Reading A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett. If its predecessor, The Tainted Cup, was Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin meet Godzilla, this one finds them dropping in on the Shimmer from the Southern Reach books. I'll be damned if this is fantasy or sci fi or whatever. Entertaining, though.

A reminder: Henry Kissinger was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Make of that what you will.

What an awful creature Adams was. For some reason I envision him on his deathbed breathing his last with the words "TenNapel lives." I do not rejoice in this man's death, but I do mourn the brain rot that led him to treat his cancer with horse paste. What a waste.

My endo occasionally asks me if I have transition regrets for some reason. I need to make this into a t-shirt to wear to my next appointment, I think.

My cousin is in Antarctica right now and I think she might have the right idea.

1. Always get cash if possible. 2. Always use a contract for commissions and make sure there's a kill fee in that contract, preferably one that's paid up front.

I was on my friend Aaron's Horror 101 podcast again talking about one of my very favorite movies. How favorite? I named myself after one of its characters. It's an astonishing horror movie.

This week has been tragic & infuriating & there needs to be a reckoning, but a reminder that the current head of state is in the Epstein files & has been legally adjudicated as a rapist. He is credibly accused of sex trafficking & pedophilia and worse.*

This arrived yesterday. Bare bones edition from China. All region.

Changed up my Letterboxd four favorite films again. Includes one of my mom's favorite films, as well. A lot of my taste in movies comes from her. I'll probably change this to movies she did not like next time I think of it.

Went to the local trans group's monthly Sunday breakfast yesterday. I co-founded that group 16 years ago, though I stepped away nine years ago and only check in infrequently. I can't believe it's lasted this long. Anyway, hanging with other trans people was a nice change from my usual life.

Here's another example of why AI is dogshit and you shouldn't use it. I asked Google "Cary Grant films directed by George Cukor", a question I know the answer to. Google's AI doesn't though. Note: I didn't ask for the AI summary. I just neglected to use the operand to omit it. Very annoying.

Regarding this morning's news: the occupant of the Oval Office is in the Epstein files and his party protects rapists and pedophiles.

At least we don’t live in a world of staggering class disparity in which a tech magnate attempts to quash left-wing sentiment using sexualized artificial intelligence!

Instead of catching up with my movie veggies, I found myself watching Primitive War (2025) yesterday, in which many people are horribly killed by dinosaurs. I liked it better than the last Jurassic Park movie even though it's threadbare cheap.

post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, soundgarden, pearl jam, or alice in chains. (Okay, sure. And none of my usual obvious bullshit, either...)

Stars in the Movies: There were big name credited acts in the movies from the dawn of cinema. Annabelle, popular dancer, was an early hit for the Edison company and her dance was part of the company's first projected screening in early 1896. But movie stars were over a decade away.

Had my semi-annual trip to my endo today. He is verry disappointed in my A1C level. I stress eat and I'm a trans person in the USA in 2025, so what can I say? It's a bad time to try to control my blood sugar. On an up note, he agreed to put me back on dutasteride from finasteride, so that's a plus.

Watching my favorite Christmas movie tonight.

Not to poke the beehive, but shouldn't everyone at DoJ involved with this fiasco be disbarred? Forget impeachment. That ain't happening. But disbarment? I think that might be achievable. (This is my only political post of the season, btw. Going back to hiding under my warm covers with my cat).

If you need a last minute gift, Dreadnought and Sovereign are always available at very good prices and shipping speed from Amazon. The third book will hopefully be available next year so this is a great time to start the young reader in your life on a new series. www.amazon.com/dp/B08BV25CWK

Finishing this up for a podcast in the morning. God, I love this movie.

Watching comfort movies this weekend. First up: a couple of musicals by John Carney. These films didn't come out THAT long ago, but I swear they play like they come from another reality. Anyway, love them both.

My favorite moment in any of Rian Johnson's movies is in Brick, when, in the background, May and her cooler full of body parts just walks by without comment. Johnson edited May, btw. Anyway, I rewatched May last night and that movie is a masterpiece.

Hey, @clewis.bsky.social, this might be of interest to you. Coming soon. www.criterion.com/films/34862-...

Okay, my favorite movies this year: Horror: The Ugly Stepsister, Sinners, The Monkey, Companion, The Shrouds Docs: Deaf President Now, The Silence of My Hands, The Zodiac Killer Project, Sally Pop cinema: Wake Up Dead Man, Black Bag, The Life of Chuck, Predator Badlands. Some others.

Hat tip to @annamaurya.bsky.social .

I understand that a lot of folks have been misled by fear-mongering and powerful regressive voices but it’s still astonishing to me that so many have fallen for the idea that oppressively policing other people’s gender identity and expression could in any way be part of an enlightened future.

I am genuinely annoyed that my local art house chose to show Jay Kelly for three weeks rather than Wake Up Dead Man. Wake Up Dead Man may be populist and star-studded and old Hollywood, but it is so much better a film that it's not even funny. And Glenn Close might even win that Oscar finally.

For what it's worth, Red Sonja was made by a trans woman. Who also made the relatively excellent Solomon Kane adaptation. She has a thing for Robert E. Howard, one guesses.

God bless @honorszombie.bsky.social 's top ten this year. Red Sonja! Hah! I love it. (I haven't seen Red Sonja, btw. Didn't even know it was available until about fifteen minutes ago when I watched Scout's Unloved section on the film).

A friend of mine on another network asked me if I was making a top ten list this year. I think maybe I'm not. I've had a down year of moviegoing. It would probably all be horror movies like Sinners, The Shrouds, The Monkey, and The Ugly Stepsister (but not Weapons, which I didn't really like).

"This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom" Gods, this is still the horror of our times.

Oh, man. John Varley died. One of the first writers I ever read who had a sense of trans identities. (The main hero(ine) of The Golden Globe was named Hildy Johnson & was alternately male & female throughout. A pretty good joke). Not bad for a straight cis dude, either, but one makes allowances.

"Christi, what are you listening to these days?" So glad you asked. First off: RIP Jimmy Cliff. The Harder they Come soundtrack has been a constant presence on my turntable for decades. youtu.be/-y9Q7ud7Or0?...

Wit (2001). Too much like watching my mom die all over again.

My birthday haul from Barnes & Noble. (Note: today is not my birthday)

Me too. I have a great deal of rage that surfaces every time I see a sports book ad. I can't watch sports anymore.

I wish @criterionchannl.bsky.social 's Julianne Moore programme this month thought to include Tales from the Darkside: The Movie. Seriously, what the hell, dudes?

Every time I think about the amount of venture capital invested into AI relative to its profitability, I think of that scene in The Big Short where after talking to a CDO manager/sociopathic piece of shit, Steve Carell's character tells his guys to "short everything that guy has touched."

It's Christmas shopping time and people are looking for books for kids and teens, so let me do a little station ID and talk about what I do. Quotes and RS appreciated I am Jeremy Whitley, a queer writer of comics and books from Durham, NC. Here are books of mine you can support now!

In retrospect, I probably should have stayed home today.

I like this art a LOT.

I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.

Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild: Okay. Sure: Right Whale Barracuda Bald Eagle (two days ago, as it so happens) Blue Heron Alligator Snapping Turtle

Marion Davies should be mentioned in the same breath as Chaplin. Mabel Normand, too, given that she taught Chaplin how to direct movies.

Since we are once again dealing with "the only silent era comedians of note were men" I feel I need to stand up for the ladies. Marion Davies!

I recorded a long podcast with a couple of my besties about this year's crop of Stephen King adaptations. We also talked about the new anthology of stories set in the universe of the Stand. #StephenKing, #TheEndoftheWorldasWeKnowIt #TheRunningMan, #TheLongWalk, #TheLifeofChuck, #TheMonkey

I'll be so glad when festival screening is over and I can get back to ignoring the graphic novel I should be drawing.

I heard "Mr. Crowley" on the radio this morning--the Ozzy song--and now all I can think about is that time William Butler Yeats kicked Aleister Crowley down a flight of stairs for being such an insufferable prat. Prince of darkness my ass...