Stay Safe

Stay safe, Maxine Waters. Stay safe, Parkland teens. Stay safe, journalists. Stay safe, all you beautiful protesters this week. Stay safe, lawyers and judges trying to help the immigrant kids. Stay safe, everyone in Puerto Rico. Stay strong and keep fighting injustice. Activists make me feel better than any old "thoughts and prayers."

Waiting

Meanwhile, I did hear that NBC officially cancelled Timeless, though it got swamped by other news. I think they are still hoping to get a 2-hour wrap-up movie somewhere. I don't know if it's likely at this point, but good luck.

Netflix is showing that new episodes of Arrested Development are coming soon. Maybe they'll appear on July 2nd, where the 1st half left off. It better fix the damn cliffhanger and solve the Lucille Austero disappearance, because this mystery doesn't need to be dragged out any further. Also, they never answered who sabotaged Gob's wedding illusion with the mud hut. I hope they don't answer it with a stupid last-minute retcon. So much stuff about season 5 was terrible and haphazard, like they just threw random stuff at the wall. Are you FUCKING making up the story as you go? You had no thought out plan ahead of time after all these damn years? Bastards.

I saw the Incredibles sequel this weekend, and it was okay. Funny at times but also slow at others. I mostly just wanted to see the short Bao that people had been talking about. That was fine, but I guess I'm not moved that much by Pixar anymore. I wasn't excited for the Lego Movie 2 trailer either. The only recent movie that I haven't felt meh about was that Netflix Set it Up romcom.

I really want to see Crazy Rich Asians, and everything else looks boring lately. I'm also waiting impatiently for the Miss Fisher movie to finish and get a release date for America.

Supreme Court

With Kennedy retiring, and the prospect of a new Trump nominee, things are looking very dire. He really screwed us. I couldn't even process the shock at first and just needed to get away from the internet for a while. Democrats can't filibuster anymore so we have to somehow get some Republicans to vote against confirming a new justice; if they're anything like our Texas senators, than that's going to be a lost cause.

And yet, I have to believe that we can somehow fight on, with public protests and voting in the midterms so we can at least reclaim Congress. Otherwise you're only left with futility and paralysis. Or lots of people vowing to move to Canada, but that leaves behind everyone who can't go and need help. Gotta find a path through Mueller or someone else that can bring an end to this destruction. Just hope it's not actual war with North Korea.

Court Orders

The Supreme Court also upheld the travel ban and made other bad rulings lately. Hopefully, since they've now recessed until October, the damage is over for now. A federal judge in San Diego has ruled that the separated children get reunited with their parents, with 14-day and 30-day deadlines. I hope the protests planned this weekend will keep the pressure on.

Meanwhile, I heard that Terry Crews testified to Congress about sexual harassment. I'm glad he's still speaking up even though the police declined to prosecute his case due to statute of limitations. He's a great guy, even willing to talk about his faults and his past behavior that he regrets.

There were a lot of primary elections last night, some surprises but no big trend that I saw. Some progressive newcomers, some establishment candidates won. I'm trying to stay hopeful, but now there's going to be a summit in Russia. Of course.

Despair

Fuck the Supreme Court for overturning the ruling on Texas redistricting. This case has been in court for years, through multiple elections, and Texas kept losing. But we never got to enjoy one fair election map. And now it's all ruined, and the precedent will probably be bad for other redistricting cases. How can we turn Texas blue when we can't get any fair maps? Fuck them!

Fuck Congress for holding that Supreme Court seat open Trump. Fuck the voters who didn't think this mattered. Fuck people arguing about how we need to be "civil" when our fucking rights are being taken away, and we're on the verge of internment camps. They're complicit in monstrous policies, and we're supposed to tiptoe around their feelings? Fuck the media for trying to tone-police genuine outrage.

Hope the righteous fury can maintain through the June 30th marches. I have to work that weekend, but I hope the protests force some other concession from Trump. He's already trashed immigration bills again.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

I saw the Mr. Rogers documentary and learned some things I didn't know about him, like his 143 quirk, where he thought he needed to maintain that weight because the phrase "I love you" is made up of 1,4,and 3 letters. It was nice to see some clips of him with Koko too, and to see his family members being interviewed. I was rather surprised by the topics that his show covered in the early weeks, about war, walls, and assassination. It was 1968, but he didn't choose to avoid those topics of conversation for kids. He wanted to provide guidance and reassurance to kids who were afraid. Also, I didn't know that Rogers stopped the Neighborhood show for a while to try a show for adults. I'm glad he came back.

I also learned about Francois Clemmons being gay, but Fred Rogers told him he could not come out, and he got married to stay in the closet. Still, they remained friends and continued to work together; Francois said he still felt loved, and that Fred was like a surrogate father to him. I mean, I get it, this was decades ago, when people still thought gay people were scandalous and couldn't be on a children's show. There were sponsors to think about, and PBS at risk. It's like how Rogers was a lifelong Republican; back then being Christian and Republican didn't mean you had to be a rightwing looney. (In fact the documentary mentions some 1990s backlash accusing Rogers of making children feel entitled and overly special.) He felt very deeply about his philosophy about children needing their emotions to be taken seriously. I'm glad too that Rogers washed his feet in the pool with Clemmons to make a point about civil rights in the era of segregated pools. It's sad to hear that he was very disheartened about 9/11 and almost thought his doing a PSA about it was pointless. But I do appreciate that even though Rogers was a minister, he never tried to preach to children about religion; he knew his message would be more universal if he didn't approach kids as a minister and try to convert them. I appreciate that, because America has many religions and some agnostics and athiests.

I hear that Tom Hanks is going to play Rogers in a movie. I wonder if it will be any good or if they will sanitize his life too much.

Upheavals

I'm sad to hear that Koko the gorilla died. I remember the story of her kitten All Ball. The world is so tragic these days that I'm looking for that new Mr. Rogers documentary so I can have a little hope and kindness.

I read that Netanyahu's wife got charged for misusing public funds. I thought this might be related to the corruption case against Netanyahu himself, but apparently not. I do hope he gets arrested and ousted. Shame on him for supporting Trump's policies, like moving the embassy and nixing the Iran nuclear deal. Trump kept saying it was a bad deal, but he made a worse one with North Korea.

Anyway, there have been some thunderstorms lately, but now it looks like the oppressive summer heat is here. I tried out a new recipe for lasagna and it turned out pretty good. Might try to add mushrooms or spinach next time.

I don't know if I was just tired when I watched the Supergirl finale, but I didn't understand how they killed Reign for good. Supergirl traveled back in time to prevent her friends dying, right? Then they grabbed the black rock and got transported to the "Dark Valley"? Then somehow Sam got Reign to drink water and get snuffed out by dark shadow ghosts? Then only Sam and Supergirl returned from the Dark Valley? I don't get it, and I don't know how Supergirl knew that would happen. She kept saying "there is one place that can trap her", but that's not true, is it? The Dark Valley didn't trap her for good. She got out and she's more powerful now than when Lena kept her on ice with kryptonite. It makes no sense, but fine, handwave it away. Bye, Sam and Ruby. Your story took forever. Bye, Dark Witches and Alura. Bye Legion of Superheroes and Winn. Apparently the actor asked to be written out for new career opportunities, but will come back as recurring. I don't really care about Brainy, but the allusions to Brainiac are perhaps foreshadowing. I don't understand what's happening with J'onn now and James coming out as Guardian. I hope next season will be better with less disjointed stories.

The World is Watching

So Trump signed an executive order to stop the family separation (never mind that he started all this without an executive order) and now it means that families will be detained together indefinitely. There will be a lawsuit about it, and it's not clear that this will do anything to reunite the people that have already been separated. But still, he finally gave in to the furor and the protests. He realized that his space force distraction wasn't going to cut it. Maybe Nielson caved first, after being shamed in a Mexican restaurant. Maybe this administration can be shamed after all?

We'll see. I'm glad that Beto O'Rourke did that Father's Day march to Tornillo, TX, and I gave him a donation for his campaign. I'm mostly trying to fund Texas Democrats because I can't afford to give to all the national campaigns. I hope it makes a difference. I think that the protests planned for June 30th will still go ahead, and I hope there will be enough public pressure that an immigration bill can get passed. Maybe they can even fix DACA?

The US has withdrawn from the UN Human Rights Council, I heard. Well, we certainly don't uphold human rights these days, and deserve to be censured by the international community.

Ramblings

The world is garbage, so you have to take your unexpected pleasures where you can find them. I've been watching reruns of The Hogan Family, and I came across an episode where David (Jason Bateman) tries both ventriloquism and magic! It's not the main plot; the A plot is about his twin brothers in a Cyrano situation, but David's story is fun.

In season 5's "The Go-Between", David volunteers to perform at a charity event for the homeless. He first tries a ventriloquist act with a redhead puppet named Clifford, but David's lips always move when Clifford speaks and his jokes are corny. (Shades of Gob!) Then David tries a magic act, wearing a cape and brandishing a sword. He calls himself Hoganini the Magnificent, puts on a top hat, and does his own music/sound effects. He even mentions the magician Doug Henning. (Shades of Tony Wonder!) So David tries to practice a trick where his aunt Sandy lies in a box while he stabs it with swords. He doesn't get very far until he breaks the key in the lock, and she gets stuck in the box when she has an important work meeting. A locksmith eventually gets her out, and later, David tries to do a card trick for the charity event, but he's bad at that too. (Shades of Gob again!) It's so cute, and I kind of want to screencap it, but I think I don't have the right software, and I don't remember my photobucket details if I even wanted to sign up for their new paid accounts.

Speaking of The Hogan Family, Jason Bateman lived through the upheaval with Valerie Harper getting fired, and he always had to speak diplomatically about it. But in his most recent Deadline interview, Bateman says he still has fond memories of the show. I've noticed that his old buddy Steve Witting (Burt Weems) has popped up in a lot of Bateman's movies and TV shows over the years, including AD, so Jason is obviously still friends with the guy. Though Valerie getting fired was an ugly incident, I still like the show overall because there are some genuinely great episodes after Valerie leaves. Also Mrs. Poole started out as just a wacky neighbor but she really blossoms into a goddamn delight, even getting flirty dialogue from men who genuinely find her attractive; she's not somebody's punchline.

As for Will Arnett, I didn't know or remember that in one episode of Up All Night, his character sings "Total Eclipse of the Heart" to his wife, played by Christina Applegate. I don't remember the context now, but I saw a video clip of it and was surprised. I love that song, but I do wonder why people don't get the slightly sinister nature of the lyrics. Jim Steinman called it a vampire love song, and the music video is very Gothic. It's why I used it as Gob's love ballad to Michael in "Dirty Little Secret", something desperate and needy about "making things right" and "your love is like a shadow on me all of the time." Well anyway, now I know what Will sounds like singing it. Love his voice.

Boo

So Netflix is picking up Lucifer. I won't be watching. They squandered all their good will to waste an entire season on love triangles and Cain's fucked up, go nowhere plot. Fine, if those other viewers want to keep watching the show, keep trusting those shitawful writers with another season, let them. But me, I'm checking out like I did when Sherlock turned to crap and Castle turned to crap and Person of Interest turned to crap.

Meanwhile, ABC is still trying to do that Roseanne revival without her on the show. Such hypocrites, saying they canceled the show on principle, but they still want the rest of the Conners back, even though it means that somebody has to buy out Barr's rights and give her another payment. Fuck you. Trying to pull a Hogan Family maneuver. (Or for a more recent example, Charlie Sheen getting replaced on Two and a Half Men.) You can't just let the show die. I know, they're pretending that they're trying to save jobs, but if you just released the cast and crew, they could join other shows, perhaps something else that you pick up to replace Roseanne. But no, you want to cling to the toxic brand. Fuck you for learning nothing.

Anyway, Supergirl has been kind of all over the place lately, and with Alex using Kryptonite bullets on the Daughters of Juru, I ask, what the hell is Kara's problem about Lena having and making kryptonite? I mean, why did we have to go through that whole mistrust crisis, and Kara lecturing people that everybody should destroy their kryptonite? She seriously thinks they should be defenseless should any other Kryptonian villains show up? I don't get why the writers had to ruin the friendship over this. Plus there's news about next season, with Brainy returning and Winn being recurring. Wow, so much shakeup. I don't know where the show is going anymore. The Reign plot took so long to build and I still don't get what was the point of reviving Kara's mother and company. I'm not totally hating everything, but I'm disappointed at how meandering and haphazard everything is.

Worse the 2nd time

I rewatched season 5 trying to understand the timeline. They keep saying that it's been two months since Cinco de Cuarto, but 2 months is technically July 4th, and episode 8 ends on July 2nd, so already it's patently WRONG. And they keep referring back to Lucille calling everybody back two weeks ago, then Lindsay quitting 1 week ago, so surely all that stuff should have taken place in June, NOT two months after May 4th. Why the fuck couldn't they just put dates on the episodes? Or if they redid the timeline in the editing room, and were going to do ADR anyway, why couldn't they have fixed the dialogue to say "1 month ago" instead of the freaking impossible "two months"? So sloppy.

My rewatch made me hate the first 4 episodes even more. I don't understand why Mitch had to double down on the WORST parts of season 4, the Rebel Alley love triangle and the awful conversations between Michael and GM where they tell escalating lies to each other. I mean, I zoned out of their "God laughs" conversation by the elevator as BORING and NONSENSICAL, and the only thing that snapped me out was the sudden hallway fight. Why did we have to suffer through the CRAP to get the good part? Why couldn't the crap be reduced to half, at least? And they doubled-down on Tobias as the jerk from hell, imposing his acting dream on somebody else. I already had enough of him destroying Debrie in season 4. What makes you think I want to see it again, on some bastard son that appeared out of nowhere? If he's going to be a jerk, at least let me see his comeuppance. Let Tobias go back to fucking jail for being a sex offender. He should have been fired for what he did to Debrie. Isn't Argyle there to fire him?

History repeating

I watched the recent PBS show about the Chinese Exclusion Act, and it's really chilling how long that law was in place. It wasn't just a ban on immigration; it also said that Chinese people already here could never become citizens, denying them the right to vote. The show talked about many fascinating things like "paper sons" invented after the San Francisco earthquake destroyed all the records about which immigrants were born here. America only started to repeal the law when it looked bad during WWII after Japan invaded China, and we called China our ally. (Of course that in turn led to Japanese internment camps and racism against Japanese Americans as potential enemy spies.) It's so fucked up, how America will turn on immigrants, making them constantly prove their right to be here. The Supreme Court ruling in US vs Wong Kim Ark finally established that everyone born in America is a citizen by birth, yet the Exclusion Act still continued, favoring immigrants from white European backgrounds.

But nowadays we have Trump trying to ban immigration based purely on nationality, and ICE deporting people, and splitting up families at the border, trying so hard to kick out the people they consider undesirable. It's so disgusting and scary. What would my family have done if the US didn't accept refugees from Vietnam? Why are we shutting out refugees now and equating them with terrorists, as if they haven't been vetted thoroughly?

Now Trump is petulantly complaining about the G7 and attacking Canada. And he thinks he's going to somehow "win" the summit with North Korea when he's done diddly squat to prepare for negotiations? What an awful world this is.

Retcons

Goddammit, I rewatched the 4th episode with the old beach cottage, and I've just realized something. They retconned Tracey's death, and that's why they said that GM had no mother figure before Lucille. They've moved Tracey's death to years earlier. Goddamnit!

In season 1, set in 2003, the Narrator used to tell us that Tracey died two years ago, i.e. 2001. We also get a brief glimpse of a wedding video from 1989, with Gob setting Tracey's hair on fire. Therefore, the marriage lasted 12 years, and GM grew up with a mother for the first dozen years of his life.

SPOILERS

Fucking Hollywood

Anyway, still no word about Timeless being cancelled. Are they still negotiating with NBC or shopping it around? Also, after Roseanne got cancelled, there were all these rumors and suggestions that some other show would get picked up and get that slot. But now the current gossip is that they're trying to do a spinoff about Darlene instead. Why won't they let that show go? Pick up some other pilot or whatever. Stop giving money to Roseanne Barr, who as far as I know still owns the characters she created.

There was uproar about Sam Bee's comment about Ivanka Trump, and the right wants her gone in revenge for Roseanne's cancellation. I guess I should be glad they didn't get Michelle Wolf's Netflix show cancelled, though I haven't seen it yet. What I wish, though, is that the media firestorm wouldn't keep blotting out all other news.

And I can't believe that Trump is on a pardoning-spree lately. I thought he'd just do the Jack Johnson thing because Stallone asked him, but no, that's not enough for him. Just makes no sense, and he's still got to do the Korea summit soon! Unless he cancels it again before then. Sigh.

Bateman as Jimmy Stewart

Bateman is one of six guys in a "roundtable" interview in the Hollywood Reporter. The interview was done back in April, and it focuses on dramas, so no mention of Arrested Development. The online article includes video clips. It's okay, though I don't really care about Ozark.

Bateman responds to a question about pay equity, saying that the industry nowadays is a "fertile ground for parity" and there's less excuse now for the idiots who kept saying the men draw more audience. That's fine, but then the other guys say that all actors are discouraged from discussing salary. It's not just actors, people! Every industry tells its employees not to share salary info with colleagues! That's how we wind up with cases where women don't find out until years later that they were paid less than men doing the same work! In Hollywood, though, there are agents negotiating salaries for actors, which was why it was so egregious when Michelle Williams's agent didn't let her know that she was paid so much less than Wahlberg for those All the Money in the World reshoots. If an actress can't even trust her agent to get her fair pay, then what the hell hope does anyone have?

I say, start discussing your salaries in Hollywood. Don't fucking listen to agents saying, "trust me", and use your star power to help others get fair pay, like when Jessica Chastain helped Octavia Spencer. Do something about it, and be an example to all the other industries that aren't fighting the wage gap.

But back to the HR article. Later, Bateman also claims to want to play a woman in a Tootsie-like role, but says that he's overall satisfied with his niche as the everyman. Darren Criss is surprised, mentioning a friend of his saying, "Oh, Jason Bateman, he's just the ultimate Jimmy Stewart straight man. He's the 21st century straight man and he does it so well and with such variance but he's always in that lane." Darren Criss thinks it's cool that Bateman is self aware and likes being in that lane.

I do wonder, though. Bateman says he wants to be the relatable everyman, and yet I find that he's constantly playing jerks in movies and shows, which is why I don't watch everything he does. I do wish he would do more nice guys, not jerks. Then I could see more stuff like Game Night. ETA: I mean, I don't mind sly rascals like Nick from Zootopia, but I'm tired of entitled jerks with no redeeming qualities. Really, what I want to see is him and Will Arnett do a movie together. Why do they never do that?