(written by Terry MacNeil, on July 11-12, 14, 19, 2025)

I’m a slasher movie fan. And I love (for varying reasons) the first three Sleepaway Camp movies AND Return to Sleepaway Camp. However, the first three movies are (nowadays) controversial – because they are accused of being transphobic and homophobic.

Is Sleepaway Camp (the first film in the series) transphobic and homophobic? I say no, because the killer is cisgendered and FORCED by an adult to live as another gender. But is the movie homophobic? Well, it has no stance on homosexuality – despite featuring two gay adult male characters. Also, the campers make NO homophobic jokes/insults – which (in real-life) is unusual, for children of that age range. Though in a way, Sleepaway Camp foresaw the future of transphobia – there ARE a lot of anti-trans humans today who are CONVINCED cisgendered children are being FORCED to transition by their “woke” parents, as well as by other (so-called) “activists” (such as harmless drag queens who volunteer to read children’s books to children at libraries). These paranoid (and mostly right-wing) anti-trans humans see trans humans as being manipulated, brainwashed, mentally ill, etc. They ALSO absurdly paint (most, if not all) trans humans as child molesters, a danger/threat to cisgendered humans, etc.

So is Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers transphobic and homophobic? Well, this sequel retcons the first Sleepaway Camp – by saying the killer IS transgendered (despite not being so in the first film). So this sequel features a killer trans human who is unstable/insane/psychopathic – though I didn’t get the impression the movie paints ALL trans humans as unstable/insane. However, the killer in this film is more comfortable in a female body, than a male one – something that wasn’t the case in the first film. Also, this sequel (unfortunately) features homophobic remarks – which is par for the course, for a 1980s slasher film.

The debate around these movies reminds me of when the movie Batman Returns was released. After seeing that movie, I (a cisgendered heterosexual male) wanted to be “Catwoman” for Halloween. But my parents got me a “Batman” costume that Halloween, and I was cool with that. In retrospect, I would’ve been mercilessly ridiculed by my peers if I had been “Catwoman” – and likely marked as a homosexual and/or transvestite and/or transgendered. The thing was, “Catwoman” was so BAD ASS in Batman Returns – she could go toe to toe fighting “Batman” (and nearly killed him). She also got shot a bunch of times – then challenged the gunman to keep firing. Also, “Catwoman” was a villain – which (in my opinion) made her even more awesome.

When another “Batman” movie (The Dark Knight) was released years later, an adorable four-year-old(?) female child came to my house trick-or-treating (and she was dressed as “Batman”). But at that time – there weren’t many heroines (that would appeal to children) in movies, so it was common to see female children dress as male heroes for Halloween. And no one thought anything of it. But if she had been born a boy and dressed as a heroine…

The only time in my life I wore women’s clothing – was for “Slave Day” when I was in elementary school. “Slave Day” is a game where one person pretends to be a “slave” for a “master”. In my case, my “master” was a girl in my class – and she forced me to spend the day in women’s clothing and make-up, in addition to bossing me around all day. It was a miserable day.

As for Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor, it’s an unfinished film that was mostly old footage from the earlier films – which I HEAR is so bad, it makes Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (a film with a similarly shitty format) look like the most amazing movie ever filmed. Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on June 27-29, 2025)

Let me be clear. There is NOTHING that could ever make me read “The 1957 Edition” of Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road. Reading “The Original Scroll” (of On the Road) was bad enough. The cover of the published edition of “The Original Scroll” promises: “The legendary first draft – rougher, wilder, and racier than the 1957 edition”. Well, that ain’t saying much.

“The Original Scroll” is a juvenile (and boring) novel about Jack Kerouac and other irresponsible adults spending the little money they have travelling the country, and chasing skirts. When they aren’t travelling, they’re briefly shacked up with the women they’re currently banging. That said, I was surprised by how often they DIDN’T hitchhike (which is the way of travel I most respect).

But Kerouac made the HUGE mistake of assuming that everything he wrote (no matter how tedious) would result in a good novel. He drowns the reader in unimportant details – EXCEPT when it COMES to the sex scenes (this is when the novel leaves everything to the imagination). But I can’t complain about that – considering how often Kerouac (and various male friends of his) lust for (and bang) underage teenage girls. If the novel is to be believed, Kerouac wasn’t a pedophile – but he WAS an ephebophiliac. However, there are ALSO times where Kerouac’s writing makes him sound like a hebephiliac – considering he had WAY higher praise for the beauty of 13 and 14 year old girls, than he did for any adult female. In the World of Kerouac, it seems “girls under 18 are for one-night-stands, and any women over 20 are for marrying”. However, Kerouac mercifully did us all a favour and spared us detailed descriptions of the underage fucking.

And with regard to the countless unimportant details in “The Original Scroll”, how many times did we have to read a sentence or two about people who are introduced to Jack Kerouac – then (after the end of those two sentences) are never seen by him ever again?

As for the 2012 movie On the Road, it manages to be even more boring than the novel – which is an impressive feat, to be sure. Though I’m not certain whether the movie was supposed to be an adaptation of “The 1957 Edition” or “The Original Scroll” – or both.

The three most “memorable” (a term I use sarcastically) parts of the film – are Joan Vollmer simulating a blowjob, and a double handjob performed by a female on two males at the same time, and a homosexual man consenting to be sodomized. Needless to say, this is a very forgettable and unmemorable film.

To further illustrate my annoyance with the film, the movie shows Kerouac sit down beside Bea Franco on a bus – then all of a sudden (without any further detail) it immediately cuts to them working at a cotton field, and living together. Even though I wasn’t a fan of “The Original Scroll”, at least it explained Franco’s background and how they ended up living together. The movie doesn’t bother.

“Grooming” is something the men in “The Original Scroll” never actually bother to do – because of their short attention spans, impatience, and laziness. As far as an actual example of grooming (in fiction), I recently mentioned to a friend of mine that I heard “Xander” was in a relationship with “Dawn” in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics. And all my friend said, was “Ew.” He was then speaking for everyone who disapproves of the wish fulfillment of Joss Whedon. Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on June 17-19, 22-23, 2025)

I think it was about a year ago that I read Jerry Seinfeld’s book SeinLanguage – a book that should’ve served as a warning to all of humanity that Seinfeld is not nearly as funny as he’s reputed to be. Well, he was the main star of the TV series Seinfeld – and also it’s co-creator. And I consider Seinfeld to be one of the most hilarious TV shows ever made. But it wasn’t until a few years ago that I learned what the actual job of a “creator” of a TV series is – as well as the amount of actual writing Seinfeld contributed to Seinfeld. Also, Seinfeld’s post-Seinfeld work (like Bee Movie, but especially Unfrosted) sure make him appear to be a talentless hack.

Speaking of Unfrosted, I watched that movie while drunk out of my mind last year – and the next day, I barely remembered any of it. One thing I did remember, was that I felt intense hatred for the film. So today, I rewatched Unfrosted – sober. And boy, do I ever regret that.

So Bee Movie had an anti-socialist message, but Unfrosted is so nakedly pro-capitalist – by comparison, it makes Bee Movie look as if it had been written by Marxists. Seinfeld seems to have this gross (and bizarre) nostalgia/affection for the Corporate America of the mid-twentieth century. That was pre-Vietnam War, and before the rise of the 1960s/1970s “New Left”. But most importantly – the early 1960s was the time of Seinfeld’s childhood. It’s clear he’s one of those reactionaries that wants to go back to the America of the 1950s – a more “innocent” time of unapologetic racism, sexual harassment, anti-feminism, anti-Communism, anti-LGBTQIA+, etc.

Seinfeld, who has long been publicly upfront that he’s a fanboy of the Apartheid State of Israel (ASOI) – also loves to collaborate with the mass murderous Israeli Defence Force (IDF) for PR stunts. So Seinfeld loves to make “state terrorists” look good – as long as they’re Jewish (and paranoid)! That said, I’m willing to cut every Jew on Earth some slack – for the last several thousand years of World history that they suffered under. I mean, in terms of the entire history of the World – the Holocaust wasn’t so long ago. So I can see why so many of the World’s Jews are paranoid – and see danger everywhere (even where it’s non-existent). BUT citing “the Holocaust” or “anti-Semitism” or “they want to genocide us” as excuses to commit ethnic cleansing and/or a genocide of your own SHOULD BE UNACCEPTABLE to EVERYONE.

There is the clip that went viral, of an amusing dude asking Seinfeld to say “Free Palestine” for the camera. Then Seinfeld (notoriously) said “I don’t care about Palestine” and walked away. I’m not 100% certain what Seinfeld meant by that – because he clearly cares a great deal about Israel. Is Seinfeld saying he doesn’t care about Palestinians being mass murdered by the IDF? Is Seinfeld saying he opposes a two-state solution? Well, if anyone were to ask Seinfeld to clarify his statement – I doubt we’d ever get an honest answer from him.

In hindsight, I would say Seinfeld CAN be funny – but ONLY when someone else writes material for him to deliver. And I would say that’s the reason Seinfeld was able to deliver such a genuinely hilarious performance as “Jerry Seinfeld” in the TV series Seinfeld (and I am also convinced that 95% of the personality of the detestable “Jerry Seinfeld” character was based on that of the real-life Jerry Seinfeld – so I’m convinced Seinfeld was largely portraying himself). As for the book SeinLanguage – that seems to me to have been entirely written by Seinfeld himself, judging by how unfunny it is. Well, I did laugh at the brief part in the book where he wrote about airplanes crashing, and airplanes that explode on take-off. But that was it. Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on May 31, June 5-10, 2025)

As far as my movie taste goes – I would be most accurately described as a “gorehound”. And yes, “old school” movies with lots of gore (and/or characters being relentlessly terrorized by psychopaths) are among my most cherished films. BUT some of my OTHER most cherished movies – are romance films. And I say that, as someone who considers the VAST MAJORITY of romance movies to be absolutely awful and shitty.

After recently reading Kate Beaton’s graphic memoir Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, I concluded I find graphic memoirs more enjoyable to read than standard text only memoirs. Well, in the case of Craig Thompson’s graphic memoir Blankets – if it had been a text only autobiography, I highly doubt I would’ve ever read it (for instance, the book’s back cover made it sound like more than a few romance movies I’ve seen). However, if Ducks had been a text only memoir – I still would’ve made reading it a priority (because of what’s covered in the book). Anyway, after hearing Beaton’s high praise for another of Thompson’s graphic memoirs (the one titled Ginseng Roots: A Memoir), I figured I ought to give Blankets a chance – even though I couldn’t imagine a more lame title for your graphic memoir. And not even a subtitle?

After reading Blankets from cover-to-cover, my main takeaway – is that the book is a detailed testimony of the author’s PAIN. Well, not physical pain – I mean deep mental/emotional pain. Thompson had a HORRIBLE childhood – due to poverty, bullies, molestation, and religion. Specifically Christian. More specifically Evangelical Christian. And even more specifically Baptist. My family certainly weren’t Catholic fanatics, but when I was a teenager – I took Catholicism WAY too fucking seriously. So I can relate to Thompson in that way, even though he wasn’t Catholic (and he was WAY more obsessed with religion than I had been).

Something most romance movies can’t get right – is displays of affection that look/feel GENUINE between the actors and/or actresses. In the case of Blankets, we have a cartoonist whose drawings of the two lovers displaying affection – often moved me. I also loved it when “Raina” sings The Cure’s AWESOME song “Just Like Heaven” to Thompson. So it’s clear Thompson is looking back with longing. I kinda know that sentiment – though I’ve never had a lover. I just have a bad habit of looking back mournfully on my youth (which I wasted). There’s various reasons I became an anarchist – one is sadness over my past (as strange as that sounds).

Also, when a romance movie is of two lovers who have known each other from childhood, grow up together, then become romantically involved as adults – that’s possibly my favourite kind of storyline I love to see in a romance movie. Well, Blankets is of two lovers who are in high school when they first meet – and their romance is deeply moving, though tragic (one lover hopes for more from their romance than the other wants). I’ve been a recluse most of my life – so I pretty much only know women that I’ve known since my childhood. However, those women (as far as I can tell) are focused on their future – and I am only an acquaintance from their past. Clearly, I REALLY need to hit the dating websites WAY more often.

After reading Blankets, I was able to see the importance various blankets had in various stages of Thompson’s life – so NOW I say it’s the PERFECT title for his graphic memoir. Blankets is sad. But I hope Thompson will one day have a “cliched romance movie happy ending” – if he hasn’t already. I hope the same for his first lover, “Raina”. Fingers crossed! Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on May 16, 20, 27, and June 5, 8, 2025)

I avoid reading superhero comic books, for the same reason I avoid watching professional wrestling – I was once a HUGE fan of both, and I don’t want to become addicted to either again. The main reasons, is that being a superhero comic book collector is INCREDIBLY expensive (and time consuming), and being a professional wrestling fan requires watching WAY TOO MUCH televised programming (though I always found the villainous wrestlers hilariously antagonizing the audience to be WAY more entertaining than the actual “wrestling”). But I recently decided to make an exception for the collections of The Mask comics – mainly because there weren’t many of them made (and I was curious to see how they compared to the movies).

In the 1994 movie The Mask, the actor Jim Carrey portrays the meek/unconfident/unassertive protagonist – who is completely inept around women. So the protagonist is supposed to embody the saying “nice guys finish last” (a saying that is rarely true in real-life). When he puts on “the mask”, he acquires godlike superpowers. But more importantly – when the protagonist wears “the mask”, he is the confident and suave person he always dreamed of being. But it must be emphasized – the protagonist, deep down, is kind-hearted. And that is reflected in what he does while wearing “the mask”. Overall, I consider The Mask to be a children’s movie – that I enjoyed as a child, and am (much to my surprise) still able to enjoy as an adult.

In the various (R-Rated) comic miniseries of The Mask, there are various protagonists that end up wearing “the mask”. But the first (and most infamous) protagonist to wear “the mask” in the comics, is a meek/unconfident/unassertive dude – though it must be emphasized, he is also a bitter, hate-filled misanthropist. Deep down, the protagonist is NOT kind-hearted – and fantasizes about violently punishing everyone who has ever wronged him. So when the protagonist puts on “the mask” – he acquires godlike superpowers. But more importantly – when the protagonist wears “the mask”, he is the psychopath he always dreamed of being. Since the protagonist, deep down, is such a rotten guy – when he wears “the mask” he becomes an out of control mass murderer, sadist, and cop killer. Since the protagonist is immortal as long as he wears “the mask” – he treats the rest of the World the way he always dreamed of treating it. Unlike the protagonist, most teenage misanthropists grow out of their misanthropy before (or during the early years of) adulthood – and evolve into genuinely nice/caring people. That said, I was a misanthropist into my thirties. Oh. There’s one element in the comics I enjoyed more than the violence, and it’s that the longer you wear “the mask” – the more of YOUR SANITY you lose! Too bad everyone goes back to “normal” when they take off “the mask”. I wish they became PERMANENTLY insane and deranged even when “the mask” is taken off!

And yeah, I also heard there are comics in The Mask franchise that were inspired by The Mask children’s TV cartoon (said cartoon having been inspired by the 1994 movie). Well, I hated that cartoon in my childhood – and I sure as fuck don’t want to waste my time reading G-Rated comics inspired by THAT DRECK.

As for a future movie in The Mask franchise? I want Jim Carrey portraying the protagonist – but this film exists in an alternate universe, where he is an aging and bitter misanthropist. Also, the film is R-Rated – and just as violent/gruesome as the R-Rated comics.

As for the 2005 movie Son of the Mask – the nearly universally despised sequel to the 1994 film? NO COMMENT – except FUCK THAT SHIT MOVIE. Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on May 20, 2025)

If Bill Cosby had not been exposed as a sex criminal, most people who read Love and Marriage (especially if they were fans of The Cosby Show) would incorrectly regard it as a “heartwarming” book. Knowing what we know now, this book shall forever live in infamy.

The book begins with Alvin F. Poussaint’s introduction. He’s a man who died a few months ago, though we all know his greatest life regret – had to be writing the introduction of this book. To quote Poussaint: “Cosby humorously recalls coming of age, marked by his first wet dream. He tells of trying to hide the evidence of his new manhood from his parents by hurriedly washing his sheets, and of being discovered – to his great chagrin.” As for me (Terry), I don’t remember my first wet dream. All I know is, I didn’t change my sheets – because I didn’t care if my parents knew I was having nocturnal emissions, and the thought of lying in my own dried semen didn’t bother me. Although, since it was left to my Mom to change the sheets on my bed every so often (when I was a teenager) – I presume she was grossed out by my crusty sheets.

As for Cosby’s actual book, he mentioned something he and I have in common – we both have long eyelashes. As a child, I recall countless adults commenting on my eyelashes – and saying they wish they had MY eyelashes. Back then, I found the topic embarrassing. But as an adult, I simply think “Well, I don’t have a masculine face – so I may as well accept that I’m a beautiful man.” But I digress.

In the early part of his book (covering his teenage years), Cosby writes (over and over) about glands, and his awkward attempts to woo girls (his own age). I found that a little peculiar, because when I was in junior high – I only had eyes for the high school girls. Then when I was in high school, the girls my own age were only interested in boys older than me. Oh well. I was too clinically insane (and afraid) to court anyone back then. But I digress.

As Cosby’s book moves on to his adult years, he reveals that he was nowhere near as nice as the fictional father he portrayed on The Cosby Show. One of the more memorable Cosby lines: “Paying back the person with whom you have recently been in love is one of life’s most precious moments”. To be clear, he is here referring to revenge. And keep in mind, that is a 52-year-old Bill Cosby’s words – not those of a dumb teenager.

And the rest of Cosby’s book, covers the years of his, uh, “happy” marriage. These chapters amount to little more than transcripts of unamusing arguments he had with his wife. A reader of this book will find not a word of good advice about “love” or “marriage” in its pages, which is to be expected from a book written by a serial rapist.

In my opinion, Cosby has a gift for humour – though it doesn’t translate into the written word. From what I recall, he needed to be SPEAKING to be funny – like when he’d go into “cranky old man mode” (when being interviewed on late night talk shows), or into “cheerful kid-at-heart mode” (when hosting the TV show Kids Say the Darndest Things). I guess that’s why he was a stand-up comedian (something I’ve never actually seen him do). Although, many white right-wingers had a special place in their heart for Bill Cosby – because of his incessant need to shit on young black males. So it seems Cosby’s a guy who likes to punch down.

That said, perhaps the most telling excerpt from the book – is when Cosby wrote “I realized how important it is for each partner in a marriage to make adjustments. One of mine is agreeing to live in a minimum security prison.” Oh, if only. Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on May 6, 9, 12-13, 2025)

In my high school years, I (as I often say) was terrified to socialize with my peers (I was too psychotic, depressed, and anxiety ridden) so I’d spend my weekends watching The Showcase Revue (on TV) with my father. And he would give me one or two beer a night, which I would sip astronomically slowly – and watch indie movies (mostly foreign). And he would reveal certain details of his past – though I later heard there was a fair amount he kept quiet.

Although, before that became our routine – back in high school I noticed a Pedro Almodóvar Spanish movie called Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! was going to be on The Showcase Revue, and was listed as having the highest level of sexual content (for Showcase) – so I made sure I watched it one night (by myself). The sexual content/nudity was indeed explicit – though in retrospect, could have harmed naive/impressionable viewers (if they saw nothing wrong with what the protagonist did in that film). After my Dad heard I watched that movie by myself, he was pissed – and committed himself to watching movies like that with me. He was deeply fearful that teenage males who watch movies like Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! might try to imitate what they see onscreen (and/or see nothing wrong with what the male protagonist did).

Well, there are laws against adults watching pornography with underage teenagers – for good reason. But with the way internet porn is these days – underage teenage males are consuming vast amounts of incredibly misogynistic porn, without any kind of adult supervision. So I’m unsurprised so many teenage males consume porn, and think THAT is how people fuck. And that the advice from scum like Andrew Tate is how men should treat women. As a consumer of porn myself, I consider the most soul-crushing element of porn videos – to be what the male AND female pornstars SAY during the videos. Typically, the male pornstar verbally degrades the female he is having sex with – and the female pornstar verbally degrades herself. To the credit of BOTH my parents – they carefully raised me to NEVER be a misogynist. But I digress.

One of my fondest memories, was the first time I saw Apocalypse Now – specifically the part when some dudes tossed a severed head at the protagonist. When that happened in the movie – my father jumped out of his skin, but I barely flinched (even though I regarded it as a genuinely horrifying moment in the film). And then my Dad was angered/embarrassed by his reaction, and said to me “So if someone cut off my head, and threw it on your lap – what would you do?” I don’t remember what I said, but I think I laughed.

Another fond memory, was watching The Devils – during the part where an inquisitor said (paraphrased) “Blood from the tongue! This is proof he’s a witch!” And my Dad felt the need to tell me “That’s not true.”

Also, Videodrome (with brief interview of special guest David Cronenberg), a movie I hated the first time I saw it – just because it was so bizarre. But that’s the normal teenage reaction to a movie like that – and when I re-watched it in my late-twenties, I loved it.

When I was in junior high, my Dad showed Reservoir Dogs (which he owned on VHS) to me and my brother. When it ended, I said “This is the best movie EVER!” Then my Dad (paraphrased) said “Don’t say that! Only a weirdo would say that’s their favourite movie.” In my early twenties, my Dad assumed I only liked “weird” movies – though he’d be partly to blame for my taste in films. That’s the same guy who assumed everyone he labelled “weird” was a bad person – until I was in high school. Having a weirdo son (who was also one of his best friends) forced him to reassess the way he judged people. I recall him saying to me “You’re weird. But I like you.” And I thought something like “Well, at least you’re not going to kick my head in – unlike lots of the weirdos you encountered in your past.” That said, I’ll always miss him. RIP. Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on May 6-8, 10, 2025)

Recently, I’ve been seeing occasional short (yet strange) ads about vaping and anxiety. I GUESS they’re saying vaping causes anxiety. But the ads are so short, and disappear from my screen so quickly – I can’t say with certainty what they’re about. No matter. I don’t vape.

Though those ads are the kind I’d expect from some level of government – which leaves me surprised the federal government isn’t screaming about alcohol causing cancer. As for the Nova Scotia provincial government – I’d expect them to say: “Yes, alcohol causes cancer! But PLEASE keep buying alcohol (and contributing to our coffers)!” Which reminds me – there was some study that no one could shut up about some years ago (I forget when exactly). And the study said consuming alcohol CAUSES CANCER. And I thought “Duh… isn’t that common sense?” Looking at my father, I assumed that since the days of my youth.

My father was an interesting cat. I won’t say much about his life, except that it was quite sensational. He did plan on getting me to write his biography (back when I was a teenager) – though he later changed his mind, because he assumed no one would believe it. The problem with people who live sensational lives – they tend to need other witnesses to the stories they’re recounting, if they are to be believed by anyone. Over the years, I have heard the occasional story (from other people) about impressive shit my father did. Overall, my father’s main tendency – was to intimidate and terrorize other humans. In my opinion, instilling fear in the rest of humanity – was the reason he was born. His life purpose.

My Dad was also a partyanimal, and became an alcoholic. So he had a lot of “fun” in his youth. After moving to a community where he rarely socialized with anyone outside of the house, and was stuck with only the local CBC, ATV, and MITV channels on TV – it’s no surprise (to me) that he drank as heavily as he did. Although, he didn’t drink any less once we got our first satellite TV system – although he did seem to enjoy his waking hours WAY MORE.

His was a slow-motion death – his health slowly worsening over the course of about a decade. Liver failure, cancer, and bowel blockages were the worst issues he dealt with during those years. Near the end of his life, he did mention to me that he had a lot of “fun” in his life – but that “it wasn’t worth it” (as in, he conceded he should’ve AVOIDED the partying/drinking so that he could’ve lived longer). I admired the strength of his will to live, especially considering how much he suffered during that decade – but I was saddened to hear he regretted the “fun”.

Also near the end of my Dad’s life, he did say that he assumed the meaning of life – was to have children. So I guess when he went unconscious (and later died) he had peace of mind. In my opinion, spawning children is unimportant (especially when on a planet as populated as ours is). Though I DO consider the way you treat the World and ESPECIALLY the humans around you to be VERY important. Well, that is what I assume.

As for me, I routinely get loaded in front of my computer – then go to bed (without leaving my house). Do I have “fun” doing that? Absolutely! Getting wasted while listening to music (by myself) is strangely more enjoyable than going to parties was in my youth – I guess because I’m no longer “batshit crazy” (aka psychotic) nor incredibly depressed. However, I EXPECT that my drinking will one day result in me developing cancer – which is fine with me. I have no intention of living a boring/healthy lifestyle, because I have no desire to live as long as I possibly can – I’d rather perish from cancer in middle-age than spend my elderly years in an Alzheimer’s ward. And with climate change and crises in the global capitalist system hanging over my head… Well, if my fucking house burns down in a forest fire – not only will I be financially unable to “rebuild”, I will have no desire to do so. The last thing I need is to suffer. Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on April 27-28, 30, and May 3, 2025)

Today, I finished reading Kate Beaton’s graphic memoir Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands. Being the cheapskate I am – I waited a few years for her book to come out in paperback, before purchasing it.

My main takeaway from Ducks – is that the resource extraction sector sounds like an even more hostile workplace for women than the RCMP or the Canadian military. At the tar sands, Beaton was able to experience a high level of hostility, misogyny, and sexual harassment from A LOT of unpleasant men – these being men who make all men look bad. And I say that, as a man who frequently engaged in “guy talk” with “the guys” throughout my life. The only reason I don’t engage in actual “guy talk” nowadays – isn’t by choice. It’s because I don’t really have any male friends left who engage in “guy talk”. Instead, when it comes to me expressing my thoughts on the physical attractiveness of women – nowadays it is usually only in the form of public posts on my Bluesky account (typically after seeing a movie or TV show that results in me drooling over a physically “hot” actress). Is “guy talk” a bad thing? Well, it is incredibly juvenile. And if you’re a male feminist (as I am) and if you engage in “guy talk” – it is proof that you’re a FLAWED feminist (which is how I see myself).

Before I continue, I must mention my Mom (a “Classical Marxist”) is old school – she says “If you’re not an anti-capitalist, you’re not a socialist.” But I am more lenient in my lingo – I am comfortable labelling “social-democrats” (despite not being anti-capitalists) as “socialists”.

In my opinion – being kind is an essential personality trait of being a socialist. Which reminds me of Ana Kasparian – a longtime host of The Young Turks (TYT), which USED TO BE a social-democratic news analysis Youtube show. I recall one of her videos that put me off, when she revealed she’s basically anti-social and is purely hostile to everyday human interaction – though NOT for reasons of social anxiety. So I took that as proof that you can be a socialist with admirable political stances, and still be a shithead. And I wasn’t surprised she later abandoned “the left” – and became a right-winger (the last I heard, she claims to be “neither right nor left”, a label commonly embraced by left-wing sellouts). When Kasparian made her right-wing pivot, she became rabidly anti-crime – which, if memory serves me correctly, occurred around the time Kasparian became a victim of crime. Kate Beaton was frequently treated with extreme disrespect (and also raped more than once) in the tar sands – yet retained her empathy for the men (even the nasty ones) at the tar sands. If I were a woman and had gone through what Beaton went through – I’d likely become a misandrist, that would want to have as many horny men as possible thrown in prison. Would I remain an empathetic person? I highly doubt it.

Granted, I don’t know Kate Beaton personally – though I have read the Wikipedia articles of herself (and that of her husband – the author Morgan Murray). And I make sure I check out her Bluesky and Twitter social media accounts on a daily basis. Those accounts (particularly based on the replies her online friends/acquaintances/fans write to her posts) do SEEM to reveal one thing – that Beaton is kind. It is clear Beaton’s experiences working in the tar sands did not harden her heart. Despite enduring A LOT of bad experiences out there, she does SEEM to have always been a very kind, caring, considerate, and empathetic person. Those are the kinds of socialists the World needs more of – though I wouldn’t recommend those gentle socialists participate in the street brawls where Antifa slugs it out with fascists/neo-fascists. Ⓐ