"put on your animal suit and dance"

The first and third albums by Candy Machine, a Baltimore band that's legendary as far as I'm concerned but hey I'm old and my favorite band sucks.  (Candy Machine and Tune International.)

"Human as meat, human as object, human as tool."

"They were nowhere to be found, leading me to believe they were long dead. I would never find the bodies, because if their organs hadn't already been carved out and sold off, the corpses would have been disguised for insurance fraud. I'm not exactly sure when it started, this habit of always assuming the worst-case scenario. My parents, the moneylenders, everyone said the words. All you've got is your body. A body. . . not a person, not a human. Human as meat, human as object, human as tool. A person's value is proportional to their bank balance. Our society seems to think it's okay to look down on the poor. And when you're constantly broke and beaten down, you start to think money's the only thing that matters. The more you're knocked down, the more you cling to money, hoping it can put you back together. It's messed up, yeah, but that's how it is."

-- Jin-Young Choi, Hunger

World Cup and Stuff

Late to the party here, but it sure is tough for a second-tier team trying to make it to the elite level getting preferential treatment from FIFA and still shitting the bed against Belgium.  Does the USMNT ever live this down?  We'll find out in four years at the earliest!

But we already knew everything Trump touches turns to shit.

Meanwhile, I'm rooting for Norway and Morocco.  If I was betting, I'd put it all on France -- they look really good, and they look like they haven't really played their best games yet.

Pet-sitting continues.  Maryland had a killer heat-wave last weekend but it's died down to thunderstorms and cooler weather.  I'll take it.

We're at war with Iran again and this strikes me as much of a forever war as Iraq II and Afghanistan were.  Worse, actually, because instead of fighting insurgents Trump has basically declared war on a prominent global geographic feature.

Summer

Chingu in Attack Pattern Bookcase.

It's July!  It's hot as hell outside as we move into July 4th weekend!

1)  I'm pet-sitting for the fist half of July for somebody who owns an actual pool.  Yay!

2)  The US has made it into the Round of 16 with a tough game against Belgium ahead.  Did Balogun deserve that red card?  Well, he did step on the guy's ankle pretty hard.

3)  Trump's 250th Birthday for America has been and will continue to be a shit-show.  Never start a land war in Asia, and never plan outdoor events for D.C. in the middle of summer.  Seriously, wouldn't be surprised if people die of heat stroke.

4)  I'm offically looking at houses in North Carolina.  In August I'll actually drive down and look at a few, then buy one.  I am so ready to leave Maryland and Frederick behind.  As the kids say, the vibes are no good.

5)  I turn 52 at the end of July.

6)  I finished the Gene Wolf Book of the New Sun tetralogy.  I might have more to say other than I enjoyed it, and, I'm pretty sure a lot of it flew over my head.  I have the fifth book too but am taking a little needed break.

Enjoy summer!  Drink lots of water, or adult beverages of your choosing!

Backrooms: Wut I Thunk

It's more about what's scary than it is scary.  It's more about liminal spaces than it is a liminal space in itself.  It's certainly Lynchian in a few spots, but definitely not Lynch.  And for me this whole thing, despite an interesting setup, falls apart towards the end when an imitation of a Boogie Man, certainly not a scary or even interesting Boogie Man in itself, shows up.  I couldn't stop laughing.  And it was not a comedic moment by any means.  Ultimately this is a movie idea in search of some characters and plot to hang its analog jacket on.  I'll also admit, this probably works for a lot of people who buy into it, but I tried and couldn't.

Two beige ottomans out of five!

World Cup Fever

I was all set to write up a short, angry post about the World Cup and how moving to 48 teams has ruined all my Christmases forever.  Germany dispatches Curacao 7-1, and that's that -- mediocrity reigns.  But then Spain immediately shits the bed against (checks internet again) Cape Verde in a scoreless tie and here we are.  And despite losses, Iraq, Haiti, and Jordan have all put in worthy performances

So what the hell do I know?

And America and South Korea (my two teams, basically) are off to fantastic starts.

Update:  Congo just tied Portugal.  What even is football?

Disclosure Day: Wut I Thunk (Minor Spoilers!)

Spielberg has admitted this is his spiritual successor to Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Which is great, because I'll take sci-fi speculative Spielberg over dreary historically "accurate" Spielberg any day.  Throw in some of Christopher Nolan's Inception as well.  As for the meat of the film, the first half is a colossal bore.  It's a first contact story and really doesn't need the depth of explanation provided (reminiscent, of all things, of Ghostbusters and the Keymaster needing to find the Gatekeeper).  And we all already know about Roswell, New Mexico!  Americans love the conspiracy shit, they really don't need it spelled out for them!  But the film eventually hits its stride, things fall into place, and I'd say it sticks the landing pretty well.  Another problem though: the corporate bad guys are appropriately well armed and, well, bad.  But even they seem to silently admit at the end that a decades-long coverup wasn't worth it given that the alternative is peace on Earth, forever.  Ultimately, it's peak Spielberg both for better and for worse.

Three animatronic cardinals out of five!

The Living Is Easy

I'd say for the last ten years my primary reading has been fiction, with some forays into history.  I'm trying to read more poetry these days though, like when I was a much younger man.  In the past year I've re-read Sylvia Plath and Philip Larkin, both very much worth my time.  (I'd forgotten how damn funny Plath is, biography be damned.)  I came upon this poem -- "Places with Terrible Wi-Fi" -- and had to buy the book by J. Estanislao Lopez.  Along with new stuff, I've got plans to reconnect with T.S. Eliot and Emily Dickinson before the summer ends.

And things are good.  I'm going down to North Carolina in August to check out houses.  I'm thinking the US men make it out of the group stage then get crushed (typical, really, and not all that bad for a Football / Basketball county).  It's hot and humid.  Ultimately, I'm just excited to be leaving Frederick.  Some charms, but mostly boring and filled with rednecks.  And while I realize I'm moving to the South, at least I'll have good beaches down there to visit.

Not All Experiments Succeed

America is facing a pretty essential question right now -- What happens when a Democracy has a critical mass of folks (roughly one-third) who are too dumb to act and / or vote in their own self interest?  Who will vote for somebody hurtling towards dementia with his only goal being to loot the US treasury for himself and his family?

Granted, even Socrates knew this could be an issue.

Brotherly Love, City of

Greetings from Philadelphia, in particular the lovely and bougie Manayunk neighborhood!

Why am I in the lovely and bougie Manayunk neighborhood, your might ask?  It's a long story!

My Dad, who passed almost three years ago, was a scientist with the Department of Agriculture.  He got sent around the world (Africa and Asia mostly) to help local farmers and scientists grow more food using advanced (or in some cases, quite primitive but effective) agricultural techniques.  He met many fellow scientists along the way, and developed many friendships.

So in the 1980's, he helped with getting visa sponsorship for an Indian colleague and his wife (a medical doctor).  It's a complicated story, and one that almost didn't work out, but in the end my Dad helped these two very accomplished people and their daughter settle in the United States.  They had been reaching out to my Dad for years, but due to his hearing being shot and his dementia, he wasn't great about keeping in touch with friends.

In any event me and my sister and my nephew drove up to Philly yesterday for lunch with these very wonderful people (and their daughter and her husband, and assorted grandchildren).

So that's how I ended up outside of an organic Italian restaurant crying, when these folks told me and my sister how the memory of my dad was a blessing for their entire family.

People are complicated.  My dad could be so stern and withdrawn on meeting him, and you might never realize how damn funny he was after a beer and getting to know somebody, anybody, a little bit.

I miss you Dad.  We had such a great time celebrating you yesterday but I have a feeling you already knew that.

Healed!

Worth documenting?  I had some minor surgery yesterday to remove some skin tabs from my armpits.  Kind of embarrassing!  Anyhow, things went fine.  A few hours after I got home the topical wore off though, and He-Man James turned into a baby searching for the aspirin bottle.  Anyhow, I'm trying to be more forward-thinking when it comes to my health, and not putting off (especially easy) encounters with the doctor like this one.