CULTURE | DIGEST
Honoring Unsung Heroes TED TALK Ted Danson would be an American TV legend even if he’d never made another series after Cheers. But after some years in the unfunny wilderness (sorry, Becker fans), the man is on a late-career hot streak thanks to memorable roles in The Good Place, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Bored to Death. His latest, Mr. Mayor, comes from the brains behind 30 Rock (Tina Fey and Robert Carlock) and premiered this month on NBC (it’s also streaming on Hulu). So far, it’s shown potential for greatness with jokes rooted in celebrity culture, city politics and SoCal superficiality. Danson is at the center as a businessman-turnedneophyte politician, and Holly Hunter is pretty great as a city-level Bernie Sanders. (DAN NAILEN)
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BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL
uring the pandemic, we’ve had many reminders to thank our health care workers, our teachers, and the people whose work mandates in-person
labor. For 60 students at Spokane Valley High School who are working on their project-based curriculum virtually, the thanks for 10 unsung heroes will come in the form of carefully curated gift baskets featuring gift cards and treats purchased from and donated by local stores. Led by the teaching team of Joni Chambers, Eric Sanchez and Seth Robertson, the class worked in teams to gather nominees, create a website where the public can vote on a winner who will receive an extra special prize, and gather the ideas for the basket items funded by a small grant. “Part of our mission is to be very community oriented at this school,” Chambers says. “It’s been an eye opener for the students to think about what other people have donated to our community and what really
THE BUZZ BIN
THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST There’s noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online Jan. 29. To wit: BLACK PISTOL FIRE, Look Alive. Saw these cats open for Gary Clark, Jr., and they ripped. ANI DIFRANCO, Revolutionary Love. Ani’s ascended to “I always want to hear what she’s up to” status in my book. WEEZER, OK Human. OK band. (DAN NAILEN)
runs a community. It’s not all big business, it’s boots on the ground keeping people fed.” Indeed, the nominees come from a variety of service areas instrumental to helping people throughout the past year. There’s Doug Beane, a Meals on Wheels driver who delivers meals to seniors in need, and Marion Hill, who at more than 80 years old has spent the last quarter of a century volunteering at the Cheney emergency food bank. Christine Duncan makes medical house calls with Dispatch Health, while Ben Preiss, an ER doctor at Sacred Heart, told students the best part of being a doctor is getting to be there for people on their best and worst days. Fellow health-related nominee Lin Preiss is a chaplain at Sacred Heart who’s provided counseling and spiritual guidance to patients who are isolated as COVID-19 not only puts people in the hospital but prevents many visits. Sharon Grant has helped seniors learn new ways to stay in touch with their loved ones while living at Canterbury Court, where she’s director, and Tennille O’Blenness worked quickly to ensure inpatients getting substance abuse treatment at Isabella House could get connected digitally with resources they needed. Demetrius Palmer, a life coach at Excelsior Wellness Center, created daily motivational YouTube videos for his students, and Calvetta Phair provided low-income students with computers for virtual learning through her foundation, “On It.” Meanwhile, Mel Luedders, a preschool teacher and director at Plum Tree, revamped and built outdoor structures to enable in-person learning to continue for the youngest students in the community. The students ask that you vote for your favorite hero on the list at bit.ly/3sKiaIL. n
BATTLE(SHIP) OF WITS Steven Soderbergh has been making mostly charming, low-key efforts since ending his self-imposed “retirement” a few years back, and his latest, Let Them All Talk (HBO Max), is a predictably breezy romp with a surprisingly sobering coda. Shot in an improvisatory style aboard an actual voyage of the Queen Mary 2 ocean liner, it follows a revered novelist (Meryl Streep) on a cruise with two of her oldest pals (Candice Bergen and Dianne Wiest), both of whom have conflicted feelings about their friend’s career. The film isn’t a major work in any of these legends’ filmographies, and yet they’re all terrific in it, and it ends up having a lot to say about aging, forgiveness and artistic license. (NATHAN WEINBENDER)
MONEY WELL SPENT Buying music and merch from your favorite band via Bandcamp.com was already a great way to support artists and indie labels because the site pays them a far better percentage of the sales than typical online outlets. Since the pandemic started, Bandcamp has done even better for artists, waiving its share of the sales revenue completely on the first Friday of each month so struggling musicians can make a little extra cash. The idea’s been a smash hit, as fans generated some $40 million for artists and labels on Bandcamp Fridays since the site launched them. The better news? Since the touring industry is still locked down, Bandcamp Fridays will continue into 2021, at least until May. So consider buying some tunes Feb. 5. (DAN NAILEN)
SPACE RACE The fifth season of The Expanse (Wednesdays on Amazon Prime) is already halfway through, easily becoming the series’ tensest and most action-packed storyline so far. Now that the Ring Gate — a portal to distant planetary systems — has been opened, Earth, Mars and the (asteroid) Belt are racing to explore and claim these new, resource-rich lands. Splinter factions from the Belt, meanwhile, have united as one under a charismatic and manipulative leader who’s more than willing to use violence and force to demand the Belt get first dibs on everything inside the gates, considering the “Inners’” centuries-long oppression of Belters. In the show’s own lingo, “throwing rocks” is not off the table. (CHEY SCOTT)
JANUARY 28, 2021 INLANDER 27