Thursday, June 17, 2021
Random Thoughts 6/17/21
My time off work has been extended six more weeks. That's good and bad. Good, because I definitely feel improvement and peace, although still experiencing anxiety attacks. Bad, because I found out my hours will be cut and now I have to spend my time seeing if there's something else out there for me. Scary times.
But, one day at a time. Random thoughts is a good diversion, eh?
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The Tale End
If you're watching 'The Handmaid's Tale', you're hopefully surprised by how good this season has been. The parallels in this show to real life is frightening, disturbing, and actually enlightening. Hard to watch at times because of that, but kind of necessary at the same time. I don't think Elisabeth Moss has deserved an Emmy more than she does this season, and that's actually saying a lot. If we let religion take over government, this is where we're all headed. Church and State must always be separate.
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Dead Ringers
'Dark Side of the Ring', available on Vice TV via Crave in Canada, is a startling, ugly, eye opening account of much of the turmoil that goes on behind the scenes in professional wrestling. The wife and me just got done with season 3, up to this point. It's hard not to binge watch, even if you're not a wrestling fan at all. Definitely NOT for kids. The first episode of this season deals with Brian Pillman, and winds up being extremely emotional, heart-tugging and unforgettable. I highly, highly recommend you give this a watch.
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Spider Fan
I'm kind of giddy at the thought of seeing the next Spiderman movie. Rumor has it that it's going to bring in the other movie versions of the character as it takes from alternate universes via Dr. Strange, or something. But I think it's exciting thinking of Tobey Maguire's and Andrew Garfield's versions of Peter Parker and Spiderman being onscreen with Tom Holland's. I wonder if Sam Raimi (director for the Maguire versions) is involved? I hope so. It's supposed to come out December of this year, if this Covid crap lets it.
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Romanoff and Running
Speaking of Marvel movies, looking forward also to seeing 'Black Widow'. Scarlett Johansson is one of my favorite actresses... certainly to look at!... but I think this will be the swan song of her Natasha Romanoff character. I just wonder why it took Marvel this long to make this. Would it even have gotten made if not for the success of the Wonder Woman franchise? Probably not. But WW kicked down the doors for female-led comic book film fare. I'm sure this will be fun to watch.
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Let It Beatles
There's a new Beatles docu-series up on Disney's streaming service, directed by 'Lord of the Rings' helmsman Peter Jackson. My mom would've said, "is that the guy who makes cigarettes?" I haven't seen it yet, but I thought I'd put the info out there because I know there are some Beatles fans reading this.
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Trek or Treat
I love Star Trek. Not necessarily all of it. I love the original series and 'The Next Generation', some of 'Deep Space Nine' and some of 'Voyager'. 'Enterprise' wasn't too bad, but short lived. But this new wave of Trek shows... ehh, I don't know. They tend to be heavy on action and special effects at the cost of the storytelling. The people who made those last three Trek movies don't seem to be real Trek fans to me. I know JJ Abrams isn't, and he made two of them, two of the worst in the franchise to me. I got encouraged when I heard the 'Picard' series was being made, but it wound up being just more 'Discovery' style fare. We'll see when the next season of 'Picard' comes out, with the Q character in it. But what I have the most hope for is the upcoming 'Strange New Worlds' series and what it could be. Coming out next year, it revisits the era of TOS with the Enterprise commanded by Captain Pike, with a pre-Kirk era Spock. It's supposed to be episodic, as opposed to serialized, and more fun like it should be. I have high hopes for it.
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Area '21
Speaking of JJ Abrams... who I respect more as a producer than a filmmaker... he's producing a UFO docuseries for Showtime. Call me skeptical, but I don't have high hopes for the upcoming release of new government info on that subject, despite the hype. I'm expecting a nothing-burger. But if it isn't, it could make this year quite revelatory for the human race, no exaggeration. At least Abrams might make the subject matter somewhat interesting, if not. I'm a big fan of the 'Ancient Aliens' series on the History Channel. It combines facts with hypotheses about the history of humanity, and what might have happened in the past that we really don't know about. At the very least, it's very entertaining. There's another show on that channel called 'The Proof is Out There' that attempts to debunk claims of paranormal and extraterrestrial footage of alleged evidence, some of which it succeeds, some of which is left up in the air. It's all very fascinating.
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3 Out of Tenet
Anybody who knows me knows how much of a mark I am for Chris Nolan movies. But his latest, 'Tenet', kind of left me flat. A lot of the dialogue was hard to understand, the subject matter itself is head spinning, and the characters under-developed. I found myself not caring about anyone in the film. I watched it twice, because I know Nolan's movies are best watched multiple times, but this one is the most challenging. All that being said, it's a fun movie to look at, with actual groundbreaking special effects that don't involve space or superheroes. I'm hopeful Nolan gets back on track with his next movie, though. He's switching studios, leaving Warner Bros. because of their straight-to-streaming ambitions. I just hope to God he doesn't wind up at Disney.
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Bosstown
I have high hopes for my Red Sox this year. Not sure if they're WS contenders or not at this point, but they certainly have the bats for it. I'm pretty high on Alex Verdugo replacing Mookie Betts, who was sold to the highest bidder via the Dodgers. Also, the Yankee rivalry ain't what it used to be. Mind you it could be better if the Yanks were a bit more in shape, which so far this year they aren't. A new manager can make a world of difference for any team. Cora came back for Boston and they're renewed once again. The new Yanks manager seems to be bringing their ship down with him. But... the season is young.
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The Religious Wrong
I don't know what to think of the Catholics these days. I'm one of them, of course, but these aren't good days to be waving their flag. All those kids buried without explanation or apologies from the Vatican, the sexual abuse, their support of monsters like Donald Trump, none of this is doing them any favors. Mind you, Francis has decried the sexual abuse and has indirectly opposed Trumpism, but the lack of an apology to Canadian Natives is terribly egregious. And those 215 children found buried I fear is only the tip of the iceberg. Knowing how Francis is, I have to wonder if he's bowing to pressure from more conservative cardinals about admitting wrongdoing. It doesn't shake my faith, but it makes me question Catholicism. And I get tremendously irritated that there are so many Catholics and others who actually believe the covid vaccines contain 'aborted baby parts' and 'microchips'. You absolutely must consider the source of all information. Science is based on facts, and the rest seems to be based on Trumpits. Funny fact... Trump actually got the vaccine.
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News to Me
I watch a lot of news, I'm a bit of a junkie that way. I like CNN, because it gives you a look from both sides of the political aisle, though admittedly favoring the liberal side a bit, but not like MSNBC which is a hard left channel. But better that than something like Fox News and the like. I like Rachel Maddow a lot. She's smart, empathetic, and not afraid of anybody. Here in Canada, we don't really have a news commentary channel, which is what news networks in the States are. Instead we have CBC Newsnet and CTV News Network, both of which are quite redundant because of their strictly news nature, with CBC being a bit more varied. I like to listen to and watch commentators from both sides, as long as they're not obnoxious tits like most republicans in the U.S. There are obnoxious liberals too, make no mistake, but they're grossly outnumbered. I'm a liberal myself, not a Liberal, but even I can see our government needs an overhaul. Any Canadian liberal who doesn't see that is kidding themselves. The vaccine rollout is the laughing stock of civilized countries here, and former finance minister Bill Moron Morneau didn't do us any favors in the finance department. I like Chrystia Freeland, but I can't name a hell of a lot of others in the Liberal Party that I approve of. But at least she has more balls than Trudeau. And brains.
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It's Not Easy Being Green
Green Party leader (for the moment anyway) Annamie Paul just might single handedly annihilate the party's chances in the next election. I'm a Green Party supporter, but not under sloppy leadership like that. I thought when I first got to know her through media that she was going to be an ass-kicker come campaign time, but now at least federally, it's a party divided. I can't support a party under a leader who appears to become unhinged whenever someone disagrees with her. So unless something changes on the federal level, my vote will be with the NDP. Our Green leader in NB, David Coon, does a fine job here, and I'll support the party provincially.
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Incomes UBI
So, as I said, I'm on sick leave due to mental health issues. After 11 years, I've heard when I go back I'll be cut back to part time. Let me use this as a springboard to throw my support behind Universal Basic Income. I used to aspire to work for the post office. But, in order to get a position there, you have to work casual first for a number of hours, which means being on call. If you've already got a job, that's a tough thing to do, because working casual guarantees you nothing, so you have to more or less be unemployed. With a guaranteed basic income, you have that freedom to leave a job you're unhappy with while you explore an option like casual work. With UBI, for someone like me who gets cut to part time, it would be a great supplement to help pay the bills. Everyone has a chance to thrive with it, and employers must be good to their employees, or else they'll lose them. The poor will have money at last, and poverty would be virtually eliminated. The bulk of the money from UBI would be thrust back into the economy, because there are too many of us that need it to get things done, or simply to live. Economists from all sides of the political spectrum support it. Studies have proven it to work. CEO's from all over even support it, likely because it would boost their bottom line too. This is something that has to happen. A bill proposing UBI has passed second reading in the House of Commons, and we'll see where it goes from here. It's really just a matter of time with automation taking over the workforce.
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I guess that's all I've got to say right now. Take care of yourselves, and each other.
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