Pullbox Issue 5

Listen:
Catching up on Bandcamp Weekly - Sounds by South Bend music fest went on from May 7 - May 10 and had a trio of comps.

Always dig it when Chicago rappers drop Mixtapes because they’re basically free albums. See Chance the Rapper, Vic Mensa, Alex Wiley. Now Towkio - .wav Theory - get that.

Read: Year of the Dunk by Asher Price - really quick but fun read on man’s journey to dunk.

Jeff Vandermeer - Annihilation - really, strong intro, looking forward to getting into the other parts of the Southern Reach trilogy.

Btw, kind of wish Goodreads had half-stars rating because both books would be a solid 3.75 instead of 3. But really, I’m just reading books based on word of mouth and flipping through them at the library.

Watch:

Coffee lovers, A Film about Coffee, is basically a documentary love letter.

Mad Max Fury Road (this Q&A session is a lot of inside baseball) and the movie is a must watch in theaters. You’re doing yourself a disservice watching it on anything but the big screen.

Drug Lord: The Legend of Shorty goes on the hunt of El Chapo. Beyond Scarface, a real life Kingpin, some of those scenes can haunt you.
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You can follow me on Twitter @ntorquiano or Instagram @ntorq. For even more random distractions, bookmark NTORQ Tumblr.

Pullbox Issue 4

Listen:
Squarepusher’s Fact Mag mix feels like a good trip down memory lane had I lived in England in the early 90s.

Sketchbook Radio with Kutmah also on the que. Again, NTS Radio on point.

Read:
Finished my GoodReads book challenge of 36 books, so I re-uped to 50. My general realm is non-fiction, but some fiction work is sneaking into the reading list.

The Wave by Susan Casey - makes you appreciate wave hunters and you don’t have to be a surfer.

On the nightstand, The Sellout by Paul Beatty.

Say what!? “Characters “derived” from other characters are legally unique, and DC’s claim that “derivation” deprives creators of any equity participation rights in those characters is nothing more than an immoral, unethical, deceitful and despicable money grab.” Gerry Conway’s post.

Don’t get spend enough time listening to TED talks, but this book list looks like some quality picks.

On the comics list, reading The Fade Out, Southern Bastards, Rebels, and still catching up with Stray Bullets.

Journalists already knew about the death of the 40-hour work week, and now it’s spread to rest of America.

Watch:

Revolutions on Air - another great mini-doc by Red Bull Music.

Ex Machina might be the sleeper sci-fi movie of the summer. Intriguing and disturbing.

Showrunners - the Art of Running a TV show should really be called The Grind.

Montage of Heck gives you a glimpse into the soul of Kurt Cobain.

Misery Loves Company - despite mixed reviews, it’s a still a must for comedy nerds that may have taken a podcast break.
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You can follow me on Twitter @ntorquiano or Instagram @ntorq. For even more random distractions, bookmark NTORQ Tumblr.

Pullbox Issue 3

Listen:
Besides the usual suspects, trying out LeFtO’s mix series. Any time you get J Rocc doing a guest mix, it’s worth diving into. Plus, a Bobbito Garcia drop - say what!?

Read:
Atlantic’s By the Heart series is worth reviewing time to time. A decent primer is How to Write: A Year in Advice

Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian is hilarious. Some libraries did ban the youth novel, but it’s absolutely hilarious.

DJ Neil Armstrong via The Hundreds interview.

Trying to do get into meditation, but Good Magazine’s story on when it goes bad is a good reminder that there is always yin and yang.

Watch:
The Last Man on Earth deserves all the praise it gets for being an original comedy. Bloopers are also fun.

Daredevil on Netflix and Powers on Sony Playstation - actually trying to watch each episode weekly, instead of a binge. It’s a weird discipline when you don’t have to, but I want to try it, so that I actually leave the house and get some cycling done as days get warmer in the Spring.

The Radavist has great cycling posts and the videos section will make you shut down the computer and go for a ride.

Inside Mayweather vs Pacquiao series is a must watch for fight fans.

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You can follow me on Twitter @ntorquiano or Instagram @ntorq. For even more random distractions, bookmark NTORQ Tumblr.

Pullbox Issue 3

Did a Chicago daytrip, so I forget to send this out.

Listen: Fact Magazine is one of my favorite mix series, and I recommend the Shit and Shine mix for those challenging tastes.

Read: Apparently,  The Vulture launched a series called “The Second Comedy Boom.” Not sure if boom is the right term because eventually there’s a bust. Also, it seems like many places are growing from a small scene, so there may never be a downfall as long kids creating space for the next wave. Maybe that’s the one good way to compare stand-up comedy, we’re all chasing good waves.

Listening to The Moment podcast, and Koppleman recommended Alan Lightman’s Einstein’s Dreams. However, it was not on the book shelves at the local library, but Lightman’s Mr. G was and it’s great. Here’s an interview with The Atlantic. Will have to check out his other works.

Watch:

Rise of Latino Comics via Stanford https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMpRnwCPFbs

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You can follow me on Twitter @ntorquiano or Instagram @ntorq. For even more random distractions, bookmark NTORQ Tumblr.

Pullbox Issue 2

Listen:

The Paley Center sessions are truly a nerd out session for TV shows. Caught up on the Broad Series talk that Seth Rogan moderated. There’s plenty of others to check out, including Seinfeld’s chat with Letterman. Next up on the queue, Community cast doing a table read.

Eclair Fifi had a terrific Fact Mag mix, and I had no idea, she’s part of the LuckyMe family. The label had a great mixtape series, and for the all 114 episodes, bring up the backlog on iTunes.

Read:

Encountering a string of so-so books, so not much to recommend, but Corman McCarthy’s No Country for Oldman and Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time are on the nightstand.

Scott McCloud’s The Sculptor is brilliant.

Watch:

"Gay hasn’t even gotten to Indiana, yet. There have been rumors in Ohio." Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Season 1, Episode 5. Hilarious. All the lines about the Hoosier state hit the spot since I live in Notre Dame’s backyard. Will probably backlog all the jabs.

Follow:

You can follow me on Twitter @ntorquiano or Instagram @ntorq. For even more random distractions, bookmark NTORQ Tumblr.