Embrace your inner purple

Next up someone is going to claim that the Narnia series isn't kids books.

Also? Most kids novels crack 300 pages. Most if not all the Harry Potter books do. Most Redwall books do. Rick Riordan's books do. I haven't read them but judging by their length, I'd say most Warrior Cats books probably do.

Kids books go beyond picture books and chapter books. Every school library I've worked at (about 10 different ones this year) has had tons of novels, most of which I'm sure would crack 300 pages.

I think part of the problem is people only conceptualize kids media as either 'stuff for little kids' like picture and chapter books and teen/young adult media. There's lots of 'older child/tween' books that people insist 'aren't REALLY kids books' because adults and teenagers like them as things besides 'a good kids book'. Sorry, that's bullshit. Sometimes kids books (and media in general but we're talking about kids books) are good. Sometimes they have appeal for all ages.

get a bit of hope, you get

a cute birb photo

Earthquakes in Venezuela: What We Know by Caracas Chronicles

Key Information About Venezuela’s State of Emergency by Caracas Chronicles

VENEZUELA’S EARTHQUAKE STATE OF EMERGENCY: HOW TO HELP

We Love Foundation: Provinding food, water, medical support, hygiene kits, shelter supplies, logistics, and direct support for vulnerable families on the ground. They have worked with global partners and Venezuelan nonprofits for the past 13 years.

The Gio Foundation: Humanitarian and animal aid nonprofit organization accepting donations through their portal.

Aldeas Infantiles SOS: Accepts donations in bolívares (Venezuelan currency) through their Venezuelan branch. Donations in foreign currencies can be sent through Aldeas Infantiles SOS Spain.

Save the Children’s Emergency Fund: Donations will go towards providing urgent, life-saving support to Venezuelan children.

UNICEF Spain: Has launched an Emergency Fund for Venezuelan children.

Miami-based Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce Foundation: Launched a fundraising campaign to provide food, water, medicine, shelter and emergency relief.

Source: Caracas Chronicles

Two questions (100% in good faith, I understand that your notes have not always been in good faith)

1 - Does the rating of the movie matter or just the intended audience? I'm thinking of movies that may have been made with adults in mind but don't really contain anything objectionable for kids, like a lot of older classic movies.

2 - You mentioned Mulholland Drive in the notes. Is that indicative of your genre/plot element preferences or was that just a random example?

July 22nd: breakfasted on a lovely array of fresh strawberries and goat’s cheese with honey, oat cakes and barley porridge. For luncheon we feasted on a catch of smoked trout, vegetable stew, and of course a couple of flagons of October Ale

Order 66 is already an incredibly tragic scene, with a fantastic score, that never fails to give me chills, but in this case I was particularly hit by the short sequence where Zett Jukassa is killed by the clones right in front of Bail Organa.

At first glance, it's just a fun way to do a cameo by George Lucas' son, and that's likely all it was intended as, without an additional thematic meaning. But the structure of the moment does say something about the Jedi that I think is important.

When Zett appears, he's clearly making a break for Bail's speeder, seeing it as a means of escaping the massacre and inferno inside the temple. Given his youth, it's entirely possible the lightsaber he's holding isn't even his, it might've been his master's, or just one he grabbed from a fallen Jedi to defend himself as he fled. But with the brutal efficiency of Order 66, he's probably seen a lot of people he knows and cares about slaughtered by the clones already, and is more than likely aware of the risks involved in engaging any clones in a fight.

Yet despite all of that, when the clones open fire, Zett's first instinct isn't to duck and hide in the speeder or get himself out of danger, it's to plant himself between Bail and the hail of gunfire and try to protect Bail. It's entirely possible Zett has no idea who Bail is, and at most he probably just knows him as a Senator and occassional visitor to the Temple, but it doesn't matter. When faced with danger his first instinct isn't to protect himself, it's the selfless instinct to protect others. And it cost him his life.

(I had a paragraph here talking about the plot of 'Padawan Lost' and its relation to this moment, but this post is long enough already so I might make a separate post about that).

The reason I find this moment so impactful is that it represents the type of 'light' Palpatine wanted to eradicate. Selfless good, protecting others and putting them before yourself, self-sacrifice, they're all values the Jedi represent, and they're all values Palpatine needs the galaxy to lose hold of if he wants his grip on power to remain.

It's a running theme throughout the OT, Andor, the Clone Wars, and more, that fighting FOR others gives people a strength they wouldn't otherwise have. Han chose to come back and help the rebels in A New Hope, Luke and Anakin defeated Palpatine because they were fighting for each other instead of for themselves, etc. Tyrants like Palpatine thrive when people distrust each other, when they're driven to look out solely for their own interests, because it keeps the people separated, oppressed, and severely lacking in morale.

Palpatine didn't just kill the Jedi, he symbolically slaughtered the galaxy's hope and selflessness, setting the perfect stage for his own power. And to take it even farther, he framed the Jedi as dangerous traitors. The symbols of good were, if one believed his words, revealed to be crafty villains who had fooled the Republic into trusting them just so they could gain power. He framed the Jedi as doing the very thing he did, so that he could be the galaxy's hope, putting a stop to the 'threat' and protecting the Republic. But if you can't trust the Jedi, who can you trust? Your neighbors? Your friends? Your senators? It's terrifying how Palpatine successfully generated the environment of fear and paranoia that would keep him in power while exterminating the organization representing everything that would ideologically undermine him.

At least hit the shiny repost button if you're going to do nothing else. This should not stand.

There’s probably more but these are the ones I can think of at the moment! Please be considerate and don’t play pranks at other people’s expenses!