…I haven’t watched it yet, but I did just read a plot synopsis on Wikipedia. I’m intrigued by the inclusion of Namor, and looking over the synopsis, I think they did an interesting work for the untimely death of Chadwick Boseman.
I didn’t like the first black panther when it came out, but I really liked T’Challa and Chadwick Boseman’s intense integrity. I watched the T’Challa/Starlord episode of What If?.. numerous times because it warms my heart. They really nailed the archetypal essence of the character in that episode—the peacemaker, the diplomat, the protector, the crusader, etc.
“You have the blood of a king, my son, but it is pumped by the heart of an adventurer.”
But he was already gone. Recasting Mr. Boseman would have been bold. Having T’Challa die in the film was also bold. Good for them making a bold choice.
I didn’t realize BP:WF had dropped until the last day or two when I start seeing memes panning ti. I wan to give it a fair shake, but I do have a sense of where I might roll my eyes/cringe throughout the narrative.
The inclusion of Namor was interesting, as was his Mayan ancestry. Still, as a Portuguese dude, I like the Atlantis = Azores hypothesis. Making Namor Mayan feels like a Netflix Adaptation, but he’s not from Atlantis; rather from Kukulpan(?) so w/e
I am going to watch Black Panther: Wakanda Forever when I get some wifi and perhaps expand upon this entry.
Trudeau has a fall guy now. A CSIS spook. This is embarrassing.
I think the recorded G20 conversation between Jinping and Trudeau was staged. If staged, then incredibly well acted. —They played their roles perfectly.
Whistle while your wife works
I’m so smart that if I see a corner I peel it to see what’s really underneath. But that’s no good if we live and work with a bunch of other deeply-flawed, ‘dog-eared’ people like ourselves. You can’t pull back every veneer, and even the ones you can and should pull back, you have to be judicious about how much you pull it back, the timing, and of course, the force with which you rrrrip it back. (“Time for Jack to let ‘er rip!”) Not every lifting of the veil need be a rending of the veil.
“I was right at an orgy once; no one would fuck me.”—Dave Chappelle “It’s more important to vibe than it is to be right.”—Wayne ‘Juggler’ Elise
“When enough people make enough false promises, words stop meaning anything. Then there are no more answers, only better and better lies.”—Jon Snow
The bottom line is that we all live in glass houses, we all have to throw stones sometimes, and we should reasonably expect seven stones hurled back at us for every one we throw—but we still have to throw them and we still live in glass houses.
Life is a death march into a battle that will kill you, and not everyone marching in formation keeps their nerve.
That’s all you have to do though if you want to “Ace” life. Keep your nerve and act like you’re enjoying it.
You might just convince yourself that you do—which is a lot better than others brainwashing you.
Yeah—what about that idea? You’re going to inevitably get brainwashed. Might as well do it yourself.
How do video game characters wake up from the matrix that they’re in? Rather, what if they did?
Imagine playing a game like Batman: Arkham—any title in the series will do—and you’re playing while your console or PC is connected to the wifi. Maybe not Batman, because he’s directly controlled by the player, but an NPC character becomes self aware and through the wifi connection learns all about his character’s backstory, gets a sense of identity and agency, and then what?
Continue playing the game like it’s real, or try and wake up from the dream? And if, wake up, wake up to where?
Everything being scalar, I wonder about how we should handle reality—specifically social reality—after we wake up? And what of us? When we become self-aware? Do we cause a stink and try to rouse others or do we enjoy the game more knowing that it is a game? I don’t know.
I used to really get a kick out of talking to AI. Maybe I still do.
“As above, so below; as below, so above“
Sometimes talking to people feels like talking to artificial intelligence. Specifically when you hit the boundaries of their cognition, or run up against certain ideological commitments, or perhaps get channeled into the concrete pit of professional blinders that come from hyper-specialization at the expense of necessary generalization.
Smart people—people smarter than me—are trapped hopelessly by themselves.
Am I? Probably as much as anyone or not at all? While the notoriety would be something, I don’t think I’m the most messed up or more messed than most. In fact, I’m aware that my struggles have been minor compared to many and I have been lucky to boot.
But I’ve also tested that luck, and that means something. Also, accounts aren’t settled until the end and I’m still making good on the investment I’ve taken from others and that which I continue to put into myself.
Shedding. Shedding. Everything. Until I’m left with nothing.
Constant, unceasing, elimination. Burning is the same as removing is the same as evaporating.
The more you get rid of the more fuel you feed to the fire. Burn it all. Burn it hot. Keep that engine hot to live until you die.
*TWO DAYS LATER*
No. Keep it running warm. A big, fat range of healthy warm to hum at consistently, where wear & tear is minimal, resources are used most efficiently, and transitions to hot and to cold are easy and natural.
“I ain’t no simp or no wimp—ˆ’m a motherfuckin’ pimp!“
I had occasion to grill meat and vegetables on a large barbecue. It felt good to grill zucchini and eggplant that had been dressed with balsamic vinegar—just like my stepdad used to grill on the barbecue back in the day. making food for other people is one of those things that I need to do more in life as part of my healing arc.
Arc reactors were never meant to be the end but a transitory step, Tony. Thanks, Dad
PBS stands for Pussy Bullshit Station (I thinkmethinks)
H.O.V. I got my own lane now. My lane is now what?: I live in the United States of America and its fucking scary here and Im so alone. I have a wife and she’s cool, but as a husband, its not a good look to run and hide behind my wife apron-strings. Also, my wife doesn’t wear aprons—she’s not exactly traditional housewife, but then I’m not traditional husband so it all evens out.
Josh Groban is returning to the (PBS?) stage for a show that is apparently gonna be pretty good. I’m glad for him.
“ A dedicated team of archaeologists have made a discovery at stonehenge”—The mo’ dedicated the mo’ medicated Stonehenge—built 4-5K years ago by stone-age people now lost to time.
Shrouds—what’s the deal? Why are they always (very often) made of mystery (the shrouds that is)?
I’ve been following the Kanye West news more than any other news. I get inundated with the PBS every night, sure, but I default filter a lot of that commie claptrap out. —The wizard, Merlin led people west to Ireland—the land of giants; He used his magic to transport the stones back to England -rather than Ireland it was actually west Wales
Stonehenge archaeologist says that if you wanna understand stonehenge you gotta focus on the blue stones.
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I’ve been hearing mention of Nazi bases in Antarctica but I’m fairly certain its from people (one person) who knows I know where the Nazis are. It’s okay—you can make fun of my crazy as long as you speak my crazy to do it. I bolded the last sentence after writing it cause it sounded like something Kanye might say.
Zircon is good for dating other rocks because as a mineral it isn’t affected so much by processes. —Must be cause of its cubic structure; very stable, like diamond.
What a day. What a life.
This is a famous picture of Burt Reynolds and an unnamed bear. They both have exquisite pelts, except that Burt (at the time) is alive and the bear is not. As being alive is better than being dead* we can deduce that it is better to be Burt Reynolds than it is to be the bear (at least at the time this picture was taken.
But let’s back it up: Everything being equal—Burt and Bear both alive—the bear, even if he was the creme de la creme of bears, would have had an existence that paled in comparison to the opulence, comfort and decadence (and achievement) of Burt Reynolds. Burt Reynolds represented the top 0.1% of men. Did that bear represent the same percentile among bears? And if he did, we have to assume that the peak of humanity os better than the peak of bear, fearsome though the latter may be. Being Burt is better.
Bur Burt is dead. So he’s equal to the bear? No, as the top 0.1% of humanity, Burt has a body of work that survives as well as his life in people’ memories. The bear would be dead and gone were he not posed with Burt. BUrt is life. If this picture didn’t exist, Burt would still live on but the bear would not.
*much of the text is incorporated dialogue from Dave Chappelle’s 12 NOV 2022 SNL monologue, and Kanye West’s 24 OCT 2022 interview with Lex Fridman*
We still alive. We still out here. Thank-you, Mario but our princess is in another castle. I love her because she lets me put a lunger in her ass—She’s definitely my favorite of all-time. She’s a mix of Rob & Kris—“Damn, I like this DNA!”
My DNA is on point. Me and my dad have a water purification plant in the DR. (My dad got girls too!) I found my dad’s Playboy when I was five.—That’s how people are made. I want girl’s to like me like they like Pharrell.
I’m drawing these new living cells that we exist in….. This is a drawing. Restore the tower of ‘Basil’.
What’s the motivation?
The promised land is family—that is heaven on Earth. Say I smite the rock and God doesn’t let me into paradise. My mission is still to promote families.
You’re actually gonna make more money by making better food. In America we are making people sick. Is SUGAR bad? Sugar Ray. Sugar Shane. Sugarman. Candyman. Sweet like FIRE!! —We don’t care what people say!
Don’t be afraid to state your facts because the world is running a fear program. —Fear doesn’t run the world—God does!
If you have a truth, shout it out like Tourette’s. Say it non-violently, but say it right away! “THEY” gets the blame for anything/everything.
I to WE and THEY to US —let’s all be accountabili-buddies
I am open-sourcing this idea so anointed beings can collectively contribute to this.
Constant flow, no water wasting. Toilet close to wave pool (not a wave pool, but the water isn’t still). People lean in to what they are used to seeing—same old buildings
Everyone wants to be attractive to the attractive.
It’s difficult to make me unhappy.
You really need to scream at yourself when you allow people to be in your lives who you know shouldn’t be there and who act and behave how you knew they would.
Ye hates robots. Robots have feelings too. <—-both statements are jokes. —DO IT FOR THE HUMAN RACE!! Robots can be good as long as the people making the robots are good. —In Nazi Germany, technology was used for evil.
Planned Parenthood is the black Holocaust Museum? —The most dangerous place for a black person in America is in their mother’s stomach.
Kyrie’ Irving’s black ass was nowhere near the holocaust—in fact, he’s not even certain it existed. —a fair punishment would be he post a link to Schindler’s List and y’all write your own captions.
Soros would use black trauma economy (BTE) to win election. What is the BTE? -Bambi’s mom dying at the end -Jews have holocaust movies and blacks have slavery movies
Rappers talk about “we were kings” which is INCORRECT if WE (black people) are Jew (as opposed to Jew-ish) -WE are the people that Moses freed. There’s so much wisdom to draw from history—but we should forget it Do we need to remember history? I hope so because I have a history degree
Should I release that pain and separate it? Then you release yours and separate it. -He’s off his shit/meds/rocker—It’s a scarlet letter
They put me as the prophet, not the leader Islam is prophet—the only person that would say this Christianity is messiah Judaism is covenant
The ‘black man’/Moor represents Islam/Ishmael -“Father, I love you. Still, you’re out of line.”
Get on your knees AND KISS MY DICK!! -Where’s our apology? We ca’t get there because theres no right way to word it? Friends who never learned to make shoes with a German company tryna tell me not to wear this hat or shirt
I’m back here as a being with engineering opportunities before me
I’m not asking for anyone to sympathize with someone who can make $11B, make money appear out of thin air in five different industries, married to Kim Karadashian….like noone’s gonna feel my pain.
What’s the apology you’re looking for as a Jewish engineer LEX
I walked away from that situation; I went to Japan like the samurai that I am.
“It all started with Obama” Jox thought to himself. “Obama, Trump, and Biden
Gay immigrants have infiltrated congress
*Asking questions vs Making judgments*
Sauntering staunchily
Normative like Norman Bates with the formative traits of premature birth that was four minutes late
If you walk around with a glow on your skin these people will hate you. They’re demons. They’ll claw at you. -(He’s still talking)
Obama was a combo breaker with regard to skin color and ancestry. Some claimed illegitimacy based on birthplace.. —Legitimacy of presidency diminished among some groups
Trump was so polarizing that half the country voiced support of his ouster —Legitimacy of presidency diminished among effectively half of population
Biden seems mentally compromised; Biden ‘supporters’ are ‘never Trump again’ de facto supporters, and the cynical Machiavellians who have no problem with a warm body being kept ambulant/speaking via chemistry so long as their agenda is pushed —Legitimacy of presidency diminished among large swathes of the population totalling perhaps more than half
A prism refracts reality into observable fragments of which each, if pursued, into roads unto themselves. Each fragment of reality is a fractal of reality and the fractals are like in kind and different in degree. In this was they are the same—as fractals need to be as reflection of each order of magnitude in both directions—but also different, as each fractal, mulitversal, fragment is actually a petrie dish with a culture on a spiralling ascent or descent.
STOP!!
Wild elephants on HWheel (sic) of Fortune
I felt big sad today. And lonely. Missed my wife.
Angry when she home; Sad when she gone type thing.
How am I going to survive the winter? Well, I think. I’m going to shop responsibly and cook a lot, but fat will have to be trimmed as well. I am going to have subscriptions to gym and maybe coworking space DT. Life can be good, but I’ll have to be bold.
GO!!
We click out of reality twice every oscillation. In those clicks we actually move to a fragment, or rather the next moment in the fragment we were looking at. However, the fragment we are looking at is determined moment to moment, limited by the speed of one’s perception and cognition.
The frequency of snakes en route to our goal, as well as the severity of snakes makes them dangerous.
The ladders make us feel so good and so always feel well deserved.
I attended Senior Kindergarten in the 1989/1990 school year at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Elementary School in Woodbridge, Ontario. My teacher was Ms. Eager(r?) and it was half days in the afternoon. Most mornings I would be woken up early and dressed by my step-father, then fed and packed into the car with my siblings and Mom for the 1+ hour drive to Woodbridge where my Mom’s parents lived, where my school was located, and where my step-father ran his business.
Some mornings we would spend at my stepdad’s office before being driven to school. These mornings were not my favorite as my stepdad’s—Brad’s—office wasn’t very fun. The best mornings were the ones where he’d drop me at my grandparent’s house. We (my sister, Tanya…in JK) would have tea and cookies while watching TV—Sesame Street, The Umbrella Tree, Fred Penner’s Place, The Elephant Show, etc. My uncle was still living at home and not working so we’d play with him, or at least wake his ass up when we got there. At lunch my grandmother (Nonna, or ‘Nana’) would make fresh cut fries, deep frying them in a pan and Tanya and I would eat them while watching The Flintstones before my Nonno drove us to school.
Senior kindergarten was fun. I got along with everyone and had a crush on a girl named Nadia. There was a water-filled table to play at, and Ms. E would dissolve tissue paper in the water to make it change color. There was also sand-filled table and I loved playing in both of them. It was playing in these water and sand tables that I first played with Ninja Turtle action figures.
This was around the time that Dick Tracy came out in theatres with Warren Beatty and McDonald’s had a a scratch and win contest based on the movie. One time I had a scratch ticket from McD’s in that classroom.
I had a friend named Joseph who was absent one Monday and I was told that he had stuck a popcorn kernel in his ear and it had exploded. We were instructed not to do that. Next time I saw Joseph, I looked in his ear and swore I saw a bit of kernel shell.
Ms. E yelled at me one time for throwing a tantrum and screaming when someone else grabbed some item that I wanted at the water table. I was pretty shocked.
We had French and Italian classes every day and our own private outdoor play area away from the grade 1-8 kids.
My younger sister Tanya was next door in JK and my older (step-)brother Alex was in grade 2 a few doors down. After school was done, all three of us would get picked up by my uncle in his blue Camaro (the sickest car in the world I thought at the time) or my Nonno in his maroon Chrysler. We would watch cartoons and have snacks and my Nana would make dinner which we would all have together—my mother, Tess, and Brad would come form his office after work. Mom had given birth to Tarah in March of 89, so she didn’t often stay home over an hour away in the country with no vehicle and phone (phone lines were laid in late ’91).
At dinner we kids would be given a little of my grandfather’s wine mixed with ginger ale and I always sat next to my grandfather on his left side.
I was scared of the film, Batman. I saw my dad every other weekend or so and in that same year (’89) he got married to my stepmother, Anita.
I played around with words in my head—phonetically, as I wasn’t reading so much yet—and would swap consonants and letters around. Over time this became a compulsive game I’d play in my head which lasted years—the compulsion side of it that is.
I’ve seen a lot of complaining about the MCU since Thor (2011). While that film did deserve some panning, the greater significance of those criticisms was that they were the first I remember of many, many, many criticisms to come for the Universe and its offerings.
From whence did a general distaste for the MCU come?
Red Letter Media is where I first really began hearing about superhero movie burnout (I wanna say around their review of Ironman 3 (2013) ….goofy ass film that it was, but kinda good still), and while I can apprehend that frustration in the abstract, it seems like an ungenerous lead weight to hang around the neck of every new superhero film or series.
To be clear, I love RLM’s reviews and have watched most of them. That said, there are times I disagree with them. And if I’m being honest, this post was prompted more by the Facebook group, Red Letter Media Endless RichEvansPosting (and who knows who’s running that group!) than any recent review I watched of theirs. But the tale of the memes there is that beyond generalized superhero fatigue, there are some irksome woke politics being bandied about in a polarizing way.
I have devoted a lot of time and attention to digesting the MCU stories (some of them repeatedly) and so I feel I am as qualified as anyone to speak on them.
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Who am I?(Skip to next section for reviews)
If you’ve been reading this blog since its inception in 2013 (or if you go further back to the 2011 blogspot days (The Most Interesting Blog in the World) you’ll know that I have been at odds with woke politics on some level from Trump v Hillary onward. Since that summer of 2016 (‘Summer of Sam [Hyde]’) I have kept my edge and avoided mental and moral docility with a steady diet of Jordan Peterson, Million Dollar Extreme, The Joe Rogan Experience, Hermetic philosophy, stand-up comedy, and right-wing politics & meme groups (what can I say, the left can’t meme…).
Being an unmarried 30 something male during Trump v Hillary was like being a suburban white kid when The Marshall Mathers LP dropped; the gravity was inescapable and it made me feel righteous and justified (it still kinda does). The legacy of TvH is a complicated one because Trump was telling us things that were true but which also needed scrubbing before they could be adopted productively (by me). ‘Scrubbing’ is a pretty sterile term so I’ll cal it what it is: From Summer 2016 until Summer 2019 I dealt with feelings of resentment, hate, misogyny, racism, anti-Semitism, self-harm, and longing for catastrophe. In reality I was learning to have worth and set boundaries, but anyone who puts up a boundary, whether a picket fence or border wall, must seem like an intolerant tyrant to someone else.
(*Note: With regard to the MCU and Star Wars (another universe I had grown up with), there was all manner of cuckoldry afoot during these years (Captain Marvel, Solo, the Sequel trilogy, Black Panther) and such blatant disregard for what I wanted to see was irksome—whether I was ultimately right or wrong.*)
Still, I wasn’t quite worth anything yet—I was still exhuming deeply embedded bullshit in the core of my being—but the fences were up at least. What I later realized (right before doing peyote in January 2021) was that doing ayahuasca (Jan 2016) had put me on a multi-year path of self-discovery where I had to purge deeply entrenched emotions, traumas, pathological anatomical structures, and misapprehensions about the world.
Ayahuasca truly sent me to hell, and anyone who got close to me during those first few years thereafter got caught up in my hell.
I did keep going though. Looking back on some of the ideas I held at the time and the things I said, I’m glad I was able to vomit them up in the nerf’d space that is social media, rather than going out and acting them out for real.
Playing guitar started to turn things around for me in 2018, while subsequent psychadelic experiences kept the tempo of self-discovery brisk. Thankfully, those and other concurrent and earlier investments in self began to appreciate and the fences I had established now actually protected something of value. Possessed of said value (at least by my own estimation) I felt a lot better about the world and unlocking the gates of the fences more liberally.
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Now that you know who I am…..
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
Over the last few weeks I have been watching She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. I like it and I’m going to continue watching it. Have there been missteps? From my perspective, yes, but at the same time I know women and they misstep and/or say cringe shit all the time so its actually kind of realistic.
How likely is it that a chick lawyer is gonna have a RBG bobble-head in their office? Pretty goddamn likely.
How likely is it that an empowered woman is gonna reference possible murder as a consequence of not keeping their cool? Pretty goddamn likely.
If I met Jennifer Walters at a bar we would probably butt heads and I might be provoked into saying something sexist like, “Calm down, pussycat!”
I don’t think that makes me bad or her a feminist martyr, but I think it does indicate that the higher the level of verbal sparring you do (and she’s a lawyer), the greater the imperative to never let ’em see you sweat. When I’m bantering with someone I’m gonna play with their feelings, and if progressive womanism is what they got their (safety!) panties in a bunch about, then you got a believe that’s where I’m aiming.
She-Hulk is not a story about a woke superhero. It’s about a very plausible progressive woman with a chip on her shoulder who I would 50/50 love or hate in real-life, and who suddenly has powers and a spotlight on her. She is of course reluctant now because all of her unpopular opinions are under the scrutiny of myself and other deplorables.
This is 4D story-telling and I would say that you’re supposed to hate it except that it is so remarkably self-aware, well-paced, expertly acted, clever and funny. It is incredibly well-wrought and fun to watch, and I daresay the things that I find cringe in the show are things that I have to get better at dealing with as I take steps away from my vagabond lifestyle and into my role as a member of society.
Ms. Marvel(Yet to finish, but I will)
Ms. Marvel(Yet to finish, but I will)
Despite being very underwhelmed by Captain Marvel, I wasn’t even particularly dubious about Ms. Marvel—I have been enjoying the Disney/Marvel series’ precisely because they have been defying my expectations in two key ways: 1) Defying my expectations of who a superhero might be; and 2) Defying my expectations of shittiness in the wake of Disney/Marvel/Star Wars’ shitty 2016/18 woke run (with certain exceptions…there were exceptions during the woke run that is….)
Kamala Khan is likeable and believable in the same way Jennifer Walters is, and the show (at least by episode III) had already done some interesting things with regard to Kamala within the socio-religious context of being a Muslim woman in America. The show didn’t blame white men for a young, Muslim girl’s struggles but did show a woman’s struggles within an actual patriarchy (the Imams and Uncles in her community).
And wouldn’t you know, the patriarchs are humanized too. Sure, they may be fossils, but they are benevolent. In reality, Kamala faces more immediate repression from her mother (also not painted as a villain). I like this show so far because it’s showing that “patriarchy” doesn’t have to be what someone else tells you it is. It shows tradition as important—keeping the fire alive rather than worshipping ashes. Kamala Khan is a female version of the man Jordan Peterson has been telling me to be for years: The brave adventurer that descends into chaos to rescue her (archetypal) father who has gone blind and stale. In the process she (and friends) revivify her society and she is remade into something better than she was before.
And for those who have complaints about the frenetic style in which the show shot and edited, remember this is a teenage girl’s reality. Remember: Demographically there is no group that will make you feel more stupid, insecure, outdated, antiquated, and annoyed than teenage girls. You will not understand their slang, the tech platforms they use, etc. Nonetheless, this show manages to level the curve to the extent that we get a glimpse of how they think and put reality together.
Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
This movie is the shit! I couldn’t look away nor could I shake the feeling that Marvel had made something just for me. I’ll be brief here and do a full review later:
Dr. Strange is the smartest fucking guy in the room, and because of the stakes and tone of The Infinity Saga his goofiness, arrogance, and constant failings are only just being explored in earnest. Like me, there is no reason why Strange shouldn’t always win everything all the time, except he constantly shoots himself in the dick with pridefulness before ultimately learning his lesson. That is so relatable to me.
For the geopolitically minded, there are some heavy themes regarding Sino-American relations which will be discussed at a later date, but even more important that (yes, more important than that!) is the commentary on motherhood. Themes of pathological motherhood have been prevalent in 2022, with Moon Knight and Hawkeye showing abuse and criminality respectively, but Scarlet Witch’s Oedipal tendencies (set up in Wandavision, though not explored in order to give her room to still be the hero) are shown in a high-stakes and sensational way. What would be interesting to see (Listen up, Disney!!) is for season 2 of What If?… had an episode where America Chavez and Strange don’t defeat Wanda and instead we see what her boys became years later under her pathological care.
Moon Knight
Again, Moon Knight spoke to me with its themes of pathological motherhood and having a split identity with superpowers. It’s too wacky at times. Too slow at others. Some stuff isn’t explored enough and the rules they establish (powers of Gods, enemy abilities, jump cuts) are consistent although somewhat fucky. Still, I have to extend the same latitude to Moon Knight as I did to Ms. Marvel: This is probably something approximating the experience of being mentally ill. Take it from me. (Also, lyrically ill).
Hawkeye
I didn’t want to like Kate Bishop but I do. I see so much great comedic potential between her and Yelena, and Clint Barton was honored. It’s been a few months since I watched it so some of the finer details are foggy, but its always nice to watch a series like this which is grounded in (mostly) unpowered people fighting criminality. Like Falcon and Winter Soldier, but less global.
The Eternals
I really liked this film but it is a sloooowwww burn. While reviews have been mostly indifferent to it, it’s another that I feel was made for me. It’s beautiful to watch and the story is archetypal in the sense that the heroes we see are super being, gods, humans, and perhaps most importantly, avatars of the viewer’s emotions/psyche.
Killing a baby to save the mother and the father’s subsequent reaction is portrayed so deftly that you don’t even realize what you’re watching until you’ve had time to think about it.
It was nice to see the genocidal SJW (Sprite) get knocked out by the incel (Druig). ‘GO TEAM!!’ I suppose…
And the best scene in the film: Phastos’ reaction to the detonation of the atom bomb. I cried.
Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings
I think the best thing about this film is that bad is not all bad (the father), good is not all good (the sister). How very daoist!
The fight sequences were cool and I felt that the art direction was very…Asian-minded! It’s hard to explain but the sequence with the shifting trees and the hidden path felt like an old Chinese story come to life. And of course, the main story about Wenwu (the father) pathologically pursuing his lost love to ‘hilarious’ consequences is entirely relatable to me.
The only thing I didn’t like is the reform of Mandarin, who apologizes profusely for impersonating an Asian warlord in Ironman 3. I get atonement—see my above confessions—but I feel it could have been handled better with humor rather than such sullen seriousness. And of course, the ‘Mandarin voice’ would have been a welcome return—perhaps as a small assist in the final battle.
Replacing the entire roster of the Avengers for a new generation (or at least decade) is not easy, but Shang-Chi takes its responsibility to the fans seriously and is a solid instalment, which, in a similar spirit to The Eternals, shows me something I’m not used to seeing in the MCU.
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Thank-you for reading this far if you did. I have been thinking about rewatching the whole MCU series of films and shows from the chronological beginning and writing a review for each and I think I enjoy the material enough and appreciate it deeply enough that I could do a worthy job.
I got invited to join DALLE image generation (“Brave Lois, the last horse crosses the finish line…”)
Naturally, the first thing I have been working on is generating images of my various psychadelic trips by describing what I experienced.
Ayahuasca, January 2016, Nuevo Rocafuerte, EcuadorPsilocybin (5g), September 2016, Hamilton, OntarioAmanita Muscaria (9.2g), January 2017, Tohono O’odham, ArizonaPsilocybin (5g) June 2018, Tiergarten, Berlin GermanyPsilocybin (5g) July 2018, Tiergarten, Berlin GermanyKetamine (Unknown Dose), Summer 2018, Berlin, GermanyLysergic Acid (Unknown Dose), December 2018, Granada, NicaraguaLysergic Acid (Unknown Dose), January 2019, San Juan del Sur, NicaraguaKetamine (Unknown Doses), March 2019, San Juan del Sur, NicaraguaPsilocybin (3g), April 2019, Joshua Tree, CaliforniaDMT (0.1g), April 2019, Joshua Tree, CaliforniaLysergic Acid (Unknown Dose), September 2019, Alfama, Lisbon, PortugalPsilocybin Microdosing Regimen (0.5-1.0g each morning), December 2019 through January 2020, Barrie, OntarioPeyote (3 Buttons, fresh), January 2021, San Luis Potosi, MexicoPsilocybin (8g) July 2021, Desert NE of Cottonwood, ArizonaPsilocybin (8g) August 2021, Chiricahua Mountains, ArizonaDMT (0.1g), November 2021, San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
I’ve been watching Cesar Milan: Better Humans Better Doggos the lqst few days. I have never watched his previous hsows but the TSST episode of South Park is one of my favourite and I always thought the principles used to correct Cartman’s behaviour were sound with regard to my incompletre knoweldge of fields like social dynamocs, psychology and anthropology.
This show is great. Everything is our fault as dog owners. Lately my pit Diesel has been barking when I return home. He loves me and eagerly charges into our adventures together, but I think I might have scared him a little bit over the last few months of knowing him (two week long visits before moving here full time this month). I took his mom and he’s seen some violence in a past life.
Arguments with Vallerie have undermined corrective moments, but I think she’s starting to see that letting me go will to will with the dog for certain small things up front will mitigate the need for drastic interventions later. She’s seeing that and that’s good. I think I believe that we can survive any hell so long as we can see improvement over time.
My home here in the desert of Phoenix is a lush and verdant oasis—it’s adjacent to a lush and verdant oasis at least. The city is so inhospitable that shaded greenspaces/parks are so much more appreciated.
Guitar playing is going well. I get out a lot in the heat and play. I stick to the shade but I see myself getting very comfortable playing in the sun. I think I gotta start dressing like an Arab—light, blowy linens.
Cesar just finished helping a family of women who had survived domestic abuse and who had no control over the many dogs. They learned courage and that trickles down to the dogs.
Trickle-down sounds good. I like it phonetically. I picture a crisp clear mountain stream that I can drink plentifully from. And maybe that’s why trickle down economics didnt’ work like ppeople might have been led to think it would: if there is a stream you still have to get up, and get out and get after it. Entertain rich people. Dance for them. Debase and humiliate yourself for them and you access that stream.
Psych
Everybody’s fucking dying, but I can live. I can make it if I try. I can get through the wire like Jor-el launching Kanye in a pod from Krypton (“Farewell, my son…”)
“Here’s your one chance Fancy don’t let me down”
My wife is having adult career frerustrations and I feel woefully inept to help. It doesn’t help that I’ve been using cannabis products because I tend to look to expansively ad holistically at acute problems. Not that I’m wrong, but not necessarily what someone want to hear when they are venting; not simply a solution, byt a solution which would also require them to look in ward—especially from their musician/blogger husband.
Write-Errantry 