Thousand Movie Project

Wherein the narrator addresses some communication issues with his inner circle, waxes on the myriad transformations of Lon Chaney Jr., learns to appreciate a great 20th century painter, and then riffs for a bit, at the very end, about a romantic conundrum in which he's found himself.

Wherein the narrator talks about his first roommate (a Guitar Hero prodigy from Queens), details the honor of a career bartender, explores some issues he has with working in the service industry, and waxes on the seldom-discussed sexual prowess of sci-fi novelist Ray Bradbury.

A Christmas Episode! At the end of January! Wherein the narrator, having toyed with a single script and recording for the better part of three months, gives up, and tosses out this perhaps too-collage-like episode about time, about the life and death of Shakespeare scholar Harold Bloom, about the work of an old friend and politically-minded musician Speakea5y (the artist responsible for this podcast's opening and closing credits), and about some other scattered stuff.

Wherein the narrator riffs for a bit about buying weed in high school, two dates from his early twenties that went poorly for different reasons, being terrified of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, and then segues into a stoned DVD commentary for ROCKY 4.

Wherein the narrator, having edited the entire episode only to have a file go suddenly corrupt and vanish, uses cheesy public domain classical music to bridge segments about a guy on the sidewalk with a resonant stare, things he's belatedly learning about work-life balance from the teachers he briefly worked with, and a guy he knows who apparently does hard drugs but is otherwise quite friendly.

Wherein the narrator comes up pretty late with what was supposed to be a Halloween-day episode. A riff about what it was like to grow up watching edited horror movies on UPN 33 in Miami, his failure in little league baseball, his changing attitudes about ageing and a long, long, LONG aimless and shapeless riff about his addiction to dating.

Wherein the narrator talks about a very bad date on Brickell, a very good date in the Gables, and then gets a little longwinded in talking about how the scary stories on reddit are maybe more than scary stories. Also in this episode: Quote of the Week, and a new installment in David Remnick is Fucking Terrific.

Wherein the narrator makes peace with certain shortcomings, answers some mail from an angry young person, and then expounds--perhaps a little too eagerly--about the upside of sleeping with somebody who, like his friend Cindy, has very specific kinks.

Wherein the narrator, before visiting a bank, welcomes a few guests and hears riffs about beards, the dark way in which the Internet is like the printing press, and receives missives from a baby.

Wherein the narrator recounts the Miami-wide panic leading up to Hurricane Dorian, the death of his 17-year companion Mango, and then waxes at the end about his love life.

Wherein the narrator riffs about the haircuts and hygiene of certain people, remembers a childhood acquaintance, and talks for a bit about why the story of Rob Zombie's development as a filmmaker is maybe more interesting than his movies.

Wherein the narrator has managed, just hours before tonsillitis rendered him speechless, to crank out a length collage-style exploration of his favorite book series, Mark Z. Danielewski's 27-volume THE FAMILIAR, and also to relate that with certain things mentioned by his favorite YouTuber, Steve Donoghue. Special thanks to Michael Silverblatt, the host of KCRW's magnificent show BOOKWORM, for the permission to excerpt some of his conversation with Mark Danielewski. Thanks also to Steve Donoghue for letting me chop up some of his own work and assemble it here. His channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/saintdonoghue Had to use text-to-speech software for the concluding segment.

Wherein the narrator gets nostalgic about reading (and never finishing) John Updike books on rainy summer afternoons, guesses at strategies employed by homeless persons in the collection of donations, opines about subtexts to the new CHILD'S PLAY movie and then, for the first time, talks for a few minutes without a script.

Wherein the narrator, still soaked in Miami rain, talks a bit about the 8th street bakery where he so often gets his breakfast, and where the staff doesn't like him, and where the new and profoundly disturbed homeless guy in the area tends to make a show of himself. After that, the narrator voices some admiration for the YouTuber Grace Randolph, Gary Vaynerchuk, and what a content creator can learn from following them.

Wherein the narrator appears to've taken a puff of something before walking you, with lots of giggles and digressions, through James Whale's 1935 masterpiece, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. If you haven't seen the movie, here's your reason to give it a shot!

Wherein the narrator talks about rainy season in Miami and his friend Rachel's heartbroken theatrics and douchery. Featured on this episode are excerpts from a 2006 interview with Philip Roth, conducted by Christopher Lydon, and presented with permission from the good folks at Radio Open Source. Also, at the end, you'll find a clip from an old episode of AN EVENING WITH GROUCHO, of which you can find a few more slivers here: https://archive.org/details/OTRR_An_Evening_With_Groucho_Singles/AnEveningWithGroucho_33_ThalbergStory-Garbo.mp3 The opening and closing song, JUMP, is produced by the artist Speakea5y. You can find more of his work at www.speakea5y.com

Wherein the narrator talks a bit about telling the wrong morbid quote to the wrong person, recounts what's probably an apocryphal story from the posh 1960s literary scene, and then posts a good chunk of what's left from last week's conversation with film critic Pavel Klein.

Wherein the narrator surrenders some control of things and chats with his colleague about reviewing movies on the internet, getting into arguments on the internet, the new Rambo and the new Terminator and Kevin Smith and some other things.

Wherein the narrator addresses a nice escape route from conversations, recounts the ballad of his complicated relationship with an older colleague, and gives details about his Sunday ritual.

Wherein the narrator, after an account of overeating, tells the story of how he embarrassed himself on OkCupid, and at his favorite local bar, and launches a new segment about THE NEW YORKER'S editor-in-chief, David Remnick, called "David Remnick is Fucking Terrific."