Mike Spry
Writer/Poet. Author of JACK, Distillery Songs, and Bourbon & Eventide. Words: Toronto Star, FLOOD, Indiewire, MTV CA, National Post, McSweeney’s IT, TSN, Washington Sq. Review.
TV/film/music/culture @ Narrative Electric Co.: https://mikespry.substack.com
- Only the Canadian hockey media could post this news and not mention that the hire's son is on trial for SA, in a case that defines the sport's long history with abuse and toxicity. Good work, Sportsnet! www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/...
- ICYMI: Midafternoon repost. A bunch of dudes on Reddit think I'm a f*cking idiot. Do you agree?
- "Locked in a Hotel Room with Prince: Film, Gen Z, and the Absence of Challenging Media" On how 80s movies taught us to grow up—and why Gen Z’s media won’t. #essay #amwriting #filmsky #80s #90s #GenZ #GenX #JohnHughes #BratPack #writersky #writingcommunity #edusky open.substack.com/pub/mikespry...
- "Locked in a Hotel Room with Prince: Film, Gen Z, and the Absence of Challenging Media" On how 80s movies taught us to grow up—and why Gen Z’s media won’t. #essay #amwriting #filmsky #80s #90s #GenZ #GenX #JohnHughes #BratPack #writersky #writingcommunity #edusky open.substack.com/pub/mikespry...
- [Not loaded yet]
- It’s exhausting, dude. I’m no longer a prof, I’m an essay cop
- NEWS: The NHL has indefinitely suspended Panthers minority owner Douglas Cifu over posts on social media, deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Athletic. Cifu weighed in on the conflict between Israel and Palestine while responding to a Leafs fan. More: www.nytimes.com/athletic/635...
- If calling for Canada, from where half the NHL’s community is from, to be the 51st state doesn’t get you banned for life then what does?
- Pete Rose bet on games that the team he was managing was playing in. MLB bending the knee to MAGAt ideology is a license for anyone and everyone to gamble and cheat, in an age where that can be done from their phones. Rob Manfred is a coward.
- Excited and sad to say goodbye to #StarWars' #Andor tonight. Probably my favorite TV series since The Leftovers. I wish it could go on, but I've seen #RogueOne, so I know where it ends. Here's my essay on the series from last week. mikespry.substack.com/p/oh-star-wa...
- Canadian elections last 5 weeks. The Pope was chosen in two days. Maybe academic job searches don't need to be 6 months?
- [Not loaded yet]
- Considering this and his take on trans athletes, he may have a future in the Republican Party.
- Today I googled “do rabbits have front legs or just hind legs” twice
- I know it’s not quite as newsworthy, but Qatar just gave me a 2011 Kia Rio.
- Sunday Feeld Notes 14.05.25: Things I’m feeling on a Sunday morning knowing my mum is cooler than your mum. Featuring: - #MothersDay - Revisiting the #Andor essay (tinyurl.com/bddyr2s3) - "Butif" starring AOC - #ICE and #ACLU - #EquityGallery! - Next week's #essay open.substack.com/pub/mikespry...
- We need a live feed of the Wiener's Circle now for when they put up the inevitable sign
- [Not loaded yet]
- This👆
- @author19.bsky.social was kind enough to include me on this fine SP. Follow us! And him! bsky.app/starter-pack...at://did:plc:rjvhcovzelhauwihi6bizhd4/app.bsky.graph.starterpack/3loofoejukk2r
- Thanks for including me, Paul!
- [Not loaded yet]
- I still believe his behaviour (along with the rest of the Blackhawks organization) warrants a lifetime ban.
- Midday thru S2 of NECo. Let's review the #essays so far: Is This #TheLastofUs? tinyurl.com/48zwfwna No Longer Afraid of the Dark: On #Horror tinyurl.com/yyer7kac All the Young Dudes: #Masculinity and #Music tinyurl.com/bd8k2c8j Oh, Star Wars! On #Andor and #Authoritarianism tinyurl.com/bddyr2s3
- [Not loaded yet]
- Same amount as Quenneville if you don't count the ones he won while ignoring sexual abuse.
- Video addendum to essay on #Andor and how it’s relevant in the current battle against fascism and bad Star Wars productions: “BUTIF” starring @aoc.bsky.social @sanders.senate.gov & others. Guess who Vader is? READ ESSAY: open.substack.com/pub/mikespry... #starwars #writing #tv #disneyplus #disney+
- It's beautiful to me that with all the armaments of destruction—blasters, KX-series droids, TX-225 Occupier Combat Tanks—in #Andor, the most powerful weapon in the series has been words, most evident in Mon Mothma's S2E9 speech to the senate. Hmmmm. If only there were something to learn from that.
- "Oh, Star Wars! Nothing but Star Wars, Give me those Star Wars, Don't let them end: Tony Gilroy’s Andor is the masterpiece post-original trilogy Star Wars we deserve." mikespry.substack.com/p/oh-star-wa... #andor #starwars #authoritatianism #writing #tv #disneyplus #disney+
- My place of employment may not provide job security or benefits, but we've got Thank You Thursdays and Denim Fridays, so everything will be a-ok.
- [Not loaded yet]
- Love this list. Lemme know if you have room on the next one!
- ICYMI: "Oh, Star Wars! Tony Gilroy’s #Andor is the masterpiece post-original trilogy Star Wars we deserve." #amwriting ##MayThe4thBeWithYou #starwarsday #starwars #RogueOne #lucasfilm #mandalorian #disney #darthvader #TV #watching #monmothma #starwarsandor #MayThe4th
- "Oh, Star Wars! Nothing but Star Wars, Give me those Star Wars, Don't let them end: Tony Gilroy’s Andor is the masterpiece post-original trilogy Star Wars we deserve." mikespry.substack.com/p/oh-star-wa... #andor #starwars #authoritatianism #writing #tv #disneyplus #disney+
- Thanks, y’all! That was fun. I’m new to horror, and wrote about that awakening last week. I write about TV, Film, music, and culture here: open.substack.com/pub/mikespry #horrorwriterschat
- [Not loaded yet]
- Thanks for hosting!! This was my first one and I loved it!!!
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- 😂😂
- "The Economy of Death" how much genius is wasted on making us worse? I imagine a world that cared more about cancer than ED or the undead #HorrorWritersChat #poem #poetrysky #blueskypoets
- [Not loaded yet]
- That's what my therapist said. Until she was eaten by zombies.
- [Not loaded yet]
- Right, right. So I need to look for something with a generator and DVD collection. Gotcha!
- See, that's so wonderfully outside the box. You're looking for some entertainment to pass the time. Smart. lol.
- Well, my characters are usually quite deeply flawed, so I'm not sure if any of them would be helpful. But... 1. Jack from JACK because he's an assh*le but seemingly indestructible. 2. Unnamed female protagonist from "Club Soda Unbridled" because she's capable of murder. #HorrorWritersChat
- #HorrorWritersChat question 3: Which two of your characters would you want by your side during a zombie apocalypse? Quote post, and don't forget to include the hashtag! (no links)
- Hats off to anyone who would spend their unlife literally eating the rich.
- Hey #horrorwriterschat! I'm Mike, I write mostly poetry, fiction, and cultural essays, but have recently immersed myself in horror and am trying to write my first horror fiction. If I became a Zombie, I'd embrace life by eating fascists. And by eating meat again, lol.
- Hahahaha. I mean, if you're gonna basically be immortal, you may as well snack on the 1%. It's like the caviar of people!
- Okay my first book IS zombie related memoir (I’m a Little Brain Dead) so I’ll do my second- Zombies and Other Surprises (it’s Birth and Other Surprises). #HorrorWritersChat Q2
- #HorrorWritersChat question 2: Rename any of your books to make it sound like a zombie apocalypse tale. The sillier, the better! (NO LINKS!) Quote post, and don't forget to include the hashtag!
- "I'm a Little Brain Dead" is the best zombie title in the history of zombies.
- I think I will go with "Hannah and Other Tasty Bodies." How does that sound? #HorrorWritersChat
- #HorrorWritersChat question 2: Rename any of your books to make it sound like a zombie apocalypse tale. The sillier, the better! (NO LINKS!) Quote post, and don't forget to include the hashtag!
- 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🧟♂️
- Ok, Imma do my three books... Bourbon & Eventide —> Whiskey and Wastelands Rising Distillery Songs —> Still Life & Death Ballads JACK —> Getting Eaten by Jack. Again. #HorrorWritersChat
- #HorrorWritersChat question 2: Rename any of your books to make it sound like a zombie apocalypse tale. The sillier, the better! (NO LINKS!) Quote post, and don't forget to include the hashtag!
- OK....I'll WATCH ANDOR. @mikespry.bsky.social at Narrative Electric Co. has not only made me want to try and trust Star Wars again...but inadvertently reminded me about falling in love with Princess Leia for all the right reasons.
- "Oh, Star Wars! Nothing but Star Wars, Give me those Star Wars, Don't let them end: Tony Gilroy’s Andor is the masterpiece post-original trilogy Star Wars we deserve." mikespry.substack.com/p/oh-star-wa... #andor #starwars #authoritatianism #writing #tv #disneyplus #disney+
- You'll love it man. Like, Leia love.
- Hey #horrorwriterschat! I'm Mike, I write mostly poetry, fiction, and cultural essays, but have recently immersed myself in horror and am trying to write my first horror fiction. If I became a Zombie, I'd embrace life by eating fascists. And by eating meat again, lol.
- And here we go with a ghoulish #HorrorWritersChat question 1: Introduce yourself: Tell us who you are (NO LINKS!), what you write, and how you’d embrace life if you ever became a zombie Quote post, and don't forget to include the hashtag!
- We definitely see eye to eye on this, haha
- Also, I hear they're high in protein.
- I'm Jason Strutz, writer and artist of horror graphic novel in progress, Returned. If I found myself a zombie I would try to regain control of my body, save my family, try to escape, and then maybe go on a quest to save the world. ;) #horrorwriterschat
- And here we go with a ghoulish #HorrorWritersChat question 1: Introduce yourself: Tell us who you are (NO LINKS!), what you write, and how you’d embrace life if you ever became a zombie Quote post, and don't forget to include the hashtag!
- Damn, Jason. You went virtuous. Never thought to fight back, lol. I guess my Zombie character trait would be resignation.
- I'm Amber, a horror and dark fiction writer from central Maine. I write in many horror subgenres, and most of my stories involve cults or ghosts. If I became a zombie, I would immediately start looking for vegetarian brain substitutes. Gotta get my nutrients w/o eating people 😂 #HorrorWritersChat
- And here we go with a ghoulish #HorrorWritersChat question 1: Introduce yourself: Tell us who you are (NO LINKS!), what you write, and how you’d embrace life if you ever became a zombie Quote post, and don't forget to include the hashtag!
- Plant-based horror?
- "I have rented the blood of the thief and counted the gift of teeth and tight gums brewing grit and haughty, bawdy songs, and I submit that I have paid" Bates is killing it over in poemland. #blueskypoetry #poetsky
- I think you know the type, the persona. You've seen the comment. But what it would take to explain to someone short-sighted what they cannot see is too much. And you let em go. You're too tired. Today's poem: 'Closet Altruist' tinyurl.com/yhphd4c6 #poetry #writing #writingcommunity #altruism #poems
- Trump is currently ranting and raving about how America doesn't get enough credit for winning World War 2
- Not for nothing, but the rest of the Allies had already been fighting and dying for two years before the US decided authoritarianism was bad. How long will it take this time?
- Genuinely think Andor is the most important show on television right now, for the way it represents fascism, the first of misinformation, and uses one of the biggest entertainment properties in the world to do it. The fact this is a “Star Wars show” is genuinely important to its whole message
- The latest episodes of #Andor show how authoritarianism becomes ordinary — how people get crushed by systems pretending to keep order. We break it down in our article on the show as a metaphor for American fascism: www.wired.com/story/star-w...
- Hard agree. Chuck Schumer needs to tune in,
- The Ghorman language in Andor must sound insane to French people. The English equivalent would be like "flinby bungle wungle, grough liptermony inkerish bong"
- OMG, I speak French and it breaks my brain. I'm like, did Montreal invent a new version of the language and I missed it?
- [Not loaded yet]
- RIGHT?!?!?! The look on his face when Cassian asks, "Who are you?" contains multitudes. We need a Syril-forward The Office styled Star Wars multi-cam spin-off.
- Andor's seventh episode introduces the Force to the show in a way that makes it seem more beautiful, magical, and humane than it has since "Yoda's Theme" first played in The Empire Strikes Back. This series just keeps finding new ways to impress.
- I wrote about it on my Substack and then rewatched eps. 7-9 this morning, and there's SO MUCH I missed. You're right, it continues to impress. I wish it wasn't ending! We need more grownup Star Wars stories
- anyone else’s papal conclave brackets already broken?
- Ya, I had Gary Busey getting through to the round of 32
- "Oh, Star Wars! Nothing but Star Wars, Give me those Star Wars, Don't let them end: Tony Gilroy’s Andor is the masterpiece post-original trilogy Star Wars we deserve." mikespry.substack.com/p/oh-star-wa... #andor #starwars #authoritatianism #writing #tv #disneyplus #disney+
- Doesn't Andor happen before the Original Trilogy?
- Yeah, but I mean post-produced not post-chronology
