Wear, Watch, Want #180: The Overall, Tearful Massage Edition
Wear: Bodhi Dog Scrub Brush
My dog, Hero, is a very good boy who hates getting a bath. One thing about Hero that gets him a ton of love and attention and treats at the groomer or vet is that when he doesn’t like something, he just freezes. He won’t fight you, he’ll just stop. Take his temperature, clip his nails, whatever. He will not move.
He has very little hair, so he doesn’t have extensive bath needs, but I wanted something to make his baths a little nicer, and also a little more effective. I got this scrubby massage brush and it’s perfect. It helps the soap lather up, so I need less, it makes me feel like he’s really getting clean instead of just not smelly, and he loves the massage effect. Hero also hates going out in the rain, but he loves getting rubbed down with a towel afterward. He makes this little brrrgrrr noise that he only makes when he’s getting toweled, and he makes the same noise when he’s getting bathed with this brush. It’s worth it just for that, really.
Watch: The Great Pottery Throwdown
Before HBO Max got the first three seasons of The Great Pottery Throwdown, I had only seen a few minutes of the show, when the Gogglebox cast watched the handle pulling challenge and made dick jokes about it. Because of Gogglebox I also know about The Great British Sewing Bee (also from Love Productions) and that the BBC also aired a Bake Off type show for art (The Big Painting Challenge). I know there was one for gardening (it’s not The Big Flower Fight) but Google is no help to me. It did seem boring (“grow the best carrot!” is not exactly thrilling), but I would definitely still watch six seasons of it and get overly invested (“That aubergine is shit, Jacinda!” I would scream at my TV).
BUT ANYWAY, The Great Pottery Throwdown is on HBO Max, and it is a delight. The show was on for two seasons on the BBC, then was cancelled, but last year was revived by Channel 4 so now there are technically four seasons, but only three are on HBO Max (presumably the fourth will be added eventually, it’s either currently airing or just ended). I’m particularly antsy to see the fourth season, because it’s hosted by Siobhán McSweeney (who you may know as Sister Michael from Derry Girls), with Richard Miller, the Kiln Man (I have no idea what his job title is, I call him Richard the Kiln Man) getting promoted to judge, alongside Keith Brymer Jones.
Let me take a minute to talk about how absolutely delightful Keith Brymer Jones is. His hairstyle is not trendy, he wears odd suits, and he cries all the time. I would kill for him. Keith is so moved by art and clay and the perseverance of the contestants that he has no choice but to weep. He cries because things are beautiful. He cries becasue he expect a glaze to turn out as well as it did. He cries because a contestant is an abject failure but they have so much heart and they tried. Yes, he’s there to judge the work, but he’s just happy to be there and I genuinely believe he wants everyone to win. Keith Crying is the polar opposite of The Hollywood Handshake.
One warning: In the first season there is a white potter with dreads, and whatever you are picturing, the reality is worse.
Want: Pilcro Painters Denim Overalls
Have I mentioned my phase during 4th and 5th grade where I only wore overalls? I only wore overalls. And you know what? It was a great idea. My adult-era overalls phase has been going on for awhile (I’ve already had overalls as a want, and a wear), and now I want these. I have been wanting something tie dye, and I love overalls, and these are essentially tie dye overalls. I want to go back in time and tell my small self, who’s style idol was Clarissa Darling, that these exist and I have grown up money and I’m gonna buy them.
