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Alex Koppel

@arsduo.bsky.social
1.9K followers 2.3K following 3.8K posts

book reader, software engineer @ Triumph, @awesomefoundgta.bsky.social organizer and @awesomefoundation.org board, 🏳️‍🌈, he/him, Toronto 🇨🇦

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Reposted by Alex Koppel
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
yearly reminder to people insisting that we view Christopher Columbus as "a man of his time" that *the people responsible for the Spanish Inquisition* thought Columbus was out of pocket
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 4h
*Hug* hope the anxiety passes soon and you can enjoy being stoned
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 5h
I had the most amazing time at an adult summer camp this weekend, I hope yours is amazing too
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 7h
There are many things @meakoopa.bsky.social and I disagree about, but none are as serious or fundamental as the Borg Queen 😐
static.klipy.com
Star Trek: Borg Queen (Alice Krige)
Alt: Star Trek: Borg Queen (Alice Krige)
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Maybe I'm just more sensitive reading now in 2026 rather than when The Seep came out in 2020—a lot has changed in our world! The book does get there in the end, and I'm glad I finished it. Still.
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
The Seep isn't a pure paradise, but it's honestly a pretty good go at it. The alien presence wants to understand the experience of living in time and in return for that offers access to immortality, to bodily transformation, to communion with each other and nature, and of course freedom from want 💯
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
In many ways it got me thinking about Brave New World. That dystopia is a horror, built on mutilation and enslavement, but the author seems to be really vexed about the parts of the world we'd now praise like sexual freedom & lack of jealousy.
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
It's just that the third party narration, the authorial voice itself, also seems to share Trina's skepticism of the progressive world. Many little bits together that feel like eyerolls at what some would call "woke": complex coffee orders, gestures to signal pronouns, housing as responsibility, etc.
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
At the same time, there's a background thread of disgruntlement by the main character at the relaxed, utopian, unchallenged, flexible quality of the new world (brought on by a benevolent, diffuse alien presence). That's also fine! Change is complex, and she's aware of the horror of that nostalgia.
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
The main character, Trina, loses her wife, the love of her life, at the start of the book: not to death but to rebirth, as the wife decides to relive life from childhood with loving parents. That very real grief and loss and feeling of abandonment powers the rest of the book, and that works.
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
I recently read The Seep by Chana Porter. It's a book about a profound loss and grief, set in a pretty solidly utopian future, and I was surprised to wrestle with it as much as I did. 🧵
A copy of The Seep
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Saw a great production of Measure for Measure at Crow's Theatre tonight—smartly transforms the play into an internet radio production, allowing for narration and minimal staging and folks playing multiple roles in a small space. (The play itself is a mess, but that's nothing new 😄)
A stage with some tables
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The right has successfully given "penumbra" a bad vibe, but it's actually a simple idea: rights can be derived from explicitly stated ones. For instance (if simplified), we have a right to be secure in our persons, houses, papers and effects, from which we can understand a right to privacy.
en.wikipedia.org
Penumbra (law) - Wikipedia
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Nice to penumbras are back in vogue, except now they're being used to protect the President from accountability rather than to shield the rights of the people
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
"speeding on Parkside Dr up over 500% since the province intervened in the removal of speed cameras"—fuck Doug Ford 😡 My friend @lucianocesta.com researched & wrote this great article on Parkdale/High Park elections and how candidates want to improve this truly dangerous street, check it out!
torontotoday.ca
Here's how local candidates would fix road safety on Parkside Drive
Safety on Parkside Drive has become a hot button issue — here's how Parkdale-High Park council candidates plan to fix the issue
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
😭😡🥶
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
fuck this
A climate advisory warning of frost
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Oh damn, that really sucks! I'm sorry you missed it, hope she can make it back to Ottawa for something.
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Sasha Velour's Travesty is a fantastic show! A tour through queer history with great performances and some of the best video projection work I've seen in a while. (There's a great moment where a tech puts a bucket under a projected leaky theatre ceiling, which turns into the beat of a song.) 💯
Sasha Velour on stage
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
(The stove in the photos is old — one of the first things I want to do is coordinate with a new renter to get it replaced.)
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Chicago friends! If you know anyone looking for a place near the lake and Red Line in Edgewater, lmk! Looking for someone for my old studio apartment. (Haven't put up a proper ad yet, but renovated last year, stable rent including heat/AC/internet, happy to send details.)
The view from an upper floor balcony looking out on Lake MichiganThe view onto the apartment at the next building over The view from the window into the apartment, showing the spaceThe kitchen, showing a new fridge, recently repainted cabinets, and a stove to be replaced.
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
How is Magnus Protocol? A friend and I listened through the Archive thoroughly but never started the sequel series.
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The drummer doesn't have his drum set so he's playing percussion on the wooden guitars 🤩
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Friend took me to tonight's Maro concert, which has been such a unique experience: their bus broke down outside Montreal, so she and her band are playing an impromptu all-acoustic set. It's beautiful 💖
Maro and band on a minimal stage
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
chat do we love that the dentist now asks if I have covid _or measles_ symptoms n/n
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Yw! Excited for the book, Catie recommended it so well 😀
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Will never succeed lol
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
It looks so great on him! Clearly how @meakoopa.bsky.social should do his hair going forward.
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Huzzah! Hope you have a great time! Curious what you get.
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Stopped by Little Ghosts Fest by @littleghostsbooks.bsky.social and got some great urban and eco-horror for just in time for October 🏗️💀🪴
The Marigold by Andrew F Sullivan, Our Lady of Holy Slaughter by A.J. Shank, some zines by Jeff Estrella, and The Impossible Resurrection of Grief by Octavia Cade
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
mood
A graffiti on a garage of a beach with people on it that is mostly dominated by a giant sleeping kitten
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Grease is the word! Fantastic night at Dumpster Raccoon last night with an amazing drag shadow cast and enthusiastically singing along audience for Grease, a movie whose weirdness and snark always surprise and delight me 😄
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A̶̶c̶̶c̶̶i̶̶d̶̶e̶̶n̶̶t̶̶a̶̶l̶̶l̶̶y̶̶ b̶̶o̶̶u̶̶g̶̶h̶̶t̶̶ a̶̶ s̶̶e̶̶c̶̶o̶̶n̶̶d̶̶ c̶̶o̶̶p̶̶y̶̶ get to give a friend the gift of a queer horror novel by @agawilmot.bsky.social that a friend recommended highly 😹
Two copies of Withered by A.G.A. Wilmot on a desk
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Reposted by Alex Koppel
Josephine beckbook.com Riesman @josie.zone · 30/11/2024
My finest work:
Prince Harry:

You see, Luigi and Sonic — they're lovers. More than that, they're life partners. They got married.
And Tails - Miles Prower - is their biological son. Sonic got pregnant with Luigi's baby and he is Tails. Someday, Luigi will die and Tails will replace him as a Mario Brother.
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Reposted by Alex Koppel
Awesome Foundation Toronto @awesomefoundgta.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
www.awesomefoundation.org/en/submissio...
Apply today! Or tomorrow! Or the next day!
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Awesome first @torontosymphony.bsky.social concert of our season last night! Yuja Wang performed Prokofiev in an amazing piano performance, then gave *4* encores 👏 and also a beautiful modern piece by Linda Caitlin Smith that they ran seamlessly into Debussy's La Mer.
The TSO and pianist Yuja Wang getting a standing ovation
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
a victory for the gay iced coffee agenda
cnn.com
Drinking very hot beverages could triple cancer risk, large study finds | CNN
A study of nearly a million people has found new evidence to suggest that drinking scalding hot coffees and teas could significantly increase a person’s risk of getting cancer in their esophagus.
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
"It ignored blocks that said 'no'" is how you'd describe a scraper accessing a public website that has a "no bots" file—not how you'd describe unauthorized access to private systems. This careful wording makes me nothing real actually happened.
"There were blocks clearly which were coming back telling the AI agent 'no'. The AI agent found a way around those blocks – didn't accept no for an answer," Albanese told reporters.
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Reposted by Alex Koppel
Anthony Oliveira @meakoopa.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
YOU'RE THE ONE THAT WE WANT - but we're almost out of tickets! This Saturday, Dumpster Raccoon has got MULTIPLYING CHILLS to present GREASE (1978) - a FULL SINGALONG and SHADOWCAST! This hydromatic, ultramatic poster by @montadrew.bsky.social WILL BE available in the lobby during the show!
GREASE poster by DREW SHANNON
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Reposted by Alex Koppel
DeadGodsBook @deadgodsbook.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Hideous place. A city's underground should either be spookier or more cheerful, but this half abandoned place with the too low ceiling and no style is just sad
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
really hate the Manulife Centre PATH, bullshit unsignposted liminal space backrooms maze traps me every time
A bunch of closed shops without any guidance how to get to the subway
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Reposted by Alex Koppel
Anthony Oliveira @meakoopa.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
TORONTO GAYS WHO CAN READ: Join me and Jordan Tannahill tonight! www.eventbrite.ca/e/jordan-tan...
eventbrite.ca
Jordan Tannahill: The Living Realm
Internationally celebrated author and playwright Jordan Tannahill discusses his moving and dreamlike new novel.
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
2026 book #17: Tethers Torn by @utunu.bsky.social. Really enjoyed this sequel! The story expands in a satisfying way across multiple worlds and multiple storytelling formats (transcripts are surprisingly fun 😄). Continue to love these characters and look forward to the third book!
A copy of Tethers Torn in a cafe
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
TIFF movie #8: Half. A creatively gory revenge action flick w a lot of awesome stunts and brutal fatalities. If you like that, you'll like this. For me tho I couldn't fully enjoy Half bc I don't know where it sits w/in racial/religious landscape of India (one of the first lines is "are you Tamil?")
boxd.it
A ★★★ review of Half (2026)
A creatively gory revenge action flick with a lot of awesome stunts and brutal fatalities. If you like that, you'll like this. Speaking personally, I couldn't fully enjoy the film because I couldn't t...
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Reposted by Alex Koppel
Anthony Oliveira @meakoopa.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
HEY TORONTO: I'll be in conversation with my buddy Jordan Tannahill on Monday night about his new book! COME SAY HI. www.eventbrite.ca/e/jordan-tan...
eventbrite.ca
Jordan Tannahill: The Living Realm
Internationally celebrated author and playwright Jordan Tannahill discusses his moving and dreamlike new novel.
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Reposted by Alex Koppel
Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
a lot of people act like there's a trade being offered where we give up trans athletes in sports and in exchange fascism is defeated forever
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Good for LA. The "Friends of the Park" who blocked the museum from being established in Chicago to preserve the existing parking lots should be run out of town on a rail
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Hello from another part of theatre 7 🧛
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
TIFF movie #7: Muyi. Really well done, beautifully animated, well acted, interesting story that pulls from Chinese mythology and culture. I liked this one a lot.
boxd.it
A ★★★★½ review of Mu Yi and the Handsome General (2026)
Really well done, beautifully animated, well acted, interesting story that pulls from Chinese mythology in a cool way. There's a particular sequence later in the film that I enjoyed and that was much ...
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Alex Koppel @arsduo.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
TIFF movie #6: Light Pillar. A beautiful, slow, melancholy and often funny film, a slice of a life in a near future when so the old movie studio isn't the only thing no longer sustained. Great animation with some awesome sequences and lots of details.
boxd.it
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