Face masks are an effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
As explained by the CDC.
As explained by Reddit.

The Midnight Gospel

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis used to be my closest experience to a drug trip. Now The Midnight Gospel holds that crown. Pendleton Ward has managed to synthesize visual LSD with his latest animated series.

Beyond the psychedelic animation, The Midnight Gospel is unique because it adapts live interviews from Duncan Trussell’s podcast, The Duncan Trussell Family Hour. Trussell and his guests exclusively ruminate on spiritual and mystical topics. They follow some truly mind-bending trains of thought. But all follow similar themes: love, empathy, and mindfulness.

Pendleton Ward somehow weaves a coherent visual narrative that parallels the spontaneous podcast discussions, yet is also independent unto itself with a unique character arc that spans the whole season. I’ve never witnessed an adaptation like this. This is not reproduction, not reinterpretation. This is an ekphrastic work.

10/10 would trip again.

Gawayne and the Green Knight

I wouldn’t say I particularly enjoyed this reread, but I do consider it necessary in preparation for The Green Knight. I appreciate the refresh, and it launched me on a Wikipedia dive into chivalric romance.

Turns out chivalry is a bunch of bullshit due to humanity’s tendency to look back on previous eras with rose-colored glasses and just making shit up.

Metro 2033

Eastern Europe has a fantastic track record for adapting novels to video games. I’ve discussed The Witcher, need to play S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and I’m now playing through the Metro trilogy.

The world of Metro is set after the bombs fall during WWIII below Moscow in its sprawling subway system where humanity retreated to survive. A perfect cocktail for a survival horror FPS. The gameplay is fun, but it is the themes that hold my interest.

While humanity yearns for the day they can return the surface free of radiation and poisonous air, there is a sense that the age of man has ended. New life has emerged above the metro. Most of it monstrous, yes. But also something else that terrifies those that defend what remains of civilization because they do not understand it, and possibly they sense it is destined to inherit the earth.

Themes of adaptation, evolution are juxtaposed with old self-destructive human behaviors. The world of Metro is as bleak above as it is below. Adapt or die.

Atlantics

I watched The Lovebirds and The Half of It this month, but I want to highlight something I watched back in May because it keeps stealing into my mind.

Atlantics (2019) is a romantic mystery set in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. I appreciate this film because it proudly utilizes local languages throughout (necessitating subtitles on my part) and offers a glimpse of one of the many cultures along the West African coast. As I became invested in the cares of these characters, Atlantics injected an unexpected but welcome supernatural element.

Atlantics truly is a wonderful work of magical realism with beautiful ocean scenery. I’ll be watching it again.