Hooray for Boobies” and “One Fierce Beer Coaster” were. What I’ll say is that these records give me nostalgia for a certain type of person. Bloodhound Gang wrote songs for the white suburban kids of the 90s who just sat around playing video games. It’s a time where off-color humor was more accepted and for as objectionable as some of it is (there’s a dance song about killing yourself), it spoke to a youthfulness and naivety that reminds me even of being on Myspace in the early 2000s. Ironically, the one record of theirs that came out in that time, “Hefty Fine,” was disappointing. More than anything, “One Fierce Beer Coaster” is so perfectly dumb teen 90s music that I kind of love it. No better time capsule exists of that persona.
Along with the good this month, there were a few significant deaths. The first was Shelley Duvall. Along with being a fellow Cancer, she’s an actress that I think has been largely underrated throughout her career outside of The Shining (1980). In my opinion, her work with Robert Altman is predictably some of her strongest, though I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that 3 Women (1977) is far and away my favorite of them. To me, that’s the work that really dug into her potential to play a layered character who may be hollow and figmented, but also has some real soul to the hypnotic texture of the film. I love 3 Women and am grateful that a lot of people on Twitter were quick to recognize it in recent weeks as well.
The other was Bob Newhart. Even though I don’t talk about him much, he’s one of those comedians that I can’t help but assume had a large impact on my style of humor. When I was in high school, the driving instructor routine altered how I saw comedy by introducing me to deadpan and building through narrative. As the years have gone on, I’ve of course become a fan of The Bob Newhart Show and more specifically Newhart. His quiet attitude and gentle nature allowed me to see comedy that was less bombastic and more mannered. He demanded patience in order to fully appreciate the dryness with which he delivered his observations. Even in later life, I was thrilled to see him pop up in things like Horrible Bosses (2011) and loudly cheered when he showed up for a cameo.
I’m realizing that as more and more older comics die that the era is fading from this mortal coil. A large part of that is just the result of aging, though it still is bittersweet to not have those voices wandering around and amusing some simple shopkeep on a random Saturday. I’ve always admired Newhart’s humbleness and even think his autobiography highlights his good natured views on life. With all that said, it’s another reminder to slow down and appreciate what we have while it’s here. As sad as it is to think, there will come a day when even more stalwarts will be gone and soon we’ll only be able to pay tribute through archival footage. I guess that’s the one positive in all this, even if it doesn’t seem like it.
To start moving into the closing half, I thought that I’d touch on sports. While this generally has gone towards the front of the column, I want to end on it because tonight will be spent in the throes of it. I’ll start by talking about the less essential talking points.
For starters, I am devastated to learn that both Paul George AND Russell Westbrook have been traded from The Los Angeles Clippers. As a very vocal fan, I have long considered them the backbone of the team who kept hope alive. This isn’t to say that it comes out of nowhere. I sincerely agree that recent years have been disappointing and management hasn’t given them the tools necessary to win. I do place some blame on thinking that Kawhi Leonard was our star player (can you be one when you play three post-season games in two years, which can’t even win ONE round?). I’m also not enthusiastic about James Harden being second in command just because of his past four years of flimsiness. With that said, I do remain a PG-13 defender and think that for all of his faults, he did put in the effort. More than anything, I was most happy to see him play when I went to games.
I’m nervous about the next season because the one-two punch here has made me lose so much esteem for our chances. Our bench is amazing and I do hope we see more Bones Hyland in the year ahead, but without George and Westbrook, what are The Clippers? If anything, it’s the world’s chance to finally acknowledge that Leonard isn’t a golden calf.
Also, while everyone was busy talking about Bronny James being the latest byproduct of nepotism (really should’ve stayed in school and developed), I was more excited about something that happened in the draft. For the first time in a long time, The Big West made the list! UC Santa Barbara’s Ajay Mitchell will be playing for The Oklahoma City Thunder. Given that they have a great up and coming group, I am thrilled to see how things go. To me, he is the one I’ll be keeping an eye on because I do hope he goes far. Also, just need to get some OKC merch to rep right.
The major event that I’ll be watching tonight is The Olympics Opening Ceremony. My family has a storied history with the international event. Back when it was held in Los Angeles in 1984, my mother ran the torch. She still has it and pulls it out from time to time to share stories. Ever since we’ve gotten together to watch whatever pageantry the home country will do. Given that this is in France, where we have friends, it should produce some interesting results. Part of me is hoping for some French New Wave in the mix, but we’ll see how much the coordinators feel about Agnes Varda and Francois Truffaut.
But the lead-up to tonight has been so much fun. I have been watching the volleyball trials on TV. A few of them were held at The Pyramid, which is always a point of pride. Given that there’s some alumni who will be representing us, it is one of the fields I’m most excited to see play out. There’s also, of course, basketball and watching Anthony Edwards become more and more of a star has been one of the highlights of the past few months. I would also be sadder that Slovenia didn’t make the cut, but it also means that Luka Doncic FINALLY gets to rest.
For me, I think the real highlight has been track and field. While I don’t consider myself an enthusiastic viewer, I have found myself getting lost in afternoon coverage of everything. Snoop Dogg is out there watching people jump hurdles. I watched a full pole vaulting round and it ended up being intense. However, I think the real stars are of course the runners who really know how to put on good interviews. Noah Lyle pulls out Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, and that has been a fun gimmick even if I was never a big fan of that show.
Which is all to say that I don’t know where my remote is going to go when things start picking up. It’s going to be an overwhelming time and I can imagine I’ll miss a few things along the way. Still, Olympics season is upon us and I can’t wait to see how things play out. I forgot to mention swimming which… is enjoyable but who wants to watch Katie Ledecky win every time? As great as greatness is, you can only watch greatness so much before it stops feeling great.
Anyway, I’m running out of things to say. I may as well wrap this overlong post up. By the time you seem me next, I’ll probably have seen Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) with my friend. Will it make a good excuse for why Hugh Jackman was pulled out of retirement after the perfect Logan (2017)? I sure hope so. I’ll even say Deadpool 2 (2017) was fantastic. However, I do think Disney’s self-awareness already makes the project feel redundant. I don’t know. Maybe Alien: Romulus (2024) will save August. Whatever it is, the end of summer is bound to produce a real “A-Ha!” moment.
I’m thrilled to know that July 2024 started as a bit of a question mark and turned into an exclamation point. While I don’t know that I captured everything in these many, many words, I think it speaks to how jam-packed my month has been. I’m hoping August will be just as meaningful. I don’t know how, but that’s the fun. It’s proving to be a good summer. A little too hot for me to really love, but the memories are some of the best I’ve had in a while. Now to see if Snoop Dogg knows how to run the torch without getting high.
Take care. I know things are rough all over, but I hope you have someone in your life that makes everything feel a little better. The RNC has definitely gotten me feeling down about a lot of things, but I’m grateful to know a lot of wonderful, caring people. Even hearing Ben Platt give his coming out story for the umpteenth time in a packed room gave me some comfort. The world has its bad side, but there can’t be bad without good. The trial is finding ways to make it seem more welcoming. Anyway, enjoy your summer and I’ll talk with you soon.
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