04/19

Brandon Soderberg's commemoration of Freddie Gray's death goes farther than just memorial, actively linking that tragedy to other key events since 2014. Just look at the density of this screencap:

Injustice after injustice. And no signs of improvement. As our mayor celebrates one month of exile from her job, it's anybody's turn at figuring out where to go from here.

The parts of this essay that concern Stuart Hall and his collaborators are very strong. They make a lot of sense in relation to that specific period of British history, when no coalition emerged that was significant enough to overturn Thatcherism. I'm less fond of where Haider takes those conclusions, which seem unhelpfully vague and general.

Really liked this dismantling of the Green New Deal excitement. A useful rhetorical tool for sure, but impossible without radical change.

Simple as it sounds: Where Do Correct Ideas Come From?, by Mao.

And on the subject of China, there's a willingness to tackle elder care that is lacking in Japan and, evidently, Britain. I feel like it could be rewarding to dig into how Communist countries handle this vs. capitalist countries, how human life is valued under these two oppositional ideologies.

Linn Ullman in her own words.

Alt Lit is dead and deserves to die.

Adam Kotsko, author of Creepiness, on creepy Joe Biden. I think this also illuminates about why so many men shoot for the status of "uncle," it's a low-stakes version of adulthood that doesn't challenge them in any serious way.

So much to say, so much I felt about Agnes' passing. Richard Brody is great about it, as he always is with Francophone filmmakers of a certain age. For myself, I made the conscious choice a few years ago to spend time with Agnes' films while she was still alive. The choice came as a result of a Tweet, glimpsed just briefly in my Twitter feed but destined to have a large impact on me, which advised we appreciate Agnes, Godard, Luc Moullet, and a forgotten fourth while they're still alive. I took this suggestion and generalized; I want to appreciate all elders while the chance exists.

And lastly, I decided yesterday (4/30) that I'd like to attend an action for solidarity with Venezuela and Maduro...only to read this a few hours later. Maybe I haven't been tuned in enough, but the bloodlust raging around Venezuela had seemed to be calming in the last few months. I thought perhaps the USA had lost interest in its perpetual victim. Uncharacteristically, it seems I was too optimistic, and Venezuela is very much still under threat. So I'll be attending that action after all in just a few hours, less to affect any kind of change than to make vocal my hatred of imperialism. I am, however, open to all possibilities.