Pretty Remarkable

A current, active NFL player who also teaches an Ivy League class on financial literary, etc.

I'm impressed.

In Praise of Feinstein

Agreed.

She screwed up the Kavanaugh thing, but maybe that was all a political stunt to cover her left flank. Wouldn't put it past her.

Yes, Yes, Yes

Couldn't agree more: cure to social media's ills are not with "banning" it, but prioritizing other and better things - like more children, more travel.

She's Welcome Not To

AOC says maybe people shouldn't have kids because of climate change.

I get suspicious when folks start telling others what to do. And the bigger the ask, the more suspicious I get.

Logging

TV: Oscars, True Detective s 3, the rest, Pen15 e. 1-2

Film: Pale Rider

"Every time somebody's driving, I lose."

There are many un-PC things that can be said about the Oscars this year, but Lada Gaga and Bradley Cooper seemed to exist on another plane altogether than the entire rest of the show. Granted, I was only half watching.

True Detective's final episode felt my eyeballs watering from wanting to go to sleep so bad. Yikes. Checking in on my predictions:

My predictions:
-I will finish the season (yes)
-My favorite parts will continue to be scenes in the car between Dorff and Ali. (yes)
-One could cut all the relationship stuff between Ali and his wife and we would not miss it at all (yes)
-Ali's son will be found to be sleeping with the documentary filmmaker (yes)
-We will get no significant insight into the powers truly behind the sex crime, etc and the end of the season will be slightly dissatisfying. (no)

We got insight into the crime alright. With a flashback and voice over explanation about exactly how it happened! Oy Vey.

Pen15 is good, but maybe not my cup of tea? After first two episodes, I was longing for more of the side characters instead of the main relationship. The one girl is leagues better than the other girl.

Oh, and Pale Rider: underrated!

Feinstein

Stands up to kids who are clearly being brainwashed by Green New Deal activists.

I watch this and am struck by the rudeness of the young people. If I caught my kids talking to a US Senator this way, I'd wring them by the neck. That's not to say you need to agree, or can't voice your opinion, but these kids are cutting her off, shouting her down, and not listening. Obnoxious the far left are using kids this way.

And this is their own propaganda. They don't even realize how they sound.

Kevin Durant

Does his legacy change after winning 2 plus championships with the Dubs? By the current metrics the NBA community uses, it does. But should it? It doesn't seem to me a remarkable accomplishment -- the 2nd best player in the league joins the already best team in the league and goes on to win 2 championships and dominate. Maybe he enjoys playing the Warriors, maybe having a great team is good for the sport and exciting, but I don't see how his status as a player ought to be raised for these feats.

And as a corollary: had he lead OKC to defeat the Warriors, his legacy should and would have changed.

Example: LeBron winning with Cavs changed his legacy.

Working Some Thoughts Out

A student asked me the other day how I think about racial representation in film. She was asking about Sandra Oh's character in Sideways, citing it as a problematic example of Asian female stereotypes.

I've been thinking more about this question this weekend...and came up with a thought. There are several ways to view films / texts and maybe it's important to know why you are watching a film, so you can figure out how to think about the film.

1) As a critic. A critic is playing a game of lowering or raising the status of a film by their analysis. This is the field of critical studies. If you teach students to look out for how Asian women are portrayed in films, you might object to Sideways and try to lower the status of the film. Now, I will add I don't personally share this view, but nevertheless, I do sometimes watch films with a critical eye.

2) As a fan. Pure personal enjoyment, like the way you would hang out with a friend. Are all friends perfect? Do some say goofy, offensive, annoying, or otherwise stupid things? Of course. But you let it go, because, well, their your friend. In short, you can view films/texts with a generosity of spirit. You root for the film.

3) As a student. You can study film / texts and study how the filmmakers made choices and what they did well and perhaps...what they did not so well. And I think this is different than a critic, because you are not engaged in a status game. You are looking at craft. Through this lens, I would argue you learn more by examining "what works," versus "what doesn't work." Or perhaps, the question isn't so much what didn't work, but rather, how could it have worked better?

And buyer beware.... The question of "how could it have worked better?" is a whole lot more difficult than you think.

Are there others?

Jussie Smollett Hoax

If the culture of hate caused the attack, what culture caused the hoax?

Interesting Take

Eric Reid thinks signing a 3-yeard 22 million dollar deal is evidence of the NFL colluding to keep him out of the league.

So if I'm reading this right, both getting and not getting a contract are signs of collusion.

Steve Kerr

Pulls a Gene Hackman from Hoosiers.

Ouch

Then and now.

Both conservatives and leftists agree that those with the most power should tell the rest of us how to live. The only thing that changes is the balance of power.

The Woke Poison

Everyone wants to be woke. The immature especially like the term because -

1) it's vague and can shift meaning to accommodate whatever they feel like in a given moment. That is to say, what is woke right now can easily shift next week, depending on, you know...

2) it evades and degrades ideas that would actually produce positive results to people and society like personal responsibility

3) it's a very cheap and easy way to get status (temporarily)

But we're getting to see some downsides in a number of venues:

1) The NBA. See Bill Simmons twitter rant on player empowerment. It's very woke to be in favor of player empowerment. Because owners are like bad guy, slave owners and you get the corollary. But what has player empowerment wrought? Ask the Celtics. Ask the Cavs. Ask the Lakers. Ask the Pelicans. Ask AD. Ask KD. Ask Kyrie. The point is this...everyone is freaking miserable. Because guess what? If everyone can do whatever the flip they want whenever the flip they want, no one can plan. No one can build. No one can count on the trains to work. It's fun to knock over the apple cart, but then where do you go to get apples?

2) The Oscars. They can't get a host. They're putting the technical awards like Cinematography and Editing to the commercial breaks. Everyone is so freaking unhappy and bitter and utterly joyless. The Academy turned what was supposed to be a celebration of excellence in craft into affirmative action by award show.

Get ready for more of this in every avenue of American life so long as people refuse to call out the bullshit for what it is. It's invaded Academia, Hollywood, Sports, and even Politics (see The Green New Deal).

Enjoy.

More on the "Green New Deal"

It isn't about the environment, but rather progressivism.

If progressivism is such a good idea, why hide the argument for it? The ideas behind it can't stand up to scrutiny. The best arguments for progressivism are negative arguments, that inequality and wealthy people have negative side effects. Which is maybe true to a certain extent. But it's not enough to be persuasive.

Ellroy

I hope James Ellroy is working on an American Tabloid esque novel about this era.

Media reports accusing Trump of intentionally going after Jeff Bezos... How is this story about Trump? Did he sneak into Bezo's pocket and snap the dick picks?

And this Green New Deal...incredible plan. Replace all cars with high speed rail. I've got an idea...let's build ONE high speed rail train first...how about that? This is like coming up with a plan to build a restaurant empire before having learned to cook.

Tesla

Cars are having trouble in harsh winter climates.

But really, who needs the door to their car to open. Come on.

Money

People should be required to put money down to comment on this Jesse Smollett incident.

Meaning to "stand with Smollett," you need to put money down that you give up if it turns out to be false. And the opposite, to call him a liar, you need to put down money and pay up if it turns out to be true.

I wonder what the odds would be. And where the smart money goes...

Wealth Tax

Would be incredibly difficult to administer.

It's almost as if Elizabeth Warren didn't think this through.

Not that my priority is securing the wealth of those with tens of millions into the billions, but let's be honest: this idea is about punishing the rich more than helping the rest of us. It is about resentment, foremost.

IDEA FOR COMPROMISE: I'd be open to a one time wealth tax if all the money is only spent to pay down the debt.

ASIDE: Like most progressive ideas, it seems reasonable - even good - at first glance, but gets worse when thinking about how to execute and even worse should we try and execute.

Logging

Book: Fire and Blood by GRRM

The history of 300 years of Targaryen rule in Westeros. This shit is catnip for me. If someone can show me a better straight storyteller than GRRM, I'm waiting. Regardless how you feel about his tone, the genre, the literary merits of the writing, the straight storytelling skills he employs, various POV, innuendo, breadth and scope of character, landscape, history is remarkable.

Film: Fargo

Improves with time and it's saying a lot. If Fargo were released in the 2010s, it would be the best film of the decade. (I haven't thought about this at all, but figured I'd make a ridiculous overstatement).

Various Family Stuff: Snippets from Ted Bundy documentary, Frye Festifal doc (netflix), Extraordinary Houses on Netflix, Cars 1-3...my only thought is that the hosts of Extraordinary Houses were annoying and gave me a headache.

Drug Addicts vs. High School Students

Guess which one San Francisco has more of.

Perhaps related: why everyone I love is leaving San Francisco.

These are political and cultural failures, especially considering the immense success and wealth created by Silicon Valley in the past 30 years.