Friday Donuts

Friends, I’m not much for using arbitrary dates to make life changes – you can do that at any time. I am, however, very much into building and burning effigies to close out the year – an Ecuadorian tradition we call Año Viejo. The theme we chose to represent 2024 was Steamboat Willie, the Disney movie whose copyright protection had been extended through the end of 2023 by the 1998 “Mickey Mouse Protection Act”. Now that he’s in the public domain, Mickey has been rebelling and doing things his parent company would not approve (a nose ring, two earrings, smoking, a public domain tattoo and an Iron Maiden logo on his hat – a nod to Paul Di’Anno’s passing in October). Despite losing his head a few times (literally, it kept falling off) we proceeded to read his last will and testament (a playful roast of the party’s attendees), pouring accelerant and lighting a match at the stroke of midnight (after the obligatory countdown, of course). If you’re curious, you can find this year’s Año Vi...