Earliest Merry Christmas Ever from Your Episcopalian Friend

 Merry Christmas!

Yes, I know in years past I have been hesitant to celebrate Christmas until Christmas Eve, as per our Episcopalian tradition.  Currently, we are in the Advent season, a time devoted more to reflection and preparation.

But the truth is, many of my fellow Episcopalians start early as well.  The whole weight of the culture favors early celebration, and less during the actual season of Christmas (roughly December 24th through January 6th -Epiphany.

The season does require preparation.  Much planning has to be done for gifts and events.

In this age of increasing authoritarian fascism, it is getting harder and harder to get in a celebratory mood.

We need to treasure our family and friends.  Even our MAGA friends/family.  We must love everyone, as best we can.  Yes, they are dismantling our democracy and endangering our planet, but hatred won't solve the problem.* It is challenging but fair to avoid as much confrontation as possible. Reason will not change their minds.

Meanwhile, as consumers, we should be looking to spend our dollars as progressive-friendly as possible.  We do not need to feed the monster that is consuming us.

First, shop as local as possible.

In heavily MAGA areas, this may be difficult to determine. I live in a county that votes 90% for Trump. 

There are a few businesses that are not MAGA, clearly.  A massage therapist and a couple of locally owned restaurants come to mind.  I am not going to name them here, but I will be glad to in direct messages, group texts, and private Facebook groups.  

For the rest, I have to go to the philosophy of do no harm.  If there are no blatant displays of MAGA in their stores, or the owner isn't blasting MAGA themes on social media, I'm more inclined to spend Christmas dollars with them.

Many stores in our area are part of corporate chains.  No corporation is perfect, but in my area, TJ Maxx and Kroger are better than most.  Costco is not in our area, but I would shop there in a heartbeat if it were.

High on the naughty list is Hobby Lobby.  If you could go to Michael's or Home Goods instead, I would do that.

If you shop online, do your best to avoid the beast that is Amazon.  Etsy is a collection of individual creators and entrepreneurs that offers a wide range of small business products. My weakness is books, and two of my primary sources, Amazon and Books-A-Million, are on the naughty list.  I will do my best to focus on independent bookstores and Thrift Books.

Streaming, which I love, is overwhelmed by ownership of Trump-friendly billionaire owners and abject cowards.  The worst may be the Ellison family, now owners of Paramount+ and CBS. The best may be Netflix.  At this point, many shows challenge authoritarianism (it's the nature of storytelling - the villains are almost always the exploiters) on all of the streaming services.  So, for example, Star Trek is an impressively liberal show, and it's still available on Paramount+.

There are many more I can mention, especially if I do more research.  There are websites and TikToks that can guide you in this.  ShopHowYouVote.com lists many companies and simply tells you their past political bias, without appealing to the left or right. TikToks by xjigaydnp4 have been especially helpful to me.

If you have any additions or thoughts, please let me know. I am posting this only to friends and liberal groups, so you should be able to comment.

Thanks,

T. M. Strait

AOC '28

* The offer to avoid hatred does not apply to Trump.  Please forgive me, Jesus. 

Top 100 Sci-Fi Movies of the 20th Century!!! Part 4 No. 65 - 59

  I received this issue of Remind, or what Alison calls "my old people magazine," which ranks the top 100 Science Fiction movies of the 20th century.

Remind does feature many pop culture stories, primarily from the 1950s through the 1990s, though there are references to earlier decades as well. Each issue focuses on different topics, such as country music, westerns, and "where are they now" issues, among others. I enjoy it, as I love pop history. They also have puzzles and a monthly guide to what's on TCM (Turner Classic Movies).

I thought it would be fun to review the movies on the list in reverse order and share my thoughts on them. The magazine's ranking of the movies is not mine.  

I won't go into detailed reviews, but I will share the IMDb ranking and my own on a 1 to 10 scale. I am starting to grade some movies by fraction, such as grading a 7 as 7.3.  

65)

Mad Max

Year: 1979  IMDb: 6.8 Tom: 6.3  Had I seen before?   No?  Service found on: HBO MAX

No quite what I was expecting.  More of a revenge picture, with more muted elements of dystopian science fiction than I was expecting. Nevertheless, Mel Gibson plays his role well, and the basic story is good, if not that surprising.  The sequels were right to play up the more "future gone bad" elements of it, and the vehicle racing scenes. 

64)

The Invisible Man

Year: 1933  IMDb: 7.3  Tom: 7.1  Had I seen before?   No  Service found on: Library Rental

Being a huge H.G Wells fan, I find it hard to beleive I hadn't seen this before.  Securing this movie was a real challenge, and that may be part of why.  It took a while for even the library to find a copy for me.  I rhought it might be timid in showing The Invisible Man in broader settings, but it included village scenes, and that the invisibility had driven him mad. Claude Rains is amazing projecting a complex character descending into madness, even as he is wrapped from head to toe. 

63)

 Men In Black

 

Year: 1997  IMDb: 7.3  Tom: 8.0  Had I seen before?  Yes.  Service found on: Starz

I found this movie quite enjoyavble. A delightful and surprising assortment of clever aliens, this is a great blend of comedy and scifi action. Both Will Smith and Tommy Lee Johns are on their A game, and make a great team, with real chemistry and charisma.  Sometimes you rewatch a movie, and it does not live up to your memories of it.  Not so with this one! 

62)

 

 Westworld

 

Year: 1973  IMDb: 6.9 Tom: 7.7  Had I seen before?  Yes.  Service found on: Prime Rental

Some ports of this were very pro forma.  But, overall, it's another one I found better than I remembered.  Although concentreated on Westworld, they do show other parks, and I enjoyed that.  Yul Brynner as the relentless gunslinger android was top notch.  It was lees than two hours, so it clearly couIdn't get into the depths that that the excellent (if often confusing) TV series could.  But you got the gist - wealthy elites using everyone else as background players in their little dramas.   

61)

Them!

Year: 1954  IMDb: 7.2 Tom: 6.6  Had I seen before?  Yes.  Service found on: Fawsome

Giant ants!  And boy, are they mean! The first of the "big bug" movie, and one that played on the fear of the use of atomic weapons, and the damage that may come just from testing.  The beginning and middle is better than the ending.  Over the course of the movie, they become less of a threat in that they are fairly easily put down. The real threat lies in their ability to colonize almost faster than they can be eliminated. And the implication that this might not be the last mutation coming out of the atomic era.  And from cinema, at least, it wasn't the last one.  Atomic mutation became a popular theme for decades to come.

60)

 The Incredible Shrinking Man

  Year: 1957  IMDb: 7.6  Tom: 7.1  Had I seen before?  Yes.  Service found on: Prime Rental

Speaking of playing off of the atomic theme, going through a cloud of radioactive pesticides results in a man who is slowly shrinking.  As he goes through the unrelenting stages, he befriends some little people (until he shrinks smaller than them), lives in a doll house and is threatened by the family cat (chased into the basement), and duels with a spider.  The ending is more bleak than I remembered.  It tries to play it off as a cosmic wonder, but I'm not buying it.  Ant Man he is not. There is no clear promise of some wondrous sub-atomic universe.  Adapted from a story by Richard Matheson, one of our most cinematic science fiction writers, who also wrote the book Psycho is based on.

59)

 

The Fifth Element

  Year: 1997  IMDb: 7.6  Tom: 7.5  Had I seen before?  Yes.  Service found on: Pluto                                                                                TV

There are a number of movies on this list that use dreamy or borderline incoherent themes, like Barbarella, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and they don't always hit the mark with me as they do with some people.  The Fifth Element is the exception that proves the rule.  I like its quirkiness and the strange places it goes. It has many over-the-top characters and weird scenes. And for the most part, I loved it.  I had forgotten how much I like Bruce Willis, and Gary Oldman's character was a lot of fun. There has been some modern criticism of Leeloo's costuming, but, in the context of the movie, it made a lot of sense. I enjoyed revisiting this movie.

 

As an added feature, I would like to keep a running list of those movies I have rated 8 or higher.

90) Akira 8

89) Cocoon 9

88) They Live 9

84) Face Off 8

77) The Time Machine 8

75) The Truman Show 8

          70) Galaxy Quest 8

          68) Time After Time 8

          67) Superman 8 

          63) Men In Black 8  

Next up? We have a challenging dystopian dietary choice, John Carpenter's purest sceince fiction opus, a raging virus, Dsvid Bowir, who goes there?, and the bad days of not partying in 1999.

Until next time!

T. M. Strait (thanx, H. G. Wells!)

AOC '28

 

Second Thanksgiving in the New Era

  Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.

In the past, I have blogged a list of 31 things I am thankful for, revising it each year for any changes.

That's very tough to do this year, as it was last year.  We are still in the new era of the second Trump administration, as the country continues to fast slide into authoritarianism.

It's not that I don't have plenty to be grateful for. I am thankful for my family, my friends, our health, our pets, my church, and many of my church family. 

I am grateful for our new addition, Scout.  I am not a cat person, but I am a Scout person.  We have a special bond that I would not have believed possible.

I am thankful that my son, Benjamin, and our friend, Anita Lynn, will be with us for Thanksgiving. Our home Thanksgiving will be on Friday this year.

Watching my beautiful granddaughter grow has been a blessing for Alison and me.  She is three, and we had the pleasure of going to Disneyland with her, her parents, and my eldest son, Greg.  And we had the extreme pleasure of her visit here in August.  We also have plenty of video calls.

There are many personal things that I am thankful for.

But it is challenging to be completely thankful when the nation that I love so much has had its happiness and future snatched away from us. Deterioration in policy and civic virtue, the marginalization of entire groups of people, and the use of insulting language accelerate daily.

It's challenging to live in a county where 89% of the voters chose the orange fascist. The only positive sign is that in a recent off-year election, the Democratic candidates for State Public Service Commissioners garnered 14% of the county vote, up from the usual 10%. Whoop-it-da-dee--doo.

I won't go into all the many ways that this unfortunate decision has affected us in the US and around the globe. I have plenty of posts about that, and will have plenty more.

I wish I could be like so many who have decided to cut these poisonous people from their lives. I'm doing it to the extent that I can. But it's not easy when the view that thinks this is okay is dominant here. That this was just another election, and why can't we all be friends?

As many have clarified, it's not a difference in politics; it's a basic difference in morality. And that is hard to get around.

I'm doing the best I can. Thankfully, I no longer have to work in an environment filled with his supporters.  Church is difficult. We have Trump supporters in our church, although I don't believe they are the majority.  I have been good and kept my mouth shut, but it's not easy, and it does take a toll on my health.

Today I have to go into the Lion's Den and have a Thanksgiving meal with relatives who support him. If I were a stronger person, I would challenge their cultish beliefs. But I can't do that. It's not in me. But I  will do my best to minimize interaction beyond what is needed to be polite.

I write many things on my blog - family, nostalgia, movies/TV/books/theatre, etc. It is still dominated by the Trumpocalypse, I am afraid.

There is still too much anger, fear, and rage.  

I can't let it go. To do so would be to surrender to fascism and to accede to the immorality of the narcissist in chief.

If that bothers you, then cut me off. Because it's not going to stop.

I can't let it go.

As dark as times are, I refuse to stop lighting up what I can.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, including the Trumpeteers. I despise what you did and will never understand or forget it. You betrayed your country.  You betrayed your faith.  You betrayed any sense of morality. But on a personal level, I wish nothing but the best for you, your family, and your friends. 

United States of America

1776 - 2025

A noble experiment has come to an end.

Someday, God willing, it will be returned to us.

But for now.

It is gone.

The EVOlution of Majorie Taylor Greene

 

Margorie Taylor Greene is a POS. Sorry for the hidden expletive, but that is her history.

From Jewish space lasers, to her vilification of immigrants, her wanting to divide the country between Democrats and Republicans, her blind support of the Orange Conman, her demonizing the trans community, her blatant racism and support of the worst of the insane QAnon theories - everything about her is off and off-putting.

Yet, as she blithely wanders into the trash bin of American history, something has happened. 

She has begun to sound halfway reasonable on some points.

She supported the release of the Epstein files, long before the current avalanche of CYA Republicans, even to the point where she was ready to name names on the Congressional floor.

Of equal, if not greater, significance, she began to recognize that the Trump economic policies were not working and that the average American was suffering under them.  The price of groceries, Americans' dashed dreams of owning a home, the cost of medical insurance, and more.  She suddenly became concerned about how much her constituents would have to pay when the ACA support was cut. In some ways, she was sounding more like Bernie Sanders than Donald Trump.

She also apologized for her extremist rhetoric, promised to tone it down, and work with others, INCLUDING DEMOCRATS! She said all Americans, of either party, loved America and wanted to do their best by our country, and work together with them.

OMG!  

As this teen actress screamed in the movie Poltergeist...

WHAT'S HAPPENING!?!?!?

There are a number of theories. She might be positioning herself for a post-Trump world, running for the Senate, or even (GULP!) the Presidency.  It might be motivated by extreme hatred for somethingTrump did to her, and this is her revenge tour. It might be to obtain a leadership role in a reformed Republican Party.

Or, maybe, just maybe, she did have some sort of small epiphany that is making her rethink some of her former positions.  She cites relatives and friends who are struggling with healthcare costs.  Maybe a light bulb went off in her head that the struggles of the working class are not all about the evils of immigration or Democrats.  

Regardless of her motivation, I have three general observations.

1) If Democrats really want to get things done, they need to work with people who are willing to collaborate on Progressive legislation.  You don't need to become her bestie to help extend the ACA credits. Talking to each other like real people, rather than cartoon stereotypes, might change people in unexpected ways.  Just refusing her help and doing nothing but badmouthing her isn't going to help bring about the reconciliation this country needs.

2) Nothing I've seen from her indicates that she is going to stop vilifying immigrants (undocumented or otherwise), and the lgbtq+ community, particularly trans people.  As far as I can tell, she is still a Christian Nationalist. 

3) Democrats need to capture the high ground.  They absolutely MUST lead the way in defending the working class.  They cannot let the far right be the leading voice on working-class issues.  This is how we wound up with Trump in the first place.  Both Hilary and Kamala spent WAY too much time catering to disaffected Republicans and not enough to firebrand progressive solutions to working-class problems.  Democrats need to turn away from corporate and billionaire donors, or they will become the dinosaurs of American politics. 

So, no, she is not super embraceable.  I do not expect her and AOC to become besties.

But we need to learn to forge coalitions wherever we can, even on individual issues.  Bernie and AOC have often alighed with surprising REpublicans to present bipartisan efforts - Bernie on veteran's issues, and AOC on not allowing congresspeople from benefiting from insider trading. Those are just two examples.  

Thanks to Trump's disastrous economic policies, his infantile and greedy behavior, and his undeniable Epstein connection, our politics are once again in flux.  And progressive Democrats must be nimble enough to take advantage of it.

It's not about elections.

It's about doing good for the American people.

This isn't a West Side Story-style gang war.  It's about moving the country forward, to a place more equal and beneficial.

Return of the Wednesday Wanderings

 This may be for faithful followers only.

I used to do this type of post that would wander from topic to topic.

Well, as I re-anchor what my blog is for, I'll wander for a little while.  Some of these may be developed later.  Others may just sink into the ether.

HEALTH UPDATE

As some may know from prior posts, I am now struggling with type 2 diabetes. 

After they finally realized I couldn't swallow metformin, I started Rybelsus, which is the pill form of Ozempic.

Within a month, I lost 12 pounds.  Also, my first lab work shows a reduction in blood glucose from 133 to 86, and an A1C reduction from 6.7 to 6.1.  

They have changed my pill from 3mg to 7mg.  I thought maybe I would lose more weight, but instead it has stabilized.  I'd love to lose more, but the important thing is my numbers are way better.

A word about being on Ozemopic—it wasn't something I demanded.  I just needed a pill I could swallow.  It is a bit embarrassing to me now that MAGA idiots like Dr. Oz are promoting the drug so heavily, even just for weight loss.  I swear to you, my primary goal is not weight loss.  It's controlling diabetes.  

My blood pressure, on the other hand, has not made similar improvements. Weight loss, exercise, or diet will not get me down to teenage levels of blood pressure readings.  But I'm monitoring more closely, and time will tell.

POLITICAL UPDATE

The corporate Democrats caving on the shutdown and insisting that the ACA credits be preserved is heartbreaking, but, sadly, not unexpected.  You know they are gonna Lucy with the football that thing.  No surprise that any promise the Republicans make means s--t.

Things like this make me proud to call myself an Independent Progressive and not a Democrat.

By the way, you do realize that when the Republicans call it the Democrat Party instead of the Democratic Party, they are hurling an insult?  The press used to note this to Republicans who would slur this, but not anymore.  Now it flies unchecked so much that I think many of you don't know it's wrong.

ENTERTAINMENT UPDATE

I haven't given up on the Top 100 20th Century Science Fiction countdown.  It takes me a while to find and see them.  I'm using a dozen or more sources, including premium and free streaming services (I make no apologies for being a streamaholic).  I also use the library, and if it comes to worst, I am renting them.  It all takes time.

I'm also thinking of a list of my top ten favorite movies.  There will be individual selections, as well as categories.  I would name Blazing Saddles as a favorite, but I would also highlight all my other Mel Brooks favorites.

I may post about what I am streaming and my recommendations.  Right now, I am watching the third season of Invasion on Apple+ TV.  It's not bad, but some episodes move slowly, and the storyline sometimes diverges into things that make you want to go - Could you please just get back to the story?

RELIGION UPDATE

Yep. I'm still at Grace Episcopal. Yep, I still work part-time for the church.  It gets frustrating around budget time, but I'm hanging in there.

The image above is designed to draw in unsuspecting readers. It kinda speaks for itself.  There's some uproar about a woman who called religious entities with a plea for food and formula for her young child.  Of course, the mosques and Hindu temples were all in.  Of course, the Christian Right churches were declining to help. Of course.

The Christian Reich is a heretical embarrassment, and I just pray that genuine Christianity survives it.  We are making a very, very bad impression, folks.

WRITING UPDATE

It's frustrating, but I'll try to do better.  I need to re-establish a writing routine, but it has been fairly elusive.  Wish me luck.

I am not getting my Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine subscription in time to compete in the Mysterius Photograph contest.  That is deeply frustrating to me. I may need to find other flash fiction contests to compete in.

FAMILY UPDATE

Alison and I celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary with a stay on St. Simons.  It was brief but good to get away.

Benjamin has survived the shutdown, and his job is going well.  He likes the work and the people he is working with.

I've enjoyed soccer conversations with my two older boys, and get video messages from my Granddaughter, Retta.  I would love to show you pictures of her, but there is an understandable ban on any pictures on Social Media.

PET UPDATE

I love Scout and Pixie.  Scout and Pixie love me. Especially around meal time.

Wanderingly Yours,

T. M. Strait

AOC '28

Surender

 I don't want to quit.

But it's getting very frustrating.

I know I'm flawed. I love to get feedback. By nature, I'm a storyteller. I love to get applause and attention.

When I was working, the theatre and creative arts were the only way I could survive. I was in a profession where I was competent but not a star, where there was little attention or positive reinforcement. But I could go onstage and get the confirmation I craved— that I wasn't a complete loser, that there was something I could do well, and that people appreciated it.

I even had a period where I was writing entire books and self-publishing them. The first, History of the Trap, garnered some local attention and sold a few copies, with ebook sales of around 300.

But then...it slowly went away. I wrote another book and a couple of collections that immediately sank into obscurity.  

I have an entire book, The Extra Credit Club, that I've never published. The initial advanced readers were mixed, and I lost heart. I didn't know how to fix it, and I can't afford an editor.

Since retirement, I haven't written any long-form stories. No novels. You would think I would have more time, but I haven't organized myself that way. Partly, it is a long time to spend on something that will never make any impact.

At one time, I was making an entry every day on The Strait Line. Since then, it has gradually diminished. I may end the year with about 50 entries.  

I recently wrote my Halloween story, Halloween On ICE, and although it has some views, there has been no reaction —positive or negative. I finally got Alison to read it by posting it directly on her Facebook feed. Even then, it took her a day or two to find it.

So, yes, part of the problem is the social media feeds. Facebook doesn't post my blog posts to many people. Why? Because they think of my blog as a MONEY_MAKING enterprise, and that I should pay them to post it more widely. No, I'm not making any money off my blog. I'm even lifetime-banned from having advertising on it.

People who post directly on Facebook get more notice than my blog stories do. That is true...EVEN FOR ME.  

It's also crushing to keep posting about the Orange Conman and not see any improvement in this area. People are not waking up in my Trumpian county, no matter what he does. No matter how rotten things get. Even when he symbolically dumps crap on them.

So, yes, not to sound like a teenage wannabe influencer, but the lack of feedback does get frustrating.

But there is another reason. One that I was not expecting.

I love being retired. I love being out of the rat race. I love not having to worry about tax season, or which loophole I have to find.

I like being with my pets. I love the time with Alison. Yes, I love reading and catching up on TV series and classic movies. I love my church, and I love being a lector, an intercessor, giving time and money to those in need, and even occasionally preaching. I love being more of a help in cleaning and taking care of the house. I love my library and reading at Story Time. I love seeing my granddaughter, even in FaceTime. I love my sons, sharing soccer games with my two older boys, and visiting the youngest, BenJerMan.  

The drive to be famous, the drive to prove my worth, has diminished. I don't have to worry about a job that constantly crushes my soul.

So, part of the problem is the lack of feedback.

But it's also because I'm no longer haunted by my sense of inferiority. 

I'll get in a better mood. Sometimes, I might write more, or do a play again.

But it'll be because I want to,  Not because I have to.

Sincerely, 

T.M. Strait

AOC '28

Halloween On ICE

 

October 31, 2026

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

They thought he wouldn't track them. But he was a deer hunter, trained in the art of tracking prey.

Those skills were enhanced by Addy's phone. At least, until the signal stopped.

It seemed like a good idea. Walking the streets of Milwaukee, hopping into different parties at bars and nightclubs. Looking for the ones with the freakiest costumes and music.

They left their third party, hearing tell of one that was the creepiest yet, a haunted building in a sketchy part of the city. Walking there was not as bad as they were led to believe. Until three masked men drove up in a van, jumped out, and abducted Addy. He was hit over the head and left lying dazed on the ground.

They had made a fatal mistake. Eddy was not like everyone else. They were messing with the wrong hombre.

---------------------

"Jesus Christ! Won't that bitch ever shut up?"  This seemed like a good idea to have a little fun, but she wouldn't stop squaloring. "Maybe we should just gag her!"

His compatriot shook his head. "Nah! No one's gonna hear her." The three of them had her zip-tied to a chair in an abandoned warehouse, surrounded by a failed industrial park. "Besides, I love it when they fight back."

"You're making a huge mistake!" Addy cried out. "I'm an American!"

"Oh, yeah?" snarled the heaviest set one. None of them was very fit, but the one snarling was the worst. Sitting in a booth at Waffle House would be an impossibility for him. "Prove it!"

"Let me out, and I can get the papers to show you."

"Ha! Whatever you could get would be fake. Just like your Snow White costume!" They laughed.

The one in the Zorro mask spoke up. "You're no more Snow White than that Latino bitch who played her in that woke Disney trash!"

Addy was a light brown woman who looked Latino. "My father was from Mexico, yes, but I was born here in Wisconsin. My mother's family has been here for generations. Please, you're making a mistake.

They laughed. One whose face was covered by a bandana said, "Not possible. ICE doesn't make mistakes. Prepare to be...deported!"

They had descended into yelping hysterics. This was just fun and games to them. ICE was in Milwaukee to "monitor" early voting, intimidating any voter whom they suspected was not a citizen. And boy, did that cast a pretty wide net! The idea was to make people in certain voting districts so intimidated that they wouldn't try to vote. Some hoped that people attempting to vote would strike back, giving the President the excuse to declare martial law and void the election altogether. There was a strong likelihood that the Democrats would reclaim Congress, and that just couldn't be allowed to happen.

But these three agents found the work pretty boring. It was hard to do too much with poll watchers and the press around (what little independent media still existed—oh, there was still work to do in that regard). So, with the noise and chaos of Halloween night, they thought this was the perfect excuse to have a little fun.

"Maybe she has her papers hidden under her costume," chortled the obese one.

They started to pull at her costume. She screamed. "Eddy! Eddy! Please come! I need you!" It was like a prayer that she feared would never be answered.

But then it was. The warehouse door burst open. There was Eddy, in his glorious slasher outfit.

"Who are you?" Zorro asked.

He had on a mask, a mask that for all the world looked like human skin. In his hands was a chainsaw. Eddy proclaimed, in an unaturally high, cartoony voice, "Unhand her and bring her to me. I can't be responsible for what happens if you don't."

"Are you effing insane, Mickey Mouse?" said the one in the bandana face covering. He brought out a nightstick, as did one of the others. The third pulled out a taser. "Who's gonna stop us? You? Sissy man with a toy chainsaw?"

He revved up the chainsaw. "Not a toy."

ICE melted.