Day 38 thoughts

04 May 2020

US COVID-19 Deaths: 69,408

El Presidente says the US Coronavirus death toll could reach 80,000 to 90,000. He didn’t say by when, which makes me think that 90,000 is his ceiling for this thing. Or maybe he’s just stating the obvious, that we’re going to have 90,000 dead from this at some point. A similarly bold prediction would be to claim we’ll see a full moon on May 7th.

In my last post I listed some of my favorite books I’ve read during this lock-down. I’ve not just been reading during this time. When my eyes get tired of looking at my Kindle I like to play a little Fortnite or maybe watch a little tv. It occurred to me that I’ve binge watched a few series in 2020, I’ve started a lot of series, but I completed only a few. I don’t stick with every series I start. If gets boring or if it jumps the shark at some point I tend to quit. Here is a list of the series that kept me watching to the end in 2020 so far:

1. Superstore - 98 episodes – This streams on Hulu. I started shortly after my surgery in January and I just finished the last episode three days ago. It’s an average sitcom that takes place in a fictional hypermarket discount store. It is not great a great show, but it does have some decent character development. I could not recommend this as a must watch, as I mainly watched it out of boredom, but something keeps me going back for more.

2. The Inbetweeners - 18 episodes – streams on Netflix. I’ve watched this series three times now, but this was the first time I tried watching it with my kids. That was weird, and I would not recommend watching it with your kids if you have them. Every episode is filthy. Every one.

3. Letterkenny - 54 episodes – streams on Hulu. This might be the funniest thing on Hulu, but it isn’t for everyone.

4. His Dark Materials - 8 episodes – streams on HBONow. A fantasy drama television series based on the novel series of the same name by Philip Pullman. This material has been covered in other movies I believe, but the HBO production quality is outstanding.

5. Upload - 10 episodes – streams on Amazon. An Amazon original where the premise is in the future when people die they can be uploaded into virtual reality hotels. This is a pretty original idea, and the story and acting is solid. The cultural and corporate references are pretty hilarious now, but they won’t age well. If your going to watch it you better watch it now.

Here are some that I lost interest in mid-binge:

1. Game of Thrones – HBO: I’ve started this series three or four times. This time I made it to the third season before I lost interest. I know that most people love this show, I just have a hard time suspending disbelief long enough to reach the point where I am being entertained.

2. The Mighty Boosh – Amazon Prime: A comedy show that I didn’t laugh enough at to keep me watching. Some of those guys ended up in the IT Crowd which is a series that I have watched multiple times.