And that this is actually a really fun, low cost way to not only access news and larger cultural magazines, but also to get free patterns for many different crafts that you can screenshot if need be and that lower the financial barriers to entry for trying new things

From my experience working in both academic and public libraries, many libraries are use it or lose it funding-- I have to say this because a lot of patrons feel guilty for how much they use the library and how often they're using it funny enough, but the worst thing you can do for libraries is not try out new features and not use what's already given to you as much as possible.

Hannibal (2013-2015)

2x11 - “Ko No Mono”

happy pride to the bj scene where hannibal and will eat ortolans that food stylist janice poon named buddy and pedro after gay penguins from the toronto zoo

“Liar.”

I would never pay money for a redbox. if you ask politely and are very very persistent (i.e. annoying) they will let you take it away

here's my dad and i taking it away

luckily there are no shortage of freaks like us who will just take them away on our own volition. we did it all "by the book", too: we set up cones and caution tape, disconnected electricity properly, used an angle grinder to grind down the bolts in the concrete so nobody would trip on them, then cleaned everything up afterward and sealed off the electrical panel so the store would know everything is safe and tidy. though they were hesitant when we were first contacting them, they were honestly very relieved and grateful when we finally took it away, especially once they saw that we "knew what we were doing" (we don't) and look like we've "done this before" (we haven't).

the fun part: the reason why this redbox, in particular, was completely full and unraided is because the computer hardware inside had failed some months before the bankruptcy, and a failing company sure as hell wasn't gonna send a tech out to our podunk dipshit city to fix it, so it was impossible to rent movies or take any discs out. plus, for who knows how long, people were returning old redbox discs to this machine and not taking any out, leading to a much higher variety of movies than your average redbox.

there is a thriving community of redbox hackers and modders out there, as well, creating open-source software for repurposing the machines and not letting their very interesting and robust disc-management hardware go to waste. this one belongs to my brother (who was very annoying persistent and did all the legwork of contacting managers and securing permission) who is a programmer by trade and will be hacking it into a family-access movie library, with whatever discs we want. i mean the machine is completely weatherproof and has a built-in AC unit, it would be such a waste to not try to turn it into something cool.

if we get another one, i'm gonna try to mod it into some sort of art or zine vending machine. the disc boxes are just the right size for small print art or stickers. would make a great "little free library" too.

thank you <3

To me the allure of Odysseus, and one of his great unique powers, is his ability to make EVERYONE feel like he's their friend. He can land on any shore, speak to any king, and to a man they'll come away feeling like: Odysseus understands. "You can talk to me (=you can listen to me)." THAT'S what true persuasive power looks like. It's Odysseus they send to negotiate with Achilles, sullen in his tent, and Achilles makes a special point of saying "fuck all of them and I hope they die, but know I have nothing against you, buddy." In a real way that I'm sure people have written papers about, it's arguable that Gatsby is one of the closest literary successors to Odysseus, in no small part bc he sits on a throne of lies, but you kind of love him for it—you even love the lies—bc of the way HE can uniquely make YOU feel. That's the only reason a character like this can survive & thrive the way he does. You have to fill in the blanks. This is Odysseus's great power to ME:

He smiled understandingly—much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced—or seemed to face—the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.

This is, by definition, the polar opposite of Matt Damon's entire self-created public persona, bc Matt Damon is defined by his smarminess. He somehow manages to feel "ivory tower" without even being in the ivory tower. He attempts to isolate you with his unique accrued wisdom as an Actor who is so very and unusually thoughtful, and it's especially painful to actual knowers bc they know there's nothing THERE. There's just nothing to him imho. Matt Damon has never once said something that made me feel he Understands a goddamn thing, in any general or specific sense—much less that he understands ME. I swear to god his best role of all time, in terms of his character's personality aligning with my impression of his true self, was fucking LaBoeuf in True Grit. It's some kind of miserable irony that he's probably jorking it every night to being cast as Odysseus—ah yes, my actorly Wisdom has earned me this—when the true Odysseuses are lovably chewing up the scenery in Galaxy Quest. And yeah, I'll name names. Sam Rockwell could have been a great Odysseus. Gary Oldman could have been a great Odysseus. He's exceptionally hard to cast, but not impossible.

tldr: Imagine willingly turning off your TV and self-selected streaming services (=bards) and asking Matt Damon to recount his life's story for you in over a period of multiple days in your living room (=court); imagine what the lived experience of THAT would feel like. Now imagine asking Sam Rockwell to do the same.