THIS is a CLOSE-UP?

It's all a fucking blur, the compression of time via floating anxiety and tedious routine, and it was easy to put things on the screens, empathy machines as weapons of distraction and escape, effacing anxiety and routine for an hour and change. As with any year, there will be stuff I discover later than should be here, but the eyestrain says I should take a break from screens and go outside or something.  Movies (whatever that means this year): First Class Flights : The Vast Of Night; Possessor; First Cow; The Devil All The Time; Babyteeth; Never Rarely Sometimes Always; The Invisible Man; Portrait Of A Lady On Fire Coach Trips :  Freaky; Swallow Palm Springs; She Dies Tomorrow; The Assistant; The Trial Of The Chicago 7; Kajillionaire; Yes God Yes; The Whistlers; American Utopia; Fourteen; Gretel & Hansel; The Rental; The Hunt; We Summon The Darkness; Borat Subsequent Moviefilm; The Trip To Greece; Tesla; An American Pickle Plane Crashes :  Tenet (in IMAX, the last movie I sa

In 2016, Clinton received nearly 3 million more votes than Trump. In 2020, Biden received nearly 7 million more votes than Trump. Two similar lines of objective evidence, two vastly different sets of outcomes based on geography and circumstance and perception, the same factors that help to make music resonate in our hearts and minds and asses. In other words, the music is out there for everyone, but it's clearly not for everyone, so let's face the music and dance. When I wanted to dance, these ladies brought the grooves and joy and verve and escape: Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia / Annie - Dark Hearts / Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure?  / Ela Minus - Acts Of Rebellion / Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song  / Billy Nomates - Billy Nomates When I wanted to rock, these artists supplied the muscle and nuance and intensity: Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full / Algiers - There Is No Year / Wire - Mind Hive / Bruce Springsteen - Letter To You / The Pine