Yeah, hi! It seemed fairest to provide a free sample or two (or more) before putting my thoughts behind a paywall. So, thanks for your patience and understanding on that. Thank you!
Hi, Debbi Mack here. Take 300. I'm reading articles from The Washington Post. I'm not going to read them all. I'm just going to tell you about what I read in The Washington Post today on Sunday, May 28th. Yeah. May 28th. Right, right. All righty then.
"No laughing matter. China cracks down on comedy for force majeure." "When standup comedian Lee Haoshi, better known by the stage name House, was detained this month for telling a joke riffing off a Chinese military slogan, the authorities gave an unusual reason for cracking down on performances like him:'bukekangli,' (Sorry if I'm mispronouncing that) or force majeure." That's what we're talking about here, force majeure. "The legal phrase, often called an 'act of God' when applied to natural disasters is more commonly used to refer to catastrophes like armed conflict and severe weather events. And it was liberally used during the many cancellations that accompanied the coronavirus pandemic. Beijing also tried to explain away that suspected spy balloon's journey over the United States earlier this year as being due to force majeure." Well, it's very peculiar when applied to comedy, I would think. A few comedians would have something to say about that. I'm going to try to keep this newspaper away from the mic on this laptop this time. Let's see if this works.
Let's see. What was also good in here? "America's strength is learning through history, not rewriting it." I couldn't agree more.
Why can we not just accept the fact that this country was founded by white men and run by them and created by them, and we have to address some of these inequalities that have existed. But at the same time, you're not going to do it by changing the words in Huckleberry Finn or boycotting whatever movie offends you. Just have to acknowledge the suck and then do something about it. Do something constructive about it. And that's understanding constructive versus not so constructive is part of the problem, I think. Let's see.
Yeah, I also noticed an article about Vertigo that was very interesting. It made me think about the movie a little bit more, and some of the creepiness factor that this movie has more than I had thought about at the time that I saw the movie initially, because when I saw the movie the first time, I made the mistake of reading another article other than this one that unlike this one, which tells you Warning! Spoilers! The other article I read before I went to see it for the first time revealed spoilers without warnings, without care. And I was like, oh, shit. So I go to this movie and I think, how can you not see that they are both Kim, Kim Novak?
Just so, anyway, so I was just sat there going, that's Kim Novak, dumbass. It's the same woman, dumbass. Okay. Anyway, no, so that really wasn't the point of the movie was it? I mean, it's like, okay, this movie is creepy. It's horrible. It's a tragedy. Yes. All of those things, and yeah, it's slow, but I really love San Francisco. I didn't mind taking all those rides, which is really weird. And I also thought that this has this surreal quality that kind of, at some level elevates it in a way, but it is a bizarre movie. I think Marnie though, is a tough call as to which one is stranger when you come right down to it or more creepy when you come right down to it. I mean, Marnie is just, well, I won't say anything for anybody who hasn't seen it. It's just weird. It's uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable for me to watch, unlike Vertigo, which was not uncomfortable for me to watch so much as irritating because I knew what was going to happen.
So anyway, having said that, I have to say, it looks like Vertigo has become the Marmite of movies. I hope all these noises I'm making are not getting through the microphone. Shoot. Yeah. Oh yeah. There's an article in here that I think that talks about how wonderful Age of Vice is, and Jacqueline Winspear's The White Lady, and yeah, I loved Age of Vice. I think I have a review I'm going to put up at some point about that. I do. I know. And then there's The White Lady, which I started, but unfortunately still have not been able to finish, because it's competing with five, six other books [Actually, way more than that number!], and I'm really having a tough time handling that, to be honest. At some point, I'm simply just going to say, look, I cannot read all of your books, but I am really trying to get to as many as I can that are the ones that really jump out at me. I'm afraid they are the ones who are going to win that particular race.
And now you know what it's like to be an agent, and now you know what it's like to be a Hollywood producer. Those words that I just said, it has to jump out at me. It has to really call to me and say, I'm special and I have to connect with it in some way. The Gulf. Yeah. Yeah. That's another book that's reviewed in here, and I have it to read eventually. ChatGPT. "ChatGPT now has an official app now that can even, you can even," oh, let me try that over again. "ChatGPT has an official app now. You can even talk to it." Well, if I spoke to ChatGPT, you know what I would say? Two words. Can you guess what they are, ChatGPT? Okay. Yeah. Okay. ChatGPT. Everybody's all up in arms about ChatGPT. Like I give a shit.
I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. So let's see. Can I do this without really wrecking the microphone? Then let's see if that worked.
"Pearls before Swine." I love it.
Animal One: Hey Bob … your dad says you got a great job right out of college! Congrats! How's it going?
Bob: It was good.
Animal Two: What do you mean was?
Bob: I quit.
Animal Three: Quit? Why?
Bob: I made a little money now. So now I just want to enjoy myself for a while.
Animal Three: But what about your career?
Bob: Oh, I don't live for my career. That was your generation. I live to enjoy my life, to be in the moment, to experience things.
Stunned silence as Bob moves out of frame.
Animal One: Should we mock him or regret our lives?
Animal Two: Mock. It hurts less
Animal Three: Flaky life-enjoying weirdo!
Well, that's quite a philosophy, but try telling that to the electric company. I think there's this whole baby boomer generation that knows something about that, right? Am I right? Am I right? Okay.
So "Prickly City," loving it.
Cat: I wish it,
I desire it.
I want it.
It's only fair.
So … un … fair …
Girl: Reality often is, Winslow …
Yes, Winslow. Reality often sucks ass. Anyway, happy thoughts and happy reading. Take care.
Oh, and as Tina at Bob's Burgers would say, "Uhhhhhhhhhh."
My Sunday Reading for May 28, 2023