ReCOWmendations - December 2022

Things that make me go mmmmoooooo

Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/portrait-of-cow-standing-in-pasture-248337/

The question I have for myself is:

Why did it take me this long to come up with this post’s title???

As a practitioner of puns and groan-inducing wordplay, the variations on COW (community of wormheads for example) are endless and infinite (and redundant).

I tried out the Community of Worms title for a few weeks, and I will continue to do so — and encourage you to share the songs that are stuck in your heads with me and the 120 other wormheads — but I think that I will be rotating the format of the shorter posts, one of which will be my reCOWmendations of the month.

Which of course means that I would love to hear what forms of art, culture, pop-culture and other forms of creative expression have been making you excited lately.

Which songs, albums, artists, museum/gallery exhibits, movies, TV shows, plays, YouTube videos, books, comics, blogs, Substacks have brightened your day?

Not only is word of mouth (or word of post) great publicity for the artist, but telling others about what inspires you spreads joy. And we can always use more joy in our lives.

Here are my 3 December reCOWmendations:

📱 The JustWatch app

As an avid TV and film watcher, whether it be on my Roku TV or my tablet and laptop, I keep an ever-growing list of movies and series to stream in my Notes app. But with so many streaming services out there, it can be challenging to figure out which one has, for example, Fleishman is in Trouble or Banshees of Inisherin. And shows like Friends and Schitt’s Creek bounce between them all, seemingly every few months.

With JustWatch, all you have to do is type in the show or film you want to watch and it will tell you if it’s on Amazon Prime, HULU, HBOMAX, Netflix, Disney+, etc. It also includes free library service apps like Hoopla and Kanopy. Not only that, but the app offers ratings, trailers, detailed synopsis, age rating, run time and other stats.

If you are an obsessive list maker and organizer like me, an app like this is manna from heaven. And super useful for the rest of you normal folks.

📺 Joe Pera Talks With You (3 seasons)-Adult Swim

My sense of time is all messed up since the pandemic but I’m pretty sure I started watching Joe Pera Talks With You right around early 2020. Though it initially aired in 2018, I was late to the party and didn’t find out about it until season 2.

Pera’s laconic, down-home series is quite possibly the best treatment for depression and anxiety available today without a prescription. (As an anxiety sufferer, I can attest to the latter.)

Pera’s good-hearted, folksy, slow-paced vibe takes a couple of episodes to adjust to, but once you do, the rewards are many and deep. It’s really hard to describe Joe and the show, but if I had to, I’d say it’s what you get if you combine Mr. Rogers, Bob Ross and maybe Northern Exposure if it was a 12 minute faux-documentary.

The series was apparently canceled by Adult Swim last summer, but I still hold out hope HBO (or any network for that matter) picks it up. I’m seriously in need of a new season right about now.

📻The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field

I’ve been a huge fan of The Beths ever since their 2018 debut album, Future Me Hates Me. This past summer The Beths released their third album, Expert in a Dying Field and it’s so good. Earworm-worthy melodies; smart, charming and socially relevant lyrics; and super-tight musicianship behind Elizabeth Stokes confidently sweet Kiwi-accented vocals.

The album is end-to-end pop gems, but the title track might be my favorite.

They seem like the nicest people, The Beths. Unpretentious, goofy and extremely talented.

Have you used the JustWatch app before? Listened to The Beths? Watched Joe Pera Talks With You? Let me know what you thought of them in the comments!

And share your recent gems! I’d love to know what you recommend!

Sneak Preview:

My favorite albums and songs of 2022 post is coming soon!