Month: February 2020

Athenae, Geek Cred, Television2 Comments

Then It Comes, and Are You Ready

Allison Hantschel

Because of some real-life stuff happening, ie real life is happening all the time right now and I’m doing my best with it, I can’t commit to weekly threads about this show but YOU SHOULD ALL BE WATCHING PICARD: 

What I loved about Picard’s immediate embrace of Dahj was that it speaks to everything Picard was in the television show: a generous soul with a sixth sense for when someone is telling the truth, no matter how outlandish. And after his trip to Starfleet archives, he very tenderly tells Dahj the truth: She isn’t human. Picard’s archival materials are a treasure trove for Trekkies: the Captain Picard Day sign and the model of the Stargazer, for starters.

To Picard, Dahj is every bit as deserving of empathy as Data was.

“If you are who I think you are, you are dear to me in ways that you can’t understand,” Picard tells her. “I will never leave you.”

I grew up on Next Gen but even before that I had an Authority Thing and an Older Man Thing and a Mentor/Student Thing and so Captain Picard pushed all the buttons. Teenage me would have thrown myself at him while he chivalrously drove me home and told me to concentrate on my homework. (Part of the appeal of crushes like that is that you know they would never.)

And you have to remember there was nothing GOOD on TV back then. Watch the Drumhead episode, the Borg storyline, the “Family” ep I still can’t re-watch without being completely destroyed, and yes, right now AMC and HBO give us that kind of depth and character development and goddamn Shakespearean glory every single week but back then? Imagine seeing this when all you’d seen was Growing Pains:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADEDLoLY3AY

There was nothing like that, holy shit. The language blew my tiny baby-writer mind. My body was ready for Star Trek: Picard, is what I’m saying, and I still wasn’t ready.

HERE BE SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING UP TO TOMORROW.

Continue reading “Then It Comes, and Are You Ready”

Athenae, So Called Liberal Media
Image

Stooooooooooop

Allison Hantschel

Carol Marin says we in media do a terrible job educating readers about our differences, including editorial versus news. That we “take for granted that people understand our differences… It’s on us to explain our differences.” — Melissa Sanchez (@msanchezMIA) February 23, 2020 I WENT TO THIS PANEL IN 2009 AND IT SUCKED THEN TOO. There is a coordinated campaign to get people to distrust the press, it is being run by one political party for that party’s supporters’ express financial benefit through one major cable news network, this has been true for 30 years, but surely if we explain … Continue reading Stooooooooooop

Athenae, So Called Liberal Media

Finally, We Are Talking About Money for Journalism

Allison Hantschel

https://twitter.com/darrendcarroll/status/1230895575199035392 I have been screaming about this since I last worked in newspapers, and lest you think that’s me exaggerating, here’s 200FUCKING6. It wasn’t the internet. It never was the internet. All the internet did is make it impossible to hide the stupidity and greed anymore. Back when papers were drowning in money they could spend it on dumb shit and pay off sexual harassers and hand out consultant contracts to their idiot buddies and nobody would even notice. Now, well, the margins are still good but they’re not THAT good. Look at those margins, though. THIRTY PERCENT. Do you … Continue reading Finally, We Are Talking About Money for Journalism

Adrastos, Carnival, Diary, Film, Fog Of History, Music, New Orleans, Odds & Sods
Image

Saturday Odds & Sods: Life Is A Carnival

Peter Adrastos Athas

Image

I’m deep in the Carnival bubble, which is a wondrous albeit crowded place to be. We’ve had big company and small company. It’s been fun but as always I’ll be glad when it’s over. I’m so pooped that I’m repeating last week’s featured image.

There was a parade-related accident at the corner where I’ve been watching parades for the last 20 years. A parade-goer was run over by a float in the Nyx parade near the corner of Magazine and Valence. It was fatal, alas.  I’ll have more about that and other Carnival related issues in next week’s 13th Ward Rambler column for the Bayou Brief.

This week’s theme song was written by Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, and Levon Helm for The Band’s 1971 Cahoots album. The horns were arranged by New Orleans’ own Allen Toussaint.

We have three versions of Life Is A Carnival for your listening pleasure: the studio original, a 1995 teevee appearance by The Band, and a cover by Norah Jones, which is new to me

Lest you think I’ve strayed too far from New Orleans Carnival music, here’s Our Mac:

I try not to spend too much time peering around corners looking for spy boys, skeletons, or baby dolls. If you understood that sentence, you know enough about Carnival, New Orleans style to jump to the break without crash landing.

Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: Life Is A Carnival”

Uncategorized

Not Everything Sucks

Allison Hantschel

Jalaiah Harmon exists:  Though Jalaiah is very much a suburban kid herself — she lives in a picturesque home on a quiet street outside of Atlanta — she is part of the young, cutting-edge dance community online that more mainstream influencers co-opt. The Renegade dance followed this exact path. On Sept. 25, 2019, Jalaiah came home from school and asked a friend she had met through Instagram, Kaliyah Davis, 12, if she wanted to create a post together. Jalaiah listened to the beats in the song “Lottery” by the Atlanta rapper K-Camp and then choreographed a difficult sequence to its chorus, … Continue reading Not Everything Sucks

Fog Of Scandal, Free Republic, Tommy T3 Comments
Image

Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – Shorter and Sweeter edition

Tommy T

OK, people – stepping up to the plate here while Adrastos recovers mentally from the horrible event that brought the Mardi Gras parade to a premature end…. I now present – THE SHORTEST THREAD IN THE HISTORY OF FREE REPUBLIC! Finally – FINALLY – they found some health care fraud. Former Michigan Health Care Consultant Pleads Guilty to Fraud and Tax Evasion Used Faked Credentials to Obtain More than $1.4 Million, and Did Not Pay Taxes justice.gov ^ | February 18, 2020 | DOJ Posted on 2/19/2020, 11:33:27 AM by ransomnote A former health care consultant pleaded guilty today to … Continue reading Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – Shorter and Sweeter edition

Athenae, Kids Today2 Comments

Human Trafficking Panics

Allison Hantschel

I’ve been seeing this make the rounds of the mommy Facebookers and thinking it sounded bullshit:  Among both children and adults, there is little evidence that human trafficking is a widespread phenomenon in need of universal public awareness. In 2018, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received 10,949 reports of human trafficking, but these figures are based exclusively on anonymous calls and are not verified in any way. The hotline’s director, Caroline Diemar, said that many calls are simply vague suspicions — there’s a massage parlor on my street; I saw a suspicious family at the mall — that may reflect public … Continue reading Human Trafficking Panics

Uncategorized

Not Everything Sucks

Allison Hantschel

Roger Angell is still with us:  In 1962, Shawn decided that The New Yorker needed more sports pieces, and, knowing that I was a fan, asked if I wanted to go down to Florida and write something about spring training. I was surprised he even knew there was such a thing. I’d never been to spring training, so I said yes, thank you, and went down to the White Sox camp, in Sarasota, where I found the little wooden stadium jammed with elderly fans watching the young stars. Later stops at larger parks in St. Petersburg and Tampa confirmed this peaceable view … Continue reading Not Everything Sucks

Athenae, Elections5 Comments

Your Mike B Feelings, Internet

Allison Hantschel

All right, look. Bloomberg, a rich racist asshole, would obviously be terrible. Everyone is still mad at Bernie from 2016 and other stuff, he is 467 years old and a second heart attack waiting to happen. Pete is … who the fuck is Pete, fuck Pete. Fuck South Bend and Notre Dame and every Republican in Indiana. And yet. Any of the three of them, and a sentient bag of dogshit besides, would likely sacrifice fewer of our children on the altars of endless gun violence, war with Iran, asylum and immigration bans, and cuts to food stamps. Which is … Continue reading Your Mike B Feelings, Internet

Adrastos, Carnival, Diary, Film, Fog Of Scandal, Music, Odds & Sods
Image

Saturday Odds & Sods: Straighten Up and Fly Right

Peter Adrastos Athas

Image

I’m exhausted from the lead up to and the aftermath of this year’s Krewe du Vieux parade. There were a series of mishaps and missteps that made it stressful for me. The political news hasn’t improved my mood either. I’m trying to get in the Carnival spirit by posting the 1939 poster seen above. Additionally, we have company tomorrow so it’s time to straighten up and fly right.

This week’s theme song was written in 1943 by Nat King Cole and Irving Mills and is based on a folk tale involving a buzzard and a signifying monkey. I am not making this up.

Straighten Up and Fly Right was the biggest hit the King Cole Trio ever had. We have three versions for your listening pleasure: the original, Diana Krall, and an instrumental by the Skatalites:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvq7dQlBj6g

Now that we’ve straightened up, let’s fly right to the jump.

Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: Straighten Up and Fly Right”

Athenae, Q5 Comments

Normal Shit

Allison Hantschel

I seriously do not know what, even:  Jacobson knows many people, including some of her relatives, scoff at QAnon. “You really can’t argue with them,” she said. Jacobson celebrated with her new friend, Chrisy, when the doors to the downtown arena opened. “All these people believe me! I’m not crazy here!” Chrisy shouted. Hours later, during Trump’s speech, Chrisy’s husband, Paul, grinned when the president said “the whole world is watching” what’s happening with protesters in Iran. “That’s a Q reference,” Paul said, noting the phrase “the world is watching” has appeared several times in Q drops. The May 30 … Continue reading Normal Shit