Columns, Marx for Cats and basketball
This week, I’m going to send out that column about cultivated-meat bans. If you’d like to submit your own writing, give these newspaper email lists a look: https://slaughterfreeamerica.substack.com/p/how-to-write-letters-to-newspapers-6eb
Anyway, let’s do (Cell) Culture Talk. Here’s what I’ve been listening to, reading, and watching lately.
Audiobook — Blood in the Garden by Chris Herring. I’m a relatively recent Knicks fan. So, I didn’t know much about the bruising, legendary New York squads from the 1990s, aside from what I’d picked up by osmosis. It was good to learn more about this important period in the franchise’s existence.
Book — Marx for Cats by Leigh Claire La Berge. The text is written in an occasionally satirical tone. As a result, it’s sometimes hard to tell when the author wants to be taken seriously. Still, there are a lot of fascinating anecdotes about felines intertwined with history of feudalism, capitalism and socialism.
Movie — Mickey 17. It’s a humorous, though quite odd, science-fiction film, directed by Bong Joon Ho. Cultivated meat is portrayed in a very unflattering light. Robert Pattinson stars as a disposable worker, charged with dangerous tasks on a space-colonization mission. His body is reprinted each time he dies.
Movie — Cleaner. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Daisey Ridley outside the Star Wars films. She plays a window cleaner here who attempts to resolve a hostage crisis at the building where she works. Martin Campbell directed the uninspired Die Hard clone, which features environmentalist villains.
Sports — Knicks sign Jordan Clarkson. After agreeing to a buyout from Utah, the 33-year-old guard accepted a veteran’s minimum offer from New York, where he will presumably come off the bench. Clarkson has more of an offensive than a defensive reputation. In 2021, he was voted the league’s Sixth Man of the Year.
Sports — Knicks sign Guerschon Yabusele. The 29-year-old center, who previously played with Philadelphia, joined New York on a two-year, $12-million deal. During the summer, I’m not listening to as many basketball podcasts as I typically am. However, the Knicks supporters I follow on social media seem pleased with the signing.
Sports — Knicks hire Mike Brown as head coach. I would not want to coach a team that fired my predecessor after reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. Those are some crazy high expectations! Still, I’m excited to see if Brown can help lead New York to the next level. He’s previously won two Coach of the Year awards.
Meditation passage — O Name, Stream Down in Moonlight by Sri Chaitanya. I’m memorizing this one now. The lifespan of the author listed on the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation website roughly lines up with that of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a Hindu saint listed on Wikipedia. So I assume they are the same person.