CrankyYank Vol. 30: ‘Semi-charmed’ Troll | What Would Mr. Spock Say? | Pokémon Don’t & More

Acts of civil disobedience can be a noble gesture. You may not always agree with the cause, but as long as it doesn’t harm anyone—no big deal. Those kinds of acts in a free society just mean we’re all alive in our democracy.

In the case of Third Eye Blind, it was an act of disobedience in front of a decidedly un-civil audience that, for me, summed up where we are in today’s GOP. All audience members at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame benefit wanted the epic song “Semi-charmed Life” (one of the best ever written) and other TEB hits; they got obscure covers instead. From the Towleroad piece:

Jenkins asked the crowd to raise their hand if they believed in science, talked about the need bring people like ‘my cousins, who are gay, into the American fabric,’ and about ‘not living your life in fear and imposing that fear on other people.’

This week has been a hateful jamboree of calls to shoot Secretary Clinton, convict her and send her to the slammer. And it all culminated in Donald Trump’s speech last night, which was 75 minutes of how dark and gloomy the world is and, more specifically, how Trump is our savior. Which is of course bullcrap.

The band was playing to a hostile audience, but their message was clear: America is an inclusive, loving country where diversity strengthens us. Diversity makes America even greater each day, which is a fact lost in all the schmaltz and shanda tossed about this week.

Without further ramblings, I give you “Semi-charmed Life“—because people who want to cling to prejudice, gross incest-y moments and xenophobia get what they deserve: a far-less-fabulous life.

 

I’m off to see Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie this weekend. A full review will follow probably next week, after I see it a second time. Jennifer Saunders makes a critical point in the above chat in the Loose Women series: AbFab couldn’t be made today.

“People are very easily offended now,” Saunders says. “And people ask ‘could you write it now?’ and I think it’d be very difficult because it’s so easy to offend.” She’s 100% right: today’s Millennials get their backs up quicker than you can say “sweetie dahling.”

Soon afterward, though, I’ll be seeing Star Trek: Beyond, which I’m hoping will be a return to sci-fi greatness after the grammar-violating Star Trek: Into Darkness. The latter was an awful recycle of past character arcs and woefully under-developed plotlines and character expansion. I’ve been a Trekkie most of my life and—save for maybe Star Trek V: The Final Frontier—Darkness was one of the worst films of the franchise.

Much to my pleasure, Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) has played a big roll in J.J. Abrams rebooted Star Trek films—much to the chagrin, however, of Shatner. I had the absolute peak experience of my life when, in early 2014, I interviewed Leonard for Professional Photographer magazine to ask him about his photography career and his project, Secret Selves. (I also got one of the last signed copies of that book before he passed away.)

In our interview, he made it known off the top that he would prefer no questions about acting. (You won’t be surprised that I violated that request. Twice.) I’ve clipped the final moment of our interview, where I asked him what Mr. Spock might say about his photography career.

If I had the chance, I’d ask for his thoughts about the lame attempt at rehashing his famous plotline of saving the Enterprise from certain doom in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (arguably the greatest in that phase). Alas, we can only guess at what he might say, but at least we have this snippet to remember him by.

Coming next month: a preview of Richard Michelson’s forthcoming book: Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy and the complementary exhibition, UNSEEN: Fifty never before exhibited photographs.

 

I can hear The Jefferson’s theme song in my head. And it’s a sign of just how on fire Atlanta’s real estate market is right now.

Our fine town’s priciest penthouse just hit the market, and it’ll set you back a cool $7.3M. With 360º views of the city, this immaculate crib is located at the Mandarin Oriental Atlanta and comes with all the requisite accouterment you’d expect for a luxury hotel brand: an always-on concierge, 24-hour room service and “personal drivers and shoppers, keyless fingerprint entry, and private elevators and entrances separate from the hotel,” as Atlanta Business Chronicle notes.

No word yet if Donald Trump is in the market for an Atlanta crash pad, but this could fit his criteria.

 

Our Disruptor of the Week is Tony Schwartz, co-author of The Art of the Deal and is bearing the brunt of a possible lawsuit by Trump if he doesn’t return his royalties. Lucky for us, he’s not staying quiet. “I will not be bullied into silence,” as his lawyer’s response letter says.

Schwartz has been perhaps the most vocal and articulate person to be speaking on the dangers of a Trump presidency. “He will lead to the end of civilization,” he says. “I hope to god he doesn’t win—that’s why I’m here. The big lie of this campaign is that Trump cares about the people who are going to vote for him. He doesn’t care about them.”

He followed him around for 18 months in writing the book. “If you Google the word ‘sociopath,’ that is the perfect description of Donald Trump. I started this book before he started building these incredibly confidentiality agreements that did effectively muzzle people. I’m here to speak truth to power because nobody else is doing it.”

“He’s suing me because he’s so thin-skinned and easily provoked. He lies without conscience.”

The Art of the Deal may be “second to the Bible,” but Trump is showing that spectacular deals mean nothing if you’re a sociopathic jerk.

 

The world is infatuated with Pokémon Go, but the above clip shows it’s not all shooting stars and Squirtles; another man got trapped in Sooners Memorial Stadium when playing the game. Do yourself a favor and just Pokémon Don’t (YouTube/CampusRush)… The Black Lives Matter movement got a moving statement this week when Darnell Moore said “One of the dilemmas we face as a country is our discomfort with complexity.” True in all facets of life, actually. (Mic)

 

Originally named to honor Tyler Clementi (the Rutgers student who took his own life after he learned he was being videotaped while having sex), “the carefully orchestrated revival of joy and hope” was offered through ARTvision 2010 as a way to say we’re fighting back against ignorance.

And it still holds true today. As we see so many violent domestic and international events where people suffer and/or die, this is an ongoing statement that the natural human spirit of love and compassion will always prevail.

The piece didn’t sell and it’s still hanging proudly in my home office.

 

That’s it from me Cranker Darlings—we’ll see you back here next Thursday at 2 p.m. Enjoy your weekend and remember to spread love and turn a stranger into a friend.

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Will Pollock is an Atlanta-based freelance multimedia journalist focusing on retail, marketing, real estate, travel, technology and human interest stories. He is the author of two books (Pizza for Good & Leaving Triscuit), with more on the way. Sign up for the mailing list, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram—and check out the book links below.

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