On “Politics Free Zones”
I wanted to write about horror movies today, but I saw something that bugged the shit out of me, so now I have to write about that.
I wanted to write about horror movies today, but I saw something that bugged the shit out of me, so now I have to write about that.
I love horror movies, and I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately, feeling impatient and annoyed with “elevated” horror because it so often means “boring” horror, and yet also impatient with horror movies that are just retreads of other horror movies.
One little-known consequence of the ongoing Government Shutdown is the fact that the US Funkalogical Survey does not currently have the ability to provide early housequake warnings.
“Without this crucial early warning system, Americans have no way of knowing if a housequake will break out in their home,” said William Collins of the Clinton Institute of Funkalogical Studies. “Americans need to stay vigilant. Things can get very funky very quickly.”
White House spokesbot Karoline Leavitt responded to questions about the Americans facing sudden and dangerously funky housequakes in predictable fashion. “The President has never been in a house where things got funky. Housequakes are fake news.”
Asked for comment, Camille, director of the US Funkalogical Survey, sent the following: “Shut up, already. Damn.”
I’ve been reading about some of the controversy around the Riyadh Comedy Festival, at which wealthy American and British comics performed. Some other comics have said that these folks shouldn’t have played the festival because they’re providing good publicity for a repressive regime that, lest we forget, literally carved up an American journalist. Queer sex is a death penalty offense in Saudi Arabia. Women have been legally allowed to drive a car in Saudi Arabia for only 7 years, and some of the women who fought hardest for that right are still in prison.
Given the fact that the Saudi regime is horrible even in comparison to most other horrible regimes, I’m gonna side with the critics on this one. But let’s look at some of the comics’ justifications, shall we?
Happy Spooky Season everyone!
I kicked things off with two horror anthologies because a) I like horror anthologies and b) I got my covid shot and was pretty tired, so I wanted to watch things I could stop for a nap and then restart without difficulty.
Well, I nearly got taken by a VERY good scam this morning, so I wanted to share the details and also some concerns.
This morning I got a call from 410-604-2761. The caller ID said Verizon, so I picked up, figuring it was legit. A woman told me they were calling about potential fraud on my account, and had I ordered a new iPhone to be shipped to Ohio?
I had not.
A guy goes off the deep end searching for the truth behind a probably-forged HP Lovecraft diary, and then his wife goes looking for him and gets sucked into a confounding web of contradictory stories.
I mean, I’m a sucker for this kind of thing—forbidden but possibly forged texts, stories within stories, and, because Lovecraft, a big helping of existential dread.
It’s been a few weeks since Josh Kraft withdrew from Boston’s mayoral contest, metaphorical tail between his legs as he got conclusively drubbed in the preliminary election.
Wu: 72 percent. Kraft: 23.1 percent. Ouch. I almost feel bad for him. Almost!
First things first: yes, some big names are on board, but this show is trash. But that’s never stopped me from enjoying a tv show before, and it didn’t stop me this time!
I’ve sifted through a bunch of questionnaires and news articles to try to figure out who to vote for on Tuesday, and I thought I’d share some thoughts.
A note on me: I’m significantly to the left of most folks in city government. I don’t agree with everything Mayor Wu has done, but overall I believe she’s doing a good job. I’d like to see more bike lanes and center-lane busways, and a more aggressive push for rent control, but overall, I’m a fan.
A note on strategy: I’ve had people asking me about “bullet voting,” where you vote for fewer than the 4 people you’re allowed to vote for in an attempt to boost the vote totals of your chosen candidates. But this is really a strategy for when you’re trying to get a single candidate into a body that’s largely against your priorities. We’re lucky in Boston right now in that our city council is pretty progressive. There are a number of bad candidates in the mix, so we need to fill the available spots with progressive candidates in an effort to shut the conservatives out.
Here we go!
The obvious choices:
Ruthzee Louijeune
Henry Santana
Louijeune is a star. Santana is a reliable vote on the right side of the issues. They get 2 of my 4 votes.
The less obvious choices, but both are getting my vote:
Julia Mejia—you know that person at work who is really annoying in meetings and talks for ages about things that are only tangentially related to the topic at hand? Yeah, that’s Julia Mejia. But she is a reliable progressive vote, and I’m not the one who has to sit in meetings with her. (With the exception of the occasional community meeting.)
Marvin Mathelier—I’ve been put off by his campaign materials in which he touts his status as a small business owner (of Ula Cafe, which has gotten significantly worse since he took it over) and a Marine (I mean, fine, but Pete Hegseth was a marine too. It’s not a relevant or impressive qualification for city government). But looking at his questionnaire answers, he’s on the right side of a lot of important issues, and people I know and respect have been really impressed by him.
The Nopes:
Erin Murphy—The “Old, racist Boston” candidate . I mean, okay, it was her sister who sent racist communications to her fellow city councilors, but I think the difference between Erin and her sister is just that Erin is smarter at hiding her bigotry. Hard no.
Frank Baker—Another conservative. Let me say this—the only vehicle I have ever seen parked in Jamaica Plain with a Trump sticker belongs to a family with big Frank Baker signs all over their yard.
Will Onuoha—Yet another conservative candidate. In pre-election forums and questionnaires, hewed very closely to Murphy and Baker in his answers.
Alexandra Valdez—Not terrible on most issues, but said in a forum that she supports Boston Police sharing their inaccurate, racist gang database with Federal authorities through the Regional Intelligence Center, so that’s enough to get her a no from me.
Rachel Miselman—unlike right-wing democrats Murphy and Baker, Miselman is an actual Republican. No actual fascists on Boston City Council, please.
Yves Mary Jean—possibly interesting candidate who hasn’t attended any candidate forums or filled out any questionnaires. This isn’t a serious candidacy, so I assume he’s doing some resume building here.