Midweek Musings

Got back from the gym a couple of hours ago, so now I’ve got a bit of time to ponder before I head out for the midweek quiz.

For starters, I know I’m not American but I’m incredibly happy for Zohran Mamdani’s victory yesterday. I generally don’t like to idolise or put politicians on a pedestral, but Mamdani seems like somebody I could get behind if I was living in New York. Call me a radical leftist if you like but I don’t see what’s so radical about wanting to make life a bit more affordable and a bit more accessible for people, especially when the ones in power are doing the exact opposite. Obviously, Mamdani is going to face a huge uphill battle once he takes up his position but his electoral triumph gives me another reason to remain hopeful in this turbulent political climate.

So, what else is on my mind? Well, I do want to pick up the pace with watching movies, so I finally checked John Woo’s Broken Arrow off of my watchlist, which currently has no end in sight. No, it doesn’t reach the heights of Face/Off’s unhinged brilliance, but it’s still a lot of fun regardless. I love John Travolta as the villain and Hans Zimmer’s score is easily one of his best. Yeah, it’s pretty dumb and cliched, but not to the point where it detracts from my enjoyment of the film. Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis are both pretty likeable leads and I also loved the finale on the train, mostly because trains in an action movie are like bathrooms in an action movie. They just make everything automatically better.

I had a great Halloween this year. As per usual, I went up to Derry on Halloween night to watch the Carnival Parade and fireworks display and I also dressed up for a couple of social gatherings.

I was trying to dress up like the late, great Lemmy Kilmister from Motorhead. Obviously, I don’t have Lemmy’s long hair, moles or mutton chops, but I think I managed to get the look down to a decent enough approximation despite that and I greatly enjoyed strutting around the pubs pretending that I was a legendary rockstar.

So, yeah. Last week was good craic. I dressed up, watched a spooky carnival travel through the streets of Derry and saw Back to the Future on the big screen. Life does have its bright spots.

Take care.