Activity from praemunire
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The United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots
A Furious, Forgotten Slave Narrative Resurfaces (NYT gift link)
John S. Jacobs was a fugitive, an abolitionist — and the brother of the canonical author Harriet Jacobs. Now, his own fierce autobiography has re-emerged.
Movie: The Fall Guy
Fresh off an almost career-ending accident, stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) has to track down a missing movie star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), solve a conspiracy and try to win back the love of his life (Emily Blunt) while still doing his day job.
Robbi Mecus, Who Fostered L.G.B.T.Q. Climbing Community, Dies at 52
A New York State forest ranger who worked in the Adirondacks, she died after falling about 1,000 feet from a peak at Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. (SLNYT gift link)
Movie: Challengers
Tashi (Zendaya), a former tennis prodigy turned coach, is married to a champion on a losing streak (Mike Faist). Her strategy for her husband's redemption takes a surprising turn when he must face off against his former best friend and Tashi's former boyfriend (Josh O'Connor)...
Movie: The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
The British military recruits a small group of highly skilled soldiers (Henry Cavill, the Large Guy from Jack Reacher, Henry Golding) to strike against German forces behind enemy lines during World War II. (Guy Ritchie directs.)
Movie: Spy x Family Code: White
After receiving an order to be replaced in Operation Strix, Loid decides to help Anya win a cooking competition at Eden Academy, by making the director's favorite meal in order to prevent his replacement.
Tokyo’s Public Toilets Will Leave New Yorkers Sobbing
Shani Mott, Black Studies Scholar, Dies at 47
Movie: Classe Tous Risques
A ruthless criminal (Lino Ventura) flees pursuit with his family in tow, resulting in more and more casualties.
"we love an activist until they need something"
The Curmudgeon of Rivington Street
As his apartment on the Lower East Side crumbled, a former Club Kid resented the moneyed millennials who filled his building. Then he let them in on a secret that transformed their lives. (NYTimes gift link)
Movie: Perfect Days (2023)
Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) is content with his life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. Outside of his structured routine he cherishes music on cassette tapes, books, and taking photos of trees. Through unexpected encounters, he reflects on finding beauty in the world.
The Lost Story of New York’s Most Powerful Black Woman
Quest for pumpkin
Trying to find a supermarket in the Manhattan area that you know carries frozen (or canned, I guess) diced pumpkin with NO additives (i.e., ingredients list just reads "pumpkin").
Movie: Jin shouzhi (The Goldfinger)
A criminal conspiracy is uncovered when the stock market crashes in Hong Kong.
Movie: Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Aquaman (Jason Momoa) balances his duties as king and as a member of the Justice League, all while planning a wedding. Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen) is on the hunt for Atlantean tech to help rebuild his armor. Orm (Patrick Wilson) plots to escape his Atlantean prison.
"Vindication!"
Movie: American Fiction
Thelonious "Monk" Ellison (Jeffrey Wright)'s writing career has stalled because his work isn't deemed "Black enough." Monk, a writer and English professor, writes a satirical novel under a pseudonym, aiming to expose the publishing world's hypocrisies. The book's immediate success forces him to get deeper enmeshed in his assumed identity and challenges his closely-held worldviews. (Based on Percival Everett's Erasure.)
Sweater search
Maybe it's just the Succession revisiting, but I bought one of these half-zip merino sweaters last year and I wish I'd bought a couple more.
Movie: Farewell My Concubine
Abandoned by his prostitute mother in 1920, Douzi (Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing) was raised by a theater troupe. There he meets Shitou (Zhang Fengyi) and over the following years the two develop an act entitled "Farewell My Concubine" that brings them fame and fortune. When Shitou marries Juxian (Gong Li), Douzi becomes jealous, the beginnings of the acting duo's explosive breakup and tragic fall take root.
Movie: A Haunting in Venice
In post-World War II Venice, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh), now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a seance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer.
"movement is what I wanted to capture on canvas."
The Problem With The Boxcar Children Is...
Movie: The Equalizer 3
Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) finds himself at home in Southern Italy but he discovers his friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends' protector by taking on the ...
Movie: Gran Turismo
The ultimate wish fulfillment tale of a teenage Gran Turismo player (Archie Madekwe) whose gaming skills won him a series of Nissan competitions to become an actual professional racecar driver.
Movie: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O'Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.
Physicists Move One Step Closer to a Theoretical Showdown
The deviance of a tiny particle called the muon might prove that one of the most well-tested theories in physics is incomplete. (NYT gift link)
The Cotillion
I wrapped my pink around me like a blanket
Thank you...I hope
Is there a word or phrase that would be understand as "thank you" across all of the major Chinese language communities? (Bonus for link to pronunciation so I can get the tones right.)
Movie: Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan's past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission--not even the lives of those he cares about most.
Movie: Joy Ride (2023)
Four Asian-American friends (Stephanie Hsu, Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Sabrina Wu) travel through Asia in search of one of their birth mothers. Along the way, their experience becomes one of bonding, friendship, belonging and no-holds-barred debauchery.
How my father and I drew a new life
Seeing Beyond the Beauty of Vermeer
The violence of his era can be found in his serene masterpieces — if you know where to look. (NYT, ungated)
Movie: Fast X
Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family (everyone, minus Jason Momoa) have outsmarted, out-nerved and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they confront the most lethal opponent they've ever faced: A terrifying threat (Jason Momoa) emerging from the shadows of the past who's fueled by blood revenge, and who is determined to shatter this family and destroy everything--and everyone--that Dom loves, forever.
Generation Connie
So, Canadian pharmacy, we meet at last?
Short form: For years I've used a prescription drug (not a controlled substance) which was recently discontinued by its manufacturer. There is no substitute. Local compounding pharmacies tell me they can't get the active ingredient to make up the medication for me. But I really don't want to stop using it. There is no generic available in the U.S.; however, there are foreign generics. How do I do this?
LET'S DECIMATE THIS MOTHER!!!!
I saw a charming little film last night called Polite Society (by Nida Manzoor of We Are Lady Parts). Here is the trailer; you should see it. One of the film's most visually enjoyable sequences is an extended fight scene between various women at an Indian wedding in London where the attendees are mostly in traditional dress.
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Another long-shot remember-me-this
I'm trying to remember a scene in a show or movie (or maaaaaybe a book), but my memories are so vague that I will be genuinely impressed if someone can pinpoint it for me. Are you up for the challenge, AskMe???
Movie: Mafia Mamma
An American mom (Toni Collette) inherits her grandfather's mafia empire in Italy. Guided by the firm's consigliere (Monica Bellucci), she "hilariously" defies everyone's expectations as the new head of the family business.
Movie: Creed III
After dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has been thriving in both his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damien Anderson (Jonathan Majors), resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face-off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damien - a fighter who has nothing to lose.
Movie: Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre
Special agent Orson Fortune (Jason Statham) and his team of operatives recruit one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars (Josh Hartnett) to help them on an undercover mission when the sale of a deadly new weapons technology threatens to disrupt the world order.
Why Poverty Persists in America
Quest for folio
Now that I'm going into the office more often, I find myself carrying my paper planners to and from work. It's easy to forget or get lazy about it, so I thought I'd look for a folio-type container that I could just put in my backpack at the end of the day that could hold them both, plus ideally have space for a few more documents or pens or the like.
"I am NOT Montel Williams!"
Movie: Broker
A baby is left at a safe haven church for reasons unknown, but finds its way into the hands of low-level "brokers" (Song Kang-Ho and Gang Dong-Won), who offer the ambivalent mother (Ji-eun Lee) a cut of the money to place the child outside of the formal Korean adoption system. The ragtag group is followed on the road by human-trafficking detectives and other pursuers.
Movie: Plane
A pilot (Gerard Butler) finds himself caught in a war zone with little help but a man wanted for murder (Mike Colter) after he's forced to land his commercial aircraft during a terrible storm.
Help me like tofu better
I would like to eat more of it, especially in recipes that don't require too much time/prep and don't rely heavily on carbs. But I've never really been a fan. I'm okay with it in, e.g., a spicy Korean stew, but otherwise my consumption is close to zero. Out of the soup or dessert context, I find soft versions unappealing texturally. And even in soup I need some contrast with it; I enjoy the taste of miso soup but will often avoid the sad lump or two of tofu in it.
Movie: The Menu
A couple (Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) travels to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef (Ralph Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.