brainsplotch

I keep reading about the latest horrific mass shooting in the United States, this one in the affluent Chicago suburb of Highland Park. In what seems darkly appropriate for what this country has become, this shooting took place during a July 4 parade. The following is yet another rant that I feel compelled to get out of my system. I'm not sure if there is a state of mind that is just "beyond angry." I am so disgusted with the continual inaction of our lawmakers to do one single goddamned thing about gun violence and/or gun law reform. It seems like I say the very same thing every single time one of these massacres of innocent life takes place. Reading about two-year old Aidan, who lost both of his parents yesterday, sent me over the edge. It is absolutely heartbreaking. Why do we continue to allow this to happen? Why has the right to "the pursuit of happiness" been superceded by the right of any nutcase to arm himself to the gills (and it's ALWAYS "himse...

As everyone knows by now, Roe v. Wade was struck down by our ultra-conservative Supreme Court on Friday, defying the will of--if the polls I have seen are accurate--approximately 67 percent of Americans. We are officially living in a minority-rule, ultra-conservative, theocratic, authoritarian hellscape. Democracy in the United States is on life support. This nation is a joke and should deservedly be a laughingstock to the rest of the world. The only way we even begin to get out of this is if the American electorate hits the polls en masse in November and votes the corrupt GOP out. But it's not enough to simply vote, folks on the left have to let the right know that we will no longer tolerate their brazen thuggishness.  If we can't force these authoritarian theocrats out of office and send them scurrying into the rat holes where they belong, they will not stop trying to mold the United States into their own "ideal' society. One in which straight cisgendered white men a...

So it only took me almost four months to get through this book, not because it was bad or difficult to read, but because I was juggling two books at one time (something that never works out well since one almost always supersedes the other one in the "reading hierarchy"). Then, when I was finally able to devote my full "reading attention" to it, I would often put off reading until 10:30 or 11:00 at night and promptly fall asleep after reading about five pages. In the last week, I finally decided to read the book in the afternoon or early evening before I became irretrievably exhausted. So here is a brief blurb I wrote about the book for the library. I thought I'd share it here, too (apologies if the font size does not match the blog--I am copying and pasting it): This is a must-read for anyone interested in the life of Buster Keaton, silent movies, comedy, or the early days of cinema. Film critic Dana Stevens—who is also one of the hosts of the Slate Culture Gab...

I am really trying not to lose hope in this country, but it gets increasingly difficult by the day. Another school shooting. As of this writing, 19 children dead and two teachers. If we as an American society can't even be bothered to keep our children safe, then what good are we?  I am thoroughly disgusted that we as an American society have decided that the free and easy access to every gun imaginable is more important than protecting the well-being of our children. I am really trying to not become overcome with anger and frustration, but it is difficult.

  Mark’s book review time: Burning Down the Haus : Punk Rock, Revolution, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall by Tim Mohr (2018) Five months ago, I wouldn’t have guessed I’d read a book about punk rock in East Germany. Ten days in December absorbing Radebeul, Dresden, and Leipzig led me, upon our return home, to the Radio GDR podcast. The Radio GDR podcast led me to this book, and it opened a door to a hidden history of which I was completely unaware. In the late ‘70s, punk rock magazines smuggled into East Berlin from West Berlin sparked what eventually became a movement. East German youth (not all of them, but enough of them) were stifled by the oppressive Erich Honecker dictatorship. As author Tim Mohr writes, unlike the British punk slogan of “No Future” under the Thatcher regime, the problem facing East German youth was “too much future.” Everything, including educational opportunities and employment, was already mapped out for them. Burning Down the Haus: Punk Rock, Revolu...

The last few months have been fruitful for excellent "aging Gen Xer" music, with a plethora of albums that I have been enjoying recently. You may or may not have heard of the band Wet Leg. They have created a sensation in the last few months with their song "Cha is  Longue." Wet Leg is comprised of two 20-something women from the Isle of Wight (Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers--could names get more "British Isles-sounding" than that?). I first heard "Chaise Longue" at the Suburbs Fest back in October 2021, when one of the attendees played the song for a few of us on his phone. At the time, the spare post-punkish tune with the double entendre lyrics seemed like simply a fun novelty tune. I thought it was a catchy song, but didn't give it much thought beyond that. But Wet Leg continued to release new songs, and they were all pretty good--and now, in April 2022, a full-length album. It's full of short, catchy, pop-punky songs about boredom...

This Russia/Ukraine war is so incredibly depressing AND infuriating. I dread watching the first 10 minutes of the national news every evening because it's nothing but bombed out buildings, war crime atrocities, frightened refugees, and unnecessary death. I get angry about a situation over which I have absolutely no control. I suppose the choice is between not watching the evening news and not remaining informed of world events. I am still slowly but surely plugging my way through the book Burning Down the Haus (by Tim Mohr) about the early '80s punk movement in East Germany. Those young people were fearless, risking long intense interrogation from the Stasi and imprisonment in order to speak their minds and their truth. It is quite an incredible story. Once I finish it, I will try (key word: try) to write more about it in here. On the subject of German music, I have finally decided to dip my toe in "Krautrock." I have been listening to CAN and their albums Tago Mago ...