Check it out! I have added a “stage directing” page to my website: www.justinbirchell.com/stage-direct...

Having print subscriptions to things like Jacobin (quarterly) and The Nation (monthly), plus living in a place where the mail is very slow to arrive, is a lesson in the shortness of the news cycle. By the time I get the magazine, it’s reminding me of two-month-old horrors I’d already forgotten.

My first-ever time directing a production of this scale. I’m liking how it looks!

I believe they call this “war crimes”

My big important name at upper right!!!

On Cinema at the Cinema Live Show was worth it!!!

Lenin’s “Imperialism” would be instructive to whoever wrote this nonsensical headline. Of course transnational capital generally has access to poor countries’ labor markets — buyers of labor face no scrutiny for such mobility, only those who need to sell their labor.

Oh btw CONGRATS TO THE BRUINS ON WINNING THE WOMEN’S B-BALL NATIONAL TITLE! I watched the whole game. Post-game interviews with Close, Betts and Jaquez were inspiring as well.

Will any world leader in the “West” go ahead and say that the U.S. (and Israel) is committing war crimes in Iran? My thoughts are with the Iranian civilians in this utterly unnecessary war.

Using the moon mission to teach music theory!!!

“Farthest Than Ever Before” is not proper standard English, right?

Easter dinner was a win. Made everything myself except the dolmas and the ajvar!

1 million displaced Lebanon. 2 million displaced Palestine. 3 million displaced Iran. US-Israeli policy has created 6 million homeless/refugees in this region. It is a travesty.

How’d I not know that the cartoon series “Duckman” features a substantial amount of the music of Frank Zappa? So cool!

Guess I’m not online enough but I didn’t know Michael Parenti died a month ago. Pls watch this youtu.be/odWerz1Az6k #michaelparenti #parenti #poor #poorcountries #leftist #righteous

I am leading a Scandinavian lifestyle

Delta SUCKS

Ok one thing laypeople often comment w.r.t. singers (classical singers) is about their “lung capacoty.” A large or beautiful voice is not closely related to lung capacity, and lung capacity is something singers and singing teachers by and large do not talk about. Shut up about lung capacity.

The majesty of Alaska’s Arctic. #alaska #aurora #auroraborealis #photography #mountains #nightsky #beauty #naturalbeauty #beautyofnature #beautiful #arctic #nighttime #timelapse #northernlights #tourism #mountain #landscape #spaceweather #science #astronomy #awesome #awe #inawe #publiclands

Minneapolis groups call for ‘general strike’. "...several local unions—including Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, SEIU Local 26, UNITE HERE Local 17, CWA Local 7250, and St. Paul Federation of Educators Local 28—have lent their support to the strike." www.commondreams.org/news/minneap...

every single successful general strike in US history has had union backing through the local AFL-CIO this is the first time it’s been called for since the 1940s

www.justinbirchell.com/singer-schol... A special Presidents Day offering for Tucson audiences. Please consider joining us for a wonderful evening of song! 6pm #tucson #arizona #tucsonarizona #tucsonaz #az #tucsonlocal #uofa #thisistucson #downtowntucson #visittucson #orovalley #tucsonlife #desert

Today tied my record for the coldest temp I have ever seen. #alaska #cold #coldweather #coldtemperatures #arctic #polar #subzero #belowzero #outdoors #winter #freezing #frozen

open.substack.com/pub/justinbi... #politics #rant #politicalrant #angry #sad

A YouGov poll taken on the same day as Renee Good’s killing in Minneapolis shows a majority of people do not approve of how ICE is handling its job.

But we're going to have a beautiful police state and it'll be very brutal. And you'll be free, perhaps more free than ever before

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSWw... #davidlynch #film #cinephile #analysis #filmanalysis #inlandempire #lynchian #twinpeaks #videoessay #videoessays #youtube #youtuber #films #movies #cinema #movie #filmsky #lynchsky #lauradern #brothers #artproject #funnyvideo #funnyvideos #thumbnail #bro #lynchfans

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSWw... Strap in for insanely good (Lynch-analyzing) times

New Years’ Eve, Alaska style: partying in the -38° . Happy 2026!

@pynchonpals.bsky.social I found your show after just finishing V. Great to rerun through it with you and delighted to learn I’ve caught up to you in real time and looking forward to the next ep!!! I will send a question for your wrapup AUA!

Just finished V., the first novel of Thomas Pynchon. Amazing how much the preoccupations and bold voice of Pynchon are already here in 1963. It’s a wild ride, and at times I wondered what it was aiming at, but I can’t deny how impressive it is for a first novel. #reading #booksky #pynchon #novel

Just finished John McPhee’s Coming Into the Country, a book that’s extremely perceptive while remaining transparent, letting its incidents speak for themselves with minimal editorializing. As an inhabitant of beyond-rural Alaska, I see both how much and how little has changed since McPhee’s 1970s

Coldest that I’ve seen so far this year where I live is -38°F (-39°C)

If you enjoy my nature photos, I’m selling a 2026 Calendar. Excellent large-format printing and I made sure it has all the right days for 2026. DM me if you’re interested! #gift #gifts #giftideas #year2026 #photography #naturephotography #naturalbeauty #alaska #arctic #pretty #nature #wilderness

“Eyes Wide Shut is a Christmas movie” is the new “Die Hard is a Christmas movie.”

How come when these dumbasses talk about defending “western values,” the very values they put forward as enlightened—treating women humanely, justice with due process, democracy—are also the very ones they’d roll back in their neo-monarchism, authoritarianism, etc?

Go for a walk with your siblings in the Arctic wilderness when it’s -30° F (-35° C). Nothing beats it.

Very bummed to learn that when you search “John McPhee,” the top hits are not for the amazingly perceptive journalist and author of Coming Into the Country, but some Delta Force commando that talks about courage in Fallujah or some crap. #johnmcphee #author #journalist #journalism

New blog post about the astounding 2008 film, Synecodche, New York #charliekaufman #synecodchenewyork #synecdoche #newyork #philipseymourhoffman #film #movie #blog #blogpost #substack #writer #cinephile #director #screenplay #nathanfielder #therehearsal #davidlynch open.substack.com/pub/justinbi...

If you like wacky farcical comedies you gotta come out and see Anchorage Opera’s Gianni Schicchi!!! #anchorage #alaska #anchoragealaska #alaskalife #ak #anchorageak #travelalaska #eagleriver #photography #downtownanchorage #explorealaska #alaskaadventure #thealaskalife #art

anchorageopera.org/2025-2026-se... #anchorage #alaska #anchoragealaska #alaskalife #ak #anchorageak #fairbanks #alaskaphotography #wasilla #travelalaska #fishing #travel #eagleriver #photography #downtownanchorage #explorealaska #nature #alaskaadventure #thealaskalife #salmon #art #mountains

The Medium is a spooky scary opera, and Anchorage Opera’s production ratchets up the creepy to 11. Come see it! Nov 6, 8, and 9 at the PAC. #anchorage #alaska #anchoragealaska #alaskalife #ak #anchorageak #wasilla #travelalaska #downtownanchorage #explorealaska #thealaskalife #alaskasky

One Battle After Another is a fantastic movie, in which the U.S. military-police state are the bad guys (unlike in real life) and in which the aforementioned military-police state is underwritten and in league with white supremacists and right-wing militiamen (also unlike real life). Very fictional!

Anchorage Opera’s The Medium | Gianni Schicchi will be a treat for the eyes and ears. Spooky, funny, with gorgeous singing. #anchorage #alaska #anchoragealaska #alaskalife #ak #anchorageak #wasilla #travelalaska #eagleriver #downtownanchorage #explorealaska #alaskaadventure #thealaskalife #art

“Two morons” is absolutely my favorite genre of comedy and that is why I am so pleased to have recently discovered the entire back catalog of “On Cinema.” Bless u, @timheidecker.bsky.social

Gianni Schicchi is a tale of family politics gone mad; a scheming family tries to falsify a dead relative’s will, with surprising results. Come see Anchorage Opera’s production, November 6,8 and 9! anchorageopera.org/2025-2026-se... #anchorage #alaska #anchorageak #anchoragealaska #alaskasky #arts

If you’re in Anchorage, you cannot miss Gianni Schicchi and The Medium, a fantastic double bill of two one-acts on Nov 6, 8, and 9. #anchorage #alaska #anchoragealaska #alaskalife #ak #anchorageak #wasilla #travelalaska #eagleriver #downtownanchorage #explorealaska #thealaskalife #art