Monthly Archives: January 2026

January 31, 2026 · 5:21 am

Deadly bees, silent kids and Christmas: movies and a play

I’m a fan of H.F. Heard’s novel A Taste of Honey, and a few years back watched the Boris Karloff TV adaptation, The Sting of Death. When I discovered Britain’s Amicus Films had adapted it into THE DEADLY BEES (1967) I couldn’t resist — though I can’t say that was a great use of my viewing time.

Suzanna Leigh plays Vicki, a singer burned out from overwork, though we do get a couple of pop songs before she collapses (as I know from Amicus Horrors, the studio started out doing rock-and-roll films). Recuperating on an isolated rural island (just typing those words seems to conjure ominous background music) where there’s a rivalry between her beekeeeping host, Doleman (Ralph Hargrove) and fellow apiarist Manfred (Frank Finlay). And as the movie progresses, a surprising number of people drop dead of bee stings …

All of which is rendered at a slow, plodding pace; I suspect the film added the opening (a couple of defense officials discussing some crackpot’s ridiculous claim he can weaponize bees) because otherwise it would take too long for us to learn what the film’s about. This also suffers from the lack of Mr. Mycroft, Heard’s Holmes-by-another-name figure. Still, I’m surprised nobody used this property a few years later, when America was consumed by fears of South American killer bees. “The scent of fear? I always thought that was just a phrase.”

GOOD MORNING (1959) is a slice-of-life dramedy from Japanese director Yasujiro Ozo, looking at the goings on in a small Japanese neighborhood. Housewives worry one of them has walked off with the homeowner’s assocation dues (or something equivalent), a salaryman bemoans his miserable retirement and two brothers vow never to speak until their parents by them a TV (a variation of a plotline in Ozo’s silent film I Was Born, But). This is quite charming, though I didn’t realize how much fart humor there is in it (the special features clued me in) — the beeps Ozo uses to stand in for farts didn’t register as such, partly because I was focused on subtitles more than sounds. “Do you still eat pumice stones?”

I’m not a fan of A CHRISTMAS STORY — THE MUSICAL (I caught a TV adaptation some years back) but as my brother was in one production I watched the recording of one of his performances as Ralphie’s dad. He does as well as anyone can who isn’t Darren McGavin but the stage version is still too, well, cute.

While the movie is hardly Eugene O’Neil, the family have their rough edges. Ralphie gets his buddy Schwartz in trouble by claiming he taught Ralphie the f-bomb; Mom apparently busts the legendary leg-lamp because she hates how tacky it is. The stage version sands them off, like George Lucas insisting Greedo shot first. Here, Ralphie’s brother breaks the lamp and Mom covers for him; a big part of the ending is a song about family and how any Christmas Story that has them all together is a happy story (the songs, in general, are forgettable). Though the cast were all good in their roles. “They were so far down the evolutionary chain, they weren’t even in Darwin’s family tree!”

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January 30, 2026 · 4:02 pm

On the plus side, we didn’t lose power.

Which was something we worried about during last weekend’s freeze. The predictions were for heavy ice — literally enough weight to snap power lines — along with snow so we charged up our generator and our small chargers, kept the heat up high so it would take longer to freeze inside if the power died.

It didn’t die, like I said. There was some ice but mostly snow.

That big square near the steps is a tarp TYG laid down so the dogs would have an ice-free spot to walk on. It worked, though Plushie insisted on walking on slippery places as much as possible. With four legs he and Trixie did fine; we had to be a little more cautious.

While the storm itself wasn’t a catastrophe, a week of sub-zero temperatures means the ice still hasn’t thawed. It was off the roads by Wednesday so I was able to get to a dental appointment yesterday and physical rehab today, but we still have to exercise caution when going outside, going to the mailbox, etc. And this weekend we’re anticipating another storm — all snow, probably, so we hopefully won’t lose power. But that means no going anywhere this weekend (I got my shopping done today), nor for the first couple of days after. Frustrating.

As we wrap up the first month of 2026, I feel pleased. I didn’t accomplish all the writing goals I wanted — I didn’t have time this week to finish Oh the Places You’ll Go —but I got most of them. I caught up on saving my Local Reporter stories to my computer and saving my blog posts (I see no reason my blog should suddenly vanish but just in case…). I made slightly over my word count for Impossible Takes a Little Longer and Let No Man Put Asunder. I’m 2/3 through with this draft of Savage Adventures. Because of my one colleague at the Local Reporter leaving, I earned slightly more money this month than usual.

On the downside I let the side down (as the phrase goes) on the dog’s daily exercises. Not completely but with Plushie on longer confined by his cage it’s a lot harder to keep him in one place for particular workouts. Yesterday I was using treats to tempt him into an obstacle course; he decided he’d get up on the couch and sleep instead. As the time for caring for them continually increases, I’ve no idea how I’ll work it out once the snow’s gone and Trixie’s back to full morning walks.

I also blew my GOTV effort for the second month in a row, getting half of the 40 cards I’d agreed to write out. I have to get better next month. I did do a good job with the various household/contractor/vet appointment tasks I dealt with.

As for the week itself, in addition to fiction I got in three Local Reporter stories, one on Chapel Hill changing its land-use ordinance, one on a local volunteer rescue service (not up yet) and a companion story about the technical rescue team (they handle water and missing person rescues). At Atomic Junk Shop I pondered whether too many comics are out of continuity, and Earth-Two comics in the post-WW II years.

And yes, the exercises the PT pro recommended did indeed help with my bursitis. Hope for continued improvement next month. And my dentist said my teeth look great, actually improved over last visit. A pleasant surprise, given that I had to delay this appointment two months (no time during the Watching Jekyll and Hyde finishing marathon) — usually that long without getting my teeth and gums cleaned causes (small and fixable) problems. Yay teeth1

Now, another cold weekend. Still, snow is pretty.

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January 30, 2026 · 5:15 am

Come amaryllis, come Chloe and Phyllis

(Title from WS Gilbert’s Patience). For Christmas, TYG’s mom sent us an amaryllis bulb. As I have a better flare with houseplants, TYG turned it over to me. The results:

I’m delighted with the results, and relieved I didn’t kill it with overwatering. That’s always the worst thing you can do for a houseplant and I’ve no experience with this kind of plant before.

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January 29, 2026 · 5:15 am

Bari Weiss and Curtis Yarvin, two successful windbags

As I blogged about a few months back, CBS News’ new top boss, Bari Weiss, “built her brand as the advocate of edgy free speech and repressed ideas, never mind that she’s a textbook example of what Franks is talking about: Weiss’ support for free speech invariably sides with the status quo. She’s had zero sympathy for free speech when anyone takes the side of Palestinians, for instance.”

This was her shtick for years: the edgy supporter of edgy speech that’s actually completely conventional (see here, here and here for a couple of examples). Her ideas of thought-policing invariably focus on right-wingers, whereas she had no qualms about demanding penalties for people she thought too pro-Palestinian.

When she left the New York Times to launch the (unaccredited) University of Austin, she kept at it: the University was such a champion of free speech, they welcomed faculty who were not free speech supporters (see my post on the paradox of tolerance)! Given some of my examples of Weiss’s views go back to the Felon of the United States’ first term, it seemed pretty obvious UATX wouldn’t be a shining vessel of support for robust free speech. Nevertheless, Ellie Avishai, who became affiliated with UATX a couple of years back, was genuinely stunned to learn the university and its donors have rigid thou shalt nots in what views are allowed; Avishai’s LinkedIn post suggesting DEI had merits brought down their wrath upon her.

Apparently that’s why Weiss has a successful career: her shtick works. People bought it and they’re genuinely shocked UATX doesn’t walk the walk. She’s been so successful she’s now CBS news head honcho and even more willing to submit to the powerful. That’s why she’s there. It’s not her resumé: she’s never run a newsroom before, let alone one the size of CBS’ operation. I’m sure right-winger David Ellison, who now owns the network, is okay with sinking news ratings as long as it conforms to right-wing orthodoxy. Or is he? Perhaps The Nation, in a scathing look at Weiss’ career, will prove right: “I’m not sure who or what will bring her down, but being talent-free seldom ends well.” We can hope. At the moment, though, she’s riding high and telling anyone who’s not down with her remolding the network to be more supportive of the Necrotic Toddler should pack their bags.

As we’re discussing bullshit artists, how about Curtis Yarvin? A right-winger who wants a right-wing dictatorship but pretends he wants one that’s good for everybody. He’s an authoritarian who sniffs that fascism is too crude for him. And unsurprisingly he thinks life in Jane Austen novels shows women were happy when they had no political power. And while I don’t have a link handy, he also insists no freed slaves post-Civil War felt their lives had improved. And in blithe defiance of history, Yarvin insists no monarch would ever ruin his own country. Empty Wheel has an expanded look at his philosophy; it doesn’t get smarter in context.

As James Fallows points out, Yarvin also thinks China is a bastion of free speech. And the dictator of his dreams wouldn’t be able to become a bad tyrant because a secret council of airline pilots would appoint him, and have access to technology that would shut down all the weapons if he broke bad. Politics works a lot easier if you simply make up tech to meet your needs.

Yarvin has also weighed in on the Pretti murder. Unsurprisingly the dictator-loving Yarvin is cool with it.

Yarvin is an idiot’s idea of what an intellectual sounds like. But the idiots who listen to him are rich and powerful (JD Vance is a fan) which is enough for success in this world.

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January 28, 2026 · 5:27 am

Southern Discomfort: the quasi-cover reveal

As I’ve blogged about over the past couple of months, my Southern Discomfort cover designer Samantha Collins started with images like these:

In the second phase came these:

The second set, particularly the cover on the left, incorporates more elements of the novel itself. After I gave feedback on these, Sam came up with this one:

This gets the key elements I think it needs. Spanish moss on the trees, suggesting the South. Gwalchmai facing off against Maria, my protagonist. A shadowy house. The hand of glory. Cats (they play a large role in the book). I do think the cat looks a little cartoonish here, and asked Sam to adjust it. Otherwise I think she’s nailed it. Some polishing will follow, plus putting on the title and my name. And then of course the official cover reveal.

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January 27, 2026 · 5:02 am

Covers for the last week of January

First, by the great Richard Powers

Ralph Brillhart’s cover here reminds me a little of Powers with that weird figure, though everything’s much more concrete on this cover.

And last, but not least, Margaret Brundage. I’ve read Seabury Quinn often included nudity in his stories because he knew that increased the odds of landing a cover slot.

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January 26, 2026 · 5:22 pm

The Alex Pretti shooting: links

I was going to make some kind of structured argument. I’m not sure I have one beyond outrage. First Renee Good, now Pretti. Neither one a terrorist, neither one (despite Felon administration lies) a threat to the ICE officers who murdered them.

Normally when there’s a shooting, the officers are taken off the street until there’s a review. Not in this case. Nor are we hearing the usual promises that this will be investigated, it’s a terrible tragedy, etc., they will learn from it. Border Patrol head Greg Bovino says it’s all liberals fault for saying mean things about ICE. As JB Pritzker says, “free speech is still protected by the First Amendment under the Constitution.If you want folks to stop saying you’re the secret police who are kidnapping and killing people, maybe stop acting like the secret police who are kidnapping and killing people.”

Bovino and other members of the administration are screaming that Pretti and Good were fiendish supervillains, attacking the cops, etc., etc. All lies. All contradicted by the evidence. As noted at the link this can be seen as a display of dominance, or a solidarity exercise (if you’re loyal You Will Believe). It may also indicate they have no ideas other than retreat, and the Felon hates doing that, or admitting error in anyway. Megyn Kelly’s all-in. Kelly, who said those Venezuelan fisherman our government’s been murdering deserved torture as well unsurprisingly pretends Pretti deserved death.

As LGM points out, what we’re facing is not the kind of police state where if you obey the state, you’ll be okay: “In a totalitarian regime, comply or die eventually morphs into comply and die.” And far from the administration calling for law and order, “they’ve frequently ignored their own laws and guidance. They’ve wiped out status for a whole bunch of people arbitrarily. They’ve ground the legal process to a halt and pretty much nullified the asylum process, which is codified in law and supported by a long body of case law.”

(As several people have pointed out online, this is not new. Lots of black Americans have been murdered by cops. Police, like ICE, have faced little accountability. That doesn’t mean this fight is unwinnable).

In the fantasies/propaganda of some RWNJs (right-wing nut jobs), what’s happening isn’t innocent people getting shot on the street, ICE kidnapping kids and people protesting — it’s an armed insurgency, willing to die to drive out ICE. But “antifa” is overreaching, stretching its supply lines in a winter war. Which makes sense if the protesters were Napoleon’s forces invading Russia, not people who can simply run to Aldi’s or Target for supplies. Apparently the people making this argument can’t even imagine how free coffee could be made available to protesters without some sort of conspiracy.

It’s not working, though. Paul Krugman looks at the reasons this murder is getting traction.

While the NRA has embraced the government side, a lot of Second Amendment obsessives have not. This may be why.

Even Karoline Leavitt’s struggling with the official line: under pressure she complains there’s no liberal outrage over insurrectionist Ashlee Babbitt.

A Fox News host challenges Kash Patel about Kristi Noem’s bullshit.

The Senate Democrats are apparently going to shutdown the government again rather than fund ICE. Which is totally the right decision.

If you want to talk to your elected officials about ICE or to donate to help Minnesota, Naomi Kritzer has advice.

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January 26, 2026 · 5:15 am

Christianity has been wanted and never tried

The title comes from a G. K. Chesterton quote: Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it’s been found wanting and never tried.

It’s true in the sense that for most of Christianity’s history we’ve not even tried to live up to the standards set by our faith. However it also comes close to the “no true Scotsman” argument that the ugly behavior of so many Christians is not real Christianity.

I’ve become quite jaded about my faith over the past few years. Seeing the religious right are even more disgusting than I used to think. The long list of church officials engaged in sex crimes (and the churches that turned a blind eye). The conviction that contrary to Jesus if they gain the world but lose their soul, that’s a win. Their refusal to break with the Necrotic Toddler on any point —and then whining when they’re criticized over it. Even if they assume the Toddler is doing god’s work in some fashion (most obviously ending Roe) it doesn’t follow everything he does must be godly — King David was god’s anointed but the Uriah-Bathsheba business was not.

Their view of religious freedom is very much “freedom for us, not for others.” It’s perfectly fine for them to punish LGBTQ individuals based on their religious views but pro-immigrant Christians should remember we separated church from state — their views don’t count.

Then there’s Minneapolis, where the Toddler’s ICE storm troopers have imposed a state of siege. It’s bad, and people have suffered horribly, like a five-year-old ICE kidnapped from Minneapolis to Texas without telling his family And ICE claims that they are not bound by the Fourth Amendment. And now a second murder (more here) and Kristi “Nazi” Noem lying about it. I’d say more but I don’t think I have insights that haven’t already been said.

Despite which, Minnesotans are refusing to submit and give in, including a number of Christians. Here’s one example: “Ben, 17, and Sam, 16, donned warm hoodies, said goodbye to their parents and piled into a well-loved sedan. Cranking the engine, they skirted a wild turkey that stalks their yard and headed out to find U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.”

On the other side, a pastor prays God will smite Minneapolis for defying ICE.

One pastor at Cities Church (which seems to be creepy right-wing patriarchal) turns out to be an ICE official. It seems a numbe rof people are fine with a Christian leader being in charge of such non-Christian behavior but they’re horrified people disrupted church services to protest. As noted at the link, it’s unlikely any well-behaved protest would have done better. JD Vance, for instance, complains that people should confine themselves to writing letters to the editor or talking about things on social media — not anything that would stir things up.

Switching to another topic, a Catholic racist discusses online how he only takes communion from white people, then brags that he goes to confession about it, therefore his shitty sins are forgiven (that is not, from what I’ve read, how confession works). Fred Clark suggests what the dude wants is absolution without repentance — someone to assure him he’s not one of the bad racists, even as he continues being racist. Hindu extremists are trying to turn the case into a tool for competing nationalism.

Clark again: “White evangelicalism has been captured by the Republican Party and vice versa, but neither variant of the merged product encourages or permits what Dad once believed about what it means to “look American,” or about who is and is not “precious” in the sight of Jesus.”

To wrap up, here’s a story from last year about how New Orleans’ football team helped the local Catholic Church’s reputation management after the abuse scandal became public.

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January 25, 2026 · 5:15 am

Dress codes and modern fairy tales: books read

DRESS CODES: How the Laws of Fashion Made History by Richard Thompson Ford argues that fashion began when tailoring and sewing made it possible to wear clothes far more elaborate than togas or robes. As soon as that happened, fashion became an issue: what should society do with people who dressed above their station? Dressed to flaunt their sexuality? Dressed as the wrong gender? Dress codes such as sumptuary laws (limiting how fancy your clothes could be, depending on your status) were the response.

Ford follows the law (and the implicit rules on how to dress) down to our own time, looking at recurring themes: the desire to flaunt wealth by wearing clothes; the Puritanical impulse to dress simply; fears that looking good was a cheat code giving people and edge over more qualified rivals. And, of course, the constant efforts of people to defy or overturn the rules, which frequently turned into new and equally exclusionary anti-rules. There are added challenges for women who can’t be taken seriously if they’re too sexy or not sexy enough, and for African Americans dealing with workplace rules that limit their styles (dreadlocks and Afros aren’t something they can put on or off like a blazer so the codes control how they look outside the workplace too). Good job.

ONCE UPON NOW is a collection of short stories published on the Wattpad app built around the perennial trope of modern-day fairytale retellings. In various stories a habitual liar gets himself turned into a wooden puppet (probably the best), what starts out as The Twelve Dancing Princesses turns into a horror story about murderous sirens, college student Rob Hood robs from freshman for their own good (I’m puzzled that the female lead isn’t named something like Marion Mayde) and a friend-zoned girl finally makes it to prom (my least favorite). A mixed bag, like many anthologies.

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January 24, 2026 · 5:32 am

A double feature: Howard Hawks, John Wayne and Leigh Brackett!

Not only that, the two movies I watched last weekend both ran 2.5 hours. Only one of them was worth the running time, though.

A number of people consider RIO BRAVO (1959) Howard Hawks’ last great film (cowritten by Brackett and Jules Furthman). I loved when I first caught it years ago; it doesn’t hold up as well on rewatching as Red River did but that may have been my mood that afternoon. Things have been so hectic this month, it’s harder to relax and go with the movie flow.

The opening is certainly striking, more so for being silent. Dude (Dean Martin), a deputy and gunman undone by drink (he crawled into the bottle after his wife ran off) stares into a saloon. Slimy bad man Burdette (Claude Akins) offers him a silver dollar to buy some booze, then drops it into the saloon spittoon. Dude (back then the name referred to a fancy dresser, which presumably Martin was before he became a lush) is almost ready to stick his hand in when Sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne) shows up and stops him. That prompts one of the barflies to stand up to Burdette, who guns him down. Chance and Dude bust Burdette, who’s unfazed — his wealthy brother won’t let him suffer any consequences and won’t care who gets hurt. And it’s six days until a US Marshal arrives to take custody of the killer …

This is something of an anti-High Noon. Hawks thought the premise of that film — Gary Cooper’s sheriff trying to form a posse against a gang of killers — was ridiculous; a group of farmers and storekeepers don’t stand a chance against a band of professionals. Hawks liked his protagonists competent and professional and Cooper didn’t measure up. Here, John T. dismisses the idea out of hand; he’ll do his best to survive with Dude and cantakerous deputy Stumpy (Walter Brennan), come what may. Colorado (Ricky Nelson) has the skills to help but he sticks his neck out for nobody; John T. approves (“Smart kid.”). Then there’s Feathers (Angie Dickinson), a chattering gambler who shows up on the stage and insists on sticking around for Chance, even if the odds are against him living long enough for anything to happen.

There are lots of elements echoing earlier Hawks movies here. Tough, competent men under pressure. A bantering relationship between an awkward male lead and a more assertive woman. People constantly having to prove themselves (John T. likes testing everyone). I think one reason it threw me off is that the character arcs — Dude struggling to stay off the booze, Feathers/John T. — are more important than the supposed threat of the Burdettes. That said, it’s still enjoyable, though Ricky Nelson and Dickinson ain’t much as actors. And may I say that is one terrific poster. “We’re all fools. We ought to get along very well together.”

In Films of Howard Hawks, Donald C. Willis says HATARI! (1962) is Hawks’ worst film, the one Willis would bring up if he wanted to prove Hawks was largely talentless. Can’t say I disagree.

Sean Mercer (Wayne again) leads a team of men working in Africa to capture animals for American zoos, variously including Pockets (Red Buttons), the Indian (Bruce Cabot) and Brandy (Michelle Girardon), the daughter of their former boss. Trouble erupts because a)Brandy, whom they’ve known since childhood, is very obviously a woman now, and b)the “Dallas” the zoo hired to photograph the team’s work turns out to be another very obvious woman (Elsa Martinelli) who finds Sean attractive but frustrating; burned by his ex, he refuses to make a move so she has to do the work (“Do you prefer your kisses fast or slow?”).

As Willis says, these feel less like Howard Hawks characters and more like character who’ve watched lots of Hawks films and are trying to imitate them. We have the tough band of men, a flirtation that works much less well than in Rio Bravo, a constant risk of death, rivalry over a woman, a climax with baby elephants that reminds me of Bringing Up Baby …and it all falls flat. I might not be a huge fan of Angie Dickinson’s actions but I bought Feathers falling for Sheriff Chance; here I can’t swallow Dallas/Sean, nor Pockets/Brandy. Pockets is supposed to be a likable comic-relief sidekick but for whatever reason Buttons can’t pull off the role. The one good thing in the film is the gorgeous wildlife photography. It’s not enough. Oh, and while it’s only a minor weakness, it’s annoying Brackett and Hawks got their blood types wrong (someone with AB negative blood is rare, but B, O and A negative blood can all be given to such a recipient). “Rhinos, elephants, buffalo — and a greenhorn.”

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