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.
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.
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.
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.
Post a tree that you photographed 📸🌲
February 12, 2026 at 12:47 AM
Post a tree that you photographed 📸🌲
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."
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.
Funicular homicide
February 10, 2026 at 11:38 AM
Funicular homicide
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
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
"should the government kidnap 5 year olds and deport them? We asked seventeen ethics professors and they all just screamed"
February 8, 2026 at 5:42 PM
"should the government kidnap 5 year olds and deport them? We asked seventeen ethics professors and they all just screamed"
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
If you were writing pieces a year ago about the "cultural dominance" of MAGA and now this year you are writing that this was actually a mirage, then perhaps your judgement can't be trusted.
February 8, 2026 at 4:36 PM
If you were writing pieces a year ago about the "cultural dominance" of MAGA and now this year you are writing that this was actually a mirage, then perhaps your judgement can't be trusted.
Ok, new winter Olympic sport: half-pipe snowboard skeet shoot.
February 8, 2026 at 3:36 PM
Ok, new winter Olympic sport: half-pipe snowboard skeet shoot.
If I had a nickel for every time my 9-year-old son has attempted to write a comic adaptation of the Takashi Miike movie "As the Gods Will" I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
February 8, 2026 at 3:32 PM
If I had a nickel for every time my 9-year-old son has attempted to write a comic adaptation of the Takashi Miike movie "As the Gods Will" I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
Handyman Hal's Moving Castle.
February 8, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Handyman Hal's Moving Castle.
I think the weather has had a dampening effect on public mobilization around the Epstein files. People are angry, but ground down, hampered by ICE and snow. Exhausted and withdrawn. Needing rejuvenation.
Tuesday the temperature will be above 40⁰ in DC.
I think Tuesday is when things start to move.
Tuesday the temperature will be above 40⁰ in DC.
I think Tuesday is when things start to move.
February 8, 2026 at 11:51 AM
I think the weather has had a dampening effect on public mobilization around the Epstein files. People are angry, but ground down, hampered by ICE and snow. Exhausted and withdrawn. Needing rejuvenation.
Tuesday the temperature will be above 40⁰ in DC.
I think Tuesday is when things start to move.
Tuesday the temperature will be above 40⁰ in DC.
I think Tuesday is when things start to move.
My son, last night: "Why don't we have nunchucks?
Me, who accidentally left my nunchucks at an elementary school playground when filming a scene for a 48-hour film competition 10 years ago: "We don't keep weapons in the house."
Me, who accidentally left my nunchucks at an elementary school playground when filming a scene for a 48-hour film competition 10 years ago: "We don't keep weapons in the house."
February 8, 2026 at 11:06 AM
My son, last night: "Why don't we have nunchucks?
Me, who accidentally left my nunchucks at an elementary school playground when filming a scene for a 48-hour film competition 10 years ago: "We don't keep weapons in the house."
Me, who accidentally left my nunchucks at an elementary school playground when filming a scene for a 48-hour film competition 10 years ago: "We don't keep weapons in the house."
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
One of the most sickening realizations I've ever had came when it hit me that six hundred years from now historians will be writing things like "while technically illegal, intercourse with minors was broadly accepted as normal among the American ruling class, and even a marker of status"
February 8, 2026 at 7:30 AM
One of the most sickening realizations I've ever had came when it hit me that six hundred years from now historians will be writing things like "while technically illegal, intercourse with minors was broadly accepted as normal among the American ruling class, and even a marker of status"
Recently I've been casually referring to the current Spider-Man actor as "Tom Finland" instead of Tom Holland just to see who flinches when I say it.
February 8, 2026 at 3:45 AM
Recently I've been casually referring to the current Spider-Man actor as "Tom Finland" instead of Tom Holland just to see who flinches when I say it.
My 4-year-old just referred to a paramedic as a "care-amedic", in case you needed a little dose of morning cuteness.
February 7, 2026 at 12:54 PM
My 4-year-old just referred to a paramedic as a "care-amedic", in case you needed a little dose of morning cuteness.
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
Alan Cumming on bathroom bills:
"Why on earth would a rapist go through the bother of pretending to be trans in a country that treats rapists better than trans people."
"Why on earth would a rapist go through the bother of pretending to be trans in a country that treats rapists better than trans people."
July 22, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Alan Cumming on bathroom bills:
"Why on earth would a rapist go through the bother of pretending to be trans in a country that treats rapists better than trans people."
"Why on earth would a rapist go through the bother of pretending to be trans in a country that treats rapists better than trans people."
My son keeps his money in a wooden box labeled "boring toys"
February 6, 2026 at 8:31 PM
My son keeps his money in a wooden box labeled "boring toys"