Welcome to April, 2023
Renewal, Food Vibes, Artificial Intelligence, Mandalorians and Webcomics
Happy April! The month of the spring equinox, which for imperial reasons became the month Christians celebrate Easter! A name which the Encyclopedia Britannica says is possibly derived from “…Eostre, or Eostrae, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility” I mean… talk about cultural appropriation!
It seems fitting that in this month of rebirth and renewal, my mind has been stuck on the fact that every seven years or so we are all made up of completely new atoms. It doesn’t happen all at once, but at some point it simply is the case. And boy do I feel like I’m rocking a new atomic body these days. Like The Doctor in Doctor Who waking up in a new form (or the gold in this recent short story that I wrote), I’ve been reflecting on the various incarnations of myself and how those previous Tims have propped me up to the position I’m in now: a guy who is about to get married, a writer for television, a person who once hated the taste of asparagus but wants to add it to everything (including cake).
This reflective state is likely a reaction to the emerging world we’re assembling during the ongoing pandemic we’re ignoring. There’s quite a bit to adjust to. And, although COVID slowed many things down, it also sped some interesting things up. For instance, the brains of teenagers aged prematurely during the Covid-19 pandemic, couples probably spent more hours together in quarantine than they otherwise would have in three-years time pre-pandemic (this is just an uneducated guess on my end) resulting in a spike in both marriages and divorces (another uneducated guess), and… need I remind you that we were this close to de-funding the police?! That’s some advanced Star Trek-level conceptualization of society.
If there’s any conspiracy theory I believe, it’s that scientists only got serious about making a COVID vaccine when they saw how long the George Floyd protests were lasting. And, at this point, threatening to de-fund the police feels like the nuclear weapon of policy. I think we should threaten to de-fund the police over all sorts of things. You might not actually de-fund the police, but you’ll get pretty damn close to whatever else it is you want. Want gun control? Threaten to de-fund the police. Want to skip ahead in line at Starbucks? Threaten to de-fund the police. Want to de-fund the police? Ironically, get some gun control.
But, enough of my rambling. Here’s the rundown:
SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO
A few weeks ago, I sat down to interview my elementary school friends, Yvorn and Leonard. It was a fascinating chat where we charted connections from our nerdy friend group as children to where we are now as adults 20+ years later. We also talked a lot about The Power Rangers. So, be on the lookout for that mighty morphin’ elementary school reunion on the Letters from African America substack later this month.
SOMETHING YOU MISSED
You might enjoy my recent exploration of how every TV show and film has a specific food/beverage vibe:
CONSIDER CONSUMING
TV: Picard (Season 3)
There is nothing like witnessing a TV series find its groove, and season 3 of Picard has done just that. It’s safe to say that I’m tip-toeing into authentic Star Trek fandom — but even without having detailed knowledge of every captain, episode, and background character — this season is something beautiful to behold. It’s cinematic, but still distinctly TV, and manages to nudge beloved characters into challenging new situations. It’s a rare reunion done right.
Side note: Back in 2018-ish, I got to work on an All That sketch based on one of my pitches that apparently had some actual props from the OG Star Trek series built into the set. I don’t think this sketch is available for free online, but to give you and idea — it’s about Officer Smart, a calculations expert who joins the Star Crew, only for the captain to learn that all of his calculations are wrong.
Me, with the Klorgons Back on topic: I’ve decided that the general food vibe of Picard is pumpkin pie. Which seemed to anger Shawn Harrison (a.k.a. Waldo Geraldo Faldo from Family Matters) 😂.
YOUTUBE: Shuttlepod Show
My current Star Trek consumption habits have lead me down more than a few YouTube rabbit holes. One of my favorite gifts from the algorithm is Shuttlepod Show because it’s dedicated to interviewing actors from the franchise. If you’re like me and you enjoy the minutiae of all things behind the scenes, this a fun show to watch/listen to in the background while you do you taxes or the dishes.
PODCAST: Doin’ It with Mike Sacks
Mike Sacks! It’s just one of those names that’s fun to exclaim. I used to read his book, And Here’s The Kicker, like it was a holy object because it contained so much information about the mechanics of a career in comedy writing. In a surreal twist of events, Mike Sacks is now someone I consider a friend. We bump into each other in Brooklyn all the time and have gotten drinks on occasion. He has a great podcast called Doin’ It with Mike Sacks that is the antithesis to the modern urge to make everything fast-paced. The podcast provides the same sensation you might attain when finding a weird notebook on the subway or an album called Horny Clown Noises in the classical music section of a record store. I got a sneak peek at the upcoming episode that will be released April 3 and can say with certainty that it will have you wondering “wait… is this real?” You can also subscribe to Mike’s substack here.
TV: Corporate
While thinking about the late great Lance Riddick, I was reminded of his wonderfully absurd performance in Corporate as Christian DeVille. The entire series is a hilarious hidden gem that never really got the appreciation or viewership it deserved.
RECENT PODS
Yub Nub
Somehow, the Star Wars podcast that I co-host with Greg Iwinski and Jim Fagan has returned! We’ve been covering season three of The Mandalorian.
(spotify / apple podcasts / libsyn)
The Movie Quiz presents "The TV Quiz"
Chris Mann-Nelson invited me to hang out for an episode of The Movie Quiz. We talked about movies based on TV shows and TV shows based on movies. It was fun! I think it might also be floating out there somewhere in podcast form but I’m not sure!
SOMETHING(S) FROM THE VAULT
The Uncertain Life Comics Archive
During the first year of the COVID pandemic, I started releasing webcomics called Uncertain Life. Each issue is written by myself and illustrated by Grant Lindahl. I recently uploaded the entire vault of 100 issues to the Letters from African America substack and you can check them out here. Creating 100 issues taught me a lot about the collaborative creative process of comics, and the wide ranging world of comics made for the web. Uncertain Life will return soon as a revamped and more focused webcomic!
The It’s All True! Podcast
Speaking of renewal and new forms — it’s very likely that my old It’s All True! podcast will evolve soon, but the vault will always be accessible. I know this, because I just transferred the episodes to the Letters from African America substack here. Below is one of my favorite interviews with Lil Rel. This is Rel before co-starring in Get Out or getting his own sitcom on Fox. Some other episodes of note include my conversations with Issa Rae, Samantha Irby, and Hari Kondabolu.
Inland Empire
Esoteric film nerds are thrilled that David Lynch’s Inland Empire has finally joined the Criterion Collection. I first heard of David Lynch when I was living in the actual Inland Empire. I was working at a J.C. Penney in Moreno Valley, CA during my senior year of high school as well as the following summer, and found myself befriending a group of artistic weirdos there. One such co-worker introduced me to Lynch’s Inland Empire — even letting me borrow his DVD copy of it. I loved how strange and emotionally jarring the viewing experience was. Although my memories of that friend from J.C. Penney are a bit hazy, I think of him fondly. He passed away a year or so later.
Fast forward to 2018-ish — I started working with my good friend, Ian Abramson, on an idea for a TV series about the surreal world of the Inland Empire. Ian grew up there, and my family moved there from Los Angeles during my last year of middle school. It resulted in the following short film/proof of concept. It’s a surreal comedy about how we’d probably feel if we never left to pursue our creative dreams. And in some cosmic way, this likely never would have happened it it wasn’t for Jason at JC Penney.
You can check out our Inland Empire below (c-written and starring Ian Abramson and myself / directed by Zane Rubin):
SONG OF THE MONTH
I guess this is a new segment. Check out the song of the month!
Song Title: Biological Speculation Artist: Funkadelic Album: America Eats Its Young (1972)
WHY?: I grew up listening to a lot of funk. The music of Parliament and Funkadelic are engraved in my DNA. It was always presented as fun, weird, party music. But the older I got, the more my ears opened the hidden messages in the songs. Take the song “Flashlight,” for instance. On the surface it’s a jam about different kinds of lights. Flashlights, streetlights, neon lights… But then there’s the bigger message that resonates throughout the song and echoes hauntingly at the end: “Everybody’s got a little light under the sun.” It’s pure poetry, and feels like both a message of hope and a warning of what could be lost if we ever lose access to the giant star we’re rotating around.
“Biological Speculation” from the album America Eats Its Young, is a song that I first heard because of the Spotify algorithm. It’s slow and groovy, but doesn’t necessarily feel like a Parliament song the way we’ve come to expect. It’s great for a walk, a drive, or a shower after a long day.
Earlier this year, I stumbled upon the album cover for America Eats Its Young (which I must have previously ignored on Spotify), and it stopped me in my tracks. And then, for the first time ever, I listened to the entire record. It moves smoothly through genres — not quite being funk at times, not totally folk, and not exactly rock, but occasionally exactly those things. If you enjoy “Biological Speculation,” I recommend giving the whole America Eats Its Young album a listen.
That’s all for now. Until next time, remember—the web is booming!
P.S. If you made it this far — you’re a true fan! Let me know in the comments what you like about Letters from African America so far.