((=o д o=))

Hi friends! The Starbucks I work at was on strike today! We were part of a movement of 100 stores across the country that striked this weekend. A bunch of managers showed up and tried to keep the store open, and there were plenty of customers that bought scab coffee, but there were plenty more people who showed up and showed their support.

If you live in the states, I'd encourage you to look into if there's a union Starbucks in your area and support them however you can. It was really nice to see folks come out from the teamsters or Chicago Community Jail Support or Breakthrough News and get informed about what those groups are up to.

And I'll just say that if you want to support the store I work at, some of my coworkers put together a strike fund that will help pay wages that we lost from not working today or any future strikes! https://www.gofundme.com/f/strike-fund-for-lincoln-village?qid=e7ec14d386deeac11cc23d15f24b55cf

an interview I did was featured in this video! that's neat.

I was thinking of making something that would act as a digital display with audio for the Boy, so that he can watch it and paw at it when he's bored. It should preferably be built such that he can't hurt himself or easily break it. Preferably something that responds to daily sunrise/sunset times so it doesn't keep him up all night, but also gets him through the really long nights when there's nothing to do. And most specifically so that he's not too bored when I'm not home (like for holidays).

Does such a thing already exist for me to buy? Or am I gonna have to do a DIY for the first time in ages

I got dragged to Avatar 2, and aside from the insultingly long runtime, it was FINE, OKAY?

Yes, the cultural appropriation, native-people-mystic-fantasy, and basically everything around the Navi portrayal was way over the line of cringe.

Yes, the Pandora world now looks like a Pixar cartoon in a time when we're all used to hyperrealistic CGI.

Yes, the plot is still simplistic, white-saviory, and a little uncomfortably close to parody.

Yes, it is a little wierd how many sexy shots of teenage cat people there were.

But like every other James Cameron movie I've seen, starting from The Abyss (where Bruce Willis famously saves his wife by slapping her), I can't help but be charmed. James Cameron is like a 14 year old boy living out his movie-making fantasy with his favorite toys: mechs, moon pools, a squad of marines, underwater photography, and fiery war wives protecting little girls. And despite the fact that the stories are as thought through as those of a 14-year-old, there's something pure and charming about this man spending a country's GDP on a movie where he just plays with his toys.

One thing that I do kind of unironically like about James Cameron movies, and Avatar in particular, is the banality with which the Bad Guys (tm) do the Bad (tm). That's actually realistic to the way some of the worst crimes of humanity happen - genocide, colonialism, climate destruction, etc are just jobs for people who try not to think too hard about it. There is often one or more Genuine Evil people rubbing their hands and cackling with glee, but they are supported and enabled by crowds of people who are just "doing their job", "following orders" and silencing their conscience. It's something people ought to think more about, imo. For all the flaws of James Cameron's white guy's perspective on colonial conquest, I feel this part is deeply understood.

This happens to me every time I see a James Cameron movie. The Abyss, Terminator, Aliens... the whole movie I'm just like this is DUMB THIS IS SO DUMB and then by the end I'm won over by the earnestness.

I just got my cohost activated. Guess I'll post some weird hot dogs. No one will probably see this anyway.