Doom Patrol, Andor, and updating science fiction theme songs.
Doom Patrol is like a group of theater kids grew up to be (initially dysfunctional) superheroes. I loved the show’s trauma-informed writing and commitment to weirdness. The opening titles and theme are inventive and evocative; Clint Mansell (Pi) wrote the theme, which conjures sparking 1950s lab equipment and dodgy monsters.
This season, in a musical episode, the intro got an appropriate twist.
“In a basement near Paris a treasure-trove of Egyptian animated films has been found. The films show the work of the Arab world’s pioneers in this genre, the Frenkel brothers: three exceptional young film-makers, creators of Mish-Mish Effendi, the Mickey Mouse of the entire region, which disappeared from Egyptian screens when the State of Israel was created. Through their animated images, we uncover the history of the Frenkel family, marked by exile, a trauma being repeated today.
“’Bukra fil Mish-Mish‘ is a common Arabic expression referring to something which will never happen: ‘if pigs could fly’. At the same time the extraordinary discovery of these films reveals a forgotten era gone forever, an Arab-Jewish golden age when the two communities could create things together. Not only has it disappeared, it has been erased from the pages of history.”
George Monbiot, La Roux, Carlos Kamya, and others rally students for Just Stop Oil.
“The past few weeks, universities across the country have been covered in paint. Four students have been arrested on campus so far and risk being expelled. We are done watching the government’s death project of new oil and gas and our universities sitting by. In November THOUSANDS of students from across the country are coming together to take action in London.
“This panel discussed the importance of student civil resistance because we are done watching the government’s death project of new oil and gas. and our universities are just sitting by. With George Monbiot, La Roux, Carlos Kamya (Students against EACOP Uganda), Emma de Saram (host), and Holly and Harley – Just Stop Oil supporters who have taken action.”
In Portland, Oregon, Pacific Power is drilling under the Willamette River.
The Willamette River (“It’s Willamette, dammit”) runs through the center of Portland. Although you can swim in some parts of the river on a hot day (if you check e.coli levels first), the riverbed around the Port of Portland is being remediated as a Superfund site. During a walk this week, I learned that the remediation will include some cable rerouting to an electrical interconnection in my neighborhood.
As part of the remediation, Pacific Power is removing cables that currently sit on the riverbed, and drilling paths further south for new cables.
The upgrade will put part of a great park out of commission through next year. That said, it sounds like a better way to handle the cabling over time.
Workers Strike Back leaves no doubts as to where it stands on Gaza.
“The Israeli state’s brutal war on Gaza rages on, with thousands dead and many thousands more injured. What is the agenda of the Israeli ruling class? What is the motivation of the US state? What is the solution to this crisis, and how can working and young people fight back against these abject horrors? Hear from On Strike hosts Kshama and Bia, along with Israeli and Palestinian workers, in this week’s episode.
“Palestinians in Gaza are facing an unimaginable human catastrophe as the Israeli military—the fourth-largest in the world—imposes barbaric conditions, relentless bombing, blockade, and forced displacement. More than $114 billion has been spent on U.S. military funding for Israel since 1946, spanning both Republican and Democratic administrations. Biden and US imperialism have blood on their hands. Other Democratic Party leaders are either beating the drums of war, making empty statements about how they deplore the violence, or they have been totally silent on the issue. It’s clear working people need to get organized independently to stop the carnage.
“Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of workers and young people have marched in protests in 28 cities across the world. Student walkouts have been taking place at schools across the U.S.
“As Workers Strike Back activists and socialists, we condemn the Israeli assault, and call for an immediate cease-fire, and for humanitarian aid to help Palestinian people recover. We call for an end to U.S. military aid to the Israeli state’s war machine, the release of all hostages on both sides, and an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.”
High Country News interviews an expert on the practice.
“Cultural burns are similar to — but not quite the same as — prescribed burns; they are rooted in Indigenous ecological knowledge, and they differ from prescribed burns in their unique approach to the landscape. For Romero, cultural fire is ‘good fire.’
“High Country News spoke to Romero about Indigenous fire stewardship practices and how using good fire now can decrease the damage caused by more extreme wildfires later on.”
