IntenseDebate - Vingt Björn Bweeze

9 hours ago @ Crasstalk - New Start Open Thread · 1 reply · +3 points

By the way for a great one-volume history of the Civil War, I recommend “Battle Cry of Freedom” by James McPherson.

I just saw Audible has the audiobook on sale for under $4 so I got it. Sale ends in 5 hours or so. It’s almost 40 hours long. I like the narrator.

10 hours ago @ Crasstalk - New Start Open Thread · 4 replies · +3 points

Well said, and I agree.

Regarding Foote, back in the day I took a crack at his 3-volume Civil War history and my god it’s such a mess, in many ways—but I won’t go into that! Now that you mention it, I can understand including Foote as a filmmaking decision for Burns—problematic as he was, the man was a character.

And yes, the letters, the music, the slow pans across the photos, all so beautifully paced and often deeply moving. I think I’ll watch it again one of these days.

11 hours ago @ Crasstalk - New Start Open Thread · 0 replies · +2 points

Old Math—kind of like Girl Math, with time instead of money.

11 hours ago @ Crasstalk - New Start Open Thread · 6 replies · +4 points

Cue mournful fiddle playing the Ashokan Farewell.

One big problem I have with that series: there’s way too much air time given to Shelby Foote, the Southerner who waxes romantic about the “noble last cause” and Southern “gallantry” and “honor” and all that shit. Ugh. Ken Burns should not have given him a platform IMO.

Other than that (though it’s a pretty big “other than”), I think it’s a great series & truly one-of-kind. I especially treasure its audacious slowness.

16 hours ago @ Crasstalk - New Start Open Thread · 1 reply · +9 points

How much are blue checkmarks?

2 days ago @ Crasstalk - And Now It's The Weeke... · 0 replies · +2 points

I just watched Bad Faith. It gives the shit that's happening now some historical context. It's informative and infuriating. Thanks for mentioning it WH.

Bad Faith is free on Tubi and on Amazon Prime, & also available on Apple TV and elsewhere.

2 days ago @ Crasstalk - And Now It's The Weeke... · 0 replies · +3 points

Reading the Wikipedia entry on Weyrich: he certainly said the racist quiet parts out loud, before it became (as it is now) mainstream to do so, and before mentioning that racism is racism became the tyranny of wokeness and a violation of the MAGAts’ god-given entitlement to be racist, comfortable, and unopposed.

2 days ago @ Crasstalk - And Now It's The Weeke... · 3 replies · +5 points

I’ll watch this at some point, though doing so will probably bring on waves of rage and dread. But I already feel rage and dread, so what the heck.

Meanwhile I’ve been revisiting some William S. Burroughs. He’s a hugely problematic figure (to put it mildly) but I think he had the fundamentalists’ number—as in The Whole Tamale from 1980. (Caution: some disturbing and hateful language here, when Burroughs quotes extremist bigots.)

Since then, the fundamentalists’ movement has metastasized widened its tent to become MAGA, which appeals to a broader spectrum of Asshole-Americans, not just the faith-based ones.

And here we are.

3 days ago @ Crasstalk - And Now It's The Weeke... · 0 replies · +4 points

Ooh, this looks sweet. Pun intended. The trailer made me lol.

4 days ago @ Crasstalk - And Now It's The Weeke... · 0 replies · +5 points

When you're Larry, every door is a cat door.

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