Takin' It to the Streets

The Josh Wells Weekly, Episode 303

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Hung out with the family this past Saturday to take my mom to see Glengarry Glen Ross for her birthday. We had an excellent outing. The play is great. We did that thing afterwards where you wait outside for the cast and they sign autographs. Then we ate some burgers and got ice cream. It was a fun outing all around.

Random Thought

So, there’s all these protests going on in Los Angeles right now (and elsewhere in the country) all inspired by a mutual disdain for ICE. It’s a cause I can get behind because I’m not a fan of ICE myself. In this very newsletter last week, I referred to them as the ‘American Gestapo,’ and that is not meant as a term of endearment for anyone that might possibly be confused.

I know that deportations are nothing new. Obama and Biden put up some healthy deportation numbers as well. But it’s the cruelty that the Trump administration is showing in the uptick of detainments and who they choose and how they do it (eliminating due process, adopting inhumane practices and facilities, using the military, etc). You wanna deport criminals? Have at it. I get that. But when you start raiding workplaces and Home Depots and going after human beings who are out there working hard, many trying to provide for families, I just can’t dig that type of behavior. These are not bad people, and I don’t think they should be treated this way.

I’m of the opinion that no human being is illegal. We’re all stuck on this planet together with these imaginary lines we made up and for some reason, some among us tend to get real uptight when people suddenly cross over these imaginary lines. Most, if not all the people who tend to get uptight about it are also the descendants of immigrants themselves and have somehow let the sands of time wash over that fact.

America is constant waves of immigration, and it always seems like hysteria is manufactured to have us believe the current wave is always the worst one yet. Although I’d argue the very first wave that ended up wiping out most Native Americans was and will probably always be the worst one. If only those Native Americans would’ve protested politely, maybe things would’ve been different.

I suppose a part of me thinks America needs to look in the mirror and self-reflect but that’s some fairytale bullshit. In fact, what the mirror is reflecting is real ugly right now. I think the thing that bothers me the most about the entire situation in LA is knowing there are millions of people in America rooting for ICE like it’s their favorite NFL team. That idea sickens me.

I can go on and on about how crucial protesting is and how important it’s been in American history and if you enjoy things like the weekend and not having 12-year-olds work in factories, you got protests to thank for that (Maybe you hate the weekend. That’s cool. I know some people who’d like you to cover their shift this Saturday so they can go be part of the “No Kings Day” protests. More on that in a sec).

My favorite thing about the protests is just knowing that someone is protesting. It’s looking at my phone and seeing videos of thousands of people flooding the streets to let their voices be heard and to let the powers-that-be know that ICE can go get fucked. Sometimes I can be so stuck in my head, I worry maybe no one cares anymore (which is probably just me projecting if I’m being honest. During the Biden years, I found myself in a real apathetic groove and it was hard for me to care again. Even when Trump was elected that second time, a part of me just thought it’s what we deserved for being a dumb country. Maybe I still feel a little bit like that, but not enough to make me numb to what’s going on right now).

It’s comforting to know I’m not alone. People are out there letting it be known and I am way fucking inspired. It almost gives me hope that maybe this will spread, and a movement will be born and maybe we can force some kind of change to happen.

This Saturday, I plan to take it to the streets. There’s these ‘No Kings Day’ protests going on that were organized before the LA stuff. They were originally a rebuttal to Pumpkin Head’s dictator-style military parade he’s having for his birthday. But suddenly it feels like so much more.

I wanna be out on the streets. Whether the protests succeed in bringing on any positive change or not, I don’t want the record to show that when people were out there trying to make it happen, I decided to stay at home and sit on the sidelines. I’ve seen and heard enough from this wanna-be fascist administration. It’s beyond time for me to make some noise. There’s something going on out there and I wanna be part of it.

For anyone interested in ‘No Kings Day’ protests, check out the link below:

https://www.nokings.org/

On Saturday, marching gets started at 2pm in NYC at Bryant Park. That’s where I’ll be.

This thing I just wrote feels heavy and I really wanted to lighten it up with a joke and I sorta had one in mind, but I never found the right place to put it so here it is now.

I’m not against all deportations. I am very pro-deporting Nickelback back to Canada.

Boom, Nickelback. You’re so roasted right now.

*This week’s newsletter title, ‘Takin’ It to the Streets,’ is the title of a Doobie Brothers song. The Doobies are an American Treasure, and I would never want to see them get deported.

Movie I Watched Recently

25th Hour

(Prime)

This was a pretty good movie about this dude Monty (played by Edward Norton) who is going to jail for selling drugs. The movie tells the story of his final 24 hours before he goes to turn himself in.

There’s a lot I liked about this movie. You sorta get the story in reverse. Over time, they drop all the info on why he’s going to jail and how it happened. That weaves in and out with the story of how he chooses to spend that last 24 hours before going away for seven years.

They don’t really make any apologies for Monty. There’s no attempt to justify his character or try and paint him as some drug dealer with a heart of gold. A thing I enjoyed is how much he was dreading it. That felt real. He’s no tough guy and he’s scared about what’s going to happen to him when he gets there.

I was a big fan of the ending. I don’t wanna spoil it, but it explores the imaginings of someone who is about to lose all his freedom. I imagine the mind could go mad leading up to that moment.

There are also some great support actors. Rosario Dawson is Monty’s love interest. Philip Seymour Hoffman is one of Monty’s lifelong friends. This movie even features Isiah Whitlock Jr of ‘The Wire’ fame and he uses his trademark Wire catchphrase which is elongating the word, “sheeeeeeeeet.”

Also, there’s a touching subplot about the dog, Doyle. Maybe that is the one time this movie is semi-guilty of trying to make Monty look like he has a heart of gold.

TV show I’m currently watching

Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

(Netflix)

I’m usually not too into shows where celebrities spend a bunch of time telling each other how great they are, and I suppose this show approaches that territory a bit. But Conan is the best and if anyone’s gonna get this kind of award in comedy, it should be him. In fact, I’d say that it’s overdue and there are many recipients of this award that came before him that I find less deserving. That’s if we’re talking about being in the mold of Mark Twain, which in a way, I feel Conan is, especially when compared to many of his peers at the top of the comedy world.

Anyways, it’s star studded, of course. It’s a celebration of Conan. And they even get in a fair number of digs at the new Trump-centric direction of the Kennedy Center going forward. It all made for a fun watch.

I also dig the end when Conan is wailing on the guitar. I feel like deep inside the center of every comedian is really someone who’d rather be a rock star.

There’s this one part where he goes hard on a guitar solo and I was a bit blown away by it if I’m being honest.

Album of the Week

Never Enough / Turnstile

I’m not sure how I feel about this album. Turnstile seems to have this reputation as the current saviors of hardcore, but this album didn’t exactly give me that hardcore fix. A lot of this stuff is very mellow at times. Turnstile can be very melodic, and it felt like they leaned on that pretty hard in this album.

Not to say that that’s a bad thing. Turnstile is not beholden to any certain sound just because of the hype that exists around them. It was an interesting turn. At some points, the music almost felt like entry level psychedelic. There were even horns at one point.

Of course, they still thrashed hard when they thrashed. The hardcore was still there. It didn’t disappear completely. It just feels like it evolved into something else and in hindsight, based on some of their stuff I’ve heard before this, maybe I should’ve seen that evolution coming.

This is the album cover. Double rainbow, far out.

Book I’m Currently Reading

I messed up. I’m currently not reading a book. I didn’t reload on books before the last one I read. I placed an order for some new books online and I should receive them today and by this time next week, I should have a new book to tell you about. But until then, this has been a very illiterate week for me.

Random sports thought of the week

Last night was Game 3 of the NBA Finals and the first Finals game in Indiana in 25 years. The Pacers won in a very exciting fashion and are now up 2-1. Last night was also the first time I watched the Finals this year and thought maybe the Pacers could win this whole thing.

It was the Thunder’s first road game of the Finals so if they’re gonna lose a game on the road, in my head it’d most likely be this one. And ultimately, I still think the Thunder will win the whole thing. However, I think last night changed things and we suddenly find ourselves in the midst of a very competitive series.

As of last night, I’d like to change my prediction of Thunder winning in 6 games to Thunder winning in 7 games. I think this series will go the distance and I think the Pacers are proving they’re a deserving contender. This won’t be easy for either team.

Halliburton getting love from Reggie Miller, the biggest legend in Pacers’ history (and one of my all-time favorite NBA players).

Random pro wrestling thought of the week

What a difference a week makes. Last week I was talking about how much it sucked that R-Truth was released by WWE and this week he’s back already. That alone would be exciting enough. That alone would have fans saying, “well done, WWE.” (Although maybe don’t release him in the first place but I digress).

But WWE packed a lot of exciting stuff into the past few days. Bayley is back. Asuka is coming back. Walter in the new World Champion. Fans fell in love with a wrestler who has an iguana gimmick. Chad Gable had an impressive showing twice in one day and is probably my pick for WWE’s weekend MVP and also WWE’s most underrated. I don’t know if there’s anyone in the pro wrestling world that is more underrated than Chad Gable right now (he performed his ass off but lost twice).

Speaking of his losses, one of them was to Vikingo. It’s just super fucking cool to see Vikingo on the WWE big stage.

Speaking of underrated, I’m a huge fan of Naomi winning the MITB briefcase. I’m interested to see where WWE takes this. I’m not 100% confident that this goes or ends well for Naomi but I hope they let her run with it and really give her the opportunity to make something out of this briefcase run. She deserves a shot to do something at the top of the card for a while.

As the young people say, “let her cook!”

Top 5 Bands I’d like to see get deported

1- Nickelback

2- Creed

3- Puddle of Mudd

4- Three Doors Down

5- Coldplay

I realize at least two of these bands are not from America and maybe don’t even live here. But you get the point.

Weekly Quote

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

-Martin Luther King Jr.

Thanks for reading!

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@joshaintfunny

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I got some other videos as well if you want to check them out. I just uploaded a raw phone recording of my 30-minute set for my 45th birthday. Unpolished, unedited, warts and all, if you’re into that sorta thing. Go here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRg2MM2mOOvh1JKnDatFiBQ

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