High Five Tuesday - 1/14/2020 (Patreon)

Hey hey hey,

Hope your week is going well. This series started out as High Five Friday but I have been trying to shove as much work out the door as possible on Fridays. I’ve also been living the late nightlife again (waking up, dropping my daughter off, and then sleeping all day when I get home). Now I have Monday and Tuesday evenings open to get work done. So instead of forcing myself to do it on a day that won’t happen, I'm going with what works. Here is some stuff you might like. 

• Maxo Kream - Brandon Banks - I wanted to put this on last weeks best of 2019 album list, but I had to choose 5 and this one came to me later in the year so it was lower in the stats. Maxo Kream is one of the biggest talents in the game right now. I’ve been following along with his releases since I heard Cell Boomin ft. Father in 2015. This album is his major-label debut and it’s a monster. Maxo has a chilled out way of unleashing bar after bar of unfortunate and intriguing stories that culminate with a collective thought of “damn...”. He carries the torch of Texas greats like Scarface, Trae Tha Truth, and Z-ro. There is an incredible amount of emotion and passion in the music Maxo makes, and the lyricism is just incredible. That’s because he is very honest about the criminal decisions people make and what led to that. He even gives a glimpse of what it was like to get yelled at by his more traditional father for “all this gang shit”. Overall the album feels like a refreshing dose of the old school. It's got heart-wrenching stories, songs over 2 minutes long, and a formidable mind conducting the whole thing.
  
  

• Field Roast Italian Sausages - These things are the muhfuckin shit. I really can not go back to Aldi sausage. So instead I chase down the best price for field Roast among 3 different grocery stores and buy as much as I can. 

• The Master - I used to be somebody that was on the cutting edge of pop culture, and torrented all the Oscar screeners. I saw all the stuff I was supposed to and was ready to converse about it. I have given it up for a few years now, and I gotta say that I enjoy stumbling on a movie like this, and knowing it’s good, but not because there are a bunch of smiling faces with drinks in their hands ready to gush about any new thing you’re supposed to gush about. I don’t think it’s a superior way to consume the same product but I am realizing that I enjoy choice, and being in charge of what I see, instead of whatever everyone else is. Streaming narrows that, so I’ve been using my library to rent movies I want, instead of just movies that were available.  
  
    I don't know if this is my favorite Paul Thomas Anderson movie but I think it will be upon second watching. I avoided it for so long because I thought it was about Scientology, which sounds boring, but much like Phantom Thread, my preconceived notions were wrong (also I thank Xenu that it's not literally about Scientology). 

  The movie has a surreal nature and moves between hallucinations of the mind and the real world. Joaquin Phoenix, as Freddie Quell, is incredible as a simple man with a dirty mind who loves to brew his own booze. Hoffman is captivating as Lancaster Dodd, an author and snake oil salesmen who desperately wants to spread his words of spiritual rejuvenation, but also loves to get fucked up lol. When they finally meet it's an instant bond with menacing undertones. 

  My feelings after finishing this are that these two characters succinctly represent both sides of human experience and the battle between the animal and the mind. Amy Adams also did a great job periodically ringing the bell of clarity, and showing the reasonable people Dodd ignored to live out this fantastical existence. There Will Be Blood had a lot of themes of greed, misanthropy, and hate which resonated with me as someone with anger issues who dislikes a lot of people but I think The Master plumbs a deeper well than the sinister actions of a monster and operates as a film adaptation of a lot of things that go on in the mind. Making the healthier choice and following through, avoiding temptation, and doing what's best for you even if it goes against your well-worn instincts are the themes that are expertly handled in this movie. It probes questions like "Can someone change their ways?", "Can you change by yourself?", "Are we doomed to repeat our same traumas?". 

  As The Master of yourself, you constantly know you are full of shit though (like Lancaster Dodd) when you are making arbitrary designations on the true way to live. It’s a game of trying desperately not to be your same old failing self and hoping it sticks. So does that mean we require an outside Master? and who is so above reproach that they could take that position? It's a really interesting film that I got a lot out of and it shook up my thoughts on self. Absolutely wonderful. I wish it was longer because the beginning is so rich but the second half has a lot crammed in there to wrap shit up.

• Don Miguel Gascon Malbec - My favorite wine. They have it at a few places around town and it’s the one I always return to. With beer I tend to try a lot of different options but this malbec is my favorite and I’d rather just have it over something new.

• New Years Resolutions - I don’t know if you’re into it or not, but the beginning of the year is a great reset from the gluttonous holidays and it feels like you want to be your best, but DON’T EXPECT TOO MUCH!! Personally I don’t make resolutions because they aren’t ever successful. We also have a disastrous and lucrative culture that revolves around trying to change too much all at once. Elite athlete bods are not attainable in even one year's time, and you probably won’t be able to give up every food you like, but making progress towards a healthier existence will pay off in the end. I believe it is our duty to remain healthy in a way that allows us to be a bigger pain in the ass to the system for longer.
  
    Don’t get discouraged about not turning every unhealthy aspect of your life around and making it stick. I’ve been on the path of eating “right” for 8 years now, according to the app I use to track my food (they notified me of the anniversary). At this point, I remember beginning the journey of “healthy” eating and restricting all my food for the entire week, only to order a pizza in the middle of the night and eat back all the calories I avoided. Diets aren’t sustainable, but you do need a lifelong sustainable way of eating, and expecting yourself to workout like an athlete isn’t feasible.
  
    Doing the right thing® all at once is a ridiculous challenge. I have found success by starting with one habit that makes me miserable, that I want to turnaround and just focusing only on that. It has a tendency to domino effect into other areas of life because saying, “in 2020 I’ll eat healthily and work out all the time” isn’t focused enough to spark change. Pick something very specific like making dinner at home on Wednesdays, or doing 30 minutes of activity every other day, to get you started. Even when you’re living in a messy life, being able to focus on a good decision will get you rolling in the right direction. Taking care of yourself is rewarding in itself, it’s infectious, and the outcomes don’t matter. Preparing colorful plant-based foods, and giving 110% towards trying to touch your own toes are the moments in life when we choose the best for ourselves. These things don’t always come naturally, and I did at one point record every single thing I consumed for an entire year, but at this point, I am really only focused on eating the most vegetables and moving in a way that brings me joy (and also won't injure me). At this point, I’ve learned that a simple good decision feels better than beating myself up for not being perfect all the time. 

If you like what you read here and you haven’t seen all of my High Five posts they can be found here.

Peace,

Brett