PicoBlog

Hi! Welcome to the Best of 2022 edition of Idol Watch, a companion newsletter to This Side of Japan that’s all about idols! You can check out previous issues of Idol Watch from this year here: January & February / March & April / May & June / July & August / September & October Idol as scene continues to resist easy definition in 2022. Its groups take on a range of different visual concepts, explore a wide array of musical styles and showcase an abundance of unique personalities.

Our friend Jim Paul has been telling people about heaven for years. Listeners frequently approach him after a talk to ask, "Is there anywhere I can read this in a book?" Today, the answer is yes! It's the American publication day of Jim's book What on Earth is Heaven?and we have an exclusive excerpt just for you. What on Earth is Heaven? is available from The Rabbit Room (cheaper than Amazon!), from Inter-Varsity Press, and from your local purveyor of quality books.

I did this to myself. When I floated CM Punk vs. Triple H to Joseph as a candidate for a four match Triple H retrospective, I knew the score. The Kevin Nash feud, the Miz/R-Truth storyline that posited them as the most dangerous men in WWE history, Triple H’s victory, and WWE’s steadfast refusal to not just let wrestlers like Punk win the WWE Championship, but thrive with it. I also remembered, and still frequently complain about, where this went after the fact, which was an interminable segment on Raw where the whole roster went on strike because Miz and R-Truth scared them, the only wrestler brave enough to join Triple H in crossing the picket line being future SAG-AFTRA member CM Punk, because WWE loves running anti-union angles during labor disputes in sports.

“Metroidvania” is a term than encompasses specific gameplay terms, a mindset, a vibe if you will. Born of Castlevania and Metroid, a metroidvania game is one that has you exploring various complex maze-like levels, only to discover dead ends that need certain skills to open up. A metroidvania game throws you in a large world, many times an inhospitable, alien planet, and leaves you to find your way step by step, fighting bosses, backtracking to previously closed gates with a newfound skill at hand to open them.

During the holiday season, I’m revisiting some of the oldest Feminist Advice Friday columns and updating my response. I hope you enjoy these blasts from the past. This is also a great time to send in updates if you’ve previously written in! I’ve been married to my husband for 7 years, together for 12. During the pandemic, I was laid off from my job for a year. I was finally able to return to work, but only part time and working from home.

Always, always there are folks better and worse off. Decades ago when I first started attending AA meetings, I learned the importance and power of gratitude. When no one could provide a burning desire to focus on in a discussion group, the topic of choice would almost always be gratitude. I learned by listening to others speak their gratitude how powerful it is and how it sorts things out aright, leading to acts of kindness and deeper understanding of self.

I’m sitting on the train as I’m typing this. Behind me, a man sips his coffee. I don’t have to turn around in order to gather this information. He goes: slurp - sigh - slurp - slurp -sigh - slurp, in what feels like an endless rhythm. On the other side of the aisle from me, in the quiet zone, another man is talking on his phone. At the luggage racks, another man is looking for something in his bag, loudly swearing as he can’t find it.

This week, I’ve spoken to more than a dozen women whose partners demand sex on a schedule. When these men don’t get sex, they pout, become aggressive and moody, or lash out at the woman. I’ve spoken to other women whose husbands think that denying them sex because of household chore inequality is tantamount to abuse. And two different men emailed me complaining that their partners were emotionally neglecting them by refusing to have sex.

At the heart of most of my songs, lies a country song. At the heart of most of my songs, lies also, a reggae song. I grew up listening to both of these genres and what makes them so special to me, is that either genre can produce some of the most beautiful songs while also producing some of the most horrendously stupid shit you’ve ever heard! I think theres a lot of humanity in that!