There are no rules in this dojo.
Well, there are a lot of rules in this dojo, but none of them are about how the dojo works.
“Oh good grief, is he peeling back the fourth wall to do meta-commentary on what “this” all is, like it’s some titan of the American conversation and not a way to stop ranting about term limits to his children?”
Some superfan with free time or future-based historian of History’s Most Tragic Dads will hopefully cull this site to organize the existential rules that have been tossed out, but it’s clear none of them are really about the site. Rules are things like:
When a dog bites a man, that is not news. And when a human being who has openly revealed they’re evil does evil things, that is “a thing you should be warned about,” but it is not exactly surprising.
The modern American press corps believes that people in power are (1) smart (2) well-intentioned and (3) speaking in good faith REGARDLESS OF WHO THE PEOPLE IN POWER ARE OR HAVE SHOWN THEMSELVES TO BE. The power itself, in the minds of most newspapers and cable channels, confers these virtues on a person and they should be treated as such. This is… a dumbshit way to do the news.
Many many Democrats would rather be fighting on the front lines against a government fully run by MAGA than fighting against a government fully run by leftists, and they work to keep that dynamic how they want it.
Centrism is not a political position; it is choosing a place in between two other people’s political positions. [This one has a whole post already!]
The American conversation operates with no object permanence; because of this someone shunned as a brigand can return less than a year later with no consequences. Cancel culture cannot exist in a society that cannot remember who was canceled or why. So bad people escape consequence, and bad-faith liars get to pretend they’re honestly debating again and again and again.
I could go on forever, probably long enough it could become some kind of book of essential rules to survive this moment in time, possibly interspersed with witty humorous anecdotes in a tome that both raises my chances of getting elected and makes a little mailbox money. But that’s not the point! The point is, there are rules about the world but not rules about this space.
So.
I’m going to recommend a movie that I think you should watch: Godzilla minus one.
The Godzilla website does not say who made this poster, but hats off to them.
Shh. Shhhhhh. Sh. I hear you, objecting, and just imagine a cartoon finger coming through the screen and giving you the sweetest little shhhhhh.
If you’ve never seen a Godzilla movie before, this still is worth seeing. If you don’t like monster movies, it’s worth seeing. If you don’t watch movies with subtitles, I guess I’m sorry you struggle with literacy and there are probably classes available at your local library? Also everyone in the entire world has to watch The Fast and the Furious movies with subtitles to understand what’s going on in Dom Toretto’s head, and you can’t watch one movie that’s in Japanese? Hmm.. interesting… (picks up phone and dials the Woke Police).
I am not going to give anything away, I’m not going to review it, I’m just going to say 3 things, and I will say them in a NUMBERED list because then I’m not repeating lists twice in one day.1
Watch this in the dark, when you have time, with your phone in another room, and with anyone who likes to talk during movies kicked into the core of the sun.
This movie won an Oscar for special effects that had a budget of $15 million, which in a superhero movie won’t even pay for the lead actor. They are incredible.
There is a black and white version of this movie titled, delightfully, Godzilla minus one minus color. If you can get a quality copy of that version, watch it first.
WHY am I recommending this? Because it squarely hits the bullseye of the cinematic theme that I think is most core to our humanity, that grabs us in an integral existential place, and corrects our vision for a moment on what life is all about. It is a What Matters movie, and not in the way protestants made movies in the 90s where after a cool dance break the kid who drank suddenly gave their life to Christ. It is a What Matters movie in the way It’s A Wonderful Life, or Into The Spider-Verse, or 1917 are about What Matters.
And it has a big dragon who can shoot out nuke breath. So that’s fun.
-Greg
1 Not repeating lists is NOT A RULE, you cannot “gotcha” me! It’s just a vibe.
