The Flight Attendant

We started watching a new series on HBO Max called The Flight Attendant starring Kaley Cuoco.

Not only is it binge-worthy, but I was immediately in love when in the opening scene of the first episode they were playing a Sofi Tukker song (Good Time Girl). Cut to just a minute later and they were playing another song of theirs (Energia).

This is not the first time I’ve heard their music in shows/movies. In fact, I feel like I hear them every other week in something new. I’m so happy so many other people like their music as much as I do.

Update 4/7/22 – They featured a Cure song in the 8th episode – alt.end – which is my favorite song from their self-titled album. Incidentally, the second season of the show premieres April 21st: Robert Smith’s birthday.

The Cure… Break Up?

Saturday during one of the Cure watch parties on Twitch, Simon Gallup, one of the main members of The Cure, announced on Facebook that he’s no longer with the band.

Simon Gallup's FB Post

So of course everyone in the comments was freaking out and speculating that the two albums Robert has been saying were due to come out any time now will never be released. I’m not sure why Simon’s departure would matter if they are nearly complete, so long as Robert pays him accordingly. Fans were saying this could be the end of The Cure altogether since Robert has been known to say The Cure couldn’t exist without Simon. I’m pretty sure if he wanted to continue touring he could find a willing bassist, though, but even if they do break up, they’ve had a good run.

Either way, I’m not all that upset. If the last ever Cure concert I’ve been to ends up being the 2016 Chicago show, at least they went out on top in my eyes. Not to say I wouldn’t pass up a chance to see them again, but with my ear issues I’d be really scared to attend an indoor concert anyway, so my only hope for seeing them again was if they played outdoors so I can get lawn seats.

As far as whether or not we get another album from them – well, as far as I’m concerned, The Cure hasn’t put out a truly good album since the 90s so my expectations of any new material has been low for a very long time, so again, not that upset.

I didn’t say anything of this in the chat though, lest I be ripped to shreds. Some people were literally crying over the news. I will always love them, don’t get me wrong, but I spend more time listening to Sofi Tukker these days. Now if they broke up, I might cry.

Oh, and Simon apparently deleted the post sometime in the past 24 hours, so who knows what’s going on. Temper tantrum after an argument? Realizing that probably wasn’t the most mature way to make an announcement? Change of heart? Who knows. I guess we’ll stay tuned and see how it plays out.

May Wrap-Up

Happy Memorial Day? I dunno, does that sound weird considering what it represents?

Abandoned Golf Course

In any case, we started our day with a bike ride at an abandoned golf course and I once again was reminded that I’m not in that great of shape even though I walk on my treadmill multiple times a week (more days than not lately). I always think biking is going to be fun until I hit that first incline and then I’m guessing whose bright idea that was. Needless to say, we made it around one lap (approximately 15 minutes) and came back home. Definitely need to stick to flatter terrain like the park we sometimes take Wookie to for walks.

Memorial Day Lunch

I wish it was just a little warmer out today. It’s overcast (but not rainy) and in the 60’s which would be fine if we had some sunshine. But it wasn’t meant to be. We made some hot dogs for lunch and watched Sofi Tukker on their last scheduled live DJ set. They won’t be able to commit to a schedule now that they’re vaccinated and doing shows in real life. I’m sad that I won’t be able to count on seeing them weekly, or in person since they play either clubs (too loud indoors for my ears) or festivals (very expensive and unappealing). Oh well. I am looking forward to their new album which I suspect is being released very soon. Plus I’ve discovered a lot of other DJs on Twitch to listen to, some of which seem to have similar tastes to SF.

Oh, speaking of DJs, Moby did a live set right after Sofi Tukker the other night and I was so excited, but then let down. It was rather boring. Plus I’ve read some not so nice things about Moby so while I like some of his music he isn’t as appealing as he used to be.

In other music news, I don’t think I wrote about the Cure t-shirt I bought (online) back in March!

New Cure T-Shirt

A fan made it to commemorate the weekly Cure watch parties we’ve gathered to watch on Twitch. It’s my official 2020 concert t-shirt and not only is the design awesome (anything Wish-inspired always is), but it’s very soft and fits nicely, unlike pretty much all of my Cure shirts. Most of them were made with thick stiff cotton shirts that do not fit well (either too small or too large). I’m wearing the shirt today, in fact, since the colors seem fitting. I painted my nails red, white, blue (with a glitter overlay) too. I’m so fashionable!

Excursions & Food Stuff

Earlier this month we went to Lilacia Park in Lombard to check out the lilacs and tulips. I’m not going to bother posting any photos from that little trip because we missed peak bloom thanks to the rainy weather the week before so nothing was looking it’s best. It was nice walking around outside, however. Plus afterwards we stopped at the new The Original Rainbow Cone location for a treat.

Rainbow Cone

(This is what was left of my cone by the time I realized I should get a picture)

I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about five flavors (orange sherbet, pistachio, palmer house, strawberry, and chocolate) of ice cream in one cone but I was pleasantly surprised – it was delicious! One thing I would change, though, is the size of the cone I got. I tried the baby one but for just $1.12 more you get a lot more ice cream in the small size. I’d definitely skip the baby size and go straight to the small. Or even better, I’d be tempted to buy a quart (currently priced at $12.49) and get some cones from the grocery store.

After earning TWO free drink coupons from Dunkin, I decided to try their new peach lemonade refresher yesterday and I won’t be getting that again.

DD Peach Lemonade

It smelled weird, like a tomato plant. I later realized that was the green tea which I forgot was in it. I’m bummed; I wanted to find a more affordable replacement for Starbucks’ shaken tea lemonade but unfortunately that was not it. So far other than the regular iced coffee, I do not like Dunkin’s drinks. Probably for the best since there is 320 calories in the large lemonade (32 oz). Interestingly enough, Starbuck’s trenta (large) is only 170 calories. I might have to treat myself to one at least once this summer. I have yet to try the peach.

Since Culver’s was across the street from Dunkin I snagged an order of their pretzel bites (a now permanent addition to their menu) and then we headed to the food truck near Walmart to snag a couple of corn dogs. We brought everything home and ate out on the patio. Those pretzel bites are sooo good! I’m glad they are $4.19 because otherwise I’d be ordering them far more often than I should.

I’m back up to 138 lbs btw. Shocking with all the eating I’ve been doing, right? I think I tend to top off at 140 lbs, or at least I hope so! I’ve actually been cutting back a bit. For instance, after all that food at lunch I had a very light dinner several hours later.

Retail Therapy & Shopping

We recently went to At Home to look for new folding patio chairs but didn’t have any luck. We also stopped at Bath & Body Works since I have a $5 gift card to spend but I didn’t see anything I wanted. Then a few days ago we went to Target for a few groceries and I had zero desire to even look at their Bullseye Playground section. I think this pandemic has soured me on shopping for the fun of it. It’s completely lost it’s appeal. I’ve moved into get what you need and get out territory.

That being said, we did go to Savers last Monday so I could look for a plain black t-shirt. I didn’t find one, but I did find two tank tops that cost under $4 total. Luckily they fit perfectly since the dressing rooms are still closed and they don’t offer refunds, only exchanges. The next day at Walmart I found a pair of capri leggings that would go perfectly with a grey tank top I had gotten at Savers a year or two ago. I love when that happens! I also snagged a vibrant pair of bike shorts that will be perfect for when I walk on the treadmill.

New Clothes

As I was photographing my new finds I realized the bike shorts have a pocket in them that is actually large enough for my iPhone. Not that I need it, but I’m sure it would come in handy for a lot of people. Oh, and when I was trying on my Savers tank tops at home Joe pointed out the black one still had the original Old Navy tag on it. Sweet! I got a brand new tank for $2.25.

So I guess you could say while I’m not about shopping much, I am not going to pass up getting a few new clothing pieces occasionally.

Misc Stuff

The other day my computer started installing updates and then stopped because I had ran out of space. You see, my computer has a solid state drive with a small capacity (250 GB). I have all my actual files on a regular hard drive, but unfortunately Apple is a bitch about installing iTunes anywhere but the main drive. While the actual MP3s are on that secondary drive, when iTunes backs up my phone it puts the backup on the main drive. My phone has a 256 GB capacity, and while it’s not full, it’s just a little under half full. You see where this is going, right? If I could just easily direct the backup elsewhere I would be ok, but it doesn’t seem to be that easy. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it requires messing with settings I’m not comfortable with. Plus these days my brain just doesn’t seem to be at the level it was pre-2019 sickness. Seriously, I have trouble with words sometimes and in general I feel like my processor is slow. Oh well. So Joe installed a new SSD today with twice the amount of space. All is right again with the world.

Vinyl Addict

Near the end of August, I started thinking about how crazy it was that I had an entire box of records, mostly from The Cure, but no record player. I have never owned one despite acquiring the majority of my collection in the mid 90’s, one of which was new and unopened (Mixed Up).

Cure Vinyl - Albums

Cure Albums

Cure Vinyl - Singles

Cure Singles

This train of thought was prompted by this year’s Record Store Day special picture disc releases of Seventeen Seconds and Bloodflowers which I learned about the day before RSD. I decided I’d like Seventeen Seconds, but was on the fence about Bloodflowers since even though I don’t own a copy on vinyl, it’s really not my favorite album. It was a moot point, however, when we arrived at Kiss The Sky in Batavia and were told all the copies had sold out, and quickly, according to the owner.

Before we arrived, my attitude was it wasn’t a big deal if I couldn’t get my hands on the special releases, but once I was told they were gone I was surprised at how sad I felt. As we drove home, Joe suggested I call a record store closer to us, Mile Long Records, in Wheaton. I hadn’t even considered them because of how busy they get on Record Store Day. Plus I read some negative reviews about the owner. But I called anyway, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that they had several copies of both albums still available even though it was noon by that time.

Record Store Day

At Joe’s urging I ended up getting both albums.

Record Store Day Cure Picture Discs

I shared my excitement on social media and a couple people questioned why I would get them if I had no means of listening to them. I’ve fielded that question before and stated I like collecting the records for the artwork, which is true. In fact, I had no plans to ever open those two records. But then I started reminiscing about the records we’d listen to all the time growing up. I decided I didn’t want my collection to turn into that situation where you have special dishes no one ever uses because they’re too “special”. So, I started researching turntables. After a week of looking at used record players, I decided to buy a new one from Target. Nothing fancy, mind you, but one with a built-in preamp so I could hook it up to our existing stereo system.

Turntable

I’m really liking it, and don’t think I’ll really need anything fancier in the future, but you never know. It looks good in our existing audio cabinet. I removed our old Disney honeymoon memorabilia and shifted the PS4 down a shelf so the record player could go on top with plenty of room to lift the cover up.

Audio Cabinet

After that it was off to the races. Over the course of two weekends we visited a few record stores because I missed the thrill of the hunt like back in the day before Spotify let you listen to whatever you wanted at any time.

At Mile Long Records again I got No Jacket Required by Phil Collins (which was the first CD I ever purchased) and The Head On The Door by The Cure (new), which the owner put aside when I messaged him on Facebook letting him know I was searching for it. Turns out he’s actually really nice and a Cure fan himself, which is why he had so many copies of their releases on Record Store Day.

At Algonquin Records we found multiple gems: Michael Jackson’s Thriller (new), Sports by Huey Lewis and The News, and We Are The World, and I got the Big Time single by Peter Gabriel from a shop called Record Wonderland in Roselle.

New Albums

They also had the pink/purple vinyl of Friday I’m in Love single by The Cure for $40 (which I already own).

Since then I’ve only picked up one more record – Dancing On The People by Sofi Tukker, which was another Record Store Day release recently (there are three RSDs this year). Mile Long Records didn’t order that one, however, so I ordered it directly form the artist’s website.

Dancing On The People by Sofi Tukker

It was only $18 which was nice since the other RSD releases were $27 (Seventeen Seconds) and $37 (Bloodflowers). I also got a copy on CD because I have their other albums and I want to support them.

We haven’t gone to any record stores since mid September because it was quickly adding up. We did peruse the available LPs at Half Price Books recently, however. Shockingly, they did have a Cure title (The Top) but it was $30 and the jacket was in poor condition. I already own it anyway, and my copy is in much better shape.

Speaking of jackets, however – I don’t plan on buying picture discs in the future if I can help it. I love The Cure’s album artwork and the picture discs just leave a hole in the jacket. I dunno, I like the classic record look better. In any case, I only need the following albums to complete my Cure collection now:

Wish (1992)
Wild Mood Swings (1996)
The Cure (2004)
4:13 Dream (2008)

I’m not a big fan of those last two AT ALL, so it will be awhile before I get them unless I find them for a good price used. Wish is currently out of print so that’s going to be a tough one unless Robert Smith decides to finally do a reissue. Fingers crossed! I have a soft spot for that album since it was their first new release after I got into them.

All The Recommendations

I’m sure we’ve all been watching a lot more shows and whatnot since being on lockdown, so here’s some particular great stuff I recommend.

Amazon Prime
Upload – IMDB synopsis: A man is able to choose his own afterlife after his untimely death by having his consciousness uploaded into a virtual world. As he gets used to his new life and befriends his angel (real world handler) questions about his death arise.

Instagram/Twitch
If you don’t know who Sofi Tukker is, then I don’t know you! They are only one of the greatest music-producing duos I’ve ever heard, and they’ve been performing a live DJ set of amazing music (theirs, and other songs as well) every day since the lockdown started over 200 days ago. I’ve been tuning in nearly every day because they never cease to put a smile on my face.

Sofi Tukker

Sofi Tukker


Netflix

High Score – Did you know Space Invaders were based off sea creatures? It makes so much sense in retrospect. This documentary about how video games came to be is fascinating, particularly from someone who grew up with Atari and the original Nintendo.

The Last Hangover – if you’re religious and take it too seriously than this might not be for you, but I thought it was hilarious.

The Last Hangover

Ozark – We kept hearing great things about this series and it had been languishing on my watch list for a very long time. Too long, in fact. Once we got past the second episode it was off to the races and we blew threw three seasons in about two weeks. It really sucks you in!

The Umbrella Academy – Same situation as Ozark, although not quite as good, but still very binge-worthy despite my deep distaste for Ellen Page. I can’t even tell you why I hate her, I just do. I’m not really a fan of the character Luther either, but Number Five makes up for any other flaws in this series.

Podcasts
Fake Doctors, Real Friends – If you watch(ed) and loved the series Scrubs, then you must check out this podcast! They go off topic a lot but it’s always quite entertaining. Both Zach Braff and Donald Faison are endearing. I’ve started re-watching Scrubs for the umpteenth time so each episode is fresh in my mind when I listen to the corresponding podcast EP. I forgot how great the show is and it nearly always tugs at my heartstrings. It’s also very homophonic though!

FDRF

The God Pod – I swear God is actually Seth Rogan, but I can’t prove it. In any case, it’s pretty entertaining listening to him rip on stupid humans and our embarrassing president (who just announced he has COVID but will probably be fine which will just reinforce in his mind that it’s not a big deal).

TikTok
Ducky the Yorkie – This is one of the cutest dogs I’ve ever seen in my entire life. If you’re having a bad day just watch one of his videos and if you’re not smiling afterward you’re dead inside.

General Music/Movie Recommendations

New Order recently released a new song, Be a Rebel, and I’m loving it. Takes me back to their earlier work, or more specifically, to their side project, Electronic, whom I also love. I hope they release more new material soon!

Speaking of sound-alikes, if you’re into The Cure, and their album Faith in particular, then check out The Bleak Engineers. They only have one album out so far, but what a great one! I have listened to it several times since stumbling upon it.

The Room is a Shudder (a horror movie streaming service) original movie that was quite enthralling to watch Tuesday night. Probably less scary than the presidential debate, that’s for sure! We don’t have Shudder, btw, but found the movie at the library of all places. This makes me hopeful they’ll also get Host at some point because it sounds good!