A Review of the Biopic Elvis

Culture / Film & Reviews / Pop CultureLeave a comment

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I grew up in the 1950s, and heard him on the radio (AM stations playing pop music, of course) in the late part of the decade when Elvis was at his artistic peak. As a pre-teen, I wasn’t a fan of anyone in particular, but I liked what I heard of early rock & roll in general, including his music. It had spirit, guts, spark, and it annoyed my parents. As I entered my teens, Elvis was still around, making movies, making music, but so were others. He went from being the bad boy of rock to something more pastel, … click below for more ↓

Now is the Summer of Our Disconnect

Daily life / Musings / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

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I was reminded this morning of Henry David Thoreau, who wrote about his bean field in Walden, his famous journal of contemplations about living on his own in a rustic cabin, about Concord, about democracy, about his neighbours. Somewhat like Michel de Montaigne, albeit writing three centuries later, Thoreau seemed to find something to write about in every aspect of his two-year sojourn in the woods, no matter how mundane. And one of those things he wrote about was beans. Yes: beans. The more you eat… What triggered my memory of that chapter — I have not read Walden for … click below for more ↓

How Another Film Triggered Fragile MAGA Men Into Manufactured Rage

Film & Reviews / MAGA cultists / Rightwing claptrap5 Comments

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Elon Musk, aka the MAGA SpaceNazi, was so triggered by Christopher Nolan’s recent film, The Odyssey (or more accurately the casting in it), that he huffily screamed on Xitter that his shitty, Musk-influenced AI program, Grok, would produce a manlier, AI-generated version by year end that was “historically accurate” and “true to the art of Homer.” Variety Magazine wryly noted that, “Given the presence of cyclops, six-headed monsters and a witch who turns sailors into pigs in “The Odyssey,” a nearly 2,800 year old epic considered to be a work of fiction, how “historically accurate” any retelling — AI generated or … click below for more ↓

Red Scare Number Three

Ideologies / MAGA cultists / Politics / Rightwing claptrap2 Comments

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The USA is going through yet another Red Scare — its third in barely a century — according to the paranoid, hyperbolic statements made by the Deranged Dictator Donald Trump in his speech, July 4. Trump’s comments were made at his failed “Freedom 250” event, which he hosted to replace the celebration of the USA’s 250th birthday. That change was appropriate, given the USA ceased to be a democracy in its 249th year, and has been a fascist autocracy since Trump’s re-election. On the surface, at least if you are gullible, lack the ability for critical thinking, or are one … click below for more ↓

-Ocracies and -Isms: How the USA Broke

MAGA cultists / Talibangelists and pseudo-Christians / Trump fascism / What I'm Reading Now7 Comments

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Once upon a time, the USA was a democracy. While vestiges of democracy can still be found in the USA, it is being actively and aggressively eradicated at the federal level, and also in several Repugnican-controlled states like Texas. But what has the USA become post-democracy? Democracy is a portmanteau word meaning, “government by the people, system of government in which the sovereign power is vested in the people as a whole exercising power directly or by elected officials.” It is conflated from from two ancient Greek words: dēmos, meaning “common people,” and kratos, meaning “rule,” or “strength.” It first … click below for more ↓

Safety Razors and Shaving Again

Daily life / Musings / Personal Reminiscences3 Comments

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It’s been a few years since I last posted about my excursions into shaving with a safety razor (double-edged blades). In my last post on the subject, dated almost exactly six years ago, I had just purchased a Wilkinson twist-to-open (TTO) or butterfly head razor. Well, quite a few years have passed without new purchases until this past weekend, when two new razors arrived. Photo on the right: Bambaw (left) and Charman. More on these two, below. Both are inexpensive models, bought on Amazon (I know, I know: I try to avoid using Amazon and always buy locally where I … click below for more ↓

Richard Dawkins and “Cultural Christianity”

Christianity / Critical Thinking / Faith / MusingsLeave a comment

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Richard Dawkins is no stranger to shaking the cultural tree to see what falls out. In 2024, Dawkins was interviewed by Rachel Johnson on British TV. He noted in that interview that he was a “cultural Christian.” And did that statement ever create a ruckus among both the faithful and nonbelievers. Some even went so far as to claim Dawkins had converted from his lifelong atheism. Piffle.* The Christian Concern website asked “Is ‘Cultural Christianity’ good news?” and said no in response. The site noted that “cultural Christians… want some of the ‘fruit’ of Christianity without the ‘root’.” No “cultural … click below for more ↓

Harold Hill and the Apostle Paul

Christianity / Film & Reviews / MusingsOne Comment

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As I was watching the musical, The Music Man, recently, it struck me that there were obvious parallels between the plot of the musical and the story of the Apostle Paul and the origins of Christianity as Paul grew it from an obscure apocalyptic sect into a widespread religion. Are these similarities deliberate? Or merely coincidental? I don’t know, but the musical sure seemed to me an allegorical and maybe even satirical take on how the apostle Paul (aka Saul) created and spread Christianity. Let me explain.* In the musical, “Professor” Harold Hill (played brilliantly by Robert Preston) is the … click below for more ↓

How Not to Communicate by Email

Bureaucratic malaise / Language & Grammar / Publicity & Communications / Style & usage8 Comments

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The average person, the MIT Communication Lab tells us, “receives ~120 emails/day and spends about 11hrs/week sorting through emails.” Matt Plummer, in a 2019 article titled, How to Spend Way Less Time on Email Every Day, adds, “The average professional spends 28% of the work day reading and answering email… that amounts to a staggering 2.6 hours spent and 120 messages received per day.” That’s a lot of content to work through every day, and a lot of time spent doing it. It behooves senders to make sure their emails are formatted and written to make the best use of … click below for more ↓

The Stepford Wives in Novel, Film, and MAGA Policy

Books & Reviews / Film & Reviews / MAGA cultists / Rightwing claptrap3 Comments

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They never stop, these Stepford wives;/The work like robots all their lives. That little ditty is said by Joanna, the protagonist in Ira Levin’s 1972 novel, The Stepford Wives. She said it to herself while watching a neighbouring woman through a window, as the other mechanically polishes one of her husband’s athletic trophies. It’s a tell: we are soon to learn that the neighbour is — and most of the other women in Stepford are — really a robot controlled by their husbands. Which, we know now, is the perfect MAGA wife: a sexbot that can cook and do the … click below for more ↓

Pray for a Parking Space

Christianity / Faith / Religious piffleLeave a comment

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Before I started down this rabbit hole, I had imagined that any post or video about praying for a parking space would be a joke, or perhaps a spoof of obsessive Christianity. Maybe a satire, accompanied by a cute meme. That it would be posted by some testy scofflaw who ridicules religion with hyperbole and snark. But I was wrong. It’s not only real, but has sparked lengthy posts both in defence of it and debate about whether it’s the right thing for Christians to do. And there are posts suggesting the “proper” way to go about petitioning your deity … click below for more ↓

Goodbye to an Old Friend

Daily life / Musings / Personal ReminiscencesOne Comment

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Some days there are moments that make you stop and ask yourself how you ever got to this time and place. You stare at the clouds, unfocused, remembering, the past and wondering how you ever got this old. I had one of those days, recently, when I learned that my oldest friend had died some months ago and I had no idea of his passing. I only discovered it when a letter I had sent to him in late 2024 was returned, unopened, 18 months later. I was puzzled, but worried. Clearly, something had happened. I did an internet search … click below for more ↓

The Thousand and One Nights Again

Books & Reviews / Classics / Musings / What I'm Reading Now2 Comments

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Humans have always been storytellers. From the time when humans first developed language around 100,000 years ago, we have been telling one another stories. Long before we could write, we left records of our stories in cave paintings, carvings, and rock art (petroglyphs). Almost 70,000 years ago, humans painted with their hands on rocks. The Chauvet Cave in France has similar visual records painted by humans more than 30,000 years ago. The Lascaux cave contains more than 600 paintings of nearly 6,000 figures on the walls and ceilings, made around 20,000 years ago. We cannot know today what those stories … click below for more ↓

The Age of Doubt

Cults / Musings / Politics / Social media issues / What I'm Reading Now3 Comments

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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of scientific advancement; it was the age of flat-earthers and chemtrail fanatics. It was the age of medical discoveries; it was the age of anti-vaxxers and homeopaths. It was the age of information; it was the age of Qanon conspiracies and creationists. It was the age of liberal democracies; it was the age of rising fascism. It was the age of technology; it was the age of 5G paranoia. It was the age of reason; it was the age of fundamentalist religions. It was … click below for more ↓

Back on the Open (World) Range

Culture / Games & Gaming / Musings2 Comments

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This week, after 300 hours of play, I came to the end of the Ubisoft game Assassin’s Creed Valhalla game. During those hours, I spent my time as a Viking, pillaging and looting, building my settlement, raiding enemy camps, and exploring across a massive map of England, with side trips to Norway, the Isle of Skye, Francia (France), Ireland, Asgard, and Vinland (North America). I hunted game, fished, upgraded gear, went on quests, sailed a longship; boxed opponents; trades insults in flyting contests, assassinated enemies (hence the name…), solved puzzles, delved into underground labyrinths and dungeons, battled monsters, went into … click below for more ↓

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