Am I Evil? Comic Coming Soon!

We made our IndieGoGo goal – – thank you, everyone!

Jack and the artists now hunker down to get this thing done.

1,118 thoughts on “Am I Evil? Comic Coming Soon!

  1. Oops. new page. This is in reference to the yet another live version of Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds post from the last page.

    “A five-hour Audible version of the show has been made featuring with a cast including Michael Sheen, Taron Egerton and Ade Edmondson.”

    Dammit, I just used my Audible credit for the month a few days ago. Guess I know what I’ll be checking out with November’s credit. And the last book in Peter F. Hamilton’s Salvation Sequence will have to wait til December.

  2. Hubby and I were talking last night and he called me a bittle lunny. Then he stopped and said:
    I swear, I’ve had nothing to drink.

    It was funny.

  3. Hubby needed some new clothes for work. Because we won’t do the mall thing, I took the initiative and bought him some clothes on line. Yesterday he has a big grin on his face and says:
    “Except for the tie, every piece of clothing I’m wearing today is new! And this is the most comfortable underwear I think I’ve worn in a long time.”
    This is actually a bad thing. I’m pretty sure it means I’m going to be doing his clothing shopping from now on.

  4. *sigh*
    Then there’s the wait while WordPress decided if your new name should be allowed, even if it’s under the same email address.

    • My Boo went to Japan a few years ago. She wanted to do the Ghibli studio tour but you had to book almost a year in advance. She was a little bummed out.

      • (Basically that I was supposed to interview them in front of a packed auditorium at a Phx Comicon. I was waiting for them backstsge, noticed too late that they’d gotten onstage by a different route. Keir Dullea sat down and started talking to the audience before I even got out there. He talked pretty much for the entire hour, with a few stories interjected from Gary Lockwood. I said maybe three words.)

  5. Morning Pan

    It occurs to me, I may be a little bit… quirky.
    Today I cleaned the washrooms.
    Normally, hubby and I will get up and I will have a shower first while he eats breakfast. This morning I slept in a bit so I waited to shower until after he left for work.
    So I showered, then cleaned the entire washroom, then got dressed.
    Who else cleans their washroom in the nude?

  6. So I had lunch today with a musician I’ve greatly admired since 1986. David Ellefson. I’m not a stargazer, but it was pretty cool to hang out and hear these stories.

    • That’s one even I think I recognize.
      Although truthfully, at first glance, my brain went to Danny Elfman and then I was a little let down it wasn’t.

  7. Crap joke for the day:

    During lunch at work, I ate 3 plates of beans (which I know I shouldn’t). When I got home, my husband seemed excited to see me and exclaimed delightedly, “Darling I have a surprise for dinner tonight.” He then blindfolded me and led me to my chair at the dinner table. I took a seat and just as he was about to remove my blindfold, the telephone rang. He made me promise not to touch the blindfold until he returned and went to answer the call.
    The beans I had consumed were still affecting me and the pressure was becoming unbearable, so while my husband was out of the room I seized the opportunity, shifted my weight to one leg and let one go.
    It was not only loud, but it smelled like a fertilizer truck running over a skunk in front of a garbage dump! I took my napkin from my lap and fanned the air around me vigorously. Then, shifting to the other leg, I ripped off three more. The stink was worse than cooked cabbage. Keeping my ears carefully tuned to the conversation in the other room, I went on releasing atomic bombs like this for another few minutes. The pleasure was indescribable!
    Eventually the telephone farewells signaled the end of my freedom, so I quickly fanned the air a few more times with my napkin, placed it on my lap and folded my hands back on it feeling very relieved and pleased with myself.
    My face must have been the picture of innocence when my husband returned, apologizing for taking so long.
    He asked me if I had peaked through the blindfold, and I assured him I had not.
    At this point, he removed the blindfold, and twelve dinner guests seated around the table, with their hands to their noses, chorused, “Happy Birthday!”

  8. Finished watching a NetFlix docuseries last night called High Score. It was about the early days of video games. We quite liked it.

  9. Here we go.

    Today’s movie is House of the Witch
    The write up: A group of daring teens find themselves in a fight for their lives inside a haunted house where a sinister spirit crashes their Halloween party

  10. Well, the new season of the Mandalorian is off to a high powered start. Though, I must confess, while all the callbacks and easter eggs generated a pretty strong endorphin rush while watching….a few hours later I find myself a bit let down by what feels like a bit of a rerun.

    I have confidence that the whole season will payoff like it did last year, but I’m a bit underwhelmed with this kickoff.

    • I was never overwhelmed by The Mandelorian. The child was cute enough, I guess, but I found the whole thing over hyped, It to say it was bad. It was ok enough that we will watch season two. I just didn’t find it good enough for all the accolades it seems to be receiving

          • I thought season 1 was mostly great. It’s the first thing in 35 years to really feel like the original trilogy Star Wars.

            Last night’s episode was not the best, but still good. Especially the finale.

          • We did determine about halfway through that this show is a bit too intense for the 2-year-old, so we paused and watched the 2nd half later.

            And that proved to be a wise decision.

  11. Hubby and I decided to watch the 2020 movie of The Turning. It was based on the same book as NetFlix’s Haunting of Bly Manor.
    While The Turning was not good movie, I was with it… until the end. It was baffling to both hubby and I. It’s not often we have to go on line to find an explanation of a movie. We did for this one.

    It also broke the rule of, if you see a gun in the first act, it must be used by the third act. While there was not gun, in horror movies, life sized creepy dolls that are made a big deal of have the same rule… except in movies that have nonsensical endings.

    • I read The Turn of the Screw a buncha years back and found it surprisingly, effectively creepy, for a book written in the 19th century.

      We watched the first 2 eps of Bly Manor last night, and as Van said on the previous thread, the production feels extremely cheap. Like a soap or an old Doctor Who.

  12. In other news, hubby spent part of the day laughing at me. I sent him in to the washroom to kill a spider. He comes out and says he couldn’t find it. I then pointed it out to him. It turned out to be sock lint. It seems I’m afraid of sock lint now.

  13. Where we stand –
    SCOTUS rules that a specific state did NOT have to count any ballots the postal service delivers after Election Day if they don’t want to. Their general ruling was that States make their own rules about which votes get counted. In their specific case.

    Friday, video from a post office in Dade County Florida shows bins full of legally filled out ballots, simply shoved in a back room. Now local postmaster claims they cannot be sorted and delivered befor Election Day.

    Yesterday, thousands of voters marching to their polling place in N.C. were pepper sprayed by police.

    Now Texas Republican’s are suing to have 100,000 votes thrown out in one County, because the county allowed voters to line up in their cars and vote outside instead of standing in line and going inside. They aren’t declaring that there is something wrong with the votes … they want them thrown out because the SCOTUS just ruled a State legislature makes the voting rules and this proceedure was allowed by a county.

    These are active assaults on the American voter. These people are showing their hand now. They are engaged in stealing the election.

    • So here is a “This just in” Twist…
      The all-Republican Texas Supreme Court has denied a GOP-led petition to toss nearly 127,000 ballots already cast at drive-thru voting places in the Houston area. A federal judge is expected to rule on the same issue on Monday.

      • In Canada, for a federal election, the federal government sets the rules. Therefore it’s the same across the country. This different rules for different states is confusing.
        (note: provincial (state) elections are run by the province so they are different for each province)

  14. The violence that just occurred in Texas and North Carolina is chilling. While I’d like to say that Biden should have just gone ahead anyway to show these thugs that he won’t be intimidated, I don’t have all of the facts about the security threat. Maybe they were right to cancel.

    • Floyd County, Georgia Democrats cancel a planned rally today ahead of Trump’s visit to Rome because a large, domestic terrorist presence is expected.

  15. Nothing like a cat having a massive seizure right in front of you to singe every last nerve.

    I think she’s OK now. She’s wandering around. She seems every bit as freaked out as I am.

  16. The intrigue is deepening on Bly Manor, after episode 3. We’ll probably keep at it.

    I wish they’d spent a few more bucks on production, because it’s distracting.

  17. 9:30 at night. Now hubby is told to call parents of a single class to tell them to keep their kids home due to a COVID case.
    Now? It’s pretty late and We were asleep
    (It may seem early to you, but some if us were up at 3am because the cat doesn’t understand daylight savings)

  18. I posted a picture today on the FB of my uncle and dad sitting on groovy 70s lawnchairs in my childhood backyard. My dad was born on Nov 3, 1940, his first brother Frank, my oldest uncle, was born on the same day in 1942.

    • Was just reading a Scientific American article on efforts (and challenges) of avoiding war in space.
      Seems there is a legion of “Hobbiests” That are keeping the world honest by monitoring space activity and tweeting out what they see in real time.
      One of these guys pointed out that the biggest danger in space right now is how crowded it is getting. That, and something they refer to as RUD
      (Rapid Unplanned Disassembly).

      I found that amusing.

    • I’ll check in later. It’s possible/probably we won’t know anything for certain tonight anyway.

      I don’t need to watch pundits repeating, “It’s too soon to call it,” in front of a map, while the US speeds straight at a cliff.

  19. I love it when I get “breaking news alerts” that are neither breaking, nor actually news.

    I mean, did any of you know that today is election day? Thanks, New York Times, for that fascinating bit of journalism.

    I think I may just have to turn off the internet tonight.

  20. Our recent interview with David Ellefson and Thom Hazaert has been getting some press – – mainly about his comments on playing bass with a pick.

    https://www.guitarworld.com/news/megadeths-dave-ellefson-weekend-warrior-bass-players-give-me-sht-about-playing-with-a-pick

    and

    https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/megadeths-david-ellefson-says-he-still-gets-st-from-not-professional-bass-players-about-playing-with-a-pick/

    And I’m so insecure, I have to scour the comments to make sure no one is mocking the interviewers. Luckily, even the trolls are sticking to the topic.

  21. I feel sorry for all you Americans. Your country is broken.
    If Trump wins, he won’t care.
    However, if Biden wins, he will be head of a very broken and divisive country that will not mend easily or quickly. And, since it looks like Republicans will still hold the senate, it is doubtful Biden will be able to get much of what he wants done as Mitch McConnell will likely not pass any sweeping reforms. It’s an untenable position and, no matter Biden’s good intentions, not likely to be resolved during his tenure.
    *shrug* Just my two cents worth.

    • My goals are:
      1. Not to have to spend the next 4 years listening to people bitch endlessly about Trump (I hate him too, just so much so that I don’t want to see everything every day be about him).
      2. I work with a lot of government agencies that have to have the president’s portrait in the lobby. I want to not have to look at his scowling face every time I walk into one of those buildings.

  22. I thought I hated everything about politics. I strongly disagree with almost every political tactic I see and I’m turned off by the rhetoric of both extremes (and little seems to be said that isn’t an extreme). But I must admit. Watching the math of the election results coming in is fascinating. I lost a lot of time today just watching it all play out.

  23. Looks like we will hit a high today of 97F/36C, but Sunday’s low will be 49F/9C. Nothing like a 50-degree temperature change over four days.

  24. New Chuck Lorre sitcom premieres tonight.
    The internet ad for it makes it look like standard sitcom blech.

    That being said, I thought the same thing about Big Bang Theory and 2 1/2 Men when they came out. So much so I never watched them until they were in syndication. Now I have to admit that those two shows are some of my favorite, mindless TV.

  25. Instead of election coverage the past 2 nights I have been binging Queens Gambit.

    I feel it was a wise choice of time.
    3 episodes left.

  26. So, if I could be a time traveling tourist… meaning that I couldn’t actually change anything in the past, just go there… I’d spend 3 day weekends in 1960’s Las Vegas.

  27. There’s a shortage of flu vaccine here. My appointment for last week was cancelled. My doctor still doesn’t have any but I’m finally able to go in this morning and get one from my local pharmacy

  28. Sonos has updated their system again … which means that this morning, once again, I cannot use my Sonos system.

    Apparently I have to invest ANOTHER few hours into trying to get Sonos, my router/wireless, all of the equipment talking again. I’ve had to do it before, many times but now I am beginning to see the exactly how the “sunken cost” principle works.

    I simply cannot recommend Sonos. Yes, their speakers sound good and when the system DOES work it is pretty great.
    … but you have to be willing to bow down to them with random infusions of cash and/or subservient hours of your life just to keep your initial (not unsubstantial) investment working.
    I’m not sure when society decided this was acceptable, basically buying a product but only “renting” it’s functionality, but I don’t see it as a step forward.

    Somewhere in my attic I have a clock radio I bought in 1978. I bought it to tell me what time it was, to wake me up, and to play the radio. I bet if I could find it and plug it in … it would still do all of those things.

    • I agree that I don’t like this new model, where giant corporations have the power to revoke my access to the things I’ve purchased from them.

      But the kids are crazy for this system.

      • My 2cents is that the kids put up with it because they don’t know anything else.
        For most 20 somethings, this is just the way it has always been so they don’t know the joy of buying stuff that just works and keeps working until the components physically break or wear out.

        • Much as I like my Sonos Beam, among smart speakers manufacturers it’s really a niche product line compared to Amazon and it’s range of Alexa speakers,

      • I was out raking leaves (with a rake I bought in the late 90’s and though the paint on the handle has worn off and a tine has broken off of each side, it still preforms the function I bought it for) … and pondering this situation some more.
        I think a summation might be that we are migrating away from “owning” a product. In the new world we are buying a service delivery device but “renting” the functionality.

        Hmmm. More leaves. More to ponder.

        • See, if you’d rented that rake, then they would come out and replace the broken parts for you! (for a small service and parts fee plus membership, tax, and usage charge, void in certain states)

        • I had a similar moment back in the 90s. I was working at a day treatment facility for people with disabilities on daily living skills and came across an egg beater that was obviously a leftover from the 1950s or 1960s. After laughing at how odd the thing looked I started thinking about how this thing was 30-40 years old and STILL WORKING.

  29. The Republican Presidential nominee has won exactly one popular vote since 1988 (Bush over Kerry).

    tRump’s highest approval rating during his presidency was lower than Obama’s lowest (citing Michael Ventrella – – correct me if that number is wrong).

    The vote was decided by roughly 4.5 million votes and 50-60 points.

    Americans do NOT want this brand of Conservatism anymore. It’s time for a new one to arise.

  30. Now …
    Let’s see what a former “world leader” country can do about a Pandemic if it puts the full weight of it’s science, economic power, political will and basic human compassion behind combating it.

    THAT is at the top of my wish list.

    • *While foxnews and the Republican-controlled Senate launch a dedicated, zealous, irrational, concerted campaign to stifle and kill and denigrate every single good thing the administration tries to accomplish.

  31. “Politics are nothing but sand and gravel: it is art and life that feed us until we die. Everything else is ambition, hysteria or hatred.”

    Louise Bogan

  32. The temp dropped pretty sharply here, which has the whole valley digging out their sweaters. Most of you would still be drinking iced tea in front the A/C at these temps, but a 1-day 40-degree plummet is jarring, no matter where you are.

    • It’s like most lists: a good starting point to explore. I’ve got a couple of albums that I enjoy. I don’t agree that Woods should be #1. I like Blood Bank much better than that. But yeah, I agree, they make good folk music.

  33. So as I asked a friend last night:

    Should we be highly alarmed at Pompeo’s “joke” about trump starting his 2nd term in January? Along with the rest of the rump admin’s refusal to acknowledge the election results? Or should we just laugh it off as sore loser behavior?

  34. Rich and I just did an audio interview with Jeff Scott Soto. I can say this in the relative privacy of Deadpan. . . I didn’t expect him to be such a nice guy. Really down to earth.

    Based on his past with Yngwie and his virtuoso talent, I was fully expecting a primadonna.

  35. A question for North American who can remember a time when they didn’t have a tumble dryer.

    Do you think your clothes don’t last as long since you started using a. Tumble dryer?

    • My mother used to be fond of hanging clothes on a line instead of using a dryer. However, any recollection of how long clothing lasted at that stage also has to take into account that I was WAY more active and hard on my clothes as well as growth that lead to getting rid of clothes because they simply didn’t fit any more. I don’t feel currently like the drying is the cause of any of my modern clothes needing to be replaced. But I could be wrong.

    • I’ve always had a tumble dryer in my life.

      I do try to air-dry all of my cottons, because as I get older, my physique is less and less forgiving of the tight, shrunk, clingy t-shirt.

      But my jeans and t-shirts still end up with holes. *shrug*

  36. If you wanted to read yet another takedown of The Phantom Menace – – within the context of its release year: 1999. Which, it turns out, was a pretty great year for movies.

    I’d agree that Toy Story 2 is an absolute triumph of a sequel.

    • It is a prime example of how a very few bad actors can ruin life for a great many. They state they have had less than a dozen intruders but because of that they have had to change procedures, changes that make life more difficult for those who have to be at the hospital.
      Humans have found a way around natural selection and it is turning out badly.

  37. So one of those limited edition Game and Watch from Nintendo arrived today. It also appears the clock announces the hour by coin collection sound.

    But the thing is tiny, much smaller than I was expecting.

  38. Crap joke for the evening:

    I stopped at BP to get a bottle of water, and as I walked onto the forecourt I noticed these two cops watching a man who was smoking while pumping his petrol. I saw him and thought, “is this man stupid, crazy, or both”, especially with the police standing RIGHT there.. But anyways, I minded my own business and went inside and got my water.
    As I was paying for my drink, I heard someone screaming! Like, I’m talking violent death screams.. I looked outside and I saw that this idiot’s arm was on fire!! He was swinging his arm, running around like a lunatic. Like, he was bat shit crazy .. When I got outside, the cops had him on the ground and they were putting the fire out!! Then they put handcuffs on him and threw him in the police car. I was thinking, arrested?? Shouldn’t he be in an ambulance, not a police car!?? Being the nosey person I am, I asked the police what they were arresting him for. And I shit you not, one of the cops looked at me, dead serious, and said, “WAVING A FIRE ARM IN A PUBLIC PLACE”!!

    • Behind the Bastards podcast has done several episodes on L. Ron Hubbard (the sex god with his own navy). It’s quite amazing… and not necessarily in a good way.

  39. Apparently, the docuseries “Scientology and the Aftermath” takes him and his cult down hard (sorry if your article mentions this series; I could only bear to skim it).

  40. Me: I need to really open up my listening again dig new, interesting music outside of my comfort zone.

    Also me:

    CP: Metallica – For Whom the Bell Tolls

  41. We’d been invited to an outdoor Thanksgiving, but it just got cancelled.

    TBH: probably the right call. Everyone has to do their part. Overdoing it with this thing is fine.

  42. We talked to Kix last night on Facebook Live. They’re not the most famous people we’ve interviewed, but man, their fans are the most dedicated. The comments and viewers pretty wild.

    Through a scheduling quirk, we’re doing two this week. Tonight is Bronx Casket Co. – – which includes one of my musical heroes, D.D. Verni.

  43. Part of the email my daughter’s school sent out yesterday. She is in Co.

    Dear Mines students,

    There are only 10 days separating us from Thanksgiving. That gives us a 10-day window during which we can take important steps to help ensure a safe and healthy holiday and end-of-semester—for ourselves and for our friends and loved ones.

    Thanksgiving and End-of-Semester Preparations:

    What’s required this week—and beyond
    In a sense, we should all spend the coming days acting as if we’re preparing to join the astronauts that SpaceX and NASA launched into space Sunday night. Simply put: We need to pull on our protective gear and prepare to spend the days and weeks ahead in a safe and smaller-than-usual bubble. By doing so, we can dramatically increase our chances of avoiding infection and transmission.
    ++++

    It goes on in detail with specific ways of how to not be superspreaders and kill their friends and family back home. Including getting tested 2-3 days before heading home… which they offer for FREE to all their students.
    Sure, these are kids and the may ignore this but I submit it as an example of LEADERSHIP.

    • My daughter goes to a different university in CO and they had a similar, if not as cool, email. She also gets tested for free 2-3 times a week… unfortunately most of her classmates don’t bother.

      • These kids! (Shakes old man fist in air) Their gonna kill us all with their rock n roll and their Beatles haircuts and their Corona Virus!!!!

    • I’m not gonna be that guy that says “no Malcolm, no AC/DC” since they pulled it off with aplomb after Bon Scott…. but man I’m close to saying it.

      Curious to listen to this

    • I listened to most of it over the weekend. I enjoyed what I heard. As Jack said, it doesn’t seem to be any contenders for the classic label, but as an album, I like it better than “Flick of the Switch” so far.

  44. Good morning!

    Did you know today is November 19th.

    For all the memes about 2020 lasting forever – I feel like it’s suddenly November 19th.

    All of a sudden.

    How is everyone?

      • The kids do The Turkey Day festivities with their Dad and his wife’s family. I get them for late dinner so it’s usually just us. Sometimes we have one more.

        Now that my kids have the Oculus Quest 2 VR thingie, there’s no reason to leave. We can pet elephants in Kenya while standing in the middle of our living room.

        I have always appreciated living in the future.

    • We finally found some friends that didn’t have other plans so we can have someone over on Thanksgiving. I’m still making Turkey because it was at a ridiculous 39 cents a lb. I have a chest freezer so I bought 3 of them and will have one every few months or so. Can’t turn down meat that cheap. Just can’t do it.

  45. Rumor has it that Netflix AND Hulu are both raising their prices before EOY.

    Yeah. Hulu can get bent. We’ll be cancelling. Maybe dropping a few? We’ll see.

    • I got a notice from Netflix on Nov. 8 that they are increasing their monthly online access price by $1 on Dec. 8. It’s been a while since the last hike and I would fully expect it every few years or so based on inflation. Compared to the hikes I would get from cable companies every year it doesn’t seem too bad.

  46. There. I set up a bunch of interviews for our YouTube channel, I have my second of four loads of laundry in the wash, and I even put in an hour of gaming.

    All in all, a good morning so far.

    • Will conservatives (real conservatives not these “I hate the left and I’m a racist so I’m going to CALL myself conservative” types ) take this to heart though?

  47. Announcing the 2020 Deadpan Secret Santa Gift Exchange!

    This year, we remained apart because we all want to be around to see each other at future MMMMMeetups. Since we didn’t get to see each other in person this year, I hope to have as many people as possible spreading holiday cheer! That said, if you prefer to give the Secret Santa Gift Exchange a pass this year for financial or other reasons, I completely understand. No judgment and no explanation necessary.

    Here are the details for this year’s gift exchange:
    – As always, all Facebook group members and participants in the comments page are welcome to participate.
    – Participants in the exchange will send a gift costing approximately $15-25 to a fellow Deadpanite, and will receive one in return.
    – Signups are open now and close at 11:59 PM CST on Thanksgiving (Thursday, Nov. 26).
    – Sign up by replying to this comment, by messaging me on Facebook Messenger, or by emailing amybowenwrites at gmail dot com.
    – The participant list will be randomized and assignment emails will go out sometime during the day on Friday, Nov. 27.

    Deadpan is the merry-making way!

    (Crossposted to the Facebook group)

    • I just watched the same film tonight! We’re film buddies. I loved it. Mrs. Asshat not so much. The less thinking and more bloodshed and/or action the better for Mrs. Asshat. I thought it was well thought out and just novel enough.

  48. Well…
    Hearing that the 80 something, mother-in-law plans on attending a 30 person, thanksgiving superspreader event.
    That side of the family tends to make poor decisions to begin with…but to risk her life like that… just the sad cherry on an already sad 2020

    • So sorry man. I empathize.

      This is why we’re still where we are in November. So many people are naturally selfish and need instant gratification.

    • I’m middle-ish but still scientific minded on the matter. My extended family cancelled their annual get-together with 40+ people and I’m 100% for it. I would like to have taken the time to visit my mother in Upstate New York (read rural New York) where the covid cases so far have numbered less than 100. But New York State still has 2 week self isolation in place that would make it impossible for me to go there with the vacation time I have left this year. Mrs. Asshat and I have been feeling sad and left out this Thanksgiving. But… we found some local (real as not mixing circles) friends that we just hung out with last week that also didn’t have Thanksgiving plans. We are going to get together on Thanksgiving day and share food and friendship. At some point in the day Mrs. Asshat and I are going to attend a Zoom event with the extended family. I think it’s a reasonable middle ground. We won’t exactly be self isolating on Thanksgiving day, but we still feel we’re being somewhat responsible.

    • I was just talking about this! As many of us are…. My opinion, FWIW:

      If (hypothetically) the Lo Pans were getting together with the EssBees this year, I wouldn’t have any concerns, because I know they’d all mask up, stay socially distanced, etc. When Roaming Asshat says they’re doing a small get-together, I trust that they’ll do it responsibly. No judgments here.

      Then there are the people with the fucking irresponsibly stupid “We’ll all get it, and we’ll all be fine” mentality who will gather in large groups without masks and social distancing. And people will get sick. And some will die.

      • I certainly think you can meet with people safely but you have to plan for a safe time.
        I just want to tell my in-laws, “you realize that just ignoring the situation and doing what you traditionally do … some of you could be dead by Christmas. This year.”

          • I 10000000% appreciate Asshat, Jack, and JJ’s carefulness here. Honestly I do not mean to come off judgy. I just want safety.

            But goddamn its nice (and awful) that I can/have to use a pandemic to have a simple holiday season with just my wife and 4 kids (I think that’s all). And FUCK if I’m not looking forward to it.

  49. Morning Pan
    Kitty was so cuddly last night. She curled herself into the crook of my arm, used my arm as a pillow, and that’s where she spent the night.

  50. Hubby’s AP was around someone who tested positive. He is currently at home awaiting the results of his test. If the AP tests positive, then the whole school will probably be shut down for two weeks as there will be no front office staff left because of quarantine.

  51. We need a professional to fix our sliding glass door, but every single employee at the company but one is positive, so we’re on hold. I applaud the company for doing the right thing. It sucks to still have the problem door, but it’s not worth exposure.

  52. Many many starts and stops getting through the 3 seasons of Legion – – but I’m glad I made it to the finale. They nailed it.

    This series was so often unhinged and over-the-top and ridiculous. Unreasonably weird. So many WTF scenes. But damn. . . so smart and visually inventive. Pretentious and artsy, but I like that shit. It’s like a David Lynch trip, but with a lot less audience punishment (sorry, Lynch fans).

    A lot to unpack.

    • As someone with no background in the source material, I enjoyed it all immensely….though I certainly probably missed a lot of references. A trip is definitely a good way to describe it.

    • I gave up on the 3rd season 1 or 2 eps in.
      I loved the first 2 seasons but those first episodes felt more like homework then Entertainment. Or like staring at one of those 3D pictures and trying to see the hidden image.

      I am encouraged to go back and give it another try though.

    • I haven’t made my way back to season 3 as my significant other cannot handle the level of psychedelic audacity. I will finish it though, I quite like it.

  53. I finally got the Audible credit to get the War of the Worlds Musical Drama. Not quite what I was expecting, but (as with everything Jeff Wayne) insanely well done. No singing at all. The music was all instrumental and everything else was essentially a radio-drama with lots of narration. There were some interesting differences between the album version and the new version. I also found a standard version of the book on Audible for $1.50. I’ll do that next so I can see how each one varies from the original.

  54. I forgot to hit “stop recording” on an interview I just did. Now I have to go into it and delete about an hour of chat before I post it. Luckily, I wasn’t planning to put it up until around Christmas so I have lots of time to edit.
    Silly me.

    • I often intentionally left record running (with the guest fully aware of it), planning to snip the tail end.

      When I interviewed John Shirley for Deadpan, the followup conversation was so good that I ended up asking him if I could use it. He said yes, and (I think) he was our first 2-parter.

  55. Well this is awkward, looking at Amy’s DPSS post and a new guy wants to join in and I have no idea who he is.

    Asking Amy not to give him my address doesn’t seem to be in the spirit of things.

  56. Poor hubby.
    Yesterday the Alberta government announced grades 7-12 will be switching to at home learning starting Monday. Of course, they didn’t tell the educators ahead of time. We learned of it at last night’s news conference like everybody else.
    Hubby gets to spend the next three days mostly fielding parent questions and working with central office on how best to divide up his school (he has grades 5 – 8). He expects to come home rather harried.
    He also says it’s silly because all the covid cases they’ve had were in the lower grades, none in the seven and eights.

    • Crap joke for the day:

      An Irish man is stumbling through the woods, totally drunk, when he comes upon a preacher baptising people in the river.

      He proceeds to walk into the water and subsequently bumps into the preacher.

      The preacher turns around and is almost overcome by the smell of alcohol, whereupon he asks the drunk,

      ‘Are you ready to find Jesus?’

      The drunk shouts, ‘Yes, oi am.’

      So the preacher grabs him and dunks him in the water.

      He pulls him up and asks the drunk, ‘Brother, have you found Jesus?’
      The drunk replies, ‘No, oi haven’t found Jesus.’

      The preacher, shocked at the answer, dunks him into the water again for a little longer.

      He again pulls him out of the water and asks, ‘Have you found Jesus, my brother?’

      The drunk again answers, ‘No, oi I haven’t found Jesus.’

      By this time the preacher is at his wits end and dunks the drunk in the water again – but this time holds him down for about 30 seconds, and when he begins kicking his arms and legs, he pulls him up.

      The preacher again asks the drunk, ‘For the love of God, have you found Jesus?’

      The drunk wipes his eyes and catches his breath and says to the preacher, ‘Are you sure this is where he fell in?’

    • I’ll admit that the trope happened enough for me to notice. I too would like to see the plotlines move toward a more meaningful direction. That said, I’m still enjoying Mando.

      • Overall, I prefer epic story arcs, but the episodic nature works. And so far, both seasons have had a loose overall thread. I think this reporter is bringing up that there’s not much compassion for the creatures they encounter.

        I get that, but I also get the counter-argument: he’s a bounty hunter in a rough universe – – is he gonna try to hug it out with a krayt dragon?

  57. My poor husband is soooooo burnt out, I don’t know what to do. They are averaging one or two more new cases each day in his school.
    *sigh* Looks like another late night for him tonight.

  58. I hate my mom. Since she can no longer send me conspiracy theories through FB, she’s emailing them to me directly. At the moment I’m ignoring her but, at some point, I’m going to have to tell her to STFU

  59. Hubby texted. Yup, another late night. I don’t think he’s been home before seven this week (closer to 8 yesterday) and worked all last weekend.
    I’m pretty sure I have a husband but, since I haven’t seen much of him lately, I’m not too sure
    *sorry, I know I’m venting. I’ll stop now

    • My Black Friday shopping this year consisted going to Walmart and buying a gallon of milk and some rain ponchos for my daughter when we went to visit her today.

    • I thought about getting a Kindle Fire HD tablet or a Samsung Galaxy Tab A for my mom so she can engage in Zoom events. Decided that I’ll wait and see what Cyber Monday brings on the tablet front. I was pretty miffed that the $80 version of the Fire HD is Ad supported. Seriously, we now have ad supported tablets? It’s just all going too damn far.

  60. I think I already have my secret santa gift picked out. Just worried the person may already have it. Suppose it’s worth the taking the chance.

  61. To my Secret Santa recipient. I ordered three, but, because life is the way it is, it looks like they are being delivered in the wrong order. Please accept my apology.

  62. Morning Pan

    We watched the first episode of the new Animaniacs yesterday. It was ok, but I don’t know if I’d go much beyond that.

  63. I need to order two more items and my Christmas shopping is done. Those I’ll do next week as I’m looking at Prime shipping times.

    • He was never on my list, never will be.

      On the other hand, he’s dead (good riddance), and none of the shitbags in his circle will benefit if you do buy his stuff.

  64. Good morning!… afternoon.

    I’ve been awake. Honest.

    I take offense at Jack’s note about Thriller.
    I’m sure it’s true, but I’m still offended.

    I’m almost done my Christmas shopping… I masked up and braved the Swap Meet.
    It’s one of the emptiest places I’ve found to do my shopping. It’s outside and supports local business so … that’s what I’ve been up to.

  65. So. A couple of weeks ago, there was a silent auction at a local store for a framed AC/DC piece of work. On a lark, I put in the minimum bid figuring I wouldn’t get it but, if I did, at least the money goes to charity.
    I just got a call saying I won the bid. Given I did the minimum, I have to assume no one else bid on the piece.
    Now I have to tell hubby I just spent $200

    • I heard he’d died. Didn’t know it was COVID. He was pretty universally loved by his readers and peers. He also discovered and launched many many great careers in Science Fiction.
      RIP.

  66. Morning Pan
    This morning I get to install and explore a newer version of our bookkeeping program. The excitement never stops here in bunnydom.

  67. We’ve been watching a show on Netflix called Dark. We are enjoying it but I think hubby’s tired of me saying this is this person and then being right

  68. So I finished reading “Something Wicked This Way Comes” last night. Wow, what a book. I’ve read some Ray Bradbury before, but this is the first time I was able to appreciate the greatness of his nuts and bolts writing. Every paragraph is poetry. And the allegories about youth and aging are just *chef’s kiss.* And what a great villain!

    I remember liking the movie as a kid, but that’s the last time I saw it. I wonder if it holds up.