Thursday Bouquet #5
Surviving, Spring Break and More!
The happiest of Thursdays is upon us!! Spring Break starts tomorrow….at least around here. I'm ready for a reprieve from 6:30am alarms, wrangling tired teenagers and early morning drives to school.
This week we have a bit of a theme for our Thursday Bouquet: Adventure!!
Maybe it’s the slowly approaching end of winter or the upcoming break. Maybe the longer days and warmer rays are getting to me. It just seems like everything I got excited about this week centered around some sort of adventure.
So we’re going with it! We’ve got a Listen in the form of a podcast, an epic book series to Read and we are Watching a documentary about a zany race. Here we goooooo…….
Listen - Survival of the Fittest
“You’re Wrong About” is podcast that’s been around for a while and undergone a variety of changes over the years. Originally, it had two hosts, Michael Hobbes and Sarah Marshall. Twice a month, they would get together to discuss cultural phenomena and the difference between what we think we know about it and what actually happened.
It’s a highly entertaining and deeply informative show. I recommend going back and listening to older episodes. They cover a huge number of iconic moments, movements and people from decades gone by. Everything from Monica Lewinsky, D.A.R.E., “A Dingo’s Got My Baby” and Terry Schiavo to Tonya Harding, Marie Antionette, and KoKo the Gorilla.
I could list so many more. There is a huge backlog of episodes. I’ve listened to almost all of them. Sarah and Michael never fail to disrupt my thinking on the topic at hand.
Michael left the podcast in 2021, but Sarah keeps it going with guest hosts. I do miss Michael’s personality and humor, but the guest hosts bring something fresh to the show.
Each guest is an expert in something specific. Sarah welcomes historians, survivalists, writers, other podcasters and more. She even welcomed an expert on the Insane Clown Posse. This show has range!
Lately, I’ve been enjoying a series of episodes with Survival Correspondent Blair Braverman.
On her website, Blaire describes herself as a writer, a long distance dogsledder and an adventurer. She competed in the 2019 Iditarod, appeared on “Naked and Afraid” and writes for publications like Outdoor Magazine.
The stories she brings to “You’re Wrong About” are all well known, highly publicized events. Like every other story the podcast covers, it’s hard to believe there is anything new left to discover. But, that’s what Y.W.A. does best. It uses the benefit of hindsight, changing cultural values and scientific advancements to shine a fresh light on the situation.
The hosts take us all the way back to the beginning and retell us these captivating stories with fresh insight and deeply researched detail.
I liked all the survival episodes, but I thought the Baby Jessica story was especially compelling. As we hear about the infamous rescue of Baby Jessica, we learn of another fascinating rescue mission. I had never heard the story before and you probably haven’t either. It’s worth checking out!
The other episode that captivated my attention (and my heart) was the “Survival In the Andes” episode. It discusses the plane crash that inspired the memoir, and subsequent movie, “Alive”. The episode humanizes everyone involved and gives us something new to think about when we think about Flight 571.
Here are links to all the Blaire Braverman / You’re Wrong About episodes:
Flight 571 : Survival in the Andes
Read - Uhtred of Bebbanburg!
I just finished reading “Sword Song”, the fourth book in Bernard Cornwell’s “Saxon Stories” series. You might be familiar with “The Last Kingdom”, a popular t.v. show adapted from the Saxon Stories.
The first book in the series, “The Last Kingdom”, begins in the year 866 and tells the tale of Uhtred, a young Saxon boy who is displaced from his home at the fortress of Bebbanburg by raiding Danes.
The series follows Uhtred through his life as he navigates a world dominated by war. He is caught in the middle of an epic battle for control of the independent kingdoms that would eventually become united England under the rule of Alfred the Great.
At its core, the tale of Uhtred’s epic life is an adventure story. Fast paced, and full of vivid characters, every book in the series is a page turner.
These books are so much fun to read! The villains are bloodthirsty. The heroes are complicated. The Damsels are in distress. I’m not usually a “read the whole book in one sitting” kind of girl, but these books are so exciting, I devour them quickly.
If you are willing to suspend your modern sensibilities and get lost in Uhtred’s world for a few hundred pages, and If you like your historical fiction with a healthy dose of adventure, this will be right up your alley!
Not interested in Uhtred’s plight? Already watched “The Last Kingdom”? Consider reading “The Sunne in Splendour” by Sharon Kay Penman.
“Sunne..” is about The War of the Roses. It tells the story of brothers who would be kings : Edward and Richard Plantagenet. It’s an epic tale of honor, betrayal, bravery and heartbreak, a well written and exciting book.
I would get so worked up reading the battle scenes, I had to stop reading it before bed. I couldn’t go to sleep! Somehow, I also managed to fall madly in love with a king that died nearly 600 years ago. That’s what a good book will do to you.
Watch - The Toughest Race on Earth
“The Barkley Marathons : The Race That Eat’s It’s Young” is a 2014 documentary about what has been affectionately deemed “The Toughest Race on Earth”. The Tennessee race has been occurring annually for 25 years and only ten people have ever managed to finish it.
This documentary is coming up on a ten year anniversary. Chances are you have heard of, or seen, it. I think it deserves a revisit.
The 100 mile race, Inspired by a 1977 prison escape, requires participants to run a 20 mile course five times. Difficulty is cultivated by changing the course every year and requiring runners to change direction every two loops. Other factors include weather, terrain, poorly marked courses and a variety of other obstacles competitors encounter as they compete.
As you can imagine, the event is populated by colorful characters and they, along with the complete absurdity of the race itself, make this documentary wildly entertaining.
I watched it with my family and I was sad when it ended. They could easily make a whole series about the Barkley Marathon.
“…..The Race That Eats Its Young” is a great little documentary for those times when no one can agree on what to watch. It’s weird, it’s fun and it will entertain the whole family.
Happy Adventuring!
If you’re on spring break, enjoy it!! Sleep in, take a road trip, bingewatch that show you’ve been hearing about. I plan to do all of the above. My itinerary is cleared and snacks have been gathered. I’m ready.
See you Sunday!
I love your writing and can’t wait to try some of your recommended adventures.