I didn't get picked for the actual jury. I was picked as an alternate. I was told to report on Monday June 15th, showed up on June 16th and was released on June 18th.

The whole thing went really fast. When we were doing orientation in the Jury room of the Madera Superior Court, the judge was already asking for us to come up to his courtroom. We spent the rest of the day doing Voir Dire to impanel the jury. It took forever. While waiting to be seated I played the time honored game of picking who was going to get kicked off the jury. There was one guy who was on trial already and knew the defense attorney. There were a couple of people who very familiar with the circumstances of the defendant. I was picked second to last as the alternate. The final alternate wasn't chosen until Wednesday and then we jumped right into trial.

It was a drunk driving case where no one ever witnessed the defendant driving the vehicle. The Sheriff department rolled up on him as he was changing a flat tire because his car blocked the road. He was arrested and determined to have a blood alcohol level of .2. He claimed he had one 32oz corona about 3 hours before the blood test. Defense and prosecution stipulated to the fact he was drunk. The case hinged on whether he actually drove the car. The defendant claimed his girlfriend was driving the car, not him.

The girlfriend was the first witness. I use the term girlfriend loosely. She barely knew the defendant. According to her they were just hanging out for the first time. They had gone to Reno to a casino and were on their way back to Modesto when they go their flat tire in Madera. At the time the defendant thought they were in Sacramento. Now would be a good time to look at a map. I had tons of questions about their travel but nothing was brought up at trial.

The defendant had the keys to the car in his pocket. The defendant's phone was in the pocket in the driver's side door. When the girlfriend was put in the driver's side seat, she could barely reach the pedals. We saw video footage from the CHP officer's body cam and read transcripts where the defendant said "I pulled the car over" or "I was going to drop my girl home" or "I hit the curb". But the defendant also said multiple times my girlfriend was driving.

And that was the case. Who drove. If it was the defendant, he was drunk driving. If it was the girlfriend, the defendant goes free.

The one time girlfriend didn't seem pleased to be thrown under the bus in this case. She testified her and the defendant were doing at least five shots of Hennesy. The only inconsistency in her testimony was she said the police pulled them over rather than coming up to them after they had stopped to change the tire.

This also happened in 2020, so it's been awhile and I wonder what took so long for this to get to trial.

If I was on the jury, I would have voted to convict. But the jury, in their wisdom, came back undecided. The trial continues without me.


I think I did have one of the best moments in the court, though. No one wants to be there so I think the judge goes out of the way to be personable. He and the Prosecutor both were keen to ask personal questions during Voir Dire. If you mentioned a particular hobby, they did a couple of follow ups. They liked to ask about families and jobs. When they got to me, I got to say I was working on a Qigong martial art that focused on the groin. I was trying to be delicate. I did mention the title was Iron Crotch. And the judge kind of stopped and processed that information and said "I don't know if I want to ask any questions about that". I told him not to be afraid. He moved on to other subjects.

Although, it was over a 100º outside, I could have worn a jacket in the courtroom. It was freezing. My knees were not happy going up the stairs to the courtroom multiple times. On the first day, security confiscated my metal spoon, that I brought to eat my lunchtime yogurt, because utensils are not allowed in the courthouse.

Thunder and Lightning join up to be a Neil Diamond tribute band in Michigan starring Huge Jackman and Kate Hudson. If you like to sing along to a movie with Neil Diamond songs, this could be the movie for you. Huge does his usual overacting. Kate does a weird Michigander accent that comes and goes. For the first part of the film, I was kind of curious why these stars would sign on for what seems to be a mid-level biopic. But the film goes places I didn't expect it to go. There is a lot of drama and unexpected events on the journey of Lightning and Thunder.

I can't think of Doomers for whom this film would appeal. But I did recommend it to the Queen Mum and she loved it. It really should have been the Queen and her watching it together and reveling in their shared love of Neil.

My liephone is getting so wonky. It crapped out on me last Friday when I was resigning ybe get to a store to pick up a sample before it closed, freezjf my maps and giving me a major panic attack trying to make it jn time. And it’s spelchuk is out of control as y’all are so keen tonpojnt out on my late nite spelchuk reimagined posts (as a professional writer, Im cool woth it tho because it’s nice to let my hair down woth the weird spelchuk permutations). 

Just now I printed out a bunch of maps and passes for the next two days because I can’t trust my phone. Cant have it crapping out on me again like Friday. I am jn the market for a new one - leaning towards the iPhone Air because it has a titanium case and I can lighten up on the military grade cases I’ve been using for so long given mynlifestyle) 

So I’m starting this thread to complain (which is what the D00M4M is all about really, amirite?) and post some uncorrected posts just to see if my dying liephone comes up worth anything creative.

Miao Xie’s first film and he steals the show from Jet Li. Bald Eagle plays the burn scarred villain - Gigi got to interview him. Sun Jiankai is another villain, an evil monk, and I’ve interacted with him a few times. The important thing to note is it’s directed by Wong Jing & Corey Yuen. Wong is always goofy making films on his own terms. Yuen’s fight choreo is crazy, always warping physics with wire tricks.

There’s this side story about a mother & daughter scamming team. It’s played for laughs. There’s a whole sctick about how the mom loves to eat chicken ass (the literal translation). I remember seeing this with ED and him being amused at these antics but they fell flat on me. Chingmay Yau is cute as Red Bean but the romance arc doesn’t work. There’s also 6 Shaolin kids that are annoying, although their fight choreo isn’t bad for kids. Their costumes are heavily padded and thst looked like it works like foam sparring gear.  There’s an ass joke when one of the kids is pantsed in a fight and his nekkid ass winds up right in someone’s face which was uncalled for. And there’s a scene where the mom scammer tries to pour an aphrodisiac drop down a string from the ceiling, but here Jet blow it back into her mouth and she gets all horny and winds up raping the master of the hoise (he’s a heavy sleeper and believes it’s a dream). 

Then there’s Bald Eagle’s (Ji Chunhua) chrome tank. WTH? That’s so Wong Jing.

Not overly D00M reccomended but worth the review for Xie. He even does his signature move where he rolls down off his adversary’s back.

Seen here:

Went back for this to revisit Miao Xie. I remember liking Xie and Jet in this but it’s a mediocre film overall. There’s the scene when Jet kills a pack of police shepherds which is clearly fake but disturbing. I remembered that scene quite well - it stuck out. Jet smokes a lot. Hong Kong and China are peripherally captured as smoky too, which reinforces my memory of it. Jet & Xie have good chemistry and Xie’s martial & acting chops are firm already. Where this film fails iz the middle when Anita Mui comes in. The action drops and there’s a drawn out death scene that’s way too long and melodramatic. Jet’s character is a hero but a bad dad with a great son.

I watched a version on YouTube where the English dub was a few minutes abead the scenes. That was super annoying but it clued me into when the next fight would break out. I mightve had a better experience if I had just muted the sound. The dub was confusing too because I couldn’t pin the rubber voices to the characters. But it was amusing in a surreal way. I can’t say it completely ruin it because I watched it through despite this issue.

Not that D00M recommended.

I don't really know him but he was scheduled to play the Quarry in August (when I'll be in Japan with Tara) and JM was tapped to provide for that show, which they thought would sell out. He's from the Cruz, allegedly from c-brite (my hood) and from little research I did on him when this first came up, he was quite odd. He played OSL in '22 but we didn't see him. His roots are in dubstep & ska. He died in a horrific helicopter crash in Brazil on his first world tour. Footage of the crash is on the web. A lot of my socials lit up with his passing - all the Cruz music platforms are in grief, including some of my reggae feeds. 

Yesterday, one of my Quarry crew shared the news and we reached out to the rest of the crew. It's shocking, even though none of us followed him. I was a bit worried for that show because it was the only Quarry show I wouldn't be at in person. Sadly I don't have to worry now.

https://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFo...0#pid82970

It was hot, so I figured I'd hide out in an air conditioned theater after work until things cooled a bit. 

This was a mind f*ck a movie. A thriller about inter-dimensional architecture. Chiwetel Ejiofor is a troubled furniture salesman, set in the 80's/90's. He's not unlike Ed Barbara of Furniture USA...in fact, it's set in Santa Clara Valley (though shot in BC) and mentions that the store is off McKee, near 680...Ejiofor talks with his therapist, but isn't making progress and is constantly focused on trying to keep the business going. 

At one point, he discovers a portal to another part of the building. Hilarity ensues. It's very twisted and creepy and tries to have a lot of jump scares. A little Alice Through the Looking Glass, and maybe a little Tideland, but also Castaway as there are so few characters and much of the time is spent wandering around the maze...

You are in a maze of twisty little passages that are all different...you have been eaten by a grue!! There's definitely a video game feel to the movie, like Wolfenstein and other first person shooters.

I found the 80's furniture, decor, and fashion off-putting and it was hard to watch just that for an entire film, but even so, I think it was generally OK. I wanted more explanation than the few hints that were given.

Lightly recommended. No need to see on the big screen. Much of the beginning is being watched on an era-appropriate recording with scanlines. 

--tg

Such a trip to be back in this house. RM’s set up is odd but it’ll work.

I'm stopping in Saratoga on my to Oracle Park on Saturday. I will be sitting in a booth at Jakes at 12pm (maybe a table) with at least my sister and Cindi.

Srsly? We’re a Feckin Disney cartoon? Oh how the mighty have fallen…