Balloons Over Broadway is half off on Amazon right now! A cute picture book about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Thought a little girl at the public school trunk or treat was dressed up as Luce, the world youth day mascot, but it turns out she was Coraline
The best thing to do is read The Magician’s Nephew (aloud to your kids, if applicable) as soon as possible.
Gerwig is an exceptionally talented film-maker. The aesthetic quality of the trailer is impressive. If all the trailers strike this note, it will be hard for all but the most resolved audiences to resist watching.
Personally, I enjoy the cosmic rock aesthetic. It might not be the best possible option, but it resonates with the world in which we live and is akin to Lewis's own tactic in the Cosmic Trilogy - the modern imagination is still alive when it comes to space and the psychedelic tones of rock; that's fine—we can use that living margin as a way to bring in a renewed experience of the divine.
However, I predict that, like Barbie, MN will be an well-made, incredibly attractive subversion of the cosmic order, rather than a renewal of it. The sci-fi style cosmic rock won't be used to introduce us to the transcendent Christ but to transgressive magic.
A few details in the film indicate the direction of the subversion:
- Diggory is a fearful, passive dough-boy while Polly is attractive, lively, and adventurous. This is tired, typical feminist story-telling. God forbid an active, adventurous boy be shown caring about his mother and capable of a sympathetic and redemptive narrative arc.
- Uncle Andrew is far too attractive. In a world waking up to occult magic, where libraries feature books for kids on how to be a real witch, I am concerned that the film will portray him as sympathetic and his quest to unlock magical powers as something to imitate.
Based off background interviews, I believe the goal of the Lewis Estate and Gerwig is to strip Narnia of its Christianity, leaving only an attraction to the vaguely magical.
- The Wood Between the Worlds is a jungle, unlike the Sequoia-style peaceful wood of the book. This indicates a more pagan vision of the world as chaos rather than Lewis's medieval vision of a cosmic order. This is a minor detail and may be of no real significance.
- We still haven't seen or heard Aslan, but the lyrics land on "SHE'S buying a stairway to heaven" the moment when HIS outline appears, and we get a close up of Polly's face first.
It seems to me that all signs still point to an Aslan more befitting an acid-fueled rager during pride month than the Narnia of Lewis.
Btw Sense and Sensibility hits theaters Friday and the trailer for the Greta Gerwig Narnia looks rad.
The literary Renaissance continues.
FWIW- I think the claims of post-literacy are over-exaggerated and doomer-coded. The biggest Blockbuster of the year is The freaking Odyssey. TikTokers are reading Dostoevsky. There’s a new Little House on the Prairie on Netflix.
If anything, I think we’re at the beginning of a literary Renaissance.
Mary retweeted
“probably one of the biggest stories in bitcoin ever”
It’s truly humbling to reflect on the role Silvergate played helping to bring bitcoin into the global financial system in 2014
Thank you @_DannyKnowles for your pursuit of this story - there are many who prefer it not be told
I finally got the chance to sit down with Alan Lane, and hear the story of:
- Silvergate Bank
- Operation Chokepoint 2.0
- How the Bitcoin banking industry was targeted
- How Silvergate survived the biggest bank run in history!
Watch it here: youtu.be/4S3nmNJm_bU
I am incredibly proud of my dad, not only for what he and his team built at Silvergate Bank, but especially for his example of virtue and courage through everything that led to and followed their decision to wind down.
It’s a gift to hear him tell the story!
Alan Lane took a $500M bank and grew it into a $15B behemoth in 8 years
Silvergate saw something that nobody else did and had the balls to bet on it
Exactly what America was built for
The Biden admin weaponized regulators against the crypto industry
The opposite of what America was built for
and Silvergate survived the largest bank run in history as a result
The prescription for oxytocin dosing for married couples that I’ve heard goes something like, “once a day everyday, and twice on Sundays.”
Palmer Luckey reveals the startup he'd build today: oxytocin doping to end divorce
"I would try to end the tragedy of divorce with oxytocin doping for marriage counseling."
"We understand mammal pair bonding pretty well. There's a lot of people who want to stay together. Most of the people who don't want to stay together should stay together, especially for their kids."
"And we can, if people think SSRIs are fine, which they're not, but if they were, then oxytocin doping to stay together is definitely fine."
"It's the mammal pair bonding chemical. There's things you can do to increase the uptake, and it's very well understood. Also, totally unregulated, which is great. Unregulated spaces are a lot easier to do. You can go buy a kilogram of oxytocin on Sigma Aldrich Chemical Supply right now, and if you do that, maybe you won't die alone."
"It's pure biology. It's used for women who don't bond with their kids, and now for women who don't bond with their husbands. It's also used for kids with various neurological issues, some kids with autism who struggle with pair bonding."
"The cool thing is it's a self-reinforcing loop. We understand that very well. Unlike most drugs, it doesn't form a chemical dependency. It actually unburdens you from a chemical dependency."
Mary retweeted
Why Accelerated Reader is bad:
Kid stays up late laughing under the covers at “Where the Sidewalk Ends.”
Next day says sadly, “it doesn’t count as ‘real reading’ since it doesn’t have an AR score.”
Is therefore conditioned to believe classic poems are less important than “Capn Underpants” and other crummy pop kid lit.
This guy is married to Meg from Little Women.
(Word to the wise- make sure it’s not jelly making day!)
———
Now, in the first flush of the new life, she had often said, "My husband shall always feel free to bring a friend home whenever he likes. I shall always be prepared. There shall be no flurry, no scolding, no discomfort, but a neat house, a cheerful wife, and a good dinner. John, dear, never stop to ask my leave, invite whom you please, and be sure of a welcome from me.”
How charming that was, to be sure! John quite glowed with pride to hear her say it, and felt what a blessed thing it was to have a superior wife. But, although they had had company from time to time, it never happened to be unexpected, and Meg had never had an opportunity to distinguish herself till now. It always happens so in this vale of tears, there is an inevitability about such things which we can only wonder at, deplore, and bear as we best can.
My wife is very competent at her job of managing our home. That competence brings an incredible amount of peace and joy to our household.
If I come home at 5:00 PM and tell her
“We have 30 people coming over at 6:00 PM. We need to feed them,”
She doesn’t panic or get mad. She immediately starts thinking about what she can make, in that short amount of time, to feed 30 people.
She keeps the fridge stocked with soda and beer for guests. She makes sure the humidor is stocked with cigars. She keeps plenty of ice on hand. She always has groceries to bust out a bunch of tacos or homemade pizza for crowds
She even goes so far as to think "I know that this guest has an older Iphone, let me get a charger for his phone set up." Or "This guest has a gluten allergy, so let me make a special pizza for him."
It is a tremendous blessing to me, and to our guests. I can't tell you how often people stop me to tell me how amazing it is receive her hospitality
Men who are competent at their work make the world.
Women who are competent at their work make the world enjoyable.
