There Is No Accounting for Taste

I suppose everyone wants to talk about the Oscars. I've seen a few of the nominated films, hope to see a few more, but will go on record as saying I cannot abide Emma Stone as an actor. 

Seriously, I have hated just about everything she's been in, and at the top of my list is La La Land, her other Oscar winning turn. (Okay, I liked THE HELP but thought she was hopelessly miscast.) I may be alone in this, and I'm okay with that, but I think she has a plasticine face that has two expressions: eyes wide open, and puppy-eyes about to cry. She has no range, no passion, she squeaks, and she is boring. Jump on me about this all you will, but I would not cast her as an extra. I will probably see POOR THINGS some time this week. If I change my mind about her, I will let you know. 

On the other hand, I saw KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and thought Lily Gladstone was brilliant. Let's all hope we get to see a lot more of her work.

One film I definitely want to see is ZONE OF INTEREST, mostly because it's from such a different perspective. What I did not appreciate was the subsequent misrepresentation of Jonathan Glazer's speech:

Jonathan Glazer

All our choices we made to reflect and confront us in the present, Not to say ‘look what they did then’ — rather, ‘look what we do now.’ Our film shows where dehumanization leads at its worst. It shaped all of our past and present. Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether the victims of October 7 in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza — all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist?

Glazer is not refuting his Jewishness, nor the Holocaust. He is saying what many of us are saying, that using our Jewishness and the Holocaust as some kind of screwed up rationale for what is happening in Israel and in Gaza is antithetical to who we are as a people and as Zionists who believe we have a right to live in our own country.. Based on the anti-government demonstrations in Israel, I suspect most Israelis share that view. 

Those who hate Jews use the Holocaust to discredit the right of Israel to exist on our own land. Yes, we say "never again," but conflating that stand with bombing Gaza is just intolerably inaccurate. The birth of the State of Israel came out of the ashes of the Holocaust, but our right to live on our own land in our own country is over 4000 years old. To compare Gaza to the Holocaust is to give credence to the idea that Israel wishes to murder all the people living there and take over the land. Again, ongoing demonstrations in the streets against the radical right of Netanyahu's government demonstrates the exact opposite. 

Instead of jumping to inaccurate conclusions, the mouthpieces of major Jewish institutions would have done well to actually read what the guy said, then quote him accurately. I cannot imagine they support the slaughter in Gaza. No one in their right mind wants more civilians to die. That's not Jewish. That's not who we are. And right now, I don't think the government of Israel represents who we are as a people, either. 

In other news...

Mark Robinson 

Jeff Jackson won his primary for North Carolina Attorney General by a significant margin even with all the dark money poured into his opponent's campaign. This is a really good thing because the guy running as the GOP candidate for governor, Mark Robinson, is a few cards short of a full deck. He's running on a party line not unlike the one Hershel Walker used in the Georgia senate race. Feckless Loser loves him and during a rally in NC, said he was 

...Martin Luther King on steroids...I told that to Mark. I said, ‘I think you’re better than Martin Luther King. I think you are Martin Luther King times two.’

Robinson, a long time fan of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, has used his platform to admit to wanting to go back another time. At a Moms for Liberty event last July, he told those moms:

Whether you’re talking about Adolf Hitler, whether you’re talking about Chairman Mao, whether you’re talking about Stalin, whether you’re talking about Pol Pot, whether you’re talking about Castro in Cuba, or whether you’re talking about a dozen other despots all around the globe, it is time for us to get back and start reading some of those quotes,"

Robinson is also a vociferous Holocaust denier:

...this foolishness about Hitler disarming MILLIONS of Jews and then marching them off to concentration camps is a bunch of hogwash.

This guy also thinks transgender women should be arrested if they use a women's bathroom and should, instead, go leave the building to relieve themselves:

If you are confused, find a corner outside somewhere to go.  

And he longs to return to an earlier, simpler time:

I absolutely want to go back to the America where women couldn’t vote. Do you know why? Because in those days, we had people who fought for real social change, and they were called Republicans.

Oh, yeah....Robinson is running against current NC state Attorney General, Josh Stein. Yup, you read that right. He's Jewish.

North Carolina, y'all better elect Jeff Johnson cuz y'all gonna need strong AG if Robinson wins.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....

I took an impromptu meeting with the ground last Thursday. Thankfully, it was spongy from all the fine weather we've been having, so I am relatively unscathed. That means nothing broke, not even my glasses which do need an adjustment. My nose is kinda scraped, but nothing grotesque. My torso, however, is another story. Just like my not-so-flying leap in Boston a couple of years ago, I bruised my right side. Why this hurts to beat the band is a mystery to me, but arnica gel and a rotation of Tylenol, aspirin, Advil, and Aleve make movement reasonably okay. That means I'm not screaming in agony every time I try to get outta the bed in the morning. 

While this is all Bialy's fault...she got excited because Poodle Puppy Lucy was returning from her walk...I cannot fault her post-flop behavior. With me for a sleepover, she was incredibly attentive...as in glued to my leg... the rest of the night, and again in the morning. She is such a limpet; she insisted on sleeping spooned up against me. Normally, I don't mind having the body on the bed, but she insists on sleeping tight...ergo pushing me off the bed. 

My grandpuppy returns for a whole week with Savata on Thursday while her family heads off on spring break. By the grace of timely gigs, the Senior Son is coming in so I will have back-up for poop-doody. (Yeah, that's weak.) If you're wondering why she doesn't go to a boarding kennel, ask yourself this: would you send your 98 year old grandma who thinks she's 20 to a trampoline park? Well, Bialy is 98 in dog years, but thinks otherwise when outside. No dog camp for you, Miss B!

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Spending time with Bialy is precious to me. 

I'm so glad she's coming for the week. 

FIL and Baby Bialystock