This is the quadmonthly happiness report for June 2022. Our belief here at FirewaterCorp is that happiness is defined as always having something to look forward to. In our world, choices in entertainment play a huge role in this pursuit.
Our company motto is “Read. Play. Watch. Listen.” And, then, of course: “Write About It.”
“Read”
Since the February 2022 update, the following books were completed:
- Gold Coast, by Elmore Leonard (mystery/crime fiction)
- Doors, by Ed McBain (mystery/crime fiction)
- The Frankenstein Papers, by Fred Saberhagen (science fiction/fantasy)
- The Fabric of the Cosmos, by Brian Greene (nonfiction/physics)
- Eternals, by Neil Gaiman & John Romita Jr. (Marvel) (comic book)
- All-Star Superman, by Grant Morrison (comic book)
- The Eternals by Jack Kirby, by Jack Kirby (comic book)
- X-Men: Mutant Genesis, by Chris Claremont & Jim Lee (comic book)
Currently Reading:
- Nameless: Season 2: The Lost Soul of the City (Book #1), by Dean Koontz (digital novella)
- The Demon-Haunted World: science as a candle in the dark, by Carl Sagan (science/skepticism)
- Einstein: his life and universe, by Walter Isaacson (biography)
- A Flash of Green, by John D. MacDonald (mystery/crime fiction)
- Babylon’s Ashes (The Expanse #6), by James S.A. Corey (science fiction)
- Doctor Strange by Mark Waid: Vol 1: Across the Universe (comic book)
- Hawkeye: Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon, by Matt Fraction (comic book)
Looking Forward to Reading:
- White Desert, by Loren D. Estleman (western)
“Play”
Since February, I stopped playing the following video games:
- Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 & 2 (semi-replay) not completed, just on hiatus
- Marvel’s Avengers (ditto)
- Far Cry Primal (completed: platinum trophy)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War taking a break from long load times and too much storage space required
Currently Playing:
- Mass Effect 2: Legendary Edition (semi-replay)
- Arkham Knight (replay)
- Mafia III (replay)
- NFS: Heat
- Far Cry 3
- Horizon Zero Dawn
Looking Forward to Playing (* means I already own):
- Mass Effect 3: Legendary Edition (semi-replay)*
- Far Cry 6 (I mean, Giancarlo Esposito. How could I not?)
- Marvel’s Midnight Suns
- Marvel’s Wolverine
- Spider-Man 2
“Watch”
This category gets subdivided into “Television” and “Movies.”
Since February, the following television series were completed:
- Cobra Kai: Season 4 (Netflix)
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 3 (rewatch)
- Manifest: Season 3
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Seasons 3 thru 5 (Disney +)
- The Book of Boba Fett: Season 1 (Disney +)
- After Life: Season 3 (Netflix)
- Big Mouth: Seasons 1 thru 5 (Netflix)
- Seinfeld: Season 3 (rewatch)
- Disenchantment: Season 4 (Netflix)
- Space Force: Season 2 (Netflix)
- Cuckoo: Seasons 1 thru 5 (Netflix)
- Stargate SG-1: Season 6
- Murderville: Season 1 (Netflix)
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season 4 (Amazon Prime)
- Vikings:Valhalla: Season 1 (Netflix)
- The Walking Dead: Season 10
- Reacher: Season 1 (Amazon Prime)
- Moon Knight: Season 1 (Disney +)
- Ozark: Season 4 (Netflix) (final)
- Agent Carter: Season 1 (rewatch)
- Paradise PD: Season 1 (Netflix)
- The Blacklist: Season 9
- Workin’ Moms: Season 6
Currently Watching (TV Series):
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 4 (rewatch)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Season 6 (Disney +)
- Seinfeld: Season 4 (rewatch)
- The Flash: Season 8
- Stargate SG-1: Season 7
- The Man in the High Castle: Season 1
- Van Helsing: Season 1
- Agent Carter: Season 2 (rewatch)
- Bosch: Legacy: Season 1 (FreeVee)
- Obi-Wan Kenobi: Season 1 (Disney +)
- Paradise PD: Season 2 (Netflix)
- Inside Job: Season 1 (Netflix)
- Stranger Things: Season 4 (Netflix)
Looking Forward to Watching (TV Series):
My TBW list seems to be growing by leaps and bounds.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Seasons 5 thru 7 (rewatch)
- Seinfeld: Seasons 5 thru 9 (rewatch)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Season 7 (Disney +)
- Stargate SG-1: Seasons 8 thru 10
- Outlander: Season 5
- Mayans MC: Season 4
- Paradise PD: Season 3 (Netflix)
- The Boys: Season 3 (Prime Video)
- Jack Ryan: Seasons 3 & 4 (Amazon Prime)
- The Walking Dead: Season 11 (final)
- Ms. Marvel: Season 1 (Disney +) [6/8/2022]
- Peaky Blinders: Season 6 (final) [6/10/2022]
- She-Hulk: Season 1 (Disney +) [8/17/22]
- Secret Invasion: Season 1 (Disney +)
- Loki: Season 2 (Disney +)
- What If…?: Season 2 (Disney +)
- Manifest: Season 4 (Netflix)
- Better Call Saul: Season 6
- Vikings:Valhalla: Seasons 2 & 3 (Netflix)
- Foundation: Season 1 (Apple +)
- Marvel’s Runaways: Seasons 1 thru 3
- The Orville: Season 3 (Hulu)
- Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD: Seasons 1 thru 7 (rewatch)
- Firefly: Season 1 (rewatch)
Since the last update, the following movies were completed. For clarity’s sake, I’m breaking these down into subheadings.
Features:
- Goodfellas (1990) (rewatch)
- Pulp Fiction (1994) (rewatch)
- Without a Paddle (2004)
- The Notebook (2004)
- The Three Stooges (2012)
- Keeping Up with the Joneses (2016)
- Ferdinand (2017) (rewatch)
- The Cloverfield Paradox (2018) (Netflix)
- Game Over, Man (2018) (Netflix)
- Super Troopers 2 (2018)
- Rim of the World (2019)
- Think Like a Dog (2020)
- The Rental (2020) (Netflix)
- Jolt (2021) (Amazon)
- Uncharted (2022)
- The Adam Project (2022) (Netflix)
- Metal Lords (2022) (Netflix)
Documentaries:
- Chariots of the Gods (1970) (documentary)
- Marvel: Assembling a Universe (2014) (Disney +)
- Hired Gun (2016) (music documentary)
- Grass is Greener (2019) (documentary) (Netflix)
Stand-Up Comedy Specials:
- Trevor Noah: Afraid of the Dark (2017) (stand-up comedy) (Netflix)
- Christina P: Mother Inferior (2017) (stand-up comedy) (Netflix)
- Trevor Noah: Son of Patricia (2018) (stand-up comedy) (Netflix)
- Nikki Glaser: Bangin’ (2019) (stand-up comedy)
- Michelle Wolf: Joke Show (2019) (stand-up comedy)
- David Spade: Nothing Personal (2022) (stand-up comedy) (Netflix)
- Aziz Ansari: Nightclub Comedian (2022) (stand-up comedy) (Netflix)
Currently Watching (Movies):
- Iliza Shlesinger: Freezing Hot (2015) (stand-up comedy) (Netflix)
- ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads (2019) (music documentary) (Netflix)
- Like a Rolling Stone: the life and times of Ben Fong-Torres (documentary)
- Blitz (2011)
Looking Forward to Watching (Movies):
- Tombstone (1993) (rewatch)
- Wonder Woman: 1984 (2020)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
- Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness (2022)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
“Listen”
Since February 2022, I’ve listened to the following recorded works in their entirety.
- The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963) Bob Dylan
- ZZ Top’s First Album (1971) ZZ Top
- Can’t Buy a Thrill (1972) Steely Dan
- Rio Grande Mud (1972) ZZ Top
- Tres Hombres (1973) ZZ Top
- Countdown to Ectasy (1973) Steely Dan
- Desperado (1973) Eagles
- Pretzel Logic (1974) Steely Dan
- Beautiful Loser (1975) Bob Seger
- Fandango! (1975) ZZ Top
- Katy Lied (1975) Steely Dan
- One of These Nights (1975) Eagles
- The Royal Scam (1976) Steely Dan
- Agents of Fortune (1976) Blue Öyster Cult
- Hotel California (1976) Eagles
- Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) (1976) Eagles
- Destroyer (1976) KISS
- Tejas (1976) ZZ Top
- Station to Station (1976) David Bowie
- Aja (1977) Steely Dan
- Spectres (1977) Blue Öyster Cult
- Stained Class (1978) Judas Priest
- The Long Run (1979) Eagles
- Degüello (1979) ZZ Top
- Heaven and Hell (1980) Black Sabbath
- Gaucho (1980) Steely Dan
- Hero, Hero (1981) Judas Priest
- Killers (1981) Iron Maiden
- Point of Entry (1981) Judas Priest
- Screaming for Vengeance (1982) Judas Priest
- Eliminator (1983) ZZ Top
- Kill ‘Em All (1983) Metallica
- Piece of Mind (1983) Iron Maiden
- The Last in Line (1984) Dio
- Powerslave (1984) Iron Maiden
- Brothers in Arms (1985) Dire Straits
- Afterburner (1985) ZZ Top
- Turbo (1986) Judas Priest
- Master of Puppets (1986) Metallica
- Day of Reckoning (1987) Pentagram
- Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988) Iron Maiden
- Recycler (1990) ZZ Top
- Devo’s Greatest Hits (1990) Devo
- Painkiller (1990) Judas Priest
- Changesbowie (1990) David Bowie
- Antenna (1994) ZZ Top
- Rhythmeen (1996) ZZ Top
- Greatest Hits (1998) Mötley Crüe
- The White Stripes (1999) The White Stripes
- Two Against Nature (2000) Steely Dan
- De Stijl (2000) The White Stripes
- Weathered (2001) Creed
- In Concert: Merchants of Cool (2002) Bad Company
- Elephant (2003) The White Stripes
- Mescalero (2003) ZZ Top
- Metarie (2003) (EP) Brendan Benson
- Everything Must Go (2003) Steely Dan
- Rancho Texicano: The Very Best of ZZ Top (2004) ZZ Top
- Peace,Love,Death Metal (2004) Eagles of Death Metal
- Evil Star (2004) Wolf
- The Best of Talking Heads (2004) Talking Heads
- Wolfmother (2005) Wolfmother
- Death by Sexy (2006) Eagles of Death Metal
- And Then It Got Ugly (2006) Rhino Bucket
- Crack the Skye (2009) Mastodon
- Shaka Rock (2009) Jet
- All I Was (2012) Tremonti
- La Futura (2012) ZZ Top
- The Winery Dogs (2013) The Winery Dogs
- Blackstar (2016) David Bowie
- Firepower (2018) Judas Priest
- Sermons of the Sinner (2021) KK’s Priest
I’ve also listened to the following podcasts for the first time.
- Into the Weird: a Marvel Bronze Age podcast
- Page Break (with Brian McClellan)
- The Blacklist Exposed (with Troy Heinritz & Aaron Peterson)
The next quadmonthly report will be filed in October 2022.
Until then . . . (with apologies to Batman ’66) “Tune in tomorrow: Same Bat-Time; Same Bat-Channel.”
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