Entertain Me!

MFM!

During the shoddy weather this winter, one of my favourite things to do has been to curl up with a blanket, hot cup of tea, heating pad, and find something to watch, listen to, or read.  I have a short attention span when it comes to tv shows and I typically do a lot of reading, but today’s list of my latest faves include a wide range of entertainment.


Black Mirror (on Netflix)

I don’t know why it took so long for me to jump on the Black Mirror bandwagon.  I recently started watching season four and really enjoy everything about this show.  You all know of my love of creepy, crawly, sci-fi/ horror-esque short fiction and this is exactly that in tv format.  Each Black Mirror episode is completely separate, although all episodes take place in the same near-future dystopian “world”, and each episode is directed and written by a different set of people.  There is a common theme of technology, how we use and consume it, and what it does to people - typically with more unfortunate outcomes.  To me, all of the episodes are close enough in the future to be plausible - you could see each story play out, if not to you but to someone you know.  The show will give some of you nightmares and if not that, then an uncomfortable feeling that keeps you up at night, tossing and turning in bed, turning the story over and over in your head.


My Favorite Murder

The ladies that host this podcast - Georgia and Karen - kept me company on a very sleep deprived, jet lagged trip to London recently.  It was cold and rainy and even though I was alone in my hotel room, their bubbly conversation made it feel like I was in the middle of a conversation with two of my good friends.  And what do they talk about?  Just the most gruesome true crime cases that have happened.  I don’t happen to be a true crime fanatic.  I haven’t watched Making a Murderer or listened to Serial.  But there is something about MFM’s podcast that draws me in.  Maybe it’s because MFM fans write in with their own stories of murders that happened in their hometown.  Maybe it’s because the ladies stick loosely to the format of the show and treat it very much like me and my friends treated book club.  In any case, they make me laugh and shudder at the same time.  And of course, there’s the podcast’s tag line that everybody should heed - Stay sexy, don’t get murdered.


The One Hundred Nights of Hero

Cherry & Hero

This is one large, hardcover graphic novel that you won’t be able to slip into your purse and read on the sly.  However, holding the big book on your lap, you will be transported into being a kid again.  It’s a fairy tale, told in the tradition of Arabian Nights.  As a brief synopsis of the plot, Cherry is married to Jerome, who makes a bet with his friend Manfred.  If Manfred can seduce Cherry within 100 nights, he can have all of his property, including Cherry.  Cherry and her lover and maid Hero scheme to keep Cherry from the clutches of Manfred… and you’ll have to read more to find out how.  This is NOT a children’s book.  The stories have a hint of the familiar, of those tales that you heard when you were a child - and we all know how dark and twisted fairy tales really are. 

What about you - please share what has been keeping you entertained lately!