I Believe… [The Pandemic 15 Is Truly American]
I believe… that only in America can we experience a pandemic followed by massive unemployment and restaurants closed down and still fucking gain weight.
I Like to Watch | Unbelievable (Netflix)
While I understand the argument that no one can genuinely empathize with someone else’s journey — the most recent of these is that white people can’t possibly understand the trials of being black in America — I believe we have to at least try or eventually faction off into castes and tribes with no attempt at finding anything resembling common interest. Stories give us that chance.
Hardware, Software, and What to Call the Apple Running Windows
When it comes to those sometimes brave, sometimes narcissistic folks born in the wrong biology, I suppose I just don’t get the hostility against them. It was once explained to me that all computers are basically the same machine. Some may have a few more ports or gadgets attached in construction but an iMac is substantially the same as a Dell. It is the software that truly changes the game.
The Minutes of Our Last Meeting – HOLY SHIT WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE AND NOT SOON ENOUGH Meeting of The Chicago Optimists’ Society
Meg – If a bear cub and a moth can be cuddle buddies, then so can a privileged white woman and a black man at a barbeque.
I Believe.. [Nikki Haley was Humping a Bag of Maggots]
…that the only must-see event that eclipses The Greatest Showman as revisionist make 'em up but hysterical historical fiction is the Trumpster's State of the Union Address on Tuesday. I'll be watching it with The Greatest Hits of the Tijuana Brass playing in the background.
I Believe… [Fashion Statement Activism]
…that the fact that Gwyneth Paltrow is selling (and people are buying) a $135 Coffee Enema Kit is far more alarming than anything going on in Congress these days. I "accidentally" shot coffee up my ass (there was a safe word) and it was not worth $135 unless it was from Starbucks.
American Online and the Dial-Up Generation
I know social media is here to stay and that people will continue to quite literally live their lives inside these forums, but let's all agree, if we're going to continue to make this virtual world the main place where most modern socialization takes place, let's do it with some manners and some grace.
Skewering a Genre Perfectly: Not About Dicks but About the Justice System
Galaxy Quest is the perfect spoof of Star Trek. Blazing Saddles is perhaps the best takeoff on westerns. This is Spinal Tap seems over the top until you see Anvil! The Story of Anvil and see clearly how close the rockumentary is to real life.
Which brings me to Netflix's American Vandal.
Iron Fist: The Most Millennial Superhero So Far
I started by enjoying Netflix’ fourth entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) second-tier superhero franchise. I entered in with the knowledge that an awful lot of people had either beaten it to death critically or merely used the casting of a white actor to play a white comic book character to paint the show as cultural misappropriation.
By episode #4, the enjoyment began to wain. The writing is just bad. Not Transformers bad. Not Titanic bad. But clunky and almost as if the writers were using one of those writing apps that blocks out the sentences written prior to retain focus. So many moments where the characters said and did things incongruous to the moment before that it almost becomes a David Lynch experiment in superhero television.
I liked Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) until she lost her mind in love with Danny Rand. Her snarky badass attitude suddenly seemed to evaporate as soon as there was sex involved. I continually like Rosario Dawson’s Claire Temple but her role in this chunk of MCU is confused—is she the perpetual nurse or a badass in training or merely the only adult in the room? The Meachums (Harold (David Wenham), Ward (Tom Pelphrey) and Joy (Jessica Stroup) are all complex and interesting, especially Ward, and yet go completely brain dead when the obvious is smacking them right in the face.
Anxiety is the thing that’s ripped our country apart. It has divided us, caused us to fear and hate those who think and live differently than us, and even caused us to hate those who only slightly disagree with us. It has led to panic and overreaction. And I worry that American Anxiety is only going to exacerbate the social and political divide in this country to the point that there is no coming back.