Busy, busy, busy, busy. Work and writing and socializing. I’m tired. The summer cooled briefly, teasing fall, but it was a pump fake and turned the heat up to broil in the final week. Fortunately, I got out for a bike ride during the chill. And have been amusing myself by posting controversial kitchen concoctions on the internet.

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This month’s playlist:

FITZCARRALDO & BURDEN OF DREAMS

A special double-feature at the Belcourt theatre. Both newly restored 4K scans. Both tell the same tale. One fiction. One true.

Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo casts some of the same energy of Sorcerer (1977)--tense, slow-moving disasters set in the jungle. Watching that boat creep up the mountain leaves you breathless. Practical effects executed in the middle of the Amazon have that effect on people.

Burden of Dreams is now my favorite documentary of all time. Herzog’s brutalist, yet poetic way of speaking about life and filmmaking is enchanting. His words seem to carry anger, disgust, or terror but it’s clear he accepts the world stoically as it is--tragedy or triumph.

He sees the irony of him and his crew sailing a 30-ton boat up 1,500 miles of tributaries deep into the Amazon to drag it over a mountain in service to the fictional Fitzcarraldo. He questions if his desired end justifies his chosen means. He’s ready to accept his villainy. And he’s acutely aware of how his endeavor could negatively or positively impact the native population that’s agreed to help him realize his ludicrous dream.

Best experienced together.

SPACE DANDY

Still great on second viewing. Enjoyed the English dub this time around. Goofy, good sci-fi with fantastic, varied (often experimental) animation. Excellent writing to boot.

ACCEPTANCE

Some mysteries from the previous books are illuminated only to reveal that much more shadow. Yet, these questions only fall away. Their answers don’t matter. They are inevitable whether known or unknown. Surrender is the only solution because, ultimately, the enemy is made up.

ENDER LILIES: QUIETUS OF THE KNIGHTS

I’m a sucker for watercolors and Ender Lilies evokes the medium alluringly. And I love 2D platformers and action. It’s got Metroidvania elements as well. Enjoying the exploration when I find time to play.

I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU

Never heard of JPEGMAFIA until a couple weeks ago and now I can’t stop listening to this record. I’m impressed when a musician does something new with each successive album. For Peggy, that’s not good enough and does something new with each successive song. Though he introduces multiple ideas with every track--dropping one and picking up another before you can find your feet--shapeshifting like a wendigo--the album is bafflingly cohesive. I feel like the grooves of my brain are slowly being filled in.

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This month I also finally shared a concept shoot completed over a year ago, and another photography experiment I conducted in the spring.