My Latest Verbs (November Edition)

I consumed a whole lot more than just turkey this past month — here’s all the media I’ve been into lately. Hope you enjoy!

Jessica Jones

Most people that know me will know that I have never seen a single Marvel movie. Not Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant Man — none. I’ve always been more of a DC guy anyway, but the real reason is because the Marvel Cinematic Universe is so complex and intertwined that attempting to enter almost necessitates seeing every single mainline Marvel movie from the past few years. And ain’t nobody got time for that.

Luckily for me, I haven’t let my lack of knowledge and understanding of the MCU hold me back from watching the Netflix series based in the same universe. I know this means I miss out on a ton of references and interconnectedness, but it by no means lessens the impact and quality of the show as a standalone feature.

I decided to watch Jessica Jones this past Saturday at around 1 AM, on a complete whim, thinking — “oh, I’ll just get it started now and then just watch it over the next week or so”. Then it was 6 AM and I had just watched the beginning half of what has easily become the best viewing experience I’ve had this year. This show is so deliciously dark and truly disturbing at times, especially anything having to do with the main villain. And Krysten Ritter is just pure perfection (more bad-ass ladies in all forms of media please). I should’ve known from the intro sequence alone, that I was in for an insane ride.

It’s been a long, long time since a show, or any media for that matter, has so completely enthralled me. I managed to pull myself away for a quick 4 hour sleep, then woke up, ate some oatmeal, and devoured the rest of the remaining episodes. Next thing I knew, it was 6PM and I couldn’t stop thinking about how incredible this show was/is. Also — don’t let the Marvel name scare you off — while there are obviously superpowers involved, they’re not at all over the top.

Veep

I’ve been snoozing on Veep for a long, long time. Too long. I actually watched the first season a few months ago, then only recently dove back in and finished the second season this past weekend. As is usually the case, the things I snooze on usually end up being the things I love most of all. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is hilarious and wonderful and perfect and all of the things I love about everything. The political commentary goes along well with the current presidential race that’s going on. Plus, the short form nature of the show makes it perfect to squeeze in, just about anywhere, at any time. I’m excited to continue laughing until I cry about what I imagine is probably a very accurate depiction of the office of the Vice President.

Adele — ‘25’

To reiterate what I said last month, ‘duh’. There’s a reason why Adele is the one true queen and has swiftly destroyed any and all record in her way, and that trend will only continue. ‘25’ is one of the most emotionally raw albums I’ve ever heard, easily evidenced by the fact that, upon first listen to many of the songs, I found myself immediately choking up. Even though I’ve not felt all the emotions Adele describes, her soul and passion pour through and transport any listener to her own emotional state of mind. It’s truly beautiful. My favorite track is far and away River Lea. (Apologies, but it’s truly impossible to link to any song off the album — just go buy it. You won’t regret it.)

Grimes — ‘Art Angels’

On the completely opposite end of the spectrum, at least musically, Grimes has crafted an astoundingly beautiful and addictive record as well. My favorite thing about ‘Art Angels’ is it’s incredible diversity in sound. One second, you’ve got something super angelic and operatic, and the very next you’re hearing a bunch of screaming, then you’re experiencing what could and should be the next big pop hit, and then again you’re hit with something that you can’t explain — you just know whatever it is, it’s good. I can’t pick a favorite — it’s just that amazing.

Bibio — ‘Petals’

Bibio has been a long constant in my music listening career — it’s one of the first artists I discovered as a result of music listening parties I used to have with some hall-mates in college. Ever since then, I’ve followed and enjoyed his releases. It’s not typically grounds for ‘album of the year’ or anything, but not everything can be, or has to be. If I enjoy it, even once, it was worth hearing and experiencing. ‘Petals’ seems to be more of the same from him, but since Bibio has such a signature sound, it’s still something you don’t hear everyday.

Fallout 4

Rather than attempt to summarize anything for those not in the know of what the Fallout series is about, I’ll just share the intro to Fallout 4, since it does an incredible job at setting up the concept:

If you’re still too lazy — shame on you. That video is Oscar worthy.

Fallout 4 is dangerous. I’m unsure of how much time I’ve put into it thus far, but I know it’s well over 20 hours — and I haven’t even explored a quarter of the entire world map. The developers have stated that there is well over 400+ hours of content to explore, and after experiencing it little by little this past month, I can easily see why. Everything about the world of Fallout screams to me precisely — post-apocalyptic, retro-future art direction, deep world-building, rich writing, gripping atmosphere — the list goes on.

For only having explored a tiny sliver of the game, I can already tell that this is a world that I want to stick with — I only wish that more people could experience this.