Probably every bibliophile suffers from that syndrome where they buy books and then take a very long time to get around to reading them. I’m certainly no exception, but I also do it with DVDs, both movies and even entire TV series. In the latter case, it’s because I don’t actually devote a lot of time to video (the two-hours-before-bedtime viewing Grace and I have practiced for some time now is the most time I’ve invested in video entertainment since the late Oughts) and I really need to be in the right mood for any given show. But since we recently finished Blake’s 7, I wanted more late ’70s British sci-fi and we decided to watch this show. I put it on my wishlist years ago due to the presence of Louise Jameson (who played Leela in Doctor Who from 1977-78) and a reader bought it for me seven years ago, but I somehow never found the right opportunity to watch it. Well, now I have and I’m sorry I waited so long, because it’s excellent; the series is only ten episodes long, and wasn’t renewed because it attracted the attention of the self-appointed TV watchdogs who were so common in the late ’70s and early ’80s (the kind who raised a huge public stink about any show that might be too intense for a timid 6-year-old with a nervous disorder). If you enjoyed The X-Files, you’ll probably enjoy this as well because it has many similar elements (members of a government agency investigate paranormal events and uncover a huge and sinister conspiracy); unfortunately, it has dramatically increased in price on Amazon since it was on my list, but sometimes that’s a temporary thing so you may want to keep your eyes on it in case the price drops. It’s spooky, engaging, well-written, well-acted, often intense, and doesn’t assume its viewers are idiots.
Posts Tagged ‘Presents’
Diary #605
Posted in Diary, tagged imaginative fiction, Presents on February 1, 2022| 1 Comment »
Diary #601
Posted in Diary, tagged holidays, Presents, Sunset on January 4, 2022| Leave a Comment »
With the weather making it impossible to do any work on our bathhouse project, I’m putting more energy into inside projects. And since I got two new cookbooks for Christmas (and my existing cookbook space is both overfull and not all that great), I decided to build a new shelving unit. We already had all the wood, so last week Grace helped me design it and I installed the backboards and footing, then made a shelf pattern. On New Year’s Eve I got Chekhov to cut out the shelves and braces, then on New Year’s Day I put it all together during those periods where things were cooking, so I needed to stay nearby but didn’t actually have to do anything with the food at that time. Jae is supposed to sand and stain it for me, so perhaps I’ll be able to get it loaded before I leave for my conference on Sunday; it’s more space than I actually need for cookbooks, so I think I’ll use the bottom shelf for potatoes & onions, and maybe some of the higher shelves for other small things that don’t presently have a good home.
Diary #599
Posted in Diary, tagged holidays, Presents, Toys for Tots on December 20, 2021| 1 Comment »
Because I like showing my toy drive donors what I did with their money, behold! These are the results of the shopping trip I mentioned last Tuesday; since the trunk was already full, I didn’t want to leave them in the back seat overnight. Immediately after taking this snap, I loaded them in the car and left my incall to return to Sunset, stopping by Olympia on the way to drop them off. Those with sharp eyes may notice I got two copies of “Sorry”; that’s because it was one of my favorite games as a kid so I buy at least one every toy drive. In general, I try to avoid duplication within a batch, but since each drive requires several trips I sometimes forget what I’ve already bought, and I reckon it doesn’t really matter anyhow as long as I maintain a rough balance of boyish toys, girly toys, unisex toys (including games) and toddler toys. Not in the picture: several books and DVDs (and a bottle of my favorite perfume) from some of my lovely gentlemen, which I found waiting for me when I arrived. And while I was in Seattle I also did the last of my own Christmas shopping, so now I can just concentrate on the last of the preparations for our celebration this weekend.
Diary #596
Posted in Diary, tagged imaginative fiction, Presents on November 30, 2021| 1 Comment »
When I arrived back in Seattle last week, I found the 7th season of Afred Hitchcock Presents waiting for me, courtesy of Antonio Lorusso. And a few hours before I left to return to Sunset, the postman dropped a copy of Cabin in the Woods into my mailbox, courtesy of Mike Siegel. Thanks so much for the birthday presents, guys! Both of them arrived a few weeks after my birthday because both came from the UK, despite both being American productions (this is especially weird in the case of Alfred Hitchcock Presents because every season but the seventh is available in region 1 DVD). As for Cabin, I’ve heard a lot of good things about it, but have somehow managed to avoid spoilers for the past 9 years, so I’m quite looking forward to viewing it for the first time; after half a century of horror viewing I’m pretty hard to scare or even surprise.
Yuletide 2021
Posted in Holidays, tagged Ask Maggie, holidays, Ladies of the Night, Presents, The Essential Maggie McNeill, The Forms of Things Unknown, The War on Whores, Toys for Tots on November 26, 2021| 2 Comments »
Every year on this day, the traditional beginning of the Yuletide season in the US, I remind my readers that the real spirit of the season involves giving to others rather than literally fighting to get more for yourself. Children and whores are St. Nick’s two favorite groups of people; you can help the latter by donating to a sex worker charity such as SWOP Behind Bars, or you can help both by booking a session with a sex worker you know has kids. If you don’t know any, you can help by participating in my annual Toys for Tots special. Since I’m now semi-retired, I’ve changed the deal, but the new way is open to more people anyway. From now until Friday, December 10th, everyone who donates $100 for me to buy toys with (you can send it via PayPal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or via Cash app to $MaggieMcNeill) will get any two of my books (your choice), autographed! And if you’re one of my regular gents, we can still do the usual deal (30 minutes extra per $100) if you prefer. If you’re not hurting economically yourself, please consider donating (either to my drive or to one near you); the economy still hasn’t rebounded yet, and rising inflation is taking a bite out of many people’s income, so there will be less money for toys this year. And while we adults can understand that, it can be heartbreaking for very young children to think Santa Claus has forgotten them or bypassed them because they were naughty. Please help if you can, so together we can bring joy to needy children who might otherwise have nothing on Christmas morning.
In the News (#1188)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged California, cell phones, Checklist, Colorado, cops, drugs, Facebook, fantasy, holidays, hysteria, I Spy, India, law, Michigan, politicians, Presents, Pretext, propaganda, Pyrrhic Victory, racism, rescue industry, scams, Schadenfreude, stripping, Surplus Women, surveillance, Texas, violence vs. sex workers, Winding Down on November 13, 2021| Leave a Comment »
For far too long Internet users have suffered personal data abuses at the whims of Facebook and other platforms. – Alan Butler
Deranged men may respond violently when sex workers refuse to cater to their fantasies:
…Stanley Szeliga…has been charged with [the] murder…of [a dancer named Abigail] Saldaña…in…Fort Worth [Texas]…Rick’s Cabaret [manager told cops]…Saldaña had recently been harassed by a customer he knew as “Stan.” The manager showed the detective an Oct. 14 Instagram post in which Saldaña said she found a tracker under her car…“Stan” was irritated [that] Saldaña [would not indulge his fantasy of being her boyfriend] and had threatened to tell police she was engaged in prostitution…
Yet another rescue industry fraud has been unmasked:
[A rescue industry scam named] Saved in America has in the last four years collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from g[ullible] San Diegans and other donors at big-ticket galas…its [ringleader], private [dick] Joseph Travers, describes [the] group…[as composed of] former [pigs, spooks and jarheads] that help…families locate missing and exploited children. Since its formation in 2017, SIA has re[leas]ed extensive publicity extolling its [own supposed] work. Now, though, former supporters and local [politicians] are distancing themselves from the organization’s [bullshit] claims. Multiple groups [and politicians] listed as supporters on the organization’s website…[have] ask[ed] Saved in America to remove their names. A [politician] scheduled to receive the group’s major award at the Thursday gala said he is not attending…
The “cops bearing gifts” PR scam is not limited to the US:
Since August 11 this year, [cops have harassed]…sex work[ers and clients] in Ganga Jamuna [the red light district of Nagpur, India, thus endangering] the livelihood of the 2,000- 3,000 sex workers there…[yet those same cops] organized a “Diwali milan” programme to distribute sarees, ration and other gifts to the women and their children…sex workers [replied by] demanding [that the] cops…[stop harassing them instead. One] sex worker said the cops cannot justify…keeping us away from livelihood for the last three months and then offering us festive gifts…the cops…[of course] denied any strong opposition [to their scam, claiming…the majority [or sex workers were] in our favour [of starving to death while cops play generous for reporters]…
I wonder if the Illinois lawsuit had anything to do with this?
Facebook…announced…it is shutting down its facial recognition system, which automatically identifies users in photos and videos…[civil rights advocates point out that] facial recognition technology – which is popular among retailers, hospitals and other businesses for s[urveillance] purposes…compromise[s] privacy, target[s] marginalized groups and normalize[s] intrusive surveillance. IBM has permanently ended facial recognition product sales, and Microsoft…and Amazon…have suspended sales to police [temporari]ly…
A mother and her 10-year-old daughter were [harassed] by [cops and a bureaucrat] at Denver International Airport in October, after an air…[hostess included them in her]…human-trafficking [fantasies without their consent]…Mary MacCarthy said the suspicion was based on a “racist assumption” as she is white and her daughter is biracial…The pair were travelling to attend [a] funeral…[but] upon arriving in Denver, [they] were surrounded by two armed [thugs] and a…Southwest [agent] on the jet bridge, and were [interrogated after the crying child was]…separate[d from her mother]…the [air hostess fantasized that] it was suspicious that Ms MacCarthy and her daughter Moira were [in] the last…[airline-assigned] board[ing group] and [that a mother wanted]…to…sit together [with her 10-year-old]…daughter…[even after they were finally allowed to leave, the cops]…called [MacCarthy] 10 days later to [harass her some more]…Southwest Airlines responded [by vomiting out a lot of platitudes and the magic buzzwords]…Human Trafficking…
Why end-to-end encryption is an absolute necessity:
Signal has released the details of a search warrant it received from police in Santa Clara, California, unveiling the [lengths to which cops]…will [go] to force online platforms into disclosing the personal information of their users…[the cops] sought to get the name, street address, telephone number, and email address of a specific Signal user. It also wanted billing records, the dates of when the account was opened and registered, inbound and outbound call detail records, voicemails, video calls, emails, text messages, IP addresses along with dates and times for each login, and even all dates and times the user connected to Signal…[the only information] Signal [could] provide…[was] timestamps show[ing] the dates that the account last connected to Signal…[because] “It’s impossible to turn over data that we never had access to in the first place. Signal doesn’t have access to your messages; your chat list; your groups; your contacts…or [anything else]”…[the cops] then issued a non-disclosure order that required Signal to not publicly disclose that it received the search warrant. Th[at] was then extended four times, which resulted in Signal’s request to unseal the search warrant being repeatedly pushed back. In total, it took Signal almost a full year before the company was able to legally publicly disclose [what had happened]…
Detroit voters…overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative aimed at protecting people who consume “entheogenic plants” from arrest and prosecution. Proposal E, which was supported by 61 percent of voters, makes “personal possession and therapeutic use” of natural psychedelics by adults “the city’s lowest law-enforcement priority”…Just a month ago, the Seattle City Council unanimously approved a [similar] resolution…Although the Detroit ballot initiative claims to “decriminalize” natural psychedelics “to the fullest extent permitted under Michigan law,” it does not affect state penalties for possessing such drugs, which…[can include] up to four years in prison and a $25,000 fine…[though a pending bill] would [truly] decriminalize the [substances if passed]…
Diary #593
Posted in Diary, Music, tagged imaginative fiction, Presents, Sunset on November 9, 2021| 2 Comments »
When I got back to my office in Seattle two days after my birthday, I found two packages waiting for me. One of them, from a reader who has enjoyed my Doctor Who thread on Twitter but prefers to remain anonymous, contained the complete series of Blake’s 7, a BBC serial from the 1970s I’ve heard lots of good things about but have never seen. It was only available in Region 2 format, but that’s OK because I have an all-region player (which is how we watched The Sarah Jane Adventures, since it’s badly overpriced in Region 1 format). We’re going to start watching it in December, after we’re done with Doctor Who up to the last season; the current season won’t be out on disc until probably sometime next year. And I’ll definitely be sharing my thoughts, though not at such length as I have with Doctor Who! The other package was from one of my regular gentlemen, and contained the Meat Loaf disc you see at the bottom of this picture, plus a special edition of John Coltrane’s masterpiece A Love Supreme. When I left for Sunset last Thursday, I wanted to listen to at least one of them on the way home, but realized too late I had packed them in my suitcase and I wasn’t going to pull over to dig them out. But that’s OK, because I’ll be going back in two weeks and I’ll listen to them then. In case you’re wondering, I actually prefer to listen to discs in the car because it’s the only time I can do so without usually being interrupted, including by myself. Yes, I also listen to music while getting stoned, but for that I just use Pandora so I needn’t deal with changing discs, or miss something I really want to hear because I drop off into a drugged sleep. Two other readers have told me there are packages on the way, so I’ll tell you about them when they arrive. And though you can’t see it clearly, this picture also contains another of my presents: Jae is decorating my office and I’m already using it even though it isn’t yet finished!
Diary #592
Posted in Diary, tagged holidays, Presents, recipes, Sunset on November 3, 2021| 1 Comment »
Chekhov told me a few weeks ago that he and his lady friend Yellowbird wanted to provide dinner for my birthday, but I had no idea they were planning to go all out with a fun Halloween-themed spread! You can probably tell what the things at front left are; behind them are deviled eggs with a little avocado in the filling, and the pumpkin puke is guacamole. Between the two pumpkins are mushroom eyeballs and a multi-layer dip topped with spiders made from black olives; to the left of those is a carrot cake, and the cemetery is a cheeseburger casserole. The upside-down devilled eggs are poked with holes to resemble a hockey mask (as worn by Undead Serial Killer from Popular Slasher Movie Franchise Guy™), and the plate at front right contains tooth-rows made from apple slices, peanut butter & miniature marshmallows; Frankenstein’s monster heads made from kiwi fruit; banana ghosts; cucumber skulls; and teensy mandarins dressed as pumpkins. And at the back are 50 roses, sent by Dr. Quest! Jae got me some cool snakeskin print clothes, Yellowbird got me a horror-movie-watching blanket, and Grace got me some titanium chopsticks; we celebrated with three Vincent Price movies, and I got completely stoned and blew my diet. So all in all, it was a very lovely birthday, and when I arrived at my city flat yesterday I had several presents from readers!
The October Country
Posted in Biography, Favorites, tagged holidays, Presents, psychology on October 4, 2021| 3 Comments »
October Country, that country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and midnights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain… – Ray Bradbury
My 2011 essay “Moondance” was mostly an examination of the psychological and philosophical consequences of modern people’s disconnection with nature, but it also included the following:
October usually enjoys a particular sort of cool weather, a crisp breeziness quite unlike that one might experience on an early spring day or a comparatively warm winter one; this is October Weather, my name for that special atmospheric condition I associate with turning leaves and the imminent arrival of my birthday. In New Orleans I was often cheated of it…but when [it] did arrive I was filled with a sort of wild, witchy joy; I wanted to stay out late, to suck the fragrant air into my lungs and fly through the night under the harvest moon with my hair streaming behind me. As a young teen I often sneaked out in the middle of the night to enjoy such weather, and after I arrived at UNO I would wander about the campus on such evenings or ride my bicycle to midnight movies…And though as I age my reaction to October Weather isn’t nearly as strong as it was in my teens and twenties, on clear, cool October nights I still feel the urge to go out and dance in the dry leaves under the moon.
I’m now a decade further from those days than I was when I penned those lines, and my days of dancing under the moon are long gone; each October takes me still further, and now my reaction to October weather is less euphoria and more blessed relief from the discomfort and anxiety produced by the excessive light and heat of summer. October is more than just my native month; it is my native country, and the time in which I have always been most at peace and (paradoxically for a time associated with haunts, dying vegetation and the dying year) felt most alive. I’ve always had a taste for the weird and macabre, for spooky tales and shadow-shows, for rain and dry leaves and pumpkins, for black cats and the imagery of wild woods, sunless seas, and catacombs; I was “Goth” long before either the term or the subculture existed. So it should be no surprise to anyone that I gravitated first toward a profession associated with musty books, and later toward one associated with the night, nor that as I aged I moved my habitation westward (the direction historically associated with death) to finally settle in the region of this continent with the least sunlight and the most rain. These days, I mostly celebrate this Month of Months with the watching of horror movies, culminating in my birthday; if you’d like to help me celebrate by sending a token of your esteem, I’d very much welcome that. And as you’ve probably already guessed, many of the selections are very much in keeping with the season.
Brazen Solicitation
Posted in Diary, tagged Presents, Sunset on August 9, 2021| 1 Comment »
A little over a year ago I published “Generous Gents“, in which I expressed my appreciation for the many lovely presents my clients, admirers, readers, and fans have bought for me. As I explained then, practical gifts “…may not be the stuff of male fantasy like fancy lingerie and expensive jewelry, but they mean far more to me: they are allowing me to create the comfortable home I plan to spend the rest of my life in.” And as I wrote in another column a few months earlier, even small thoughtful gifts from my Amazon wishlist mean a lot to me. Well, my birthday is coming up in just under three months, and tomorrow some gentlemen from my new gas provider will be coming to install a new 500-gallon propane tank to serve as the fuel reservoir for my new standby generator, running a new line to the gas heater in the process so we can retire the old tank completely. And as you can probably guess, tank plus fittings plus labor plus a couple-hundred gallons of propane comes with a pretty hefty price tag. So this is me being a brazen hussy and reminding everyone who might be feeling generous about all the free entertainment and enlightenment I give y’all 365 days a year, and saying that either monetary gifts or wishlist presents would be even more appreciated than usual for the next few months.
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