Memories of MiLo’s old family tradition of dancing around the Christmas tree sends us down weird side road into horror movies and the uniquely Japanese ability to find comedy in gore. Then we spend most of the episode discussing various perils and pleasures of city life, both physical and psychological. We each remember our experiences adjusting to life in NYC and talk about differences between east coast urban centers and the western cities we now call home.
Mentioned in this episode:
MiLo’s Odhner ancestry (the name originally referring to certain followers of Odin)
Midsommar (2019 horror film starring Florence Pugh)
Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre (2009 horror film, featuring Nae Yuuki)
2LDK (2003) A Japanese film originally released as one of a pair of entries for something called the “duel project,” where the film’s director Yukihiko Tsutsumi and another Japanese filmmaker, Ryuhei Kitamura, were challenged to use the following template: feature-length film, set in one location with two characters, featuring a duel to the death, shot in a week or less. The two films were then screened as a “duel” where audiences voted for one winner.
Oldboy (2003 Korean dark comedy)
Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986 horror / dark comedy)
Louis CK: “Homeless Guy” — This hasn’t aged super well and is a little hard to listen to, but the payoff, including how he incorporates the audience response, is worth it IMO.
Jesus goes ‘Voldemort’ on a fig tree:
The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it…
When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered! (Mark 11:12-14, 19-21)
Paolo Soleri, founder of Cosanti Foundation and Arcosanti and his book on the idea of a “Lean, Linear City”
FORM (music festival)
SFCASA — nonprofit that works with foster youth in the SF Bay Area
Dutch photographer Hans Eijkelboom who has, through countless photos taken over decades, documented how we all dress alike:
