Turning the Page on 2021--Topics I Started to Write about but Didn't Follow Through On or Publish

Yes, I'm gonna be a star! How 'bout you?
Photo courtesy Gary Firstenberg

I don't always post something every day, though most days I've made an attempt. Usually there are two or three ideas waiting in the wings. Sometimes I develop them a little, other times I just make an outline with a URL directed to the trigger story that sparked the idea.  

Sometimes I go back and finish an idea that I'd previously set aside. Other times, the seed thoughts whither and die on the vine. What follows is a list of these incomplete or undeveloped ideas. I find it interesting that in January I'd planned to write about Peter Jackson's upcoming Get Back project involving The Beatles, and that by year's end everyone was talking about it. 

If this list bores you, feel free to turn the page. I won't be offended.

TOPICS I STARTED BUT DID NOT COMPLETE OR PUBLISH 

JANUARY

The Incredible Variety and Depth of the Dylan Catalog

Watching the Wheels Go Round: John Lennon Sidesteps the Rat Race

The Beatles: Peter Jackson and Get Back.  (Jan 6)

Bohemian Rhapsody

Too Much Regulation

A Brief History of My Car Accidents

Fallout

On January 20: Stay Home

Peter Schweizer Reveals the Depressing Degree of Corruption in Washington

Budget Deficits: When Should We Begin to Be Concerned

The Biggest Problem with Cancel Culture: There’s No Mercy

More Russell (as in Bertrand)

Politics and Dogma

The Duke Lacrosse Case

200 Motels: Zappa Revisited

You’re Aging Well

Still in Awe of Dylan

FEBRUARY

Fresh Ideas in Taxation: Universal Minimum Wage and Flat Tax Thoughts

Fun with Numbers: The Numeral 3

Orwell's Road to Wigan Pier

Facts vs. Interpretations

Financial Thoughts

Housing the Poor

More Thoughts On Cancel Culture

Our Schools Are a Mess, So We Tell Americans How Bad China Is

Notes from C.S. Lewis, A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet

The Important Role of a Father

Tolstoy's The Forged Coupon

Weather Modification: Is Someone Playing with the Weather?

Daniel Botkin’s Psurrealistic Psalms

EVs and the Future of Transportation

Another Cut from Empire Burlesque—I’ll Remember You

Only Lovers Left Alive Is No Ordinary Vampire Flick

Eugenics and Socialism

Vasily Kandinsky

It’s Getting Scarier and Scarier

The Value of Rituals and Routines

Intelligence Doesn't Necessarily Make One Compassionate or Wise: The Eugenics Movement

Executive Orders: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Brouhaha Over When Harry Became Sally

The Three Worst Supreme Court Decisions In U.S. History

The Future of Public Education

MARCH

Are You Feeling Lucky?

Tech Tuesday: The Genomic Revolution

The Marvin Hagler Many Never Knew

Michael Lewis' The Fifth Risk Sheds Light on Part of What Went Wrong These Past Four Years in Washington

Cry Me A River

I Am Not Your Negro--The James Baldwin Documentary

Reedley Relocation Camps of World War II

Sam Cooke & Dylan

A Few Personal Thoughts on the American Revolution, Viet Nam and History: Comparisons, Contrasts

Some Thoughts Regarding Appropriate Timing 

APRIL

Financial Euphoria and the Madness of Crowds

There Are No Guarantees

Recalls Continue to Be a Bane to the Auto Industry

An Example of Spin or Just an Oops?

How to Make a Living as a Writer

A to Z Challenge: Blonde On Blonde

A to Z Challenge: Abortion

A to Z Challenge: Boko Haram

Low Income Housing: Is It Time to Stop Jawboning?

The Fall of Rome 

Billy Collins, Roze & Blud

Interesting Lines from Recent Movies

My Own Version of You: Dylan's Frankenstein Story

Ah Look at All the Lonely People

Mixed Messages

Starting with This: A Quote from The Rules of the Game

MAY

Specificity and Ambiguity: A Trademark Dylan Technique

A Deeper Dive: I Pity the Poor Immigrant

Frost Museum To Show Most Comprehensive Display of Dylan's Art 

Ernest J. Breton and the Secret to Creative Innovation and Invention

Standing Up for Nuclear

My Take on Yesterday (The Movie)

12 Monkeys: Hollywood Entertainment or Prescience?

A Half Hour Happy Hour with the Folks from Heaven’s Door

Interesting and Unusual People I’ve Known Across the Years

The 1619 Project Creates New Narrative that Is Crafted and Crafty

JUNE

The War Poems of C.S.Lewis and Bob Dylan’s Staunch Anti-War Stand

The Jobs Situation: Another Illustration of the Law of Unintended Consequences

WSJ Review of “Damage” Is Right On Target, So Direct

Favorite Borges Short Stories

The Influence of Johnny Cash, the Connector

Ripples in a Pond: Finding Our Own Identity and Making Our Own Mark

Cronkite 

Community Reacts Negatively to More Jobs Coming

A Little Bit Scary? Report Your Friends and Family Members Who Might…

A Few Insights About Quarreling

The Interconnectedness of the Global Economy

Reputation Can Be an Asset or Liability: The E.F. Hutton Scandal

Tales of Brave Ulysses

It’s My Life, Do I Know What I Want?

“My Country Right Or Wrong” Is Wrong

Bob Dylan’s “The Wicked Messenger”

Favorite Films of All Time

JULY

Things We Don’t Like to Talk About: Suicides and Nervous Breakdowns

Massive College Debt: When Illusion Meets Reality

Wally Funk and the Blue Origin

Why Are We Still Wearing Masks?   

Ohio University Commencement Exercise Music, 1974

Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia: A Review

Injustice and Violence: First Hand and Second Hand

Orwell, Churchill and Totalitarianism

What Will the Year 2040 Look Like in America?

The Future: Frightful or Delightful? The Power of the State Continues to Expand

Churchill and Orwell: Insights and Takeaways

AUGUST

10 Great Dylan Songs? By What Criteria?

Why Punctuality Matters

The Board Game Market

Everything Is Broken

It’s a White, White, White, White World

The Future of Education

A Strategy for Standing Out from the Herd

Kentaro Kobayasha, The Rolling Stones and the PC Police

Penny Lane, the Oxbow Incident and the Problem of Mobs

The EV Dilemma

Springtime in New York: Just In Time for Fall

SEPTEMBER

A Pair of Orson Welles Anecdotes

Is the Cancel Culture Craze America’s Latest Fad? How Long Will It Continue

A Glimpse of Bob Dylan’s Malibu by Martin Newman

Harvard Prof Richard Thomas Says, “Start Your Dylan Tour In Duluth”

Are Homeless Camps the New Normal?

Rex Lex: What It Means and Why It Is Important

The EV Reality Check

Re-Thinking Universal Basic Income

Colonel Parker

A Shoplifting Epidemic

OCTOBER

Who Knows Where the Time Goes

An Hour of Poetry for People Who Say Are Not Into Poetry

Virtue Signaling

Clickbait Headlines

Planning to Go Carbon Free? Say Goodbye to Bubble Gum

My Favorite Things: Movies (Updated)

NOVEMBER

The Roberto Clemente Museum in Pittsburgh: Worthy Tribute to a Great Ballplayer and a Great Human Being

The Rough and Rowdy Road Tour Is Underway: Dylan Still Has That Old Black Magic

Bad Grammar (Examples)

Greenwashing: What It Is and How It Happens
Minyades: Richard Höglund’s Breakthrough Paintings Excavate the Darkness

Tech Tuesday: A.I. Is Already Taking White Collar Writing Jobs. Who's Next?

AI Writes a Review of a Book About AI

Jack Dorsey Steps Down from Twitter Leadership

The Sheer Madness of the Battle of the Somme

DECEMBER

The Great Escape: Estonia 1944

Of Boosters, Vaxx Mandates and Government Hypocrisy

Bob Dylan 'Retrospectrum' artwork show opens Nov. 30 in Miami

Niall Ferguson on the Gods of History

L A Confidential Brings to Mind Stories from Nevada Bob's Memoir

Immersive Art Outside of Museums -- Why Are the Critics Cringing?

Redistricting: The Times’ Spin Seems Misleading To Me

Northland Influences on Bob Dylan

* * * 

Looking at the photo of the starfish at the top of the page has me wondering why, why, why are there so many stars in the sky? And what is the point of all this beauty under the sea? What an amazing universe. 

District 9: Humans Are Not Welcome Here

That's the tag line in District 9. "You are not welcome here."

I rented District 9 from Blockbuster after noticing that it was #1 over where customers' favorites are shelved. I vaguely recalled the trailer at the theater, and seemed to notice that it had gotten a lot of tweets on Twitter. I also noticed that this was a Peter Jackson project and his Lord of the Rings trilogy was indeed an amazing achievement.

What really got me, however, was when the salesclerk said the story is told as a documentary. This intrigued me. As if this were something that our news crews were covering somewhere in the world, a real event. She added, "I didn't expect to cry when I saw it in the theater." That's quite an admission. Does a movie like Alien make people cry. No. Just makes you jump out of your seat a few times.

So I put on the film while doing taxes last night. Can I just say it blew me away? I found District 9 to be utterly compelling.

Here's a typical imdb reviewer's rave... "I will not go far into detail because I would prefer to not spoil anything. This is unlike any sci-fi we have seen in years. Forget Terminator 3 and 4, forget the AVP movies, forget all those laughable sci-fi movies, this film is what we have been waiting for. An original idea, an original concept, brilliantly executed, great CGI, good acting, it just has it all. We have seen many aliens come to earth movies, but this is different, I will not say why though. That is for you to find out when you see it, which I HIGHLY recommend you do."

And I agree. The original concept, brilliantly executed, with a story that offers more than meets the eye, is refreshing. My internal interaction with other questions it probes, such as race relations and social problems in Africa, also left me wondering how many layers were embedded here deliberately. Maybe like a great poem or piece of artwork, the reader or viewer takes away more than was there and adds to its depth.

The story of how the film came to be, and its origins outside the Hollywood starpulse factory, is also noteworthy. A Nikki Finke column in early November told how the 30 million dollar film came to gross more than 200 million by that point already.

"The secret of the indie's success, like Paranormal Activity, was that it was made outside the studio system and marketed outside the studio formula. The edgy and original content, the South African cast instead of Will or Adam or Brad, were thought to be integral aspects which the majors would have rejected during their own development process. "Audiences are driving the agenda and deciding for themselves what they want to see through Twitter and social networking sites," one insider explained to me. When District 9 was screened at Comicon, American Idol's Jordan Sparks alerted 220,000 followers how good the pic was. That's when the pic exploded in popularity. By the time it opened on a Friday, it was the #1 most tweeted topic."

So it was a marketing achievement as well as an achievement in film. But let's be frank, unless the product was good, the PR game would not have carried it. And this product is very good.

District 9. This one is worth seeing.