So in the most recent Israeli elections, Netanyahu's party came to power again. I kept hoping that his coalition would fall apart and he wouldn't be prime minister again, but no such luck. I just don't understand why they didn't try him on corruption charges while he was out of power. Now he's sworn in and the government is going to be so far right.
I guess it's like how in Texas, the AG has been indicted for years, with no action taken. He and Abbott got reelected again. It's so disheartening.
In preparation to cancelling Netflix again, I checked for any other shows/movies I wanted to see, and I discovered the Canadian movie Indian Horse, based on a novel. At first it seems like it's going to be a hockey movie, about an indigenous player becoming a sports hero like Jim Thorpe or Duke Kahanamoku, but it's really a drama about the horrific boarding schools traumatizing Native kids, generation after generation, until the 1990s. (And this didn't just happen in Canada. It happened in the United States and in Australia; white society sought to assimilate indigenous people by destroying their native culture and converting them to Christianity.) Saul's family reflects this divide. His grandmother remembers ancestral lands and traditions, but his parents who went to boarding schools have forgotten old ways. Even though Saul's older brother died due to illness at the school, the parents still want to return to a priest to have him blessed; as if the Christian god did any good to that boy in life.
Saul ends up alone and is also sent to a Catholic boarding school to be indoctrinated. He witnesses other kids suffering the cruelty of the nuns and priests. It's kind of senseless how they punish the kids for such minor things, regarding it as a sin to speak Ojibwe, and repeatedly locking a little girl in cage in the basement, like an animal. A new priest Father Gaston arrives and seems reform-minded and less strict. He acts nice and sets up a hockey rink to let the boys play on a team. He seems supportive to Saul, but he still looks the other way as children continue to be severely traumatized in sadistic ways. Two girls even kill themselves out of despair. Saul uses hockey as an escape from this misery, and his talent helps him leave the boarding school as a teen to join a team called the Moose.
Saul does well with his foster family, but his team faces racist taunts and brutal violence from the white teams they play. Eventually Saul is scouted to join a white team, as a step toward playing on a professional NHL team. The racism is even worse there, also coming from insensitive fans who do mock war chants and throw Indian toys at him. Becoming a sports star is not worth this shit, so he quits and descends into alcoholism. The movie is really about Saul needing to deal with the deep trauma he has suppressed and ignored for years. It's about trying to find peace and family to help you heal.
There's a new teaser trailer for the Barbie movie! Very intriguing so far, though I hope to see more from the rest of the cast. I highly anticipate this, along with the Chevalier movie which apparently is releasing in April 2023.
Anyway, I watched the Murderville Christmas special. At first I couldn't find it, because Netflix listed it separately from the rest of the Murderville episodes. I liked the surprise return of Marshawn Lynch and the fact that he recognized Jason Bateman as "the Ozark dude" instead of knowing his connection to Will Arnett. Maya Rudolph was also fun doing improv, but the last minute trainee they added was really pointless, arriving at the very end. Because he didn't participate in any investigation, and only heard a random summary of the plot, he had to basically guess the killer out of the blue. Myself, I had already figured out the killer as soon as I noticed the nametag clue, but was thrown off by the idea of the accomplice and what other clues I'd need to look for. Maybe I'll rewatch it one more time just to check for missed clues. Arnett definitely made the most of the opportunity to tease Bateman as well as do an homage to Die Hard.
I read cozy mysteries in general, but I was looking for more Asian protagonists lately, so I tried some new recommended authors. I really like Ovidia Yu's series starring Chen Su Lin in 1930s Singapore. It starts with the Frangipani Tree Mystery, and goes on with other trees from there. The main character is less wacky and comic than in her Aunty Lee mysteries, and I really like the more serious tone. Su Lin is also rather young, a sixteen-year-old trying to cope with her family's expectations and the complex rules of society within the British colony. Orphaned and debilitated by polio, she is considered unlucky, but she fiercely wants to be independent. She wants to become a lady reporter, but lucks into assisting a British inspector solve a murder. There's no romance there; it's more of a paternal, protective relationship.
I also started a historical Korean mystery by June Hur. Red Palace takes place in 1758 around the capital. It concerns a palace nurse investigating a murder with a rogue police inspector. They are both very young and have to contend with issues like palace intrigue and a conspiracy of silence. Hyeon is also the illegitimate daughter of a lord, longing for approval and love. She risks everything to clear the name of her mentor nurse, who is accused of a bloody massacre. It's engrossing so far, and when I finish I'll continue with the Tree series.
I saw the Knives Out sequel yesterday, and it was pretty enjoyable. I'd forgotten that Angela Lansbury had a cameo on a Zoom meeting. The Glass Onion is funny and political, and the whodunit throws some red herrings at you. I'll have to watch it again knowing the twist. The tech bro is a narcissist idiot like Elon Musk pretending to be a genius.
Meanwhile I saw that Jason Bateman will guest star in Murderville's Christmas episode, so I'll have to stay on Netflix long enough to see that. Murderville was pretty funny with Arnett's antics, and the first episode involved magicians. The guest stars were fun, and there was also a season-long mystery that wasn't too annoying.
On streaming, I also went back to Peacock's Saved By the Bell reboot, which I only
saw the pilot of before. They really did a nice balance between the new
teens and the old cast. It's a really good update on the premise.
Characters acknowledge that some of Zach Morris's schemes and pranks went
too far; as kids we excused too much as "boys will be boys"
rebelliousness, but now we've grown up and can see how bad it is. I like
that Zach and the other adult characters can reflect on their high
school deeds and grow into mature people now. I respect Mark-Paul
Gosselar for having a sense of humor and being willing to poke fun at
his old persona; he was just a kid when the show made him a star, and he
was just acting whatever the writers wrote for him in their fantasy world.
But the show continues to be fun with the new cast, as the poorer
Douglas students adjust to the bizarre lifestyle of the Bayside
students. Too bad it got canceled after two seasons.
Speaking of historical fiction, last month I saw the play Guards at the Taj at Stage West Theatre. It's about lowly guards standing outside the gates of the Taj Mahal, and this is the last weekend it's playing, so catch it if you can, or if it ever comes to your area. The play starts out with a comical argument between the two guards about whether they are allowed to see the recently completed monument, but then it goes into darker themes. (It's based on the macabre legend that the Shah decreed that every builder, artisan, and architect have his hands cut off so they could not make something as beautiful as the Taj Mahal again.) So then the play becomes about the nature of beauty, power, and friendship. It's very dramatic and thought provoking, though I'm confused about the final scene, which is supposed to take place in the future. I'm glad that the legend does not appear to be true, but the fictional story is makes for a good character study for the actors.
Meanwhile, I saw Wakanda Forever and enjoyed its story about grief, colonialism, and war. Rather than Namor being king of Atlantis, his backstory is changed to Mesoamerica at the time of the European conquest. This recontextualizes the underwater kingdom and their fight to hide their own vibranium supply. He tries to negotiate an alliance with Wakanda but insists on killing the scientist who invented the vibranium detector, which Shuri can't condone. I didn't really like the subplot with the CIA. Like why do I care that Ross was married to that lady? Anyway, the crisis in Wakanda really takes a toll on Ramonda, Okoye, and Nakia; even M'baku tries to help Shuri deal with everything. I liked it overall, and they created a really rich character in Namor, whom Marvel will presumably feature in future stories. I'm just a little confused because people said online that M'baku became king because Shuri didn't show up to the ceremony at the waterfalls?
So I caved and rejoined Netflix for Enola Holmes 2 and Murderville; it's only the ad tier, and I'll cancel again once I've seen Glass Onion, and maybe the Thai Cave Rescue show too.
Though they are different, Enola Holmes 2 and the Indian film RRR are similar in that they are both historical fiction. The Enola sequel features a real person Sarah Chapman who led the matchgirl factory strike in 1888, though the mystery plot and her romance are fictional. Similarly RRR features actual heroes Rama Raju and Komaram Bheem, but the plot is an epic fantasy about "what if" they met and fought injustice together? They have superhero-like powers and fight the British Raj in over the top battles featuring tigers and other animals. It is pretty entertaining, and I can see why the Indian film was a mainstream hit, but certainly I would not expect historical accuracy from it.
Back to Enola Holmes, though. I enjoyed the sequel, and they did a nice balance between Sherlock and his sister on the case. I didn't miss Mycroft at all and was glad that they finally talked about Sherlock living by himself; the absence of Watson in the first film was very, very loud and distracting to me. How on earth could everyone keep saying Sherlock "always works alone"? So finally Enola corrects that by introducing the subject of him getting a flatmate, though we only meet Watson in the end credits. The film also features a new Moriarty who toys with the Holmes siblings and is very much a spider manipulating them through her web. As to Moriarty's identity, so far she's okay and not offensive like BBC Sherlock's psychopath who destroys his own criminal network, or the horrific Adler/Moriarty amalgam in Elementary. So provisionally I will accept her and hope they don't ruin her somehow in a third movie. Oh, and I was very pleased to hear the music hall song "Where Did You Get That Hat?" because I recognize it from Without a Clue many years ago. I still don't understand why the lyrics refer to the hat as a "tile" unless it's just for the rhyme. Or maybe it's some Victorian slang I'm not familiar with.
The election was disappointing in Texas, though we did keep incumbent Democrats in office. Salman Bhojani was a bright spot in Tarrant County along with Alisa Simmons. The rest of the country did better, so I'm glad for that. I still don't understand how white women can keep voting Republican. Votes are still being counted, so we don't yet know who gets the Senate and House. Warnock is in yet another runoff.
Meanwhile, Twitter continues to implode under Musk. He fired tons of people, who will sue him, and Twitter tried to hire some of them back. Plus the stupid blue checkmark is now a tool for impersonators and scammers. Isn't anybody capable of firing him due to all the money he is losing the company? I hope he goes down in flames.
I've gotta catch up on sleep. The time change caught me off guard.
I tried to dress up for Halloween, but couldn't get my headdress/headband done in time. Maybe next year. I did see some cute costumes for Everything Everywhere All at Once on the internet. Raccacoonie is apparently very easy and popular.
Other than this Blogger, I haven't joined any social media network since I made a MySpace page years ago, but I have long been able to follow along with various Twitter posts in the news. Currently many people are upset about Musk owning Twitter now. Some people are quitting it and calling for a boycott, while others argue that good people ought to stay and fight for the platform. (This is similar to what Democrats in Texas say, when explaining why they don't move away. They want to stay and fight.) I see their point, and I've also read articles arguing that Musk really can't make Twitter a right-wing, unmoderated mess without losing a lot of money. We'll see what happens I guess. Maybe a new platform will rise?
Anyway, I early voted last week, and Election Day is Tuesday. I hope the record turnout bodes well, though I never know with Texas. Greg Abbott's TV ads have been disgustingly terrible, and even puzzling. There was one ad featuring Abbott's niece endorsing him. What the fuck do I need to hear biased opinion from his family for? And dire warnings about how Texas will become a hellscape if Beto wins. How is it not a hellscape now? With Uvalde, and abortion laws, and a failing electrical grid? Republicans think it's okay now? Fuck them.
Well Liz Truss is out as Prime Minister, but the Tories are going to try to appoint someone else. They ought to hold a general election so everyone can vote.
Meanwhile, I'm annoyed. I thought Till was coming out Oct 11, but that was the limited release on the coasts. Then I saw it was coming to DFW on Oct 20th, but it's not near me, and I don't know if it will expand any closer. I have to drive 30 miles away to see it.
Also Sheriff Metzger from Murder She Wrote has died. At least he had a nice full life too. I'm excited that Anna May Wong will appear on U.S. quarters soon. I'll have to look out for it. I've watched another recent documentary about her and can't wait for the Hollywood biopic to be released.
Early voting starts next week in Texas, so I've been researching who's on my ballot. I finally found a Fort Worth paper that lists an election guide that's not paywalled so I can finally get some background on local candidates for judges and such. As we've learned in previous elections, every political office is important. We can't let wackos run our school districts or ruin our libraries with their hysteria.
The UK is still having issues with their prime minister, who recently fired her chancellor. If she doesn't back off her disastrous tax policies, then I hope the conservatives lose further power.
Meanwhile, I was saddened by Angela Lansbury passing away last week. She was born in London, but we were lucky that she moved to America as a teen, and she had a long career here. So many roles she was famous for, though I haven't seen a lot of them. I've mostly seen her mysteries rather than her musicals or dark psychological films. I did love on Murder She Wrote whenever she would play Jessica undercover or Jessica's British cousin Emma, because then we would see her play drunk or sing. She was delightful in Death on the Nile and Mrs. 'Arris goes to Paris too. I'll miss her.
My computer updated to Windows 11, with constant updates and restarting. It kept slowing down the laptop so much that I couldn't even load my browser for days. Plus my antivirus is such a resource hog, while constantly nagging me to upgrade to something more expensive. Not if you're gonna use 100% of my memory!
Anyway, a lot of fall shows have been premiering lately. I'm watching the Quantum Leap reboot and NBC recently ordered more episodes! Deadline reports that CBS is planning a new John Watson TV show. From the description, it appears to be set in modern times and is a medical show, like House. I'd really have preferred a detective mystery. Meanwhile the greedy Conan Doyle Estate is trying to establish an ACD universe by adapting a book series called Improbable Tales of Baskerville Hall. In the kids show, young Conan Doyle attends school and meets people to inspire all his future book characters, not just Sherlock Holmes.
PBS has some new documentaries like Making Black America and Harriet Tubman. I also watched the special on the U.S. and the Holocaust recently, and it seems all the racism mixed with paranoia that refugees would be "5th column" spies; Americans kept wanting more restrictions on refugees, not less, when they heard rumors about Nazis killing Jews. Of course the paranoia about spies also led to the internment of Japanese families, and would later lead to McCarthy's postwar Communist hunts. So horrible. The antisemitism is still here, as shown by Kanye West, who's been suspended. Unfortunately, Elon Musk is going through with buying Twitter now, so who knows what a cesspool that will become. I've never joined that or Facebook, but I know that social media was important in organizing major protests in America and abroad. If it becomes a tool for more misinformation and fascism, that will be dangerous. Good luck to the protestors in Iran and to the Jewish allies suing to end various abortion bans in the US.
Well I think cooler fall temperatures have finally arrived, at least for this week. We're still in the 80s though. I tried to make a pumpkin pie but I was missing condensed milk, and the pie didn't bake right. I thought I only needed the pumpkin filling.
Apparently Beto debated Greg Abbott on Friday night. I didn't know about it, and I wasn't home anyway. I went to see the new Bros movie. I have seen numerous political ads on TV though, where they claim that the border is a lawless, dangerous hellhole, and how Beto is supposedly a radical who shouldn't be governor. It's so sickening, and they gin up right-wing panic about Black Lives Matter and the police. As if the police didn't fail spectacularly in Uvalde.
Beto's TV ads so far focus on Uvalde and also abortion. I hope the pink wave of women voters will help, but I don't know why so many white women voted for Trump in his elections. I'm concerned about stupid Ken Paxton too, since he continues to evade any prosecution after being indicted for years.
Oh, and apparently rightwingers had a freakout over Lizzo playing James Madison's crystal flute, even though nobody ever heard of the flute before. I liked seeing her joyfulness in the videos online. Good for her. I hope she's having a good year, what with winning that Emmy for her TV show.
So I signed up for Peacock Premium for the discounted rate, and I got caught up on Amber Ruffin's shows, but she has so many breaks between new episodes. I also finally returned to a couple of sitcoms I started while on the free tier, Rutherford Falls and Killing It.
Rutherford Falls is set in small town named for a founder who allegedly made a fair peace treaty with the local Minishonka tribe. Nathan Rutherford protests moving a statue of his ancestor while his best friend Reagan Wells tries to convince him to compromise. And there's a dispute with Terry Thomas, owner of the Minishonka casino where Reagan works in the pathetic museum display. The show has a lot of Native cast and staff, and addresses lots of issues about culture, racism, history, and politics. The show can be amusing at times, but often goes for awkward moments such as Reagan being hated by her fellow Minishonka people, and trying too hard to win them over. I liked the show somewhat, but I was always annoyed with how self-centered Nathan is, demanding that Reagan and Bobbie Yang cater to all his crises, while ignoring things that they need. Season 1 developed Terry Thomas's character in an interesting arc. He's not really a villain, but is trying to to help his people, while being hyper-focused on winning against the white corporate power structure. I started season 2, but lost interest in the mayoral election plot, especially with Nathan continuing to be bumbling and self-absorbed.
Meanwhile Killing It stars Craig Robinson as man with a dream to start a saw palmetto business. He tries to get a bank loan, but loses his job and meets an Uber driver named Jillian; she has a side job killing invasive pythons for the state of Florida. There's even a snake-killing contest for $20,000 so Craig decides to enter and he eventually joins up with Jillian as a team. But the show is not just about the snake contest. It's also about Craig's brother Isaiah who is always stealing or running a scam. It's about social class and capitalism, with wealthy elites just running bigger scams to swindle little guys out of their cash and their dignity. It's a world full of snakes eating each other, and several people have long elevator pitches that they rehearse constantly for the day when they need to make their speech to gatekeepers. It's rather dark and pessimistic for a sitcom, and even when Isaiah finally opens up to Craig about their father's death, he afterward goes back to being joking and dismissive about the tragedy. I do like many characters in the show, though I'm not sure I like the cynical tone or the dangerous plot about Craig's brother and Rodney Lamonca. It's a good show if you like edgy darkness and don't mind violent murders.
So Peacock does try ambitious sitcoms, but they don't always succeed. Rutherford Falls was cancelled after 2 seasons.
Last night I got a booster and flu vaccine, and today I've had chills and arm aches. But before all that, I did manage to see The Woman King, the new movie about the women warriors of Dahomey. They're called the Agojie, and they're the basis for the Dora Milaje in Black Panther.
King Ghezo, played by John Boyega, is a real person, but most other characters are fictional and dramatic license has been taken to make a compelling movie. Viola Davis is General Nanisca, who leads the army and often tries to advise the king. There's some talk about a myth of equality between men and women, and that the King can choose to appoint Nanisca to rule beside him, but I didn't catch everything they said about this. We also see other members of the army, and Izogie trains the new recruits including rebellious girl Nawi. Though most of Dahomey's enemies in battle are other African tribes, some European slave-traders do arrive to make deals with King Ghezo. A wealthy Portuguese man arrives with his half Black friend Malik, whose mother came from Dahomey. Malik is sickened by the slave market he sees at the port, but keeps quiet with his friend until he meets Nawi and starts to feel loyal to his mother's homeland. Nanisca too hates the evils of slavery and tries to convince the King to stop the practice and take up palm oil farming instead. All these racial and economic tensions explode into dramatic battles, where we can see the Agojie in fierce combat. There's a lot of compelling character development and triumphant feelings in winning their freedom.
SPOILERS
I went to see this mystery movie expecting a zany comedy like Clue, or at least an interesting whodunit, but I didn't realize that this was a spoof specifically about Agatha Christie's Mousetrap play. I've never seen the play, but I have read the short story based on it decades ago; it was called "Three Blind Mice" due to the killer whistling this tune. I didn't know that the story was based on a real life child abuse tragedy, and I also didn't realize that the title "see how they run" is a line from the Three Blind Mice nursery rhyme.
Also, as signaled by the Inspector's name "Stoppard" this movie is a self-reverential, recursive farce. It's very meta about whodunit tropes, although sometimes the jokes don't make sense. The stuffy playwright complains about the Hollywood director wanting a bloody murder in the first 10 minutes, but I believe that Christie's play does feature a murder in its opening minutes, so that would actually be faithful to the text.
There are a number of real people portrayed, including Richard (Dickie) Attenborough, his wife Sheila Sim, and Agatha Christie and her second husband the archaeologist. I do like that the movie has diverse casting despite the 1950s setting, and the cast is packed. I enjoyed most of it, but found it more wry and amusing rather than laugh out loud funny. It's just that I've seen plenty of examples of Hollywood parodying itself, so that I find that kind of joke tiresome and cliche. Maybe if I'd been in a better mood I would have liked it more. I hope that the Knives Out sequel will be better.
With Queen Elizabeth II's death, there has been some discussion of the evils of monarchy and imperialism. Not just Black people, but Irish people too, have no love for monarchy. I did find some of the commentary from UK royalists to be over the top, about how everybody loved her. Elizabeth was not perfect; she was a terrible mother-in-law to Diana, after all, and that much-repeated 1947 clip of her pledging lifelong duty to the nation also included a reference to the "imperial family." Not just the royal family, but specifically the "imperial family," so she was supportive of the British Empire continuing. Obviously the Empire fell apart during her reign, so she adapted with the times in creating the Commonwealth, and it's not like Elizabeth had any actual political power over what the British government did. In general, I blame Queen Victoria more about British imperialism than I do Elizabeth II. There's something distasteful about Victoria keeping favorite Indian servants while knowing that the British Raj is fucking over India. Plus Britain started Opium Wars to force China to accept trade, not caring one bit about the moral degradation of destroying the nation with drugs.
But anyway, there are historical documentaries that give less glowing depictions of the royal family. Paramount+ includes content from the Smithsonian channel, including the 2019 show Britain in Color, which is just like America in Color. They colorize old news footage and home movies to give you an immediate feel of history from the early 20th century. Initially I was disappointed that the first episode was all about Royalty, fearing we'd just get hagiography and whitewashed history. But it's really just to give context to WWI and WWII, including how Edward VIII was a Nazi sympathizer.
The second episode, Empire, actually discussed war, colonialism, and racism. It's not afraid to be shocking or unflattering in its truth. It started with terrible images from Boer War concentration camps, featured nonwhite soldiers who fought for Britain in WWI, discussed Gandhi's protests in India, depicted the harsh suppression of independence movements in Britain's former colonies, and addressed the Partition of India. Really interesting. The last episode is on Churchill. I hope they will do more topics eventually, like America in Color explored history from different perspectives.
I actually had the 3 day weekend off for Labor Day, and was planning to go see a movie especially due to the $3 tickets on Saturday, but there weren't any movies I wanted to see. I'm glad I didn't go on Sunday either because there was a shooting at a local mall where I often see movies. It wasn't a mass shooter; the news report makes it sound like a dispute between two men. But still, it's a consequence of Abbott and other Republicans loosening gun laws despite all the horrific shooting tragedies.
Elsewhere, gun violence continues ceaselessly across the rest of America too. There was a shooting spree in Memphis, with somebody rampaging across the city until the police caught him. This will never end until we can get more gun control passed. If we can win more Senate seats in the midterms, then we can pass a lot of necessary legislation for voting rights, abortion, and more.
Meanwhile Queen Elizabeth II died today, and there's a new Conservative Prime Minister in the UK too. Lots of turmoil over there, so my sympathies.
Apparently Alaska just elected its first Native person to Congress, Democrat Mary Peltola! The election was in question for a while, due to ranked choice voting, and letting mailed-in ballots arrive up to 15 days after election day. She defeated Sarah Palin for this special election, but at least will be the incumbent during the November election. Hooray!
In sadder news, Pakistan is experiencing disastrous monsoon flooding. Thousands have died, and millions are homeless. Apparently this has been happening since June, but I've only heard of it in mainstream news media in late August. Why did they wait so long to report? Talk about a climate change disaster...
As for America, we also have an emergency in Jackson, Mississippi, with no clean water there. Apparently their water systems were failing for months, but the Republicans did nothing to fix it. Somebody should have been working on it all this time, or at least planning on how to get bottled water distributed to everyone in the city when it did fail. This is what we need infrastructure funds for.
The triple-digit heat finally broke this past week, ending our drought. At first the thunderstorms were brief, but on Monday the rain poured heavily, flooding the streets. Apparently a woman died in Dallas when her car was swept away. Extreme weather is getting worse all the time.
Meanwhile I heard that a court ruled that Unilever could overrule Ben and Jerry's, forcing them to resume sales in the West Bank. So apparently they're not going to allow Ben and Jerry's to remain independent in their decisions anymore. Pro-Israel folks are so quick to attack BDS, as if it's not our free speech right to boycott them. It makes me lose respect for the ADL, acting like all Jews agree with Israel's apartheid policies. You can criticize a nation and its government without being racist to its people. And again, not all Jews live in Israel. Don't conflate people with the country.
Well it seems that John Oliver's comment is correct, that Warner Bros Discovery is "burning down my network for the insurance money" given all the content they are axing or deleting from HBOMax. Meanwhile they're offering discounts on the streaming service for 1 year, as if anybody has any trust that they won't delete more swaths of content. What a disaster the merger and new CEO are.
Meanwhile I did see Laal Singh Chadda, and somebody helpfully updated the wiki to explain the Indian history references. It was a very interesting movie, keeping the spirit of the original Forrest Gump but shuffling some characters and details around. Remember how Lt. Dan thought he was destined to die in war, like all his ancestors before him? Those flashbacks about all his ancestors dying in war are instead used as flashbacks to show Laal's namesake ancestors who died in war. The Bubba Gump Shrimp Corp instead becomes Rupa Corporation, a parody of the real Rupa Company who sells undergarments and more.
It's named after Laal's longtime love Rupa. Her history isn't quite as dark as Jenny's. There's no implied sexual abuse, but her father does beat and kill her mother, so that she has to stay with her grandma, who coincidentally works for Laal's family. Their childhood friendship is sweet, and Rupa also does a magic trick, pretending to pluck an airplane out of the sky, then showing Laal a toy plane that she already had in her pocket. In later years, when Rupa is in an abusive relationship and suicidal, just the image of a plane flying by is enough to remind her of Laal, and to get her to come down. It's very touching. Also surprising was that Laal's mother cuts off his long hair during a time of anti-Sikh riots, but she never asks him to grow it out again during peaceful times. He only grows it out during his years of running, and then decides to wear a turban once he realizes his resemblance to his military ancestors.
With the Mohammed Baaji character (apparently a Pakistani enemy during the Kargil war), Laal accidentally saves his life, and he becomes bitter and resentful because he can't go home. Eventually he learns to heal, thanks Laal for saving him, and decides to open a school to stop children from being indoctrinated with hate, the way he was. The movie argues against religious extremism and violence. India unfortunately has had lots of religious strife in its history, mixed with its caste system and the problems from the British Raj. I like the movie overall and might try another Indian movie in the future. I heard that they would re-release the popular RRR movie soon, so I'll have to look for it.
Apparently there's a new Indian movie called Laal Singh Chaddha that's a remake of Forrest Gump. I'm kind of curious to see it, but worried that I won't be able to follow the Indian history moments. Or will it be like how Ms. Marvel explains the Partition of India that created Pakistan? Maybe I'll be able to google the history afterward.
In American schools, you just learn the history of the US and Europe, while other countries and continents only get mentioned during the colonialist era or the World Wars. So that leaves me ignorant about the rest of the world's history unless I seek out more information for balance.
Watching the Miss S mysteries on HBO Max was very interesting to see how they adapt Phryne Fisher's world. They swapped the Lin Chung character with a Russian character to keep the interracial romance, and his bride also was a secret Communist, in danger of arrest or death in China. Since I didn't know about the Chinese Civil War or the Shanghai Massacre, I found this very confusing until I looked it up afterward. (Though it still seems questionable that Chinese authorities would target a Russian for being a Communist, thereby risking a diplomatic incident, but I guess maybe if they thought she was spreading Communist propaganda to Chinese citizens....) Other cultural changes in the show included replacing the Gilbert & Sullivan opera Ruddigore with a Chinese traditional opera called The Peony Pavilion. I also liked that Miss S changed the motivations of their Murdoch Foyle equivalent, so that Ding Rushan was insanely trying to resurrect his daughter, not just become a stupid Egyptian god.
After I finished Miss S, I wanted to rewatch Miss Fisher to compare, so I bought the DVDs when I got a good deal on the box set. The Australian series has its own slang about "sheilas" and "diggers" and references to World War I. It also tries to be culturally sensitive to Aboriginal characters and the aforementioned Lin Chung, though they depart from the books by making Jack Robinson the love interest. I have read some of the Kerry Greenwood novels, and Miss Fisher is not as faithful as it could be.
Yay, they passed the Inflation Reduction Act! My understanding is that it has several parts of the Build Back Better bill from before, even if it doesn't have everything. Glad they got this done before August recess. This is a major win, in addition to Biden's other recent wins. Even Beto went viral for calling a heckler a "motherfucker" for laughing about Uvalde.
Plus the FBI raided Trump to get back all the government documents he stole. Apparently they visited before in June and asked for them back, but he just kept refusing. I don't know why he got so many chances to keep stuff for over 2 years before they finally treated him like a criminal. Was he hording these things just to feel powerful, or was he actually letting foreign spies look through them for a price? I guess they'll find out when they fingerprint the documents.
Midterms are coming this fall, and this stuff will help.
So I saw the Thirteen Lives movie on Amazon Prime. Ron Howard did a pretty good job focusing on the Thai community and not making it all about the British and Australian divers. (I've previously watched the National Geographic documentary of The Rescue, and it focused mainly on those divers, because they didn't have the rights to the soccer team's story.) Apparently Netflix is coming out with its own version on the soccer team in September, but I've quit them long ago. I will have to consider whether I want to rejoin for a month maybe for this and Knives Out 2.
In Howard's film, we start with the Wild Boar boys finishing a soccer (football) game and discussing the birthday party for Prem, before bicycling to the cave. One boy doesn't go, but he's aware of the others intending to go to the cave. That night, their parents search for them when they don't show up for the party, and we follow the mother of Chai, the youngest boy, as she worries about him. We also see the local governor and his aide, the Thai Navy SEALS, and a water engineer working with villagers and farmers to divert water from the caves.
The British divers do play a prominent role in finding the boys, and coming up with the plan to anesthetize them, but they remain aware that they need to defer to and work with the Thai divers. It's not that the Thai Navy aren't good divers; it's just that their training is for open water diving, and the cave is super tricky to dive, requiring specialized skills. One British diver even takes blessed beads from Chai's mother and tells his more skeptical colleague, "Take it. She's watching." Even if you don't believe in her religion, it's important for you to honor her feelings so she'll feel better about the rescue. They do mention lots of international volunteers helping but thankfully don't discuss Elon Musk and his snitfit. It's pretty good, and the diving feels claustrophobic at parts.
They canceled the Batgirl movie! Fuck! They were so close to finished, and they won't let us see it after we'd been waiting so long. Deadline says the reason is the recent merger, giving the new CEO an accounting trick that expires in August so he can make the debt disappear. And fan speculation says that DC had to cancel the storyline with Keaton's Batman because of something unrelated in the Flash movie. But all that is bullshit if they're not going to cancel the Flash movie. That one is a huge disaster, but WB is punishing the wrong movie for it. FUCK!!!
I don't know if uproar can shame them into releasing the movie eventually. I mean, shame eventually worked to get the Republicans to pass the PACT act, but I don't know that any corporate CEO has any shame...
There's a new Emmet Till movie coming out this October and I saw the trailer. Also, there's some Korean War movie called Devotion based on a true story. That Glen Powell guy seemingly is making a career of playing pilots (ever since astronaut John Glenn in Hidden Figures.) I guess it's not bad typecasting. I wanted to see the new Thirteen Lives movie about the Thai Cave rescue, but it didn't open anywhere in Dallas/Ft Worth apparently, and I'll have to watch it on Amazon when it gets there.
Meanwhile, after a lull in my collecting, I got a couple of new Barbies recently and a Ken. I got Fashionista #172 for her microbraids and interesting face; she has flat feet and I swapped her shoes for black boots. The Ken doll #193 has rooted hair, and I liked his hairstyle, though I had to wash out all the gel. Then I got the Paramedic from the career Barbies. It was the first Asian-looking doll whose face reminded me of Chloe Kim, though she is more petite. In the store her hair looked yellow blonde, but when I got her home it was more strawberry blonde, which pleases me. I changed her into a gingham dress and braided her hair, so now she looks like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, sort of. Still trying to decide on a name for her.
I'm hopeful that the Barbie movie will be good. I heard a rumor that there are multiple Barbies and Kens, which is just like the real dolls. With the fashionista lines, Mattel started just giving the dolls numbers instead of naming them, the way they used to with Christies, Steves, Alans, Midges, etc. So now every doll is Barbie or Ken. (And the Creatable World dolls can be gender fluid.)
There's primaries in a bunch of states today, and in Congress there's
been a lot of wrangling over bills lately. I hope they can get them
done before recess.
The last week of July was rough with
several major deaths. Sad to hear about Nichelle Nichols passing, but at
least she won't suffer any more from dementia. There had been talk in
recent years about legal disputes among her family and caretakers. I
think it was last year that I watched the Woman in Motion
documentary about her mission to recruit diverse hires for NASA. Black
people were skeptical of NASA's sincerity, warning her that "they're
using you" for PR, but she said, "I'm using them" to get real change.
What a big difference she made!
I was happy to read about Jim Thorpe getting his gold medals back at long last. The Olympic committee had stripped him of his medals because he violated their amateur rules, but many white athletes weren't punished for the same thing, according to that Smithsonian article. The whole amateur rule wasn't for love of the sport, but to keep poor lower class people from being able to compete with wealthy elites who could afford to train and compete without earning money for it. It's also the reason why Duke Kahanamoku couldn't become a professional swimmer and had to take odd jobs to support himself.
Meanwhile, I went to see a play at a local theater. It's Peter Shaffer's farce Black Comedy. It has a convention that when the stage lights are dim, the characters act as if normal lights are on, but when the lights are fully bright, the actors behave as if it's a blackout. This is so the audience can see what's happening in the darkness, as various characters start feeling around or doing sneaky things to deceive each other. It's pretty funny, but it took me a minute to remember that British people say "torches" when they mean flashlights. This is apparently a one-act play, so I don't know why we had an intermission. Just to sell more drinks? I guess so. I'd be more willing to buy snacks if there were sandwiches or something, but chips and pretzels is not worth it.
I've never read the novel Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris, but I have watched the 1992 TV movie starring Angela Lansbury. It was charming and sweet like a fairy tale, though I'm told the ending was changed to be happier than the book.
I don't normally care about fashion, much less luxury like Dior, but I did like Jenny Beavin's costumes for Cruella so I figured I would see the new Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris movie, if only to compare to Angela Lansbury. It is still a charming fairy tale, but there's a melancholy element too, as we see Ada Harris's normal life, missing her dead husband and being unfairly taken advantage of by her rich employers. The film also expands her working-class friends, adding the bookie Archie and some train station drunks. Anyway, all of the sudden Ada falls in love with a Dior dress and has to have one.
I can understand that sudden impulse. I myself usually dress in casual shirts and pants for comfort, yet I fell in love with Rachel Chu's blue tulle dress in Crazy Rich Asians. Sometimes you just want to own something glamorous even if you have no occasion to wear it. Mrs. Harris scrimps and saves for her own Dior dress, and even does some gambling based on what she thinks are signs from her late husband.
I found a new show on HBO Max called Miss S. At first I wondered if this was the Japanese Miss Sherlock show with genderbent leads, but actually, this is a Chinese adaptation of the Australian show Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Instead of Melbourne, it's set in 1930s Shanghai with all the style and devotion to fashion as the original show. All the characters are there under different names, with slightly tweaked backgrounds. They speak Mandarin, but you can pick different languages for the subtitles. At first I wondered why she called her detective agency "Miss S" when her name is Miss Su; it seems a pointless abbreviation, but then she explains that the S also stands for Shanghai. I love seeing all the business cards and the Chinese script on screen.
It's very sexy and entertaining, with a few interesting changes for cultural reasons. For example, they changed a show about Zionists into one about a political movement to try to restore the Qing dynasty. Also there are references to the Chinese war with Japan, with mentions of incidents such as the invasion of Mongolia. So it does feel like new mysteries are being solved. So far I like it, though I wish that the mysteries were not two-parters. I'm mostly just confused by the story of the Russian woman Natasha being in trouble for being a Communist.
Edited to add comments on Dr. Mac
I worried that there might be some Chinese censorship, but not all gay characters have been suppressed. There is a very sympathetic storyline of a gay couple being blackmailed in one episode, and the Inspector eventually allows Miss Su to destroy the blackmail photos. The Dr. Mac character is no longer a lesbian; still, she wears men's clothes and remains a feminist, teaching other women about contraception and abortion. Dr. Mac has only been in a few episodes that I've seen. But that was true of Miss Fisher, too, when I kept wondering where Mac went (and why the adopted kid was written out). Inspector Luo does sometimes point out that "this is Shanghai, not Paris" when Miss Su is annoyed with conservative morals.
Ugh! More 100+ degree days. I hope all of July and August won't be this bad.
Meanwhile, I saw the new Marvel movie since Taika Waititi directed it, and it also featured Jane Foster as a Thor, based on a comic storyline. Since Marvel already did the story of Thor Odinson being unworthy of Mjolnir in his first film, they didn't repeat it here. The hammer simply bonds to Foster because she is dying of cancer, and Thor Odinson once told the hammer to always protect her. I do like that Jane got to bond with both Darcy and King Valkyrie, and they had talks about her health and heroism. She also insisted on not being called "Lady Thor" but "Mighty Thor," just as Thor had often called himself previously. Meanwhile, Thor was especially clumsy and destructive during a lot of his battles because he had no direction or focus until he saw Jane being a hero.
I had skipped a lot of Thor films and Avengers films previously, but Taika's Korg character helpfully narrated much of the backstory, and the actor Asgardians staged a play summing up recent history as well. I didn't recognize Sam Neill playing Odin until after I looked up the cast later. So I watched it again to see him and the post credit scenes.
SPOILERS
Meanwhile, I was not able to find Lost Girls close to me, and the movie reviews were very poor, saying the filmmaker illogically cast herself in the main role. Oh well. I guess I'll stick with the 2003 Peter Pan that I like.
I was able to find Mr. Malcolm's List, though, and enjoyed it. Very Jane Austen-ish and great fun to see we get the full treatment of swelling music, horseback riding, and sunlit kisses, just like any other period rom-com. Plus, there was a painting of Mr. Malcolm's Black family at his estate, and it reminded me of the famous painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle. People today incorrectly think that people of color didn't exist in Western society in the past, but Britain has had immigrants for centuries due to its conquering Empire, and sometimes money can indeed overcome race or illegitimacy when it comes to social class. Plus, the French had Alexandre Dumas pere and Joseph Bologne. Apparently colonialism didn't preclude some Europeans from raising their mixed race children with the same privileges they'd give to white kids. I can't wait for the Joseph Bologne movie!
Diversity is not historically inaccurate. Hollywood has just whitewashed the past. And besides, our fiction should reflect our modern tastes, rather than be stuck to some rotten outdated rules. Even the King Arthur tales and Shakespeare had Saracens and Moors.
I meant to spend this 3-day weekend trying to write my Arrested Development fics again, but it's just been so hot. At least the gas prices have come down 30 cents recently in my area, so maybe Biden finally got the gasoline industry to stop price gouging.
I watched a couple of HBO documentaries as well as their 1995 movie the Tuskegee Airmen. Apparently there was only 1 real-life person depicted in that TV movie, while other characters were fictional. I'd previously seen the movie Red Tails on the same subject, and that was fictionalized too.
Equal is a four-part documentary on the history of LGBTQ rights in America. Even before the Stonewall riots, queer people had tried to organize and help each other against police abuse and legal discrimination. Not only did the documentary talk about Christine Jorgensen, but they depicted trans people I'd not heard of before like Lucy Hicks Anderson and Jack Star. They also covered intersectional issues of racial discrimination within the movement, and how the civil rights movement was embarrassed about Bayard Rustin being openly gay, despite how much he helped MLK.
Meanwhile, HBO's documentary on Yellowface discussed Hollywood's racist casting of Asian roles. It's apparently a few years old, as it says that Crazy Rich Asians has not premiered yet, but it's still new to me. They do mention Anna May Wong and discuss the casting of The Good Earth, but it's brief. They mentioned progressive films I'd not heard of previously such as Sam Fuller's The Crimson Kimono, and a British-made movie about Japanese internment camps called Come See The Paradise. I'll have to see if I can watch those anywhere.
Remember how Greg Abbott and various Republicans at his press event called Beto "sick" for "politicizing" Uvalde, just because he rightly pointed out how the Texas GOP had loosened gun laws? They kept saying it was "too soon", as national Republicans always say it's "too soon" after every mass shooting.
Well on Monday an abandoned truck was discovered in San Antonio with a bunch of migrants inside, with many dead apparently from heatstroke. It's a tragedy, but fucking Abbott immediately blamed those deaths on Biden's "open borders." Fucking hypocrite.
(Anyway, Congress did manage to pass a new gun control law, though it didn't go as far as we wanted.) The Supreme Court also decided to just unload a whole bunch of horrible rulings in addition to the abortion ruling that we already knew about. There have been massive protests all weekend, so I hope there will be enough outrage that we can expand the Senate majority and finally get stuff done. At least Ketanji Brown Jackson got sworn in.
I've just read that Israel's government has fallen apart. They couldn't hold together their anti-Netanyahu coalition. Apparently Bennet's co-prime minister Lapid will take over until new elections are held. It's such a disaster that their government is so unstable, election after election. I hope Netanyahu will not be able to return to power. I thought he was still on trial for corruption? They just have too many factions, splintering the Knesset.
Meanwhile, I have mostly not been home for most of the televised January 6th hearings. I feared that no one would watch, but apparently the hearings are making an impact. I'm also glad that people are paying attention and caring about people like Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman. It gives me hope in people.
Recently I was disgusted and frightened by how people were rubbernecking the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial. Why on earth was that even televised or available to stream? Why didn't the judge require the jury to be sequestered if he was going to let random people watch? What a fucking media circus; shame on Deadline for pushing it every damn day like it was a Hollywood reality show.
George Brant's play at Stage West theatre had a mostly female cast, although there were two male roles. Set in the 1940s, when most men are away at war, Maggie decides to put on a female version of Shakespeare's Henry plays at the Oberon theatre where her husband Andrew was director for years. He's on the frontlines now, but has encouraged her in letters to go ahead without him. So Maggie asks their leading lady to play a male role, and then holds auditions for women to play the other parts. It's like a reversal of the Elizabethan tradition to have men play all roles.
Into the Breeches is a funny comedy, but it also touches on timely topics like pay equity, racism, and homophobia. I was surprised to learn that the Oberon's diva Celeste had never been paid for her work for years; only the male actors were paid because "they have families to support." How horribly unfair and sexist! Apparently Celeste was supporting herself by giving voice lessons to people. So Maggie has to negotiate with the producer Mr. Snow to start paying the women to act; it helps that she has already cast Snow's wife Winifred in the play, to give her leverage. Other castmembers have problems too, and Maggie has to address these as she tries to make a cohesive unit out of them.
It was very enjoyable and moving. Some of the dialogue even referenced people and newspapers in the local Dallas/Ft Worth area, which I think was to make it feel more immediate to us. We don't see the cast perform the whole four-hour play, of course, but we do see them rehearsing several scenes to give us a flavor of how good the amateur actors are becoming. They become a community, a "band of brothers" as they use Shakespeare to show patriotic support for their men away at war.
I have not watched the previous Jurassic World films due to disinterest and bad reviews, but I was mostly able to follow the last film. The main confusing part was Maisie Lockwood being a clone, but I had read something on the internet that mentioned it, and the movie itself addressed the issue and apparently did a retcon on who was responsible for the cloning, and why.
Anyway, the Dominion movie was filled with nostalgic references to the original Jurassic Park film, even recreating some moments. Drs. Grant, Sattler, and Malcolm had their own storyline, and were not mere cameo appearances. They were focused on giant locusts bio-engineered by BioSyn, the competitor to Hammond's InGen company that created the dinosaurs in the first place. Dr. Henry Wu from InGen was now working for BioSyn. (Apparently his character was expanded on in the last few films, to give him more depth and importance.) Wu gets a guilty conscience here, and tries to redeem himself, though not everyone trusts him. I didn't recognize the name Lewis Dodgson, but soon learned that he was the furtive guy who gave Nedry the fake Barbasol shaving cream can to hold stolen dino embyros. So it was fitting to see the Barbasol can again and to remember how Nedry died. Lewis is the main evil villain here, though he pretends to be a benevolent tech mogul. Ian Malcolm even works for him, which is how Grant and Sattler get invited to the dino sanctuary.
There's lots of local celebrations of Juneteenth this weekend, and Opal Lee is doing her annual walk to raise money for a Juneteenth Museum for Fort Worth. I just watched a TV interview with her and her granddaughter. I learned that Opal Lee does much more than crusade for Juneteenth history to be taught. She runs a community food bank and a community garden. Also she told the history of how her family was attacked by racists and their house burned down in the 1930s, so she knows the importance of remembering history. If only the hysterical people trying to ban books and expunge history would listen.
I'm going to try to go to one of the festivals near me, and then I'll visit my family for Father's Day. I'm going to see a play called Into the Breeches at Stage West theatre. I also might try to see the Jurassic movie this weekend, but I wish more that I could find the Lost Girls movie closer to me. It's far away in a theatre I've never heard of. Just got to enjoy this weekend since we're heading for more 100-degree days. So hot, and it's not even July yet.
Hooray! Mr. Malcolm's List is coming in July! I'm so glad they made the full movie, even if they had to recast Gemma Chan's part. I guess she had too many Marvel movies to film. This Jane Austen-ish romcom will be a bright spot this summer. I might also watch the Elvis biopic because it looks interesting.
Until now, I've avoided the Jurassic World movies, but I'll have try this new one with Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum. Hope they won't just be cameos, and that I won't be lost about the plot/mythos. Also there's a movie in June called The Lost Girls which tackles the weirdness of Peter Pan continually visiting Wendy Darling and all the women of her family. I found this generational hold on the Darling family creepy in the book too. It looks like a limited release, so I hope I'll be able to find it in a theater near me.
Meanwhile, I'm doing more sewing. I bought a Uniquely You Dress Form cover, but was completely confused by the instructions; the drawings were very unclear. I didn't understand how to do a vertical dart, or where to put it, until l read the steps on this blog, which has helpful photos and description. I don't actually have the styrofoam form, so I'm planning to stuff it with some stuffing I got at Joann's. If that doesn't work, then I'll buy some actual foam to cut up. (From what I've read in several reviews, most people had to cut the boobs and/or reshape the form to match their actual body.) Whenever I finish, I'll mount it on a stand and see if it actually works so I can sew clothes that fit me.
This holiday, as well as Veteran's Day, are supposed to honor soldiers who served and/or died in war, but if I'm going to be solemn and mindful today, it's going to be about the bloodshed in Buffalo and Uvalde. The news gets worse and worse, and by coincidence, this Sunday's episode of The First Lady featured the Sandy Hook massacre during Obama's administration. The killings just go on and on, year after year. And fucking Ted Cruz makes stupid suggestions about one door, secured by armed guards. And we just saw how useless those guards and police were. Republicans are outraged at us for politicizing tragedy when we just want to prevent the next one. Will any of them listen this time, or just continue to dismiss Beto and anyone else trying to speak truth to them? We'll have to vote them out.
Meanwhile, I was on vacation last week but had trouble sleeping. Hotels have too many pillows and not enough blankets. Living out of a suitcase is annoying, so it is good to be home again.
Tomorrow is another Primary Day for a lot of states, plus Texas is having runoffs from our primaries back in March. I already early voted last week.
This is actually the 2nd election this month, which confused me. Texas already had local elections on May 7th for constitutional amendments, city council places, and school board elections. It's extremely difficult to get any info about these local races because the major newspapers (Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star Telegram) that might publish background information about such candidates are paywalled. So it was annoying and confusing why we couldn't combine the elections. The political ads on TV have been infuriating too, with Republicans accusing each other of being liberal or woke. Plus I hate whenever Trump comes to campaign in Texas.
Meanwhile Greg Abbott continues to be horrible, but at least the Treasury Dept are investigating him for using federal Covid money to pay for his border security stunt. I hope they can make him refund the money or at least make him send the border troops home to actually do something useful.
I recently watched a PBS documentary on Duke Kahanamoku, the Olympic swimmer and famous surfer from Hawaii. It's an episode of American Masters called "Waterman-- Duke: Ambassador of Aloha," and Jason Mamoa narrates it. I had never heard of Duke before and didn't know the history of surfing, so this was fascinating to watch. The show is organized around an old episode of This is Your Life honoring Duke.
Like Jim Thorpe, Duke was forced to attend a boarding school that tried to erase his native culture and forbid his native language. He dropped out of school to become a traditional waterman, who fished, swam, and knew all the traditional ways of living off the sea. He made his own surfboard out of wood and became a trainer at a local whites-only sports club. They invited him to a swimming competition and he broke a world record, but skeptical sports officials insisted that it had to be fluke or mistake with the stopwatch; they wanted him to prove his skill again with elite white swimmers. So the Hawaiian community raised money to send him to the mainland US to compete, and he got a coach, and eventually entered the Olympics where he could finally prove himself according to the European standards.
Because of the
Olympic rules about athletes having to be amateurs, Duke found it hard
to find work, so his community had to support him, or he had to try various non-swimming jobs, like movie acting. But of course Hollywood only gave him bit parts and would not make him a leading man. He experienced a lot of racial discrimination in his life, but he didn't complain, living by a philosophy to keep it in his heart and bottle things up. It's sad, but at least he did make many genuine friends and helped break down racial barriers with his sheer talent and goodness. Duke was also highly influential in popularizing surfing in Australia, and saved many people from drowning. Really good documentary for Asian American Pacific Islander month.
Seth Meyer's show has been meh for about a week, with continuing defeatism. His recent monologue against Democrats said "it's not their fault" but they're gonna lose the midterm elections because they're doing nothing about inflation. And then he had the nerve to bring up Joe Manchin and say "call his bluff" by passing whatever bills he'd agree too, even if he'd betray them, then they could "move on." Have you been fucking asleep through the negotiations for Build Back Better and the voting rights bill? They already called his bluff many times. There were months I would see nothing but Joe Manchin articles every day with press asking him what he and Sinema wanted. Congress had to whittle down ambitious bills to what he wanted for "bipartisanship", only for him to suddenly say, "Nope" and demand more concessions. So they've already called his bluff and already moved on. Why is Seth so dishonest and lazy about this? Why are you being a chicken little, panicking that they've got to do something, anything, as if they haven't done anything their entire term? I mean, if you don't want to root for Democrats, then fucking talk about something else like the TV cancellation bloodbath ahead of upfronts, or the Marvel movies. Don't fucking bring me down when I'm wanting comedy. When even Amber buys into your BS take, then fine, I'll cancel my fucking season pass. This is just like why I stopped watch Colbert regularly.
Speaking of Marvel movies, I saw the Multiverse of Madness (even though I've never seen the first Dr. Strange) since it's essentially a continuation of Wanda's story. I've seen a bunch of fans disappointed that she became the evil villain of the movie, and that they wanted more nuance like the TV show. They wanted more of a "transition" or something to explain her change. But I thought the TV show already had a transition, when we saw her in the cabin reading the evil book. Did they think that was a happy ending, her reading the evil book she got from Agnes? Plus Wanda was essentially not punished for what she did at Westview and I always thought Monica Rambeau's line, "don't let him make you the villain" strange, as it essentially gave Wanda a pass, ignoring her sins while emphasizing the S.W.O.R.D guy's misdeeds. So already Wanda was well into the gray, in danger of going much darker by possessing the evil book. Most concerning was that she went to that cabin by herself without going to say, Sorcerer Supreme Wong, for help training her with her powers. Isolated, it would be so easy to let herself get obsessed. One could even argue that her hearing her boys call out to her for help, was just a hallucination brought by the Darkhold to corrupt her and make her use the darkest spells.
SPOILER
Meanwhile, a bunch of TV shows are cancelled, including Batwoman. I was skeptical at first about them writing out Kate Kane, but they managed it all right and moved on. What's weird are these commenters on the internet spamming every cancellation article to declare "justice" for Kate Kane and be angry at the show for "betraying the source material." You mean the comics? Aren't comics famously convoluted, resetting every few years, with multiverses allowing many versions of each character? There's multiple kids who became Robin, multiple Batgirls, multiple Supergirls, and yes, multiple Batwomen in the comics. So why are you so upset about Kate Kane getting written out of one TV show? They didn't even kill her off. Weirdos.
My HBO Max stopped working for a week or so, but then just as mysteriously, it fixed itself. So I tried to catch up on shows I wanted to see. Both Julia and Moonshot were disappointments. First, Moonshot was a stupid title for a romcom about going to Mars, and Lana Condor's character Sophie did not feel equal to her costar's. The movie definitely started out from Walt's perspective and spent maybe half an hour on his mediocre feelings and dreams before finally getting to Sophie's feelings about her boyfriend Calvin. It's complicated, because Calvin's mother took Sophie in when she became an orphan, and it felt strange that the entire family moved with him to Mars and left her behind, while still pretending that she was family to them. Why should she date Calvin, when he should be more of a foster brother? It felt like she was with him out of gratitude to the family. Very cringey. Plus all the shenanigans on the spaceship were solved with a dumb reveal, and "you can never escape yourself" cliches left the Mars trip feeling very pointless.
Julia tried to cultivate this girl power energy, but the writing was so strangely illogical, and they acted like PBS was full of self-important snobs who don't get good television. It acted like that lady producer personally invented syndication when she kept selling the TV show to other stations. Plus, if you have been removed from Julia's show to work on another show, the way to ingratiate yourself is to sell the hell out of the book show, not the cooking show you've been removed from. The way you prove you're valuable, is to do the job you were given. Also, they kept talking about how Julia's husband was so supportive, but they kept showing how her husband was jealous of her increasing fame and success. It makes me angry and irritated all the time, and I haven't even finished all the episodes. Definitely not going to see season 2.
I usually enjoy Seth Meyer's show, especially when Amber Ruffin appears, because she's usually positive and upbeat. (Of course sometimes Amber is more scathing during serious segments on her own Peacock show.) So I thought that Seth's show on May 3rd would have a great take on the Supreme Court draft ruling, especially since so many of the writing staff are women. But no. They were fucking horrible. First Seth pooh-poohed Biden's statement that voters needed to elect more pro-choice politicians. That's a simple statement of fact. What the fuck is wrong with that? Just one or two more pro-choice Senators, and we could override Manchin and Sinema. They'd be irrelevant. But Meyers made it sound like Biden is shifting blame over something that's somehow his fault. It's his fault he doesn't have a bigger majority in Congress? The fuck is wrong with you, Seth?
Then Jenny and Amber played generic Democratic politicians and their whole "comedy" segment was to say that Democrats can't do anything, can't fix anything; why do you bother believing in these stupid failures who never deliver? What the fuck is that? At the very moment we're trying to win elections for midterms, you come out with shit that makes people stop voting, because apparently it's fucking futile to even try or care about issues. What the fuck is your solution, then? Do nothing? Move to Canada? (This is just like climate change deniers saying, "it's too late. We're all doomed. Why do anything?")
From Amber and Jenny, I was expecting something more feminist and rallying, like Elizabeth Warren's rage or Kamala Harris saying, "how dare they?" Instead I get fucking defeatism. At least have Amber show some incandescent rage, like she'll get worked up against other injustices. Is this cynical apathy a symptom of New York people? Because I've found other late night comedians talk that way before. They need to experience how bad it can get in a red state, when you don't have any good choices to vote for. What a bad fucking taste you've left in my mouth.
So, that Supreme Court leak gives us a glimpse of the horrible future. I guess the ruling doesn't become official until June or so, when it officially gets released?
But already the GOP are trying to shift the narrative, trying to make the leak itself the outrage instead of the ruling. A lot of the mainstream media articles were trying to help the GOP paint this decision as "neutral" as letting abortion be "left up to the states" to decide, as if we don't remember "states' rights" arguments for slavery. But that's bullshit, anyway, because plenty of Republicans are willing to talk up their plans about retaking Congress so they can pass a nationwide abortion ban. So no, they're not even willing to let us have safe havens in blue states. They're coming for us all.
As I said in my previous post:
If Roe V. Wade gets struck down, Republicans are going to continue trying to pass worse and worse laws. Not just against abortion, but against trans rights, civil rights, education, etc. No place will be safe.
So yep, no place is going to be safe, and there's no minority rights that they won't try to overturn. So I hope blue state Democrats will stop talking about letting Texas secede, abandoning vulnerable people who can't leave. We gotta fight for all the states, or we'll have none.
Oh, and apparently there were some primary elections on Tuesday. Hope for good results.
Early voting starts today for the runoff elections in May. I have to double check that I remember which candidates I support for school boards and such.
Meanwhile Macron won his election in France, which is good news. He even admitted that he needs to address his liberal critics.
Also I rewatched Everything Everywhere All at Once, and enjoyed the beginning part I missed. Really great movie. I've been trying to watch other movies on HBO Max lately, but for some reason it's not working on my devices, even after I sign out and sign back in. I guess I'll try to see some still in theaters like The Batman.
Thousands of Etsy sellers were on strike, so I didn't buy anything there for that week. There's been no news that Etsy changed its fee hike, though.
Lately I've been doing more sewing and even bought a dress form off ebay, though it's not my size. I'm thinking of sewing a belt-ish thing to pin on it and increase the waist. I do have some leftover cotton stuffing and some fabric to make it. Basically I'm short and the clothes I want to wear are too long, so I have to hem them or even redo the waistline because it's up to my bust. I recently mastered a rolled hem, which is an easy way to hem some fabrics. Not sure if I'll spring for a sewing machine yet. All my stitches are by hand right now and I really don't remember how to use a machine, though I'm sure they covered it in my high school home ec class.
Meanwhile, Barbie sent two dolls to space, and there's been a lot of news about casting the Margot Robbie movie. I'm interested to see it and hope it will be fun and subversive. I bought another doll recently, as well as a tiered cart to sort my collection in. I also put together a desk too and brought out a ladder to change LED light bulbs in my ceiling lights. I still hate the stupid overhead lights that my house came with, because I need like three hands to hold the heavy glass and screw in the tiny screws holding up the glass. Why can't they be some type of snap-lock fastening?
This year Passover, Easter, and Ramadan coincided. I don't celebrate any of those holidays, though I don't mind others who do. But on Saturday in the grocery checkout line, I heard one woman say, "Happy Resurrection Weekend" to the cashier. Is that a thing that people are calling Easter now? Is it like evangelical Christians who say that slogan about "the reason for the season" at Christmas time? And who was she to assume that the cashier was Christian like her? He could have been Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, atheist, etc. So weird.
In other news Greg Abbott finally backed off his wacko border security inspections; rather than recognizing federal authority, he claims that he has made agreements with governors of four Mexican states. Since when does a governor in the U.S. get to negotiate security agreements with leaders in foreign countries? What the fuck? I heard that Mexican truckers were doing blockades in protest of Abbott's absurd policies. This was all just a publicity stunt for Abbott, who's up for election this year. He and Dan Patrick need to go!
Also, after all the outcry, the district attorney dropped the murder charge against that Texas woman who was arrested for having an abortion. But how many other women will go through this in other states? Blue state people who tell Texas Democrats to move away just don't get that no state will be safe. If Roe V. Wade gets struck down, Republicans are going to continue trying to pass worse and worse laws. Not just against abortion, but against trans rights, civil rights, education, etc. No place will be safe.
I finally finished Our Flag Means Death, but it wasn't as lighthearted and celebratory as I'd hoped. Yes there are queer couples on the show, and we do get onscreen kisses, but the season ended on a downbeat cliffhanger. From the way that fans raved exultantly, I thought we'd get a happy ending. Instead we get couples being split up, and a crew stranded to die on an island. Worst of all, Izzy Hands didn't get thrown off the ship or killed off for his betrayal. I'm so fucking tired of his negativity and would have rather lost him than the other pirate. So anyway, yeah it's enjoyable enough for an absurdist comedy, and I did like seeing Joel Fry as Frenchie, but I was disappointed after all the hype. Reminds me of how Arrested Development did that great Gob/Tony Wonder romance, but kept splitting them up, undid Gob's coming out, and denied us a happy ending. Plus the writers left in the Narrator insisting that the magicians were just friends, so us Blunder shippers still gotta argue with other viewers about whether the romance was even real. Fuck!
Anyway, I also saw Michelle Yeoh's new multiverse movie, and it was wildly manic and original. At first I thought that Lana Condor was playing the daughter Joy, but later I learned she was actually Stephanie Hsu, who I've only seen as Soo, the married friend in Shang-Chi. Joy is a much bigger part for her, and she was very good at playing the wide range of emotions from terrifying to vulnerable despair. I came in a little late to the beginning, but was able to follow most of the plot. I might rewatch to see the beginning..
I finally got my taxes done last week after putting them off so long, so I should get my refund soon.
Meanwhile, the CW announced the premiere date for Tom Swift for May 31. I'm just glad the show didn't get canceled due to the pandemic. I finally watched the Nancy Drew episode that introduced him. I wonder if his relationship with his father will still be strained or not. Lots of gadgets including his AI assistant voiced by Levar Burton. I hope it will be a good show, and not get tiresome like Nancy Drew did, with its endless ghosts. Maybe they will do the futuristic high-tech stuff that they tried to do with the Painkiller spinoff.
Also, I've been hearing a lot of praise for HBO's pirate show Our Flag Means Death, but haven't watched it yet. It's apparently got a gay romance at its heart, and I recently saw screencaps showing that Will Arnett is in it too. So I'll have to see that soon. I could use something lighthearted and celebratory in these days of so much anti-LGBT legislation.
Well, Will Smith issued a public apology including Chris Rock this time, so that helps a little. Initially I was willing to let his overreaction go due to Chris Rock's tasteless joke about Jada's alopecia, but then during Will's acceptance speech he cried and rambled on, seemingly implying that he was being overprotective of his wife due to how overprotective he was of the young actresses playing Venus and Serena. And he pointedly did not apologize to Chris Rock at that time, so it started to make me feel that he didn't get what was wrong with his behavior. Yes he had the right to be upset on his wife's behalf, but he could have just sat there giving Rock a death glare, or could have squeezed his wife's hand supportively. And he could have waited for a moment backstage or after the Oscars to confront Rock, and demand an apology. If he had done those things, then the public would have criticized Rock for the joke, and pointed out his hypocrisy after his Good Hair documentary. But instead Will reacted violently, and that's what hurt him.
I do think that the Academy shouldn't condone violence, and people should rightly discuss toxic masculinity, abusive behavior, etc. However, I find the idea that they should take away his Oscar is a bit extreme. In fact I agree that there have been much uglier moments in Oscar history than that slap. As long as Harvey Weinstein and Roman Polanski continue to keep their Oscars, then no, I don't think Will Smith ought to lose his. He needs to maybe take some anger management classes, or be fined money, or do community service. Or maybe not be allowed to attend the ceremony in the future. That seems more reasonable compared to his offense.
It's unfortunate that the whole slapping incident has overshadowed other stuff that happened at the Oscars such as CODA winning, Summer of Soul winning for documentary, Ariana Debose winning for West Side Story, and Liza Minelli appearing with Lady Gaga to present an award. I remember Liza as Lucille Austero on Arrested Development, and it's sad to see her so frail in a wheelchair.
Gemma Chan is going to star in a biopic about Anna May Wong! This is long overdue for the Hollywood icon who faced so much racial discrimination in her career. I'm so happy at the news. Gemma previously paid tribute to Wong during her Met Gala appearance in 2021. I hope it will be good, and that the Oscars won't overlook it like they did The Farewell a couple of years ago, and other deserving films. Unfortunately, Oscars remain so white in a lot of ways. I recently watched Flower Drum Song, which Wong was cast in before she died, and they had to cast another actress Juanita Hall in her part.
The Oscars are tonight, too, though apparently there's some controversy about them cutting some categories or condensing them or something. Trying to shorten the show I guess. I don't really care about them anymore.
I did notice that HBO Max is about to have a Julia Child biopic as well as a new rom-com staring Lana Condor. I'll look forward to seeing those at the end of the March.
Well, since a lot of TV is preempted by March Madness basketball until early April, I've been looking for shows and movies on streaming. I haven't been keeping up regularly with Gilded Age that much, though I still enjoy Peggy's story. I hope the finale will be good.
I just recently discovered that HBO Max has the 1977 version of Roots, (but it's been edited to 6 episodes instead of 8). I had always heard about this miniseries but never found it available before. Alex Haley's book had originally been treated as nonfiction, but he later admitted to plagiarizing some of it, so it's more like a historical novel based on oral traditions in his family. Anyway, I was always skeptical that Haley really could have traced his family all the way back to a specific man from Africa, because on Finding Your Roots, Henry Louis Gates says it's rare and lucky to be able to find a slave ancestor prior to 1870. I can think of Kunta Kinte and his family as just symbolic stand-ins representing generations of history for many African American descendents of slaves. Just like Lee Daniel's The Butler fictionalized a real man's biography so he could portray an epic about Black America under different Presidents in the White House.
Anyway, I've just watched the first episode of Roots, with Kunta Kinte living in Gambia before getting captured by slavers. Levar Burton plays the fifteen year old boy living with his parents, then he effectively conveys his change in attitude after returning from the ritual training for all the village boys. Once he is officially declared a man, Kunta doesn't defer as much to his mother anymore and says a woman should not give him orders. So African tribes have their own version of patriarchy. But his grandmother visits him in his new home as if to remind him to still defer to his elders. This unfortunately leads to his capture.
Meanwhile, the captain of the slaveship acts like he's uncomfortable with the slavery and the brutality of it, yet he lets the first mate Slater talk him into believing that the Africans are subhuman cannibals who totally deserve subjugation and cruelty. At first Davies protests at the idea of raping the women slaves, though he only talks of the fornication as a sin damaging to the ship's crew, not about the damage to the women. Slater insists that the ship's crew need it, and Davies acquiesces. I keep thinking, "Why can't you say no to him? Why can't you forbid him, since you're the captain?" But the only thing that Davies gives a firm no on is overcrowding the ship with 200 slaves, tightly packed. Davies insists that 170 slaves "loosely packed" is just fine for the cargo. And later Slater brings an African woman to the captain's cabin, and Davies doesn't refuse. He presumably rapes her, though thankfully we don't see it. We don't even hear screams from the other women who are probably being raped too. It's really chilling to see that even white men like Davies still uphold the racist system and do nothing to stop the evil. I guess that's the power of this miniseries, confronting mainstream America with the ugly inhumanity of slavery.
I really enjoyed Pixar's latest film, a story about "magical puberty" manifesting as a giant red panda. The heroine is a 13-year old Chinese Canadian girl named Mei, and the movie is full of tiny details familiar to any Asian immigrant, including the beaded seat cushion in Ming's car as she talks to Mei. The cooking scene with Mei's father Jin is also visually stunning, almost photorealistic, which makes it weird that the people are animated in a more cartoony style. I guess they're trying to avoid uncanny valley. Nevertheless, the movie is a great universal story about puberty and mother/daughter conflicts, despite some reviewer insisting that the story has limited appeal to a specific demographic. That's a very myopic viewpoint, and I've seen A.V. Club commenters defending that guy too, which is exhausting. Some people are trying to pretend that girls don't think about sex at that age, but I assure you that I was deeply into fanfic back then, and eventually in high school I became an ardent Holmes/Watson slash writer. Just because we're not having sex that young, doesn't mean we're not thinking about sex yet. I mean, would you ever imagine that teen boys aren't thinking about it? Too many parents imagine that their kids are still pure innocent babies long after they're not. You can't keep your kid from growing up, no matter how in denial you are.
Turning Red is just as universal as any of the other family movies put out by Disney/Pixar like Encanto or Inside Out. They appeal to kids who are dealing with generational differences and struggling with the emotions of growing up. It's only just recently that stories centered on white males have finally stepped back enough to let other kinds of families step into the light. Especially during Women's History Month, I appreciate having the girls in Turning Red free to be unabashedly themselves. It's such a fun movie about friendship and family that I hope the controversy will get more people to watch it.
Despite all the insanity against trans kids in Texas and Florida, there has been some heartening news too, with Congress being able to pass major legislation like postal reform, anti-lynching, and the Violence Against Women act that had lapsed for a few years. I don't know if the Republicans are too distracted by the Ukraine war to stonewall and try to shut down the government again, but at least Biden can sign some more laws now. I'm very glad that the Post Office doesn't have to absurdly pre-fund 75 years of benefits anymore. That has been hampering them for a long time.
Plus a Texas judge has put an injunction on Texas investigating families based on the pseudo-legal declaration that trans healthcare was "child abuse." Abbott has been trying to out-crazy other rightwing opponents, but he and Dan Patrick have really become asshole despots with these lies. As if the GOP hadn't gone too far already with the abortion law and the voter suppression law.
I'm glad that the DNC will fund a voter registration director, because Texas Democrats are going to need all the help they can get. We have been trying forever to turn Texas blue, and now it seems we're just fighting to survive. I really hope that Beto's campaign can make a difference too.
I'm still processing results of the Texas primaries on Tuesday. Some of my candidates won, while others made it to the runoffs in May. No idea if the results would have been different if not for the voter suppression law.
I was able to watch Biden's State of the Union address. He flubbed a few lines, but did fine for someone with a stutter. I didn't like his "fund the police" line, but I understand he's trying to give Democrats cover so that Republicans don't keep screaming about us all trying to defund the police. On the other hand, they'll probably keep lying anyway. They have no shame.
Meanwhile, Amber Ruffin's show came back but now the newer episodes are Peacock Premium only. I can still watch clips on the Youtube channel, but I guess I'll have to upgrade eventually. Might as well, to see the rest of Rutherford Falls, Bel-Air, etc. At least she's still free on Seth Meyer's show.
Batwoman ended season 3 with a happy-ish ending but with a hint of what could be next season. If it does continue, I wish there would be less angst and horror. Can't a superhero show be more hopeful, or is that just how Gotham is? I'd even take more heroic action sequences even though I can't follow fight scenes well. Just something to break up the gloom and cynicism. Mary Hamilton used to be the bright and cute part of the show but they put her character through the wringer.
Russia invading Ukraine threatens to cause a war such as Europe hasn't seen in decades. Biden is imposing sanctions, and hopefully NATO can help too. Putin can't be allowed to just annex more countries, and remake some kind of Russian Empire. I remember the Bosnian War in the 1990s, and can only hope this war won't be as catastrophic as one of the World Wars.
In the meantime I've been watching historical TV fiction like Young Indiana Jones and The Gilded Age, featuring real people like Teddy Roosevelt and Clara Barton as characters. I have the DVDs of Young Indiana Jones, and the special features include historical documentaries about the famous people and events included in the episodes. They even had young Indy meeting the daughter of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and falling in love with her. One of the documentaries explained the history of the Habsburgs, Ferdinand's marriage to Sophie, and their assassination in Serbia. His uncle the Emperor Franz Joseph was kind of heartless about it, basically glad that his nephew would not inherit the throne of Austria-Hungary. Franz Joseph apparently preferred a different heir. But that assassination snowballed into an international crisis and the Great War. He didn't live to see the end of the war, or that his precious Austria-Hungary would collapse.
Even the recent movie The King's Man gives its own revisionist take on World War I, re-crafting it as a spy thriller and comic book action movie. Thus, Ferdinand's assassin Gavrilo Princip becomes a member of an international conspiracy led by the mysterious Shepherd. The supervillain's Flock aims to start a war to destroy European monarchies (and England in particular). I found it interesting that this fictional story did keep the fact that there were multiple attempts on the Archduke. He and his wife Sophie survived an attempted bombing on their car ride before unwisely going out again that day; they wanted to visit bombing victims in the hospital. They happened to drive near a cafe where the assassin Princip took the opportunity to shoot them. That is a real chilling part of the history, even though the writers inserted their own characters into it. Also, the movie has a fairly ridiculous concept of Orlando Oxford being a pacifist while secretly operating a spy ring that plots to poison Rasputin. Oxford's son Conrad meanwhile wants to fulfill his duty by joining the war, not wanting to be called a coward. For a movie starring a British hero, it's not afraid to show a concentration camp from the Boer War. (To think, Conan Doyle wrote a pamphlet defending Britain's actions in this war! What a thing to be knighted for!) Oxford also flashes back to some war atrocities in Africa I think, when he decided to leave the army for the Red Cross. We also hear about the Zimmerman telegram, and Oxford quotes Wilfred Owen's poem Dulce Et Decorum Est when mourning the bloody horror of the war. It's a weird mix of real history and fiction.
But I hope that current world leaders do remember the mistakes of the past, and can try their best not to repeat it with our current war.
Early voting is still in progress for the March primaries, though mail-in ballots are still being rejected at an alarming rate, as the GOP's election law suppresses the vote. Texas limits vote by mail anyway to only a handful of reasons. I don't know if anybody will be able to get the issue fixed in time for the November elections. I did manage to vote in person last week after doing some candidate research the the League of Women Voters. Plus lots of election flyers have come in the mail lately.
Meanwhile I got my free N95 masks but I don't like the 3M design, with horizontal straps that go over your head instead of ear loops. It doesn't look very comfortable to wear, so I'm sticking with my cloth masks for now. I'm vaccinated and boosted.
I recently made a lasagna without ricotta cheese; I thought I had some cottage cheese to substitute, but it had gone bad. So I ended up using spinach and a little bit of mozzarella cheese. It turned out okay. Then I baked a nice yellow cake that smelled so good. I wanted to eat it while hot, but I let it cool because my frosting recipe said the cake had to be completely cool. So I made the frosting, even waiting a long time to soften the butter, but it still came out bad. My mixer just wouldn't blend the butter completely and the frosting kept getting stuck on the beaters. It didn't taste that good either. So I'm not gonna bother with homemade frosting again, and I can't buy the premade stuff that's full of palm oil either. Next time I'll just eat the cake while it's piping hot.
