Dru, Steinbeck and the Book of Deer

  Okay, now I've seen everything. Mattel has brought out an autistic Barbie. Sometimes words fail me. This might be one of those times. At first glance, you might think a piece of plastic, complete with dinky little pink headphones, a slightly off-centre gaze, an equally dinky little pink finger clip fidget spinner (what?) and a loose-fitting purple pinstripe dress would make your average battle-scarred autistic adult melt down in Hulk-like rage, feeling like the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune many of us have suffered have been naively trivialised and far too neatly labelled. After all, I've never worn headphones in my life and in fact rather dislike them, can look you straight in the eye, don't even know what a fidget spinner is and don't wear loose-fitting clothes. However, I too am autistic and that's why it's called a broad spectrum disorder. A very nuanced understanding of this is required and it's very often misunderstood. Many of us can scar...

Two recent occurrences reminded me of time's ripple effect ( in which one tiny alteration to the past can drastically change the future ) and the tantalising possibility of a resurrected  Buffy the Vampire Slayer making an end run around the ripple by following a metaphorical Yellow Brick Road to a glorious and surprising finale.. First, that glorious drunkard, The Critical Drinker, explained how 2025 was turning out to be the year that broke Hollywood . According to The Hollywood Reporter, box office revenues for this October were  the lowest in twenty-seven years . Then  Dave Cullen dissed the return of nostalgia reboots . Old shows who had their day long ago being brought back in a desperate and probably doomed attempt to draw in the madding crowds. Shows like Malcolm in the Middle , Scrubs ... And Buffy . Normally, I'd agree with Dave, revel in the Drinker's sarcastic commentary about the latest disaster caused by Hollywood's current catastrophic cycle of creative ...