Senator's Selects 2023/07/05
I should've written this yesterday
From the Desk of…
But no one should have to work on the 4th. Realistically, no one should have to work any day, in that one’s basic needs should be met without requirement, freeing them to invest their energy elsewhere. Anyway, let’s take a quick skim at anything interesting that happened last week. Bozo-In-Chief and convicted criminal Larry Householder, who used to hold the Ohio House, was sentenced to twenty (20) years in the Big House. How much time he actually serves remains to be seen, but we did get some fantastic mugshots out of it. How curious though, to see so many “prison abolitionists” hoot and holler when seeing a lead hobgoblin being led away in cuffs. Something to think about! Boy, what a week for the Supreme Court, am I right? You’ve got people making up hypotheticals to get standing in order to strip away gay rights, you’ve got people filing suits against legacy admissions since they did away with affirmative action in higher ed, you’ve got people reshackled to the limited amount of debt relief they were totally going to get… Starting to think this judicial body might be politicized… oh well. DeWine signed the budget albeit with some reservations and vetos. As such, the state will continue to exist. Beyond that… the air was bad again? I feel like I should remember more about the past week… but I… don’t. Hm.
Do try to keep up with the kids. They’re meme-ing the Grimace shake now.
The Brain Dump
"no rapping tonight"
why?
"you rap about the air quality everytime, it's embarrassing"
ok
[after one beer]
uh oh y'all i feel like patrick swayze
eating a volcano taco and watching it's always sunny to unlock 2011 brain
landlady texting me on the last day of June to say that I am appreciated by men... what did she mean by this
Google search is 9pm too early for bed on a Friday
remember when movie theaters used to be cold? what the hell happened to that?
I’ll spare everyone my Marx-reading-Dune bits. They’re only funny to me and one other guy.
At the Movies
Lots of movie time over the holiday break, but let’s check. I think… yes, let’s do some bonus reviews.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), dir. Steven Spielberg ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ❤️
Simply put, one of the greatest adventure films ever made.
Personally, I would hate being chopped up by an airplane propeller, at least at first. Also, this movie went a long way into making sure weird little guys with glasses were Nazi-coded moving forward. Very generous of Steven and George to not have the Americans immediately weaponize the Ark.
I think I could look at the Ark being opened, but I'm different.
Truly, Indiana Jones is a man of contrasts (killed a lot of Nazis, groomed Marion).
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), dir. Steven Spielberg ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A genre throwback must intentionally and critically engage with the faults of its predecessors, and this is notably and obviously failing to do that. As such, failing to learn from the past, the film simply repeats it. I guess nothing else was happening in 1930s India that Indy could've gotten involved with. The art and production design goes hard though, in this more-than-incidentally racist and occasionally misogynist movie. Some cool action sequences too!
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), dir. Steven Spielberg ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ❤️
Probably the most Spielbergian one, what with its father-son sentimentality and too cute gags and goofs. Undeniably bangs though, and the supporting cast rocks it.
I think I could pick the real grail, but I'm not a Nazi.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), dir. Steven Spielberg ⭐⭐⭐
Listen, it's fine. It's comparatively lesser, but it's also trying to ape a different genre of movie instead of the gritty serials that the first three were drawing on. If it were unrelated to the series - or had a cheeky cameo, maybe - and starred like a 2008 Nic Cage, people would probably be like "omg it's sooooo good I can't believe you haven't seen it we should watch it."
But it isn't, and boy howdy does the decision to put CGI animals in every other scene really uhhh make the artifice stand out more.
Cate Blanchett never did catch that moose and squirrel 😥
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), dir. James Mangold ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I mean... I meeeeeannnn... I'm not without notes for it, but for a movie that probably shouldn't have been made in the first place... pretty... pretty good. Stretched the imagination a bit to think that the federal government would be so willing to work with Nazis? Everyone turned in a performance that was at least fine. Some of the action sequences went on a bit long for my taste. Some of the gags didn't quite land. Again, I'm not without notes.
But Toby Jones shoots a Nazi, so... I mean...
And that concludes the five movies I watched on Saturday. I did also see Jaws and watch Ghostbusters, but you probably know how I feel about those already.
One Picture
Sic semper hobgoblins. I didn’t even talk about Borges, whoops.
In closing,
Maya Angelou famously said that when someone shows you who they are, you should believe them the first time. Often, when dealing with our friends, our family, our loved ones, we extend an amount of grace that can ignore or overlook our own needs and boundaries. Then, when that grace runs out, too often do they run out on us. By setting clear boundaries, we can foster an environment of mutual respect and understanding, an environment where that grace can be renewed and replenished by their presence, rather than exhausted by it. Anyone who truly loves you will honor that. If they don’t, well, you have the right to your own emotional and physical well-being, and you should feel empowered to protect it. Until next time, be healthy and make a difference.
I was not prepared for how transportive the taste of the volcano taco would be.