Micah's Read of the Week, Vol. 33
March 11, 2020, Grammy recap, App of the Week, remembering Marvin Hagler, Album of the Week, New Orleans chicken, and more.
Hello, and welcome to Micah’s Read of the Week.
This is a newsletter filled with things Micah Wiener finds interesting.
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Remember last March 11?
How could we ever forget? The author of this opinion piece takes us back.
“Y’all make some noise for Gov. Sarah Palin!” Nick Cannon, host of the reality competition “The Masked Singer,” announced to wild applause as a not insignificant chunk of my mind shuttered its lights.
For me, the hour the country crumbled came on March 11, 2020, and it all kicked off with the 2008 vice presidential candidate’s reveal as “Bear” in the final minutes of Fox’s 8 p.m. time slot.
Nearly concurrent with Palin’s performance was a special announcement from President Donald Trump, formerly of “The Apprentice,” wherein he took potshots at China and barred all incoming travel from Europe. He assured us that no nation was better prepared for the pandemic than these, our United States; it would take roughly days for this proposition to be thoroughly disproven.
Fifteen minutes later came more breaking news: Tom Hanks, avatar of America itself, had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The information disseminated in my circles in the form of an image with Hanks and wife Rita Wilson on the red carpet, smiling as though covid-19 were a prestigious award. By 9:40 p.m., the National Basketball Association took its cue and canceled its season’s remaining games.
For decades to come, we’ll all ask each other, in the way of the JFK assassination or 9/11: What were you doing when the truth broke through?
Even with hindsight, I can’t wrap my head around it now. It’s too large, too unruly a thing for me to “get.” So, a year out, I still look back at Sarah Palin. I see her in her nightmarish Lisa Frank bear costume, and she is my mascot of this strange time we’ve endured, my horse(woman!) of this armageddon, the hellmouth from which everything flowed. She rides alongside Donald Trump, Tom Hanks and 259 unplayed games of basketball, rapping, urging me: “Dial 1-900-MIXALOT and kick them nasty thoughts. Baby got back.”
I remember that day well. And for some reason, I had “The Masked Singer” on in the background as well. It was a moment I’ll never forget. What a year.
Micah’s Extensive Grammy Recap
Last week on Mind of Micah, I previewed Sunday night’s Grammy Awards. I love the Grammys. It’s always a weird mix of talented musicians, flash-in-the-pan newbies, touching tributes, and totally needless over-the-top performances. Last night, I kept a running diary. Here it is, presented as a series of rambling and incoherent thoughts.
Opening with host Trevor Noah was flat, boring, and sort of pointless.
We’re doing the Jools Holland set up huh?
Harry Styles, wow. I’m not predisposed to enjoy European boy-band alumni, but this was really good. Great band. Great energy. Good song. Never really seen Harry on stage, very impressive. 8.5/10
Billie Elish is next. Weird visuals. The ASMR vibe just doesn’t do much for me. But for what it is, she and her brother, the producer, seem to do it well. 5/10
Haim. Three sisters huh? Didn’t realize that. A singing drummer always scores points with me. Sister harmony is always a winner too. Multiple drummers, I love this gimmick. I miss live music so bad. I’d kill to be in a crowd applauding a cheap stage trick. 8/10
Don’t need the Trevor Noah dancing shots. I really dislike this guy, and it’s getting worse as the night goes along.
I’m always a sucker for Lizzo (TX). Just let her host the damn award show. Fun. Energetic. Genuinely funny.
Best new artist: Meghan Thee Stallion (TX) wins. H-Town! Meg was really touched and emotional. Shouts out legendary Texas rap producer T-Ferris.
Black Pumas (TX)-- feature video was great.
Performance and song even better. These guys are the truth. This band was on the edge of superstardom last year before the pandemic. They are the band to watch once the world starts again. Their reputation will only grow once we can go to shows again. 9/10
Trevor had an awkward conversation, showed off some bad dance moves, and we go break.
Texas off to a big start.
--
DaBaby is next. The voice of a generation. Sneaky old. 29.
Sneaky good performance too. Weird to have all the older folks on stage, but it was ok. Better than expected. 6/10
Bad Bunny: very cool visual. Obviously lip-syncing. Dude is gonna be forgotten about by September. Lame. 3/10
Dua Lipa artist spotlight then performance. The first verse was just her standing and “singing” into a mic stand. Really not a fan of her retread disco musical style.
They DaBaby returns. Appears to be actually rapping live. Then Lipa did some dancing. Then she took her jacket off and did a lot more dancing. Wow. This was some serious performance. OK. I get it now. This woman is clearly a star. 6.5/10
Silk Sonic is up next. Bruno Mars’ mustache was the biggest star here. This is just some retro R&B. This was obviously pre-recorded and they didn’t cut to any shots of Bad Bunny or Trevor. A little disappointing to be honest. 5/10
Texan Miranda Lambert wins best country album.
Taylor Swift is up next to put us all to sleep and lip-sync her way through some self-obsessed snoozer. Again, this was prerecorded. She played a second song with a couple of over-enthusiastic side men doing nothing but playing rhythm guitar.
Then a third song that consisted of a lot of that cringy dancing that only Taylor Swift does. 2/10
Harry Styles won best pop performance. His manager wore a Masters Green suit. No Texans involved.
In Memorium:
Little Richard tribute with Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars in a perm and headband. Rocking. Made up for the lackluster song earlier. 7/10
Eddie Van Halen spotlight on his guitar was a very nice touch. Lionel Richie appears to pay tribute to Kenny Rogers.
This is a very long jacket. His face is weird-looking. Very nice words of tribute to finish. This song choice didn’t do anything for me. Sorry. 5/10
Brandi Carlile honored John Prine. This was excellent. Prine was such a gem. Brandi is good. I feel like I see her once a year, on the Grammys. 8/10
Brittany Howard is back with Chris Martin on keys. Goddamn Brittany Howard is powerful. Jerry Jeff Walker ID’d as texas singer-songwriter. Billy Joe Shaver (TX) honored. The band played “You’ll never walk alone.” This was quite good. 8.5/10
I’m no fan of Coldplay, but that was pretty cool to see the lead singer of a huge band willing to play piano without a microphone.
Overall, it a very well-done in Memorium segment.
Mickey Guyton was next. Actually singing. Strong singer. John Maher reaction shot. He looks terrible. Song is totally forgettable. 5/10
Miranda Lambert does “Bluebird.” Very pleasant. Polished. Sounds good. Not much to it, but lovely. 7/10
She then introduces her fellow Texan Maren Morris with John Meyer. They play “The Bones.” It’s a quite good song that was released in February of 2019, and I swear I’ve seen performed on every award show since then. Meyer’s guitar solo and playing were good and actually added to the performance, which sometimes isn’t the case on these forced collaborations. This was good. 8/10
Song of the year is next. Trevor explains the difference between song and record of the year. H.E.R. wins song of the year.
Thee Stallion is profiled next. Then we see her come out to dance to “Body.” Then a costume change for “Savage.” That was best described as Thiccc. Even tho we know Beyonce is in the building, she’s not pulling a Chris Martin to be a backup singer for anyone. I honestly had no idea Megan could dance like this. Very impressive.
Cardi B is here to do “Up.” She is dancing, but not as well as Meg. Then, it’s time for “WAP.” Cardi is just dancing on a stripper pole and not even pretending to rap. The ladies then just roll around on a giant bed. There’s a joke somewhere about The Tiffany Network. That was really something. 6.5/10.
Best Rap song is “Savage.” Meg is in the same orange dress from the first award. She’s joined by the Queen. Beyonce looks like a proud parent. Megan’s speech about seeing Destiny’s Child at the Houston Rodeo was legitimately sweet. Bey ends with: “Houston, we love you,” as the big night for Texas continues.
Speaking of Texans, Post Malone is featured next.
Nope. Don’t get this at all. Dark, moody, tortured. The opposite of fun. At least it was short. This was terrible. 2/10
Lil Baby was next. This was all about policing and included a verse from Killer Mike. Serious and powerful message, kinda weird that there were so many choreographed dance moves happening in the middle of a street during a simulated violent protest. I’m unfamiliar with the song, and Lil Baby isn’t much for annunciation. 5/10
Beyonce wins best R&B performance. Another win for Texas. Taylor Swift is shown over-enthusiastically cheering.
Doja Cat was next. This was just a terrible remix of her smash “Say So.” Just weird. Why would she dress up like a robot in a catsuit? Worse than the outfit was the actual music. Why would you take a successful song and rework it to sound terrible? Just a series of bad choices here. 1/10
Album of the year: Taylor Swift wins. Yawn. Isn’t this traditionally the last award? I’m confused.
BTS is next. This stunk. As soon as it ended, Trevor announced that they were in Korea, not LA. This was rotten, pointless, and dumb. Still, not as bad as Posty. 2.1/10
Then 6-time nominee tonight, Roddy Rich. He sang and had a band playing with him. Totally forgettable first song. Then he started rapping “The Box,” which to be fair, slaps. This was nothing. 4/10.
Ringo is here! Peace and love everybody! Record of the year: Billie. The record isn’t for me, but it’s special. It’s something new. It’s interesting. Congrats.
See you next year.
The unofficial dress code of the last year
App of the Week: Dispo
What is Dispo? It’s short for disposable. Are Disposables the Future of Photo Sharing?:
Dispo, a new photo-sharing app that mimics the experience of using a disposable camera, is taking off. People are clamoring for invites to test the beta version. Early adopters are praising its social features.
In the app, users frame photographs through a small rectangular viewfinder. There are no editing tools or captions; when the images “develop” — i.e. show up on your phone at 9 a.m. the next day — you get what you get. Multiple people can take photos on the same roll, as might happen with a real disposable camera at a party.
“When I used to go to parties with my friends, they would have disposable cameras all throughout the house, and they’d urge people to take pictures throughout the night,” said David Dobrik, a YouTube star and a founder of the app. “In the morning, they’d collect all the cameras and look back and be like, ‘What happened last night?’” (He used an expletive for emphasis.)
He and his friends loved the serendipity of scrolling through fleeting and forgotten moments. “It would be like the ending of ‘The Hangover’ every morning,” Mr. Dobrik, 24, said.
Let me just tell you, the group chat blew up at 9:01 Sunday morning. One more thing: Dispo is available by invite only. If you follow me @micahwiener on Instagram, DM me and I’ll toss you an invite.
RIP Marvelous Marvin Hagler
Marvelous Marvin Hagler (who legally changed his name to “Marvelous,”) died Saturday. He was 66. A thrilling and fearless fighter, Hagler helped popularize middleweight boxing in the 80’s.
His legendary fight with Tommy Hearns is arguably the most exciting match in boxing history. Seriously, take 10 minutes and watch this.
Hagler retired after losing a controversial decision against Sugar Ray Leonard, and unlike almost every fighter ever, stayed true to his word and stayed retired.
Rest in peace, Marvelous.
Tik Tok of the Week
Album of the Week
I love Lake Street Dive. They are a jazz/rock group with a powerhouse lead singer and a new album out. The first song is called “Hypotheticals,” and it’s an ear-worm. I like it a lot. You’ll like it too.
Recipe Corner
Mosca’s Chicken a la Grande
How about some chicken tonight?
Based on a recipe served at Mary Jo Mosca’s namesake restaurant on U.S. 90 outside of New Orleans, this is a dish for garlic lovers only. Any mix of chicken pieces works here, just be sure they’re all about the same size so that they cook evenly. Feel free to replace the wine with 1/4 cup of water or broth; lemon juice or another mild vinegar would work in place of the apple cider vinegar, and other herbs, like thyme or tarragon, could be used in place of the oregano or rosemary.
Ingredients
For the chicken
1/2 cup white wine, such as chardonnay or fume blanc
3 pounds chicken pieces (about 8 pieces), dark and light meat
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 to 10 cloves garlic, peeled and pounded to near paste or grated
1 tablespoon dried rosemary, or 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon dried oregano, or 3 tablespoons fresh oregano
Steps
1. Make the chicken: In a large bowl, add the wine and then the chicken, turning to moisten each piece. Transfer the chicken pieces to a plate, reserving the wine, and generously season the chicken all over with the salt and pepper.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil. Add the chicken pieces and fry, turning the pieces as needed, until generously browned, about 25 minutes. If the chicken is getting too brown, lower the heat to medium.
3. Once the chicken is brown, remove skillet from heat and add the garlic, rosemary and oregano and reserved wine to the skillet, and stir to evenly coat the chicken pieces.
4. Return to low heat, cover and cook until the liquid is reduced by half and the chicken is tender, about 15 minutes.
5. Transfer the chicken, with its pan juices, to a platter and serve warm.
Where else can I find Micah content?
Podcasts: Mind of Micah, Back Door Cover, Too Much Dip
Twitter: @micahwiener & @producermicah (Why two twitters? It’s a long story)
Instagram: @micahwiener
LinkedIn: @micahwiener
Peloton: #badboysofpelly@micahwiener
Dispo: @micahwiener
Clubhouse: @micahwiener
Email: micahwiener@me.com