Maarva's Posthumous Speech: Andor Season 1

. . . I always wanted to be lifted. I was always eager, always waiting to be inspired. 

I remember every time it happened, every time the dead lifted me . . . with their truth. And now I'm dead, and I yearn to lift you. Not because i want to shine or even be remembered. It's because i want you to go on. I want Ferrix to continue. 

In my waning hours, that's what comforts me most.

But I fear for you. 

We've been sleeping. 

We've had each other, and Ferrix. Our work, our days. 

We had each other and they left us alone. 

We kept the trade lanes open, and they left us alone. 

We took their money and ignored them. We kept their engine churning, and the moment they pulled away. we forgot them. 

Because we had each other. 

We had Ferrix. 

But we were sleeping. I've been sleeping. And I've been turning away from the truth I wanted not to face.

There is a wound that won't heal at the center of the galaxy. There is a darkness reaching like rust into everything around us. 

We let it grow, and now it's here. It's here and it's not visiting anymore. 

It wants to stay.

The Empire is a disease that thrives in darkness.

It is never more alive than when we asleep. 

It's easy for the dead to tell you to fight, and maybe it's true . . . maybe fighting is useless. Perhaps it's too late. 

But I'll tell you this . . . if I could do it again, I'd wake up early and be fighting those bastards from the start! 

Fight the Empire!

Luthen's Monologue: Andor Season 1

When asked by Lonni . . . What do you sacrifice?

Calm. 

Kindness. 

Kinship. 

Love. 

I’ve given up all chance at inner peace. I’ve made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. 

I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there’s only one conclusion, I’m damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they’ve set me on a path from which there is no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost and by the time I looked down there was no longer any ground beneath my feet.

What is my sacrifice?

I’m condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. 

I burn my decency for someone else’s future. 

I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see. 

And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude.

So what do I sacrifice?

Everything!

Nemik's Manifesto: Andor, Season 1

 

There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy.

Remember this.

Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. 

Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they’ve already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.

And then remember this.

The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. 

Remember that. 

And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire’s authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing that will break the siege.

Remember this.

Try.

Q: Notwithstanding his association with the "Prince of Persia" flick, what's your beef with Jake Gyllenhaal? And, if I may, do you dislike Maggie Gyllenhaal?

Ed. note: Years ago, I experimented with the Formspring webpage as a way of collecting questions and providing answers. (Sort of a protoReddit AMA . . . not that I've ever gotten into Reddit.) Here is an old one from late May 2010 that brings back fond memories and, to be frank, I like the way I constructed my answer.

A: I'm jumping out of order on this one . . . AND I'm answering more than one in a day. (My "Blogging for Success" book says you have to develop a relationship with your readers . . . so I am accommodating YOU, trustworthy questioner!)

So . . . what is my beef with Mr. Gyllenhaal? Well, mostly it stems from his constant comparisons to Tobey Maguire back ten years ago. At the time they were both up-and-coming young actors. Both has large doe-y eyes. And they both a.) were supposedly in the running for Spiderman and b.) dating Kristen Dunst.

(So much so that when Maguire was rumored to be out of the Peter Parker role for Spiderman 2, there was strong opinions that Gyllenhaal would step right in.)

Andbutso, the point is, I've always thought Maguire was the better actor. I first loved him in Pleasantville, and really, really loved Spiderman and especially Spiderman 2. And I liked The Ice Storm and thought he did a fine job in Seabuscuit. Meanwhile, Gyllenhaal was in stuff like The Day After Tomorrow, etc. (Though I really did enjoy Donnie Darko.)

And there were always these persistent rumors that Maguire was a bit pretentious and a bit Too Much. But at least he never had The Bubble Boy on his resume.

So, while I was in the throes of my love for Spiderman and Spiderman 2, I became (willingly) associated around my office friends as a lover of all things Tobey. And to help bolster that definition, I sort of adopted a (kind of irrational) dislike of all things Gyllenhaal. And it helped that another of my work friends was willing to play along and support Gyllenhaal in opposition to me.

But that has mostly died off at this point. If pressed, I'd say that Tobey deserves an Academy Award before Gyllenhaal's pecs get nominated for one. But I'm willing to live and let live as I get older.

*****

As to Maggie, I don't dislike her at all. I enjoyed her just fine in The Dark Knight, squirmed my way through two-thirds of Secretary, didn't realize she was in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, need to watch Donnie Darko again, and keep getting her mixed up in my head with Zooey Deschanel.

But, no. I have no beef whatsoever with Maggie Gyllenhaal.

So, there's my answer.

Thanks for asking.

Book Review--"There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension" by Hanif Abdurraqib

 At Christmas, I was gifted There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib. And I finally finished my slow perusal of it over the weekend. I sat on the porch, taking advantage of sunny days, no rain (for once in this last month of time!), and pleasant temperatures, to get focused and finish. 

And I'm glad that I did.

I've heard of Abdurraqib and was aware that he lived in Columbus (hence the image) and wrote about Columbus. So, being home-proud, I wanted to try him out. I haven't read his poetry yet but this prose work definitely worked for me.

It weaves two stories into a strong braid: his own life growing up Black in Columbus--loving the city, playing basketball on neighborhood courts, celebrating local basketball talent. It doesn't flinch from the hardships he saw, he experienced, he overcame. He sympathizes with the desire of many of his friends and neighbors to leave Columbus--to get away from its racial challenges and to hope for some better opportunity elsewhere. But he also embraces his own love for Columbus and the pull it has on him--flaws and all. Can he overcome his personal challenges to find a strong foundation in his hometown?

The second story strand observes Lebron James Ohio basketball story. From his foretold greatness playing prep school basketball in northeast Ohio, to the Cleveland Cavaliers fortune to grab James in the draft. From his initial NBA rise in Cleveland, to The Decision, to his hoped for (and realized) return to Cleveland, culminating in the 2016 NBA championship.

The rise and fall and rise of both Abdurraqib and James' Ohio experiences are presented in parallel, stitched together with love and skill. A frequent theme of flight and Ohio aviators in injected throughout the book, providing brief examinations of true aviators and astronauts from Ohio, alongside Abdurraqib's friends and family who died too soon and metaphorically flew from him.

Abdurraqib's strength of language and his emotional honesty make this a powerful book. It celebrates people who love strongly and sings a lovesong to Columbus as well.