Write it in the sky with hundred foot letters of burning flame

It may seem odd to say, but Tony Fitzpatrick still passed too young. As an artist and poet and writer and Chicago historian, he had years if not decades of relevance left.

Tony Fitzpatrick, 1958-2025

I saw Fitzpatrick in a theater show about mass killers in 1990 as James Huberty, who carried out the McDonald’s massacre. He was riveting in a depiction that was both human & a political commentary that's still relevant. An artist in so many ways. RIP. chicagoreader.com/arts-culture...

Went to a Tony Fitzpatrick show at a gallery /studio last year & he was so friendly, discussing the iconography of his latest work & my interest in dick tracy & fearless fosdick. He recognized me as 1 of his 10s of thousands of longtime supporters, not by name or anything, but still good at that.

That film is collaborative is why Annie Hall is solid despite Allen becoming vile - Keaton & others. She directed an episode of Twin Peaks & was great, for example, in the tv version of a Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, a theater staple.

This is a fake video and despite being told many times "jenn budd" has not taken it down DO NOT TRUST OR FOLLOW THIS ACCOUNT.

Doctor Sleep is a cheesey, maudlin sloppy coda to The Shining, but the one thing it shares with that masterpiece is the most effective special effect is an actor's scene stealing performance: Rebecca Ferguson, who is the antithesis of Jack Nicholson in most ways yet is scary in her own way.

Boosting this because it is just so good.

went to see the new Paul Thomas Anderson movie so I'll have something to talk to men about

It's Friday evening and The Novel is not going to post about politics any more. As I've said before, for The Novel it's not horny on main, horny IS main.

170. Challenge: choose cool cover versions of great songs. Only one per day, if not every day, for as long as one can. No explanations, no reviews, but wow, listen to this one. youtu.be/MI6HejylS98?...

Now The Novel is certainly posting politics.

So this conversation starts with an interesting debate about Bert and Ernie and moves on to what constitutes a roommate and I get why people are into this show. youtube.com/shorts/x4FMD...

Unclear if The Novel is being political or horny here. Or both.

A dream come true! Once again, I don't mean a wish or a hope; this is just the sort of thing I'd have a dream about.

Think of how many have died in the last year, but also, had this deal been signed in October 2024, would we also be in the middle of a fascist regime occupying big cities today?

Sucks that this is still relevant humor. youtu.be/Xua4BlV9LCg?...

170. Challenge: choose cool cover versions of great songs. Only one per day, if not every day, for as long as one can. No explanations, no reviews. youtu.be/wtESlTKBa4s?...

Why has the media become so vulnerable to Trump, and what can we do about it? Some thoughts... https://robertreich.substack.com/p/why-has-the-media-become-so-vulnerable

The Novel is frustrated with current events.

Not sure what to do with Trump embracing the disinfo specialist openly saying opponents of the Nazis were the bad guys but with enough indirect phrasing that it has to be clarified, except if one has any acquaintences who are soft on Trump but agree Nazis are bad, it's worth clarifying.

Social media pushes even the most smart & careful of us to post impulsively & self-indulgently, inciting reaction over communication. Not good for a community in crisis. To keep this in check, maybe write as if readers are struggling with despair & even thoughts of ending it. Cause some are.

Want to point out how this editorial is informative and alarming yet still not dispairing. It is focused on describing the problem confirming it is wrong and the reader is not alone in being worried and we can ban together. It is not unduly optimistic, but is not hopeless, just a call to action.

In late Sept 2001, Chicago had an absurd number of US flags plus excessive use of red, white & blue all over. The scary weirdness is hard to convey in a few words or even photos from then. My late pal Shappy, who worked at Quimby's, qupped: "Jesus, were we invaded by America?" And yea, we were.

An especially irrating kind of troll to block: clearly fake profile, reposts a ton of lefty stuff as cover for how he only makes posts to pick fights & waste time of anyone to the left of Gavin Newsom.

"We heard tell of a deep dish pizza."

Some good advice from someone who passed too soon.

NORMS will be VIOLATED! POINTS OF ORDER will be IGNORED! In a titanic tussle we can only title "CAP VERSUS THE SINISTER CENTRIST!"

I need to be more precise. It's in Elwood. Cannot be a better name for a town in Illinois near Joliet. The writer's are hitting all the notes.

Toad is lucky in having a partner who is willing to provide comfort and perspective when he doomscrolls or frets into a state of anxiety & depression. Am lucky to have a frog.🐸❤️🐸

This post is dangerously close to escaping containment, so I'll just say that this was *obviously* sarcastic and designed to highlight the fact that Chicago can not be the best big city in America AND the war zone that Patel and Trump believe it to be Read the room ❤️

me when I knowingly spread misinformation instead of deleting the original post bc I don't want to lose that sweet sweet engagement

Toad doomscrolls a great deal and does not get out into the community enough.

Pritzker is also furious: “Should National Governors Association leadership choose to remain silent, Illinois will have no choice but to withdraw from the organization.”

169. Challenge: choose cool cover versions of great songs. Only one per day, if not every day, for as long as one can. No explanations, no reviews. youtu.be/o4wM9w79_YI?...

Pretty certain Noam means local businesses and salute every place telling these assholes no. If she means private citizens, the third amendment that says fuck you soldier piss your pants.

Hey @nmamatas.bsky.social - read your latest novel while driving from Florida to Chicago. It may beat Love Is The Law going to Paris because while I read it in that city I did not while traveling - so technically this is the most well traveled read.

I made one that fits better on the screen here

This but the leaves are any progress America made since the gilded age.

Where is the Illinois Congressional delegation? They need to be calling this out 24/7 *before* the military invades, let alone feds kill anyone else.

The Novel is on a road trip with me, looking at news from Chicago and trying not to doompost or -scroll.

gemar chatimah tovah newrepublic.com/article/1865...

"Surely this petard will only harm my opponents, I'm not an idiot." Later:

It is a sign of how the alternative & blog era press has become a mirror of the NYT level in that there's all this elaborate thinky pieces about Ezra when everyone could just say he's an opportunist who has gone right (or even fascist) because his material interests are there.

Dang, and I was wanting to look up what "kapo"means. Is it a a Hawaiian goddess, a musical device, a Colombian singer or something else?

They aren't Vichy Democrats because the Vichy regime was more honest about what is was doing and somehow less pathethic.

Peak DC joke has been reached, everyone go home.