Potempkin Village Idiot
@ixak.bsky.social
Baltimore climate dad anthropologist fighting existential terror w/ existential counter-terrorism. The soft underbelly of the cutting edge. Working on resilience, local governance, urban gardening, tool repair, fermentation.
https://medium.com/@ixak
https://medium.com/@ixak
Pinned
Conversation w/ my son:
Him: What was your favorite movie when you were a kid?
Me: Short Circuit
What's it about?
A robot who comes to life.
What was your favorite movie when you became a grownup?
Blade Runner
What's it about?
A guy who hunts and kills robots who have come to life.
Him: What was your favorite movie when you were a kid?
Me: Short Circuit
What's it about?
A robot who comes to life.
What was your favorite movie when you became a grownup?
Blade Runner
What's it about?
A guy who hunts and kills robots who have come to life.
Cosmetic scar tissue
February 14, 2026 at 3:02 AM
Cosmetic scar tissue
Post the cover of a book you love from the 90s.
February 14, 2026 at 1:24 AM
Post the cover of a book you love from the 90s.
For a year I taught @ an online college that disproportionately targeted US servicemen/women - lots of Iraq/Afghanistan vets. An absolute shitshow intended to suck up GI bill money. If they really cared about soldiers' education they'd put the admins of Ashford & Phoenix in front of a firing squad.
February 13, 2026 at 11:26 PM
For a year I taught @ an online college that disproportionately targeted US servicemen/women - lots of Iraq/Afghanistan vets. An absolute shitshow intended to suck up GI bill money. If they really cared about soldiers' education they'd put the admins of Ashford & Phoenix in front of a firing squad.
I can't wait for shit to get better.
This "getting worse" bullshit sucks.
This "getting worse" bullshit sucks.
February 13, 2026 at 7:09 PM
I can't wait for shit to get better.
This "getting worse" bullshit sucks.
This "getting worse" bullshit sucks.
It already happened. The alternative would have been so much worse. You're welcome.
February 13, 2026 at 6:35 PM
It already happened. The alternative would have been so much worse. You're welcome.
My mom told me that Groundhog Day was one of her favorite movies, because it builds up to a day where Phil is finally able to do everything right. Every action he takes is the right action and everything he does helps someone or fixes something.
She aspired to days like that.
She aspired to days like that.
Groundhog Day (1993) - Phil's Errands Scene (7/8) | Movieclips
YouTube video by Movieclips
youtu.be
February 13, 2026 at 4:32 PM
My mom told me that Groundhog Day was one of her favorite movies, because it builds up to a day where Phil is finally able to do everything right. Every action he takes is the right action and everything he does helps someone or fixes something.
She aspired to days like that.
She aspired to days like that.
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
Analysis | The fact that Joe Biden isn't in the Epstein files shows how politically and culturally irrelevant he has become.
February 13, 2026 at 1:09 PM
Analysis | The fact that Joe Biden isn't in the Epstein files shows how politically and culturally irrelevant he has become.
As a cultural anthropologist with two decades of social science data collection experience, and as the father of a nine-year-old, and as the carpool driver for three additional middle school students (multiple grades), I can attest to the truth of this.
February 13, 2026 at 11:11 AM
As a cultural anthropologist with two decades of social science data collection experience, and as the father of a nine-year-old, and as the carpool driver for three additional middle school students (multiple grades), I can attest to the truth of this.
I vaguely remember watching a bunch of smaller-run indie/foreign films when they came out, but I don't know that I'd consider that to be a flex, since I don't actually remember most of them them, except maybe Run Lola Run and Beasts of the Southern Wild.
February 12, 2026 at 1:45 PM
I vaguely remember watching a bunch of smaller-run indie/foreign films when they came out, but I don't know that I'd consider that to be a flex, since I don't actually remember most of them them, except maybe Run Lola Run and Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
Really powerful, really illuminating thread. Clear, precise, devastating.
I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it.
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
1/
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
1/
February 12, 2026 at 11:12 AM
Really powerful, really illuminating thread. Clear, precise, devastating.
Like, to cross the road, you mean?
February 12, 2026 at 8:58 AM
Like, to cross the road, you mean?
Post a tree that you photographed 📸🌲
February 12, 2026 at 12:47 AM
Post a tree that you photographed 📸🌲
Agreed. And when I mentioned it at work, the next day the dishwasher gave me a bootlegged VHS tape of it, and we watched it like 30 more times that week.
February 11, 2026 at 11:42 PM
Agreed. And when I mentioned it at work, the next day the dishwasher gave me a bootlegged VHS tape of it, and we watched it like 30 more times that week.
Saw Star Wars: ANH in 1977. I was born in 1975. My parents thought it was a good idea to bring a 2-year-old to the movies 🫤. I cried the whole time & don't remember it.
Also:
Princess Bride
Goonies
Showgirls
The Matrix
Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
A Scanner Darkly
Howl's Moving Castle
Also:
Princess Bride
Goonies
Showgirls
The Matrix
Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
A Scanner Darkly
Howl's Moving Castle
Have asked this before and always like the responses. What are your biggest “I saw that in the first run cinema” flexes? Couple of mine:
Transformers: The Movie (1986)
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
Office Space (1999)
Transformers: The Movie (1986)
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
Office Space (1999)
February 11, 2026 at 11:34 PM
Saw Star Wars: ANH in 1977. I was born in 1975. My parents thought it was a good idea to bring a 2-year-old to the movies 🫤. I cried the whole time & don't remember it.
Also:
Princess Bride
Goonies
Showgirls
The Matrix
Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
A Scanner Darkly
Howl's Moving Castle
Also:
Princess Bride
Goonies
Showgirls
The Matrix
Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
A Scanner Darkly
Howl's Moving Castle
Last night I applied for a job that pays about 1/2 of my current salary range, and it reminded me of how years ago, during a job interview, a potential employer found a very creative way to say they couldn't meet my salary needs:
"We don't want to hire you unless you want us to."
"We don't want to hire you unless you want us to."
February 11, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Last night I applied for a job that pays about 1/2 of my current salary range, and it reminded me of how years ago, during a job interview, a potential employer found a very creative way to say they couldn't meet my salary needs:
"We don't want to hire you unless you want us to."
"We don't want to hire you unless you want us to."
Bad news for @funranium.bsky.social's FMJ Steins.
February 11, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Bad news for @funranium.bsky.social's FMJ Steins.
My 4-year-old calls them his "gutters" which is both mechanically and etymologically correct.
February 11, 2026 at 11:08 AM
My 4-year-old calls them his "gutters" which is both mechanically and etymologically correct.
It seems strange to say this, but this very much feels like it was made specifically for me and my two closest friends.
everybody shut the fuck up new Laibach video just dropped
Laibach - Allgorhythm (feat. Wiyaala) [Official Video]
YouTube video by Laibach
youtu.be
February 11, 2026 at 9:41 AM
It seems strange to say this, but this very much feels like it was made specifically for me and my two closest friends.
I grew up in a rather complicated family of American Jews, Evangelical Christians, and actual Zionist emigres to Israel. The overriding frame of reference for everyone old enough to remember the '67 War is the '67 War. It eclipses all other understanding.
February 10, 2026 at 5:56 PM
I grew up in a rather complicated family of American Jews, Evangelical Christians, and actual Zionist emigres to Israel. The overriding frame of reference for everyone old enough to remember the '67 War is the '67 War. It eclipses all other understanding.
Funicular homicide
February 10, 2026 at 11:38 AM
Funicular homicide
The irony is that Americans say they want "stricter immigration laws", and then when they describe what that means to them they describe a process that is more humane, accommodating, and merciful than the one that currently exists here.
February 10, 2026 at 11:32 AM
The irony is that Americans say they want "stricter immigration laws", and then when they describe what that means to them they describe a process that is more humane, accommodating, and merciful than the one that currently exists here.
I think a lot of Americans don't really understand how citizenship works in the US, much less in other countries.
February 10, 2026 at 10:39 AM
I think a lot of Americans don't really understand how citizenship works in the US, much less in other countries.
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
You know, when you think about it, Kid Rock is actually just another way of saying Epstein Island
February 9, 2026 at 2:47 AM
You know, when you think about it, Kid Rock is actually just another way of saying Epstein Island
Imagine being Macbeth and watching this.
February 9, 2026 at 2:59 AM
Imagine being Macbeth and watching this.
Is Quebec also part of Latin America?
February 9, 2026 at 2:57 AM
Is Quebec also part of Latin America?