Ok, we just got the hubris of Macbeth, who has now contemplated the possibility of getting Malcom & Duncan out of the way, that he might be King of Scotland.

So this brings to mind the full cycle of retribution the Greeks came up with, a three-part process that inevitably ended in meeting your fate much worse than you would have if you'd just let well enough alone.

My dude: *take off your hat before your liege, Thane Macbeth.* Why such ill-mannered disrespect?

...Oh. Right.

I don't know who any of the other actors are but they're great. The guy who plays Banquo looks like Harry Dean Stanton, but it isn't Stanton.

Man, I can't wait to see Kate Fleetwood's interpretation of Lady Macbeth.

I'm a big fan of Sir Stewart, yet I also don't think I've ever seen any of his work in Shakespeare. Which I find ridiculous of me, given the course of his theatrical work.

Cinematography is daaaaark and booky. Stark, brutalist, bloody. Loving the characterization of the Three Witches. I won't spoil it, for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

Looks like some of this was filmed inside some war tunnel or other. Such wartime tunnels are all over Europe & the UK, some known, others long gone or lost; and it all brings home the reminder of the horrible impact both World Wars had on Europe.

We don't really have a clue about that, here in the US.

I always feel so sorry for the poor soldier at the very beginning who reports the battle success to King Duncan. Guy's greviously wounded, bleeding out, and they're interrogating him hardcore, and I'm always like - Jeezus, king, give the poor man a Band-aid or something, for fuck's sake!

Just started watching the 2010 production of 'Macbeth', with Patrick Stewart as the ambitious thane. Preeeettty brutal already. But then, it's a brutal play.

Time to switch gears. I'm frustrated as all hell right now, and ready to throw shit against a wall. Better to breathe, re-center, and relax a bit.

I'mma vote for it being total crap. Just tried for 45 minutes to get the back of a check to scan properly, for 2 different financial institutions. I don't have lifespan to waste on stupid shit like this.

.

So is Ingo's check-scanning software actually crap, or is it just me?

I slept something like 12+ hours last night. Went to bed around midnight, slept until 2:00 PM, woke up with a headache & absolutely ZERO patience. I have NO fuse today.

OMG, I am SO not in the mood today.

I will continue to help my friend where & when I can. He'll definitely have a seat at my table anytime he needs it. I'm glad that at least the state-level folks are trying to help him too. & what's happening to him is exactly why my politics are radical. SS needs a complete overhaul, or some sort of progressive reform, or to be torn down & rebuilt from the ground up into something better.

The social, cultural, & religious belief that poverty is a sign of depravity & moral corruption dies hard. & yes, I say "religious" in there, because of the influence of Calvinism on the historic development of capitalism. The Protestant work ethic is fucking twisted.

This entire process has been a stellar example of why I believe the US is *inhumane*.

Friend paid all his working life into Social Security. He is as entitled to receive benefits from it as anyone else who's paid taxes into it. He is EXACTLY the person SSDI was intended for. Yet he is unable to access the funds he is arguably entitled to because we have convinced ourselves, collectively, that the poor are thieves & undeserving.

It takes months. I think he waited something like 7 months to see a neurologist. He has a TBI, which is why he applied for SSDI in the first place.

Incidentally, if anybody whinges at you about how great US healthcare is because it takes forever to see a doctor if you're in, say, the UK or Canada, please tell them to shut their goddamn piehole. It takes just as long to see a doc in the US. If you're poor, that endless wait might be measured not in months, but literal decades.

The good news is that folks on the *state* level have actually been awesome. Friend managed to connect with counselors who connected him with social workers who have gotten him onto benefits programs like SNAP and Aged/Disabled/Blind cash benefits, so at least he isn't starving, and he has a little bit of money for things like gas or toiletries. He also got on Medicaid, so has been able to establish primary care & see a couple of specialists.