darkoshi

From the trailer, I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this movie. But I did enjoy it. It has well-matched blues music, references to Star Wars and Romeo & Juliet, and D&D-playing characters.

Video title: HERO (Official Trailer)
Posted by: Local Cinema Studios
Date posted: 2023/03/15

Hero, the movie, is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, starting at 99 cents.

Newspaper article: New movie filmed with local cast & crew a ‘love letter to Columbia’ and Black fatherhood

Official movie site

IMDB page

Reading this proposed amendment confused me at first, as the qualifications it lists match the current ones as far as I'm aware:

2024 SC Constitutional Amendment Question

Proposed Constitutional Amendment Question:
Must Section 4, Article II of the Constitution of this State, relating to voter qualifications, be amended so as to provide that only a citizen of the United States and of this State of the age of eighteen and upwards who is properly registered is entitled to vote as provided by law?

Indeed, the current constitution seems to say the same thing:
Current South Carolina Constitution

ARTICLE II
RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE
...
SECTION 4. Voter qualifications.
Every citizen of the United States and of this State of the age of eighteen and upwards who is properly registered is entitled to vote as provided by law.

I found this page which explains the proposed change:
Panel decides citizenship question on SC ballots needs no explanation

The Legislature voted earlier this year to put the question on the ballot. It asks if the state constitution’s guaranteed right to vote should change from “every” to “only a” citizen who’s at least 18 and properly registered.

Proponents said it will prevent any future court ruling that would allow non-citizens to vote in local elections in South Carolina. Democrats called it completely unnecessary, though most voted for it anyway.

Upon reflection, the "Every citizen" wording feels empowering to me. It seems to guarantee a right. The "Only a citizen" working feels restrictive; it seems to restrict a right.

(That seems typical of Republicans to me; wanting to take away people's existing rights.)

The existing constitution doesn't however guarantee the right to all citizens mentioned in Section 4. Sections 6 and 7 already provide for some restrictions:

SECTION 6. General Assembly may require demonstration of literacy.
The General Assembly may require each person to demonstrate a reasonable ability, except for physical disability, to read and write the English language as a condition to becoming entitled to vote.

SECTION 7. Disqualifications by reason of mental incompetence or conviction of crime.
The General Assembly shall establish disqualifications for voting by reason of mental incompetence or conviction of serious crime, and may provide for the removal of such disqualifications. Persons who are confined in any penal institution under the judgment of a court shall not be entitled to vote.

So it doesn't seem like the wording change would really change anything. But considering that many people in power in that State House would probably gladly take away my vote to right, I'd rather not give them any extra means to do so. I will vote NO on that question.

Ah, I now see an extra detail in the above explanation (emphasis added):
...that would allow non-citizens to vote in LOCAL elections...

The question "needs no explanation", they say. Hah.

2am in Columbia, SC, and it is 82 degrees with 72% humidity outside ("feels like 88").

But what bugs me when I step outside now is the faint sensation of things touching my skin. Was that a bug? A grass stalk that I don't see when I look down? A flying insect? And the wasp buzzing near the door so that I have to find a good moment to open the door and dash inside without it following me in.

Looking at some weather maps, I see Baltimore has us potentially beat in this time zone, with 85, "feels like 90", albeit only 59% humidity.

Phoenix, AZ, where it is 11:10pm now, is at 100 degrees, "feels like 103" and 28% humidity.

It would be interesting to be able to step from one room to another and another, to compare the difference between those temps & humidity levels.

The SC House of Representatives today passed a horrible bill, #4624, banning gender affirming care for minors and requiring teachers to "out" trans children to their parents. It still has to pass the Senate.

Per Ballotpedia:
South Carolina has a Republican trifecta. The Republican Party controls the office of governor and both chambers of the state legislature.
The House has a Republican majority of 88-36 (71% Rep, 29% Dem).
The Senate has a Republican majority of 30-16 (65% Rep, 35% Dem).

Also according to Ballotpedia, those majorities increased in both 2020 and 2022.
In 2020, the House had a Republican majority of 78-45 (63.4% vs 36.6%),
and the Senate had a Republican majority of 27-19 (58.7% vs 41.3%).
I wonder if those increases were due to redistricting.

In the 2020 Presidential election, Trump got 55.11% of the SC vote compared to 43.43% for Biden.
In the 2022 SC gubernatorial election, the Republican candidate got 58% compared to 41% for the Democratic candidate.

So the ratio of Republicans to Democrats in the legislature is much more skewed than in the overall population, without even taking into account how people who haven't voted in the elections are more likely to skew Democrat.

The courthouse my recent Jury Duty was at doesn't allow people to bring any bags or purses inside. When I got in line to enter the building, someone else told me they weren't going to let me inside with that, pointing to the purse. I was almost incredulous; that's something they should let people know in advance! I then saw a sign indicating the same thing. So I grudgingly walked back to my car to swap things around. It wasn't that bad for me, but I could imagine it being very inconvenient for anyone else who may have worn something without pockets, and who might have needed to bring tampons and feminine napkins, etc. Luckily my pants have pockets and I already normally carry my keys on my belt. I didn't want to have to carry my book in my hand, so I left it in the car. I also left both pairs of glasses in the car (which I'd brought just in case) as I didn't have a cord for carrying them around my neck.

We had to show up at the courthouse from Monday through Thursday at 9am. There were two trials that week, both traffic related. I was not chosen for the juries. We were dismissed between 10:30am and noon each day.

There was a different judge each day. When one of them was asking jurors who met various criteria to stand, I heard her address a couple of them as "the young lady". I figured those jurors must look fairly young. Then she got to the part where she asked anyone 65 years or older to stand up. She addressed those two women as "the young lady" too, and I realized that she was calling everyone either a "young lady" or a "gentleman". Thinking about it, maybe she felt addressing people as only "the lady" would sound rude.

The court room had speakers out of which occasionally static noise would play. I realized it was to help cover up potentially private conversations the judges were having with jurors who had come up to speak to them. The static noise didn't turn on very consistently though.

There was a bookshelf in the jury assembly room, with books and magazines. It still had a sign on it saying not touch the items on the bookshelf due to COVID restrictions. I'm pretty sure the sign still being there was an oversight, but I didn't feel like pointing it out to the people in charge. Nor did I want to disobey the sign, so I didn't touch any of the books.

There was a side room accessible via a door. The room had a sink and a vending machine with only a few items in it, none of which looked vegan except possibly the apple turnovers. There must have been more machines with more options in the past: On the 3rd day, the clerk brought water bottles into the assembly room to hand out. She apologized to the group of us, saying she hadn't realized the vending machines had been removed from that room!

Our local Koger Center for the Arts has several performances coming up which look good.

They've even got Hamilton coming next year. I wasn't particularly interested in that musical to begin with, but with all the hype about it (it's been 8 years already, wow), I've gotten somewhat curious. Wait, there's a movie of it that I could watch instead? But it's still only available on Disney+ even though it was released 3 years ago? Hmmph.

October 14: Free outdoor concert, noon to 7pm. House Music Dance Festival

October 17-19: Come From Away.
This New York Times Critics' Pick takes you into the heart of the remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them.

Come from Away is a musical ... based on the events in the Newfoundland town of Gander during the week following the September 11 attacks, when 38 planes, carrying approximately 7,000 passengers, were ordered to land unexpectedly at Gander International Airport.

I don't really want to go watch a long musical about this (I'd watch it on TV maybe), but it sounds so fascinating... Operation Yellow Ribbon

October 27 & 28: South Carolina Ballet's Dracula: Ballet with a Bite (Columbia City Ballet).
This eerie and sensual ballet, based on Bram Stoker's classic novel, promises to captivate and thrill both dance enthusiasts and newcomers. With original rock/jazz music by Thomas Semanski and choreography by Artistic Director William Starrett, you'll be immersed in a world of enchantment and mystery. Don't miss this unforgettable performance celebrating its 32nd year

I haven't been interested in going to see this in prior years, as neither ballet nor Dracula appeals to me. But the red flowing gauzy outfit of the dancer in the photo on that page looks nice. And with rock/jazz music, maybe it's fun.

October 29: SC Philharmonic • Halloween at Hogwarts.
OUR POPULAR HALLOWEEN CONCERT EVENT IS BACK!
Join us for a family-friendly Halloween celebration as we transform the Koger Center into that famous school of witchcraft and wizardry. Enjoy a spooktacular program of hair-raising Hollywood favorites and plenty of John Williams' works from the Harry Potter films. Join us for tunes, tricks and treats! Costumes are encouraged!

https://www.wistv.com/2023/05/30/columbia-convenience-store-owner-charged-with-murder-shooting-death-14-year-old-boy/

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/01/1179367061/a-south-carolina-store-owner-accused-of-fatally-shooting-a-boy-is-charged-with-m

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/14-year-old-fatally-shot-back-sc-store-owner-sheriff-says-rcna86855

This happened here Sunday evening. A gas station owner chased a 14 year old Black boy out of his store and shot him in the back, killing him. From what is reported, the man chased and killed him because he mistakenly thought he stole a few bottles of water. It is horrible and makes no sense.

I don't know if it has been in the national news much? On Tuesday afternoon, Qiao texted me a link to a news article about it, which was the first I'd heard of it. Later I turned on the local 11pm news a few minutes late and heard a report, not about the killing but about the reprisal looting and vandalism at the gas station afterwards. I haven't managed to catch the news on TV since then, but have read several news articles and they all provide mostly the same limited information.

The NBC article says it happened around 8pm on Sunday night. By chance, I drove right by that gas station around 9:40pm the same night! Around 1:40am, I drove by it again in the other direction. Neither time did I notice anything out of the ordinary.

One article said a witness to the shooting called 911. So I would think the police and ambulance had been there already before I drove by the first time. It makes me wonder how far away from the gas station the boy was chased.

...
News video links:

Sheriff: Cyrus Carmack-Belton shot and killed by gas station owner: full news conference
2023/05/29 (via News 19 WLTX)

Deputies: Hundreds of service calls made in last 5 years to gas station owned by man charged in teen
2023/05/31 (News 19 WLTX)

South Carolina store owner charged in teen's murder has history of shooting at customers
2023/06/01 (NBC News)

Principal, teachers remember teen killed
2023/06/01 (News 19 WLTX)

Cyrus Carmack-Belton remembered as 'intelligent, well-liked' by school
2023/06/01 (News 19 WLTX)

This is an old recycling guide, dated 12/2020. It indicated glass was still accepted for curbside recycling.

This is a newer recycling guide, dated 02/2021. It does not mention glass.

This recycling guide dated 03/2021 does not include glass under the section for items accepted curbside (a noticeable difference compared to the 12/2020 version).

This SC DHEC page indicates glass bottles and jars are "ONLY accepted at the Clemson Rd Recycling Site", and not accepted curbside.

The Clemson Rd site is open:
> Tuesday, Thursday, Friday - Sunday, 9AM - 6PM
> CLOSED Monday & Wednesday

The Richland County Recycling Wizard also indicates glass isn't taken curbside but can be dropped off at the Clemson Road Recycling Site.

https://www.richlandcountysc.gov/Government/Departments/Public-Works/Solid-Waste-Recycling/Curbside-Pick-up/Recycling
Wax or plastic coated cardboard is NOT accepted.
Chipboard boxes such as cereal boxes must be clean and dry and only have stored dry, non-refrigerated foods.

I don't understand why clean boxes from frozen foods aren't acceptable, when they don't seem to have any plastic on them. If I can tear them as easily as cereal boxes, doesn't that mean they aren't coated with plastic? That's the test I use but maybe I'm being wishful and doing it wrong. Maybe there is plastic-coated cardboard that can be torn easily which is used for frozen food boxes.

Yay, it's the weekend, and I finished my work for work before midnight today!

It's been very much Spring here the last couple weeks.
Daffodils are yellow.
Pink magnolia blossoms bloomed but they're already gone and replaced by small light green leaves.
Yellow jessamine is yellow.
Bradford pear blossoms are pungent.
Little fig tree leaves are light green and fuzzy.
I wore knee-shorts today and sat outside working for a while. Can do that for now still as the mosquitos aren't out in force yet.

..

Catchy headline: Busted Plug Towed Away

I didn't know the giant fire hydrant art installation was called "Busted Plug". I'm saddened to hear it's been moved away... but hopefully it will be put up somewhere else in a good spot.

It had been here since 2001: Busted Plug Plaza, in the same parking lot as the iconic Tunnelvision mural and the haybales mural. I enjoyed seeing it whenever I drove downtown.

Here's a short video showing it from multiple angles: Roadside Buzz - Busted Plug, Columbia, SC
.

This "Ra Obelisk" is an artwork here in town I'd not heard of nor visited before. About the hieroglyphs painted on the sides, the article states:
Some of the symbols translate to the titles of Beatles songs “Here Comes the Sun” and “All You Need is Love.” The artist would not give the meaning to the message on the right side, only saying it was an ancient concept and invited others to try to translate it.

That prompted me to try deciphering the right side. The best I could come up with is this:
Peace | The angels are real | They love you

I am not certain that is the message the artist intended; I didn't find a decipherment of the message posted anywhere on the web. I did find that the artist, Richard Lane, died in 1998. That is mentioned in this booklet: Sarah Leverette : South Carolina lawyer, teacher, mentor, ground breaker.

.

Another catchy headline: “Flying car” company to enter US market in partnership with Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE)

SC’s 6-week abortion ban is unconstitutional, state Supreme Court rules
The South Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the state’s six-week abortion ban, ruling 3-2 that it violated the state’s constitutional right to privacy.
...
The abortion ban, signed into law in 2021, had been temporarily suspended as the S.C. Supreme Court mulled its constitutionality. It means the state’s previous ban at about 20 weeks stays in place for now.

South Carolina Supreme Court rules abortion protected under state constitution

Federal Court Rules South Carolina's Congressional Map Is Gerrymandered
A federal court today ordered South Carolina to redraw its 2021 enacted congressional map, ruling that a district anchored in Charleston County is a racial gerrymander.

Fireflies Holiday Lights at Segra Stadium (the Fireflies are a local baseball team) - another pretty photo at the link:

A couple of well-lit houses:

In my county, it seems about 100 potential jurors are called in every week for jury duty at the county court house. About that many people show up, anyway. Of those, only a few juries are selected to serve on trials. Juries are about 14 people, maybe less. Most of the 100 people don't end up on a jury.

I'm 50 years old and have now had jury duty 4 times. I've only been on an actual jury once.

During this last jury duty, I think there were only 2 or 3 trials during the week. Let's suppose there may be between 2 and 6 jury trials every week of the year. That would be between 104 and 312 jury trials for the year, including both civil and criminal cases. It doesn't include traffic court or grand jury cases, which have separate jury pools - but I've never yet been called for jury duty for them.

The county's population is about 420,000. I imagine there are way more than 312 indictments here each year.

Waiting in the jury assembly room, I thought about how much trouble is gone through to gather all these people in one room, all to pick a few people for a couple of trials. I thought of how many cases must get plea-bargained, or otherwise never make it to a trial.

.

Ah, wait.

The city proper has its own Municipal Court with its own jury trials.

That may have been where I attended my first jury duty, when I was living at my prior address within city limits.

Yes, an old checkbook register of mine shows an entry from December 2002: $10 pay for 2 days of jury duty.

But both courthouses are downtown. I don't think that jurors for the county cases are restricted to people living outside the city limits. So I am not certain which of them hosted my first jury duty.

I woke up earlier than planned today, so I made myself a sign for the rally after all.

I made it a sandwich-board style sign, with 2 pieces of cardboard (cut from a box) linked on their top corners with a cord. I printed* my simple message, "Keep Abortion Legal" on 2 pieces of paper and taped them to the front and back cardboard pieces. This sandwich style sign was comfortable and conveniently left my hands free. (One minor issue was that I didn't link the sign bottoms with cords, so when the wind blew, a couple of times the back sign twisted around a bit.)

[*I manually printed the letter outlines with a pencil to get the words spaced well across the sheet. Then I filled in the letters with a black marker. But the the letters still weren't as dark as I wanted. So I scanned the page onto my computer and edited the image to make the letters solid black (using IrfanView's "Replace Color" feature). Then I printed that image out twice, onto 2 pieces of paper. ]

There were quite a lot of people at the rally. I'd estimate several hundred. Many people in cars driving past waved and honked their horns in support. I didn't notice any counter-protesters.

Wearing my signs really helped me feel a part of the event. Without the signs I would have felt awkward, but with them I felt like I fit right in with everyone else. I didn't see anyone else with sandwich-style signs like mine; most people were holding signs up in their hands. I did see one person with a single large sign hanging from a cord around her neck.

Wearing my face mask, which conceals my mouth, I didn't even feel very self-conscious that I wasn't joining in on most of the chanting. Many other people on the side I was on weren't doing the chants either. We were mostly waving back at people in the passing cars; whenever a car honked, many people would yell back "WOOOOOOO!!"

The rally went on for about an hour and a half after I arrived. Towards the end, the crowd moved back from the street and towards the steps of the capitol as some speeches were given.

My sweet Zorro-puppy died on Monday, at 12 years of age. May she rest in peace. We had to put her to sleep. I was in tears for three days but have started feeling more normal again. I wrote a lot of thoughts down to help process my emotions, and will put some of them into a longer post.

.

Early Monday morning, after midnight (when Zorro still seemed fine!), we had a 3.3 earthquake nearby, while I was still up and awake to notice it. I was looking at the TV, and it shook or bounced or something, and there was a big rumbling sound. But nothing fell down. At the time, I wondered if it could have been a bomb or an explosion in the distance.

.

I have signed up to attend a Planned Parenthood / Abortion Rights rally downtown tomorrow. I wonder how many people will attend; I don't really expect a large crowd. I don't have any sign to hold, and it is too late now to think of making one. I'm no good at chanting or yelling. I'm sure I will feel quite awkward there. I hope I will at least find the other participants in order to join with them. I hope it won't be like the other time I went downtown for a protest where I felt like I was just someone on the sidelines, not really a part of it. I am not good at joining in on things. But I feel like maybe just being an extra body there will make some kind of tiny tiny difference.

All South Carolinians Aged 16 and Older to be Eligible for COVID-19 Vaccine Beginning March 31, 2021

Qiao told me about it. I'd finally stopped checking the daily numbers and news releases in February.

Dang. I wasn't expecting it to be so soon. o_o

I'd been content to wait several months at least; getting vaccinated isn't going to have much if any affect on *my* usual activities. There will probably be a rush at first, so it will probably be a while till I can get an appointment anyway.

.

I've sort of started to like wearing a mask sometimes. I feel a bit exposed at first, when I go out for a walk without wearing one. That feeling adds to my slight general anxiety at going out in public where people can see me, which itself probably has increased over the last year because of me having been out less often.

MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY - Sundance Film Festival: Columbia

Overlooked by history, Pauli Murray was a legal trailblazer whose ideas influenced RBG's fight for gender equality and Thurgood Marshall's landmark civil rights arguments. Featuring never-before-seen footage and audio recordings, a portrait of Murray's impact as a non-binary Black luminary: lawyer, activist, poet, and priest who transformed our world.

The "non-binary" descriptor caught my attention. While we can only guess what currently-used descriptors someone in the past might have used for themself, and I'm not familiar with Pauli's own writings, the Wikipedia page on Pauli Murray describes them more as a trans-man than a non-binary person.

I'm curious to watch the movie, but it doesn't appear to be available yet through streaming, and I don't feel like going to the Sundance showing at the local theater. It sounds like that will be indoors, with social distancing and mask wearing.

.

Biden wastes no time shooting down Trump guidelines on LGBTQ rights

.

Thought about what we'll be watching tonight on TV:
"Oh, that's right, there *won't* be crowds of people in Times Square.
And there won't be crowds of people downtown here either."

Locally, our city is hosting its Famously Hot New Year celebration virtually this year, including a performance by Arrested Development.
I suppose there must be many free virtual performances like that around the world this year.
I wonder if anyone has compiled a list of them so people could pick and choose what to tune into.

::Searches::
Ah, there are actually a lot of non-free ones too.

https://variety.com/2020/music/news/new-years-eve-concerts-virtual-1234876842/
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-12-31/new-years-eve-tiktok-matthew-mcconaughey-john-legend-snoop-dogg-cardi-b
https://www.eventbrite.com/c/virtual-new-years-eve-events-2020-cwychcy/

Around the world, some are already playing... oh, gosh you need to sign up for some? You need Zoom for some?
No time for that; I have other stuff I want to do today.

Here are photos from my outing last week to the holiday market downtown.

Nice "HOPE" sculpture which I hadn't seen before.
In the background, the building lit from inside is the main library where I worked during college.
The trees along Main Street were all wrapped in festive yarns.

Bright oversized ornament that you could walk through.

The Christmas Tree at the state capitol.

Looking into the state house through its front door windows, another smaller Christmas tree.

SC State House, with Mars visible in the sky up by its dome.

First sighting of black and white tegu lizard confirmed in Midlands (2020/08/21; since then several more have been sighted and some captured)

"The introduction of any non-native species can have serious negative impacts on native wildlife. Black and white tegus are no exception," said SCDNR herpetologist Andrew Grosse, "Tegus mature and reproduce quickly, though most concerning may be their preference for eggs and the potential impacts to our native ground-nesting birds like turkey and quail, as well as other species such as the state-endangered gopher tortoise."

SCDNR asks people to report any sightings of black and white tegus in the wild to Andrew Grosse, grossea@dnr.sc.gov. If possible, please submit a photo, location, and time and date the individual was seen.

I dare say SC is now encouraging almost everyone in the state to get tested once a month.

Yesterday:
https://scdhec.gov/news-releases/dhec-updates-guidance-testing-asymptomatic-persons-sars-cov-2-october-5-2020

It is also important to conduct screening of persons who are simply out and about in the community. If they have no symptoms or known close contact, they are less likely to be infected with the virus than persons with symptoms or known close contact but they still are at risk. This is why community screening is important.

DHEC recommends diagnostic testing as needed and screening testing at least monthly for most people in the community, particularly those who spend time around others. This should be a test that directly detects the virus through a sample of saliva or a swab of the nose or throat. Testing for antibodies in the blood is not recommended for this purpose.

Today:
https://scdhec.gov/news-releases/new-covid-testing-site-columbia

DHEC recommends everyone who is out in public be tested at least once a month and potentially more frequently if they are unable to follow preventive actions of mask wearing, social distancing, and avoiding crowded areas. Monthly testing is more important than ever the closer we get to the holidays.

Although...
Given that SC's population is 5 million, and the total number of viral tests done so far in the state ALL YEAR is 1.4 million, that's quite a goal.

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Darkoshi

Darkoshi's Enchantment

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Entries tagged with local

a good movie, "Hero" (2024), filmed here in Columbia SC

2024 SC Constitutional Amendment Question

Whew, it is warm out there

South Carolina legislature

Magistrate Court jury duty

Performances, local

the murder of Cyrus Carmack-Belton

Richland County SC glass recycling notes

Spring, artworks, hieroglyphs, flying cars

some good local news

Holiday Lights

number of jury cases

Bans Off Our Bodies / Abortion Rights rally

a bad week

SC COVID-19 vaccinations

Pauli Murray

it's a rainy new year's eve

downtown Columbia photos

large non-native lizards

SC COVID-19 testing