5. News Only Letter Twice
Friends!
If you’re new to my quarterly newsletter, thank you for foolishly sharing your email with me, and to your spam filters for sleeping on the job. But if you want out, just let me know. If you’re not new and have been around for the past year, thanks for hanging in there! I hope that you appreciate some of the recommendations and updates I’ve babbled about and also how successful I’ve been at rephrasing this nearly identical opening paragraph in increasingly succinct ways.
Of course, the truly dedicated among you, those who await these emails with bated breath and relish every detail (mom) may have noticed that this one is a few days premature. Sloppiness, you assume. But pish posh, I say. You keep that breath bated, for I’ll clarify after I’ve dispensed with my fifth List of Excellence.
For the newbies: this list of things I’ve loved in the past few months features primarily recommendations for all, but also some items more catered to New Orleans and/or Film folks, and always at least a few shameless self-promotions. Feel free to skip around. Or entirely.
1. The Huberman Lab – This one is DEFINITELY for everyone. Andrew Huberman is a neurologist at Stanford who hosts a podcast about science-based tools for optimizing your life. Productivity, energy, focus, health, etc. etc. etc. Not only is he incredibly informative and transparent, but he has clearly hacked the human brain, because he somehow manages to make long-form (2+ hour) episodes about hormones and dopamine and serotonin consistently fascinating. Couple this with a slew of incredibly talented guests and it’s no surprise this podcast is fast becoming a widespread sensation. And speaking of popular phenomena…
2. This Newsletter – When I run into people I haven’t seen in a while at parties and events (see below), they often ask why the hell I’m doing THIS. I constantly ponder the same thing regarding writing in general, and for both the answer is: At first… a 50/50 ratio of egotism to chatty excitement. But now… It’s so damn rewarding. Based on the number of amazing recommendations I’ve received in return (several of which have later made these lists (unattributed, of course)) not to mention the many conversations started or relationships rekindled, this tri-monthly word-vomit is one of the best-returning time-investments I’ve ever made. And if that seems a mite self-absorbed…
3. The Fabelmans – Steven Spielberg’s revisionist autobiography is very much NOT for everyone. And I won’t argue with those of you who were bored with it. But for those of you who are obsessed with (or wonder about) the power of fiction, particularly film, to make sense of the senseless, this movie may just speak to you. I think. Or maybe it’s just for sassy, emotionally guarded, film-addicted Jewish fish-out-of-water Boy Scouts who go camping with their engineer fathers. And speaking of me…
4. The word ‘They’ – This one applies to everyone. Literally. By definition. And yet, since employing ‘they’ as my pronoun on my IMDb bio, I’ve received several well-intentioned emails educating me on the English language and/or multiple-personality disorder, sometimes including the allegedly related issue of high school girls’ volleyball. So, why do I use ‘they’? Setting aside ‘politics’ and my gender identity, and looking at this as a communicator… When information is included in a story it is typically there for a reason. This is why, when someone specifies the race of the rude barista, we assume they’re trying to make a point (which we hopefully disagree with). Gender should be similarly irrelevant in many (probably most) situations. The English language has failed to generate a distinctly singular gender-neutral pronoun, so we’re doing the same thing we did with the word ‘you’ and applying ‘they’ to singulars as well. If right now the memory of your grade school teacher (perhaps the same one who taught you about planet Pluto) is relentlessly ruler-whacking your brain knuckles, pick which of the following I would like them to do: A. The teacher should realize the teacher’s error and change the teacher’s mind. B. He or she should realize his or her error and change his or her mind. Or C. They should realize their error and change their mind. Is it always this easy? No. But it is right. Not only is it not numerically incorrect, but when a person’s gender is unknown, ‘they’ is the only way to definitely NOT be wrong. I will acknowledge that it often does still feel weird to say, but the best way to acclimate to it (and destigmatize it for people who don’t feel comfortable with society’s historically bigoted gender-role dichotomy) is to use it more broadly. (One exception: Pets. If someone misgenders your fur-baby you better correct that shit ASAP or it’ll be your fault when the pussy or pooch doesn’t know what to do with the parts you had removed) Anyway, leaving behind ‘Them’ to address…
5. The Last of Us on HBO – Pronoun humor? Yup. Dawn of the pundead. Or technically in this case, pungus. OK, that’s the last of that. Anyway, yes, it’s a zombie (shut up, purists) show based on a video game. I never played the game, nor watched Walking Dead, but I LOVE stories that expand beyond their prescribed Genre Identities (yup) and dear God… Episode 3… I cried. And not for the reasons you think. No, it’s nothing cheap like in I Am Legend when Will Smith slapped that (female) dog to death. And speaking of…
6. The 2023 Oscars – Despite what I’ve said above, I acknowledge that Fabelmans is getting a bit over-praised. But I’m thrilled that two other movies which I also think are about me, The Banshees of Inisherin and Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, are getting the recognition they deserve, for their directors, writers and astonishingly for ALL of their casts. I’m disappointed that the Academy somehow passed on The Inspection, but also pleasantly surprised that Triangle of Sadness got some love, in part because ‘Triangle of Sadness’ is also how I describe the shape of my head.
7. The Sequence Approach by Paul Gulino – This one’s for writers. Most movies contain a series of separate, individually satisfying pieces, strung together (sometimes without segues) to tell a compelling story. I consume every screenwriting book I can find even though most of them (Screenplay, Story, Save the (gender-unspecified) Cat) just cough up variations of the same plot-structure hairball. But this one goes a very different multi-point route that makes the task of writing a feature less daunting by dividing it into much more manageable shorts. Sort of like…
8. One Shot – This short film that I shot with Joe Singletary and Matt S. Bell a few years ago is finally available online. Trust me, I understand that, unlike email lists, short films are almost always too long, so in this one we did everything to make our point (3 technically) quickly. But if even that tests your attention span…
9. Fidget Rings – Though I’m not convinced that knitting improves your ability to focus on a movie (mom), there is research out there (Huberman) that some degree of manual engagement can increase concentration. So, for you nail-pickers (me) and hair-twirlers (also me), these rings are an alternative that is both satisfying and inconspicuous, which is why you might not have noticed one on my hand at…
10. Parties past –My last three months have been packed with events including Louisiana Film industry mixers and Galas for wonderful community-building organizations like LFEA, LA Film Prize, and WiFT (honoring Rachel Grissom, Chelsea Bruland and others) as well as a few I hosted. At the Table-less Table Reads, a group of stellar local actors – including Ann Mahoney (who also teaches Suzuki), Dave Davis (teaching an acting workshop on Feb. 11th) Tadasay Young, Jenn Foreman, Fallon Goodson and many others – brought several of our short scripts to life. And at the 2nd Annual X-Mas Games, Waldos were found, drinks were downed, and a Christmaster crowned before the ghost of galas past (my liver) caroled me away to…
11. Parties future – Though I am about to start Script Supervising another movie (I know, I know) I do want to stay socially simulated, so in the next few months my Monday night poker games will continue (hit me up), I’m actively seeking short scripts from local writers (hit me up) for more table-read events, and I’m toying with the idea of some themed parties, like a ‘teaching party’ where everyone teaches a skill or an ‘argument party’ where people are paid off based on topics they disagree on, because what could go wrong? For example, do you have outdated opinions about pronouns? (see previous parentheticals) And I swear, the Christmas Carol theme DID end here. Except…
12. Party present – Last night this list was only 11 items followed by a segue about one party I wasn’t going to have. I was about to hit send on the email, but then Laura Flannery showed up early for Poker and I had to hold off. And, brilliant actress that she is, she distracted me while Laura Cassidy producered an absolutely fantastic surprise party for my…
…reason that this email is a few days ahead of schedule.
See, last year my 33rd birthday prompted me to begin generously contributing to your inboxes, but now – this Wednesday – I’m about to surpass Christ (in age (yeah, yeah, shut up, we’re not doing fractions of years! What is this, grade school? You’re 6 ¾? Piss off) I feel justified in deviating from his ways and indulging in a bit of impious greed.
Yes, in true mass email fashion, I am asking you for something.
iTunes gift cards? Thoughts and prayers? Pseudo-personal social media HBDs? No! I want…
Recommendations! Books, movies, vitamins, anything. Tell me what shows you’ve loved watching. What songs you can’t stop listening to. What vacations you wish you were still on. What people I should try and work with. Or for. Or best of all… Tell me what exciting things you’re up to that I should be on the lookout for. Or jealous of. Or inspired by.
Yes, my new year’s (on a me-centric February-first calendar) resolution is to get myself broadened, and short of drinking a ton of carbs, you folks seem like the best way for me to do it. Please! And thank you.
Much love to you all!
David Bush
A final note: to the (hopefully fictional) few who sent me a curt reply before even finishing the first paragraph, you may never know it, but technically ‘Remove me from this email list.’ IS a recommendation. Which is exactly what I asked for. So, thank you for unintentionally obliging me!