Sunday Asides #103

• By the time you read this, I will have my first professionally-produced commercial demo as a voice actor! Granted, I've been doing voice acting through podcasting for well over a decade, but I really only started leaning more seriously into voice acting as a profession a couple of years ago. I've booked some pretty big name clients on my own without a demo, but now that I have one, I'm hoping this will help open some doors for me, get me some higher paying gigs, and maybe even get signed by an agency. This has been a long time coming, y'all, and I'm really excited.

• 11% of Americans are on some type of GLP-1 weight loss drug, which is a lot higher that I thought it would be. I've thought of going on one, but I don't have a full time job or health insurance so...yeah, maybe not now. But maybe in the future. I'm curious.

• Mitch McConnell is totally dead, right? Reports say he's been in the hospital for 3 weeks, different folks are claiming they've talked to him for 20 minutes (yet he hasn't talked to any press outlets to clear up this ambiguity), and his wife of 30-something years done left the country, and came back and started getting new floors installed. This is MESSY MESSY MESSY. Do they have kids? Can they give an update? That man is dead!

• Maybe this is a hot take, but I don't think the X-Men need another live-action adaptation. Between movies and television shows, Marvel's had 25 years to get it right and have bungled it every time...except for the cartoons. I read that Marvel's trying to bring X-Men '97 into to the live-action realm, and they should really let that idea go. X-Men is just better as an animated property and there's nothing wrong with keeping it there. I know Disney's addicted to making their animated movies into live-action movies, but you'd think the latest flop with Moana would make them think twice. Money talks, I guess!

• Quote of the week: "Each compromise with your own integrity, each time you go along with what you know is wrong, it is a small betrayal of yourself."

Extra sexy and ultra smart

From today's Pisces horoscope from Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology:

You’ve entered a phase when your magnetism and charisma will expand as you focus on ruminating deeply about what’s most meaningful to you. Seeking out new teachers and fresh lessons will bring lucky breaks and helpful influences into your sphere. Each fresh insight will polish your allure, and every surge of curiosity will add to your glow. Be extra sexy and ultra smart: Cosmic energies will work in your favor as you weave your id and intellect together.

Sunday Asides #102

• Yesterday marked the 250th birthday of these here United States, and a few days before, Gallup released the results of their latest poll which showed American pride is at an all-time low. Hopefully that's not surprising to anyone who's been paying attention to current events! Maybe that explains why the government's Great American Potemkin Village State Fair is a complete flop. It's not Fyre Festival levels of disaster, but it’s up there with DashCon, I think. Based on all the videos I've seen reporting from the event, there's not a corn dog or a funnel cake or a petting zoo to be found. Just tens of people milling about shoddily constructed booths and roasting in that swamp ass DC summer heat. There's nowhere for people to sit, and there's even a report of a woman who took a dip in a baptism pool there (???) to cool off. TERROR!

• Last week, I talked about Goose, and I decided to download it and give it a go. Y'know, since it's a "non-hookup app," so they say. Tell me why it's been a week since I created my profile and I have yet to be "approved" to even use it! And the app keeps sending me notifications to check out the boys on there, which I would...if I could. WIRED is reporting that shit is probably a psyop anyway, but I at least wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I left a one-star review on the App Store then uninstalled that shit. Oh well!

• There are so many young men just covertly jerking off on TikTok live...but to what end? I thought that's what OnlyFans was for.

• I've been watching a lot of movies this year. Maybe I should join Letterboxd.

• It's been so much fun seeing Kenan and Kel on Variety and Hot Ones because they remind me of me and Twin whenever we get together. (This might surprise you, but I am absolutely the Kel whenever we get together.)

• Quote of the week: "Oh! Be warned! Be warned! A horrible reptile is coiled up in your nation’s bosom; the venomous creature is nursing at the tender breast of your youthful republic; for the love of God, tear away, and fling from you the hideous monster, and let the weight of twenty millions crush and destroy it forever!"

Sunday Asides #101

• The Obamas have been outside lately with the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago this past Juneteenth weekend, and I gotta say, seeing them and hearing them all over the place lately has felt really, really good. I read (and watched!) their cover story interview with Janine Rubenstein in People and damn...I miss them. I think a LOT of people miss them. The grace. The comfort. The stability and balance and thoughtfulness they both exude are something this country is sorely lacking these days. I do wanna visit the OPC one day, even though it's in Chicago and y'all know how I feel about that city.

• Also, and I have to note this as a contrast, we never see anything close to affection between or from the circus peanut in charge and his dour-faced spouse. Maybe they're secretly lovey-dovey and proof of that is on Fox News or some other right-wing media outlet I'm never going to consume. Who knows? I choose to believe that they're both evil, utterly joyless husks.

• The Black male voice on Google Home — Yarrow — sounds so sullen and despondent and subservient. Is he depressed? I'mma need Google to make a Black male voice that's got a little more oomph in it. (Hire me! I'll do it!)

• I've been keeping an eye on this Workday lawsuit out of California. I think all these applicant tracking systems that companies use discriminate in some way — that was certainly the case at the companies I worked at — so I'm hoping this lawsuit brings some much needed equity to this broken hiring system and shitty job market.

• And now, since it's the last weekend of Pride month, a few assorted gay thoughts:

  • On Bluesky the other day, I saw a post about some new gay dating app called Goose. It was started by some white gay model and just based on the art direction of the site and their social media, I'm not buying it. First, the app icon looks like a cum stain. Second, when you download the app, it puts you in a queue to be approved, so there's some element of filtering right off the bat. Third, the tagline being "for the boys" while showing a bunch of twinks and twunks in various states of undress shows exactly the user base they're looking to gain. In short, it ain't for me. My fat old Black gay ass is looking for the men.

  • I was a writer for Manhunt a little over a decade ago. Because of that, I got put on a bunch of random email lists for any and everything gay from apparel to pornography. The messages have slowed down to a trickle as the years went on, but this week I got a press release for a product called the A-BALL. It's a collagen and seaweed ball that you shove up your ass so you can be ready for anal sex without douching. The company behind it, Polari Labs, raised over half a million dollars in funding on Kickstarter and if you're in the UK, you can be one of the first people to try it by signing up for the consumer trial. Gays in STEM!

  • Wagner Moura's fine ass turned 50 yesterday. Happy birthday, papi.

  • Y'know, if there's ever a Rhyheim Shabazz biopic, Ncuti Gatwa should play him. I can see the vision, and I'm not just talking about that bulge.

  • I'm convinced that Dorinda Medley from the Real Housewives of New York City was inspiration for Candace Bushnell for the character Susan Sharon from Sex and the City. Need proof? Exhibit A and exhibit B. I rest my case.

• Quote of the week: "Genius is the opposite of expectation."

WAIT! STOP!

From today's Pisces horoscope from Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology:

For maximum safety, be as uninteresting as possible. Shun risks that might shake up your beliefs and avoid adventures that could expose you to people who aren’t similar to you. If you really want to be certain about preserving your security and stability, as I’m recommending, the surest method is to retreat to your power spot and do nothing at all. WAIT! STOP! Dear Pisces, everything I just said was pure misdirection! I was joking! In fact, the opposite is true. The true way to nurture genuine safety and security is to pursue what sparks your curiosity and lights up your zeal. And the coming days are likely to provide you with plenty of chances to do exactly that.