R. Eric VanNewkirk
@sotsogm.bsky.social
Nerd. Neurotic. Retired public defender. I'm sure these three things have nary a thing to do with one another.
There's something indelibly sweet about them being mutual crushes on and off again over the decades.
November 24, 2025 at 12:11 AM
There's something indelibly sweet about them being mutual crushes on and off again over the decades.
I think the first part is where things really land. I don't think it's wrong for the obligations to be expected if they're explicit and mutual. It's when they're one-sided that problems arise (and one-sidedness can happen through lack of explicit mutual understanding).
November 24, 2025 at 12:10 AM
I think the first part is where things really land. I don't think it's wrong for the obligations to be expected if they're explicit and mutual. It's when they're one-sided that problems arise (and one-sidedness can happen through lack of explicit mutual understanding).
And I'm not sure when Dashiell Hammett dropped out of the creative process, but the first movie still carries a lot of his energy. He had a helluva good ear for a good line.
November 24, 2025 at 12:06 AM
And I'm not sure when Dashiell Hammett dropped out of the creative process, but the first movie still carries a lot of his energy. He had a helluva good ear for a good line.
And if course Loy and Powell's chemistry is epic.
November 24, 2025 at 12:04 AM
And if course Loy and Powell's chemistry is epic.
One of the best dysfunctional romantic couples ever, and my go-to rebuttal any time a lazy writer insists that characters hooking up ends the story for them. Nick and Nora love each other and they're obviously terrible for each other and know it, and the passive-aggressive energy is delicious.
November 24, 2025 at 12:04 AM
One of the best dysfunctional romantic couples ever, and my go-to rebuttal any time a lazy writer insists that characters hooking up ends the story for them. Nick and Nora love each other and they're obviously terrible for each other and know it, and the passive-aggressive energy is delicious.
I also think there's a cultural issue of pathologizing fear of abandonment, whether it's from the angle of not admitting "weakness" or from an angle of rejecting that some relationships create reciprocal obligations and therefore a right for one person to expect another to honor such obligations.
November 23, 2025 at 11:58 PM
I also think there's a cultural issue of pathologizing fear of abandonment, whether it's from the angle of not admitting "weakness" or from an angle of rejecting that some relationships create reciprocal obligations and therefore a right for one person to expect another to honor such obligations.
I think there's likely a fear in some or most of those instances that if they don't agree to the open relationship, the partner will leave altogether. The open relationship is the lesser of possible losses, accepting some abandonment instead of risking utter abandonment.
November 23, 2025 at 11:53 PM
I think there's likely a fear in some or most of those instances that if they don't agree to the open relationship, the partner will leave altogether. The open relationship is the lesser of possible losses, accepting some abandonment instead of risking utter abandonment.
With the essential caveat that I'm not religious, it does seem to me as an outsider that liking a theology because it makes you feel superior seems a bit at odds with a belief system that's often presented as encouraging humility. Almost as if one isn't practicing the belief system one claims to.
November 23, 2025 at 11:26 PM
With the essential caveat that I'm not religious, it does seem to me as an outsider that liking a theology because it makes you feel superior seems a bit at odds with a belief system that's often presented as encouraging humility. Almost as if one isn't practicing the belief system one claims to.
Reposted by R. Eric VanNewkirk
A lot of people condemned Dr. Osborne, but I say it's easy to criticize until you've walked a mile in another man's shoes made out of another man.
December 3, 2024 at 6:55 PM
A lot of people condemned Dr. Osborne, but I say it's easy to criticize until you've walked a mile in another man's shoes made out of another man.
They hate the meddling until it's taken away, then wonder why nobody can do anything about the pig shit in their drinking water or how banks get away with all the crap buried in the fine print of a credit card application.
Goldwater-Reagan messaging did one hell of a number on the American psyche.
Goldwater-Reagan messaging did one hell of a number on the American psyche.
November 23, 2025 at 7:33 PM
They hate the meddling until it's taken away, then wonder why nobody can do anything about the pig shit in their drinking water or how banks get away with all the crap buried in the fine print of a credit card application.
Goldwater-Reagan messaging did one hell of a number on the American psyche.
Goldwater-Reagan messaging did one hell of a number on the American psyche.
Or maybe it *is* funny: they've got this cancerous mass that drives the Republican nominating process and votes for White Christian Nationalist bigotry, but somehow the Very Smart People never talk about the GOP dumping them or pivoting away.
Wonder why?
I'm sure laughing over here, tell ya what.
Wonder why?
I'm sure laughing over here, tell ya what.
November 23, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Or maybe it *is* funny: they've got this cancerous mass that drives the Republican nominating process and votes for White Christian Nationalist bigotry, but somehow the Very Smart People never talk about the GOP dumping them or pivoting away.
Wonder why?
I'm sure laughing over here, tell ya what.
Wonder why?
I'm sure laughing over here, tell ya what.
I mean, I'm totally in the "Revolver is a better record than Sgt. Pepper's" camp, while NMtB feels like it wound up being a massive influence even if it wasn't nearly as good as anything The Clash (say just for instance) put out.
November 23, 2025 at 6:55 PM
I mean, I'm totally in the "Revolver is a better record than Sgt. Pepper's" camp, while NMtB feels like it wound up being a massive influence even if it wasn't nearly as good as anything The Clash (say just for instance) put out.
And the funny thing on top of that is this was all before the reissue of the British cut of Revolver on CD triggered a huge reappraisal of SPLHCB vs. Revolver.
Personally, I'm no longer sure SPLHCB *is* the greatest rock record '67-87, but I'm pretty sure Bollocks actually *should* be at # 2. 😆
Personally, I'm no longer sure SPLHCB *is* the greatest rock record '67-87, but I'm pretty sure Bollocks actually *should* be at # 2. 😆
November 23, 2025 at 6:55 PM
And the funny thing on top of that is this was all before the reissue of the British cut of Revolver on CD triggered a huge reappraisal of SPLHCB vs. Revolver.
Personally, I'm no longer sure SPLHCB *is* the greatest rock record '67-87, but I'm pretty sure Bollocks actually *should* be at # 2. 😆
Personally, I'm no longer sure SPLHCB *is* the greatest rock record '67-87, but I'm pretty sure Bollocks actually *should* be at # 2. 😆
The funny thing about that list at the time was that Sgt. Pepper's being at # 1 was a no-brainer; it was Never Mind the Bollocks being at # 2 that really started a lot of arguments.
November 23, 2025 at 6:55 PM
The funny thing about that list at the time was that Sgt. Pepper's being at # 1 was a no-brainer; it was Never Mind the Bollocks being at # 2 that really started a lot of arguments.
For all the faults of that list, it was a CHOICE shopping list. I can credit that issue with getting me into Richard Thompson and Miles Davis.
November 23, 2025 at 6:48 PM
For all the faults of that list, it was a CHOICE shopping list. I can credit that issue with getting me into Richard Thompson and Miles Davis.
Ah, I'm happy to see somebody posted them online.
This was the first real album I owned. I asked for it for my 6th birthday. My parents' condition (how do you say no to a 5 yo asking for a neoclassical score?) was it had to live in their record collection and had to be played on their hi-fi.
This was the first real album I owned. I asked for it for my 6th birthday. My parents' condition (how do you say no to a 5 yo asking for a neoclassical score?) was it had to live in their record collection and had to be played on their hi-fi.
Star Wars - LP
www.jw-collection.de
November 23, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Ah, I'm happy to see somebody posted them online.
This was the first real album I owned. I asked for it for my 6th birthday. My parents' condition (how do you say no to a 5 yo asking for a neoclassical score?) was it had to live in their record collection and had to be played on their hi-fi.
This was the first real album I owned. I asked for it for my 6th birthday. My parents' condition (how do you say no to a 5 yo asking for a neoclassical score?) was it had to live in their record collection and had to be played on their hi-fi.
In the original liner notes to the original vinyl release of the '77 soundtrack, Lucas flat-out says he was tired of movies about how everything sucked and he wanted to make a fun movie. It wasn't until it became a phenomenon that he leaned into Campbellian nonsense. Consider your belief confirmed.
November 23, 2025 at 3:46 AM
In the original liner notes to the original vinyl release of the '77 soundtrack, Lucas flat-out says he was tired of movies about how everything sucked and he wanted to make a fun movie. It wasn't until it became a phenomenon that he leaned into Campbellian nonsense. Consider your belief confirmed.
My favorite observation about Suspects is something Kevin Pollak says in the DVD bonuses: the first time you see the movie, you read Spacey's shiftiness as nerves, and the second time as scheming, but the brilliant thing is *it's the same performance*. *You* read it differently based on your priors.
November 23, 2025 at 3:41 AM
My favorite observation about Suspects is something Kevin Pollak says in the DVD bonuses: the first time you see the movie, you read Spacey's shiftiness as nerves, and the second time as scheming, but the brilliant thing is *it's the same performance*. *You* read it differently based on your priors.
There's a similar thing that happens with Usual Suspects: the twist isn't really that Verbal is really Kaiser Soze, it's that Verbal has been playing Kujan the whole film and seems to have been orchestrating everything--*if* there's a Soze, it *seems* he's Verbal... but if it was all bullshit... 🤷♂️
November 23, 2025 at 3:37 AM
There's a similar thing that happens with Usual Suspects: the twist isn't really that Verbal is really Kaiser Soze, it's that Verbal has been playing Kujan the whole film and seems to have been orchestrating everything--*if* there's a Soze, it *seems* he's Verbal... but if it was all bullshit... 🤷♂️