original prepper
“When shit hits the fan” is a popular term for doomsday enthusiasts, along with TEOTTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it). The term bounced around in my brain during the 2020 pandemic shutdown when I discovered the five-year-old series primitive technology on youtube.characterized by the outdoors macgyver Type (actually John Plant of North Queensland) makes all sorts of things out of nature: weapons, kilns for baking clay, and increasingly sophisticated buildings. I watched all the videos and settled on a stubborn, mostly silent video of a bare-chested and barefoot man (minus the bugs and birds chirping). Posting resumed. This includes a video of making a metal spear point out of a swamp. It’s very useful to know about WTSHTF. (Carrie Scozaro)
lighter touch
his sixth novel (2016’s Underground railroad) and the seventh novel (2019’s nickel boys) Both won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, so it’s no surprise that expectations were high for Colson Whitehead’s eighth novel.and harem shuffle Don’t be disappointed if the intersecting tale of Harlem’s criminal underworld doesn’t have the same strength as the other two books. But as a reader, it’s a lot of fun delving into the lives of furniture salesman Ray Carney and his criminal cousin Freddie, dragging him into a web of shady characters and questionable deals that go very wrong. Whitehead’s past award-winning record characterizes him as an acerbic writer on race and history. harem shuffle It doesn’t carry a lot of thematic weight while remaining fairly thrilling crime fiction. (Dan Nylene)
playlist of the week
Featured new songs arriving in stores and online on August 19th:
Demi Lovato Holy FVCK. Perhaps taking cues from Olivia Rodrigo and Machine Gun Kelly, the pop star’s latest album veers in the “edgy” pop-punk direction.
panic! at the disco Viva Las Vengeance. I asked, “Have you heard any Panic! songs since the first single back then?” I called out, “No.”
silver sun pickup, physical thrill. The alternative rock mainstay produced this new album produced by Butch Vig in the time of the pandemic, and frontman Brian Aubert’s yearning for personal connection is steeped in the songs. (Seth Sommerfeld)