Letters, Sinners and Roblox
With the kids getting out of school for the summer, I’m not sure how much I’m going to be able to protest for the next few months. So I’m going to start things off by submitting a letter about the Food and Drug Administration approving Wildtype’s cultivated salmon. Take a look at my newspaper email lists: 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 reading, watching, and playing lately.
Book — The Homebrewed Christianity Guide to the Holy Spirit by Grace Ji-Sun Kim. I believe Unitarianism is most promising for developing a pro-animal Christianity. But within Trinitarianism, I think a heavy emphasis on the Holy Spirit could open up some avenues for greater consideration of nonhumans. This seems like an accessible introduction to the third person of the Trinity.
Movie — Sinners. It’s a horror masterpiece, written and directed by Ryan Coogler, about music, Jim Crow, and vampires. Michael B. Jordan stars in a dual role as a pair of twin brothers who return to their Mississippi home to establish a juke joint which is overrun by supernatural evil. Miles Caton, Hailee Steinfeld and others round out the cast. Make sure to watch the post-credit scenes.
TV — Gilmore Girls. We were enjoying Superman and Lois, but there was a villain in the second season that was a little too scary for the kids. So we headed back to this tried-and-true favorite. On this watch through, I’m paying close attention to the characters who aren’t fully established at the outset, like Kirk Gleason. Similarly, they initially talk about Lorelei ‘Trix’ Gilmore as if she’s dead.
Game — Roblox. I’ve been playing this with my older son a lot. Basically, you make a Lego-looking character as your avatar, which you use to navigate a variety of user-designed games. Some of these digital worlds are genuinely cool. Others are deeply weird. I feel like I’m getting exposed to a bunch of Generation Alpha memes I don’t understand. Either way, it makes for fun bonding time.
Sports — Knicks fire coach Tom Thibodeau. I’m a little wary of the move, since Thibodeau is the only New York coach who has been remotely successful since I began following the team. That said, I get it. The Knicks starters didn’t compliment each other. A big part of that is on the front office, in my view. However, Thibodeau didn’t experiment with different lineups until the Eastern Conference Finals.