Welcome to October, 2024
Welcome to October, 2024
A Trip Back Home, Top Jokes Of September, Podcasts, Interviews, and Recommendations!
— This is a longer post than usual, so if you’re reading this via email, you might want to hop on over the web version here to read the full thing! —
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Table of Contents:
October Letter From African America:
A Trip Back Home
The Top Jokes of Last Month!
You Are The Genre Episodes + Yub Nub & more!
TV, film, audio, and text recs!
An ‘Inland’ Empire Clip
Flyin’ High (In The Friendly Sky) by Marvin Gaye
Letter From African America (October, 2024)
Dear readers,
I’ve become the type of person who gets startled by new months. They once greeted me with a kind dap or or welcoming wave. Now, they slap me in the face before driving off into the next 28 to 31 day window.
For me, the bulk of September was spent bouncing between joy, nervousness, excitement, and loss. I took a westward trip to Los Angeles, the far-off land of my birth, to work on an exciting project (years in the making), and to celebrate the life of my dear Granny, who passed. More so, I finally met my little nephew — seen here mere days before he reached seven months of age.
The entire trip left me feeling both focused and numb. The exact sensational duo that must be fused, for sanity’s sake, while walking down Hollywood Blvd.
Cybertucks drive down the street… Four-wheeled delivery robots roll (like something out of Star Wars) past homeless people on the sidewalk…
I eventually settled on Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On as the only album worth listening to in a town facing such an existential crisis. For the first time in my life, I could see Los Angeles becoming the city Blade Runner prophesied.
I’m from the city, yet always kept a safe distance from the bulk of its realities. And my teenage years were spent miles away from it in Riverside County, where my time was split between home, movie theaters, high school’s theater, and the on Moreno Beach Drive Super Wal-Mart where I roamed, over-caffeinated with friends.
I often joke that when I was a child in L.A., I spent more time in my imagination than the city itself. The truth behind that joke is that a part of me has always known that “hometowns” in America are false. The nation is only two and a half Jimmy Carters old. Most of us just got here. Depending on which strand of my DNA you’re counting, I’m only a second, third, or fourth generation Los Angeleno. Before that, my people were from Louisiana and Mississippi. And before that, the great mystery begins (though some Ancestry results suggest large percentages in Congo and Ireland).
The mystery is all I care about. Everything else is a toy, easily replaced.
I’ve never been a die-hard fan of one particular sports team or fallen for any of the traps of locational pride. I’m afraid of who I’d be if I did.
This trip, which involved meeting my nephew and being a pallbearer lifting Granny’s casket reminded me of the beauty of such mysteries. I loved the mystery of Granny’s silence. I love the mystery of my nephew’s seven-month-old thoughts.
The only thing keeping me present are the mysteries. I’ll never truly know what came before and can never know what is to some. But I can crack a few cases here and there to pass the time.
I hope you’ll spend October savoring the moment and embracing the unknown by seeking to know it further.
How else can I explain having dinner with Rob Paulsen (the voice of Raphael in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; P.J. Pete in A Goofy Movie; and both Pinky and Yakko in The Animaniacs)?
Best,
-Tim
last month right now! (best jokes)
Each weekday, I email five jokes and subscribers vote on the ones that make them laugh the most! Here are your favorite jokes from July, 2024!
MONDAY: 9-2-2024
US astronaut Barry Wilmore called NASA ground crew on Saturday, asking for help with a repetitive knocking sound that was coming from the Boeing Starliner craft. Goes to show that even in space, you can’t escape Jehovah’s Witnesses.
[read the other jokes from that week here]
TUESDAY: 9-10-2024
Big Lots is closing stores and filing for bankruptcy. When asked how much they owe, execs sighed and repeated the name of the brand.
[read other jokes from that week here]
This next one is from —
TUESDAY: 9-17-2024
Amazon told its office workers that they will have to come in five days a week next year. When asked for comment an Amazon warehouse worker stated: “Wait, they get to go home!?” before being written up for pausing to momentarily consider the crushing weight of capitalism.
[read the other jokes from that week here]
THURSDAY: 9-26-2024
In a multiyear, multibillion-dollar effort to position itself at the forefront of connected hardware, Meta is going all in on computers for your face. Speaking to a crowd while wearing his patented face-puter glasses, Mark Zuckerberg assured skeptics that Meta would one track 10% of the butts users look down at while walking down the street.
[read the other jokes from that week here]
MONDAY: 9-30-2-24
The two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station since June welcomed their new ride home with Sunday’s arrival of a SpaceX capsule. Thrilled as they may be, they’re both pretty annoyed about the limited in-flight options. “What the hell is an X-plant sandwich? And why are all of these magazines just glossy printouts of Elon’s tweets?”
stuff you might’ve missed
You Are The Genre is currently on a break but I’ve been releasing a few “best of” episodes!
Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever else you get podcasts!
LIVE INTERVIEW: - Culture Connection: “Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books” with Kirsten Miller and Tim Barnes
I had an enthralling conversation with Kirsten Miller — author of the incredible novel, Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books!
PODCAST: Yub Nub
The Star Wars focused podcast that I co-host briefly returned to talk about the massive impact of James Earl Jones!
PODCAST: Vanderpump Robs
Always a pleasure joining (who I once interviewed on You Are The Genre) to talk reality TV. This is the magical result of making me watch an episode of Southern Hospitality!
current obsessions
SOUNDS:
COMEDY ALBUM: Teeth Like Beak
A few years back I heard a joke from Tim Platt at a packed joke competition show. I don’t remember what it was. I couldn’t even see his face. I didn’t even know it was him. Yet, despite Conan no longer having a television program, I spoke out loud, “Hey, that guy should do Conan.” To me, that is the greatest compliment you can give a comedian. And if you listen to his newly release album, Teeth Like Beak, you’ll understand why.
SIGHTS:
DOCUMENTARY: Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos
Do I enjoy The Sopranos? Yes. Do I at times wonder why I care about a man who would kill me in a heartbeat after calling me the n-word? Also, yes. This two-part is wonderfully crafted exploration of the mind of Sopranos creator David Chase and the conflicts between writers and actors that goes into making anything worth talking about. I watched it in a fever while recovering from the Covid booster so the meta-therapeutic effects of this projects washed over me even more than it probably would for those who aren’t sweating through their bedsheets.
INTERVIEW:
I love this interview for two reasons. 1) The beautiful dialogue between two intellectuals. And 2) The fact that they are sitting in front of each other in the funniest way possible.
My love of Bradbury’s work has been rekindled lately. So, naturally, I’m watching a listening to everything he’s ever said.
MOVIE: The Nickel Boys (2024)
I attended WGA screening of this film and can safely say that it is an instant classic weaving us through emotion, time, turmoil, and joy mostly in the P.O.V. perspective of select characters. I haven’t read the Colson Whitehead novel it’s based on (though I’m a massive fan of his work), but it’s triggered my interest in doing so.
HBO MOVIE: Farenheit 451
See, I wasn’t kidding about that rekindling interest in Bradbury. I re-watched this movie out of curiosity and think its take on the Bradbury novel is the most effective ever put on screen and more effective now than it was during its initial 2018 release. it’s simplified, but in a way that feels right for the budget and the intentions of the filmmaker.
TV: Rings Of Power (Season 2)
I’m in the camp of people who enjoyed the first season of Rings of Power — and season 2 kicks things up two or three notches primarily by being less about mystery and more about strategy.
TEXT:
BOOK: Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books
I read it, I liked it, I interviewed the author.
POETRY:
One of the first things I did after returning to New York last month is work a shift at Taylor & Co Books at an event at the Urbane Arts Club where I witnessed a recitation from Jasmine Mans — pictured here signing her collection of poems titled Black Girl, Call Home. Wonderful words. Wonderful performance.
somethin’ else
An awkward popcorn butter moment…
song of the month
As I mentioned in the above letter, I listened to multiple loops of What’s Going On during my L.A. trip. Am I the only person who always thought of that title as a question? Only now, as I’m typing this, have I noticed that the title is a statement. Like Marvin Gaye saying “Hey, here’s what’s going on right now…”
Flyin’ High (In The Friendly Sky) became the track I looked forward to the most with each rotation. It feels like being a plane thats taking off. But… of course its actually about drug use. Then again… what isn’t?
🎶 So stupid minded / I can't help it, so stupid minded / But I go crazy when I can't find it / In the morning, I'll be alright, my friend / But soon, the night will bring the pains / The pain, awful pain 🎶
UPCOMING SHOWS
OCTOBER 10, 8pmET, Brooklyn - I’ll be doing standup for the Savage Comedy show at Logan’s Run! (INFO HERE)
OCT 10, 9pmET, YouTube - I’ll be chatting LIVE with the fine folks at the Around The Galaxy podcast talkin’ Star Wars! (INFO HERE)
OCTOBER 15, 9pmET, Manhattan - I’ll be a part of this show hosted by Hoff Matthews at Caveat NYC!(INFO HERE)
Until next time, remember YOU ARE THE GENRE!
PAST LETTERS:
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