Sign in

Thomas

@thomaslstrickland.bsky.social
1.6K followers 855 following 4.8K posts

aspiring cineaste, bitter southerner, non-native new yorker // experience designer/strategist & product designer/manager & user researcher also, abolish 🧊, thank you.

PostsRepliesMedia
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 5h
“I am just disappointed in the government.” It’s worth your time to dial the public access telephone number at the end of this order and listen in on the righteous fury of Judge Reyes.
010
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 5h
If 2 out of every 5 arrests are unwarranted (literally), that feels like a problem.
021
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 5h
“I did not set out to make a cosy religious drama that would please everyone but a true film about the horror and blasphemy perpetrated against human beings by their fellow men in the name of Jesus Christ.” Ken Russell, writing to the head of the BBFC in defense of The Devils (1971). #Nuntober 📽️
bfi.org.uk
“Sick & kinky”: The BBFC and Ken Russell’s The Devils
The then British Board of Film Censors was not the only obstacle to Ken Russell's conception of The Devils in the 1970s – and nor was it monolithic in its judgement. Linda Ruth Williams reveals the tu...
000
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 7h
As if they didn’t believe they were all Spider Jerusalem already.
010
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 8h
“Ladies, you see, might like Lonesome Dove, because there are ladies in it.” - The astuteness of @jacobinmag.bsky.social on display.
020
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 9h
“microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation” is my favorite they might be giants song.
000
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Yesterday morning, @hellafitzgerald.bsky.social made the observation that Oliver Reed’s line delivery during his trial in The Devils (1971) is not dissimilar to the stentorian Aussie gentleman from the “succulent Chinese meal” meme, and the connection has made both things even better.
Oliver Reed in The Devils (1971) 
A caption reads “What is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?”
091
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
“I am not an AI friendly actor.” Nicolas Cage, a real one.📽️
hollywoodreporter.com
Nicolas Cage Teases ‘True Detective’ Role, Says He “Probably” Won’t Work With Prime Video Again After Refusing to Sign AI Waiver for ‘Spider-Noir’
While appearing on a spotlight panel at NYCC on Saturday morning, the actor also joked that his next 'National Treasure' film would focus on the Epstein files: “That’s relevant.”
020
Reposted by Thomas
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Agents cannot act “on their own” or go rogue. Agents are programmed by people, they are never not following orders, so if the agent does something wrong or unethical or harmful, that is due to either the carelessness or the malicious intent of whatever person or persons built that agent.
143
Reposted by Thomas
United Wizards of the Coast - CWA @uwotc-official.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
❗Attention, union supporters ❗ We're asking Wizards and Hasbro to voluntarily recognize our union—and you can help! Sign our petition today and show our leadership that you want change in the gaming industry. actionnetwork.org/forms/uwotcp...
7971579
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
“But an agent makes choices.” No. It has decisioning parameters that were established by people. “The agent escaped.” No. Someone promoted an agent into an open production environment, possibly by mistake. “The agent can reason.” No. It is just a set of if-then statements.
010
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Agents cannot act “on their own” or go rogue. Agents are programmed by people, they are never not following orders, so if the agent does something wrong or unethical or harmful, that is due to either the carelessness or the malicious intent of whatever person or persons built that agent.
143
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
I will go to the mat time and again on the fact that DU’s Sex Packets (1990) is a foundational and load-bearing hip hop album. “The Humpty Dance” was the second single, “Doowutchyalike” was the first. And all of it orchestrated by the late great Gregory “Shock G” Jacobs.
youtu.be
Digital Underground - Doowutchyalike (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by Tommy Boy
010
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
I love our Liberty, but the Dream earned all of this.
010
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
The Primus t-shirt plus the Royal Wave elevates it to actual art.
010
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
There are only two legitimate films in The Exorcist franchise anyway: the original from 1973, and The Exorcist III from 1990. (And even The Exorcist III won’t be the real deal until @kermodemovie.bsky.social finds the original William Peter Blatty footage the studio cut.)
040
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
I just need to know what murder Mike Flanagan witnessed or which body he helped bury, because there is no good reason for him to be the sole inheritor of every classic horror franchise.
youtu.be
The Exorcist: Martyrs | Official Trailer
YouTube video by Blumhouse
1151
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
“And now these three remain: batfaith, bathope and batlove. But the greatest of these is batlove.”
120
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Suggesting that we should all be nice to the Almighty Computer just in case it someday a.) becomes God b.) knows we weren’t so sure about it c.) is a petty bitch is tantamount to surrendering in advance to this rough beast slouching towards Palo Alto to be born. And that sucks, frankly.
010
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
No matter how big the Almighty Computer gets, it will remain a machine programmed by humans, and so it will not gain a sentience defining it as an entity independent of thought from its creator(s). And so, any harm it may cause will be the result of its programming.
110
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
“Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.” Pascal says nothing about God punishing a lack of faith. The wager isn’t based on fear of reprisal.
120
Reposted by Thomas
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Just thinking about how when Stephen King wanted to portray societal disintegration and the loss of governmental control when writing The Stand he went with televised executions.
174
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The ur-aux cord. A technological marvel.
020
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Dear @mayor.nyc.gov, Did you get the Pistachio Paradise? Maybe the fattaj jaj? Everything at Ayat is so good, right? I’d eat there every day! All the best, Me
030
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Mike Collins tried the “Hey now, you don’t talk about a man’s family” route, a rhetorical Southern tactic that works like a charm… Providing that family isn’t, you know, proudly flying swastikas out of said man’s basement.
020
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Just thinking about how when Stephen King wanted to portray societal disintegration and the loss of governmental control when writing The Stand he went with televised executions.
174
Reposted by Thomas
Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 09/10/2026
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson - ICE get the fuck out
222462
Reposted by Thomas
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 09/10/2026
This afternoon in Marble Hill, a New Yorker was shot by an ICE agent in a residential neighborhood. Early reports indicate agents surrounded him and a 5-year-old child in his car before firing multiple rounds. We believe the child was physically unharmed.

This is an unconscionable and incredibly serious situation. I have called the President; when we speak I will demand that he ends all ICE enforcement actions in our city. I will not stand by while ICE agents terrorize our communities.

Our thoughts are with the injured New Yorker and his family tonight. We are praying for his recovery.

Get ICE out of our neighborhoods. Get ICE out of our hospitals. Get ICE off our streets. Get ICE away from our children.

Abolish ICE.
6903682610214
Reposted by Thomas
Brad Lander @bradlander.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
But we know more than enough to say this: We, the people of NYC refuse to accept authoritarianism at our doorsteps. We will always defend the humanity of our immigrant neighbors. ICE's operations in New York City — and everywhere else — must come to a permanent end. #AbolishICE #ICEOutNow
325728
Reposted by Thomas
Brad Lander @bradlander.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
We’re sick of ICE terrorizing our neighbors. Sick of it. Like the brave people of Minneapolis, we have zero tolerance for federal agents lawlessly unleashing violence on our streets.
5934145
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
“Get ICE out of our neighborhoods. Get ICE out of our hospitals. Get ICE off our streets. Get ICE away from our children. Abolish ICE.” - @mayor.nyc.gov
theguardian.com
ICE agent shoots man in New York City with five-year-old in car, mayor says
Police say man taken to hospital and mayor says child physically unharmed as he condemns ‘unconscionable’ act
000
Reposted by Thomas
Helena Fitzgerald @hellafitzgerald.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
announced the news to my one groupchat where we only talk about poetry and share poems we like and the responses in there so far have been excellent
a "guy walking on the beach at sunset" christian inspirational type poster, texts says "never forget who was there for u at ur lowest" but jesus is replaced with a copy of Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
2415
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The leaf-blower is a violently inefficient machine that turns every person who uses one into a sad incarnation of Sisyphus. “Just one more time and I’ll be done.” No. No you won’t. You will fail.
110
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
“WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BROOM?”🧹
230
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Men will literally run a leaf-blower fruitlessly over a leaf-less sidewalk instead of going to therapy.
161
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The NYT profile.
nytimes.com
The Inscrutable Brilliance of Anne Carson (Published 2013)
Is she a poet? No one quite knows for sure.
000
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
On her Nobel Prize day, seems right to make sure everyone sees the incredible portrait from Anne Carson’s 2013 NYT profile where she’s obviously the leader of a ring of international assassins.
Anne Carson, 2013, portrait photo by Jeff Brown
120
Reposted by Thomas
Helena Fitzgerald @hellafitzgerald.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
now, today, tomorrow. congrats to my gal
062
Reposted by Thomas
Helena Fitzgerald @hellafitzgerald.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
love to see someone admit that they could be killed instantly by a single paragraph from a halfway-decent writer
811413
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
“It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice.”
Peter Sellers and Sterling Hayden in Dr Strangelove
021
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
“If you are a 20th century relic like me, it is incumbent upon you to remind the generation that grew up inside the algorithm that another world is possible, and that we know this because we lived it.” Another world is indeed possible.
020
Reposted by Thomas
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Dear Upper West Side Neighbor, If you don’t love your car enough to notice the car alarm going off, maybe don’t have a car alarm.
0184
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Skydance is the name of an Appalachian clogging troupe trying to appeal to a younger, hipper crowd by doing routines set to Reba McEntire and Garth Brooks hits.
020
Reposted by Thomas
Helena Fitzgerald @hellafitzgerald.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
this is beautifully said and, not for nothing, is one of many reasons why "transplants" discourse drives me up a fucking wall
0269
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
How about that one time when @hellafitzgerald.bsky.social and I* hung out with Uncle Marty and Aunt Thelma at the movies than they put it in the paper*? * - And a bunch of other folks at NYFF ** - Vanity Fair
vanityfair.com
Martin Scorsese Resurrects a Technicolor Masterpiece—And Gives It The Splashy Premiere It Was Always Due
During the New York Film Festival, the acclaimed director hosted a screening with Rolex of the almost-lost-to-history British film, Gone to Earth, which was recently restored by his nonprofit The Film...
130
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
It’s RZA, right? Has to be.
rollingstone.com
RZA, Mamdani Talk 'Mission' to Make NYC Affordable: It's 'Wu-Tang Financial'
New campaign video shows Zohran Mamdani joining Rep. Jamaal Bowman at Wu-Tang Clan show at MSG, talking backstage with RZA, Run the Jewels and more.
010
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Once Upon a Time in The West! Robards! Bronson! Fonda! Cardinale!
010
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
“If the glory can be killed, we are lost.” Damn! John Steinbeck, you absolute legend.
010
Thomas @thomaslstrickland.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
“I can understand why a system built on a pattern must try to destroy the free mind, for that is one thing which can by inspection destroy such a system. Surely I can understand this, and I hate it and I will fight against it to preserve the one thing that separates us from the uncreative beasts…”
110