NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour

New thing today, discovered a new podcast which I love - NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour. Of a lot of the podcasts I've been trying out, this group and their topics seem to jive with what I like. I like their random topics, format, commentary and overall have enjoyed all the episodes so far. May add this as a favorite :) Check it out if you haven't already.

In defense of Tom Cruise - also New Thing the Nerdist Podcast

New thing today, listened to The Nerdist Podcast for the first time, episode interview with Tom Cruise. I liked the podcast and will listen to other episodes. I also enjoyed hearing the host and Tom joking around and being nerdy about movies. It was a very interesting episode and I recommend it!

The reason I chose the Tom Cruise episode is because, recently I've come to the conclusion that I like Tom Cruise and his movies. I like his performances recently in sci-fi and his overall body of work. He's done very well over the years and most movies he delivers a solid performance.

I want to watch Edge of Tomorrow (2014), I enjoyed Oblivion (2013) and I rarely buy movies, but I  actually own and enjoy watching Minority Report (2002). My husband and I liked him a lot in his performance in Rock of Ages (2012) which is one of our favorites. I saw Jack Reacher (2012) recently and was entertained - it was a descent suspenseful movie which got me to read the book Killing Floor by Lee Child. I enjoyed Knight and Day and wrote about it. This movie did horribly and was pretty awful in a cheeseball way, but it was cheesy/silly/action enough to be entertaining.

Also, have you looked at Tom Cruise's IMDB profile? Holy Smokes. He is a solid actor. You forget all the stuff he was in because he's just Tom Cruise. Sure there are some stinkers in the mix, but unless you're the Golden Goose you're not going to lay golden eggs every time you do something. Give the guy a break?

Also all the chatter about him being crazy, um... he's really not that bad. He jumped on Oprah's couch and was awkward and dumb? So he's a Scientology geek. He got mad at some guy with a water pistol, who wouldn't? Um... have you met Kanye or Kim Kardashian? Can we just step back and compare on the celebrity pop culture scale of... "out there". He hits pretty normal in my book.

Anyway for some reason he had an unpopular decade, and he's on the brink coming back and choosing the sci-fi genre (which I love) and he does a great job on the big screen. Have you seen his performances? Intense and captivating! He does a good job!

So anyway, enough. Overall I'm a fan. I think he does a good job, and I think he gets more criticism than respect.

So the Nerdist podcast confirmed my opinion of the guy. He's just a big movie nerd. He loves movies. He loves acting. He loves learning and trying new things and being an actor. There was one funny moment where they were like "Do you have a home movie theater" and he's like "Ya" and they were like "is it big?" and he was like "oh ya it's big", lol. I mean, come on? Lighten up people.

Of course I don't know the guy. I'm just an ordinary person on a couch or theater that enjoys movies and being entertained. He could be a total dick in real life, or a way nicer guy than you could imagine. How would I ever know, or how could I ever judge another human being accurately? From the little I know, I like the guy in movies. Don't listen to all the hype and judge for yourself. That's a general rule for life anyway.

Watch the movies and his performances. I think he's done pretty damn well for himself and he's done a lot to entertain us in the movies lately. Isn't that his job?

Anyway the podcast episode was good :) They just nerd out over movies, actors, getting started and the creative drive, projects, etc. It was great hearing stories of Tom starting out, celebrity stalking when they started out and just learning his craft. They have good banter and anecdotes over movie making. Listen to it and go see some movies :) Enough reading! Nite.

The Alton Browncast - Andrew Zimmern & Samantha Brown

New thing today, listened to The Alton Browncast for the first time, and listened to 2 episodes - the interviews with Andrew Zimmern and Samantha Brown. This was pretty awesome because they are two of my favorite Travel Channel show hosts! I'm not a huge fan of the Alton Brown personality from the Food Network, but mainly because I don't watch him or pay attention. These podcasts were great so I may start having to pay attention to him. Anyway these were great interviews and it was really interesting to hear about my favorite travel hosts!

I love how Alton Brown wants to ask questions that have never been asked before and the way he engages and interviews people. I may be subscribing to this podcast. Anyway here are some highlights.

Andrew Zimmern - I had no idea he was an addict who struggled, recovered and succeeded. He goes into a bit of his story in this podcast and that really surprised me and made me appreciate him a lot more. I also loved his perspective on life and travel and how he tries to appreciate other cultures through the Bizarre Foods show (also a favorite). Overall a very interesting interview.

Samantha Brown - She has a luggage line! So exciting! I did not know that. I also appreciated her perspective on travel and the way she finds connecting with people and finding her own path and adventure more exciting than "hitting the greatest hits list" when traveling. They talked about getting lost and staying safe and travel preferences, as well as traveling and eating off the beaten path. They're both fun to listen to and also a great interview.

Fun new thing! Learning to travel life in your own style :)

Zencast 455 - What is by Alan Watts, Lent Resolutions and Weight Watchers Weekly Allowance

New thing today, listened to the podcast Zencast 455 - What is by Alan Watts. It was fantastic. I really enjoyed it. He's an excellent speaker and I enjoyed listening at work. Unfortunately I didn't get to really pay attention to all of it, since I was listening at work and had to do brain work or get interrupted once in awhile, but overall I really enjoyed it. I even thought of downloading his app per the plug at the end, but I found out his lectures and app go $19.99-$34.99 depending on which one you get. He must be an excellent speaker? I may have to read up on him.

Anyway the podcast was about "I", self and all that. He had some really interesting, thought provoking and profound ways of presenting issues. He was also very good at making things relatable and not too completely un-followable as some Zen podcasts can be. Great one if you're interested.

Also on a side note - some other new things today. First, decided to give up TV shows for Lent. Today is Ash Wednesday and it begins, so no TV shows. I have this bad habit of just turning on a TV show when I'm tired, not really paying attention, but paying attention, and having it play for hours on end. I've watched whole seasons in a few days, and I don't get a whole lot done, and I don't really watch the TV show either. It's a weird distraction I enjoy, which I'm going to do without and learn to break that habit. I just like having TV on in the background which is something I want to change and improve upon.

The other thing I thought about giving up is "laziness", although I'm not sure I can so I'm going to just keep it in the back of my mind. There's a difference between your mind and body needing a good rest and relaxation, and laziness. I'm going to try to identify laziness and not do it, and I'll also try identifying when I really need rest and listen to it as well. So important!

So to end on a bad note, another first, I used up all my Weight Watchers Weekly points allowance and my daily allowance today. It's 2 more days in my weekly cycle, but let's be honest, I'll probably go over. Although I did play Trampoline Dodgeball this weekend, but I also ate at Popeye's for Mardi Gras yesterday, so I guess that cancels out. I guess it's good I track, because you have no idea how many points/calories fast food is, but it's a lot, and I was surprised. Should have planned better, but oh well. Those are my new things :)

The Moth

New thing today, discovered a new favorite podcast - The Moth. They're "True Stories Told Live". It's fascinating. It's just people telling random stories with a theme, or not a theme or whatnot. It's great storytelling and it's one of my new favorite things. I discovered the podcast and am excited for new ones to come on. Yeay!

Daily Knowledge Podcast

New thing today, listened to the Daily Knowledge Podcast. Sometimes I work on mind numbing stuff, which I sometimes enjoy because I can listen to podcasts and sort of veg out. I discovered this and it's sorta interesting. Listened to a few episodes and enjoyed it. Not sure if I'll stick to it, but it's got some interesting posts here or there. It's also a bit like what I'm doing here, sharing something new every day. They have a main website TodayIFoundOut.com which is kinda neat. Always learn :)