The Apple TV Peanuts Selections Are My New Comfort Watches

Obviously, everyone loves Peanuts. A Charlie Brown Christmas is part of our holiday tradition, as well as the Thanksgiving and Halloween specials. I think the rest of the Peanuts canon is just starting to get lost to time, because until Apple TV became their new home, I forgot that there were other television specials and movies featuring our favorite beagle and friends. So when I discovered a bunch of the old Peanuts on Apple TV, I was filled with joy. 

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journal, the telly

I Want to Be Someone Who Lounges in a Park

Spring is finally here! It was such a brutal winter, and I worked outside for all of it, I know who brutal it got. Now that it’s nice to be outside again, we can all go back to the park.

I love going to the park. My preferred form of exercise is walking through the park and finding new paths to take, and new places to sit while I take my breaks just to extend my time outdoors. But, as I go on my walks, I see all these people with their picnic blankets, and books, and whatever else they've got with them to pass the time.  

I wish I could be one of those people. I tried. I bought a very nice picnic blanket that has a very cute patchwork floral pattern. I brought a book with me and my very nice water bottle, found a spot in the shade. But I just could not relax. I kept putting the book down, readjusting my position. In retrospect, I should've brought something to make some sort of pillow, that maybe would've helped that part. But even then, I couldn't relax and turn off the outside world. I felt the same way laying on my blanket in the park the last time I tried to take a bath to relax. 

But it’s something I want to able to do. To turn the brain off and feel the fresh air and take a deep breath. So this season, I’m gonna try to lounge in the park, let go and relax. Maybe pick up some food, bring my book, maybe listen to some music or a podcast, just be.

journal

I Want to Bring Life and Soul Back to Disney

Bob Iger is stepping down as Disney’s CEO, again. (We’ll see if it sticks this time.) Disney is entering a new phase and it feels like they really need to turn the page. All seems to want to do is make Marvel movies, sequels, live action (“live action”) remakes. They’re missing that Disney Magic, and they need to get it back. And I have some ideas. 

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cinema, the telly, thoughts

Sports Broadcasters, Please, Shut Up

With the Australian Open wrapped and the Winter Olympics about to begin, it’s got me thinking. Not just about the athletes and who I want to win, but the broadcasts itself. I know less is more is such a cliché, but I feel like sports broadcasters should really use it as a guiding principle. They do not stop talking!

I know that they have to throw a lot of information at you sometimes. Though I would argue they share too much, sometimes, because some of that stuff could be left to the sports talk shows the next day. But it’s not like the sports talk shows these days are reliable for more than shouting and the same old questions. That’s a rant for another day.

It would be different if they were narrating the action and giving relevant background information or statistics to explain any significance of a game or moment. It just turns into story time, or worse, incessant rambling (*cough* John McEnroe *cough*). To the point where they’re not even talking about the action in front of us. 

I wish they would embrace the art of silence, and letting the action speak for itself. The good thing about sports on television is that we can see what is going on. The TV broadcasters don’t have to narrate everything that happens like radio broadcasters have to so the listeners can follow the action. They can task advantage of us seeing the players and hearing the crowd reaction. Take last year’s French Open final, for example. From my memory of watching it, it felt like the broadcasters laid out, and from time to time Brian Anderson would chime in with something we would need to know or an exclamation after a big moment, but mostly let the drama of that final speak for itself. 

Sol sports broadcasters, sometimes the best way to do your job is to say nothing at all.

sportsball, the telly

The Best Movies I Watched in 2025

 Here are the best movies I watched in 2025. As always, there are things that came out in December that I probably won’t watch until later this month, and unfortunately I’ll have to add those movies in the “Movies I Caught Up On” section in next year’s list. Looking at you Wake Up Dead Man.

• Blue Moon
• Hamnet
• Jay Kelly
• Marty Supreme
• My Mom Jayne
• Nouvelle Vague
• One of Them Days
• Sinners
• SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
• Superman
• Wicked: For Good

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cinema, lists