The Highest Paid Actress in the World

So remember when I said I would watch 5-10 movies by the next actor/actress? I lied. I ended up watching 16 of Emma Stones' flicks over the month of January. She was my second actor of the year, if you haven't seen my first, check out my post all about my favorite childhood comedy actor, Jim Carrey. I took Rachel's suggestion for the month and we took a deep dive into Emma Stone. She hasn't been in many more movies than the 16 I watched, so let's take a look at those movies right now:

Emma Stone launched her career in the 2007 classic Superbad. Although Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, and McLovin' star in the movie, Emma Stone adds some flair with her character Jules. I cannot remember when I first saw this movie, whether it was in high school or college, but it makes me laugh pretty damn hard. There are so many good lines and hilarious scenes, you must watch it if you haven't seen it. Fun fact: For some reason, Rachel's older brother Rob took her to see this movie when she was a junior in high school. It led to a few awkward moments as it isn't exactly a brother/sister movie (especially for a high schooler)! Emma stone continued her role as a secondary character in films The Rocker and Zombieland.  Although she has a more prominent role in the zombie comedy as Wichita, I would say her breakout movie as the lead role was Easy-A. Quite a funny film about a high school girl, Olive played by Stone, who proves that rumors can be used for good and bad. It's one of my favorite movies of her's, so definitely watch it if you are looking for a laugh.

Of the movies listed above, I think my favorite movie of Stone's where she played a lead role would have to The Help. The movie (2011) has Emma Stone cast as "Skeeter" who is a white woman in 1963 Mississippi. She ends up interviewing African American house maids and with her progressive views, helps get their story out to the public. This drama is based on the 2009 novel by Kathryn Stockett. The movie was a roller coaster of emotions, angering me, witnessing white families being so mean to their black maids, making them use their own black only bathroom at times so the whites wouldn't catch "disease" and happy at other times when Minny's special chocolate pie with poop is given to the rich white women, and people would help each other to make progress in equality. It's crazy to think that this was how some people treated each other 50 years ago, and still goes on in some places in the USA today. 

My least favorite movie would have to be Magic in the Moonlight. I just couldn't get into this Woody Allen directed film. It was too slow and boring. 

The movie that surprised me the most and I really enjoyed was The Irrational Man. This film was also directed by Woody Allen, however had a much more interesting story line. It stars Joaquin Phoenix, who plays a washed-up college professor Abe, and Stone who plays Jill, is one of his students who ends up falling in love with her professor. Watch the relationship and story build, only to be hit with a big twist at the end!

One thing I noticed about Emma Stone, is she is frequently casted with Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell. I don't know how casting works in the movie business, but I guess they work well together? Crazy Stupid Love which has all three of them in it is a hilarious comedy about love, divorce, dating, family, and more!  Emma and Ryan are casted together in the next two films. Fun fact, in La La Land, which Stone won an Oscar for Best Actress in a lead role, she is actually singing. What a talented woman! Gangster Squad was a pretty sweet movie as well which Emma plays a girlfriend of Mickey Cohen and Gosling plays a cop named Wooters who Faraday (Stone) ends up falling for. I didn't have a good spot to talk about Birdman which Stone also stars in, so I'll just say it's a great movie and you should watch it.  Her newest movie, again with Steve Carell, Battle of the Sexes is about the true story of the 1973 tennis match between the number one women's player Billie Jean King, played by Emma Stone, and ex-champ and hustler Bobby Riggs, played by Carrell. Another movie that focuses on women's empowerment and is based on a true story. 

Emma Stone, who is 8 months older than me, continues to grow as an actress and develop in her roles. From comedies to dramas, she does a fantastic job no matter which type of film she is in. I mean, in 2017, she was the highest paid actress in the world, raking in $26 million. Now, despite being the highest paid actress, I think it is noteworthy to mention that she still only ranks 15th overall, as 14 male actors are ahead of her. The unequal pay between males and females has no limits. By the way, the number one male actor, Mark Wahlberg, made $65 million last year, over double of Stone's pay. Don't sleep on this talented actress!

I only own about half of the movies I watched above, but was curious if there are any Emma Stone movies that I didn't watch that you think would be worthwhile. Let me know!

With Jim Carrey & Emma Stone checked off the list and we continue in this journey of watching specific actor's movies, we look forward to more suggestions. In the future, we are considering the likes of the following: Bruce Willis, Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Daniel Day Lewis, or Will Ferrell. 

Next up though: Russell Crowe

Happy movie watching

Josh

10 Podcasts (x3) to Listen to in 2018

PODCASTS! I can't get enough of them! It has only been about a year since I started listening and I am back with 10 more of my favorites! Making that 30 total podcasts. 4 Months ago, I released 10 More Podcasts You Should Listen to Today. About 6 months before that, in April of 2017, I wrote a post called, "Top 10 Podcasts To Listen To Today".

Both of these posts were all about my suggestions of the best podcasts I had been listening to. I have received suggestions from friends and I still continue to drive around, so here are my 10 favorite podcasts I have been listening to lately. Don't forget to check out 1-10 and 11-20! Now it is time to listen.

Update: Check out the fourth installment from October 2018

Update #2: Check out the newest 20 at Let’s Talk Podcasts #6 and Singular Story #5

---

10. KEXP Song of the Day 

"KEXP's Song of the Day podcast features exclusive in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent musicians that KEXP thinks listeners should hear along with songs from more well-known artists."

Seattle radio station KEXP releases a new song every Monday thru Friday. A great way to listen to new music and hear some new sounds. The genres of music vary week by week, from all around the world. KEXP also has a fantastic Youtube channel with tons of live performances. This is where I initially found out about this station. Check out one of my favorites of theirs lately. Deer Tick in the studio!

9.  Spooked

"Spooked features true-life supernatural stories, told firsthand by people who can barely believe it happened themselves. Be afraid. Created in the dark of night, by Snap Judgment and WNYC Studios. "

Real stories from real people, Spooked has it's good episodes and it's great episodes. Some of the stories from across the globe will give you goosebumps. Highly suggest to listen during the night, especially on a drive home or when around the house. Each episode is a stand alone story and there are only 13 episodes out from season 1 right now, so go get spooked! 

8. Dirty John

"Debra Newell is a successful interior designer. She meets John Meehan, a handsome man who seems to check all the boxes: attentive, available, just back from a year in Iraq with Doctors Without Borders. But her family doesn't like John, and they get entangled in an increasingly complex web of love, deception, forgiveness."

A six episode, true crime podcast series written by Christopher Goffard of the LA Times. It was initially a true crime story in the LA Times about a deceitful man who goes by the name of Dirty John. I didn't realize it until looking it up halfway through the podcast, but it is based on a true story. You can't trust just anyone. Fantastic story telling with thrilling scenes and descriptions. If you are in to crime story telling or crime podcasts, give it a listen. Plus, it's only 6 episodes, so go for it!

7. 30 for 30 Podcasts

"Original sports audio documentaries and more from the makers of the acclaimed 30 for 30 series by ESPN."

I am a big fan of the short film series 30 for 30 by ESPN. While not as good as the short films, the audio spin of these sports stories are a intriguing listen. I recommend checking out some of the stories, as there are currently only 2 seasons with 4 episodes each, so skim through and see which episode interest you most. Maybe you will find one of the stories that is close to home for me, the Lights at Wrigley. 

6. Planet Money

"The economy, explained, with stories and surprises. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, "Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy." Now imagine that's actually a fun evening. That's what we're going for at Planet Money. "

NPR goes in to discuss current events and things that effect the market with Planet Money. The economy and money all based around stories and events. Since I am trying to stay hip to the financial market and learn a little bit more about investing and budgeting, I have been enjoying this economic podcast. Episodes are stand alone, only about 20 minutes, and happen 2-3 times a week usually, check one out! 

5. What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law

"Professor Elizabeth Joh teaches Intro to Constitutional Law and most of the time this is a pretty straight forward job. But with Trump in office, everything has changed. Five minutes before class Professor Joh checks Twitter to find out what the 45th President has said and how it jibes with 200 years of the judicial branch interpreting and ruling on the Constitution. Hosted by acclaimed podcaster Roman Mars, this show is a weekly, fun, casual Con Law 101 class that uses the tumultuous and erratic activities of the executive branch under Trump to teach us all about the US Constitution."

A Radiotopia podcast by the creator & host of my favorite podcast ever, 99% invisible, Roman Mars. What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law discusses things that Trump has been doing and how it can teach us about the constitution of the USA. They are only 18 episodes in, and each covers a different amendment or constitutional article. If you are you like me and can't stand what Trump is doing, maybe this podcast can help you understand what he can and can't do.

4. Atlanta Monster

"From the producers of Up and Vanished, Tenderfoot TV and HowStuffWorks present, ‘Atlanta Monster.’ This true crime podcast tells the story of one of the city’s darkest secrets, The Atlanta Child Murders. Nearly 40 years after these horrific crimes, many questions still remain. Host Payne Lindsey aims to find truth and provide closure, reexamining the disappearance and murder of over 25 African American children and young adults."

This new podcast is by the creator of Up and Vanished and former Youtube (Right Side of the Tree) star, Payne Lindsey. Atlanta Monster is a crime/mystery podcast that goes into detail about the 25 missing children of Atlanta during the early 1980s. It's story telling and Stranger Things-esque music has kept me drawn in during the first 7 episodes that are out so far. Be sure to listen starting at episode one since it goes in chronological order. 

3. More Perfect

"Supreme Court decisions shape everything from marriage and money to public safety and sex. We know these are very important decisions we should all pay attention to – but they often feel untouchable and even unknowable. Radiolab's first ever spin-off series, More Perfect, connects you to the decisions made inside the court's hallowed halls, and explains what those rulings mean for "we the people" who exist far from the bench. More Perfect bypasses the wonkiness and tells stories behind some of the court’s biggest rulings."

"The Honorable, the Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons having business before the Honorable, the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the Court is now sitting. God save the United States and this Honorable Court!" This kind of stuff was so boring to me when I was reading a textbook back in middle and high school. But now that I am an adult and I can see how it all shaped the history of the USA, it is pretty darn interesting. More Perfect, hosted by Jad Abumrad, is a podcast all about the supreme court and the cases that helped shape the United States of America. Each of the 19 episodes is stand alone, although they do reference older episodes sometimes, but feel free to pickup wherever you like. Shoutout to John for showing me this one.

2. Showcase

"Showcase, from PRX's Radiotopia, features original series of all stripes, from emerging and leading producers around the world. "

Showcase is currently on the third season. Each season is 7 episodes about that are based aroudn a specific topic. My favorite season had to be season two. If you are at all into old arcade games, or mysteries, I suggest you start there. Season two is the story of the Polybius Conspiracy, an urban legend surrounding an arcade machine in Portland, Oregon where children supposedly were abducted. Season one, Ways of Hearing, is also very unique and insightful. It discusses all the different ways that humans hear and how audio has changed over the years.  The current season, number three, is about Secrets. "The secrets we keep in our lives, and the overwhelming complexity of being human." These episodes need to be listened to chronologically by season, however, the seasons do not connect. Enjoy!

1. Serial Killers

"Every Monday, Serial Killers takes a psychological and entertaining approach to provide a rare glimpse into the mind, methods and madness of the most notorious serial killers with the hopes of better understanding their psychological profile. With the help of real recordings and voice actors, we delve deep into their lives and stories."

And my number one podcast that I have been listening to as of late 2017 and early 2018 is.... Serial Killers. Creepy, I know. This podcast, as the title states, takes a deep dive into serial killers. Each killer gets two episodes about him/her. No need to go in chronological order, just look up one of the 25 killers they have covered, and give it a listen. They have covered killers from Jack the Ripper, to Ted Bundy, to the Zodiac Killer, and even the man who almost took my dad when he was a kid, John Wayne Gacy (Haven't heard the story? Ask him about it some time!) It's kind of weird I am in to this stuff, and I know that many people are not, but I find the psychological aspects fascinating. Some of the material is definitely disturbing, but if anything, I am learning how to not raise my kids to be a killer! 

On top of Serial Killers, if you haven't checked it out on Netflix yet, I highly suggest Mindhunter, which goes into how the term serial killer was coined. 

Hopefully you can take some time out of your busy life to listen to these podcasts. Remember podcasts are FREE! So download on itunes, listen on their websites (links provided above) or be like me and use the Podcast app on your phone.

That brings the total to 30 great podcasts that I listen on the daily. Remember, if you haven't already seen, check out my first 10 podcasts to listen to: Top 10 Podcasts To Listen To Today, or check out 10 More Podcasts You Should Start Listening To (Fall 2017).

As always, let me know what you are listening to! What am I missing out on? Tell me in the comments! 

Get your headphones and get listening.

Josh

A Snowy New Year

On the 30th of December 2017, Rachel and I drove up to Holland, Michigan to meet up with John and Melissa at John's place to celebrate the New Year.

We arrived a little past 3pm on Saturday December 30th, through a bit of snowy driving weather. Once we settled in, we got on our boots and snow gear and headed out again. John drove us over a half mile to a little parking spot near the boat dock. Once parked we set out on foot for another half mile, this time uphill through a neighborhood and then downhill to Lake Michigan. John's place is on Lake Macatawa, which feeds into Lake Michigan. On our walk to the lake, which included a heavy downfall of snow, we passed many a summer home, most empty due to the winter months, but some with beautiful Christmas lights and a snowy topping, making it even more picturesque. Once we made it to the lake, I took a slide down the slide while others looked on. I hit a big pile of snow at the end with a soft plump. Exciting stuff. It was pretty damn cold out, so my phone died right as I was making a video going down (peep the vlog). Minutes later, John and I headed towards the lake's edge. I felt nervously scared as we stood on what we eventually figured out was a frozen Lake Michigan, with waves crashing up and splashing high. It was a crazy feeling to have the waves hitting so high. It honestly felt as if i was on the edge of the cliffs of Moher, but with the water coming to the very top. It was cold, windy, and was quite exhilarating. The water was rolling, similar to an ocean, and we were certain it would be instant death if one fell in. Rachel and Melissa joined us at the frozen lake's edge before we all scurried back to safety towards the snowy mainland. I know it is hard to understand, but we were probably a good 100 feet out on the water, and a good 20 feet uphill, which was entirely frozen, but then it was not frozen at all once you hit the edge. That is where the water was still water. You never know when the ice might break off and fall in. Similar to if you stand on the edge of a cliff. The risks we took!

Once we stopped tempting death, we walked back through the blizzard, trenching through waist high snow drifts, eventually we made it back to our Cabin in Holland. We slipped out of our wet clothes and hopped into some dry ones to head to downtown Holland. Land of the dry. As we were driving on the highway, we saw some advertisements about how it was a snowless Holland. We didn't really get it until we were downtown and saw that the sidewalks were entirely rid of snow. How is this possible you may ask? The sorcery of Holland? Nope, just heated sidewalks, which means no snow on the sidewalks, but plenty of hobos sleeping. Jokes about the hobos. We parked downtown and walked along the street to New Holland  Brewing Company. We had a few drinks there a couple summers ago. Once inside, John and Melissa took us to the sampling room, where we sampled some whiskeys, gins and tequilas before being sat down for dinner. We ordered a beer and some bean dip as an app. Dinner came out and it was pretty good. I had a burger and some chips. I would say it was an average tasting burger, nothing too crazy to talk about. After dinner we headed back to John's place to play some some O'Hell and Hearts. Card games for the uninformed. Didn't stay up too late, and headed to bed in our twin beds.

We woke up the next morning, December 31st, 2017, New Years Eve, ate some breakfast and headed out for some cross country skiing. We headed out to the Pigeon Creek Park trails, and it only cost $8 per person to rent the ski's for two hours! What a deal. It was my first time cross country skiing, well actually skiing at all. I went water skiing about 10 years ago at my buddy Andrew Mewborn's in Georgia, but have never done any type of skiing or snowboarding on the snow. In fact, I've only been sledding down the Patterson hill near my childhood home. 

Anyway, we got the skis and I immediately had difficulty getting my snow boots to stay on them. I had to get my skis swapped out, and the new pair worked! Once I had my skis on I immediately fell over. Good start. I think I ended up falling down at least 20 times within the two hours of skiing. I was pretty terrible, but it was super super fun. I dressed up like a drunk local man (corona hat, shades, sweat pants, and a jacket), and performed like a local drunk man, stumbling about the trails. Rachel was the skiing expert and did well. John and Melissa also performed at a high level. Like I said, I fell over almost every 5 minutes, struggle bus.

There was a layer of fluffy snow over all of the trees and over the trails, it was a beautiful sunny day to go cc skiing. I did a mediocre job as everyone else succeed, but it was a fantastic time. At one point we attempted the pigeon plunge, a very steep and narrow trail that was similar to downhill skiing but between a 15 foot gap of trees. If we veered off too far to the side, we would surely crash into some pine. We all sat at the top of the plunge debating whether we should go down or not for 20 minutes. Finally I strapped my camera under my jacket, and went full steam ahead. The worst skier was on his way to death! It was an adrenaline filled descent that ended up with me eating it hard. My skis got crossed up and I slammed into the snow, but this is a survivor story and I live to tell the tale. John and Rachel followed suite and Melissa traveled around to meet us for the walk back to the lodge. Super fun cross country skiing. When we got back to return our skis, there was a super long line to get into the trails. It appears we finished at the perfect time. Great success!

With our boots back on, we drove over to Meijer to pick up some groceries for the evening festivities. John somehow managed to lose his wallet, and we were in kind of a funk, but then it fell from the side of the front seat and hit my foot in the back. Wallet found, day saved.  It must have fallen out of his pocket when we were getting in/out of the car. Phew. 

We made it back to John's place and fired up the grill. Time for a little snowy cookout. We cooked up some brats, Melissa made the famous corn dish, Rachel got some broccoli and onion together, and the boys grilled some brats to enjoy for the New Year's Masterpiece. 

After celebrating with our tasty dinner, we hung out for a bit, playing hearts, 3 man, and some other games. Melissa played us some cover songs and amazing originals! Check out her new music page here! Later that night, around 11pm, I put together a delicious buffalo chicken dip to enjoy while we played more card games. Finally, we counted down to midnight in the Eastern Time Zone, then again in Central Time Zone. Happy New Year x 2! Celebrate everyone!

I stayed up later than all in the house, as they fell asleep just after 2a Eastern/1a Central. Since everyone fell asleep with a drink in their hand, I took each drink one by one and finished them off! Safety first. A little bit after that I woke everyone up and sent them up to bed. I spent the next 2 hours editing some videos and working my blogs/vlogs. Definitely missed out on the opportunity to celebrate New Year's a third time for the west coast. I packed up and headed to bed just after 4a. What A Snowy New Year.

We woke up in the morning, January 1st, 2018, and ate the rest of the buffalo chicken dip from the night before and headed out on the road back to Chicago.

Happy New Year everyone. More videos from this weekend to come soon. Here is the vlog! It's a snazzy one!

Let's do it big in 2018!

Josh