Made Time for "No Time to Die" and Happy About It

 

I talked about going to see the latest (and Daniel Craig's final) James Bond movie in terms of looking forward to seeing things blow up...and I was not disappointed. James Bond himself blew up five times throughout the course of the movie, let alone the cars and crypts and buildings.

Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody's Freddie Mercury) plays the film's villain, who wants to better the world by selling a new nanobot weapon that targets specific DNA blah, blah, blah. He apparently is a proponent of the less-is-more theory of acting as he practically whispers every line with a deadpan, I-might-be-high-on-something expression that is less menacing than it is just kind of creepy in an I've-been-peeking-through-your-window kind of way.

But none of that is important compared to the gritty fighting and eye-popping chase scenes (including some phenomenal motorcycle stunts that make Steve McQueen's work in The Great Escape look like a blooper reel).

Two biggest laughs:

       1)  After one particularly confusing "coming attraction" trailer, ActorBoy said, "What was that even about? I hope YOU could understand it!" To which, his father-in-law, WrecklessBassman, replied, "I understand that I won't be seeing that movie."

       2)  There's a scene in the movie where Bond has to turn on the power in an old missle silo/submarine station and Q, the techno-wizard in his earpiece, starts to explain how he'll have to do things in a precise order in order to blah, blah, blah and Bond just starts flipping all the switches and pulling levers until Q says, "Now, first..." and Bond already has things up and running and says, "Got it."

Bottom line: If you like Craig's Bourne-like take on Bond, you won't be disappointed. Come for the action, stay for the laughs.

Welcome to My Creative Outlets

 

The problem with having multiple interests and a variety of talents is that the separate pockets of your creative life can get isolated from each other and people who appreciate one particular thing you do may not even be aware of the other things you do.

And so, for your education, entertainment, and to give you something to do while your latest TikTok upload is processing, here's a relatively concise rundown of my current creative outlets:

Almost the Truth™ (http://www.almostthetruth.com)  -  This was my first online presence...not counting MySpace, which certainly doesn't count...and originated from an idea Sam Helgerson and I had about a humor-laced Bible study radio show (because podcasts had not been invented yet).

     Almost the Truth Blog (https://almostthetruth.blogspot.com): If laughter is the best medicine, ALMOST THE TRUTH™ exists to heal the world. New posts every Friday.

     Almost the Truth™ Publishing on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AlmostTheTruth): In addition to the Friday postings of the blog, this page is the host of #TheMorningGames - 8:30 Central, almost every weekday morning, you will find the following line up of diversions:
          Monday - #MondayMirth - A video clip or illustration that should start your week with a smile
          Tuesday - #TuesdayTrivia - Be the first to give the correct, non-Googled answer and win the day's VirtualPrize (no actual prizes are harmed in the playing of #TheMorningGames)
          Wednesday - #WednesdayWhatIsIt - A cropped image is posted and the VirtualPrize goes to the first person who correctly identifies it. (It could be a product logo, a scene from film or television, or an almost-common object)
          Thursday - #TBT - Our Throwback Thursday will feature blog posts from the early days when hardly anybody knew about us.
          Friday - #Earworm Friday - Start the weekend with a song that just might cycle through your head until Monday.

     Almost the Truth™ Publishing Books  (https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/deweyroth): Self-published collections of the blog's posts and Almost the Truth About Youth Ministry: Salesmen, Secretaries, and Smart Alecks which is a book full of twisted tales and suspect opinions based on my 14+ years as a youth minister.

     Almost the Truth™ YouTube Playlist (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLruHdMzfLT7wYAaJCFmlwaF64MAyg8nmt): From time to time, I make a video of me reading one of the blog posts...usually because it involves some singing.

Truth Is... (https://www.facebook.com/DeweyTruth): While Almost the Truth is all about laughs, Truth Is... is all about looking a little deeper.

     Truth Is... Blog (https://deweytruth.blogspot.com): It's been said that no one has cornered the market on truth. That's probably accurate, but it doesn't rule out the possibility of this being a little corner of truth, tucked away in the huge City of Life, where, according to Paul Simon, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls. New posts every Thursday.

     Truth Is... Podcast: After 10 years of blogging, I decided to create a podcast that kind of functions as a Throwback Thursday because the podcast consists of me reading the Truth Is... blog, starting with the very first ones from 2012. But for people who listen to podcasts and don't read blogs, this is all brand new stuff! Good thing Truth is timeless.
          New podcasts are dropped every Tuesday on SEVEN streaming platforms PLUS a video version posted on Dewey Roth's YouTube channel!
          Anchor: https://anchor.fm/dewey-roth
          Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1JgQzFmNgGX25ofwgjYJoA
          Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/truth-is…/id1586997516
          Breaker: https://www.breaker.audio/truth-is-dot-dot-dot-1
          Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy82NTNiMzlhOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==
          Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/eyc6uwz0
          Radio Public: https://radiopublic.com/truth-is-GqvmQr
               and
          YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQBwF3gcF1itdroQ208MVPA 

Dewey's Jukebox (https://www.facebook.com/DeweysJukebox): This podcast is a #VirtualWurlitzer filled with personal favorites and secret gems. Six decades of music are swimming around in my head, and now it can swim around in YOUR head, too. But please, mister, please...don't play B-17.

     Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1EtUT0bmkUmj8S18jmomnv?si=f1b0308c56b94e26
     Anchor: https://anchor.fm/dewey-roth0

Twitter (@deweyroth): Where links to all new blog and podcast posts can be found, along with random bits of serious silliness and silly seriousness. If you have a Twitter account, I would appreciate being followed by you. Makes me look good to possible book publishers and employers!

Instagram (@deweyroth): Where I don't do a whole heckuva lot, but sometimes #MondayMirth and #TuesdayTrivia show up here as well as on Facebook.

Books I Read in 2021, Vol XII

 

LETTERMAN: The Last Giant of Late Night
Jason Zinoman

In a career spanning more than thirty years, David Letterman redefined the modern talk show with an ironic comic style that transcended traditional television....Moving from letterman's early days in Indiana to his retirement, Zinoman has explored behind the scenes of Letterman's television career to shed light on the origins of his revolutionary comedy, its overlooked influences, and how his work intersects with and reveals his famously eccentric personality....With this enlightening biography, Zinoman offers a perceptive study of the man and the artist whose caustic voice was crucial to an entire generation of comedians and viewers  -  and whose singular style ushered in new tropes that have become cliches in contemporary comedy.

This is another one of those books that I found while browsing the biography section of the library. Zinoman's focus on comedic innovation and the analysis of Letterman's personality almost overwhelms the biographic storyline, but he keeps it all moving fast enough to qualify as a revealing set of personal anecdotes that had me interested throughout.

First line: In the summer of 1968, David Letterman's girlfriend gave him an ultimatum: Get married or break up.

 Page 56, Sentence 5: When we got on the air and I started reading our mail, I quickly realized it was mainly insane people.

Last line: Let me mention...kindness.