A Great Scam or Bright Future

This Syria liberator guy is either a wonderful scam artist or a brilliant founder of a nation. Saying all the right things - and we underestimate how much that matters.

Yes

Should Elon build a new, free university?

Competition will make college great again.

If True...

The West can ensure China lags 10-15 years behind in chip tech. This guy suggests Trump offers a grand bargain to China. I wouldn't. They aren't going to change.

SMH

This guy thinks America should be run by Urkel and Screech types and trained by the teacher in Whiplash?

I knew this fool was a fraud after listening to one 45 minute interview with him. 

Explain This

Looking at box office receipts to figure out some stuff to study next semester - Horizon Chapter 1 earned 29 mil at the box office and Anora earned 13 mil. One considered a terrible bomb, another an oscar contender and one of the movies of the year. I know you can do per-screen stuff, but something is rotten in Denmark.

Logging

Film: Mufasa

So boring. First - why the narrative framing device? Who is that for? Second, the uncanny valley. One becomes super aware of the technology and phoniness of the endeavour by the "realistic" looking animals speaking in English. 3rd, Mufasa is not a super interesting lead character -- too perfect, too good, not-dimensional. Scar the most interesting character, but the arcs and shifts in his character toward the end were unearned. Fourth, music was entirely unmemorable. 5th - I couldn't tell the lions apart. 

Just a flat overall story. Of the 11 people I saw the film with, probably 4 reported enjoying it. None of the emotional charm of the original. 

Fat Activism

The thing that bugs me most about this stuff is that it ruined a whole branch of comedy - this shit is so ridiculous in actual practice, you can't parody it.

Kentaji Brown Jackson's Broadway Debut

NEW: Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson makes Broadway debut in “& Juliet,” a queer twist on Romeo and Juliet. The play features ‘May,’ Juliet’s he/she/they best friend.

Jackson previously said it was her life goal to perform on a Broadway stage. 

This sounds nice for her and like Chinese water torture for the rest of us.

A Not Terrible Strategy

I was wondering why would Ukraine wasn't doing more stuff like this.

Turns out, they have. Under this model, Ukraine could prolong the war for 75 years - basically adopting the Palestinian method - only they have several major advantages over the Palestinians: 1) the moral high ground 2) powerful and rich allies 3) bigger and stronger population 4) an enemy with the option of retreat

The Palestinians possess none of the above. 

LA Times...

...still needs work. The headline reads: "A necessary evil: the captive dogs whose blood saves live." 

Me, a dumb reader, is like: fuck yeah. That sounds like an awesome story. But within the first paragraph you of course discover the lives being saved by dog blood are sick pets. Not as compelling, is it? 

"Saves lives" - they do realize this term suggests human lives, right? Who are these writers and editors? Seriously.

Okay...

We need to correct some shit here. The "healthcare" industry doesn't kill people. Diseases and old age and other horrible shit kill people. You can't blame the healthcare industry for people dying. This is a ridiculous line of thinking. Again - I'm not a fan of the medical systems in this country - but there is a completely retarded dynamic emerging around this CEO murder that reminds me a bit of the BLM stuff. What it amounts to - really dumb people who can't even balance their own checkbooks or hold a job at Starbucks thinking that we need to "do something" about systemic racism or health insurance. Perhaps we do. But I know for certain if solutions are figured out - they won't be because these "conversations" dumbasses on the internet are having. I bet 90% of them don't even understand how insurance works. And the other 10% don't understand how treatments are developed. 

Hmmmm...

Greta shifts her attention from the global climate crisis to Palestine. Are we to understand the climate crisis was resolved from this attention shift? Is the Palestine-Israel thing now a more urgent issue? Please explain.

Torture Chamber

The best argument against the leftish worldview is to simply create leftist worldview spaces as a natural experiment and see what happens. Does anyone in their right mind think Bluesky will exist in 2 years?

This is happening to my former favorite coffee shop in town. Started out as your typical LA spot, but started becoming waaaayyy too into LGBT++++ all the time - like every new hire had to have their face fucked up and purple hair and on some type of weird drug regimen. I noticed the few "normie" employees aren't there as often. The other day there was a car with a Palestinian flag draped onto it. And the prices went up.

Anyhow, a new place opened up down the street the other day. More normie. Coffee quality roughly equal. Now I'm going there more often.

Stephen A

Goes ballistic on Jan 6 being an inside job and Democrats lying. 

It would help the Democrats if Donald Trump could stop being right about everything. 

The Drones

Shoot them down and figure out what they are. Not hard. 

Agreed

95% of people hating insurance companies is that people don't know how insurance works. 

A big problem in the world is that people are too dumb to govern themselves. The other problem is that people are also too dumb to govern others.

Duke Lacrosse

What's the world come to when you can't trust the word of an exotic dancer who murdered her boyfriend.

Good Point

Bryan Caplan says can leftists ever just say exactly what they want? Like provide a list. Cause I can think of a few examples just from recent headlines -

1) A Palestinian state. Well, the reality here is the Palestinians were offered states - twice! And turned them down both times. So again - what do they really want?

2) Obamacare. Isn't this what leftists wanted? And now apparently - they don't want it. Please explain.

"League of the Year"

Money quote: why couldn't Time put the entire WNBA on the cover and call it "the league of the year."

Oy vey. Anyone want to explain photography to this person? I can predict her next few ideas: I don't see why everyone can't be the lead character in this movie. I actually think we should have everyone be President of the United States. Have we considered giving out Gold medals to all the athletes?

Logging

Film: Old Fox (Taiwan)

2/3 done, but so far the film is about inflation.

UPDATE: Good movie.

What Are Movies

They used to be visual stories you'd go to with friends and family and watch with a community. I'm not sure they function that way anymore. I almost wonder if movies are a now a simply one of many subjects for which people can vent about online. Like they are themselves shorthanded symbols for certain tribal associations and belonging.

Observations

The other day I was at an eye doctor's appointment with my son, we had 30 minutes to kill so we went to a hip nearby LA coffee joint. It was packed with people. But here's the odd thing - the silence. You could hear pin drop. I noticed because I got a hair self conscious speaking with my kid because I could feel everyone able to hear us, if they opted to listen. I'm talking about 15-20 people lingering in this coffee joint, all working on laptops, etc. It was so busy, we couldn't find a place to sit for two.

I can tell you for a fact - 10-15 years ago - coffee shops just like these all around town were noisy. They were still packed with people writing their screenplays, etc, but there was a buzz about. They weren't like libraries. That's what was so odd. It got me thinking how maybe we've transported energy out of the physical world into the digital. In the old days people would chit chat with the folks around them. Not everyone, of course. It's not like there weren't introverts. But surely you would hear people TALKING in a public space. Even I (an introvert) was even chit chatting with the ordering guy. But it seemed like no one else was chit chatting. Well, they probably were - online somehow. Sigh.

I hated it.

Almost Naked Russian Tourist

Takes on four Thai police officers and seems to prevail.

One of the reasons Russia partners with China is that when push comes to shove, I think the Russians feel like they can do this to the Chinese. 

A tip from an Asian American. If you want to take this huge guy down - go for the legs and you need speed/momentum. These countries that don't play football are at a disadvantage. 

A lesson from Cooper DeJean taking down Derrick Henry who I suspect is at least 3x as strong as that Russian dude (as strong as that Russian dude appears to be). 

In Other Words...

...don't go all in with an inside straight draw, especially with a small stack. What Russia loses in Syria.

There Is A Place For These Kid of People

Like Taylor Lorenz...it's a coffee shop in the Haight with a laptop and a tattered copy of People's History of the United States on the table where she can mouth off to other non-employables -- not the public airwaves.

Assad Family

To the people who are all about stolen land...can the Assad family claim the "right of return"? Why not?

Wrong vibes, I guess.

Hilarious

Again Macaes is criticizing Israel for grabbing territory in Syria. Here is a thread:

In the past, Israel’s radars suffered from a significant blind spot, unable to see beyond Mt. Hermon and parts of Lebanon from their position on Mt. Meron. Iran's low-flying drones exploited this weakness, infiltrating Israel time and time again. 

So you see, his real objection is that Israel must accept vulnerability to enemy plans. It's so freaking strange. I mean the guy knows this is a small country hated by neighbors - how do you expect them to react? In what other way should Israel "exist"? Should they allow themselves to be a powerless minority in the region? Ask how that has worked for the Kurds. Or the Shia in Iraq. Or the Palestinians! Or any number of minorities within Iran or anywhere else. Absurdities. 

Maybe Chill A Little

Right wingers worrying about protests re: Daniel Penny acquittal. From this video, it looks like about 15 people in NYC. I'd chill out a bit.

Batshit

This "explanation" of "sex assigned at birth" and gender identity and expression is so batshit crazy and nonsensical - I cannot fathom how this became a thing.

Iraq War

So the real plan was to remove the Saddam domino, cause the Iranians to fill the power vacuum, thus tricking them to overextending themselves until the mullah regime collapsed as well?

A Lesson

I failed to learn. Pulled quads take 6 weeks to recover when you are in your 40s. 

Everything About Israel

Beware the critic who makes everything about Israel. He argues in some posts that Israel enabled Assad. In other posts, he argues Israel caused his downfall. He argues Israel causes all the chaos in the Middle East as a colonial power. Yet, silence on Turkey and Russia, who are also colonial powers and the major players in this Syria thing. It's very odd. What is unique about Israel? The Jews will say these arguments are antisemitic. Too easy. I think it's actually he expects Russia and Turkey to flex because they are big, historically powerful countries. Israel is small. And I think somewhere in this is the root of the some folks revulsion at Israel. How dare this little country act out of place. Don't they know they could be crushed like an ant? And Israel dares to say - no. We won't be crushed and we will do whatever it takes not to be crushed. 

Workouts

Batting cage > lifting 

Forgot what it feels like to hit a ball in the sweet spot - one of the greatest feelings in the world.

Crazy Idea

Could you slice off a little bit of the new Syria for the Palestinians? Build them an airport, roads etc. Get a buffer space between them and the Israelis? Is no one else thinking this? Does it totally miss the point? Yes. But the benefit would be avoiding the back and forth mass murders. 

Logging

Book: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson 

Felt like a great book written in the 1950s but indeed was written in 2004. Reminds me of something I love about American literature - something I can't quite articulate -- but it has to do with God, nature, and individualism.

This Is Not Possible

Marisa Tomai celebrating 60. 

Me So Angry

Aren't all the people who seem to be gloating about the healthcare CEO murder the folks that wanted Obamacare? I'm so confused.

UPDATE: Actually, I'm not. Because I understand the thing that drives them - envy. 

Logging

Film: Anora

While I enjoyed the humanistic portrayal of the characters, the storytelling ended up feeling a tad linear and not entirely satisfying by the end. I thought Baker might get more ambitious in his filmmaking as he progresses, but the film seemed to me too content being indy - if that makes any sense.

Maybe I've become real dull, but I feel an actual Cinderella version would've been better rather than just a Cinderella set up and then a ha-ha nod to it.

Russia and Iran

Are learning that overextension doesn't just apply to the US. They are subject to the same laws of finance, resources, and geopolitics.

Syria

How to feel about the more successful, moderate Islamicists that successfully rebeling in Syria? I'd argue we ought to be open to them. Our problem with global jihad was they declared war on us and wanted to  attack and kill Westerners. I wouldn't trust or be too excited about these folks coming to power, yet we have to be realistic about our options across the Muslim world. If folks want Islamic governance and they aren't militarily hostile, what problem do we have with them?

Logging

Film: The Truman Show

Unbelievably, I'd never seen it. It's not what I'd call my style of film and yet - it's quite remarkable. The absolute best sequence is basically the first act turn when Truman realizes - something isn't right in the world. He starts behaving in a way not prescribed for him - Carey's acting is wonderful. You track on his face this subtle realization about the nature of his life. The music too - patient. It grows. And it's all done in a rather simple, everyday manner but has an epic quality to it. Peter Weir one of the great directors of his time. Camera positioning in this film - brilliant design. And the end - the filmmaker pulls off a moment where man faces God -- totally biblical. I wonder if the Barbie filmmakers used this as a model. Also, it should be paired with the Matrix. What an interesting thing to look back upon - how Hollywood seemed to know something without really knowing - that we were entering this realm of unreality and was grappling with it on a conceptual level. 

UPDATE: And Google reveals in fact Gerwig spoke to Peter Weir before making Barbie.

Other things I'm watching or re-watching in parts:

Paris, Texas

Bob the Gambler

Heathers

Funny Games - all I can think about while watching the beginning of this film is about what pussies Europeans are. These are a people who once colonized the world? The fuck happened to you guys?

Ouch

What's the most important problem in the world right now? 

This student journalist deserves a pulitzer prize for best zinger.

I Admit It

Although I am a luddite about quite a number of things, I confess Christmas shopping is a whole lot easier with Amazon. I used to come away from the mall wanting to murder people. 

Interesting

Esquire retracts entire story because it was about something that never happened. 

I wonder how this happens.

Ha

I don't think my students read a ton, but in every single one of my classes, they read more than this Stanford student. And they all actually read because I speak with them about it. 

In my basic screenplay class they read at least 4-6 scripts along with watching 4-6 films. In Adaptation, they read 1 play, 1 novel, 1 long form article, 1 graphic novel, and 1 children's book. Along with all the film or tv adaptations.

I read several books a year out loud with my kids cover to cover - and I mean real books. Just finished Treasure Island. Have read Charlotte's Web 2x times. Tom Sawyer. Doing an abridged Moby Dick right now. Did graphic novel versions of The Iliad and The Odyssey. Not even mentioning all the non-fiction. Interesting to think about this. I tend to think there is some extra value in cover-to-cover reading. Especially when becoming "educated." Not about the efficiency but rather the accomplishment - maybe we create some sort of neural pathways when working through an entire work.

Search vs AI

One thing I'll say about google - search was almost immediately useful. With AI, I find it interesting, but perhaps not quite useful yet. Especially because it has enough ability to be plausible, but I still feel like I need to look over it. Sort of like how little kids perform chores - almost easier for you to do it yourself than to oversee them doing it. 

Apologies To My Political Allies

I gotta go the other way on this one after reading the Phd abstract of Olfactory and Politics of Smell PhD - I don't think it even sounds that bad. 

UPDATE: If nothing more, it's increased the vocabulary of thousands of losers by one big word - more success than most PhDs theses.

And This Is Why...

Brilliantly put. Again...my theory Dems won't have political control for 20+ years.

All the "what should Democrats do?" miss the obvious. Govern. Competently. When the blue states and blue cities are booming, safe, great schools, business flocking, call America and say "we're ready to run the country now."

Wouldn't mind some global stability either.

Common Sense...

I'm sure all these sensible folks calling the Hunter Biden charges bogus were also calling the Russian collusion hoax bogus as well...right...right? And the business records case in New York, right? Right? Just making sure.

Look, the Hunter Biden charges are a big nothing burger but it just looks so freaking terrible that Biden "trusted" the law when he was in power only to reveal he actually doesn't trust it all...

Fathers

My fathering technique is to urge my sons not to do shit you'll need to be pardoned for. 

Prediction

Democrats are going to lose 20 years of elections across the country because they are systematically unable to moderate on absurd issues.

They are going to sacrifice everything - the middle class, abortion, environmentalism - at the alter of trans rights. How do I know? They've already done it by purging the moderates and all sensible people from their ranks. Their hopes rest on Trump being a fascist loon. Bad bet.