“The Observatory,” released in 2017, is sung by The White Buffalo and concludes with the simple but poignant lines below. (If you don’t have time to listen to all 3:48 minutes of it, just move it up to the final refrain – at 2:45. It’s beautiful.)
- Everybody hides
- Everybody bleeds
- Everybody hurts
- Everybody feels
- Everybody’s right
- Everybody’s wrong
- Everybody’s old
- Everybody’s young
- Everybody’s low
- Everybody’s high
- Everybody lives
- Everybody dies
- Everybody cries
- Everybody dreams
- Everybody wants
- Everybody needs
- Love
Jake Smith (aka The White Buffalo) told Rolling Stone that “The Observatory” is a “song about the search for the universal truth. Looking within to see the connections and commonalities between all people.”I like that idea.
Andy likes that idea too, even though he would have preferred having “everybody’s lost, everybody‘s found” in the lyrics. You’ll understand why when you read Our Little Corner today.
We just finished watching Season 2 of This Is Us, and that’s where I first heard the song. It comes at the end of Episode 11, Season 2. How is it possible we were so late to the gate with that excellent series, which has so much to do with love – or absence of love? When we mention that we’re obsessed with This Is Us, almost everyone we know nods knowingly and says, “yes, we watched that a long time ago and loved it.” In case you’re as obtuse as we are, it began in September of 2016 and concluded in May of 2022 after 6 seasons.
Even if you didn’t watch the series – which focuses on the lives of a Vietnam war veteran and his singer/wife and their triplets – you may recognize one of the “now-adult” triplets because he was just nominated for an Oscar for his starring performance in American Fiction. That’s Sterling Brown, on the left with glasses. FYI -Brown won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role in This Is Us, as well as a Golden Globe, becoming the first African American actor to win his category in the award show’s 75-year history.
Another award winner from This Is Us is Jennifer Pyken, who was the series’ Music Supervisor for seasons 1 and 2 and received an Emmy nomination for her work. I’m fascinated with the work done by these folks – who choose and place the music to go with a TV series.
If you have 16 hours of listening time, here is the Spotify soundtrack with 353 of the songs used in the 6 seasons of This Is Us, and if you haven’t already watched all 106 episodes (61 hours) of the series’ six seasons, go to Netflix to enjoy it.
But before settling in to listen to the music or watch the show, get out the popcorn popper and make a huge batch of popcorn and sprinkle it with Andrea Nguyen’s Sichuan Magic Dust for popcorn. You’re going to love it as much as everyone loves This Is Us.
Sichuan Magic Dust for Popcorn
- 1 1/2 tsp gochugaru (Korean coarsely ground red pepper) – or substitute about 1/4 tsp of cayenne
- 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns (can be omitted but gives that VERY unique flavor!)
- 1/4 tsp MSG (Ac’cent is MSG)
- 1/2 tsp Diamond kosher salt
- 2 T nutritional yeast, the coarse, flakey kind
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika
To make the spice blend, use an electric spice grinder. Put the gochugaru and Sichuan peppercorns in the grinder and whirl as finely as possible. Add the MSG and salt, then whirl to a finer texture, like a powder. Add the nutritional yeast and paprika. Grind once more to create a very fine, orange blend.
Add some melted butter or olive oil to your freshly-popped popcorn and then sprinkle a little Magic Dust over it all; gently mix it all in.
Ha! Hard for me to believe that folks as healthy as y’all “add a huge swig of melted butter to each batch”. The results of your diet are truly enviable. We use a microwave popper with favorable results… but it does require careful listening as the batch transitions from “done” to “burned” very quickly.
Andy here: Ann’s penchant for butter on popcorn is just the tip of the iceberg. Butter rules in this household – something I quickly learned after we got married (and came to appreciate).
Fun fact: Jake Smith AKA The White Buffalo was a waiter at Restaurant LuLu in the late-90’s when I was starting my management career. It was a long time ago, but I remember him as being nice and very mellow.
Anyway, I don’t much care for the numbiness Sichuan peppercorn leaves me feeling (not feeling?), but do hope you’re well and that you had a happy birthday.
That’s so cool that you know/knew him, Joe. Were you aware he had gone on to become a singer?
As for Sichuan pepper, I agree that the mouth-numbing quality is weird, but I kind of like it…especially in Dan Dan Noodles – and in this popcorn recipe, it’s very subtle. As for birthdays, that-other-Joe and I are gettin’ up there!