PicoBlog

You know how in “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” there’s that line about “scary ghost stories of Christmases long ago”? It turns out this was a totally normal thing until some dumb tradition shift in the early 20th century. Well, come to think of it, we do now have “Elf on the Shelf,” so at least there’s still a creepy supernatural being watching from the shadows. Obviously, Charles Dickens was into Christmas ghosts in a big way, so we’ll lead with him here.

Hello and Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!  My first few weeks working in Louisiana were spent talking to as many people in the parishes I cover as possible. City council members, teachers, cops, random citizens, librarians, museum curators––anyone who would have a meeting with me. Across the board people told me Louisiana was different from the rest of the country. It has more culture, a richer history,  unique terrain. I appreciate how true that is every day.

Regardless of how you feel about Oppenheimer as a film, it’s impossible to ignore how innovative its screenplay is. In fact, it’s so audaciously inventive that many professional screenwriters I know have taken to griping about it, citing it as — and I’m paraphrasing here — “the kind of bullshit only Christopher Nolan could get away with”. This is unusual in my experience because negative opinions about scripts “breaking rules” are typically limited to aspiring and emerging screenwriters who have spent too long drinking the Save the Cat Kool-Aid.

Up until recently, actor Christopher Reeve was the most famous disabled person. And yet, like most actors who became disabled later in life, he didn’t make many features after the 1995 horseback riding accident that left him a quadriplegic. I didn’t know of any films (though I was aware he’d appeared on an episode of the CW series Smallville), until I discovered he appeared in a made-for-TV remake of the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock film Rear Window.

The Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto is no doubt one of the most intriguing novelties unveiled in 2022.  Without any prior announcement, the first 300 pieces “Azzurro Blue” were sold out in 7 hours on Nov. 1, 2022.  One week later, the second 300 pieces “Verde Green” were all snatched up by watch lovers in mere 2.5 hours.  A waitlist button on the site collected 7000+ email addresses in a month.

I cover corruption from Washington to San Francisco, and creative efforts to combat it. My posts and podcasts feature analysis of law, politics, journalism, and culture reaching beyond the headlines. By Shahid Buttar · Over 21,000 subscribersNo thanksncG1vNJzZmirmJa1qrDBrqutmaJjwLau0q2YnKNemLyuew%3D%3D

For no discernible reason I started watching Child’s Play (1988) the other day. I hadn’t seen it in many years. (I’ll just be calling the movies Chucky, Chucky 2, etc. from now on). I liked it, and decided to watch Chucky 2 (1990). This is where I gained a surprising appreciation for the concept—in fact, Chucky 2 is one of the better horror sequels I’ve seen. It takes the metaphysical concept of the first film—a soul trapped inside a toy—and really plays that out.

Last week we learned that the Museum of Natural History in New York is going to finally address the presence of 12,000 human remains in its collection, mostly of indigenous and enslaved people. The museum will remove all human remains on view and set on a course for their proper identification and eventual return.  As we well know, this museum is not alone in this practice, but only one of many collecting institutions that come from this colonialist and eugenics-influenced tradition.

Leave a comment I wish I’d have learned about the importance of accepting impermanence when my hairline began receding back in high school. I have a distinct memory of standing at my locker at Granada Hills High School (in Southern California) and my friend Scott Zimmerman coming up to me, pushing my greasy bangs back and uncovering my oversized forehead. At witnessing this cavernous cranium he cried out, “You are so going bald!