Good Trouble

Congratulations to Cory Booker for speaking for over 25 hours in the Senate. (I don't care that it wasn't technically a filibuster.) I was only able to watch part of it before going to work, but he spoke passionately about American history and how we fought fascism in Europe only to now betray our allies and our own principles. I'm glad he invoked John Lewis too, and that other Democrats helped participate with their questions. Please let more Democrats speak out and make good trouble. Yes Democrats have limited power now, but we can take some stands and not just quietly obey.

And I'm glad that Wisconsin defeated the Musk-approved judge on Tuesday. At least one election couldn't be bought by the billionaire. I really hope Musk and DOGE will leave. How come his other companies don't beg for him to stop destroying their brands?

Meanwhile, I was sad to hear that Val Kilmer died, far too young. My favorite movies of his were Thunderheart and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Thunderheart was a good drama on Native American themes, and it alluded to Leonard Peltier. I'm glad that Leonard Peltier finally got clemency from Biden so he could go home, even if still not fully free.

I'll miss Richard Chamberlain too, though sometimes I would confuse him with Christopher Plummer. I was too young for any of Chamberlain's famous miniseries, so I knew him mainly as the prince from The Slipper and The Rose. I was going to try to watch Dr Kildare, but apparently that TV show is not streaming anywhere. Perhaps I'll try finding some of his other movies like theThree Musketeers or Count of Monte Cristo?

Sherlockian Rant

I listened to this podcast episode on Irene Adler from a female Sherlockian Toni Sutherland, and it enraged me. To be clear, Irene is only the focus of this one episode; I think the podcast in general is about Sherlockian "conspiracy theories" and discussing TV show episodes as far as I can tell. There is one supportive guy on the episode, citing a Sherlockian book to add to Toni's point about a conspiracy to belittle Irene Adler.

Blooming bluebonnets

Well, spring is in full swing with flowers on the roadsides and thunderstorms. Plus a lot of road construction trying to deal with potholes I guess.

There are important elections soon in Wisconsin and Florida, and in Texas there will be elections in May. We're already seeing political signs on local streets, but I haven't heard any radio ads yet.

I'm disheartened that Amber Ruffin won't be hosting the White House Correspondents' Dinner after all. Such cowards. I wonder if she will respond on Seth Meyer's show and/or her CNN panel show Have I Got News For You. I don't watch that, since I don't have cable. I started to do my taxes this year, but it looks like I owe money. Just my luck. At least I'll get a raise at work.

I went out to watch a new movie called The Penguin Lessons starring Steve Coogan. This a charming, funny movie about a British schoolteacher working in 1970s Argentina and rescuing a penguin from an oil slick. He cleaned up the penguin to impress his kindhearted date, then got stuck with the bird when it wouldn't return to the sea. Michell hides the bird in his campus apartment and also uses it to motivate his students during English lessons. At first you think the movie will be all about the penguin and the grumpy Michell learning to love life, but then one of his new friends is "disappeared" by the fascist government regime. Scary, especially as the US has recently started disappearing people too. Michell eventually finds some bravery and even makes his poetry lessons more politically/intellectually challenging. The movie is based on a true story, but I don't know how loose an adaptation of the memoir it is. I enjoyed it, though. If you don't find hope in the world, you give up the will to fight.

Still disappointed

I'm listening to the Sherlock & Co podcasts again, reluctantly. I've said before that I dislike these podcasts, but I keep listening to them, hoping they'll eventually get to "Speckled Band" or do something remarkable/original in their modern updates on the Canon. But it's a really hard slog because they make Watson into such a bumbling, rambling comic relief, and they bloat the episodes with so much filler content that they think is humorous. It got really egregious in The Red Circle, where the story was simply a mafia story, that had no relation to the Canon story. They didn't even make use of the story's clever ruse where this man rented a room, then sneaked his wife in there, forever in hiding from the landlady, while he tried to fight their enemies. Despite using character names from the Red Circle, they used nothing else; it's like when they totally skipped the case from Study in Scarlet. So yeah, that's two Canon stories you've failed to do, you lying podcasters!

War and chaos

So Israel broke the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, as I knew they would. It's not like the US has ever held them accountable, and now it's even worse with Trump blathering about deporting all Palestinians so he can do his obscene resort idea. I expect Russia will do the same in Ukraine, so I hope the EU's forces will be able to mobilize in time. Canada probably will align with Europe to to counteract the chaos in America

Meanwhile, Unilever fired Ben & Jerry's CEO, which is the latest blow in their many disputes over Ben & Jerry's pro-Palestinian stance. I hadn't eaten Ben & Jerry's ice cream since their brand was bought out, but this is just blatantly politically motivated interference. So I'll be boycotting more of Unilever's brands. I've already been avoiding lots of corporate brands in my search for palm-oil free products, so this will just involve me being more careful to check for the Unilever logo on the back of things in the grocery store. Thankfully I found new alternatives for bar soap since Ethique discontinued some of their products.

I hope more protests and boycotts will make Trump and Musk back down on things. It's disgusting how they're targeting trans folks and immigrants. My family are immigrants too, and things are getting ugly and dangerous.

More Theatre

I went to see Penelope at Stage West. It's like a play/musical, where Penelope tells the audience about her life waiting for Odysseus to return from the Trojan War, but often she breaks into song, while the band plays and acts as a Greek chorus. The website describes it as a "solo cabaret" and the audience seating was arranged to feel like you were at a bar or nightclub. I saw a show with the understudy Rowan Gilvie, and they were wonderful.

Meanwhile I look forward to the next production, the 2nd Sherlock Holmes play in David MacGregor's trilogy. I hope it will be as funny as last season's Elusive Ear production. If you can't see any of these plays near you, apparently you can buy the trilogy in book form too.

There seems to be a comedy Moriarty play in Allen, currently, but I don't think I want to drive that far to see it. The description of an international mystery with spies also turns me off. But good luck to them.