Arlene Oak is a founding supporter of Strathearn A.V. Club (Rock 'n Roll Bookclub), Prince superfan and scholar. Here are some of her faves for pandemic Friday.
What am I listening to? At the moment, on a recommendation, After Hours by The Weeknd (not convinced), a bit of the new Childish Gambino, and like the rest of the planet, I've had a listen to Fiona Apple's latest ... parts of which, oddly, remind me of Viv Albertine's The Vermilion Border.
Last week I listened to most of Questlove's 5 nights of Prince: night 1 was Covers and Samples; night 2 was The Hits; night 3 was Deep Cuts; night 4 was Live Stuff; and Night 5 was Slow Jams. Around 2000 tunes over 20 hours of funky grooves. Although I'm not a mega fan of Questlove, I was very happy.
Most of them are still up on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVORvwxI6Ws
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usEsWO9aWAE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twbw6evLLtw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zvH715TJd4
What am I reading? Mostly stuff for work - lately rather a lot of student papers and chapters - but also, for a paper I've been writing, quite a few articles on rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Weird to read about that particular disaster in the context of the global one we are in now.
What am I watching? Some movies: My Name is Dolemite (Eddie Murphy, doing an enjoyable riff as Blaxploitation actor Rudy Ray Moore); The Two Popes; The Death of Stalin; and, in TV-land, on Netflix I am FINALLY (almost) up-to-date on The Crown, which is excellent - Claire Foy (Elizabet II before 1964) is amazing. As a series based on the life of QE II, it seems like it would be dull, but the way the lives of individuals in the Royal Family are interwoven with relatively recent UK-based, and international events is fascinating.
Oh! and on PBS I'm watching Call the Midwife's latest series, which is followed by the new World War II drama-series, World on Fire ... cause like what's a Sunday night without a good cry?