Obsessions

Sitting downtown at one of Regina's cute coffee shops, hooked into the city's free wireless. I'm currently watching tons and tons of Saskatchewan Roughrider fans go marching by, as the game finished a few hours ago and massive celebrations in honor of their win have ensued. There are some dejected looking Winnipeg Bluebomber fans in the crowd but for the most part, spirits are high.

A great long weekend so far, mostly because I have had the opportunity to sleep A LOT and also do some major thinking about what I want the next few months to hold for me. September seems to always kick me into "fresh start" thinking, particularly this year when I am in a new place with all sorts of possibilities in front of me. It is hard not to think about where I was and what I was doing a couple of years ago and this also puts things into a weird sort of perspective.

Watching the obsessed Roughrider fans this weekend got me thinking about some of the things I'm mildly obsessed with right now. So perhaps this will be a little list of some of those new favourite things. At a healthy level of obsession, of course!

1) The Real Thing by Jill Scott
I haven't been this excited about a new album for a very long time. It isn't actually released until the end of September, but I can't get enough of what I'm hearing from it so far. I love this woman: beautiful, smart as hell, talented, confident, true to herself - the whole shebang. My favourite songs so far (a clip of which is featured on her MySpace page) are My Love and Crown Royal. (which coincidentally, was another favourite thing of mine in university!)

2) Rescue Me
The fact that I enjoy this TV show so much probably reveals some deep dark secrets about my personality. It's crude, gritty in all kinds of ways, and features a completely messed-up lead character. (Think angry, alcoholic, cynical egoist) What I like, however; is the writing and the odd plot twists along with Denis Leary's consistently solid acting.

3) Judd Apatow/Seth Rogan team-ups
This has been an ongoing obsession since the days of Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared but I'm delighted to see the two of them gaining some more "mainstream" success with Knocked Up and Superbad. I readily admit that I saw Knocked Up in the theatre 3 times. I'm probably well on my way for the same with Superbad.

4) Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
Was Alexander the Great as awful as Hitler? What was the greatest army of all time? Which U.S. President was the worst? Each Hardcore History podcast asks these kind of questions, but doesn't try to answer them definitively. It's more of an opportunity for discussion than conclusions. And it always gets me thinking (even if it slips into a bit of historical revisionism at times)

5) Confessions of A Community College Dean
A blog filled with insights that are oftentimes funny as well as smart (my favourite kind of combination) concerning the world of community college administration. His own description probably sums the blog up best: "In which a veteran of cultural studies seminars in the 1990’s moves into academic administration and finds himself a married suburban father of two. Foucault, plus lawn care."

Just where I like my Foucault to be.

That gives you a little taste of what's going on in my headspace right now. Of course I'm always open to suggestions for new reading, listening, and viewing material. In the meantime I'll continue on watching all this Rider Pride around me!