From the Desk of…
Didn’t we just do this? Why do I feel like I’ve lost an entire week? Anyway, there’s really just one news story I want to cover before getting to the main event. After all, early voting opened today, and you can vote in the March primary at the Franklin County Board of Elections (1700 Morse Road) from 8a-5p. They’ll even have Saturday hours and extended hours soon, so if you Ohio voting… get on it.
Friday, Judge David Young declared a mistrial in the case of Officer Jason Meade over the death of Casey Goodson Jr. Then, he undeclared it. This is apparently a thing that can happen, as we found out. This, after several juror replacements over the week, resulted in a couple more hours of deliberation followed by—you guessed it—a mistrial. Weirdly, it doesn’t seem that anybody is happy with this? The jurors were asking the judge if they could find Jason Meade guilty on one count and not guilty on another, indicating that they were of split minds. Or, at least, that one of them was of a differing opinion on the situation and the facts at hand. The whole trial reminds me of what happened with Officer Andrew Mitchell, who was mistried and then ultimately found not guilty of murdering Donna Dalton Castleberry. Of course, relatedly, Officer Mitchell was found guilty in federal court on his charges of abusing his position to coerce women into performing sexual favors in exchange for their freedom. As Jason Meade is not affiliated with the vice squad, I’m not getting a sense that any supplemental justice will be on the way. We’ll just have to see what happens as the case moves forward. Disappointed but not surprised.
The Brain Dump
hmm think I oversalted this gravy. that's what I get for measuring from the heart
no haha don't undergo the Wisconsin glaciation ur topography is so karstlike
lousy desire, being the root of all suffering and all
well well well... they blew up the chicken man in philly last night
finally, using Internet of Things functionalities, I can lock the smart humidifier and the smart dehumidifier in eternal struggle with each other
It’s apparently rather dry in my house. I get it, the time of year and all, but… does explain my itchy skin.
At the Movies
It’s none of your business why I watch the movies I watch when I watch them. Leave me to my dark bidding.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968), dir. Roman Polanski ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ❤️
Memory's a funny thing. I remember clearly the place I lived, the TV on which I first watched this one. My mother, she loved it. She would swear up and down that they had changed the ending on her. She remembered so vividly seeing the baby. She too had vivid memories of watching it, memories no less clear than my own, but somewhere along the way they changed, and the changes became crystallized and coded as fact. Who determines truth? Who sets the boundary between recalled reality and manufactured memory? Who can say you don't remember something that happened to you? She drifts further in my memory every day, out to sea forever in the ocean of dreams. Typhoon! Typhoon! It killed 55 people in London.
The Specials (2000), dir. Craig Mazin ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This had to have fallen off some video store shelf and into the cart, probably because "no one is renting this." Exposure to James Gunn's early work likely changed my brain for the worse. At the very least, some of the Minute Man gags have stayed with me for decades. Probably the closest we'll ever get to a Great Lakes Avengers movie. Kinda funny that both this and Mystery Men prefigure our current world saturated with supers.
Melancholia (2011), dir. Lars von Trier ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ❤️
This is going to be me during the eclipse in April. Helluva cast in this. Choosing to take a literalist reading on this because metaphors are for cowards. In fact, metaphors are likely forbidden under the tenets of Dogme 95. Always thought it was going to be more... flat and nihilistic? But, as George Pal said to his bride, when worlds collide, I'm gonna give you some terrible thrills. Can't believe it took this for me to register that Herrmann cribbed Wagner's Tristan und Isolde for the Vertigo score. Really liked this one, should've followed my gut and seen it in theaters on release but was... nervous as always to watch a von Trier.
...Wedding bean lottery?
As always, get the full picture at Letterboxd.
Some Pictures
Alright, here we go. Some tough calls in this one. Explication after the jump.
Listen, Jack…
The presidential primary is not a competitive race. I don't care who you vote for in it. Follow your heart. In the 15th, I've known Zerqa for years, and she's a courageous activist with a strong sense of justice. Terri for Supreme Court makes the most sense to me, and it’s unclear what is moving behind the scenes at Liz Walters’ ODP to blockade her. If someone already has name recognition and networks, why start from scratch? Of course, if she strikes out during this at-bat, then you definitely have to relegate her to a benchwarmer. Maybe ODP is converting to a one-and-done model (incredibly unlikely, a hard pivot from airdropping in Cordray to run and lose against DeWine again, but maybe people can change). In Ohio 3, Ismail has been doing a fine job and making some tough calls, and I see no need to razz him. Known him for years too. In Ohio 5, that's a toughie. I liked a lot of what I saw out of Leo, but I have to give the edge to Meredith Lawson-Rowe here. Ohio 6... I'm still not sure on this one. Half of them go right into the round file for me. I've worked with Adhanet Kifle and Kawther Musa for... hey, it doesn't matter how long I've known people, I’m not on trial here. They're great folks, and I'd love to see them making their inroads and moving up. Christine, though? I don't know exactly what she did, how she did it, but a lot of folks that I trust seemed to have immediately thrown in for her, and even if I might have my skepticism about it all... that means something. Ohio 10 goes to Sarah; she's surrounding herself with good people. Richard Brown's opposition is a Republican who is 'totally a Democrat' now. I have no love for opportunists.
So, and speaking of, county prosecutor. Realistically, any of the three would probably get the job done. Pierson's getting the nods from current county prosecutor Gary Tyack as well as a lot of the county party and the county commissioners. Favor is coming in hot with city council endorsements and a lot of smaller legislative folks in the suburbs chiming in. Pierson has the nicer website. Favor is at least paying lip service to some nicer policy ideas (conspicuously absent from her official materials).
But I know the town fairly well. And I know who goes in what pockets, who pals around with whom. Even if I have stuffed my big ears so I can focus on some other stuff for the time being. The fact of it is that Natalia Harris has a bevy of directly transferable experience from her time as Cincinnati City Prosecutor, her current role as Delaware City Prosecutor, and her time in the Columbus City Attorney's office. She also, for what its worth, seems to have the fewest attachments to existing power players in town. That doesn't mean she doesn't immediately end up in some former mayor's clutches, or the current mayor's clutches, or some billionaire in New Albany's clutches, or my clutches! I want to be very clear about that. Power corrupts, and just because someone isn't currently known to be in someone's pocket doesn't mean they won't quickly jump in once the wallet comes out.
And, as I said, any of the three would probably do as fine a job as can be done in the role of county prosecutor.
I'm not explicating county party politics at this juncture. Most of you reading this won't have a real choice on your ballot anyway. Something to think about for 2028, should Columbus still be around then!
Until next time, if you don't like it, vote.
“Something to think about for 2028, should Columbus still be around then!” 😲😂