We finally watched the Bo Burnham special “Inside” on Netflix, and wow! I don’t think I’ve seen a piece of media yet that really captured the inner turmoil I felt during the pandemic. I don’t believe everything Burnham did in front of the camera was an authentic expression in the moment, but I think he gave some striking performances of what was happening internally. It’s also an impressive technical achievement, particularly the lighting he used. It is part stand-up comedy, but I think it’s more than that; it’s a piece of performance art that is actually good. I feel it will be one of those pieces of pandemic art that will get unpacked over time. It’s something you certainly have to strap in for before you start watching.
Here’s this week’s playlist.
As a bonus, here is my Spring 2021 playlist, a sort of best of the playlists I posted January thru May –
I’ve been frustrated with myself over a lack of discipline about disengaging from certain types of media so I can just read. The progress I’ve been making on books I’ve been reading is pitiful, in my opinion, and when I have free time, I need to skip over binging on YouTube videos. Instead, I need to be reading more. I enjoy reading, but there’s that horrible dopamine hit the internet had everyone addicted to that I get caught up in. Right now, I am reading Men Without Women, a short story collection by Haruki Murakami. I’ve always enjoyed Murakami and poured through his work when I was in college. I have heard some of the criticism leveled about his books, and I don’t disagree. There’s just a certain mood Murakami books evoke; it’s this rainy afternoon vibe that I enjoy. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle was my first foray into his books, and it remains one of my favorites. It is so many things all at once.
It’s looking like the end of July/beginning of August will be the time for our big move. The European Union is apparently putting together their plan on how to handle vaccination records for travelers coming in and out, so we are going to plan a hard date once they roll that out. My wife and I decided to reverse engineer the rest of our time here once we get that date, figuring out what things we have left to do to move going backward. I hope they do not require COVID testing if we have proof of vaccination, but I will do it if it means escaping from this country. They can shove multiple swabs up my nose for that.
I have noticed a growing discourse online of people either saying they are planning/have moved out of the country because of the climate & the direction we are headed or people who wish they had the means to leave the United States. I fully expect the next decade to show a growing exodus out of the States, especially if the Republicans likely pick up many seats in Congress and even more state legislatures. Our state is pretty unlivable unless you are either a fascist or someone who likes to inanely proclaim they “aren’t political.”
We’ve had a disgusting trans bathroom bill pass in the most recent session that requires business owners to post signs saying they allow trans people to use their restrooms. One large county’s district attorney has gone on record saying his office will not be investigating or prosecuting any charges against business owners who don’t post the signs, so that is a relief. But this will be used to openly discriminate not just against trans people but anyone who doesn’t physically conform to some twisted gender construct. Watch for more masculine appearing women to be accused and publicly embarrassed.
We’ve also had a regressive abortion law passed that requires all fetuses to either be given a burial or are cremated. Of course, the state does not pick up the cost of these procedures, and the law exists purely to try and punish people who have sought out abortions. But it will also harm those who go through miscarriages. I don’t know how they will account for people who use abortion pills where the fetus can be flushed away. I guess if the fascist authorities are unaware of what happened, nothing can be charged. It’s this sort of backward ass thinking that makes me want to leave the states ASAP. The United States is basically an open-air mental asylum wherein the most criminally insane & sadistic inmates are running things. When Ron DeSantis and Tucker Carlson look like very likely nominees for the GOP primary, we know things are bad. It doesn’t help that the Democrats are way too calm about passing meaningful legislation, yet in 2022 they will be screaming at us to vote. That will be a much harder sell when they spent the first two years of Biden’s term telling us how important it is to negotiate with Nazis and then getting nothing done. Hoping that two months from, I am enjoying the socialized medicine and egalitarian society of another nation.
PopCult Reviews 