Mind(less?) Fun

In the midst of the flurry of events in 2015 - NEETdom, renovating a three floor villa, turning 30 - one thing that somewhat surprised me is a slight but growing shift in my taste in entertainment. Until recently I used to be, more or less, a snob. I would only read big, over the top tomes (often halfway); I would only watch late night, essay films; the only cartoons I would sporadically watch was anime - and, even then, not unless it featured deep plots and refined, detailed art. Generally speaking, I would not consume any media that didn't scream 'craftmanship', 'philosophical depth' or 'adult taste' from the top of its lungs.

The taxing events of this past year marked a change in that. Probably because I was often simply too tired, but also because of the 'betrayal by culture' my difficulties in the academic world often felt like, more and more often I would pick up again and dust off those 'childish things' and find myself guiltlessly (and unironically) enjoying stuff I would have formerly branded as unsophisticated, or simply not worth my time. In other words, I began to see the appeal of simple, linear, well-crafted entertainment over convoluted, 'thinking man' bullshit.

Where I currently live I do not have limitless internet: one unintended but fun consequence of this is that I no longer stream films or shows; rather, I went back to the good old 'scour TV channels for reruns' and 'just turn the TV on and see what we got'. A nice change of pace, limited disposable bandwidth made me go back to the days of my youth, when catching the show I liked on TV was a daily, sometimes weekly rite that took careful planning of the day ahead. One of my favorite channels is Boing TV, where you can enjoy musty first seasons of shows that, abroad, have probably already ended: Adventure Time, Steven Universe, Gumball. Yes, I am lagging behind like hell, and I simply don't care. Maybe it'll change later this year, when I'll get satellite ADSL; maybe not.

Collating my newfound taste for mindless, silly entertainment with TV, one show I am actually liking is Yo Soy Franky, a ridiculously upbeat Colombian production where a robot girl shares her time between wacky family and wacky school antics, while hiding to the world she is a robot. Yes, it's silly and yes, that's what I would have rationalised a year ago: nowadays, I just sit down and enjoy the reassuringly formulaic plot and the eye-gougingly gaudy color schemes. I also enjoy supreme babe Danielle Arciniegas, but that's another story.

 

 

Same story with another ridiculously funny, pastel laden show I've been enjoying far more than I ever thought I would have: Every Witch Way, a show probably about witches but, I suspect, mostly a plotless excuse for ridiculous, laugh out loud romps into the land of surreal fun. Also, it features second supreme babe of the year Autumn Wendel, who I am fairly sure is no longer jailbait so it's ok - not to mention, she has a Lovecraft connection as she starred in 'The Whisperer in Darkness'.

 

Also, I sometimes stay up until 2am to watch Dofus. How low have I sunk.

Finally, here is a little sunset from my window. I must be the one person alive who's actually happy to be living next to a high speed train line. It also feels really nice for this blog to finally be about whatever the **** I feel like. Refreeeshing.