Review of "Space Force" in Context of "Our Current Times"

Amidst a pandemic and a social uprising against the police, I still have opinions about new content, but this not the time to voice them, so I'm writing them here.

When I saw the preview for "Space Force," I knew it wasn't for me. It showed mostly white men and didn't seem to have innovative humor. The very next day, I saw a different preview for Space Force that displayed a diverse cast and a voice over that was so corny it was hilarious. This was more my speed! I figured people's comments made them realize they'd created a bad preview for a good show. But then the video did not end in a joke, and I realized it was in fact an advertisement to join the U.S. Space Force. They got me, fam! Indeed, people hadn't overwhelmingly commented with my same opinion. People liked the preview for the show (and I have no idea how they felt about the ad).

It's a pandemic, so I decided to watch the show. It was exactly as the preview had made it seem. Predominantly white males in major roles. Women and POC roles wrong dimensional. Like you could feel the male writer's room. I kept trying to stop watching but I'm just so bored. It's not like it's a bad show, it's just not a good show. 

As I kept watching, I thought more about the intended audience. Maybe this show isn't for bleeding heart liberals such as myself. Maybe this show is for the undecided voter. Maybe the creators are smart enough to realize they don't want to alienate these hesitant folks. Ease them in to shit. They see that the government might be bad but they don't know because they're not glued to the news, or they have bad sources. This type of show will reel them in with it's semi-positive outlook on the government. It says "America is the greatest country on Earth and there are some bad men in its government."

But are people really triggered seeing women support each other? Or black people having different perspectives? Like does one of these undecided white moderate people see a black person on TV wrapping their hair before bed and think, "oh this show is definitely not for me." Or a woman not being tickled being asked out by coworkers at work, and think "too sensitive, not gonna watch that."

So is this how we reel them in, or is this just placating them? Either way, we need to view more content created by women and POC. It would help if major stars with power would demand more diversity.

Reagan/Bush

I have had no luck in getting though to the people of Round Rock. It's surprisingly a new feeling for me. I'm not used to people saying something wrong and then not giving in to my opinion an iota when they are so easily proven wrong. It's big things like "gay people are gross" to little things like "females are crazy."

Because I can't seem to get through to people at all, I'm worried about the future of Americans. We seem to be in a cycle of destruction/hope for the past 100 years that I know of. Reagan was a god, then he was a villain, now he's a god again. Will this happen to Trump? Are Texas teens in 40 years going to say the Trump years were America's best?

Reagan's trickle-down economics was government-imposed white supremacy. The rich got richer and the poor did not improve as promised. AIDS was rampant and the government let gay people fend for themselves, which is to say, not at all. The war on drugs unproportionaly hurt people of color in a system that is still happening today with white people getting rich of legal weed and poc still suffering in jail for the same business ventures. But somehow through all that, people are able to pretend "America" was thriving. 

Trump's legacy is going to be that he helped create the first trillionaire in Bezos. Everything is awful right now. We're still struggling to make billionaires illegal and now we have to deal with trillionaires? It's too much to handle.

Ta-Nehisi Coates said that racim will always exist becuase the definition of "white" keeps changing. Supremacists gain power becuase they intrisically don't care about others. You can't become THAT rich while caring that others are working just as hard but still making the same minimum wage as they did 15 years ago. I don't mean still minimum wage, I mean the actual same dollar amount with no need to adjust for inflation. All bilionaires are white supremacists, regardless of your definition of "white."

I miss my trivia blog

I live in a new state now and talk to a very limited number of people. This was true before quarantine and is more true now that we're in it. It was nice to be able to get my thoughts out through my trivia blog, but quarantine has cancelled trivia forever somehow. Back to blogspot I go!

I'll start small. I've been doing a bit of Facebook marketplace shopping because I have a new empty apartment and feel bad about buying new stuff after tossing so much perfectly good stuff. If I were still a linguistics grad student, I might write a thesis on language and emoji use in FB marketplace messages. There seems to be a whole system that people catch on to through use and necessity. The most common comment seems to be the thumbs up emoji. Simple and to the point.

Next, I am not a fan of Zoom or video chats in general. My style of communication relies heavily on quick wit and under-the-breath comments, neither of which translates to video chats. We all have to wait patiently for our turn and then be heard by a few. I'm never sure when or if my comments actually go through. It makes me feel dumb and useless in a conversation. I'll have to try the typed chat bits of these things if this is going to keep up much longer. Blech.

I'm not sure exactly what prompted this, but has everyone at one point been the queen of something he or she isn't involved in? Like how Eliza Minnelli was the queen of the gays. I feel as though I have been the queen of several small groups that I didn't feel like I belonged to, and it seems like a wonderful and necessary part of life, at least for me. Back in Newmarket, obviously I was the queen of trivia but not on anyone's team. They all had their friends on their teams, and then had me to rule from a distance. Yet I was still part of it, so still felt like somewhat friends with most of the regulars. Do we all get to be queen of something at some point in our lives? I hope so, for your sake.

Finally, I have some thoughts on Texas. First, the state flag is displayed at the same height as the US flag. I don't know why this immediately struck me, but it did. It's very odd to see and feels a bit scary, like we don't follow the same laws. Not a comforting feeling for a left-wing liberal such as myself. Second, I've heard some people say they like Texas because "the people are so friendly" but I'm not sure what they're referring to. My neighbors are not particularly open to telling me their names, my customers do not like to say "please," and I've been honked at for 30 seconds at one point for something that required maybe a short honk and a wave. What am I missing? A dick? Third, Christianity on full display caught me a little off guard at Easter. I'm used to a senator tweeting out a "happy Easter to those who celebrate" type thing, but the Texas Governor tweeted "He Is Risen" and that shit is strange. Why is it in broken English? I wrote on our work chalk board "Hoppy [sic] Easter and thoughtful Passover" and was immediately called out as Jewish. People here don't acknowledge other religions unless they are one? Surprisingly, that's new for me.

You Feelin' Ayree, New Hampshire?

Last night I had free tickets so I went out in Portsmouth to see a reggae band perform.  The plan was to take a date but I figured it might be fun to go alone and meet people.  There was also the chance that it was sold out and I could give my extra ticket to a hottie waiting in line.  As usual I tried to get there late but got there early.  The show was sold out but there was no line.  It seemed like everyone there was in a group of like 15 or more so it was kind of awkward standing around waiting.  Eventually the place filled up and it was less awkward to strike up conversations with people who were standing close to me.  The opening band was not great so I made my way to the back and started talking to dudes.  I'm always curious if everyone is just from UNH so that's a big opening line for me.  One guy told me he was not and that he was 26, but then he asked me if I was at UNH and I said, "oh no I went to college a long long time ago."  Then of course he asked my age and when I told him "30" he was surprised.  So I said, "It's hard to believe; I should just tell people I'm 24." And since it was a loud place with a band playing he thought I'd been joking about the 30 and was really 24.  "Oh that makes more sense!  So you only went to college 2 years ago. That's not so long ago."  Ok sure, guy.  I really wanted to talk to the enormous bouncer but I had no idea what to talk to him about.  I asked him if he did yoga because his posture was so good.  He seemed to have a pretty low self esteem for an obvious body builder and told me he thought his posture needed work.  Then the line for the bathroom moved on and that was that.
I went back up front for the headliners.    The best part was when this totally legit reggae band kept shouting out to New Hampshire, "How you feeling, New Hampshire?" "You ready to party, New Hampshire?"  It made me laugh every time.

No Spoilers Ahead

I've been reading movie summaries from students for years now but I think the one I received this week reviewing The Grey is the best yet.  I've never seen this movie but I think the ending is pretty well-known.  When I approached the student about it, he said, "It was so boring; I couldn't keep watching."  I've underlined my favorite part.

Today I watched The Grey. This movie talks about a plane got crashed in Alaska. Many people dead when it crashed and the survivors were not many. So there were some wolves start to hunt and eat the survivors. And they make a group to find out how they are going to leave this place. In the end people discovered the plane location and come to help them. I liked how they cooperate with each other because when they become as a group they go out of that place. I dislike the people who what to find out solo because they fail in the end. 

Spoiler: Obvious Racism

It seems like everyone is writing about Brad Paisley's collaboration with LLCoolJ, "Accidental Racist" and I just have to weigh in.  My first thought is, poor Brad Paisley; he tries so hard! His understanding of country music seems to be lacking.  His music is a combination of comedy and tragedy but once in a while he goes for "deep," and misses the mark.  A while ago he was most commonly know for "Whiskey Lullaby" about an alcoholic, which was a collaboration with Allison Krauss and seemed to really move people.  I knew him from "Celebrity" which is a comedic song about reality stars so hearing the sad song confused me.  He's also got "Southern Comfort Zone," which is fun but seems completely insincere.  Up until that point my understanding of Brad was that he was a not-so-serious country singer who didn't really believe in his medium.  And then he brought out "Welcome to the Future," which I complained about over 3 years ago.
This brings us to "Accidental Racist."  What has me irked is all the people who are hating on this song but said nothing when Paisley sang "Wake up, Martin Luther, Welcome to the future."  It seems like the ONLY reason people even know about this one is because LL is in on it.  Of coure that's true.  So what's the problem?  Seems like the critics are saying, "go back where you came from, Brad.  Don't talk to our people, Brad."  But he's not the country king and he doesn't speak for the genre.  I don't want to defend his lyrics because they're not great, and the song is slow paced and boring, but the whole purpose is to explain how southern pride is not inherently racist.  Case in point: we all know Lynyrd Skynyrd was racist or at least "Sweet Home Alabama" is racist but how many of us aren't gonna belt that out when it's playing?  Why is it okay to sing it in public at a bar but when we see someone wearing a confederate flag t-shirt we dismiss the wearer?  I know I certainly do.  The reason is, to the educated person a confederate flag stands for slavery and fighting to the death for it.  If we see someone proudly sporting it, we think that person is either uneducated or racist, or both.
Here's why I don't think Paisley understands country music.  The genre is about country pride, love, and tragedy, but also romanticizing the south.  When we sing "Sweet Home Alabama" we're clearly not from there but thinking about how great it would be if People Like Us lived there.  When I sing his "Southern Comfort Zone" I'm thinking about my hometown (way up north) and how it's formed me but not conformed me.  Paisley is confusing his audience with actual people who sport confederate flags.  Those People are not his fans.  Those People listen to Eminem and Uncle Kracker and think country music is "gay."  Paisley can wear his "red flag" shirt because he's a known country star who needs to show off his southern pride for cred.  We know that he's not a bad dude because we know him.  But if a civilian did that he would be a bad dude.  Country music is not just for the southerner; it's for the romantic, the melodramatic, and the people who are proud of their hometown but acknowledge the flaws.
To bring it back to the problematic song, Paisley chose the wrong example of accidental racism for his audience.  The confederate flag shirt is racist.  A Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt on the other hand is not necessarily racist.  I didn't always know what that song was about and could have worn that shirt without knowing what I was doing - that's an accident.  LLCoolJ talking about his gold chains is racist. Black people are not the only ones who wear gold chains, and the wearer is going to be judged with good reason.  I'm mad at Brad Paisley for being such an easy target for country music haters and making the intended audience seem like a bunch of racist idiots.

Korean Doctor Visits

In the past week I visited three different doctors and thought maybe it would be nice to tell you about the experience. I had the flu last week, starting Monday. It was maybe the worst time to get the flu for two reasons: 1. two teachers were on vacation so there was no one available to sub for me ever; 2. it was lunar new year and i had travel plans. Additionally, I was still working extra hours on Monday because of the kids' regular school break, and Wednesday we taught in the morning instead of having classes on Thursday evening due to the holiday. So, I had to work from 9:30am-10pm Monday, 3-10 Tuesday, and 9am-4pm Wednesday. This did not leave me much room to slow the flu from getting a hold on me. Monday was the worst and I was hoping Tuesday was better until I vommed during class. Don't worry, I ran out in time. I was supposed to travel Wednesday after work and had already bought my bus ticket with a friend. We both had to forfeit our tickets because I was nowhere near better. Thursday I didn't have to work and thought I'd hit up the doctor's office. Of course it was a holiday so only the emergency room was open. I hadn't showered in days and had stewed through some fierce fevers so I figured I'd attempt a shower before hitting the hospital. Unsuccessful. I shampooed my hair and then had a lie down in the shower for a bit. Pretty scary for a few minutes while I thought about all the friends in my building who were gone for a few days. I finally got myself up and out, partially showered, and hailed a cab. I had no idea where the hospital was so I looked up the korean word for it on my phone and showed the driver. Oops, it was really close.

Emergency Room Doctor

I was ushered right in to the ER. It was just one big open room with people on IVs lying around. The doctor spoke to me right away (I didn't even have time to sit down) and he and the nurses asked if I spoke Korean. No. They all giggled. What fun for them! So I said I had the flu. He said, "bad cold?" and I wanted to tell him no it was not a cold it was a matter of life or death, but I said yes. He asked for my symptoms using what I assume is latin - rhinorrhea? and hand gestures. Then he said they would give me a shot, pointing to his butt, and some medicine. The nurse brought me into a partially secluded room and told me she'd give me the shot. I didn't know if I should take my pants off or what but she just pulled them down a bit, slapped me a few times and then spanked me while she was injecting so I wouldn't feel it, which worked. Then I was ushered out quickly. Maybe they didn't want the sicker patients getting my flu? I went to pay and it cost $35. That's damn cheap for an ER visit without insurance! Across the street was the pharmacy and the drugs cost $10. They came in little paper packages with 4 pills in each package so I wouldn't have to think about which ones to take when. Pretty nifty. No clue what any of them were. When I got home I forced myself to eat something and took the pills. A few hours later I realized that the fire in my throat, which hadn't waivered since Monday, was finally gone completely. A miracle! I had been skeptical that they didn't take enough time with me but they knew what they were doing after all. V exciting. Friday I was feeling ok but by the evening my right ear was completely clogged up. Usually if I blow my nose or tip it or something it at least unclogs for a minute but this was not moving. I figured it'd be gone by the morning. Saturday I had to teach to make up for the day off Friday. My ear was still stuffed up and I had to keep telling my students to speak up. This never works because they think that means they are wrong and then they refuse to speak. V annoying. Saturday night was one of the worst nights of my life. The stuffed ear became painful. It was like I was constantly landing in a plane. I don't think I slept the whole night. By Sunday mid-morning the pain subsided and I tried to venture out of the house for a few hours to get fresh air. Still half deaf. Monday I'd had enough and asked a friend to take me to the regular doctor that the other teachers go to.

Doctor Hwang

At this office I had to wait, but not very long. There were comfy couches and some fun Korean tv on and my friend came with me. I had no clue what to expect because there were two rooms that were open with empty beds and then one closed door that people kept disappearing into. When it was my turn a bell rang, which is similar to the bell at the bank, the P.O., and the movies (all places where people take a number instead of waiting in line). My friend had to tell me I was supposed to go through the mystery door. Inside was the doctor's office. Like, an office, with a desk in the middle. strange. I sat down and told him about my previous week's flu and trip to the ER (he laughed) and showed him the list of meds I took in Korean. He spoke some English. He looked in my ear with that ear tool and then kind of gasped. What?! He asked me questions and then every once in a while he looked in my ear again. He told me how my "eye drum" was blocked. Finally he said he would give me one day of antibiotics and if it wasn't better the next day I had to go to an ENT, but if it was better I had to come back to him to get the rest of the drugs. Since I was there I decided to ask him about what I thought might be a small fungus on my arm. He looked at it and said he had no clue. Ok thanks, it's getting better on it's own anyway. I went to pay for the visit: $1. The drugs again were $10. For a hot second the next morning I thought the drugs had worked but then I sat up in bed and went deaf again.

Ear Nose and Throat Doctor

I walked to the ENT in the morning after unsuccessfully trying to steam out my ear at the gym. The clerk didn't speak much English but he asked me about insurance. Sorry, man, I have none. He seemed worried. After asking a couple more times he brought me in to see Dr. Choi (my grad advisor's name!) and Dr. Choi asked me a few times about insurance too. He said his fee was high without insurance. Well, I don't have any sorry. He asked if any of my friends had it that I could use. No, sorry. What about your Korean friends? I don't think so. Hm, very worried. Then he gave up and told me to have a seat. Um, what about those people in the waiting room ahead of me? Oh well. He seemed to speak better English than Dr. Hwang. I told him about the flu and about the doctor visits and about the drugs. I had to show him the antibiotic because I had no list. He said it was bad and stop taking it. Then, without preamble, He pushed my head back in the chair and took out what looked like a 9 inch needle and pointed it towards my nose. I'm pretty sure I let out a little scream because the nurse laughed. Dr. Choi pointed to the monitor behind him and told me to watch. The needle was a light with a camera! and i could see up my own nose! hairy :( The nurse took a screen shot and he went up the other nostril. Then, he turned my head and I'm pretty sure did not clean the camera needle and stuck that scary thing in my ear! screenshot. then the other ear. Then he showed me them next to each other and pointed out how different they were because one was filled with fluid. Oh yeah I totally see it. nope. same black and white creepy ear pictures. Doesn't matter, he knew what was wrong finally. Too much fluid, duh. He prescribed a different antibiotic, a steroid, and 4 other drugs and even told me what each of them do. Then I had to go pay. Ok here it comes. I think I was assuming $150 and was worried that it might be closer to thousands. Um, $12. TWELVE DOLLARS?! wtf? Granted, it cost 12 times as much as the internal medicine doctor I'd seen the day before, but why all the hassle for $12? Was I reading it wrong? no. The clerk told me he gave me a .50 discount. So nice! Was I hearing him wrong? Did he mean $500? It's a little confusing because the won has a lot of zeros. The $12 was actually 12,000 won so I thought maybe I was wrong. but no. My theory is that he gets paid more through insurance and wanted me to use that for his benefit. There's no other explanation that makes sense to me. The ER clerk didn't make a fuss over $35, which in retrospect is a damn lot by their standards! Anyway, the new drugs were again $10 and for the third time I got cute little paper packages with pills already sorted. I noticed one pill was cut in half and made sure it was the same in each bag. I wonder what drug I can't handle a full dose of. So that was yesterday, and I taught that evening still half deaf. But today I had the day off and I'm pretty sure I am back to normal. Hard to tell if I'm used to being deaf or what but I'm at least better because I don't have that pressure in my ear anymore. Yay!

To conclude, three doctors, including a specialist with expensive equipment, and an ER visit on a holiday (one of only two holidays this country has so it's a big deal), plus three different sets of meds for a grand total of under $80. Can that be right? I think I might get everything wrong with me fixed before going back to the US. Some friends of mine are getting some cheap hair removal done. Any suggestions for me?