Guardians of the Galaxy’s Knowhere Citizen #65
Sixteen months ago I worked as an extra on the third installment of Guardians of the Galaxy movie. It has just been released, and we went to see it opening weekend.
By John Griswold
Joseph Heller at 100
In Joseph Heller’s writing no one games the system entirely, but in Catch-22, one unlikely person, by cunning, ingenuity, and hardship, wins a temporary stay.
Treasures of China
China sets are no longer valued as they used to be. Young people often do not have space to store things that will be rarely used, or do not like the ornateness or implied waste of resources.
My Talk on the Centenary of the Grievous Event
I have come to my own conclusions about the meaning of the event, and using the narratory and rhetorical tricks of a writer and former teacher I may temporarily make you think you agree. But I stand here filled with distrust of stories in general, having waded through so many of them. It is a time of strong beliefs in shallow stories.
The Integrity of ‘Tori and Lokita’
Tori and Lokita has an integrity of vision. Its pacing is unlike any blockbuster, so we are allowed to follow characters down the street at a human pace, and listen to them perform, by demand, the entirety of a special song they have memorized to the customers where they run drugs. The consequences to them of events beyond their control, due to choices made by other people, are realistic and heartbreaking.
Banksy Does Not Approve
Visitors to the exhibit grab drinks at the bar. Photo by John Griswold The traveling Banksy exhibit looked good in the online ad, and there was a warning of “high sell-out risk.” I bought quickly, for two of us, mine a VIP ticket for extra access, so I…
Anthony Bourdain, Road Runner
The best part of the documentary Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain and the select best of Bourdain’s many shows embodies the complexity of trying to hold all the beauty and pain as he moved down the road.
Recipe Stories: Happiness Tacos
Photo by John Griswold https://commonreader.washu.edu/app/uploads/2023/03/Recipe-Stories-Happiness-Tacos.mp3 It can be hard to match the quality of tacos with that of your happiness sometimes. I thought the tacos and margaritas festival would do it: Not just food and drink, but a taco-eating contest, hot pepper-eating contest, live music,…
Home Again
Here I am then, standing at a podium while an organizer makes an introduction so overly generous that out-of-town attendees wonder what is happening.
Failing the Test of Purging Oneself
In the hogan I was miserable, not enlightened, felt funky and slimed. All the individual animal and species sins poured out of me, not as catharsis or healing, but as reminder and irritant, and I did not believe in sin. This was not my culture, my ceremony, my victory, my tribe. It was like being put to death slowly and humiliatingly for my presumption.
Crowned Head
Very few people I knew growing up had braces, but most of us just gnawed the trees as we were designed by nature to do.
The Best Cat in the World
They pressed the plunger and put the pink death fluid in the clearly defined black vein of Rascal’s back right leg. He died with his head in my palm. He was my kitty boy.