At the end of Season 3 Sadie and Dottie sail away into the sunset together in search of their long-dead husbands, while a chorus of indigent chinchillas sing "A mother's lament" AKA "Yore baby 'as gorn dahn the plug'ole" in three part harmony. It will be so happy.
Funny you should ask me that. As an obsessive reader of Good Omens Season 3 fanfiction I was amazed to see how much they have right including:
Sadie and Dottie's boarding home for indigent chinchillas.
Crowley's sad death after eating too many pies.
Who stole Mr Wimble's Magic Hat (how they got this one I will never know).
Why Aziraphale wasn't in the gorilla suit, and also
The Herring Problem.
Frankly I'm not sure why we're even going to make Season 3 any more. You people are already so far ahead of us. Although I suppose that the pies were a bit obvious.
PÄ senare Är har den offentliga debatten gÄng pÄ gÄng rörts om av frÄgor som i första hand bara berör ganska fÄ. Att drag queens lÀser sagor för barn pÄ bibliotek kan vÀl inte direkt involvera mer Àn nÄgra hundra personer, pÄ sin höjd, gissar jag. Plötsligt ska ÀndÄ Àven mÀnniskor som inte sjÀlva har barn och som sÀllan sÀtter sin fot pÄ ett bibliotek ha en Äsikt. Inte konstigt att debatten blir förvirrad pÄ sina hÄll.
En annan sÄdan frÄga Àr transvÄrden. Att villkoren för transpersoner kommer upp pÄ den offentliga agendan kanske pÄ sÀtt och vis Àr bra och folkbildande, men sjÀlva diskussionerna blir ofta osakliga. Det Àr mÄnga ryggmÀrgsreaktioner, och ganska lÄg intellektuell nivÄ.
Det Àr tydligt att frÄgor om kön, könsuttryck och könstillhörighet Àr nÄgot som mÀnniskor i allmÀnhet tar vÀldigt personligt. Det Àr inte sÄ konstigt. Alla har vi ett kön. NÀr innebörden av detta kommer pÄ agendan kommer mÄnga att kÀnna sig lite stressade eftersom det kÀnns som att det har att göra med hur de och alla andra tÀnker pÄ och talar om sig sjÀlva.
Men egentligen behövs det mycket mindre för att kön ska vara obekvÀmt. En lÄgintensiv brottning om begreppen pÄgÄr varenda dag. Vad förvÀntas av mÀn och av kvinnnor och av dem som försöker stÀlla sig vid sidan om? De som har blivit medvetna om detta blir ofta uttalade feminister, men Àven de som tycker att det hela inte Àr nÄgot att brÄka om mÄste ÀndÄ navigera det. Vi borde alla erkÀnna att kön Àr obekvÀmt. Det skulle ocksÄ kunna göra oss mer medkÀnnande med dem som det Àr extra obekvÀmt för.
LÄt mig ta ett ganska aktuellt exempel: hur ofta tÀnker mÀn pÄ Rommarriket? Det som började med en tik tok-grej fortplantade sig i en rad kommentarer och satirer över sociala medier och blev sedan grundligt kommenterat pÄ kultursidor och liknande. För att fÄ lite mer data bland spekulationer och tyckande gjorde företaget Novus en opinionsundersökning som kom fram till att det Àr omkring 5 procent av mÀnnen och 1 procent av kvinnorna i Sverige som tÀnker pÄ Romarriket varje dag. Det intressanta Àr att nÀr siffrorna presenteras Àr det med den lugnande inramningen att oroa dig inte, om du inte tÀnker pÄ Rom Àr du ÀndÄ helt normal.
Som om frÄgan genast blev ett hot mot manligheten.
De flesta kanske inte kÀnde sig djupt skakade i sin identitet, men visst blir det ÀndÄ en frÄga som fladdrar förbi i bakhuvudet: MÀn Àr tydligen sÄdana som tÀnker pÄ Rom ofta, sÄ om jag typ aldrig tÀnker pÄ Rom, Àr jag dÄ ÀndÄ en riktig man?
Det skadar inte att ta en titt pĂ„ sĂ„dant som ofta tas för givet, sĂ„ jag tĂ€nker mig ett tankeexperiment. Antag att vi nu tar tvĂ„ jĂ€ttestora lĂ„dor, och sedan sorterar vi alla mĂ€nniskor som existerar i en av dessa tvĂ„ lĂ„dor. För enkelhetens skull ger vi den ena lĂ„dan etiketten âkvinnorâ, och dĂ€r lĂ€gger vi alla som fötts med snippa, och den andra kallar vi âmĂ€nâ, och dĂ€r lĂ€gger vi alla som fötts med snopp. (Vi bortser i det hĂ€r tankeexperimentet frĂ„n dem som inte har entydiga könsorgan vid födseln.)
Efter den hĂ€r sorteringen kan vi konstatera att det finns mönster i de hĂ€r lĂ„dorna. Den genomsnittliga kroppslĂ€ngden kommer till exempel att vara större i lĂ„dan âmĂ€nâ Ă€n i lĂ„dan âkvinnorâ. I lĂ„dan âmĂ€nâ kommer det att finnas fler som blir av med hĂ„ret nĂ€r de blir Ă€ldre Ă€n vad det finns i lĂ„dan âkvinnorâ. Det hĂ€r ser vi mĂ€nniskor vĂ€ldigt snabbt och enkelt med vĂ„r fantastiska kategoriserings- och mönsterigenkĂ€nningsförmĂ„ga. Men det som ocksĂ„ Ă€r intressant Ă€r alla individuella variationer.
MÀnniskor har ju extremt mÄnga fler egenskaper Àn formen pÄ könsorganen. Eftersom vi till vardags inte gÄr och tittar varandra i byxorna Àr alla de andra egenskaperna mycket viktiga. HÀr finns alla de delar som brukar betecknas genus, och som ibland och i genomsnitt hÀnger ihop med det kroppsliga könet.
MÄnga söker sig till andra av samma sort och försöker jÀmka ihop sig för att betona likheterna. Ofta uppstÄr ett kraftigt grupptryck inom respektive lÄda för att alla ska anpassa sig till hur de flesta andra inom lÄdan Àr och beter sig. OvanpÄ detta kommer de olika kulturellt Älagda reglerna. För nÄgra hundra Är sedan var det till exempel strikt reglerat att mÀn sköter hÀstarna och kvinnorna sköter korna pÄ gÄrden. Numera finns det ingen sÄdan uttalad regel, och i stÀllet Àr stallet en strikt kvinnodominerad miljö.
För att nu fortsĂ€tta tankeexperimentet tĂ€nker jag mig att vi drar upp en slumpmĂ€ssig person ur den ena av lĂ„dorna, sĂ€g ur âkvinnorâ. Om vi tittar pĂ„ alla hennes mĂ„nga olika egenskaper och intressen kan vi antagligen hitta flera stycken dĂ€r hon Ă€r nĂ€rmare genomsnittet i lĂ„dan âmĂ€nâ Ă€n i lĂ„dan âkvinnorâ.
Egentligen Àr vi nog ickebinÀra allihop, i sÄ mÄtto att det inte finns nÄgra egenskaper som hör hemma uteslutande i den ena lÄdan. MÀn och kvinnor Àr av samma mÀnniskoart, och grupperna Àr egentligen inte sÄ olika varandra.
Ingen bör i alla fall bli förvÄnad över att det finns individer som sneglar över till den andra lÄdan och kÀnner igen sig sÄ mycket dÀr att de drar slutsatsen att det egentligen Àr dÀr de hör hemma. Vissa av dem Àr transpersoner, men det kan finnas alla möjliga olika varianter av könsnormsbrytare. Det finns ocksÄ ganska mÄnga som ser sina mÄnga likheter med dem i den andra lÄdan men inte bryr sig sÄ mycket om sjÀlva lÄdorna utan fÀster större vikt vid andra kontaktytor med mÀnniskor av olika kön. Sedan finns det mÀnniskor som tycker att lÄdorna bara Àr idiotiska och bara vill riva dem och göra sig av med dem helt. Eller skapa flera alternativa lÄdor för nya kön. Och sÄ vidare.
Det Ă€r kanske ett tankeexperiment jag gjort hĂ€r, men i sjĂ€lva verket gör vi ju detta i vardagen ocksĂ„. Utan att tĂ€nka pĂ„ det har vi med oss de hĂ€r lĂ„dorna mentalt, och med en blixtsnabb och helt omedveten reaktion sorterar vi in personer i endera lĂ„dan beroende pĂ„ signaler de sĂ€nder ut â för vi ser ju normalt inte könsorgan, utan sorterar pĂ„ variabler som vi vet ofta Ă€r korrelerade med fysiskt kön och som ger det intryck vi uppfattar som kön i vardagen. För det mesta hĂ€nder detta helt oreflekterat.
Det finns personer som ger blandade signaler och inte lÄter sig omedelbart sorteras. Andra sorteras friktionsfritt av instinkten men visar sedan tydligt upp egenskaper som gör att vi börjar dra tankelinjer till den andra lÄdan. Olika betraktare kommer att uppfatta sÄdana könsnormsbrytare som störande, eller befriande.
De som sticker ut pĂ„ sĂ€tt som andra lĂ€gger mĂ€rke till Ă€r Ă€ndĂ„ bara de tydligaste exemplen pĂ„ en genomgĂ„ende variation. Alla borde dessutom ha sett hur rörliga vissa av de hĂ€r normerna Ă€r. Vi reagerar pĂ„ det vi inte kĂ€nner igen, och dĂ€rför var det för hundra Ă„r sedan till exempel mycket mĂ€rkvĂ€rdigt med kvinnliga lĂ€kare. FrĂ„n vĂ„rt perspektiv Ă€r det svĂ„rt att ens förestĂ€lla sig vilket könsnormsbrott det var, och att det faktiskt fanns mĂ€nniskor som motsatte sig det â numera Ă€r det nĂ„got sĂ„ ordinĂ€rt att ingen ens reflekterar över det. Det betyder inte att könsroller och könsnormer har upphört, bara att de rör pĂ„ sig.
För mÀnniskor som Àr kÀnsliga för att bli utstötta eller betraktade som fel kan det vara extra skamfyllt att upptÀcka att deras viktigaste intressen och egenskaper Àr udda i deras egen lÄda men mycket mer acceptabla i den andra lÄdan. Jag hittar pÄ ett fiktivt exempel: TÀnk dig en ung kvinna som blivit mobbad av tjejgÀnget i skolan och fÄtt höra att hon inte duger. Antag att hon hittar tröst i sitt intresse för antiken. Att dÄ fÄ höra att det hÀr med att tÀnka en massa pÄ Rommarriket Àr nÄgot som mÀn gör och inte unga kvinnor, det kommer att bekrÀfta hennes kÀnsla av att vara fel pÄ nÄgot grundlÀggande sÀtt.
SÄ visst Àr kön obekvÀmt, Àven för den som Àr mer eller mindre cis/hetero/genomsnittlig. Inte undra pÄ att det blir obekvÀmt och krÄngligt för den som inte hittar hem i de kategorier som bjuds.
För att göra det krÄngligare ruvar under alla dessa lager av kultur och beteenden ett monster i form av sexualiteten. Det gÄr att ha massor av teorier om hur förhÄllandena mellan könen borde fungera, och sedan kommer de dÀr instinkterna och stÀller till det. Sexualiteten Àr en primitiv urkraft som vi ofta ÀndÄ inte vet hur vi ska förhÄlla oss till. Sexuell attraktion kan krÄngla till professionella relationer, eller leda till sociala situationer som de inblandade inte behÀrskar. Sexualiteten kan anvÀndas som maktmedel och rentav som vapen.
Vi har lyckats frigöra sexualiteten frÄn fortplantningen och utöver det slipat bort en del av de krÄngligheter som kulturen tidigare lagt till kring Àmnet. Men det blir svÄrt ÀndÄ. Det finns fortfarande massor av fördomar och osÀkerheter, inte minst bland dem som faller lite utanför det allra vanligaste heterosexuella mönstret. Samtidigt Àr sex förstÄs ett viktigt glÀdjeÀmne och en positiv drivkraft.
Egenskaper som klassas som maskulina eller feminina bottnar nog i det sexuella spelet, men eftersom mÀnniskor Àr sammansatta varelser har de ÀndÄ fÄtt mÄnga olika funktioner i kulturen. Titta till exempel pÄ hur mÀnniskor anvÀnder smink sÄ blir det snabbt uppenbart att lÀppstift inte bara anvÀnds för att attrahera en partner. Mer eller mindre maskulint och feminint kodade uttryck kan blandas och anvÀndas pÄ olika sÀtt av olika personer, nÀr de kÀnner sig fria nog. Att sexualitet Àr sÄ laddat lÀgger till ett extra lager av social osÀkerhet kring sÄdana uttryck. I olika kretsar i samhÀllet navigeras det pÄ olika sÀtt, vilket inte sÀllan ger upphov till lokala kultur- och generationskrockar.
Det jag försöker peka ut i den hĂ€r texten Ă€r att mĂ€nskliga individer hör till mĂ„nga kategorier. Kön Ă€r bara en, men det Ă€r en kategori som pĂ„verkar vĂ€ldigt mĂ„nga aspekter av hur vi bemöts och vad vi förvĂ€ntar oss av varandra. Eftersom vi mĂ€nniskor Ă€r en form av dĂ€ggdjur med vissa specifika nedĂ€rvda instinkter kommer vi alltid att ha nĂ„gon typ av begrepp om kön, men de begreppen Ă€r inte huggna i sten â vilket vi ser pĂ„ att de Ă€ndrar sig mellan kulturer och tider. De kommer alltid att vara föremĂ„l för diskussion och omförhandling, och att navigera detta kommer sĂ€kert att vara lĂ€ttare i vissa sammanhang Ă€n i andra.
Vi mÄste hur som helst sluta att förestÀlla oss att det Àr enkelt. Kön Àr besvÀrligt, och kan vara obekvÀmt Àven för den som smÀlter in ganska bra och sÀllan behöver blir medveten om det. Det Àr inte heller bara frÄga om en kamp mellan könen, för det Àr som sagt ofta killar som gör det obekvÀmt för andra killar, och tjejer som gör det obekvÀmt för andra tjejer. Vi fÄr sÀllan vara sÄ mÄngfacetterade som vi Àr om vi gör kategorierna snÀva och kravfyllda för varandra.
Kanske Àr det hÀr uppenbart för varje tÀnkande mÀnniska. Men med tanke pÄ hur debatten ser ut ibland tror jag ÀndÄ att det Àr sÄdant som behöver skrivas ut och pratas om pÄ ett tydligare sÀtt.
Den hÀr texten skrev jag för ett par veckor sedan och hade nÄgon övermodig vanförestÀllning om att jag kanske kunde sÀlja in hos nÄgon tidning. Men den kanske ÀndÄ passar bÀst pÄ min blogg, Àven om det Àr ett hörn av internet som ingen lÀser.
Om du ÀndÄ tyckte att det hÀr Àmnet var intressant kan du lÀsa nÄgra fler texter som jag skrev i somras:
Att vara en sorts feminist och att identifiera mig med kvinnor trots att jag inte tycker att det Àr sÄ intressant att identifera mig som kvinna (eftersom det finns sÄ mÄnga andra sidor av mig som jag tycker Àr mer relevanta).
Mitt personliga problem med Susan, slutligen, handlar om just att det inte nödvÀndigtvis Àr sÄ att kvinnor Àr varandras allierade.
BĂ„de Whatsapp och Google har meddelat att sĂ€kerhetskopior av anvĂ€ndares meddelanden och bilder snart kommer börja rĂ€knas mot anvĂ€ndares lagringskvot pĂ„ Drive. Ăndringen genomförs i december för de som kör betaversionen av Whatsapp och trĂ€der i kraft för alla tidigt nĂ€sta Ă„r.
Google pĂ„pekar att det Ă€r sĂ„ Whatsapp-backups fungerar âpĂ„ andra mobilplattformarâ (det vill sĂ€ga IOS) och skriver Ă€ven att de 15GB som erbjuds gratis Ă€r tre gĂ„nger högre Ă€n för âde flesta mobilplattformarâ â sannolikt i ett försök att mildra en eventuell negativ motreaktion.
Backups av Whatsapp kommer fortsÀtta fungera som vanligt förutsatt att anvÀndare har tillrÀckligt mycket lagring kvar. De som kommer fÄ slut pÄ Drive-lagring efter Àndringen och inte vill radera filer för att fÄ plats med fler sÀkerhetskopior av Whatsapp kan skaffa Google One hÀrifrÄn.
David Zaslav, the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO, is at it again! You might remember his antics when he shelved the almost-complete Batgirl movie in August 2022 for a tax write-off. Today, we found out the studio was at this tactic again, and this time itâs the already-shot Coyote vs. Acme that got caught in the crosshairs.
The movie, which starred Peacemaker himself, John Cena (pictured above), will never see the light of day because itâs apparently worth more to the studio as a tax write-off than a piece of entertainment targeted to families, a demographic they said on their last earnings call that they were eager to cultivate. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie cost about $72 million to make.
âWith the re-launch of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation in June, the studio has shifted its global strategy to focus on theatrical releases,â a WB Motion Picture Group spokesperson told THR in a statement. âWith this new direction, we have made the difficult decision not to move forward with Coyote vs Acme. We have tremendous respect for the filmmakers, casts, and crew, and are grateful for their contributions to the film.â
Whether the live-action/animated film hybrid was any good or not is something weâll never know. What we do know, however, is that it contained a score that included a Meep Meep (as in Roadrunner) choir. The good news is we get to hear at least a snippet of that song thanks to composer Steven Price, who posted on the platform formally known as Twitter a one-minute video of the unique take on Tchaikovsky.
Listen and weep meep below:
Had a lot of fun scoring Coyote Vs Acme. As no-one will be able to hear it now, due to bizarre anti-art studio financial shenanigans I will never understand, here is a bit of behind the scenes footage of our âMeep Meepâ Roadrunner choir, with apologies to Tchaikovsky⊠pic.twitter.com/HL7h00rXpp
Price also confirmed in a reply to this post that the was film already completely mixed and finished and the animation looked great. Too bad weâll never see it! Thanks Zaslav!
That was, beat for beat, the plot that the film company requested, or at least, that Scott the producer requested on behalf of the film company, because, I think, they hadn't understood the plot of the book, which was the plot of the first draft we handed in. It was my first Hollywood script so I wrote what they asked for. They read the script, said "it's not like the book" and then two days went into bankruptcy and didn't pay me and Terry for the second script. There are lessons to be drawn from this.
Earlier in the year, it was reported that Warner Bros. Discovery had successfully sold off its upcoming comic book show Dead Boy Detectives over to Netflix. During this weekendâs Geeked Week event, the streamer showed off the first trailer for the show, and the young sleuths duo looks theyâll be getting up to someâŠ
Next to Castlevania, one of Netflixâs most well-known animated properties has to be Arcane. The 2021 series was so popular and beloved it took on a life of its own beyond its source material League of Legends, winning multiple awards and, as of last month, becoming part of the gameâs canon. Itâs both an example of howâŠ
I ran an Aliens rpg years back. But the players didnât KNOW it was an Aliens game until halfway through the first session.
They thought it was a sci-fi game but they also thought the monsters were going to be zombies.
Over a period of 2 hours they then proceeded to make EVERY Aliens movie cliche âmistakeâ known to man. Because at the time they all made sense.
The characters in a story donât know theyâre in a story or what kind of story it is.
They might think their in a romcom instead of a slasher movie. And if youâre not in a slasher movie, why the fuck would you search through every closet in your house just because a cup mysteriously fell off a table in the dining room?
A team of scientists at Northwestern University has developed a synthetic version of melanin that could have a million and one uses. In new research, they showed that their melanin can prevent blistering and accelerate the healing process in tissue samples of freshly injured human skin. The team now plans to furtherâŠ
So over the last couple months, Iâve meant to write about two dozen different blogs. The upcoming book got a cover, for example:
(As always, guest starring my thumb.)
But Iâm guessing by now youâve already seen that. We have a UK cover too. Thereâs some promotional stuff going on with the book, where if you pre-order The Narrow Road Between Desires, you not only can get a signed copy, but youâll also get one of the promotional postcards we made to showcase some of the fabulous art Nate Taylor did for the book:
(Sleepy child shown for scale.)
By the way, if you havenât pre-ordered a copy yet, thereâs still time to do that. I signed a *bunch* of books so that they could be available everywhere, B&N, Books-a-Million, as well as a any indie bookstores that would like to prepare. You can pre-order and get a signed book and postcard at the Worldbuilders Marketplace too, of course. But we wanted you to be able to buy from your local bookstores, too. Because we *love* local bookstores around here.
But back to my point, Iâve had a bunch of things to share with you. A lot of things Iâd love to talk aboutâŠ
âŠbut I havenât posted any of them. Partly because⊠Iâve signed more than 30,000 books over the last month (some for the US, some for the UK) so that (hopefully) yâall can get copies even though Iâm not doing a signing tour. Partly because Iâm helping my boys with school and trying to be a good dad, partly because thereâs a lot of other stuff in my life that eats a truly unfortunate amount of my time and energyâŠ
Iâve also been doing interviews, livestreams, and other things to promote the upcoming book, of course:
(Iâve got one of these happening tomorrow, FYI.)
The other reason I havenât written about a lot of this stuff is that⊠well⊠itâs important to me. And if itâs important, I want to do it really well. REALLY well. Perfectly, in fact. And it takes a long time to write a perfect blog⊠More time that I usually have.
So today Iâm trying to change that by writing an imperfect blog. This is it, by the way. Itâs a blog where I just tell you some things and try to come to grips with the fact that the blog isnât as funny, or detailed, or clever as Iâd like it to be.
So⊠with that in mind. Hereâs the most recent piece of news I mentioned at the end of last weekâs livestreamâŠ.
Yeah. Itâs a Bast-themed calendar.
It started as a joke. I was working on the illustrations for Narrow Road, and getting some feedback from Julia Maddalina, (an amazing artist Iâve worked with for years. Youâve seen her work in the worldbuilders store.)
While weâre chatting, I made some comment about Bast being sexy, itâs a shame he doesnât have a pin-up calendar, etc etc⊠Then 20 minutes later, Julia sent me a sketch Bast. I honestly canât remember what the first one was, because we joked about it for weeks, and she sent me sketches of him washing a car in daisy dukes, dressed up as a lumberjack, and just generally being the hot fae he is.
Then eventually, it started seeming less like a joke and more like a fun side project I could release alongside the book to make some money for Worldbuilders.
I hesitate to call it a pin-up calendar. As thereâs a lot of baggage that goes along with that term, a lot of sexism and objectification. But we *have* pulled a bit from that tradition for some of the images.
Â
(This is one of my favorites)
But a lot of the art we developed doesnât follow in the pin-up tradition. Itâs just playful, and silly, and funâŠ
(Not really a pin-up)
While working on the calendar, I never really talked about it, as I wasnât sure weâd be able to get it finished this year, and the last thing I wanted to do was get people excited about something and then not be able to deliver it on time. But itâs at the printers now, going through final proofs, and now I wish I *had* been talking about it for months, because Juliaâs art is amazing, and this has turned into something Iâm really proud of.
(Yeah. Thatâs Bast as a sexy Mr. TumnisâŠ. Plus Noir. I donât know why Iâm proud of it. But I am. Iâm really, *really* proud of it.)
Last week, I was showing the finished project to a friend who runs a bookstore down in Madison because I was excited about it being finished, and they ended up ordering a hundred copies for their store. It was only then that I realized that some of you were in direct contact with a bunch of people who would love to buy something like thisâŠ.
Aaaand. Thatâs it. An imperfect blog. The story of how I accidentally made a Julia draw bast without his shirt off a bunch, for charity.
Hereâs the tricky bit. Weâve done calendars in the past and learned the hard way that theyâre not an evergreen product. I donât want to print, like, 150 of these, then run out and have a bunch of people be sad because we ran out and they canât have one.
On the other hand, I also donât want to throw away a thousand calendars when February rolls around. Itâs a huge waste of money, and feels like an ecological hate-crime.
So right now weâre doing a pre-order sale in Worldbuilders online store. For a couple days, if you buy multiple copies, you can get a big discount. (That sale is going to go away when we put in our final order this week.
You can also put together a bunch of different bundles over there, where people can get a discount by buying a bunch of things at once. Like a copy of the new book, a calendar, and one of the new coins we make with shire post to celebrate the release of Narrow Road.)
(These show up in the book, and Iâm *really* happy with how they turned out.)
So⊠there you go. Many announcements made imperfectly. Hopefully Iâll be able to come back and go into more detail about some of these things later, but at the very least Iâve managed to mention them to yâall.
And now, Iâve got to go make breakfast for my boys.
Later space cowboys,
pat
P.S. If you happen to be a cool indie bookstore, and want to sell some sexy Bast during the holidays, drop us a line over at: sexybastcalendar2024@patrothfuss.com.
Millions of Americans and their doctors are in the dark when it comes to early cognitive decline, according to new research from the University of Southern California. A study out this week suggests that most general physicians vastly under-diagnose mild cognitive impairment among their patients, following anotherâŠ
Government-backed hackers from Russia and China exploited a known vulnerability in outdated versions of WinRAR, the worldâs most popular compression tool with over 500 million users. Googleâs Threat Analysis Group (TAG) said Wednesday it observed a number of government-backed hacking campaigns utilizing the WinRAR bugâŠ
Hitting the snooze button on your wake-up alarm might just be fine, new research out this week suggests. In a pair of studies, scientists found evidence that a majority of people regularly hit snooze and that the habit doesnât seem to noticeably harm our sleep. It could even help make some people more alert in theâŠ
Well, okay. (And no argument about the flaming sword. Not least because theyâre hard enough to get working right, and customer service on those is kind of a trial.*)
But now I wish I could see pictures of the members of the Legion, and their costumes, and Iâm curious about what their powers are. And Iâd really love to know the backstory of how they applied to the Legion of SuperNeils and why they were turned down.
(wanders off) Who knows, maybe someday weâll find outâŠ
*Tech support always winds up going âhave you tried quenching it and then igniting it again?â (eyeroll)
The kids on TikTok think that just because he was a classic country singer, Johnny Cash was conservative??? My babies he covered a Nine Inch Nails song in his seventies.
Classic country singers (the majority of which came from poor roots) were always talking about how much The Man sucked because they were taking money from poor rural folk. Youâre gonna tell me thatâs conservative?? Get outta here.
And somehow on the opposite side of the scale with the same exact opinion the conservative kids say âI like the old country music, because thereâs no politics to itâ Woodie Guthrieâs got a âthis machine kills fascistsâ sticker on his guitar? You think thereâs no politics in 9 to 5 or Folsom Prison Blues?!
For anyone confused there was a sudden and dramatic shift in the country music genre. It used to be a genre fixated on the experiences of people. Lived or common experiences that resonated with the common people. It was music that you listened to and it thrummed in tune to your soul because you had lived it yourself. And a lot of that was about ordinary people getting ground up in the gears of society.
The hyper patriotism, beer, and trucks chimera we have now didnât show up until after 9/11 and the world is lesser for it
Allow me to post the entire lyrics to the Johnny Cash song âMan in Blackâ, released in nineteen goddamn seventy-one and written about why he always wore black onstage:
Well, you wonder why I always dress in black
Why you never see bright colors on my back
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone
Well, thereâs a reason for the things that I have on
I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down
Livinâ in the hopeless, hungry side of town
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime
But is there because heâs a victim of the times
I wear the black for those whoâve never read
Or listened to the words that Jesus said
About the road to happiness through love and charity
Why, youâd think Heâs talking straight to you and me
Well, weâre doinâ mighty fine, I do suppose
In our streak of lightninâ cars and fancy clothes
But just so weâre reminded of the ones who are held back
Up front there ought to be a man in black
I wear it for the sick and lonely old
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold
I wear the black in mourninâ for the lives that could have been
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men
And I wear it for the thousands who have died
Believinâ that the Lord was on their side
I wear it for another hundred-thousand who have died
Believinâ that we all were on their side
Well, thereâs things that never will be right, I know
And things need changinâ everywhere you go
But âtil we start to make a move to make a few things right
Youâll never see me wear a suit of white
Ah, Iâd love to wear a rainbow every day
And tell the world that everythingâs okay
But Iâll try to carry off a little darkness on my back
'Til things are brighter, Iâm the man in black
That right there is an anti-war, anti-bigot, anti-mass-incarceration, anti-war-on-drugs (Cash was an addict in various stages of recovery who was pissed as hell about how this country treats people with substance issues), eat-the-rich protest song. And it was arguably his signature song, his personal manifesto. Notice that even the Jesus reference, which today would be a signal that the song is about to drop some racist dogwhistles, segues immediately into a line about âthe road to happiness through love and charityâ. As in âMotherfucker, our shared god said love thy neighbor and care for the poor and the outsider, and we both know he didnât fucking stutter.â Heâs throwing shade at self-described Christians who use his religion as a cudgel to beat people with.
Johnny Cash wasnât a conservative. Iâm pretty sure if he were alive and in reasonably good health today, heâd knock Jason Aldeanâs teeth out (or, failing that, write a song so devastatingly memetic about how much Aldean sucks that Aldean would never work in music again).
Johnny Cash was punk rock. He just happened to be punk rock in the body of a country singer.
It is not because of the few thousand francs which would have to be spent to put a roof over the third-class carriages or to upholster the third-class seats that some company or other has open carriages with wooden benches. What the company is trying to do is to prevent the passengers who can pay the second class fare from traveling third class; it hits the poor, not because it wants to hurt them, but to frighten the rich. And it is again for the same reason that the companies, having proved almost cruel to the third-class passengers and mean to the second-class ones, become lavish in dealing with first-class passengers. Having refused the poor what is necessary, they give the rich what is superfluous.
How increasing cruelty and decadence is baked into the economic system.
This is why airlines have kept the âtemporary security measuresâ in place long after 9/11. The more money you give the airlines, the less hassle you have to deal with going through the security theater, so airlines profit off the misery.
