Officially Summer

With the solstice yesterday, it's now actually summer, though it has felt like that for weeks already. My new AC is working, though sometimes the fans blow rather loudly. However I got an email from ERCOT pleading for people to use less energy due to the high June temperatures. Hey, wasn't using any AC for days, and I'm not a wasteful idiot setting the thermostat to 68 degrees in summer. In fact I'm always too cold at work, where they set AC at 72 or so. I'm always conserving energy. We'll see if the electrical grid can survive. How I wish we could get on the national grid, but Texas GOP are too stupid to do that.

Meanwhile I finished the Keyshawn Solves It podcast on PBS. It was pretty enjoyable, and I liked the focus on Juneteenth.

The writer's strike goes on and on, with the studios refusing to budge. All the networks are planning to air various reality shows this fall, to make up for lack of new scripted shows. I don't know why they can't just negotiate; nobody is on their side against the writers. Are we gonna get stuck rewatching old shows and reading books like in the pandemic? TV execs are replaceable, not the writers.

Because of all the hype, I finally watched Ted Lasso on Apple TV+ but I stopped midway through season 2. Everybody raved about how it was sunny, optimistic, and feelgood, but I didn't agree. It was only that way part of the time, and it seemed more melancholy; clearly, Ted's folksy manner was masking his sadness at being separated from his family. The comedy was very mild and overshadowed by too much drama. It got annoying how weird Ted was with the sports psychologist, and I didn't like the show wrecking the good relationship between Roy and Keely. It became basically a rollercoaster soap opera, and the reviews for season 3 talked about bloat and losing its way, so I quit while I was ahead.

Meanwhile on Disney+, I enjoyed the Muppets Mayhem focusing on the Electric Mayhem band. It took a while to get the human characters, but I did like seeing Lilly Singh work with the muppets. Her boss, Penny Waxman, was a delight. I liked that Janice had an allergy to lying, forcing Nora to come clean; it reminded me of Charlie detecting lies on Poker Face. There were fun cameos from famous musicians and good music in most episodes. We got backstories about Dr. Teeth and the other band members. I was surprised about the origin stories for Animal and even the band's van. It was a nice, fun, breezy show.

Juneteenth Weekend

I usually don't like horror movies, but I was looking for a movie so I could go to an air-conditioned theater, so I decided to try The Blackening which is advertised as a satire/comedy. It is still horror, with jump scares and violent deaths, but I got through it by covering my eyes at parts. What I did see wasn't too gory, and it was funny. The film takes place during a Juneteenth reunion at a cabin in the woods, as several black friends are forced to play a game and get stalked by a killer. I won't spoil more.

I definitely am not going to see The Flash, and am glad that it's not doing well at box office. I'm still mad at Warner Brothers for not cancelling this film and defending it as somehow great and essential for people to see. Many folks claimed that this film would do a multiverse reset or some crossover something that they needed to reboot all their superhero movies. But nope, what I hear is that it's a stupid time-travel story with stupid cameos from alternate universes. Fuck you for not punishing this actor for their controversies! Fuck you for choosing to write off Batgirl instead, when they didn't do anything wrong! I hope you lose millions of dollars on this poor decision.

Anyway, I am getting a new AC installed Monday, so I still got to get through Sunday without AC. Still relying on fans at home; will go visit my dad for Father's Day. After that I might see the Spiderverse movie, though I don't remember much of the first film.

Melting

The last few days, something's been wrong with my air conditioner. It sounds like the inside fan is going hard all day, but it doesn't get any cooler. The temperature is about 94, even though I set the thermostat to 82 or so. That means that it is literally cooler outside (in Texas heat) than it is inside my house. No use wasting all the energy to no effect, so I turned off the thermostat for now. Better to use that electricity for my ceiling fan and some box fans to cool the rooms I'm in. Still it's so hard to sleep in the heat.

I've been sweating constantly and only in the mood to eat ice cream or yogurt to cool me. The condenser/whatever unit outside the house is clearly not working, because the outdoor fan is not turning and it made no motor sound at all. Tomorrow I'll try cleaning it thoroughly, but if that still doesn't fix it, then I'll have to call in professional help. I hope I can afford it, otherwise I'll have to use my credit card.

Well at least the Supreme Court upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act. That law was created to belatedly make up for the abusive Indian Boarding Schools and other policies to steal Native kids away from their tribes. Australia had a similar policy resulting in Lost Generations given to white parents to raise. Stop trying to eradicate their culture, or undermine tribal sovereignty!

Jubilant

Lots of people are jubilant about the Trump indictment this week, but I'm excited that Chevalier is back in AMC theatres this week, so I can see it again. I've been waiting for it to appear on Disney+ but I heard it might go to Hulu for streaming instead.

Also, I found this new PBS Kids podcast called "Keyshawn Solves It" which is a mystery podcast. They call it a video, but it is all audio, like a radio play. It's about a 10-year old Black boy living in North Minneapolis. He loves detective books and decides to solve a mystery with a new friend Kiki. His family and friends also talk about an upcoming Juneteenth parade. I like it so far.

Happy Pride

So they finally got the debt ceiling raised and Biden should sign it soon. They say the deal lasts until January 2025, so hopefully the drama is done for now. Also I found out that the local May elections resulted in a run-off election; I initially assumed that the frontrunner won outright, but it looks like we have another chance. Early voting is this week and part of next week. I'll have to do it this weekend.

Also Ken Paxton got impeached! At first I wasn't excited because I thought he wouldn't get convicted in the State Senate, but I read that he's suspended without pay from his job already. Sure, Abbott just appointed another GOP lackey as interim attorney general, but it seems he's going against Paxton's lackeys. Let the GOP continue to fight amongst themselves.

Meanwhile I bought a cool pack of Sherlock Holmes playing cards. This one, there's a different illustration on each card. Too many packs online have just unique face cards, and then repeat them for each suit. The deck I got actually has a theme for each suit, and we do get different characters to be jacks, queens, kings, and aces. I like it, and it comes in a nice box with a booklet.

Anyway happy Pride month despite all the transphobic satanic panics from rightwingers lately. I look forward to Juneteenth too.