tangential to this but also notable imo (re TV shows of that period) was the extent to which masculinity was coded as conservative and visa vera (thinking Ron Swanson, Alex Baldwin in 30 Rock, the other Baldwin in Chuck etc). Embarrassing to admit but was not unaffected by this as a teen

I listened to a british podcast the other day where one of the hosts described the royal pomp of the trump visit as being akin to islanders dancing for tourists (in the hopes of getting tourist dollars). He was v glum about it all, but I think if he'd seen this it might have pushed him over

She was, she is. She was also very keen on brevity ("you're not writing the next great new Zealand novel" "you're not paid by the word" etc).

Boss at my old firm forbade the use of them. This was before ai was a thing. Also semi colons, and she insisted that colons be used sparing. Didn't really get it at the time, but I'm grateful to her now.

if you are interested:(soundcloud.com/matthewparke...) ; the commentators seem to think that the artist nailed it

searched owl city "beep beep "beep bleep" "beep boop" but could not find it. Did find an original song that was offered up as a v sincere imitation of owl city's style. Listening to it now. Imagine this is what it feels like to be a dog listening to an extended dog whistle.

Cheers. will give her stuff a look. read "Mr Truman's degree" before I was catholic and it definitely had an impact.

new information to me but really haven't read all that much of his, and an increasingly removed phil major really not that useful here. quite happy to trust your judgement on this. did find his arg about the state of moral philosophy p compelling/troubling. any thoughts re preferable alternatives?

Oh yeah - wasn't trying to ding him for his prose or anything. me getting stuck was fully on me. If someone could make his thing more accessible I'd v much like to see it.

I read the first half of after virtue in uni before getting stuck so the main thing that got internalized was - Catholics Really need to get better at rhetoric. NOT the intended takehome but, all things being equal, would still like people who care about the things I care about to be more persuasive

Tolkien overrated. Real speculative fiction is about asking hard questions, real questions. Example: what if women were bugs? What if they had bug heads? What if bugs became --

revealing moment, for me (circa 2014 ig?, was visiting the then reddit boogie man shitredditsays and seeing (1) that it was benign, and (2) the v popular comments/posts it collected from mainstream subreddits. Idea that reddit was wholesome chungus is deluded and/or self-serving

depends on the camerahead/skibidi toilets willingness to be baptised?

not a blue elephant alien, but think this guy might also fit the bill. tears in the rain, paths not travelled etc.

Looks like this (robes - check; hands raised in praise - check; entirely respectable imo)

need the symbologist read on it (note; first introduced to dan brown when i was 11; a boy in my class had his moms copy of the divinci code and he was telling us how it disproved christianity)