I Like to Watch | Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings
Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings is certainly not the first movie with an Asian cast or even an Asian lead. It is the first of the MCU to do this and given Marvel's extraordinary run and global dominance, this cannot be ignored.
The Clincher
At first the team was just a bunch of burnt-out baseball guys looking for a reason to get out of the house. Then it got serious. The trophies, the fights, the bets. Sixteen-inch no-mitt softball became an obsession. Nothing got in the way. That’s how it went when guys had too much of what they didn’t want in life.
I Believe... [Missing the Cold War]
...that I long for the days of the Cold War when our enemies were Soviets instead of each other and we thought hiding under our desks could save us from nuclear war.
Fair is Fair
"Father?"
The old man sitting on the bench was eating pistachio nuts and carefully placing the shells in a ball cap to his left. He looked Jack's way.
"Ah! Jack. Not any more. Not in long time."
Ghost Women In Another Vegas - A Poem
This is better than the last testament to her will, which has been reduced to a manuscript hidden in a rare and rusting trunk. Frothing and varnished, it waits.
Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of August 29, 2021
Cancel culture will fail us all. It’s an overcorrection to answer for the previous culture that failed us all.
Take a Peek Out of Your Comfortable Skinner Box Once in a While
Skinner Boxes are the avatars of immediate gratification and unearned treats.
What You Don't Know about the Texas Abortion Ban!
Mandates “abstinence” as the Official State Birth Control and declares pregnancy to be an “act of God” along with hurricanes, blizzards, power grid failures, and mass shootings.
Leaving Afghanistan Better Than We Found It was Never Possible
I’ve been thinking a lot about my friend Jordan lately. I haven’t seen her in a while and I would like to get together with her, her husband Tom—have them over to our new place, see the kid, drink some beer, have some laughs. But mostly, I’ve been thinking about Jordan because of a rule she lived by during her dating years.
“Always leave your ex better than you found them.”
Hell is a Sunday Matinee
The most acid I've ever taken by accident was at a Saturday night cast party.
I Believe... [Comfort is Overrated]
I believe... that the worst perpetual state for any human creative is comfortable. Seeking out discomfort is the source of every great risk and every great reward.
I Like to Watch | The Chair (Netflix)
The fact that there are thinkpieces out in the ether complaining that the series doesn't skewer the teachers, the students, Melville, or any of the other popular demons but centers its criticism on all involved indicates the thing has legs.
Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of August 22, 2021
I've met rabid Evangelicals who are easier on the senses than most basic bitches with their rush to autumn—pumpkin spice, sweaters, and jackets. You people are insufferable prior to September 21st and mind numbingly annoying every day thereafter.
How About Some Upbeat News for Fuck's Sake?
Among the most shrill in our daily discourse is a small group of Utopians suffering from utopian idealism. Utopians compare the present with what might be called the future perfect, not the past imperfect. Instead of seeing the present as a vast improvement on the past, they see the present as failing to live up to some sort of an imagined utopia.
Bullet Flu & The NRA Variant
If you have a gun and go outdoors, wear a mask.
I Like to Watch | Mrs. America (Hulu)
If there's one source of joy I embrace in film and television it's superhero shit. No johnny-come-lately, I loved that stuff before I had pubic hair so the fun I have watching any show featuring super-powered characters is incomparable. A close second is historical political dramas. I love 'em.
I Believe... [OnlyUptightFans]
...that OnlyFans banning pornographic material is like Texas banning beef or Grindr banning gay men.
Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of August 15, 2021
Peeing in the shower is one thing. Peeing in the bath is monstrous.
What Happens When Everyone Gets Bored with the Scolds?
We're bored out of our everliving skulls with the hysteria. The faux outrage has worn us right the fuck out. We're fed-up with Bob Dylan being accused of doing something in 1965 and moving on with life. We're nodding off every time we hear someone (usually young but not always) crying wolf every moment of every day.
Meet the NEW Taliban!
Stonings – We will only use soft rocks. Stonings may take longer, but they will be way more comfortable. Like a lethal massage.
Andy was good at his job. And for a nine-month-old baby, he was really good at it.