#nate reviewing

[trentcrimminallybeautiful]

i think the diamond dogs should play improv games just bc it would amuse me, an ex theater kid, specifically

[tommydidario]

Full interview with Thomas Doherty is out now on my podcast, "I've Never Said This Before." Listen on Apple podcasts and Spotify! It's a podcast where I interview your favorite artists, and in this conversation with Thomas we cover it all: his new role in Tell Me Lies, past fan-favorite roles and work, and so much more.

[honeysound]

Close to Spider Man - Ivan Coyote // ND Stevenson // The Anthropocene Reviewed - John Green

[lovenhya]

I love this movie so much omg

[catherineparrish]

Foo Fighters @ Mt. Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand 20/01/2024

Photo by Danny Clinch.

Cussing and cigarettes, Jack Black, and 35,000 people’s love for rock and roll—Foo Fighters return to Auckland, New Zealand after six long years.

Riding the success of their 10th studio album, Foo Fighters were forced to delay their late 2022 tour to Australia and New Zealand when drummer Taylor Hawkins suddenly passed earlier in the year. There was some speculation that the band might retire after 25 years, but after a year of grieving (particularly for frontman Dave Grohl, whose mother also died in 2022) Foo Fighters announced that step-in drummer Josh Freese (The Vandals, Devo) would permanently be joining the band.

In what was their first show of 2024, Foo Fighters return exclusively to New Zealand and delight fans with one of their most dynamic performances to date. Although the set was evenly paced, sprinkled with new songs from last year’s studio album Here We Are (2023) and old classics to get everyone out of their seats, an almost 3 hour set was bound to have more than just a couple of highlights.

“Who came out and saw us when we played at that old speedway? That show was so loud it caused a seismic event,” said Grohl, referring to the volcanic-like tremor caused by the stamping feet of thousands of fans at Western Springs in 2011. “When I think about New Zealand, I think about an audience that can trigger an earthquake.”

It wasn’t the only time Grohl expressed his fondness for New Zealand, noting that he always has a great time whenever the band tours. Whilst Grohl shared stories with the crowd, the band teased snippets of songs from multiple artists (Metallica, The Ramones, Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails) throughout the set, and even surprised everyone with a special appearance from actor and singer Jack Black for a cover of AC/DC’s Big Balls.

But in amongst the party, there were sombre moments too, like an acoustic stripped back version of My Hero and a tribute for Hawkins that the band perform every night. “This was the first song we wrote together and his favourite,” Grohl told the crowd before performing Aurora. A few times the lights were dimmed and the stadium lit up like stars as the audience held their torches to the sky, providing the perfect atmosphere for the warm summer’s evening soundtrack.

When the crowd weren't swinging their arms in unison over their heads, they were screaming and thrashing their heads at the peak of all the fan favourites, from The Pretender, to Monkey Wrench, to Best of You and their faithful encore Everlong. It's hard not to admire such a resilient act as this band who can seemingly overcome any obstacle thrown their way. Welcome back, legends.

Review by Catherine Parrish.

[vanweezer]

sometimes a friendship is one guy away from his phone while the other guy is infodumping about the bring it on sequels

[mytbrlistblog]

Made a collage to match the aesthetic of Icebreaker by Hannah Grace 🤩 Read my full review of the book here! 📚🫶🏼

[mfred]

February Wrap-up

23 books in February! Woweee.

I read one Theodora Taylor book, Kayla in Paris, which I did not love because it seemed more like a generic romcom than Taylor's usual over the top, soap opera-esque dramarama fireworks. 3 stars and I really hope she doesn't write more like this one.

And then I went on a biker bender and read 16 of Nicole James' Evil Dead series. All were 3 stars. Not bad, not great, totally took me out of my head and into a make-believe world, so for that I am grateful.

I read 2 Kristen Ashley books, both new to me. Heaven and Hell drove me up a wall and I love/hated it (making it a great Ashley novel) and The Slow Burn-- well, it was ok. 4 stars each.

Priya Guns' Your Driver is Waiting was next and I highly recommend it. Not funny haha, but the blackest comedy and excellent, spot on social commentary. 4 stars.

I also enjoyed the graphic novel, Where Black Stars Rise by Nadia Shammas. It's a riff on a horror novel I had never heard of called The King in Yellow. Surreal and emotional. 4 stars.

But the real stars of the show were two graphic novels:

A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll

SO GOOD. Amazing, damaging, scary art. A thrilling, twisty plot that I did not see coming. I raced through the final pages. 5 stars.

Girl Juice by Benji Nate

So funny and irreverant. More a series of vignettes and short, interconnected stories than a whole novel. I read it in one afternoon and was delighted. 5 stars.

[funkily]

FUCK DISCUSSION POSTS I NEED TO KILL THEM WITH MY BARE HANDS

UGHHHHHHHHHHH

[purvibez]

Rewatching Gossip Girl

My God. The storylines are next-level ridiculous.

Friends > Lovers > Step-siblings???

A mysterious gossip blogger still stalking you after high school? Just so he can infiltrate the elite? Buddy, have you heard of LinkedIn?

Lmao.

Still obsessed. Still love it.

The new one sucks.

XOXO.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Currently reading

[robinreadscomics]

nimona by nate stevenson

i'm gay & trans every day of the year so i read gay stuff at all times, but i nevertheless think i'm gonna try to be a bit intentional about using pride month as an excuse to actually start making my way through all the queer stuff that's been sitting on the top of my to-read pile for way too long.

i fucking love nate stevenson's work, so it was nice to see where it all started. considering both his own gender journey and his later work, i think it was pretty instructive that his first major work was about a gay male couple and an absolute disaster goblin of questionable gender. just saying.

also in keeping with his later work, the character writing in this was just absolutely ON POINT. like, dr. blitzmeyer was barely in this but she nevertheless COMPLETELY stole the show in her brief appearances.

tl;dr nimona is funny, tragic, epic, gay, and just all-around great. i'm glad i finally got around to reading it!

[arecomicsevengood]

Grixly by Nate McDonough

A central appeal of these is the low price point, at $3 an issue, but McDonough is a very solid storyteller, presenting no bullshit strips usually in one-page format, about the world of hanging out in comic shops finding cheap stuff to flip on Ebay. (His store, holidaycomics, prices things fairly, and I would recommend buying from him.) The one-page, nine-panel format also lends itself to Instagram serialization, so you can read at least some of the strips there. Whether this comic would make sense to a reader not immersed in that specific vantage point, where you are into independent comics because of the the idiosyncratic voices on offer but can also see interest in mainstream comics of the eighties and nineties, if not the current era, I don’t know, maybe? Part of me wants to make the case that, as McDonough moves across the country, selling things online to people around the world, this feels less like a comic about comics and more about America, commerce, and consumerism, told through a specific lens. The landscape is a true working-class one, of small businesses, flea markets, and eccentricities. But at the same time, if I am going to describe the comic and the anecdotes contained there, my mind keeps flashing back to Nate mentioning the character Typhoid Mary, only to have someone respond that they hate her because she raped Deadpool. Politics are rarely explicit, but it’s pretty clear a lot of people that Nate encounters have had their brains cooked by either the backdrop of culture war or deep immersion in fictional worlds, supplanting reality so that friendly engagement with strangers is difficult. Still, Nate recognizes and feels affection for people that just want to burrow through longboxes alongside him in peace, maintaining the largely agreed-upon standards of personal space.

The consistency with which McDonough releases issues makes it feel like a blog or diary, not trying to present a point but to tell a story of his days. Like a more subculturally specific King-Cat, reading Grixly is a way of checking in with a guy with whom the reader will likely find a great deal in common.

[the-one-where-casey-watches-tv]

Ted Lasso episode 3.09 "La Locker Room Aux Folles"

Still from "La Locker Room Aux Folles". Image courtesy of AppleTV+.

I was trying to wait for the series to end before I covered Ted, but this episode really stood out to me. There was so much in it that I found perfect and meticulously executed, and those parts are all the more impressive to me given the problems I have with its central premise.

There are multiple ways to read this episode, and ways that I can make it make sense for myself, but I still just have to say: what the fuck, Isaac? I give the episode some credit because literally everyone immediately said the same thing, and if this is what they were going to do with the episode they handled it as best they could, but something about it just didn’t quite sit right with me.

The episode picks up where the last one left off, with Isaac icing Colin out after grabbing his phone and seeing some gay stuff on there. Just like Trent earlier this season, I never came close to suspecting the worst in Isaac, so I don’t really appreciate this show continuing to play the “is he a homophobe” game with Colin and me. And without really entertaining the question they want me to be asking, it’s just a little weird. What’s his deal?

It all comes to a head at halftime when Isaac’s inexplicable pent up anger leaves Richmond down 0-1 at the half. As they shuffle into the locker room, a belligerent fan shouts down that the team is playing like f**s, and that’s the straw that breaks the mysterious camel’s back. Colin and Sam both hear it too and avoid engaging, but Isaac leaps into the stands and starts pummeling the guy, with Roy of all people being the one to break it up.

Again, the thing that makes a character’s bizarre behavior work is when the show acknowledges that it is indeed bizarre. Isaac is rightfully red carded and Richmond is down a player for the rest of the game, and the dude comes in shaking. Everyone just looks at him, and finally Ted breaks the silence with “okay, no one’s gonna say anything? I’ll say somethin’. What just happened?” This just sends Isaac hurling his captain band across the room and storming off into a closet with an aggressive shout of “what if one of us was gay?!” But when Ted tries to go after him, Roy says he’s got it.

Kola Bokinni in "La Locker Room Aux Folles". Image courtesy of AppleTV+.

While Roy ambiguously talks him down, with little Will’s help, we’re not given much more insight into what’s really bothering him. Roy’s utter respect for people and willingness to mind his own business is a really great perspective to add to this episode’s conversation, and I really appreciate him here. Later, at the post-game press conference, I’ll appreciate him even more.

While he tells Isaac to handle whatever he’s “really mad about”, the rest of the team speculates on what in the world has gotten into him. Colin stays quiet, but Sam mentions that he heard what the fan said that got that reaction. The pacing in this locker room sequence is perfect. The comedic beats keep this from getting more serious than it needs to be (coming out is a big deal, but this isn’t a melodrama, nor does it need to be when it’s all love, as we know it will be). So Sam tells the team that the fan said the F-word, which is met with choruses of:

“Fuck?”

“No, the other F-word”

“ohh fuck…”

The team reaches the inevitable conclusion that Isaac must be gay. Finally, Colin admits that Isaac isn’t gay. He is. We don’t actually see him come out, though, which is an interesting choice that I actually think is really classy. I know Colin isn’t a real guy, but a big theme in this episode is giving people their privacy, and I like that the episode itself found a way to let him have this moment with the team in private without us feeling like we’re missing any plot points.

There’s a really nice moment after this that we do get to see, that adds to the impressive, thoughtful storytelling here. The team of course is quick to douse Colin in love, with Jamie saying, “you got us, we got you”, among some other choruses of “yeah bruv, we don’t care”. But something about that last part doesn’t sit right with Ted. He tells a little story about a friend of his who was a Denver Broncos’ fan in a place where that was not a popular team. He didn’t write off his friend the way everyone else in his town did, because he ‘didn’t care’, but he found out later that his friend spent two consecutive super bowls alone because Ted ‘didn’t care’, which also meant that he didn’t think that friend might need some special attention.

Jason Sudeikis in "La Locker Room Aux Folles". Image courtesy of AppleTV+.

During this really sweet monologue, Sam and Jamie have a silent conversation over who should wear Isaac’s captain band for the rest of the game. Sam caught it when Isaac flung it off, and Jamie is gesturing for Sam to give it to him. Sam instead flips him off and puts it on. It breaks up the moment without detracting from it, and it was perfectly on brand for the two of them.

When Ted’s story ends, Colin asks if he just compared being gay to being a Denver Broncos’ fan, and Jamie asks what the fuck a Denver Bronco is. Ted’s anecdote here is such a great choice for this episode in a few ways. First, as a viewer, I found that to be a powerful comparison, and the point Ted is trying to make is well taken. But that story is for us, the viewers, not the team. It reached us, but not his intended audience right in front of him, and his tripping over himself within the story continues to serve the scene. It’s another comedic break, and I appreciate the show’s acknowledgement that straight people don’t always nail it when people come out, despite their best intentions. But Ted sums it up for everyone: “the point is, Colin, we don’t ‘not care’. We care very much. We care about who you are and what you must’ve been going through”.

So ultimately, Ted did nail it. Colin flies back onto the field, weightless, telling Trent jokingly that the only way it could’ve gone better is if the entire team came out too. This was all so sweet, but there was nothing like Colin’s guttural, euphoric “YEESS!!!” on the field after carrying the team to victory. I’m tearing up a little just thinking about it.

Billy Harris in "La Locker Room Aux Folles". Image courtesy of AppleTV+.

That night, Isaac knocks on Colin’s door, wanting to know what about him made Colin feel like he needed to keep his sexuality a secret from him. To be honest, I’m getting a little tired of this being normalized as an ‘acceptable’ reason to react badly to people coming out. Isaac apologized, and Colin made the good point that he kept the secret his whole life and only lasted a month after Isaac knew. But the show had the option to have not made this a plot point at all. Everything else in this episode was so perfect, that I feel like I can tell that Isaac’s reaction was an unfortunately necessary vehicle to bring the story to this point.

Nonetheless, the two make up and play video games together and it’s all very nice, so I’m willing to let it go, especially with the rest of the episode’s events and themes in mind. I couldn’t help but think throughout this episode that Keeley’s coming out was not at all this belabored and serious, which I thought was normal and great. But now Jack is moving to Argentina for several months because Keeley was hacked and had her nudes leaked…? That revelation was a footnote of this episode at best, but combined with Isaac’s behavior, perhaps the takeaway to all this is just that sometimes people don’t always do the right thing.

I guess we’ll find out what to make of Jack later, but the culmination of everything this episode is trying to say has me leaving my heart open for her to redeem herself. Roy tells a great anecdote of his own at a press conference after the game that really sums up this takeaway- Rebecca had asked him to attend a press conference in Ted’s place earlier in the episode and he had sent Beard instead. Rebecca then laid into Roy, telling him to stop “ordering shit sandwiches and complaining about the portions”. This was a perfectly timed criticism because, especially with Brett Goldstein’s recent appearances on Sesame Street, Roy was starting to become a bit of a caricature of himself. It was very appropriate and self-aware of the show to show him being challenged and in the vulnerable position of having a boss.

So, Roy heeded her advice (or orders, depending on how you look at it) and went to the post-match press conference, despite Ted being available to do it himself. His commanding presence was the right choice, given that the press room was frothing at the mouth to ask what the hell had gotten into Isaac. The first question Roy takes is if Richmond condones Isaac’s behavior, to which Roy grunts “what a stupid fucking question. Course we don’t. What Isaac did was awful. He was lucky he only got a red card.” The natural follow up question is “then why’d he do it?”

Instead of answering, Roy tells an uncharacteristically vulnerable story from his past. When he was a young player, he had a teammate whose wife was expecting their first baby. One day at training, Roy made a joke that statistically, he was just as likely to be the father as his teammate. Not a great joke, but it didn’t warrant the guy breaking three of his ribs. The teammate was expelled from the team, and no other team wanted him after that. Roy ran into him at a pub months later, and took the opportunity to apologize for his joke. The teammate then told him that his wife had lost the baby a month before the incident, and never told anyone. “So for Isaac to do what he did today, even though it was wrong, I give him love. And as for why he did what he did, that’s none of my fucking business. Next question.”

Brett Goldstein in "La Locker Room Aux Folles". Image courtesy of AppleTV+.

If Isaac’s poor behavior was just a plot device to bring out the best in both Roy and Ted- and have them convince me to forgive Isaac in the process- I’ll allow it. Ted Lasso is love, and acceptance, and respect, even in moments that we don’t relate to or understand. I could watch Sam’s hands-in chant of “I love you guys so very much!” every day.

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention Nate. I hate to see him on the dark side, but I think he’s doing something uniquely challenging by choosing goodness in a space where it’s met with so much opposition. The last few episodes have convinced me that he really is cute and charming and I want so bad for him to reach his own potential. He said himself that he owes a lot to Rupert, so taking the initiative to leave the “guy’s night” that turned out to involve Rupert setting him up with hookers took courage (a guy’s night that Rupert never tried to initiate before finding out that Nate had a girlfriend). His showing up at Jade’s door and wrapping her in a big hug made me so proud. I know Richmond will be waiting for him with open arms when he’s ready to come back, and even though we all know it’s coming, I will love seeing it happen.

How do you guys think Ted Lasso is going to wrap up its final episodes? What’s going on with the now promiscuous and mysteriously absent Doc Shannon? Is Rebecca going to have babies or what (with Sam…?)? Do you really want to eat at Ola’s or is that just me? What do you make of this being a British show built for an American audience?

[thatpunkmaximoff]

Story: 5 out of 5 Smut: 0 out of 5

Holy… WHAT?! How was that bombshell just dropped in the epilogue like it was nothing!!!

This book had me hating each of the main characters! I seriously wished bad for all their endings, haha. But just as I was getting super annoyed with one character, I actually started to feel for them. And then just when you think that one nice character is making a bad judgment call, you realize it was all intentional!! And though another character wasn’t good, but wasn’t totally bad, it turns out they’re just as bad as the other character! I’m sorry that’s confusing, but I can’t spoil it!!!

This was such an intense ride and though you think you’ll have it all figured out, I assure you, you won’t. Hence the bombshell in that epilogue.

Seriously, this was insane.

Major spoilers below the cut...

* Who the fuck is burying a body?!

* Wow. Eve’s husband, Nate, is really just… even-tempered. I don’t trust him already. You’re married to Eve for 8 YEARS and you kiss her three times a day and fuck only once a month? You’re sketch, dude.

* Oohhhh, Addie. What did you do? Inquiring minds want to know.

* Enter mean girl Kenzie. Yeah, I’d have picked up her bag and flung it down the stairs. Fuck that petty bs.

* Oohhh. So Addie accused Arthur Tuttle, a teacher, of something and made him resign..? And Eve is totally in Arthur’s corner and disliked Addie because “Arthur is a nice man” 🤔

* Wait… so wtf happened? They’re alluding that Addie accused Mr. Tuttle of something but she’s saying she didn’t..?

* Her husband is being hit on by the new, young hot teacher? And he’s not dissuading anything? He’s totally cheating. Maybe not with the new teacher, but with someone.

* Oh lord. Addie said she didn’t care if Mr. Bennett was hot and now she’s smitten because he likes Edgar Allen Poe and he WINKED at her. This is gonna be a rollercoaster.

* Did Eve really try to steal some shoes? What a dumbass. I hope she gets caught, but I have a feeling she’ll get away with it.

* So the best friend Hudson isn’t speaking to Addie anymore..? They led us to believe it’s because whatever they think she accused the teacher of, but it’s not..? And Addie’s mom can never know..? I have so many questions.

* Goddamn. Eve got lucky.

* Oh so the rumor is that Mr. Tuttle was in a relationship with a student… and all signs pointed to Addie. But she’s saying it was never like that..? THE WHAT WAS IT LIKE?!

* “Addie is a troubled girl.” - Why did Mr. Tuttle have that mini freak out? wtf is wrong with Addie..?

* Holy shit. Eve is cheating on her husband?! Then why the fuck is she so possessive over her husband?!

* High school girls and Eve are such bitches.

* Eve is seriously pissing me off.

* I mean, I don’t trust Addie, but Eve is a grown ass woman who’s cheating on her husband and being a cunt (mentally) towards a student.

* Case in point, Addie’s mental monologue about being in the same restaurant as Mr. Bennett is weird af.

* Oh. Wait! WHAT!?WHO HELPED WHO KILLED WHO NOW!?!?

* I don’t know whether Mr. Bennett is actually just kind or what… I don’t want him to be a bad guy 😩 but that stiffie is making me think things..

* He’s totally a pedo. This is no excuse. And Addie is no better!

* Fuck, man. He just crossed the line. This is so bad.

* I’ve never read a book where I hated every character 😂 They’re all terrible people! And I have a feeling that if everything comes to light, Addie will get away with it because they’re gonna say “she’s vulnerable.”

* Addie is a little psycho.

* Mr. Bennett is not only a pedo, but a lying one as well so he can get what he wants from Addie. Smh.

* Oh shit 😂 Mrs. Bennett caught her husband kissing the student. Bring on the drama.

* So they are gonna run with the “he took advantage of her” even though she’s a little lunatic herself. They’re all terrible people!

* Well would you look at that, Addie. Mr. Bennett is a terrible person and now you know it hahahahaha. I don’t feel bad for her at all.

* So he reported his missing wife and offered up Addie as a suspect. wtf is going on 😂 and he handed over a “letter” that Addie supposedly left in his wife’s inbox, but I have a feeling it’s the letter he told her to write to her bully and explain what she would like to do to that bully 🤦🏻‍♀️

* There’s someone else who knows Mr. Bennett’s secrets.. and it’s not Addie or Mrs. Bennett’s lover..? And now Kenzie- MEAN GIRL KENZIE- has shown up to Addie’s house, exclaiming they need to talk?! Mr. Bennett was totally fucking Kenzie and that’s why Kenzie hates Addie because his attention diverted from her. I’m calling it rn.

* I fucking called it!

* SHE’S ALIVE!?

* Wait, WHAT!?

* Hudson, the best friend, is Jay!!! The same Jay who MRS. BENNETT WAS FUCKING!!!!! Holy shit. Way to end a goddamn book!!

[taylanaracie]

Book Review

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

⭐⭐⭐

Summary (there might be spoilers):

Anastasia (h) is a figure skater and Nathan(H) is a hockey player studying at UCMH. Due to a prank on one the ice rinks they are forced to share a common rink until repair is done. they have a rocky start but soon become friends then lovers. The h is a commitmentphobe so she doesn't want a relationship with H. She later surrenders to her feelings and they start a relationship. The rest of the plot is about their sport, partners, team members, family issues and trust issues.

Review:

Ok so I might get a lot of hate for this but this book was a little boring. I loved the characters. I mean NATE? biggest green flag ever. And Anastasia was the perfect girl boss (at least in the beginning). It just felt a little too long and some of the stuff was just unnecessary.

No disrespect to the author because the writing was great and the plot was fine too. I have seen a lot of reviews of people saying that there was no plot but that's not at all true. THERE WAS A PLOT. It was just a little all over the place.

Also there were so many characters that it was hard to keep track especially ones with similar names (Robbie and Bobby). I got confused ALOT.

I think that this story has the potential to be a fabulous rom-com or even a new adult series by tweaking the plot here and there.

Overall it was a fun read. The characters were witty and likeable. My only complaint is that it felt a little too extra and unnecessary.

(for all the smut readers out there... you're gonna love this one)(NATHAN HAWKINS IS THE STANDARD GUYS)