James Longhurst
@jameslonghurst.bsky.social
college professor in the U.S. Midwest (all views mine); author of "Bike Battles: A History of Sharing the American Road" / "Las Batallas de la Bici." Shop intern, historian of urban and environmental policy, gravel grinder.
"To Have and Have Not" (1944) is . . . bad? It's famous for Bogie and a too-young Bacall meeting, but the rest of it is . . . not good. A logy plot that Faulkner had adopted out of fragments of a Hemingway script and Hawks chopped further, this ends up feeling like a pointless copy of Casablanca.
November 18, 2025 at 5:17 PM
"To Have and Have Not" (1944) is . . . bad? It's famous for Bogie and a too-young Bacall meeting, but the rest of it is . . . not good. A logy plot that Faulkner had adopted out of fragments of a Hemingway script and Hawks chopped further, this ends up feeling like a pointless copy of Casablanca.
Here it is, your moment of Zen.
November 16, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Here it is, your moment of Zen.
77 miles of gravel and I ran out of daylight again.
November 16, 2025 at 7:12 PM
77 miles of gravel and I ran out of daylight again.
What does it say about me that, out of all the spam texts, this is the one I almost responded to?
November 16, 2025 at 4:14 PM
What does it say about me that, out of all the spam texts, this is the one I almost responded to?
Does Quaritch have any civilian oversight on Earth -- and would they excuse his Kilgore-style air assault as a necessary evil, cheer it on as the appropriate action, or put him on trial (if he were to survive)?
November 16, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Does Quaritch have any civilian oversight on Earth -- and would they excuse his Kilgore-style air assault as a necessary evil, cheer it on as the appropriate action, or put him on trial (if he were to survive)?
Perhaps this explains the public's reaction to seeing Bovino's image when he arrived in court in Chicago; he fits this archetype. A young man's hairstyle, severe and bizarre. Affectation of hypermasculine uniform, whether the Sam Browne strap, wearing body armor with slung rifle, or the trenchcoat.
November 16, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Perhaps this explains the public's reaction to seeing Bovino's image when he arrived in court in Chicago; he fits this archetype. A young man's hairstyle, severe and bizarre. Affectation of hypermasculine uniform, whether the Sam Browne strap, wearing body armor with slung rifle, or the trenchcoat.
the facial features also define the type -- drawn, thin, jaw clenched in tension ("lockjaw"), tendons in the neck standing out with strain, perhaps facial tics that mark the psychological exhaustion of being in combat for so long.
November 16, 2025 at 2:57 PM
the facial features also define the type -- drawn, thin, jaw clenched in tension ("lockjaw"), tendons in the neck standing out with strain, perhaps facial tics that mark the psychological exhaustion of being in combat for so long.
Kilgore is shirtless, with his air cav cowboy hat and kerchief, packing an infantryman's rifle.
Lockjaw has bizarrely tight t-shirts, which he is called out on; carrying an assault rifle in a sling.
Quaritch is lifting weights, and posing with tailored uniform blouse.
Bovino is Bovino.
Lockjaw has bizarrely tight t-shirts, which he is called out on; carrying an assault rifle in a sling.
Quaritch is lifting weights, and posing with tailored uniform blouse.
Bovino is Bovino.
November 16, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Kilgore is shirtless, with his air cav cowboy hat and kerchief, packing an infantryman's rifle.
Lockjaw has bizarrely tight t-shirts, which he is called out on; carrying an assault rifle in a sling.
Quaritch is lifting weights, and posing with tailored uniform blouse.
Bovino is Bovino.
Lockjaw has bizarrely tight t-shirts, which he is called out on; carrying an assault rifle in a sling.
Quaritch is lifting weights, and posing with tailored uniform blouse.
Bovino is Bovino.
Oh I figured out my Rushmore of this trope: Lockjaw, Kilgore, Quaritch, Bovino.
It's partially not fair because Colonel Miles Quaritch is just a multi-generational xerox of Kilgore, and Bovino is not an actor in a film, per se.
It's partially not fair because Colonel Miles Quaritch is just a multi-generational xerox of Kilgore, and Bovino is not an actor in a film, per se.
November 16, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Oh I figured out my Rushmore of this trope: Lockjaw, Kilgore, Quaritch, Bovino.
It's partially not fair because Colonel Miles Quaritch is just a multi-generational xerox of Kilgore, and Bovino is not an actor in a film, per se.
It's partially not fair because Colonel Miles Quaritch is just a multi-generational xerox of Kilgore, and Bovino is not an actor in a film, per se.
ahhhhhh that's interesting.
"Patton" is certainly darkly comic in many spots. The martinet, the madness, the affectations of the uniform.
"Patton" is certainly darkly comic in many spots. The martinet, the madness, the affectations of the uniform.
November 15, 2025 at 1:18 AM
ahhhhhh that's interesting.
"Patton" is certainly darkly comic in many spots. The martinet, the madness, the affectations of the uniform.
"Patton" is certainly darkly comic in many spots. The martinet, the madness, the affectations of the uniform.
Ahhhhhh I have not seen "War Machine"! At first glance I thought you were talking about Pitt in "Fury," who plays a character nicknamed "Wardaddy". I will have to look at "War Machine".
Oh yeah, that looks about right. But his character is visiting the front; he's fresh and new!
Oh yeah, that looks about right. But his character is visiting the front; he's fresh and new!
November 15, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Ahhhhhh I have not seen "War Machine"! At first glance I thought you were talking about Pitt in "Fury," who plays a character nicknamed "Wardaddy". I will have to look at "War Machine".
Oh yeah, that looks about right. But his character is visiting the front; he's fresh and new!
Oh yeah, that looks about right. But his character is visiting the front; he's fresh and new!
Maybe Bogart Lt. Cmdr. Philip Francis Queeg in "The Caine Mutiny" (1954): haggard, twitchy, clenched jaw with odd mouth movements. A martinet, insistent on the power of his rank. But Queeg is a dramatic figure, not the darkly comic figure of the awkward, hunched, jerk-motioned Lockjaw.
November 15, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Maybe Bogart Lt. Cmdr. Philip Francis Queeg in "The Caine Mutiny" (1954): haggard, twitchy, clenched jaw with odd mouth movements. A martinet, insistent on the power of his rank. But Queeg is a dramatic figure, not the darkly comic figure of the awkward, hunched, jerk-motioned Lockjaw.
I'm trying to think of other comparisons here. Is the Lockjaw/Kilgore character a type? Does it only exist in dark comedy form, or does Tom Berenger's Sgt. Barnes in "Platoon" count? Is there a character in the various "Ugly American" films that lines up?
November 14, 2025 at 10:41 PM
I'm trying to think of other comparisons here. Is the Lockjaw/Kilgore character a type? Does it only exist in dark comedy form, or does Tom Berenger's Sgt. Barnes in "Platoon" count? Is there a character in the various "Ugly American" films that lines up?
There's a particular type here; not the straight-arrow true-believer leader like Burt Lancaster's Gen. James Mattoon Scott in "Seven Days in May," or George Macready's casually evil general in "Paths of Glory," but a strung-out, twitchy, frontline mess.
November 14, 2025 at 10:37 PM
There's a particular type here; not the straight-arrow true-believer leader like Burt Lancaster's Gen. James Mattoon Scott in "Seven Days in May," or George Macready's casually evil general in "Paths of Glory," but a strung-out, twitchy, frontline mess.
"Dr. Strangelove" has like four different versions of this madman character, each slightly different -- General "Buck" Turgidson, Colonel "Bat" Guano, and Slim Pickens' Maj. "King" Kong, and then General Jack D. Ripper. Pickens is most clearly the odd man out; his Major Kong isn't tense at all.
November 14, 2025 at 10:30 PM
"Dr. Strangelove" has like four different versions of this madman character, each slightly different -- General "Buck" Turgidson, Colonel "Bat" Guano, and Slim Pickens' Maj. "King" Kong, and then General Jack D. Ripper. Pickens is most clearly the odd man out; his Major Kong isn't tense at all.
I've been thinking about Sean Penn's *wild* role as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw in "One Battle After Another" as a type: a dark comedy representation of violence-addled field commander, sinewy and tense and mad? Col. Lockjaw, Col. Guano, General Turgidson, Col. Kilgore?
November 14, 2025 at 10:22 PM
I've been thinking about Sean Penn's *wild* role as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw in "One Battle After Another" as a type: a dark comedy representation of violence-addled field commander, sinewy and tense and mad? Col. Lockjaw, Col. Guano, General Turgidson, Col. Kilgore?
okay anybody got any idea how I can turn off this copilot button that just appeared on the bottom right of my MS Word for Mac ( Version 16.103)?
November 13, 2025 at 5:56 PM
okay anybody got any idea how I can turn off this copilot button that just appeared on the bottom right of my MS Word for Mac ( Version 16.103)?
Status update:
November 13, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Status update:
*everyone disliked that*
November 13, 2025 at 3:27 PM
*everyone disliked that*
I test rode one yesterday and it was EXACTLY what I’m looking for. Such a sweet ride. I can’t justify the $2900 price tag on this one though
November 13, 2025 at 2:00 PM
I test rode one yesterday and it was EXACTLY what I’m looking for. Such a sweet ride. I can’t justify the $2900 price tag on this one though
TELL me about it, I have read so many things I would now wish to retroactively un-read.
November 13, 2025 at 1:52 PM
TELL me about it, I have read so many things I would now wish to retroactively un-read.
1914 and 2024
can't wait to see what kind of enforcement is predicted in 3004
can't wait to see what kind of enforcement is predicted in 3004
November 11, 2025 at 10:43 PM
1914 and 2024
can't wait to see what kind of enforcement is predicted in 3004
can't wait to see what kind of enforcement is predicted in 3004
I *think* that this predatory journal email has a subject line that says a paper with 15% plagiarism detector results is okay by them? Is that what it's saying?
November 11, 2025 at 1:10 PM
I *think* that this predatory journal email has a subject line that says a paper with 15% plagiarism detector results is okay by them? Is that what it's saying?
