If you've not seen it, I highly recommend "We Need to Talk About Cosby," the Showtime documentary produced by comic W. Kamau Bell that is as good a consideration as I've seen of an oft-asked question: "Is it possible to separate the artist from the art?"
The subject, of course, is Bill Cosby, the actor and comedian who for several decades may have been the most influential Black cultural figure in the country - between his TV series and his standup, his commercials and his movies, his books and his advocacy for education, Cosby was everywhere. And profoundly respected.
What we didn't know was that at the same time, Cosby was a serial sex offender. He's been accused by some 60 women of drugging and raping them, and in 2018 was convicted on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, though they were thrown out later on a technicality.
Bell uses four episodes to effectively play out the Jekyll-and-Hyde nature of Cosby's personality, using the first half of each segment to lay out his achievements - which were considerable and noteworthy - during a specific time frame, and the second half to explain what really was going on, with narration provided by many of the women, as well as other members of the community with unique cultural takes on Cosby's contributions and eventual fall from grace.
It is a fascinating piece of work, deeply upsetting in many ways, and the question is one worth considering: "Is it possible to separate the artist from the art?" It ends up being a personal question, and the fact is that I just can't watch Cosby;'s work anymore, just like I can't watch Woody Allen or Kevin Spacey movies.
That's just the way it is.
Thrilled to tell you that "Bosch: Legacy" - the sequel series to "Bosch," which had seven successful seasons on Amazon Prime Video - has a premier date: May 6, on IMDb TV.
The first 4 episodes will be streaming on May 6, followed by 2 episodes each on the following 3 Fridays. I'm jazzed - I love the Michael Connelly books on which the series have been based, I loved the TV treatment, and this looks terrific.
Here's the just-dropped trailer:
I know there are Wordle clones everywhere, but I've decided I'm sticking with the original. Part of the charm of Wordle is that I can only play it once a day, which means that I can't get addicted and go on for hours. (Which is sort of a problem when I play Word Search.)
Some of the clones are beyond me. I was reading about one the other day called Heardle: "Rather than type in the names of artists or songs, you listen to short clips of an intro then try to guess the answer. You get six attempts, with each one extending the length of the clip you get to hear."
No way. I'm the guy who was terrific playing Trivial Pursuit until we got to the music category, at which point I would crash and burn.
Had a lovely red wine the other night, the 2014 Cairanne 'La Cigalette, which has a nice smoky thing going for it that made it perfect for barbecue.
Also two new beers that I'd never had before, which were excellent - Redland Lager from Maryland's 7 Locks Brewery, and Boats & Hose, a limited release "Caribbean-style" lager from Maryland's Jailbreak Brewery. Great stuff!
That's it for this week. Have a great weekend, and I'll see you Monday.
Sláinte!!
