WOW – Don’t Look Up

On By Rick McIn bad news, climate change, economics, ethics, GOP USA, government, humour, media, moviesLeave a comment

I rejoined Netflix mainly to watch Don’t Look Up.

Brilliant.

Be sure to watch the credits. There are 3 endings.

Satire that reminded me of both Swift’s A Modest Proposal and Wag the Dog.

Something between a star-studded Hollywood blockbuster and an amateur YouTube documentary. Very original editing.

You’ve never seen DiCaprio like this. He had a lot of input on the script.

The cast is great. Best is Jonah Hill who plays a Don Jr. idiot appointed by his mother as the insanely unqualified  Chief of Staff.

The Republican tribe is urged to NOT LOOK UP at the planet busting comet. And deny what they can see with their own eyes. 😀 It parallels the American idiocracy of covid denial, for example. Apathy, incompetence and self-interest.

Denial of science.

It’s certain ReTrumplicans will hate this film.

This movie came from my burgeoning terror about the climate crisis and the fact that we live in a society that tends to place it as the fourth or fifth news story, or in some cases even deny that it’s happening, and how horrifying that is, but at the same time preposterously funny.[10]— Adam McKay, writer, director, and producer of Don’t Look Up

Refugees & Asylum Seekers in 2022 😕

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, governmentLeave a comment

Trump too abruptly abandoned Syria. Biden did the same in Afghanistan.

Worldwide there are millions of people trying to flee.

I don’t understand why organizations — and billionaires — are not funding MORE and BETTER refugee camps. Only about 25% of refugees are in camps.

Syria

Life in a refugee camp should be minimal. But safe. Good security. Clean water. Decent health care. Education should be provided for kids who make up about 50% of the population.

My buddy Mike Sissons is an artist in Madrid. Some of his recent work features refugees.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CXRza6KtOBw/

CANCEL me in 2022

On By Rick McIn blogs, ethics, Facebook, Google, government, human rights, TwitterLeave a comment

If you are irked that I call Donald Trump the fat golfer, please stop following my posts.

After a lifetime study of comparative religion, Joseph Campbell concluded that the best course was to Follow your Bliss. Make a list of those things in your life that you most enjoy; those things that enervate you, compel you; interest you in a sustained way. Do them!

Make a second list of those things that vex your existence. How can you avoid or minimize those? CANCEL them.

When in office I mostly called Trump the toddler President — rash, undisciplined, selfish, spoiled. Out of office fat golfer better sums up my opinion of him in a short, colourful way. Trump is the master of name calling. Since he does it, I feel it’s ethical to reciprocate.

The Ugly American

I believe in freedom of speech. The fat golfer can say whatever he wants on his golf course. BUT not in my home. Not on my blogs. Nor my social media feeds.

I also believe in the freedom to NOT listen to speech.

Since Rush Limbaugh — the Big Fat Idiot — popularized the notion of cancelling people in the 1980s, the word cancelled has become increasingly loaded. And increasingly meaningless.

Though I’m left leaning, I haven’t yet cancelled JK Rowling, Woody Allen, Jordan Peterson and many more. You should if they irritate you enough.

I AM quick to unsubscribe to organizations and people I believe are distributing dangerous and/or unethical content online.

Certainly the American GOP / FOX money making machine picks a new Mr. Potato Head to cancel every day. Gots to keep their mostly old, white supporters angry. (That story was fake news, by the way.)

The best coverage of this issue I’ve heard is on my favourite podcast – Reputation.

Place Your Bets! – On the Media

With midterm elections around the corner, conspiracy theories have been planted to sow doubt in the results. On this week’s On the Media, a breakdown of what election rumors to expect on and after Election Day. Plus, how polling fraudsters are threatening trust in public opinion research. [00:00]  Micah sits down with Kate Starbird, co-founder of the Center for An Informed Public at the University of Washington, to sort through the rumors swirling in the final week of midterm election campaigns. [16:16]  Brooke chats with Mary Radcliffe, head of research at Fifty Plus One, about three fraudulent pollsters she helped catch this year, and how they muddy the waters for critical work that informs our democracy. [30:27]  Brooke speaks with Koleman Strumpf, professor of economics at Wake Forest University, about the history of betting on elections and what lessons carry forward to today.  Further reading / watching:“Spot the Lie: 6 Moves of “Rigged Election” Rumors,” by The Center for an Informed Public“What to Know About Election Forecasting and Prediction Markets This November,” by The Center for an Informed Public“A Tale of Two Sullivans: Rumors Around a Department of Justice Lawsuit in Alaska,” by  The Center for an Informed Public“FiftyPlusOne just caught a pollster faking data — and they copped to it,” by Mary Radcliffe, G. Elliott Morris, Cooper Burton, and FiftyPlusOne“Historical Presidential Betting Markets,” by Paul Rhode and Koleman Strumpf On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
  1. Place Your Bets!
  2. Help Is On the Way – A Conversation With Maria Ressa
  3. Midterm Madness
  4. The Classroom/Technology Pipeline
  5. How to Live Forever (or Die Trying)

BEST George Michael’s “Freedom!” cover

On By Rick McIn music, TVLeave a comment

I’ve been watching this multiple times a day. It makes me happy.

The Bellas (Anna Kendrick, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Rebel Wilson and more) and contestants from The Voice Season 13 Top 12 …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Dickinson – season 3

On By Rick McIn TVLeave a comment

Loved the first two seasons.

I thought the novelty might wear off — yet season 3 is just as good. Perhaps better.

I’m sorry it’s ending.

I’ll miss the music, for one thing.

The Civil War is a big theme. And the plot diverges more from her actual life. More to magic realism.

Thomas Wentworth Higginson (Gabriel Ebert) is an excellent addition. An author, abolitionist, and soldier who was one of the first to recognize the poet’s genius.

A LITTLE madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King,
But God be with the Clown
Who ponders this tremendous scene –
This whole experiment of green,
As if it were his own!

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Runaway by Peter May

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Quite different than the usual Peter May novel, this one is a bit autobiographical.

The decision of five teenage boys to leave their homes in Glasgow in 1965 and head for London is led by Jack Mackay when he is expelled from school. His friends need little incentive to run away from abusive families and dead end jobs to pursue fame and fortune as a band.  However, the boys find the reality to be devastatingly different from their dreams, and within less than eight weeks of their departure, just three of them return home, their lives irrevocably damaged.

Fifty years later, in 2015, a brutal murder takes place in London and the three men, who are now in their sixties, are forced to return to the city to confront the demons which have haunted them and blighted their lives for five decades.

PeterMay.com

In fact, when Peter was age 17 he had been expelled. And convinced his buddy Stephen to run away from Glasgow to London. They didn’t last long.

Here are Peter and Stephen reminiscing about their escape 50 years in the past.

Impulse – season 1

On By Rick McIn books, TVLeave a comment

Because I HATE advertising, I subscribe to YouTube Premium for about $10 / month.

Included in that bundle is YouTube Music. I downloaded about 100 favourite songs so I can listen offline on the rare occasion I want music rather than podcasts and audio books.

It includes “YouTube Original” TV and movies, a sad collection of things you’d never want to watch. Google has ALL the money so I’m surprised they don’t buy some streaming platforms and compete against Disney, Netflix and the rest.

BUT their only remaining scripted series is Cobra Kai.

However, I tried Impulse, a science fiction drama streaming television series based on the 2013 Steven Gould novel.

Excellent.

It’s part SciFi, part female teen coming-of-age drama.

16-year-old Henrietta “Henry” Coles who discovers she has the ability to teleport but has no control over her destination. …

The main plot gets more complex as it turns out there are others with her superpower. And they come looking for Henry.

Madelaine Hasson plays the strong, unlikable lead character.

The cast is all good, but I particularly like Enuka Okuma as Anna Hulce. A good cop in a very bad situation.

And Daniel Maslany as Townes Linderman, an autistic student.

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

I also watched the second and final season — but don’t recommend it.

One highlight, however, of season two is Callum Keith Rennie as Nikolai, another with Henry’s powers who’s trying to help(?) her.

And Townes gets a girlfriend.

Kimbra MOCKS Traditional Female Gender Roles

On By Rick McIn ethics, happiness, music, things getting betterLeave a comment

Are little girls still brainwashed to dream about marriage in 2022?

Women who DECIDE to marry and have kids should do so. But it shouldn’t be a cultural expectation.

Kimbra is now age-31. Not married. No kids.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.