Beautifully done, but "yikes". This was published in French under the title "Misogynic." Fits. It's one of those "creeps up on you, you know it is going to end very very badly and then it does and you're not surprised or deflated but simply deeply unsettled" stories. Terrifying but in an extremely understated and careful... Continue Reading →
Second (well, further) thoughts on “The Long Walk”
I saw it, I liked it, but I almost certainly won't watch it again. The further thoughts are these - there is a lot of genre play going on here. It's a slasher film but the Jason Voorhees is the state, bumping them off until the Final Girl (but in this case, a Final Boy).... Continue Reading →
“Leaning in” – it’s easier, after all…
There's a new book called Fascist Yoga, which I am probably not going to read, but I am probably glad that it exists. Meanwhile
Two Noble Kinsmen (Bard to the Bone #017)
Year written: 1613 Context of the writing (Shakespeare’s career, political events it was responding to): Definitely phoning it in. Working with a young guy called Fletcher. Basically re-tread of Two Gentlemen of Verona, for better or worse. Plot in a paragraph: Bezzies Arcite and Palamon are captured by king Theseus and fall in love at... Continue Reading →
The centrist rally (see also “Love me, I’m a liberal”)
Saw this online and it made me laugh a bit - ymmv. See also Phil Ochs "love me, I'm a liberal". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cdqQ2BdgOA Blah blah "if you're middle of the road you get hit by the traffic in both directions" blah blah.
At last! An accurate/meaningful IQ test!
Some spam just popped up in my gmail inbox (1) and it gives me perverse hope. Here's a screengrab. The test works like this: If you are dumb and desperate enough to click on "See My Complete Analysis" then the test results are definitely in - you are a credulous moron. Congratulations. (2) Blah blah... Continue Reading →
Industrial disease vs additional degrees (Song lyrics spoof)
One of my favourite Dire Straits songs (of many) is "industrial disease" - for its cynicism, its jauntiness and the immortal lyric "sociologists invent words that mean industrial disease". Today on Bluesky I found myself advocating for a reboot of industrial disease with the words "additional degrees". Well, here we are... Industrial diseaseAdditional degreesNow, warning... Continue Reading →
King John (Bard to the Bone #06)
The good news is that I have in fact been continuing with the Shakespeare stuff, the "remedial accumulation of cultural capital"). I just, for various reasons, haven't been putting up posts. So, over the next few days, you will get Measure for Measure, All's Well That Ends Well, Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like... Continue Reading →
Incumbent tactics: copyright as news suppression, BBC editorial choices…
Sometimes a Bluesky feed (and yes, I am as at risk of falling into the scrolletariat as anyone else) offers up a bleak perspective on the way we live now, and what we are invited to see, and NOT to see. I had never thought of the way the police might play music not just... Continue Reading →
Limerick about everything “falling apart” (for Pete Hegseth)
Pete Hegseth, the DUI hire, this one's for you. This endless complaint on "declining" Is often no more than mere whining About white men displaced From previously-placed Positions of lazy reclining
marchudson.net 