From the Desk of…
When I was about seven years old, my grandma got tired on the drive up from whatever vacation, Gatlinburg maybe, and so she made a stop for the night at some Best Western in Kentucky off 71. There were supposed to be bad storms that night, you see, and she didn’t want to drive with the line for hours as the sun went down. So, maybe she wasn’t tired so much as practical. It can be two things. Anyway, I spent that night glued to the window watching the storm outside. I swore to her up and down that I saw rotation and funnel activity through the lightning strikes. At most, I got a “get away from the window then,” which I pretended not to hear.
Of course, the next morning, it came to light that not only had there been several tornadoes in the area but that the wind had been strong enough to take off part of the hotel’s roof and put it into the lawn by the parking lot. Come to think of it, somewhere in a photo album should be a picture of that roof damage. I’m standing next to it grinning a big grin. All my life I’ve dreamed repeatedly of tornadoes. That night was probably the closest I’ve come to actually seeing one. Maybe I did see one! Maybe it was an overactive imagination that incidentally turned out to be right. Anyway, last night’s storm ended up staying more south than anticipated. I’m still waiting to hear on reports on damages near Cincinnati and Lancaster, but it certainly wasn’t the apocalypse many people were gearing up for. That’s good! It’s better to be safe than sorry with weather events. Sure, the waters have been high enough to activate the floodwall. Still… there’s a twinge of disappointment with it. It was a fine storm, but it wasn’t a real thumping. I still remember being out on the porch for the derecho in June 2012. Now THAT was a storm worth the sit. Of course, the week of power outage that followed wasn’t great, nor was losing the hundreds of dollars of groceries from the store run the day before, but… man, I was born to be in it, and I was there, baby.
Was there… has news happened in the last week? Anybody see anything important? Joe Lieberman died, I guess. I’ll never forget seeing his wife Hadassah give a talk where she opened it up to Q&A after only using half her time and then entertained a number of rambling “this is more of a statement” non-questions, one of which was mostly about sending anti-war postcards. That, Will Sasso as Steven Seagal saying “vote Lieberman” in Mad TV sketches, and his gutting the Affordable Care Act because of centrism. That’s how I’ll always remember him. Other than that… oh, there is the ACLU and Planned Parenthood lawsuit. Apparently, they think that some of Ohio’s abortion restrictions are illegal, now that Ohio voters have put abortion rights into the state constitution. We’ll see how that goes.
The Brain Dump
tired: forgive and forget
inspired: forgive and remember
saw someone at the grocery who was wearing a keffiyeh and JNCOs which... that's a 2024 outfit for sure
my planet ohio is so beautiful when the sun is low
Christ was an ass man
"Reader Beware: You're in for a Scare!" was effectively a content warning R.L. Stine was putting on children's literature in the '90s
At the Movies
Need to get back to my goblin ways and stop rewatching so much TV. I did recently start Bob’s Burgers again. That may be indicative of my mental state.
It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (1974), dir. Phil Roman ⭐⭐⭐⭐
a rabid screed against the commercialization of Easter smdh this isn't what He died for or something also Marcie has to be intentionally ruining the eggs to prove a point there's no way you can intentionally screw up making hardboiled eggs that many times
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), dir. Stephen Herek ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ❤️
This is effectively a retelling of the Harrowing of Hell. "Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes" likewise encapsulates many of the Christ's teachings.
Do we think the phone booth time machine was a Doctor Who joke or something?
The Hills Have Eyes (1977), dir. Wes Craven ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ❤️
Like many of Craven's works that followed, this too reveals his interests in examining class structure as well as the heteropatriarchial family unit. Viewers empathize with the one closer to themselves, but how truly different are they from those left behind in the desert? Much has been written of similar themes and ideas in Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
And hey! A racist Cleveland cop gets brutally murdered! Ohio mentioned 🥳
One Picture
mmm… something
In closing,
Next Monday, if you can, you should make the effort to take part in witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime cosmic event. The next total solar eclipse to cross Ohio will be in 2099, and while I intend to live forever, some of you may not make it that long. Sure, there will be other chances if you travel, but this is the one in your own backyard. Don’t kid yourself that partial coverage is just as good. Get off your duff and get out to totality. Here’s a map to show you how short a trip it’ll be. Me, I’ll be close to centrality. It’ll be a good time even if there are clouds.
Until next time, look up once in a while.
Looking forward to seeing how edgy they make Senator Meow 2099.