Monthly Archive:: December 2020
Dec 14 2020
Magic Dark and Strange Doesn’t Quite Live Up to Its Potential
Kelly Powell‘s debut novel, Songs from the Deep, was easily one of my favorite books of 2019. Atmospheric and emotional, what starts as a murder mystery involving sirens doubles as a narrative about handling grief and moving forward in the wake of tragedy. When Powell’s sophomore novel,…
Dec 13 2020
Mank Is a Meandering Commentary on Hollywood’s Past and Present
Director David Fincher has tackled some ambitious subject material in his nearly 30-year career. Often at the center of his films is the exploration of a complicated persona, whether fictional antiheroes like Tyler Durden and Amy Dunne or real-life menaces to society like the Zodiac Killer and Mark…
Dec 13 2020
This Week in Geek (12/14/20–12/20/20)
Welcome to This Week in Geek, your guide to events of interest to the Minnesota geek community for the week of Monday, December 14, to Sunday, December 20.
Please note: Due to risks from the global COVID-19 pandemic, and in following current health guidelines recommending both social distancing and…
Dec 12 2020
Taylor Swift’s Second Surprise Album of 2020 Is Bold and Hopeful
This year has been a wild one, but 2020 will forever be marked by Taylor Swift releasing two surprise albums months apart: Folklore in July and now its sister album, Evermore, in December. The newest one is a little more bold in both sound and lyrics—the person I listed to it with described it as “a…
Dec 07 2020
Toradora! Is the Fluffy, Escapist Anime We Need in 2020
In this, the wildest of years, I find myself gravitating toward light, fluffy, low-stakes content in all its forms, more than ever before (which is really saying something). To me, there’s truly nothing like a good escapist piece of fiction to make all the heavy things going on feel just a tiny…
Dec 06 2020
This Week in Geek (12/7/20–12/13/20)
Welcome to This Week in Geek, your guide to events of interest to the Minnesota geek community for the week of Monday, December 7, to Sunday, December 13.
Please note: Due to risks from the global COVID-19 pandemic, and in following current health guidelines recommending both social distancing and…
Dec 03 2020
Star Trek: Lower Decks Is a Delight for Trekkies and Newcomers Alike
Over the past 50-plus years, the Star Trek franchise has time and again established itself as a mainstay in our pop-culture zeitgeist. Its history is renowned, acclaimed, and sometimes tumultuous.
Similar to other properties with large fan bases, like Star Wars and Doctor Who, each new update to the…
Dec 01 2020
An Introduction to Pasta Making
A confession: there is very little I love more than making pantry staples―things I could easily buy from the grocery store—by hand. If I’m “too lazy” to go to the grocery store, but I know I have flour, water, yeast, and salt, I will just make my own bread. Spending an afternoon putting together dough and…