Will it Ever Get Better?: November Roundup

So begins the holidays I suppose that's nice. Financially, not nice for me. My second job flows with the tourist season. That has ended so now I am bringing in significantly less money to support myself than usual for the next few months. I'm applying for jobs and haven't yet to heard back. A great opportunity to support me is through this newsletter. There are options to give a few dollars a month. Just putting that out there so you know. Also, https://www.theefitfaguette.com/ is live too.

Remy Reads (and writes?)

Books are my first love and we have been well acquainted this month. I've started over ten books and in one week I actually completed five books. Additionally, I have a load of zines to peruse. This month near Harvard Square, the Democracy Center hosted the annual Boston Anarchist Book Fair. It was a lovely affair. They required masks indoors, and rapid tests and masks available at the front. All of the vendors support great causes.

Here's a list of the books i've begun from the Book fair:

Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture by Sherronda J. Brown (specifically picked up from https://burningbooks.com/ They have a really cool sticker and bookmark)

Disorder: A Political Fable by Leslie Kaplan, translated by Jennifer Pap (AK Press)

Atmospheres of Violence: Structuring Antagonism and the Trans/Queer Ungovernable by Eric A. Stanley (This needs a post on it's own especially re: my academic interests and endeavors)

John Brown, The Cost of Freedom: Reflections of his Life and Letters by Louis A. DeCaro Jr.

(The last two were purchased from https://massivebookshop.com/pages/about-us : the book shop that bails people out of jail)

Going to mention the books I read in a week in addition to all the bookstores I visited in November in a week or so.

There's a couple more book reviews on the site in case you want to check out

FIlm Bro Corner:

I am sort of close to watching two hundred films this year, most of which I have never seen before.

This month was a mix of new releases and old timers this month. I recall I wrote some coherent short reviews on Letterboxd. Of the ones I saw in the theater the one I highly recommend is The Menu. This is only because Glass Onion will be available on Netflix by late December. Bones and All gets a little shout out for being gorgeous and for how unconventional the story is.

An underrated lesser known flick I must highlight is available for free on YouTube. If you haven't heard of the channel Defunctland, you are missing out. Kevin Perjurer has numerous videos on the history and hidden facts about children shows of our youth as well as videos on some of Disney's failures. Last year Perjurer released a monster of a documentary on the history of Disney's use of the Fast Pass [I've never gone to Disney theme parks and never will but I will watch a well done video essay or documentary] and it was absolutely compelling.

This year's magnum opus is Perjurer's journey to find the person who wrote the Disney Channel theme song that has been in use for twenty years now. If you are my age you will definitely be hit with nostalgia and vindication. However, all ages will find this well researched, shot, and edited.

NOir November

So that's a thing people do. Watch Noir films during November because of the alliteration? Idk, The Criterion Channel had a lot of noir films available so I did check some out and will probably watch some more in December.

Actually here's a podcast on the noir films that I listened to a couple months ago if you're interested in placing film in the context of culture:

Ryan and Todd explore theories of film noir and try to account for its success as a cinematic movement. They discuss films such as Out of the Past, Double Indemnity, and The Third Man, as well as figures such as the femme fatale and the hard-boiled detective in an effort to understand what gives film noir its radicality

World Cup:

[insert meme of Americans fighting the British]

Some of you are into that. I'm not following it. However, I did listen to some podcasts that do a good job covering the shady business of sports. It's important to understand that stuff. Perhaps that knowledge can help you hold the things you enjoy more accountable. Knowledge allows you to teach the still youth that there are ways to do things you like without it coming at the expense of billions being exploited. Foot for thought hm.

Pocket Full of Podcasts

I listened to some gems this month. However, my sinuses have made it hard to focus so I'll just roll those over to later

Until next time

The cutest thing ever animated waving with their right leg. It's so quirky so ethereal so me. Wow.

Disclaimer: All random capitalizations and misspellings are creative license I will not be taking any questions on the matter