The Weekend Reset – Spring pasta, Nathaniel Rateliff, and some very relevant history.

It’s Friday. Looking for something to switch up your weekend, or to give you an excuse to relax a little? That’s what the Weekend Reset is for. Each week contributor Tim Johnstone pulls together five things to get your weekend started. Could be something to read or watch, something to eat or listen to, or even something to do. Enjoy the weekend fellas.

 

EAT: A Spring friendly pasta dish for easy eating.

Spaghetti with Spring greens, a dash of lemon zest, some goat cheese and walnuts. Don’t bother clicking for the recipe in the lower right of the video because that’s not available, at least on my browser. But, I’ve got you covered for ingredients:

3/4 lb of spaghetti

10 oz baby spinach (trim the rough stems)

3 cups flatleaf parsley (washed and dried)

2 cups cilantro leaves (washed and dried)

1 lemon (zest and juice)

1/2 cup toasted walnuts

4 oz fresh goat cheese (or fresh mozzarella if you prefer)

I’m telling you right now, there is no way I am getting the prep done on the greens in the time she does it and I’m guessing she didn’t either. I call shenanigans. Prep first, mostly. Start the water half way through. Aside from that, it’s a pretty easy dish to throw together. Serve it with some crusty bread or better yet, a green salad utilizing some of the same greens. Throw some of that lemon juice together with some Olive Oil (at a ratio of 2 to 1 oil) and you are good to go for a dressing. As for the rest of the week, there are two more recipes for you in this clip. It’s Martha. You are in good hands.

 

WATCH: DEVS is worth waiting a week between episodes.

It’s been a week or so since I watched the first two episodes of Alex Garland’s new FX limited series and I cannot stop thinking about it. If you are familiar with Garlands films, Ex-Machina and Annihilation, you know that he has a way of bringing a story together that engages all of your senses. They are stunning to look at. The story unfolds enigmatically. The acting is really good. Nick Offerman is very good. And, they are creepy AF. This is just some of the reasons I am enamored by Garland’s DEVS. It is a story that is very much of this time. And because a new episode premiers on Thursdays, I have to wait like everyone else to see where we go. I already know it will be interesting.

 

LISTEN: Sunday morning coming down courtesy of Nathaniel Rateliff.

Nathaniel Rateliff’s road to fame was not some storybook sort of deal. His past has been troubled and it has influenced his music since he began. And with And It’s Still Alright, Rateliff is back to making the solo folk rock music that earned him a following. This is an album influenced by grief and yet it is at times lovely, heavy and memorable. Here’s a little background on this album.  And as Joe says, this is the perfect stay at home Saturday night/Sunday morning music.

 

CLEAN: It’s that time of the year, right?

I am not going to hype you on cleaning everything. Not my style. And that’s not what this is about. But I do suggest that you pick one project that you’ve been meaning to get to but haven’t. Manage your expectations and don’t bite off more than you can chew. Then, make it a priority and get it done. Maybe you have to call in a chit and bring in a pal and spring for pizza and beer. Because when you finish, you are going to feel very, very good about accomplishing something that has been gnawing at you. I’m not just leaving you out to dry here. I am doing this myself this weekend. I will be there with you and we can all raise a glass or whatever upon completion.

 

READ: We’ve been here before. Sorta. This is how it went.

OK. We haven’t been at this particular here before but in some ways we have. The influenza flu of 1918 was also a novel coronavirus. And, like the 1918 virus, this one seems to have a mortality rate of about 2% (or did it? who knows). As in all the best historical non-fiction, this one plays out like a great detective story. I love when science is also a page-turner. Author and New York Times reporter Gina Kolata has received heaps of praise for her 2001 book on the last significant world pandemic. Specifically, here and here and here to list a few. Listen, panic isn’t gonna do you any good. So if you know you’re prone to that sort of behavior, might not want to engage here. Yet this might be the best worst pick for a book to read if you have been told to work from home or are social distancing (something I’ve been doing for years).

Tim Johnstone is Dappered’s music correspondent as well as our resident gatherer of all things interwebs related. He’s pretty sure about some of the things most of the time, but totally clueless about everything else all the time.