5 things Noah Michelson liked this week
A Friday Night Likes for must-see-TV fans
It’s time for Friday Night Likes - where we play a game of Gratitude Ping Pong™ naming all the free or low-cost highlights of the week.
You know, the best things in life.
Rules: One “like” kicks us off, we riff until it gets weird, then bring it back to the original “like” for a full circle TGIF moment.
This week, we've invited guest Noah Michelson — head of HuffPost Personal, Tori Amos super-fan, and Brooklyn’s most skilled long-distance walker — to play along with us!
We start and end with The Boys and make a detour to Pita Chips in the middle, but we’ll let you connect the gratitude dots for yourself.
Noah: I like The Boys, the smartest show on TV, currently in its fourth season on Amazon. It presents a world very much like ours, but filled with superheroes — and supervillains and superheroes who are actually supervillains — negotiating licensing deals, falling in love, and conspiring to take over the government.
The show’s creator has spoken at length about how the plotlines are inspired by what’s happening in America today — including the rise and terror of Trumpism — and that makes the series as chilling as it is entertaining. I literally cover my mouth in shock / horror / surprise / delight at least three times every episode.
Jamie: I’m intrigued, although it does sound a little too realistic for me right now. I do, however, like a different yet similarly shocking / horrifying show I watched on Netflix over the long weekend — The Man with 1000 Kids. It’s about a serial sperm donor who is believed to be the father of, well, 1000 kids, many of whom live in the same communities. It’s a three-episode series that my friends and I were all lukewarm about starting, and by the end of episode one we all agreed to stay up late to finish the entire series.
Rachel: I have not been watching TV, but nearly every night I have been screening classic films for my 15-year-old daughter (16 this Sunday — Happy Birthday Hero!) and this week we watched one that also features a problematic father figure.
The early 90s was a huge moment for Australian film on the global stage and it had a significant influence on my taste in art. Ah let's see … there was Sirens, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Flirting, Strictly Ballroom, The Sum of Us … but of all of these fabulous exports, I like Muriel’s Wedding the most.
Everything about this movie is divine, even the problematic father figure who, like everyone in the movie, gets a chance to redeem himself. My daughter loved it so much that she laughed and cried and wanted to listen to ABBA just like I did when I ran out of the theater and into a Tower Records to buy the CD in 1994.
Noah: I like Sarah Mclachlan’s Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, which was also released in 1994! I was 16 years old and trying to navigate growing up and everything — love, disappointment, betrayal, heartbreak, hope — that comes with it, and this stunning collection of songs was rarely out of my teenage self’s stereo’s six-CD changer.
Sarah is currently on tour to celebrate the album’s 30th anniversary and I saw her play the entire thing front to back last week at Radio City Music Hall. While other musicians her age are (understandably) struggling to match their performances from three decades ago, Sarah sounded as good — if not better — than she did when I saw her in 1998, and I spent the entire show wondering what kind of wizardry allowed her to still hit those trademark stratospheric notes.
Rachel: I love that you had a six-CD changer. Even though it has one CD less than yours, I like my five-CD changer. It sounds rich and warm and clean - so much better than Spotify via Sonos. Plus buying CDs is really fun for people who were teens in the 90s because the music we grew up listening to was all published on CD. When I shop for CDs now, I can always find something like Sarah McLachlan, or you know — KD Lang, Bonnie Raitt, Cowboy Junkies — so many great records from that era, for so cheap. I’m still holding out for the ultimate CD repurchase — Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1 — which I had as a teenager and have been searching for ever since.
Jamie: I love a stellar listening experience. And I like this video of two people hearing Chappell Roan’s Good Luck, Babe! for the first time. They have basically the same experience I had after hearing her for the first time, and also every time I’ve heard her sing after that. I’ve had H-O-T-T-O-G-O rattling around in my head all day and I’m not mad about it.
Noah: The pita chips from Damascus Bread and Pastry Shop in Brooklyn are also hot to go. I eat the same damn salad every weeknight — broccoli, three different kinds of beans, roasted sweet potato, beets, and tofu — because it’s easy and it’s delicious, and every Monday I stop by Damascus Bread and Pastry Shop to get two bags of their pita chips to round out my meal.
I like the imperfectly-shaped chips that are perfectly crispy, covered in thyme and olive oil (they offer a plain version too), and a straight up steal at just $4.50 a bag. The adorable little store, which has been open for almost 100 years, also sells fresh hummus, pickled turnips, and over a dozen other dips, veggies and salads, as well as homemade pita, spinach pie, countless pastries, and a slew of spices.
Jamie: That is not a store I can go into when I’m hungry. I always leave with far too many (delicious) treats. The pickles and toum (addicting garlicky spread) are my ultimate favorite.
When I can, I do like shopping at all the local businesses along/near Atlantic Avenue. There’s of course Damascus, but also Sahadi’s, Paisano’s, Fish Tales and, in case anyone needs a non-food related reason to shop small, Iris Lingerie is The. Best. Lingerie. Store. Ever.
My favorite mascot also lives down there, the giant waving pistachio parked outside Nuts Factory. She’s so friendly!!
Rachel: Let’s not forget to mention how much we like The Dodge YMCA on Atlantic - the gym with our favorite pool and classes in all of Brooklyn.
Noah: Confession time: I like the Peloton strength app. OK, OK, I know you probably thought this might be the one Peloton-ad-free safe space left in the world, but you were wrong. Well, kind of wrong — this isn’t an ad (I wish I were being paid for it), it’s a genuinely glowing recommendation from someone who thought he’d never drink the Peloton kool aid but now can’t — and won’t — stop chugging it.
I decided to download the fitness behemoth’s app on Roku when lockdown happened to see if it would motivate me to lift weights in my living room. It did. With just a few dumbbells (including a pair I got from Jamie!), a yoga mat and my TV, I soon found myself working out harder than I ever had at the gym because I had hundreds of routines to choose from and a “coach” telling me what to do — and encouraging me to push myself. The best parts? It’s only $12.99 a month, constantly updated with new workouts (including yoga, pilates, barre and stretching classes), and I don’t have to go anywhere!
Jamie: Wow, I’m so honored to play a small role in that journey. Speaking of which, can I have those dumbbells back? Just kidding. My workout routine in the summer is made up exclusively of walking, swimming, pilates and bike-riding. I like this video I saw recently about a group of friends practicing their bike-riding skills on Governors Island, where there are no cars. Now I’m bringing my mom there this weekend to ride around, which I think will be a lovely way to spend an afternoon.
Noah: I like a Saturday afternoon activity – more specifically, Saturday afternoon parties. The older I get, the less I want to be outside of — or have anyone else inside of — my apartment after 9pm. That makes it hard to host or go to parties. So, my boyfriend Benji and I decided to throw a party at 3pm on a Saturday. Even better: it was a baked goods party. Everyone was asked to bring a sweet treat from their favorite pastry shop or bakery — or if they really wanted to flex, something they made — and we provided coffee, tea and champagne. We weren’t sure if anyone would come but by 3:45 there were over 40 people in our home chomping on everything from flourless chocolate cake to apple fritters to fresh homemade bread.
We ordered Chinese takeout containers from Amazon, so at the end of the party, everyone got to bring goodies home with them (or wherever else the rest of the day took them) and we weren’t left with dozens of snacks we couldn’t possibly finish ourselves — or a house full of people at midnight.
Jamie: Sounds perfect. AND, like a great way to leave your evenings freed up to watch more episodes of The Boys.
Happy Friday!
XOXO,
Jamie, Rachel & Noah
Noah Michelson is the head of HuffPost Personal, which he launched in 2018, and the host of HuffPost's "Am I Doing It Wrong?" podcast. He received his MFA in Poetry from New York University, and has been featured on MSNBC, Fuse, Entertainment Tonight, and other outlets. Find him on Instagram and Twitter at @NoahMichelson.
And I like YOU, Noah Michelson, on Fridays, Mondays and every other day of the week! And oh, by the way, I like Saturday afternoon parties too - just sayin’
xoxo
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