This is the quadmonthly happiness report for October 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 June 2022 update, the following books were completed:
- A Flash of Green, by John D. MacDonald (mystery/crime fiction)
- Babylon’s Ashes (The Expanse #6), by James S.A. Corey (science fiction)
- Nameless: Season 2: The Lost Soul of the City (Book #1), by Dean Koontz (digital novella)
- The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein (1964) (children’s book)
- 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)
- Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal, by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona (comic book)
- Ms. Marvel Volume 2: Generation Why, by G. Willow Wilson (comic book)
Currently Reading:
- White Desert, by Loren D. Estleman (western)
- 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)
- Thor: The Eternals Saga, Vol. 1, by Roy Thomas & John Buscema & Keith Pollard (comic book)
- Superman,Vol. 1: The Unity Saga: Phantom Earth, by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), et al. (comic book trade)
Looking Forward to Reading:
- The Silent Speaker, by Rex Stout (mystery)
- Dragonfire, by Bill Pronzini (mystery)
- The Lincoln Lawyer, by Michael Connelly (mystery)
- How Story Works, by Lani Diane Rich (how-to/writing)
- Firefly: The Magnificent Nine, by James Lovegrove (media tie-in/science fantasy)
- Doctor Strange: The Oath (New Avengers), by Brian K. Vaughan (writer) & Marcos Martin (illustrator) (comic book trade)
“Play”
Since June, I stopped playing the following video games:
- Arkham Knight (replay)
- Horizon Zero Dawn (taking a break — wonderful game, but I needed the room for NBA2K22)
Currently Playing:
- Mass Effect 2: Legendary Edition (semi-replay) (still going for the platinum)
- Mafia III (replay)
- NFS: Heat
- Far Cry 3
- NBA2K22
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.” Yes, I know that “Television” is becoming an obsolete phrase, since I watched most of these on streaming platforms.
Since June, the following television series were completed:
- Stargate SG-1: Seasons 7 & 8
- Agent Carter: Season 2 (rewatch)
- The Man in the High Castle: Seasons 1 & 2 (Prime Video)
- Paradise PD: Seasons 2 & 3 (Netflix)
- Bosch: Legacy: Season 1 (FreeVee)
- Inside Job: Season 1 (Netflix)
- Obi-Wan Kenobi: Season 1 (Disney +)
- Seinfeld: Seasons 4 thru 6 (rewatch)
- The Flash: Season 8
- Van Helsing: Season 1
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 4 (rewatch)
- The Lincoln Lawyer: Season 1 (Netflix)
- The Boys: Season 3 (Prime Video)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Seasons 6 & 7 (Disney +)
- Ms. Marvel: Season 1 (Disney +)
- Stranger Things: Season 4 (Netflix)
- Peaky Blinders: Season 6 (final)
- Longmire: Seasons 1 & 2
- Mayans MC: Season 4
- God’s Favorite Idiot: Season 1 (Netflix)
- Cowboy Bebop: the anime series
- Wu Assassins: Season 1 (Netflix)
- Brand New Cherry Flavor (Limited Series) (Netflix)
- Outlander: Season 5
- Key & Peele: Season 1 (rewatch)
- Star Wars: Rebels: Season 1 (Disney +)
- The Orville: New Horizons: Season 3 (Hulu/Disney +)
- Resident Evil: Season 1 (Netflix)
Currently Watching (TV Series):
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 5 (rewatch)
- Seinfeld: Season 7 (rewatch)
- Stargate SG-1: Season 9
- Van Helsing: Season 2
- The Man in the High Castle: Season 3 (Prime Video)
- Longmire: Season 3
- Star Wars: Rebels: Season 2 (Disney +)
- She-Hulk:Attorney at Law: Season 1 (Disney +)
- Sandman: Season 1 (Netflix)
- Cowboy Bebop: Season 1 (Netflix)
- Cobra Kai: Season 5 (Netflix)
- Andor: Season 1 (Disney +)
Looking Forward to Watching (TV Series):
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Seasons 6 & 7 (rewatch)
- Seinfeld: Seasons 8 & 9 (rewatch)
- Stargate SG-1: Season 10
- The Man in the High Castle: Season 4 (Prime Video)
- Van Helsing: Seasons 3 thru 5
- Longmire: Seasons 4 thru 6 (Netflix)
- Star Wars: Rebels: Seasons 3 & 4
- Jack Ryan: Seasons 3 & 4 (Prime Video)
- The Walking Dead: Season 11 (final)
- Manifest: Season 4 (Netflix) (Nov 2022?)
- Better Call Saul: Season 6 (final)
- Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi (Disney +) (Oct 26, 2022)
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch S2 (Disney +) (Jan 4, 2023)
- The Mandalorian S3 (Disney +) (2023)
- Star Wars: Ahsoka S1 (Disney +) (2023)
- Secret Invasion: Season 1 (Disney +) (Spring 2023)
- Loki: Season 2 (Disney +) (Summer 2023)
- What If…?: Season 2 (Disney +) (2023)
- Vikings:Valhalla: Seasons 2 & 3 (Netflix) (2023)
- Foundation: Season 1 (Apple +)
- Marvel’s Runaways: Seasons 1 thru 3
- 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:
- This is Spinal Tap (1984) (rewatch)
- The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) (rewatch)
- Half Baked (1998)
- Office Space (1999) (rewatch)
- Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) (rewatch)
- Cedar Rapids (2011)
- Blitz (2011)
- Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
- Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness (2022)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
- Dog (2022) (Prime Video)
- Lou (2022) (Netflix)
Documentaries:
- Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Classic Albums) (2002) (music documentary)
- Muscle Shoals (2013) (music documentary)
- ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads (2019) (music documentary) (Netflix)
- Like a Rolling Stone: the life and times of Ben Fong-Torres (2021) (documentary)
- Light & Magic (2022) (documentary miniseries) (Disney +)
- Randy Rhoads: Reflections of a Guitar Icon (2022) (music documentary)
Stand-Up Comedy Specials:
- George Carlin: Doin’ It Again (2005) (stand-up comedy)
- Jim Breuer: Let’s Clear the Air (2009) (stand-up comedy)
- Iliza Shlesinger: Freezing Hot (2015) (stand-up comedy) (Netflix)
- Jo Koy: Comin’ in Hot (2019) (stand-up comedy) (Netflix)
- Jack Whitehall: I’m Only Joking (2020) (stand-up comedy) (Netflix)
- Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special (2022) (stand-up comedy) (Netflix)
- Bill Burr: Live at Red Rocks (2022) (stand-up comedy) (Netflix)
- Ricky Gervais: SuperNature (2022) (stand-up comedy) (Netflix)
- The Hall: honoring George Carlin, Robin Williams, Joan Rivers & Richard Pryor (2022) (comedy award show/stand-up comedy) (Netflix)
- Bill Burr presents: Friends Who Kill (2022) (stand-up comedy) (Netflix)
- Patton Oswalt: We All Scream (2022) (stand-up comedy) (Netflix)
Currently Watching (Movies):
- The Man from Toronto (2022) (Netflix)
- No Time to Die (2021)
Looking Forward to Watching (Movies):
- Tombstone (1993) (rewatch)
- Wonder Woman: 1984 (2020)
“Listen”
Since June 2022, I’ve listened to the following recorded works in their entirety.
- With the Beatles (1963) The Beatles
- Wheels of Fire (1968)Cream
- Chicago Transit Authority (1969) Chicago
- Chicago (1970) Chicago
- Hot Rocks 1964 – 1971 (1971) Rolling Stones
- Chicago III (1971) Chicago
- Chicago at Carnegie Hall (Chicago IV) (1971) Chicago
- Blue Öyster Cult(1972) Blue Öyster Cult
- Chicago V (1972) Chicago
- 1962-1966 [The Red Album] (1973) The Beatles
- 1967-1970 [The Blue Album] (1973) The Beatles
- Tyranny and Mutation (1973) Blue Öyster Cult
- Chicago VI (1973) Chicago
- KISS (1974) KISS
- Hollies (1974) The Hollies
- Secret Treaties (1974) Blue Öyster Cult
- Photographs & Memories: His Greatest Hits (1974) Jim Croce
- Chicago VII (1974) Chicago
- Hotter Than Hell (1974) KISS
- Hair of the Dog (1975) Nazareth
- Dressed to Kill (1975) KISS
- Alive! (1975) KISS
- Agents of Fortune (1976) Blue Öyster Cult
- High Voltage (1976) AC/DC
- Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976) AC/DC
- Destroyer (1976) KISS
- Rock and Roll Over (1976) KISS
- 2112 (1976) Rush
- Spectres (1977) Blue Öyster Cult
- Let There Be Rock (1977) AC/DC
- Love Gun (1977) KISS
- Alive II (1977) KISS
- The Cars (1978) The Cars
- Powerage (1978) AC/DC
- Mirrors (1979) Blue Öyster Cult
- Candy-O (1979) The Cars
- Highway to Hell (1979) AC/DC
- Dynasty (1979) KISS
- Ace of Spades (1980) Motörhead (2X)
- Cultösaurus Erectus(1980) Blue Öyster Cult
- Panorama (1980) The Cars
- Back in Black (1980) AC/DC
- British Steel (1980) Judas Priest
- Unmasked (1980) KISS
- Fire of Unknown Origin (1981) Blue Öyster Cult
- For Those About to Rock We Salute You (1981) AC/DC
- Extraterrestrial Live (1982) Blue Öyster Cult
- Flick of the Switch (1983) AC/DC
- The Revölution by Night (1983) Blue Öyster Cult
- Heartbeat City (1984) The Cars
- Club Ninja (1985) Blue Öyster Cult
- Fly on the Wall (1985) AC/DC
- Killing is My Business…and Business is Good (1985) Megadeth
- Reign in Blood (1986) Slayer
- Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying? (1986) Megadeth
- Door to Door (1987) The Cars
- …and Justice for All (1988) Metallica
- Imaginos (1988) Blue Öyster Cult
- Blow Up Your Video (1988) AC/DC
- So Far, So Good … So What (1988) Megadeth
- The Razor’s Edge (1990) AC/DC
- Rust in Peace (1990) Megadeth
- Countdown to Extinction (1992) Megadeth
- Cult Classic (1994) Blue Öyster Cult
- Youthanasia (1994) Megadeth
- Ballbreaker (1995) AC/DC
- Cryptic Writings (1997) Megadeth
- Risk (1999) Megadeth
- Nickel Creek (2000) Nickel Creek
- Stiff Upper Lip (2000) AC/DC
- The World Needs a Hero (2001) Megadeth
- Remission (2002) Mastodon
- The Essential Byrds (2003) The Byrds
- Lonely Runs Both Ways (2004) Alison Krauss & Union Station
- The System Has Failed (2004) Megadeth
- Get Behind Me Satan (2005) The White Stripes
- Invaders (2006) various artists/rock compilation
- Age of Winters (2006) The Sword
- The Black Flame (2006) Wolf
- Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces (2007) Seether
- United Abominations (2007) Megadeth
- Seeing Things (2008) Jakob Dylan
- The Best of UFO (1974-1983) (2008) UFO
- Only by the Night (2008) Kings of Leon
- It is Time for a Love Revolution (2008) Lenny Kravitz
- Black Ice (2008) AC/DC
- Black Gives Way to Blue (2009) Alice in Chains
- The Ultimate Bee Gees (2009) Bee Gees
- 21st Century Breakdown (2009) Green Day
- Crash Kings (2009) Crash Kings
- Chickenfoot (2009) Chickenfoot
- The Devil You Know (2009) Heaven & Hell
- White Collar Lies (2010) Kopek
- Move Like This (2011) The Cars
- El Camino (2011) The Black Keys
- Rock or Bust (2014) AC/DC
- The Symbol Remains (2020) Blue Öyster Cult
- S&M 2 (2020) Metallica (and the San Francisco Symphony)
- Power Up (2020) AC/DC
I’ve also listened to the following podcasts for the first time.
- The Unofficial Obi-Wan Kenobi Podcast, by Pearls of Fandom
- Children of the Watch: a Star Wars after show (with Alex and Mac)
- The Boys TV Podcast from TV Podcast Industries
- The Eddie Trunk Podcast
- Streaming Things: a Stranger Things Podcast (with Chris, Andy & Steve)
- There’s No Place Like Terra: a Stargate podcast (with Nixie & Grace)
- Walking Through the Stargate (with Zach & Brent)
- Nerd Lunch podcast
- Endless: a Sandman podcast (with Lani Diane Rich & Alisa Kwitney)
The next quadmonthly report will be filed in February 2023.
Until then . . . (with apologies to Linda Ellerbee, by way of Kurt Vonnegut) “And so it goes.”
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