The Weekend of Foolish Attention
DATELINE: Saturday, March 5, 2022
What a freakin’ week!
Oh. Oh, yeah. Lots going on in the world. Not what I was referring to but isn’t that the case with humans? So self-interested!
Wednesday I was asked to drive a coupla hours north to Dixie State College (they know, gang. The name change is in the works). I taught a 45-minute class on DADA anti-art and basically an inspirational cult-lead to a playwriting class. In between I got to have lunch with my old acting buddy from back in the days of Chicago theater, Brandon Bruce, and his lovely wife. They showed me the largest mosaic mural in North America that also happens to be a triptik of the Genocide of Native Americans in tile.
The students were not what I expected. I expected the picture painted by the media and I suppose I should know better than to take that crap seriously. These kids were excited, curious, and hungry. I started both classes with the following disclaimer:
Here’s your trigger warning, kiddos. I’m gonna curse because a solid ‘fuck’ is like punctuation. I’m GenX but can get down with pronouns and I don’t use racial epithets—ever—but if the saucy language of a truck driver from Chicago will make you wilt like a micro-aggressed hothouse flower, now’s the time to hit the bricks before things get ugly.
None of them left, they laughed, and we had some proselytizing fun.
Here’s a clip fest if you’re so inclined:
Locally Moronic in the Face of Nostalgic Nationalism
Some Russian restaurants and businesses in the U.S. are facing threats, harassment and vandalism in the days since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
Driving the news: Russia House Restaurant and Lounge in Washington, D.C. was vandalized twice last weekend, resulting in smashed windows, a broken door and what is believed to be anti-Russian rhetoric posted on the walls, WUSA9 reports.
"We’re getting some hate phone calls," owner Aaron McGovern told the Washington Post, adding that his restaurant "has nothing to do with" the invasion.
"We are a U.S.-owned company trying to survive," McGovern said.
Also, Disney+ pulled Anastasia from its platform.
It all reminds me how stupid people in Vegas were when COVID first hit and they all stopped drinking Corona beer. What is this impulse? It takes just a cursory bit of electric energy in the brain to parse out how completely dumb it is to punish Russian Americans for the current dictator. I mean, it’d be like blaming all white people for Jim Crow laws.
Another question—why is Hollywood so eager to cancel movie openings in Russia, but happily edits blockbusters to suit the Chinese government?
Holy Shit! I Used to Argue with This Guy Online!
Joshua James, one of the 11 Oath Keepers indicted earlier this year on charges of "seditious conspiracy" has entered a plea of guilty. GUILTY. Under his plea deal, he will be cooperating with prosecutors, reports Politico. He is a critical witness against Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, who was also charged with the group and is currently being held without bail on the same charges.
I’ll be honest and tell you that I couldn’t give two shits about the specific members of the Oath Keepers. I’m more invested in the members of BTS (which is to say, completely and utterly disinvested) than I am about a bunch of angry white guys trying to overturn a legal election via protest, violence against cops, and who wear t-shirts that look like they bought them in high school before the middle-age paunch set in.
But I saw this name and then did some online sleuthing and, sure enough, the J.J. guy is the same guy I used to get into online arguments with back in the nascent days of blogging and Faceborg. I recall one argument that was fueled by an article I wrote entitled “No One Wins an Online Argument.” It was too much red meat for him to pass up so, of course, he objected.
The only weird thing is that back in those days, he was a martial arts loving Super Leftie and had real issues with my more centrist nature. Now he’s an Oath Keeper charged with seditious conspiracy. Oi.
Las Vegas Crazies!
One of the Matrix-like what-the-hell-is-this-place? things about Las Vegas is that while we are a blue-ish state and certainly skew Democrat and Progressive in practice, our right fringe elements are a fucking hoot.
But underneath their grifting and carnival barking, Gilbert and Fiore represent an ugly strain of extremism. If they had any sense or shame, they’d behave differently. But they don’t. They’re two-bit political thugs, eager to spew venom and foment loathing for the sole purpose of advancing their brands and whatever level of celebrity they enjoy, Nevada and Nevadans be damned.
Their campaigns for governor, no matter how long they last, will disgrace Nevada while amping up the malice already poisoning a significant portion of the electorate. But their campaigns will bring visibility to Fiore and Gilbert. And maybe like their kindred spirit,the aspiring celebrity extremist who accosted Sisolak and his wife and daughter in the restaurant, Fiore and Gilbert, too, can become podcast and merchandising entrepreneurs in earnest one day.
Ideally, Gilbert and Fiore would find a way to quench their miserable thirst for attention without subjecting the rest of us to their malignant idiocy, repugnant antics, and sordid scams. But probably not. Damnit.
Fiore, as an example, used a pair of her lace panties for a COVID mask to protest the mask mandates last year. Our idiots can almost out-stupid the idiots of most states any day of the week.
The Batman is Se7en with Costumes
Matt Reeves has given us a dour, dark, rainy superhero tale with The Batman.
The Riddler is just a version of John Doe from the Fincher classic, leaving mangled bodies, riddles, and mayhem in an attempt to teach Gotham a lesson about its depraved self. Pattinson is not an emo-Batman because he shows less emotion than Clint Eastwood does when ordering Pad Thai. But that fucking works and works well.
Yes, it’s seventeen hours long and the theater provides an I.V. to keep you hydrated but I loved every single frame of this movie so go see it.
Hey. If you’re digging The Attention of Fools, how about subscribing for free. Send it along on your semi-retarded social media platforms. Print it out and wipe your ass with it. Whatever. Send it along to your Trump-obsessed uncle or your step-daughter who insists on teaching four-year-olds to explore their genders before they can even tell the difference between the colors blue and green.
And, as always, thanks for reading!