Random Thoughts: History Has a Way of Creating Coincidences

Tweets from September, 2021:

• 2021-09-02: History has a way of creating coincidences that no fiction writer would dare. On August 31, America abandoned Afghanistan women to the Taliban. The very next day, the US Supreme Court abandoned American women to the Texas Taliban.
• 2021-09-02: President Trump taught us that he could do anything without consequence because no one would stop him. SCOTUS learned it can do anything because no one will stop them. Congress won't, even though Dems have power to. So, blame GOP for all this, but Dems share a bit for letting them.
• 2021-09-03: Starstruck (TV 2021): Romcom. Jessie, a struggling working woman in London, meets Tom, a movie star. Opposites attract. Instant chemistry. But she can't let herself be happy. Jessie is high maintenance. How you react to the series depends on your reaction to Rose Matafeo. B-
• 2021-09-03: Texas GOP used to operate on the theory that too many people were suing for anything and everything. "Texans for Lawsuit Reform" bought themselves a legislature to end that. Now GOP has decided that radically expanding who can sue is actually a good thing.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

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• 2021-09-06: Cinderella (2021): Modern spin on the classic fairytale with digs at society's sexism and even the role of the monarchy itself. Story-telling takes a back seat to the almost non-stop musical numbers, everything from Queen to Madonna to Salt-N-Pepa. Not original, but still fun. B-
• 2021-09-07: Respect (2021): Biopic of Aretha Franklin. Broken family, strict father, abusive husband, personal demons that lead to overwork and alcohol. Aretha persists and becomes the Queen of Soul. Pedestrian start, but when it takes off, it soars. Jennifer Hudson does Aretha proud. B+
• 2021-09-08: Amazing Grace (2018): Documentary movie of Aretha Franklin's Gospel music concert from 1972. She was only 30 years old and at the top of her form. Watch it after 2021's Respect to better understand the context of the concert. Or just watch the Queen of Soul at her best. B-
• 2021-09-10: I used to read news articles on the legal merits of this lawsuit or that. I did it as a way of predicting how the courts would rule. I find that I'm no longer interested in legalities. The courts will rule based on politics alone. Then grasp at legal reasons for justification.
• 2021-09-11: George W Bush shows what it means to say we should never forget 9/11.
• 2021-09-13: Counterpart-S01 (TV 2017): Spy thriller set in the present but with a Cold War feel. 30 years ago, the universe split into two with a gateway in Berlin. People in the parallel worlds must grapple with their doppelgangers. Actors get to play two versions of the same character. B-
• 2021-09-15: Modern Love - S02 (TV 2021): Anthology series. Dramatizations of personal essays from NY Times about love stories. How people fall in and out of love. Story arcs are sometimes flat. Stories are watchable, even if afterwards, they are quickly forgotten. C+
• 2021-09-17: The New Pope (TV 2020): Sequel to The Young Pope. New pope is elected while old pope still lives. Political intrigues ensue. Even more surreal and provocative, even obscene and blasphemous at times. More arty than straight story-telling. Unique television. Not for everyone. B-
• 2021-09-17: Headline: "Why the French are so furious at the Biden administration over a derailed submarine deal." A sign that the Biden administration can sometimes botch foreign relations as much as the Trump administration could. Submarine deals aren't rocket science.
• 2021-09-20: Cry Macho (2021): 91-yr-old Clint Eastwood casts himself as romantic lead against an actress half his age. He's a cowboy who breaks wild horses and is on the run from bad guys and the law in Mexico. There's a boy he's rescuing. And there's a rooster. For Eastwood fans only. C+
• 2021-09-21: News of the World (2020): Tom Hanks as ex-Civil War soldier in Texas tasked with returning a kidnapped orphan to her family. This is not a John Wayne Western. The "Injuns" aren't the bad guys. That's reserved for white characters. Texans are mostly unappealing, except Hanks. B-
• 2021-09-23: A win for white power at a school board meeting in Grapevine, Tex." This reminds me...I don't thank my RISD school board members and administrators near enough. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
• 2021-09-24: "Texas Instruments Requiring All U.S. Employees to Get COVID-19 Vaccine." Good for TI. TI was never a lefty business. If it's doing this, it's because TI knows it's good for business. Get the vaccine, folks. It's good for TI because it's good for you.
• 2021-09-27: If the redistricting maps the Republicans just released are any indication, expect former Richardson Mayor Gary Slagel's Congressional career to be over before it begins.
• 2021-09-27: #MintTheCoin
• 2021-09-30: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TV 2021): How Captain America's shield gets passed down...to a Black man. That matters in this telling. And how the Winter Soldier gets his groove back. Two Captain Americas and a Nazi and Wakandans and Flag Smashers. Way too crowded for me. C+