zx3 @zx3@driveinsaturday.org

lucky enough to spend a pleasant afternoon with my dad's side of the family...kids who were in short pants pre-COVID, the last time i really saw them, are now these...*brobdignagian collosi.* giants whose heights pierce the very heavens. like i needed help feeling older this week. still, they got the good DNA from our familial gene-swamp, so good on you, boys. may you be happy to fetch things from the top shelf in perpetuity.

started a new Breath of the Wild save the other day, i'm like...three hours in?

has anybody rhymed "Link" with "twink" yet? is that a thing? if not, i call dibsies

current mood: https://youtu.be/bDh9QgzFBN4

tfw this will be your twenty-somethingth year of being Extremely Online and the thought of April Fools' Day shenanigans make you shudder with disgust

later on, after a lavish sushi feast, i visited good old Uncle Bill at Bellefontaine Neighbors, and brought him some vodka and Coke. (i wasn't about to bring him some of the other stuff he was fond of.)

i usually take today off. i had never been to the Weldon Spring Site, which is the location of the massibe white rock sarcophagus that contains the toxic remains of the fissile materials mined and enriched for the Manhattan Project. i still would like to write my Nuclear Occult History of the Central Midwest someday, and this seemed the logical place to start looking for data and inspiration.

i should have taken notes. it's as stark and dystopic as any 70's sci-fi film set. and the spring wind whistling through the metal stairs sounded like distant, ghostly air-raid sirens, which i was told was not a deliberate design feature. and while the view from the top of the sarcophagus was impressive, one could not shake the impression that every stone that made up the giant containment mound, piles of limestone stretching for acres in all directions, was a grave marker.

it is, most assuredly, not a place of honor.

#TDOV -- i am not trans, but i am fortunate enough to have many friends who are. they are all awesome humans who deserve to be loved, treated with respect, and championed.

the fight for trans rights, trans dignity and trans joy are a drastically important battlefront in the larger fight for bodily autonomy, identity autonomy, and the ongoing struggle against fascist oppression.

i stand in solidarity and love with my sisters, brothers and others.

now i'm radioactive. that can't be good.

so here's the thing: my taste in movies is...questionable. *gestures at drive-in, basement full of stacks of bad movies, my entire lifestyle*

also? i am a sucker for populist entertainment done well. and i happen to be married to an even bigger sucker for populist entertainment done well, and she is so LOUD at movies, and you have no idea how hard it is to be a Serious Movie Dude when the love of your life is whooping and hollering and cheering and laughing along with the show.

so, the answer is yes, i enjoyed the dragons and the dungeons. there was even a dragon IN a dungeon at one point, and it was surprisingly chubby; which should please some of you. it seemed to be put together by people who actually knew what they were doing, which doesn't always happen. Chris Pine plays a man so disgustingly rogueishly charming you will want to punch his dick clean off. Michelle Rodriguez plays herself, just not in a tank top this time. Hugh Grant plays a character so slimy that he can only be described as a walking bag of KY Jelly.

but, and i mean this with a big ol' asterisk, there are plenty of people out there who are getting tired of the Marvel movie formula. if you are one of these people, please be aware that even though this movie is not based on any Marvel properties, it is among the Marveliest of Marvel Movies, as if it had sprung fully-formed from the typewriter of Stanley "Excelsior" McMarvelstein himself. it's quippy, the action is fast and showy and kind of predictable, it is scientifically designed to make you eat popcorn 58% faster than normal, and you know in your heart of butter-clogged hearts as soon as you walk out of the theater that they'll be cranking out so very many more of these. there's even a shout-out to the "puny god" gag from "Avengers" that made you pee your pants in 2012.

making a movie using a formula that works is not inherently a bad thing, and does not inherently create bad movies. but it sets a precedent and subtly, slowly makes us aware that our audience buttons are being pushed by moviemakers who have turned button-pushing into an exact science. even as i sigh and give in to the inevitable tidal wave of early premieres of summer movies, as is my historical habit; it's reasonable to feel a little resentment of the process.

what's it called when you're distracted by how nice and pretty it is outside and you just can't concentrate on your work, but you loathe the idea of actually going outside and just want to play video games

current status:

https://youtu.be/mFGq92BYmt4