The Released Recordings of You Know Who Could Endanger Us All

Until recently, most of us have not heard of the Presidential Records Act. It was only within limited legal or government-related circles that it was common knowledge.

Earlier this week, CNN released a tape in which the former guy bragged about classified documents that he had taken with him in 2021. The people he was showing the paperwork to claimed to be writing Mark Meadows‘s memoir.

The fact that he showed them off as one would talk about a baseball card or movie memorabilia collection should concern all of us. Given his ego and his inability to filter, the conversation is not unexpected. They could have been telling the truth, randos that were able to charm their way in, or spies.

Adding fuel is the fire, many Republicans still openly and proudly support him. This man is putting our country and everyone who lives within our borders in danger because he refuses to understand that no one can win all of the time. He should be the last person who should be President. And yet, he is, somehow, the Republican front-runner.

It makes no sense.

P.S. Kevin McCarthy has once more proved that he is a coward. When asked about the 2024 election, he said the following:

“Can [Trump] win that election? Yeah, he can,” McCarthy said. “The question is, is he the strongest to win the election? I don’t know that answer.”

After being reportedly rebuked for his statement, the following happened:

The comment irked Mr. Trump’s allies, setting off an urgent effort by Mr. McCarthy to walk it back. He contacted Breitbart News, the right-wing news outlet, to offer an exclusive interview in which he said the former president was “stronger today than he was in 2016” and blamed the media for “attempting to drive a wedge between President Trump and House Republicans.”

This man has no spine and is the third in line for the Presidency. I don’t know about anyone else, but that scares me to high heaven.

Call Me Kate Documentary Review

Katharine Hepburn was and still is an icon. One of the most beloved performers from the days of Old Hollywood, she was not only a brilliant actress. She was a proto-feminist rebel who bucked the system and lived on her own terms.

The 2022 Netflix documentary, Call Me Kate, reveals the woman underneath the Hollywood glamour and the celebrity machine image. Born to a progressive Connecticut family in the early 20th century, she had a childhood that was unlike other girls born in the same era.

As an adult, she chose to pursue a career in Hollywood instead of following the usual path of marriage and motherhood. While working within the bounds of the old studio system, she dared to wear pants (shocking) and have a say (as much as she could) in the movies she made. Hepburn also had a lifelong love affair with Spencer Tracy, who was married and stayed married until his death.

Told from Hepburn’s perspective via previously unknown audio and video, the film introduces the audience to the real woman. Just like in her working life, she was outspoken, ballsy, and chose to go her own way.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Call Me Kate is available for streaming on Netflix.

Flashback Friday: Take the Lead (2006)

The impact that a teacher can have on their students extends beyond the classroom. The lessons they impart can have a lifelong influence on their charges.

In the 2006 dance film, Take the Lead, Pierre Dulaine (Antonio Banderas) is a New York City dance instructor who volunteers to teach a group of troubled youngsters how to ballroom dance. Though there are obvious obstacles in his way, Pierre sees the potential of the young men and women who are standing in front of him.

Though the music is catchy and the Banderas was the right actor for the lead role, the narrative has been done before. It’s not quite cliche, but it comes very close to that line.

Do I recommend it? Maybe.

Throwback Thursday: Dark River (2017)

A family business is a complicated thing. There are some people who eagerly pick up where the previous generations left off. Then there are others who want nothing to do with it.

In the 2017 film, Dark River, Alice Bell (Ruth Wilson) has returned to the family farm in North Yorkshire after the death of her father, Richard (Sean Bean). It’s been fifteen years since she has been home. Believing that she has the right to the tenancy of the property, she has to contend with her brother Joe (Mark Stanley). Joe has been doing his best to keep the farm alive.

I wanted to like this film. The cast is obviously top-notch. But I couldn’t get into it, which is a shame.

Do I recommend it? No.

The Coldness of the Anti-Abortion Movement Scares Me

We all have the right to our own opinions. But when that starts to border on a stranger telling me what I can and cannot do with my body, that crosses a line.

Last Friday, an anti-abortion lawyer was interviewed during a segment on The New Yorker Radio Hour. This particular lawyer is representing a Texas man who is suing friends of his ex-wife who helped her get access to medical abortion medication. Also discussed was SCOTUS‘s decision in response to the Dobbs case.

While I appreciate his willingness to be open and not be an ass about it, two things struck me and left me with a cold feeling.

The first is turning a blind eye to women/pregnant persons, who for any number of reasons, cannot continue with the pregnancy. Whether it is a ten-year-old rape victim or someone who has been told that the fetus is no longer viable, it is their heartlessness that scares me. If they truly valued life (as they say they do), they would also see the person who will eventually give birth.

The second is that this gentleman was asked about the rights of women and minorities who are finally on the way to being equal citizens. He claims that these rights and freedoms will be upheld. There are many on that side that will and (have done so already to a certain extent), already rolled back those hard-won opportunities.

If nothing else, the last few years have proven that nothing in a democracy is certain. We can either be silent and watch it slowly disintegrate. Or, we fight for what we believe in. The choice is that simple.

Defending Jacob: A Novel Book Review

A parent wants to do what is right for their kid. Sometimes it means going the extra mile.

In William Landay‘s 2013 novel, Defending Jacob, Andy and Laurie Barber have it all. A house in the suburbs. Successful careers and a long-standing marriage. Their teenage son, Jacob, seems to be doing well. Then Jacob is accused of murdering his classmate.

Andy and Laurie are doing everything they can to support their son. But as the trial goes on, the evidence becomes more damming. Two questions force themselves to the surface. The first one is if he is guilty. The second is if he is capable of such an act. Either way, the consequences will forever change this family.

My first introduction to the book was the Apple TV miniseries. Obviously (like most page-to-screen adaptations), there were some changes made. But the narrative and the characters are essentially the same, as are the tension and the overarching narrative.

The reader sees everything through Andy’s perspective. In choosing this first-person narrative, Landay takes us on an emotional ride that can only be described as a rollercoaster.

Even though I knew how the story ends, I was still on the edge of my seat, awaiting the fate of the title character.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Defending Jacob: A Novel is available wherever books are sold.

You Hurt Me Feelings Movie Review

As an artist, the people we want to please most are not the producers or agents that can bring our work to the public. It is the ones we love the most: our spouses/partners, children, siblings, parents, etc.

In the new movie, You Hurt Me Feelings, Beth (Julia-Louis Dreyfus) and Don (Tobias Menzies) have been happily married for decades. Beth is a writer and Don is a therapist. After having moderate success with her memoir, she is working on her next book. After showing multiple drafts to her husband, Beth has been told that he likes what he has been reading so far.

Then she finds out that he has not been truthful in his remarks. Turning to her interior designer sister, Sarah (Michaela Watkins), Beth is looking for the support her husband is not giving her. Sarah has her own problems. Her spouse, Mark (Arian Moayed) is an actor who is on the brink of finally making it.

I liked this movie. There is a quiet honesty about relationships and the little white lies we tell our loved ones in order to not cause an emotional chasm. There is also the ego of the artist who craves that approval.

The actor I was most surprised by is Menzies. Hearing his American accent and seeing how he played Don gave me a new appreciation for his abilities as a performer.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

You Hurt Me Feelings is presently in theaters.

Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole Book Review

As much as we love to get everything we want when want it, the truth is that life does not work that way. Time passes in the blink of an eye, certain opportunities never come to fruition, and we make choices not knowing the outcome.

Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole, by Susan Cain was published last year. In this follow-up book to her 2012 bestseller, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Cain dives into the idea that recognizing the imperfections of being alive is not a bad thing.

Basing her theory on various religious traditions, artistic experiences, and scientific research, her conclusion is that we must embrace the bittersweet experience that is life. If we fail to do so, we continue to allow unnecessary suffering that may change the world for the worse.

I read Quiet about a decade ago and I was blown away. By recognizing the power of being an introvert, Cain breaks the idea that the loudest person in the room always has the best or brightest ideas.

I liked this book, but I was not able to plumb the depths as much as I did with its predecessor. Cain makes excellent points, but it did not hit me the same way.

Do I recommend it? Maybe.

Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Makes Us Whole is available wherever books are sold.

Sugar Land Podcast Review

It has been said that we die twice. The first time we die, our souls ascend to the afterlife, leaving our physical forms behind. The second time we die is when we are forgotten.

The new WNYC/NPR podcast Sugar Land tells the story of the discovery of 95 bodies back in 2018. While breaking ground for a new school building, a previously unknown grave site was found in Sugar Land, Texas. In post Civil War era, black men who were convicted of crimes were forced into back-breaking slavery-like labor known as convict leasing.

95 of these people were interred in an unmarked cemetery after they died. Over time, they were forgotten about. Known as the Sugar Land 95, historian and activist Reginald Moore did everything in his power to ensure that the remains were identified, buried properly, and given the due in death that they were not given in life.

I find the story to be compelling and heartbreaking. It speaks of the racism, both then and now. Instead of looking back at the mistakes of our fore-parents and correcting them, some put their heads in the sand and pretend that the injustice is just another moment in American history.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

New episodes of Sugarland are released at the end of the week.

Beware the Woman Book Review

The first days of one’s marriage are supposed to be days of bliss and the glow of being a newlywed. But that is not always the case.

Beware the Woman, by Megan Abbott, was published last month. Jacy is both newly married to her husband Jed, and expecting their first child. The first trip as a married couple is to visit her mysterious father-in-law, Dr. Ash. Living in the isolated Upper Peninsula region of Michigan, the temporary break is exactly what Jacy needs.

But just as she begins to relax, her health goes south and everyone around her is concerned. Then questions begin to arise about Jed’s long-dead mother bubble to the surface and Jacy starts to wonder if her anxiety about her surroundings is all in her head.

I wanted to like this book. Early on, I could see that Abbott used Rebecca as a template for her novel. But what I found lacking (which forced me to put it down) was the lack of tension. du Maurier‘s text forces the reader to the edge of their seat starting from page one and does not let them go until the story ends. This narrative unfortunately did keep me on the edge of my seat.

Do I recommend it? No.

Beware the Woman is available wherever books are sold.