The Chug Heard Round the World

Plucking Around for the Week of October 9th

New Jersey made the news in the usual way this week, when some loudmouth Trumper threw a beer at a comedian’s head because he and his drunk girlfriend got kicked out of a club for heckling. Ariel Elias responded with grace and class, and the hecklers are just the worst; she wasn’t mocking them or playing politics. She asked the audience for questions, and they asked who she voted for, were jerks about it, and then made themselves out to be the victims. “Pure Ocean County,” is how another New Jerseyan described it. I hope Elias gets many paying gigs out of it.

The aggrieved conservative has to exist because they aren’t oppressed in any way shape or form except in having to see people they don’t like living freely as they do. Rural Oregon wants to secede to Idaho because they can’t win elections (I’m not sure if anyone asked Idaho if they want to support the side of the state that is unlikely to generate tax ratables.) On Reddit, r/newjersey has been full of posts by affronted progressives posting pictures of pro-Trump bumper stickers and yard signs. Personally, I like when they advertise, because nothing will get progressives to vote faster than realizing their neighbors aren’t all going to the way they do.

That sense of community withers in the face of this. My neighbor is a retired oil rigger and Trumper, which I just learned. I’m still going to help him with his house. And he’s still going to feed my cat when we go on trips. I made it clear that I didn’t agree that Biden was destroying the country, but I’m not going to try to change his mind. Because would I want him to sit me down for a condescending “teachable moment” about why the Green New Deal is a Chinese hoax? Thankfully he didn’t try that, as I pet his dog. He wasn’t telling racist jokes. I don’t tolerate that shit.

Community is not easy. And they will turn on you. A good read on it is Lauren Hough on leaving small towns: “All that Texas hospitality runs about as deep as the layer of cow shit coating every goddamn surface.”

Leave it

When it comes to outright hatred, there’s no way to compromise. Asians are fighting back against hate crimes. They’ve been targeted a long time, and when they fight back, it is somehow controversial. Remember the attacks on Korean grocers in the ‘90s, that got made fun of in Falling Down and other movies? I am passionate about self-defense, as a bullied kid who didn’t learn to fight until his ‘30s. (My drunk-ass fight-happy dad never taught me to throw a punch. I was supposed to learn by osmosis). The article is a good read on a difficult subject.

I’m juggling several books, from one on helping conspiracy theorists escape the rabbit hole, to New Jersey Fan Club and books on trees and birds. But I‘ve been bingeing The Good Place thanks to Sarah and Hannah Fischer, and it’s so damn good. More on that later…

Ear Bacon:

The Linda Lindas remain awesome.

I’ve been listening to one of their inspirations, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who have a new album out. Also Khruangbin is jazzy and enjoyable. I picked up the soundtrack to FLCL volume 3 by The Pillows, which is the only release that has their music uncut without voiceovers. They are a J-rock band who will appeal to any fan of ‘90s-00s indie rock, and FLCL aired on Adult Swim nigh on 20 years ago. So it’s a nostalgia purchase. I’ve been listening to a lot of Stoner Rock lately, thanks to Chris at Sky Valley Records, my local shop. He plays a lot of it. The store is named after an album by desert rock band Kyuss, and this unreleased album by Unida (one of my short-lived bands led by stoner rock veteran John Garcia) is a new favorite that he was playing on the speakers. “Stoner rock” is best described as “stuff that sounds like early Black Sabbath,” at least in my mind. Sleep, Slomosa, Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Full Tone Generator, etc. I dig it.

More stuff I’ve been watching:

Trouble in Paradise and The Shop Around the Corner, cornerstones of “the Lubitsch touch,” the inventor of the rom-com who gave us snappy dialogue and visual shorthand that we still use today. Trouble is especially good, pre-code, a love story with jewel thieves and lots of smooching. Shop has Stewart as a clerk who makes good; I think Ephron improved on the idea with You’ve Got Mail.

Street Smart is a Cannon film with Christopher Reeve playing a reporter who makes up a Times Square pimp story and gets embroiled in a violent pimp’s trial; the pimp is played by Morgan Freeman, and while most of the story is terrible, it’s worth it to see them share screen time, and to see Freeman play a violent man with pathos.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is silly and fun, a multidimensional kung fu family problems flick. It’s a little long, but Michelle Yeoh gets to shine as the star, James Hong is amazing as usual, and Jamie Lee Curtis has a blast.

If you need Halloween fun, The Monster Squad still has nards.

I’m midway through season three of The Good Place, and I regret not watching it back when it aired. (Not really, because I fucking hate commercials). Hannah finally sold me after I talked about agonizing adult decisions how I’m an atheist who loves movies about the afterlife. The show is very funny, but also makes you think. The cast are all brilliant, from Ted Danson as the immortal psychopomp and his omniscient factotum Janet, to all four leads. I don’t know who won Emmys, but they all deserve one each. (And I’m thankful that they let me use “factotum” and “psychopomp” in a single sentence.) On NetFlix, the episodes are 22 minutes each, so you can watch a season every night. The first season is a masterpiece, and I was concerned that they would have trouble following it, but each one has been different and unexpected.

Cheedi, the indecisive moral philosopher, embodies the difficulty of making simple decisions these days, which I wrote about in-depth in my essay “Choose Your Own Anxiety.” If you have read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Choose Your Own Anxiety: The Adulthood of Terror