Election 2024 Post Mortem

 I'm just going to try here to outline the feelings I've been having since the election Tuesday night. What lessons can we take away from this soul-crushing defeat?

1. This country is not ready for a female President. Not now, not ever. The fact that two of the most experienced and qualified female candidates were both beaten by a felon and a sexual assaulter would seem to bear this out. 

2. People continue get stupider at an accelerated rate. This can be demonstrated by the fact that one of the main reasons the so called "bro vote" went for Trump was his appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast. Not policy, not platform, but the fact he babbled for three hours on a podcast. Also, top Google search was "has Joe Biden left the election race" which makes me want to rip the rest of my hair out. The low-info bros just wanted to make the libs suffer. Which is easy enough to do, but hardly a path to any kind of governance that would help anyone. It's just a roadmap for more stupidity and chaos.

3.Plenty of blame to spread here. I don't blame Kamala, who ran a fantastic campaign even though she only had 100 days to do it in as opposed to Trump, who's been campaigning for this election since 2020. I blame Biden, who entered the 2020 race as a "transitional candidate", then decided he was going to run in 2024. This was not a wise decision for him as his abilities have clearly diminished with age as everyone saw in the horrible debate. We were then as Dems forced with the choice of either retaining a candidate which was almost certainly going to lose or rolling the dice on Kamala. In retrospect, there just wasn't enough time for this. 

4. I maintain, and this is neither here nor there, but putting Bernie in as a candidate would have been a far better choice. He would have destroyed Trump in the debate and would have brought back the youth vote that abandoned the Dems.

5. Project 2025 is real, and is going to happen. A lot of people are going to suffer because of this, and a lot are gonna die. I'd link to it but you should have fucking already read it. 

6. The rule of law is dead, dead, fucking dead. All cases against Trump are being wound down and will be forgotten, since Presidents can now do any fucking thing they want to with impunity. If the law does not apply to Trump, it doesn't apply to anyone. 

7. Say goodbye to environmental regulations, women's rights, press rights, GLBT rights.

8. Trump will hand the Ukraine over to Putin on a plate. Russia will continue to expand their influence unchecked. 

9. Musk has said the economy is going to "temporarily crash" before we all see the new golden age he's promised, so get ready for that.

10. Trans kids will continue to suffer discrimination and hate. 

11. RFK, vaccine denier and brain worm sufferer, is now in charge of your health. Don't get sick!

12. Rich white "Christian" straight conservative men will be OK. Everyone else.....not so much.

13. If you have any illusions of Trump uniting the country, disabuse yourself of that stupid idea right now. It didn't happen in 2016 and it ain't gonna happen now. All he gives a shit about are his rich cronies and his followers. The other 60% of the country can eat shit. 

14. If by some miracle Trump croaks before 2028, then we have to contend with JD Vance as President. That might be worse. He's a far better liar. 

15. It would sincerely be great if Trump could achieve some of his goals like improving the economy and healthcare. However, since he had 8+ years to come up with a healthcare plan and this only produced "concepts of a plan", I have less than zero faith he's doing anything but making shit up on the fly.

16. When R's lost in 2020 their leader whined nonstop for four fucking years, organized an uprising against the government, and invented an entire conspiracy out of nothing. When D's lost on Tuesday, they accepted the results and conceded the next day. Which do you prefer?

17. Exit polls showed even the majority of people who voted for Trump don't like him or even think he's a good person. So I don't ever,EVER want to fucking hear again the right-wing lie that character matters to them. No, it clearly doesn't, and it never did. 

18. Midterms are in 2026. We should be making plans for this NOW. Find a decent, centrist candidate that's not a million years old, and find a way of communicating ideas, broken into the simplest terms. 

19. Traditional media is officially dead. All the polls and pundits were wrong about this, once again. The majority of people under 40 do not consume legacy media. The Dems need to invest in social media strategies, and maybe show up on some podcasts. Newspaper endorsments mean nothing. Thirty five-star generals issuing a statement that Trump is a dangerous fascist meant less than nothing. 

20. The one bright spot in this world of shit is the fact that Trump has surrounded himself with sycophants who firmly have their nose placed up his ass. They didn't get there by skill or merit, but how well they can kiss ass. They are all idiots and will fuck things up colossally. Plus, Trump is an old, lazy, undisciplined fossil. He doesn't have the focus or gravitas to get all of this shit he wants to do done. 

21. End of the Trump Era: January 20, 2029.

Five Songs To Make Your Neighbors Run Away

Hereby presented: Five songs to use as ammo against your loud, awful neighbors.

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For urban dwellers who live in close proximity to each other, peace with our neighbors is a tenuous thing. If you're lucky, you will get tolerant people who keep their noise to a minimum and are respectful of those who live around them. Most likely though, you will get a bunch of jerks who like to have long screaming arguments, with bratty kids who stomp around the hallways unattended shrieking like pangolin monkeys, and older folks who constantly have their TV's on Fox News at maximum volume. How can one retaliate against such an onslaught without getting arrested for attempted murder? I hereby present 5 musical selections that when played on maximum volume on a decent sound system will send the average person running for the hills in terror. You're welcome.

5. Lou Reed "Metal Machine Music" (RCA, 1974 LP)

Ex-Velvet Underground singer Lou Reed had a long career of being a contrary, argumentative, hateful crank. Nothing stands as a testament to his contrarian philosophy than the release of the Metal Machine Music LP in 1974. Reed sings not one note on this double album, rather it consists solely of screeching feedback, edited to fit the maximum playing time on each side. (Reed himself has said about this LP that "anyone who makes it to Side Four is dumber than I am," which shows you how seriously he took this.) Basically conceived as a screw-you to RCA, they actually ended up releasing this thing to horrified reviews and public apathy. As a sonic weapon devised out of pure malice, however, this is hard to beat. That sound you hear upstairs is your neighbors jumping out the window.

Metal Machine Music - Lou Reed (1975) (Full Album) (youtube.com)

4. Merzbow "Pulse Demon" (Reissue on Relapse Records, 2019 LP)

Lou Reed basically invented so-called "noise rock" with the previous entry, inspiring many musicians who have carved their own niche in this genre of repellent, ear-melting noise. Merzbow, a leader in this field, has released many unlistenable slabs of industrial/electronic screeching and pounding, but the pinnacle of his work is usually acknowledged to be the late 90's LP Pulse Demon, described by a Pitchfork review as " simply pure sound, vicious unadulterated static" and "music cannot get more extreme than this." The people down the hall will never dare blast Dave Matthews Band again after being physically traumatized by this wailing din.

Merzbow - Pulse Demon (full album) (youtube.com)

3. The Shaggs "My Pal Foot Foot" (album track from Philosophy Of The World, Third World LP 1969)

The Shaggs, three teenagers from New Hampshire, were formed in 1965 by their father/manager Austin Wiggin, despite the fact that the three girls had no musical aptitude whatsoever and could barely play their instruments. Perhaps blinded by a father's love, he insisted the girls were going to become huge stars, self-financing their 1969 LP Philosophy Of The World, by critical consensus often referred to as the worst album ever released. One searches for something to hold onto in this nightmarish goulash. Helen Wiggins' drumming can charitably be described as sub-rudimentary and off-time, Betty Wiggins' rhythm guitar makes a mockery of the word "rhythm", and leader Dot Wiggins vocals are out of tune and are nails-on-chalkboard annoying. Perhaps their best known track is the single "My Pal Foot Foot" which is a morbid ode to their dead pet dog. Not only will this serve to repel your neighbors instantly, they'll never want to listen to music again.

My Pal Foot Foot - The Shaggs (youtube.com)

2. Barney The Dinosaur " I Love You" (from PBS TV Series, 1992)

If you remember the 90's, you'll certainly remember this hideous (yet inexplicably popular) song from the PBS series Barney The Dinosaur, which was sung at the end of EVERY SINGLE EPISODE and features the brainless Barney simpering lyrics like "I love you/you love me" that surely took no longer than 5 minutes to write. It also shamelessly steals the melody to the old children's song "This Old Man" (which isn't great, but better than this crap song.) Little children seem impervious to this one, but any adult within blasting distance of this will be able to actually feel their IQ decrease upon prolonged exposure to this one.

Barney I Love You Song [Best Original HQ] (youtube.com)

1. Insane Clown Posse "Miracles" (aka The Magnet Song) (Single, 2009 Psychopathic Records)

Let me share with you all the creme de la creme of this song, the following lyrics that will stand for all time as a testament to willful ignorance and stupidity: " F-in magnets, how do they work?/ And I don't wanna talk to a f-in scientist/ you mf-ers lying, and getting me pissed." I guess they missed that day in fifth grade science class where they explain how magnetism works? The tired, lazy rap style ICP brings here has not aged well in the fifteen years since its release, making it musically inert as well as just plain stupid. This one might actually make your neighbors wonder if you're OK, but they won't be wondering it inside your apartment building because they will be miles away by the time that happens.

(260) Insane Clown Posse - Miracles - YouTube

Doctor Who 1.9 "Empire of Death" (major spoilers)

 

After eight episodes and a whole lot of fanfare, we finally discover the secrets of this season, like Ruby's mother's name and Sutekh's long-standing plan to destroy the Doctor. Still, other secrets (like just who is this Mrs. Flood person?) will have to wait until next season. 

Sutekh has won, and his minions are busy bringing his gift of death to the planet. The Doctor and Mel and Ruby escape in the "memory Tardis" from inside the videotape (the same Tardis from the spin-off series Tales of The Tardis in a nice callback.) We learn that Sutekh has been attached to the real Tardis, following the Doctor, and spreading decoy Susans across the universe since the events of "Pyramids of Mars" in 1975, meaning Sutekh has been on his revenge mission for forty-nine years, encompassing half of the original series and all of the new show.

Sutekh's a formidable villain, and I'm so glad they got the original voice actor to play him (despite him being in his 90's.) You can sense the unrelenting hatred in his being with each syllable he utters. After he takes over Mel's mind psychically, the Doctor and Ruby hatch a plan to defeat him which is too goofy to describe here, but it works. 

After trapping Sutekh with a "living rope" to the outside of the Tardis, he drags him throughout the Universe, causing it to regenerate. (The death of death is life, y'see.) The Doctor cuts the rope loose and Sutekh flies unprotected into the Time Vortex, supposedly destroyed. 

As for Ruby's mother, she is....no one in particular, just a very average person. Somehow it was the collective interest and desire for story that powered Ruby's odd powers. No it doesn't make any sense as a satisfying answer, but whatever. She is reunited with her parents and the Doctor leaves her on Earth to get acquainted with them, returning to his solo travels. 

Did you forget about Mrs. Flood? She pops up at the very end, holding a suitcase and ominously saying that Ruby's story is over, but the Doctor's will end in torment. It's clear we should have been paying more attention to her than the whole Ruby story, which turned out to be a red herring. We can hope for some resolution to this (maybe) in the upcoming Christmas special before the next series starts sometime in 2025. 

All in all, a great finale with a masterful villain. Some of the writing is a little dopey in spots (especially the stuff with the explanation of Ruby's powers being "everyone just really, really believed in it") but this was a solid ending to the first Disney-fied Doctor Who season. Now you can watch all the reruns since 1975 and imagine where Sutekh is in the story, if that's your thing. 

Recap of Series Fourteen, or Disney Season One:

The Church on Ruby Road   A-

Space Babies                        C+

The Devil's Chord                 B+

Boom                                    A-

47 Yards                                A+

Dot and Bubble                     A+

Rogue                                   A-

The Legend of Ruby Sunday   A-

Empire of Death                  A

Doctor Who 1.8 The Legend of Ruby Sunday (Major Spoilers)

 In this first part of the two-part season finale, we get to see the return of old companion Mel (again), and an answer to just who this Susan person is who's been popping up all over time and space. Strangely though, for an episode promising to divulge Ruby's secrets, which we've been waiting for all season, those particular answers are confined to the next episode. 

The episode wastes no time starting in UNIT headquarters where the Doctor demands an investigation of the mysterious woman "Susan" they keep seeing everywhere. As well, they further research the mystery of Ruby's origins via a VHS cassette surveillance recording taped on the night of her birth. Through some awesome technology The Doctor and Ruby are able to enter a projection of the video and look for Ruby's mother. They see her but the technology is unable to capture a picture of her face when she turns to them. 

Meanwhile, the "Susan Triad" woman is making waves, being a very popular rich benevolent-type figure in this reality (their version of Bill Gates) and about to unleash a new technology upon the masses. The Doctor is convinced that Susan is a later, regenerated version of his granddaughter, but something still doesn't feel right...

A strange effect circles the Tardis, all pulsing red light and black smoke. On stage, taping a promotional video, Susan Twist seems to forget who she is. Her "dreams" that are haunting are all actual adventures that the Doctor and Ruby have had, i.e the whole of the season to this point. UNIT cannot penetrate the effect surrounding the TARDIS and watch in horror as the true villain reveals himself.

No, it's not the Master, the Rani, or the Valeyard (all good guesses), but the clues were there if you followed them. The obvious anagram of Tardis from S-Triad was meant to point in the direction of Susan being the Doctor's granddaughter, but sadly that was just a red herring to confuse the viewer. The other clue lay in the name of the technology also, but in a different way: Sue (Susan) Technology (Tech)- put together is Sue Tech or Sutekh, the Destroyer of Worlds, who the 4th Doctor fought in the classic serial Pyramids of Mars. I have to admit here I was yelling in joy a little bit when I heard this reveal. 

"Susan" transforms herself into Sutekh's undead assistant, and even manages to get out a line stolen from the classic series ("I bring you Sutekh's gift....of death.") The Doctor is horrified, and we still don't know what the deal is with Ruby! How can we wait a week under these circumstances? I don't know but let's find out together. For this first part of the finale, I grade it an A-.

Doctor Who 1.7 "Rogue"

This episode was, as a long-time viewer, genuinely shocking in that a rule was broken that the Doctor, as an alien being, doesn't get involved in human romance. This was iron-clad in the original series but has been chipped away gradually with the show's reboot in 2005. The Ninth Doctor got a brief flirtation in "The Doctor Dances", Doctor 10 mooned over Lady Pompadour in "The Lady in The Fireplace". 11 was a little too goofy to be interested in love, but 12 ended up marrying River Song, longtime companion and mother to another longtime companion (timey wimey stuff.) With Jodie Whittaker's arrival as Doctor 13, there were intimations of a same-sex crush with a companion, although the show chose not to develop this relationship very closely. Doctor 14 admitted to Donna Noble he found Isaac Newton "hot" and is shocked by this, although Donna grumbled "It was never very far from the surface, mate." And now Ncuti Gatwa's 15th Doctor, who the actor has publicly stated is a gay character, gets his very own romance story.

The Tardis lands in 1812 England, with Ruby getting whisked away almost immediately to search for "available bachelors" at the Bridgerton-style palace party they arrive at. The Doctor notices an odd signal on his Sonic Screwdriver indicating another time traveler is at the party. He manages to find a lone figure apart from the party, Rogue, played by Jonathan Groff. They banter for a while until Rogue takes the Doctor prisoner. He's a bounty hunter who has landed in this zone looking for shape-shifting aliens he's been promised a huge reward for capturing. He's convinced the Doctor is one of them.

Meanwhile, the aliens move through the party killing random guests. It is explained the aliens saw the TV signals for Bridgerton from deep in space and decided to travel to this time to kill people and take over their likenesses- just because they like doing it. Ruby makes friends with another guest, who finds Ruby's odd slang like "OK" fascinating. 

After the Doctor displays his true self to Rogue and convinces him he's not a bad guy, they hatch a plan to draw the aliens out by doing something shocking, as they are attracted to scandal and controversy. And what could be more scandalous in 1812 than two men dancing? They dance together in a fascinatingly well-choreographed sequence, but then Rogue offers the Doctor his ring and the Doc freaks out and runs off. The aliens eat this up and set their sights on the two as their next victims.

Of course, the Doc's plan works, and the aliens are trapped in a transporter lock which fixes them all in place, unfortunately Ruby is among them as the Doctor mistakenly thought she was taken over by one of the creatures. The Doctor is then faced with the choice of banishing the aliens but losing Ruby forever or causing the extinction of humanity. He finds himself unable to make this choice. Rogue sees this and takes Ruby's place, sending himself into exile along with the aliens, but not before giving the Doctor a parting kiss.

And while the Doctor has been kissed by men before (most notably by Jack Harkness), this is the first time we see a full on romantic-style smooch. There is a palpable chemistry between the two and it would be hard to imagine them not bringing the character back at some undisclosed point in the future.

The episode is filled with great moments (The Doctor's reaction to Rogue's cloaked ship, the display of all his previous lives the Doctor creates when begging for his life, Rogue desperately trying to turn off the Kylie Minogue song in his ship) that make an enjoyable, fun romp as a palate cleanser before the two-part finale coming next week.

No doubt the fan faction who love to yell online about how "woke" the show is now will have a field day screeching about how the Doctor kissed a man. But this is a different, evolved Doctor. He's moved past his traumatic history and left that behind. He's just out to have a good time now. And he just spent an entire incarnation as a woman, so why wouldn't he be attracted to men? For a series that constantly reinvents itself, this is just another step in its evolution. My Grade: A-

 

Doctor Who 1.6 Review "Dot And Bubble"

 

For those of you who always wondered, "What if Doctor Who did its own version of a Black Mirror episode?" your prayers have been answered. This week the Doctor and Ruby take a back seat to the adventures of Lindsy Pepper-Bean, a thouroughly unlikeable character that displays some shocking behavior.

Lindsy is a member of the Fine Time colony (inspired by New Order?) in the far future, a group of exclusive spoiled rich kids from the Homeworld who exist in a technological cocoon. The "dot" of the story is the tiny portable hard drive they all carry that powers the "bubble", a circular screen of all their friends, talking in live time, that completely covers their heads. They have grown such a dependence on the technology they can't bear to have it turned off (Lindsy at one point complains that she has forgotten how to walk without the tech providing arrows for her to follow.)

The Doctor and Ruby find their way into Lindsy's bubble and attempt to warn her of the danger surround her: slug-like monsters are eating her friends, but no one seems to notice or care. After some severe prodding and a lot of petulant resistance on Lindsy's part, she realizes the danger and tries to escape. 

Lots of dark, dark satire here, with a society so sated by tech they can't even look up when someone next to them is being eaten alive. It's pretty hilarious that their society is being destroyed by slugs, one of the slowest-moving creatures in existence. What's less funny is how the episode resolves. Stop reading if you don't want spoilers.

Lindsy finally manages to find the path to the river to exit the city, and the Doctor and Rose are waiting there. The Doctor knows the humans leaving the colony have no survival skills and will be killed by the environment. He offers to save them all and transport them to whatever planet they want. They consider this offer.... then laugh and ridicule him, saying that people like them listening to someone like him in real life could never happen. They dismiss the idea of his time machine as laughable and happily march off to their certain doom, laughing at him all the way.

The Doctor doesn't know how to process this. He laughs, then stops himself and starts screaming. It's a great acting turn from Ncuti Gatwa, who up to this point has not been forced to show this side of the Doctor: utter disbelief. We as a viewer don't care about Lindsy, because she's a backstabbing, spoiled rotten brat, but the Doctor sincerely doesn't care about that. He tells her, "It doesn't matter if you hate me, let me save you." But that's not going to happen this time.

The show keeps getting better, week by week, and this is a great example of it firing on all cylinders. To my knowledge the show has never featured an antihero like Lindsy as a main character, and the newness of it is refreshing. It's also got a very, very dark edge for a show aired on Disney. This one is something special. My rating: A+

Doctor Who 1.5 "73 Yards"

As if to wash the sugary taste of the early episodes of the series away, this week's installment of Doctor Who, "73 Yards", is perhaps the best of the year, featuring a truly creepy enemy that makes the Weeping Angels look like Hello Kitty. This might be a bit too much for the young ones, so viewer beware.

Soon after landing on a clifftop in Wales, Ruby loses track of the Doctor and finds herself wandering through the landscape, looking for him....and waiting. Years and years of waiting. She also finds herself perpetually followed by a mysterious figure, who for some reason is always 73 yards away from her...no more, no less, so she cannot approach her without her moving. Any help she enlists to send to the woman to ask her why she is doing this (random townspeople, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart in a surprising cameo) run away in terror when the woman whispers something in their ear. 

We see Ruby begin to live an entire alternate life as she waits for the Doctor to return, aging from 25 to 30 to 80 and beyond. For her entire life, she is haunted and stalked by this figure. Her friends try to convince (gaslight) her that she is imagining the whole thing. But clearly, she is not. 

The Doctor is gone for the majority of the episode, leaving Ruby to figure out the mystery on her own. When she does finally connect the pieces the resolution is solid and satisfying, despite leaving many details up to the viewer to decide. We see a whole new side to Ruby whose character is fleshed out here, making her seem like her own person rather than simply an amalgam of Clara, Rose and Amy. 

This fits right in the "Doctor-lite" type of episode we tend to get at least once a season. Fortunately, these types of episodes are always classics ("Turn Left", "The Girl Who Waited") and this is as good if not better than any of the previous ones. The complete opposite of the paper thin, watered-down slapstick of the season premiere, and is a thoroughly gripping, well-written hour with an amazing central performance and an ending that actually makes sense without needing to be timey-wimey. My grade: a solid A+.