Too Soon?

17 years ago the U.S. lost its fucking mind over a horrible, preventable tragedy and has only gotten crazier since.

— Stormy Jamesiels (@wetcasements) September 12, 2018

Pop Cultural Intake Update

The Wire and George Pelecanos and porn and dystopian nightmare 1970's New York and Maggie Gyllenhaal check a lot of my boxes but I still haven't seen The Deuce.  Franco-aversion, possibly.  But maybe this will be something I manage to binge-watch as we move into fall.

Minor Thought

you guys all realize re: America/American politics that there's no "going back to normal" after this Trump GOP, right? like, the crazy train has left the bat-shit genie insane-o bottle forever and ever and we all bought tickets?

— Stormy Jamesiels (@wetcasements) September 6, 2018

We Can Be Heroes (Not)

The White House is an actively anti-American snake pit.  No secrets there.  But "standing up to Trump" does not make you a hero, not by a long shot.  Erik Loomis:

"Fuck whoever this is. This isn’t resistance. This is self-preservation and nothing more. The person is either a fascist or a facilitator of fascism. This person, be it Pence or Mattis or Sessions or whoever, is a clown. If you want to be a powerful Republican actually resisting Trump, you have a model. It’s John Dean. Otherwise, please jump off a boat."

It's not hyperbole to suggest that while America will probably survive Trump, it cannot survive a Republican Party that lets the pussy-grabber have his way as long as Paris Hilton gets more tax cuts.

Mellow Fruitfulness Yadda Yadda

This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen....

Seriously though, it's still hot here in lurvely Daegu but this morning I walked to work and you could feel the faintest of breezes through the trees.  It's still humid as hell, but if you squint you can almost see some of them starting to turn, and imagine the ajummas dusting off their sweet potato broilers as the kinder season comes unto us.

Love And Theft

Hari Kunzru on his novel White Tears, hipsters, and blues music

I loved the idea behind the first half of Hari Kunzru's White Tears, but the second half is a bit of a letdown.  The characters are interesting, but the shift from straight-up narrative to magical realism feels very forced and unearned to me.

Still, the issues of authenticity and appropriation in American blues music are always worth thinking about.  (The basic plot involves two white hipsters who manage to "invent" an old-time blues song through field recordings of modern-day New York City.)

But this interview makes me appreciate the novel a bit more.

Summer Pics From The USA

Taylor Dock, Bellingham WA

Nephew getting his hot dog on (beer was mine, I think)

Camden Yards, Baltimore MD

Nephew and two buddies after a horse tournament, Mt. Airy MD

As mentioned, my annual August trips to America have really come down to a week of misery, if not agony, while visiting my MAGA-dad in the wilds of Bellingham, Washington, and then a few weeks with my sister and her son near Baltimore where we eat and swim and drive around and do really fun things.  These constitute the proverbial "vegetables" and "dessert" of dealing with your family, I guess.

And the Orioles managed to beat the Mets, so that was worth it.

Things I've Learned On The Internet Today:

1)  White Nationalists like Steve Bannon have a right not just to speak at any public event they wish, but to also be paid handsomely for doing so because Free Speech.

2)  Nike is not a hugely exploitative multinational behemoth but actually a secret liberal cabal that cares not one wit as to how much they make in a given economic quarter.

3)  For some unknown reason, President Pussy-grabber hasn't yet forced Jeff Sessions into a leather gimp-suit and ball-gag, but that literally could change by tomorrow.

Small Thought On Son Heung-min Being Exempted From Two Years Of Military Service

Simple Thought: If Korean footballers get military exemptions for winning (relatively minor) Asian Game golds, why not other Soft Power icons such as musicians?

— Stormy Jamesiels (@wetcasements) September 3, 2018

"doesn't matter what you do / you know what you've done"

Guided By Voices, "Space Gun"

Korea has two major national holidays, Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) and the Lunar New Year.  Chuseok falls in late September / early October, which means I get a second vacation coming right off of my annual trip to America.  It looks like a five-day weekend this year, so I'll probably head down to Busan for a bit and check out the beach.

It's weird though, as mentally I feel like I don't deserve the days off.  (Thanks again, Capitalism!)  And it murders my teaching schedule very early on in the semester.

Anyhow, it's the best time to visit Busan which is stupidly hot and crowded during July and August.

And for some reason, Busan lifeguards on their goofy jet-skis are total assholes.  Like, if you go more than 20 feet out into the ocean they ride over and scream at you.  They're more dangerous than the ocean itself, because Korea.

Delightin' And Instructin' And Stuff

Kingston Rudieska & Dr. Ring Ring, "Discovery of Life"

First week of teaching is in the bag.  I've got one of the better departments this semester, and the withering Daegu summer might finally be starting to recede back to hell.

So here's some Korean ska just because.