Wayne on the Brain
A recent dream that found me in the heart of lovely Wayne, PA, where I resided for a couple of years much longer ago than it seems, reminded me that I’d jotted down another one set there several months back.
The newer one: I’m walking on a side road that feeds into Main Street when I hear Dido singing “Thank You” during an outdoor photoshoot. I approach her because she’s an old friend and we catch up a little but she’s busy working — so after confirming that she still lives nearby I tell her that Em and I have a place in Manayunk now and we should meet for lunch.
Zero idea who Em’s supposed to be.
The older dream: I’ve gone to Minella’s Diner with someone whom, per my notes, I couldn’t place upon waking and in hindsight I would very much like to believe was the mysterious Em. Bruce Springsteen, the E Street Band, and their entire touring entourage are there and have taken up several tables. I hear another patron tell his server that any drinks they order under $55 are on him and, dear reader, I’m at least as curious about how my subconscious came up with that cutoff point as you are. Once my friend and I have been seated, Lex Luthor turns around from the next booth to speak to us — not a generic version, but Lex Luthor as voiced by Clancy Brown in the DCAU Superman and Justice League animated series, fleshed out in real life and threatening us with something I can’t recall.
Related: Head Space • New Dream Titans • HIVE Minded
Now Soup Radio
I’d meant to kick off this year on Blam’s Blog with optimism by displaying the
soup can.
You may recall the concept if you’re a longtime reader. And if not, or really either
way, you can scroll back through its dozen or so appearances here — several of which mention its ancient origins via the eminent and prolific Mark Evanier. (I did swap in the bottle of Devil Tylenol from Hell that I cobbled together for a friend a couple of times, and the can also went up on a few occasions, transiently, in the sidebar.)
The idea is to exhibit said can when there will be little or no other content for a while. So why optimism? I’ll explain in my next post or perhaps the one after that.
Vintage Radio: Jakkapan via Adobe Stock. Composite: BSL.
Hear, Say
I love music. A bold take, you must be thinking, made possible only by deep reserves of courage and conviction.
The problem is that, as I’ve mentioned here at least once before, I can’t easily read
or write or hold a conversation aloud if there’s chatter going on around me — other conversations, television, etc., sadly including music with lyrics — because my brain foregrounds all of it and I’m unable to focus on any one bit to the point of utter exhaustion.
Tundra Woman
I’d like to have ended the year with several posts on recommended viewing and
reading, but I should know by now that making plans is how you get the universe to laugh at you. Which actually isn’t a bad segue into talking about North of North.
The delightful series’ first season of eight half-hour episodes debuted in Canada last January and globally on Netflix in April. It’s happily been renewed for a second to bow in 2026. Pretty much every critical review or discussion I came across when it premiered all but apologized for pushing it, comparing its tone and/or environment to some of the brightest stars in the constellation of great television while cautioning that it was merely, to repeat my own self, delightful — and for those averse to the unfamiliar it might be a tough sell considering the only recognizable face in its cast for most viewers will be 24’s Mary Lynn Rajskub.
El and the Misfit Boys
How I hadn’t come across “A Stranger Things Christmas” before this week, I’m not sure.
The video dates to 2016 but we’re in better late than never territory since the penultimate episodes of the series at hand drop today (and the grand finale on New Year’s Eve). While I’m unfamiliar with the work of co-creator Leigh Lahav, I look forward to exploring her channel further because this is absolutely perfect. [3:15]
Related: Happy Feet • Lead the Wild Rumpus, Stark • Coffee and Synchronicity