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.

  69. My floors are dirty.
    I was going to clean them tomorrow but I think I’ll do it this afternoon after an interview. They are really bugging me.

  70. The kitty litter we use changed its formula. I’m not sure what they did but there is now white dust everywhere. Seriously, it’s insane, We’ve vacuumed twice since 2pm.

  71. People here seem to be up on modern concepts (certainly more so than myself). Maybe someone can point me in the direction of somewhere else this idea has been talked about. I apologize in advance for the long post that follows and gladly accept any TLDR responses.

    I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about the latest generation-based differences that I’m seeing. I lived through the digital revolution and saw the world transform from everything being analog to everything being digital. Go me. I was promised that the next revolution was going to be wireless (including power sources) and the mass of wires behind my entertainment center would go away some day. That most definitely has NOT happened and the mass of wires is larger and more unmanageable than ever. However I have been noticing another revolution occurring. Growing up I had to collect and control everything that I own. Music came in physical form and had to be individually purchased and held onto (even the digital stuff). Movies came from a store or a rental place. I could temporarily get a movie to watch, but part of the experience was going to the rental place and wandering to the store to find what I wanted to watch. At every stage I was expected to control the process. I could ask others for advice, and I was certainly being controlled by music companies and Hollywood on what choices I was offered. But in the end I was expected to figure out what I wanted to listen to or watch. Even when social media came around, I was expected to figure out who to connect with and which content I wanted to see from people.

    Now, however, music (especially with the generations after me) was brought to us by Pandora and eventually platforms like Spotify. The goal is not to own music or figure out what you want to listen to. Rather the goal seems to be to have algorithms figure out what new stuff to expose you to or play for you next. Instead of putting money into purchasing music directly, people purchase a platform that offers to supply them with music on-demand and help them figure out what to listen to. The same goes for Netflix or YouTube. We go to those platforms and look to see what it wants to suggest to us. Especially with a platform like YouTube, watching content has become random and a series of following suggestion after suggestion. Social media has shifted to more and more automated content. Especially as the younger generation moves to newer and newer platforms. TicTok, for example has almost no control at all. Everything is just randomly streamed to the user and they semi-control the content by liking specific items. But there is no control expected or even desired.

    The real revolution now seems to be a shift from control of content (with old stodgy people like me owning and grooming my collection of thousands upon thousands of music files, having a massive collection of movies and TV series in DVDs or meticulously controlled with Plex, and trying desperately to control the content and friends that I see on Facebook) to a desire to have content selected for people (with my Son using Spotify to help him figure out what new music to hear, using YouTube to find new things to watch, and surfing TicTok for social media). I also see that we are only just beginning this revolution. My Granddaughter, Goddaughter, friends kids, etc. (really young kids) all have phones or tablets and have a certain amount of time each day where they surf something like YouTube for kids with little to no desire for control at all. Where will this generation wind up on the control vs. automation spectrum?

    I’m not saying this to bitch about the modern generation. There is no reason that control of content would be any better or worse than automation. Automation helps us find awesome new content. Physically owning content isn’t inherently better than streaming content. Please don’t think I have anything against this revolution. I’m just surprised that no one else seems to be noticing or discussing it. I’ve tried looking up things like “automation revolution” but that has a very specific and different meaning that what I’m talking about. Is this conversation goin on somewhere? I don’t follow the news much so for all I know it’s all been hashed over a dozen times over in the media.

    • There is an inherent concern is the non-ownership of your media. . . If you don’t control your access of items, then the large media companies can determine how, when, and if you access that content.

      But yeah, instant access to your favorite media is kind of wonderful. When someone recommended a song (or movie) to you back in the day, you had to go on a quest to try to find it, if even possible. If you weren’t lucky enough to randomly catch it being aired on the radio (or on TV – – in the case of a movie), you had to plop out the money to buy the physical copy. Or if you couldn’t find it in the store, you’d have to go to a brick-and-mortar location, enter a special order, and wait days/weeks for it to come in. In these modern Jetsons times, access to that song or movie is literally at your fingertips, available within a matter of seconds. That’s a pretty great thing.

      I do think the wire thing is going to go away. I’m still constantly untangling crap, but the inheriting generations are not gonna have any patience for that.

    • Interesting philosophical pondering for the day.

      I see it as more of coming back around the circle in that, the internet and mp3’s allowed for a suddenen opening up of what you had access to … but the industry has caught on and regained control but owning the algorithm’s and delivery platforms (Pandora, Spotify, et)
      So in terms of coming full circle …
      From about age 10 to 16, when I became aware of music for my own entertainment, there was one “Rock” station in my town. An AM Radio station. (other choices were country, easy listening or the local NPR that mostly played classical). It was the stereo typical, Casey Cassem Top40 stuff. Because they had a lock on the market, I thought what was available was what they were feeding me. I didn’t look for other music (in that genre) because I didn’t know there was anything else out there.
      Basically, the only way you found “New” music or discovered there were sub categories of “Rock” was when a friend brought you a tape his brother in college had sent him or if you went to a college for a weekend camp of some kind.
      So I think your kid’s are back to music that is being carefully fed to them by those who own their market. It may be a large pool of Industry pushed music and it may be “tailored” music in the way that their searches and preferences allow the industry to only give them the approved tunes that fit their collection … but they are content with this because they don’t know there are other worlds out there.
      We are back to – The only way they are likely to discover ‘new’ music or sub genre is when someone outside of their algorithm will pass them a music file to listen to.
      I don’t guess it’s good or bad. I survived the closed loop of Top40 radio and eventually found my way to Pink Floyd and then the Ramones, the Pixies and They Might Be Giants.
      It will just be interesting to see what eventually gets this generation to overcome their carefully curated, corporate algorithms.

  72. I’ll keep working on this concept. I think I’m conflating a few ideas here and need to separate them apart. There is the lack of a wireless revolution that kind of serves as a setup and isn’t really relevant. There is the idea of owning content (physical or digital) that is an important concept but not necessarily what I’m driving at. What I’m noticing is the lack of desire to control what one experiences. We let Spotify determine what music we will listen to next, we let TicTok determine what social media experience we see next, we let YouTube determine what video we will watch next, we let our watch tell us when we should be exercising (and what exercises we should do), and on and on. I feel old every time I cull my collection of music in iTunes and figure out what I want to purchase next, not because I own the content, but because I’m taking so much control over what music I experience when I could just let Spotify find me new music. That’s the trend I’m trying to see if others are talking about.

    • We almost never play Catan anymore, and even then, it’s not the original. Of them all, I’m partial to Starfarers, John prefers Star Trek

  73. I wanted to chime in on comments from yesterday that started with the Roaming Asshat’s thoughts on the switch we’ve seen to algorithms curating our entertainment choices. I thought Justa Joe’s observation about it essentially being a reversion to the mean with the media makers retaking control of what we see an hear was an interesting one – but one I fundamentally disagree with.

    I certainly clung to my Ipod and Itunes curated playlists for longer than many. I really appreciated the “smart playlists” options in Itunes that allowed me to build playlists that would insure that I kept a regular rotation of songs by kicking things out that I had heard recently. My routine playlist consisted of everything that I had rated 3 stars or higher and that I hadn’t listened to in the last six months.

    Nothing in the streaming world has really been able to match that….but, I’ve not used an Ipod or Itunes in many years. First Amazon music, then Google Play music, and now Youtube Music (since Google Play music is being discontinued). I had an Itunes library of several thousand tracks from ripped CD’s and a lot more from Usenet newsgroups and that Russian AllofMP3.com site that was “selling” tracks for a while. I guess strictly speaking, I still do.

    But, I have found the streaming library has been able to give me pretty much everything I could want and more. And, here’s where I disagree with Joe – based on the tracks that I’ve given the thumbs up and down to, I’ve found that I can both avoid the “popular” music that I just can’t connect with anymore, as well as find and enjoy a number of obscure artists and genres that are definitely not any kind of mainstream.

    I’ve still got all those MP3 files that I can turn to whenever I want, but these days, I find myself plumbing the depths of all kinds of interesting tunes that are only possible with a streaming catalog. It trues I don’t “own” these songs, but with largely ubiquitous internet access, that is proving less of a barrier than I would have previously thought.

    • Interesting.
      So you do feel like your streaming site provides you with “new/different” sounds?
      Do you have to tell it to play you something “new” or does it slip the new into what you were already listening to?

      Do you think that is standard for streaming services or special to the one you listen to?

      I wonder if “corporate” has given up trying to control the “product” and is now just trying to push as much of it as possible?
      They want to offer a million tracks, they don’t care if that is from a million artists or just a thousand. In fact, if they have a million artists they can pay each less because of how many are willing to step up and take their place.

      This opens up other questions. Do you suppose they could so saturate the market that it becomes like publishing… in that, just like a lot of published authors have to have a “day job”, will being a “rock star” not make you enough $$ to live off of?

      • What I’ve found with Youtube music at least, it has a “My Supermix” playlist that tends to evolve over time. It consists of things that I’ve liked and slips in more tracks by those artists that I have listened to yet, as well as similar artists that I haven’t come across yet.

        One things I’ve found particularly interesting with Youtube music is that a lot of the sources are Youtube “video” artists – musicians with Youtube channels that have vidoes of their songs that range from essentially static backgrounds to fully produced videos. I can listen to the audio only portions of those songs. I’ve also come across a number of Youtube channels that are essentially megamix playlists from various artists in a genre. Playlists that range from 2 to 10 hours long and that also gives me exposure to other artists that I haven’t come across yet.

  74. So, just watched the latest of “The Mandalorian” that came out today…

    Sweet mother of Fuck! Filoni and Favreau pretty much came in and flipped the fricken table over!

    Am-ah-zing!

  75. So. . . We hit the series finale of Star Wars: Rebels. For those who’ve missed my ongoing commentary, I felt like season 1 was nigh unwatchable. Just terrible in every way. But the ship was righted almost immediately in season 2, right from the season opener. From then on, it was pretty high quality. There was one confrontation on Tatooine that was edge-of-your-seat great. And the series finale was rock solid.

    Add that to today’s new Mandalorian episode, and you have a pretty great day of Star Wars viewing.

  76. Sorry for the long post.
    I don’t know why I don’t ever have happy stories to share.

    So this was a day.

    2 weeks ago, my Mom went to the Hospital for a “routine”, couple of hours, procedure. She has had what seemed to be pneumonia for months and being unable to cure it, her Doctor thought she should get a lung biopsy.
    Well, they punctured her lung. She is in her 70’s.

    The recovery has been difficult. Things were not getting better. During this time, I was out of action with a back issue. By Last Tuesday I could drive again so I went to spend time with my Mom in the Hospital. What I discovered is that she needed a “project manager”. She had all these “sub contractors” coming in and doing their bit of the job but there was a communication problem between them all. PLUS they had my mom so drugged up that she couldn’t hold a conversation with them. They would try but she would keep loosing track AND her throat was so sore she spoke in a whisper that could barely be heard above the suction machine.
    The Doc is supposed to be the Project Manager but he comes by once a day for like 3 minutes… and then moves on to the 50 other patients he is overseeing.

    After about an hour or so of watching this I stepped in and started being her advocate, asking questions, making notes of what each was doing, ask what their goals for her treatment were and then I would pass that info along to the next tech/nurse.
    Within a day we got her on proper pain meds and cleared up a miscommunication where the nurses were waiting on the Doc to approve something he thought he had approved the day before.
    So I was with her for 3-4 hours Tues , Wed and Thurs and by early evening yesterday the Doc thought she could be released today.

    Last night she swallowed a pill wrong and had a terrible coughing fit. Her O2 was down to 80 for 2 hours and they didn’t know why. They finally got her back up to where it should be but by this morning they decided they wanted to watch her another day.
    I got there about 2pm today and within 5 minutes the nurse came in to tell her that the Covid Rapid test they gave her at noon was positive.
    .
    .
    They wanted me to leave immediately so they could isolate her but I refused to leave until they told me what the next steps for her were, were they going to move her, who the point of contact would be, would they give her the PCR test to make sure this wasn’t a false positive. The nurse said he would find out and so that gave me minutes to try to alert my family and start contact tracing and simultaneously organize with my mom.
    The Nurse came back and said that the Infectious disease sub-contractors had been informed and would be taking over and I had to leave.
    I hugged my mom and left with the sound of her sobbing behind me.

    …and immediately started to scramble to find someplace that could get me in for testing before everything closed for the day. Everyplace already were booked til days end. A place that could get to me couldn’t get me results for 7-10 days. My sister finally got me on a waiting list on her end of town and by 6pm I got a Rapid test that said I was negative.
    The good news there is that it means I didn’t give it to her and that I probably haven’t given it to any one else. Unfortunately, given the extended time I spent with her in a very small room… I have clearly been exposed and may still develop it.

    Meanwhile my 80 year old Dad is by himself in the country and is waiting on the results of his own Covid test and has spiraled into depression. Until I am cleared I can’t see him. Until he is cleared my sisters can’t see him.

    So it has been a day.

    and quite a long week.

    and an even longer year.

  77. 🙁
    My dad’s Covid test came back positive.
    In better news, (I think), they have kept my mom where she was and didn’t move her to the Covid Isolation floor. That just feels like a place where people don’t come back from.

  78. There’s a scene in the latest episode of The Mandalorian which is homage to a scene in Firefly which itself was homage to a scene in Blake’s 7.

    So yah Brit sci-fi I guess.

    • I just watched that last night too! My expectations were low because it is a Blumhouse movie (usually more hauntings and suspense than actual bloodshed), but they actually pulled this one off really well.

  79. We discovered over the weekend that Mr. Wizard’s World is available on Amazon Prime. It’s still pretty great!

    But man, attention spans were different back then. In one segment, Mr. Wizard explains Archimedes Principle, and it’s just 5 minutes of an old guy talking to 1 kid, telling the story. No goofy animations, songs, comedy bits, etc.

  80. Justa joe-

    Ugh. What a nightmarish story and not just a story (you know what I mean), but a terrifyingly, anxiety-ridden ordeal for you and the ‘rents!

    As a nurse, I have so many questions- but you can reach out to me, if you want my input.

    As your fellow Pannite, i am here for you and your parents- to lend support in any way I can. I am sure Mr. Jack MF’n Mangan has also pimped himself to you, as well.

    Hugs

    • Thanks Pixie.
      My mom is in really good spirits today and they even let her wander somewhere to get a Coke.
      This is great because it means she is walking although I don’t know why she isn’t quarinteened to her room. She says she has 3 more days of Covid treatment left.

      My dad is reporting lack of appetite and difficulty staying awake. 🙁
      No energy is one of the symptoms but it could be depression as well. I have ordered a finger tip, pulse Ox device to try and make sure low oxygen isn’t the problem.

      All my tests from Last Friday came back neg. but I developed a low fever Sat and Sun (gone by Monday) and now have an occasional burning cough.

      To also add to the fun, my daughter tested Sat and was positive, though she remains entirely asymptomatic.

      I am currently waiting to get tested again, now that I am showing symptoms. If I would go ahead and test positive, theoretically I could go take care of my folks.
      Also… I could hug my daughter 🙁

      I guess you are all on my hippa release now.

      • I’ve written very boring documents about HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).

        Bravo for the bits of good news. Best wises for all the rest. We are here for you in whatever capacity is possible.

        I hope you learn soon that you got an A+ on this test.

  81. Since it’s been over a week, shout out to Ed, I was your DPSS and I bought an audible credit for you, check your spam filter in case the email got blocked.

    • That’s not a good sign. I emailed you back to follow up – but I’ve not seen anything from you or Audible regarding a gift credit.

    • Easily debunked.
      If there is one thing I know about trump… the only thing he loves more then mistreating people is money … and the only thing he loves more then money is his ego. Part of his ego-lomania is proving he is the smartest guy in the room, which to him is showing you he knows more than you which he frequently does by suddenly spouting out secrets and classified info.
      No really. He has done this.

      SO … if we were in touch with aliens and trump knew, he would have said something about it while doing one of his White House photo ops.

  82. Since we’re making confessions – my DPSS has been ordered, but the vendor reports that delivery is expected between Dec 16th….and Jan 6th.

    So, I’ll either be on time…or just really early for next year 🙂

  83. It was kindova big deal that Warner announced all their 2021 films would be showing on HBO Max at the same time as the theatrical releases. Apparently, they didn’t tell any of the folks involved in those films ahead of time

    https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/christopher-nolan-rips-hbo-max-as-worst-streaming-service-denounces-warner-bros-plan?fbclid=IwAR1NV-AdVcwSf_wco4ChoTErVyQ4hup7xsFXnT8mBcskf-oOnBFDigHzqkI

    I was really surprised that they went that direction for the whole year as opposed to say, just the first quarter of 2021 and then see where things stand.

    Though, if the reports are accurate, there’s not all that many of us with HBO Max anyway. I get it for free with my Uverse subscription – I doubt I’d pay an extra $15/month for it otherwise.

    • Plus they are going to open themselves up to extensive piracy, as soon as they start streaming WW84 it’s going to get ripped and put on the internet.

    • Same. It’s been one of our better services, but I wouldn’t have chosen HBO, if it wasn’t free (now we’ll see). It’s going to help a lot to ditch Hulu.

      I don’t live in that studio film industry world, so — other than the “you shoulda told us” part — I don’t see why this is a big problem in COVID times.

      • I think this is probably a bigger part of the issue:

        “Many think Legendary will be the first to file a legal challenge. The company fired off a previous lawyer letter after Netflix offered something north of $225 million for the rights to Godzilla vs. Kong, which has seen its release date moved from March 2020 to November to May 2021. Though Legendary financed 75 percent of the movie, Warners had the power to block the sale and did.”

        By essentially dumping all of these films in this self dealing fashion to HBO Max, they’ve cut off all the other stake holders in these films from negotiating potentially better deals from Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV, etc.

      • I don’t know if the Academy has fixed this yet, but I know that films were only eligable for Academy Awards if the appeared on a movie theatre screen.

        That might be an issue for some. Just getting nominated for that award means a big career boost for production people (editors, lighting, sound and such).

      • Also, I was reading today that actors get paid in two parts. The upfront fee to appear in the movie and the backend fees such as ticket sales (after the studio is reimbursed from ticket sales). So if a movie flops the actors get nothing after their up front fees. But if a movie is a huge hit, it’s a big payday for them (and their agents and others that support them). The HBO deal was for half or projected ticket sales. This means that movie theaters (which gets the other half of ticket sales) and everyone else were completely cut out of the deal. Only WB gets any money at all from the HBO release.

  84. Our cutlery is going missing. It’s very strange since it’s only John and I in the house. So far we seem to be missing a number of salad forks, some butter knives, and a couple of soup spoons.
    It’s become a real mystery in the bunny household.

    • We used to have a cat that would steal pens. I wonder if the cat isn’t taking them. Look under a couch, that’s where all our pens would show up.

  85. I have received my DPSS gift and am in love and much thankful! I will post a photo over in the Facebook group later.

    It’s actually something I’ve considered purchasing for my house on many occasion, so you, my dear DPSS did phenonomenomenomenally!

  86. Interesting article about Bloom County. For the sake of background, the only thing I can actually draw well is Bill The Cat, the first of my 28 tattoos was of Bill The Cat, my online name “usedhair” is a reference to Bill The Cat, and I actually own the infamous Opus telephone that is mentioned in this article.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/08/arts/bloom-county-40-berkeley-breathed.html?searchResultPosition=1&fbclid=IwAR2tcbG_6AnOMbgIlUf64qWS2HFbYUxUx8Qs4iFhNnc83fF5vx4MxDB83f0

      • I read Doonsbury. Can’t say I remember much of it. Didn’t impact me the same way. I did lean how to draw Hagar The Horrible, Beetle Bailey, and The Lockhorns. The Far Side and Bloom County were the most impactful. But I read the comic pages of the newspaper religiously when I was growing up. Hell, I even read Family Circus.

  87. Operation: Bring Mum home from Hospital –
    Seems to have gone well.
    She had a cup of tea. My Dad perked up and had a very small bit of food.
    Progress.
    Now we just have to make it through a long winter’s night.

  88. I binge watched the first season of Schitts Creak.
    Forced myself to keep watching because I really respect several of those actors AND it was getting so many awards. Other wise I would have given up early on.
    While it did sort of find itself by episode 7 … it basically felt like ALL the bits that make an “I love Lucy” episode so painful to watch, with none of the slapstick thrown in for relief.

    • So I never tested positive but the doc said I should consider myself to have it since I was exposed and then developed some symptoms. (2 days of low fever and then an occaisional cough).

      The frustraighting thing is that they say you are in the clear 10 days after testing positive… but if I still hadn’t tested positive, when do I get to start that clock?

      Meanwhile, I just spent my first full day of looking after my convalescing parents. It’s exhausting. My wife pointed out, “now image you’re a nurse with a whole floor of elderly patients”!
      Eesh!

    • Considering the history of the rights to Fantastic Four, I wouldn’t be surprised if Marvel was required to make a movie as a legal matter.

    • With the exception of a few series, I am complete MEH on most of the Star Wars series coming out. I am 1000000% more excited for the Marvel news. They have track record. They actually have/had a plan. With the exception of the shorts, every one of these Marvel shows has me excited. Especially Loki and Ironheart

      Disney Star Wars is still a goddamn mess, Mando notwithstanding. Filoni and Favreau can’t save it all.

      Make mine Marvel!

      • I’m meh on a few of these, but I will absolutely give most of them a shot.

        I will say, a “morally ambiguous Rebel Spy” show sounds great, but I’d prefer it wasn’t focused on Cassian Andor. We know his fate. Let’s leave him alone.

  89. So we finally got to Rise of Skywalker last night – – my 2nd time seeing it.

    And srsly, all y’all haters are missing out. It’s a mess in many parts, but it’s also a really fun final chapter. I still liked it very much on viewing #2. Some of the errors were more prominent, but some of my lingering doubts from the first viewing were answered.

    A not-so-quick reassessment: SPOILERS below, btw.
    —————————–
    Problems:
    -Introducing a bunch of extraneous new characters and settings. Pretty much all of those new people said things and did things that established characters could have done. Like Billie Lourd, or that woman with the big nose (not mocking her schnozz), or – – – Rose!!, for example.
    -My most cynical side suspects they bloated the movie with these characters just to have new properties for action figures, side books, etc.
    -Not enough Rose. I agree with the haters on this one. I hope JJ wasn’t caving in to whiny internet haterboys by giving her a diminished role.
    -Leia’s death. . . I realize they were painted into a corner by Carrie Fisher’s actual death, but their handling of it was awkward. It’s OK, but I wish they’d come up with something different.
    -Ghost Han. It’s actually a great scene – – but there’s no explanation as to how or why it’s happening. Is Kylo Ren having a psychotic break? Was Han a tactile hallucination??? In my head canon, Leia managed to pull his non-Force-ghost from the afterlife for a few moments to have that brief time with Ben – – which is what taxed her so hard. That’s better than the non-explanation the film gave for him showing up.
    -I assume all of those hooded Emperor fans in the stadium are slave clones he built to do the construction on all of those Star Destroyers? Could we have taken 5 seconds of dialogue to explain that?
    -Luke saying “I was wrong” to hide out on Ahch-To.
    -Chewbacca’s fucking fan service medal is the dumbest, most insulting thing in all 11 SW movies. Far worse than the 2nd time Jar Jar comedically stepped in shit.

    The Good:
    The action scenes are all a blast.
    The Rey-Kylo story is fantastic and satisfying, if a bit redundant.
    There are things that bother me about Rey in the first movie, but Daisy is always good, and she’s a great character in movies # 2 and 3.
    -It does make sense that Exegol is hidden away, and that Palpatine was able to construct that entire fleet in secret. Haters be damned.

    Good, but clumsy:
    -Zombie Clone emperor Palpatine. It was much clearer to me after viewing number 2 that they weren’t implying that Palpatine somehow survived ROTJ, but that the Emperor we see in Rise of Skywalker is a clone. Or a zombie. Or both? *shrug* Extraneous Charlie from Lost rambles something about cloning, which is mildly helpful.

          • I dunno who this Alvie guy is but he’s not being harsh enough on this Bantha Poodoo of a “film”

            “And srsly, all y’all haters are missing out. It’s a mess in many parts, but it’s also a really fun final chapter.”

            Main parts = 95% of the film. It’s the worst possible outcome of a Saga that deserved at least a competent ending. It’s a joke of a film, a gross negligence against the Star Wars brand. Palpy back in any fashion utterly destroys Vader’s redemption in RotJ. It’s egregious against the female characters, both new and legend. Fake killing Chewie was atrocious. The utter dependence of the story on coincidence and happenstance is a crime. I love my film MacGuffins, but that Blade of Ochi and it’s dependence that, somehow against ALL physics, the Death Star II hasn’t moved in decades WHILE IN WATER is the stupidest thing since the Transformer’s Allspark. The Skywalker Saga (which after this disaster will now forever be renamed the Palpatine Saga) deserved more than just “a fun final chapter” (which this was not.) It deserved an actual well thought out ending. BOOO AND HISS!!! SHAME! SHAME!

            Holy shit I’m having 2019 flashbacks…

          • Yes, the Chewbacca fakeout was effective the first time, because it got me. The second time, not so much.

            I’ll have to check with this Alvie guy. I bet he’d enjoy the movie more than LoPan.

  90. Crap joke for the day:

    This Christmas, over dinner, my father will be looking down on us all….

    He’s not dead he’s just really fucking condescending.

  91. So we’re on to Star Wars: Resistance now. What’s everyone’s take on this show?

    So far, the art style is anime-inspired, which makes for some stunning shots.

    It’s probably even more kid-focused than Rebels, so it’s a bit more low-stakes than the other shows. So far.

    The first few episodes are harmlessly entertaining. I wouldn’t continue watching it on my own, but it’s fine with family.

    • I never managed to get past the first couple of episodes. I think the taint of being associated with the Sequel era movies and the lack of involvement by Dave Filoni kept it from hooking me the way Clone Wars and Rebels did.

      As for the more anime style – I found Tron:Uprising much more compelling. Shame that one didn’t last.

  92. I have two parcels that are supposed to be coming in the mail. Three times on one of them and twice on the other Canada Post has changed the status from “arriving today” to “arrive date tbd.” This change in status usually occurs around 8pm on the deliver date.
    One of them is suppose to come in today, let’s see what happens

  93. My top songs of 2020 according to Spotify are:

    1. Portions for Foxes – Rilo Kiley
    2. Common People – William Shatner
    3. Love Me Like You – The Magic Numbers
    4 Echo Beach – Martha and the Muffins
    5. Cool for Cats – Squeeze
    6. Living on the Ceiling – Blancmange
    7. Gagarin- Public Service Broadcasting
    8. Reelin’ the Years – Steely Dan
    9. I’m the Urban Spaceman – The Bonzo Dog Band
    10. Rubber Bullets – 10cc

  94. William Shatner’s version of Common People was such a surprisingly good song. Love it. Cool for Cats is a great song, but I would think I play Tempted more often. I literally just heard Reelin’ the Years on my playlist before I read this. Finally Urban Spaceman is great, but I probably play Mr. Apollo more often. Considering close our musical tastes are, I’m going to go seek out Rilo Kiley, The Magic Numbers, Martha and the Muffins, Blancmange, and Public Service Broadcasting.

  95. We finished watching the Netflix series Dark last night. It was quite good, but sometimes John and I had to talk it out to straighten some of the threads

  96. Crap joke for the day:

    Was walking through town there and see’s a guy running towards me with a cape on. I asked “are you a superhero?”

    He said “no but I’m not paying £45 for this haircut.”

  97. I’m not sure if it was a DPSS present, but someone sent T Cat and I a nice box of chocolates from a local company. We are just looking to thank the person who did it.

  98. Crap joke for the day:

    I ordered a Chinese takeaway from a local place, just been to pick it up and as I was driving home, I heard the bags rustling and moving!!I thought what on Earth is that. Has something got in the bag? I thought I could see a little pair of eyes peering out at me. I was driving so I leaned forward, picked up the bag, put it on the passenger seat and there it was again, more rustling and little eyes looking out from behind the prawn crackers. I thought it’s got to be a rat or a mouse or something, so I carefully pulled the bag down …And there it was ….. A Peking Duck!

  99. Stupid Epic Games made me buy a game by giving me an offer I couldn’t refuse.
    Normally Watch Dogs Legion is $70 (CDN) because it’s still a newer game.
    Epic had it on sale for $50 (It’s not available on Steam)
    Then Epic gave me a $10 gift card for Christmas.
    I had enough points at from another site to get a $24 ($20US) PayPal certificate – which is how I pay Epic

    So Basically, I could get $70 Watch Dogs for $16

    *shrug* Like I said, an offer I couldn’t refuse.

    Stupid Epic

  100. There are apparently Mandalorian S2 Finale spoilers running rampant today. Click and scroll your socmeds with caution. (I haven’t seen anything)

  101. We finally watched Enola Holmes. The teenager (who loves Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock and has recently read some of A. Conan Doyle’s stories) was unimpressed. The old people enjoyed it.

    Although I did agree with the teen’s biggest complaint. Breaking the 4th wall and talking to the audience should only be done if it really serves the story. Her little chats with the camera didn’t add anything.

    • It’s funny, that’s one of the things we found most charming about it. I didn’t see it so much of “breaking the 4th wall” as her essentially telling us the story with supporting visuals.

  102. I don’t read enough non-fiction, so I’ve begun reading “The Cave and the Light.” I wouldn’t say I knew nothing about Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle – – but – – they were mainly just indistinguishable smart Greek dudes in togas.

    • Being in Canada, I suspect you will actually get a “metric ton”.

      I am led to believe this is more than the standard ton but slightly less then the British “tonne”.

    • Of course, all of that is less than the “shit ton of snow”.
      I do not know where the “butt load of snow” falls on the scale.
      I would have to defer to our Colorado friends on this as I rarely get a “dusting of snow”.

    • I found myself asking, “How could there possibly be ANY ‘never before seen footage’ left after all this time?”
      Got to say, haven’t seen any of that!

      Looking forward to It.

  103. Crap joke for the day:

    A young man called Chris from London wanted to buy a Christmas present for his new girlfriend.
    They hadn’t been seeing each other for very long and she lived in Scotland .
    Chris consulted with his sister and decided, after careful consideration, that a pair of good quality gloves would strike the right note… not too romantic and not too personal.
    Off he went with his sister to Harrods and they selected a dainty pair of fur lined quality leather gloves. His sister bought a pair of sexy knickers for herself at the same time.
    Harrods had a free gift wrap offer but the assistant mixed up the two items, the sister got the gloves and Chris unknowingly got the knickers.
    Good old Chris sent off his gift-wrapped present in a parcel with the following letter.
    Dear Maggie,I chose these because I’ve noticed that you are not wearing any when we go out in the evenings. If it had not been for my sister I would have chosen the long ones with buttons, but she wears shorter ones (which are easier to remove).These are a very delicate shade, but the lady I bought them from showed me the pair she had been wearing for the past three weeks and I hardly noticed any marks.I had her try yours on for me and she looked really smart in them even though they were a little bit tight on her. She also said that they rub against her ring which helps keep it clean. In fact she hasn’t needed to wash it since she began wearing them.I wish I was there to put them on for you the first time, as no doubt many other hands will touch them before I have a chance to see you again.When you take them off remember to blow into them a little bit because they will be naturally a little damp from wearing.Just imagine how many times my lips will kiss them during the coming year.I hope you will wear them for me on our next date.All my love,ChrisP.S. My mum tells me that the latest style is to wear them folded down with a little bit of fur showing.

  104. JP: What Remains of Edith Finch

    Realised today that I had two achievements left to do for this game so reinstalled it and played again.

    Such a memorable game.

  105. Just finished the game “Raji” which was fairly enjoyable, but it is clear there needs to be a sequel to finish the story. I wouldn’t recommend it on the Switch. Some sections were tough on my old eyes.

  106. Received my DPSS gift today! Thanks! Looking forward to playing Taco vs. Burrito with Mrs. Asshat this evening. She exclusively plays super simple games. I’ve been through the rules and how to play videos. I’m sure it will fall into her good game category.

  107. Apparently Brian Regan tested positive after continuing to tour and do shows.

    One of my favorite comedians. . . I’ve seen him live twice. . .
    But come on man, WTF are you doing?

  108. Good Christmas Eve Morning Pan

    So far this week we’ve watched The Guy Pierce Christmas Carol, Mickey’s Christmas Carol, and Die Hard. I think tonight hubby wants to watch Christmas Vacation. I’m hoping to watch Scrooge (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066344/) some time this week, if I can find it, as it’s always been one of my favourties, being into musicals and all.

  109. VONNEGUT

    Yeah. And one time, while I was writing, I happened to sniff my armpits absentmindedly. Several people saw me do it, and thought it was funny—and ever after that I was given the name “Snarf.” In the annual for my graduating class, the class of 1940, I’m listed as “Kurt Snarfield Vonnegut, Jr.” Technically, I wasn’t really a snarf. A snarf was a person who went around sniffing girls’ bicycle saddles. I didn’t do that. “Twerp” also had a very specific meaning, which few people know now. Through careless usage, “twerp” is a pretty formless insult now.

    INTERVIEWER

    What is a twerp in the strictest sense, in the original sense?

    VONNEGUT

    It’s a person who inserts a set of false teeth between the cheeks of his ass.

    INTERVIEWER

    I see.

    VONNEGUT

    I beg your pardon; between the cheeks of his or her ass. I’m always offending feminists that way.

    INTERVIEWER

    I don’t quite understand why someone would do that with false teeth.

    VONNEGUT

    In order to bite the buttons off the backseats of taxicabs. That’s the only reason twerps do it. It’s all that turns them on.

    https://theparisreview.org/interviews/3605/the-art-of-fiction-no-64-kurt-vonnegut

  110. Normally we have Ice Cream Sodas for breakfast on Christmas morning but this year, as 4/5ths of us are of legal age, it was suggested we do Mamosa.
    I am all for tradition and it seemed an unsolvable conundrum… until it was suggested we could do both!
    So we did!
    Naps currently have hold of most everyone else and I am quickly to follow.
    Merry Christmas Deadpan!

    • The littlest wanted to hear Jingle Bell Rock, so I said to our Alexa device, “Elsa, play Jingle Bell Rock.”

      An Xmas nap sounds wonderful.

  111. Dinner has been eaten. Because it was just hubby and I this year, I got a stuffed turkey breast, instead of doing a whole turkey. It was pretty good. There was still enough for another two days of dinner.

    • Just used a gammon steak for Xmas dinner.

      However it has been brought to my attention that North American’s do not use a lot of gravy on their roast dinners, is this true?

      I mean for my dinner I made up 300ml (about 10 fluid ounces) of gravy and poured it all over my meal.

      • It seems that in my younger days, there was a lot of gravey. My mom made it for meals.
        Now though… not so much.
        Perhaps with a roast. Very occaisionaly as an extra thing at a very big meal like Thanksgiving.
        I think I miss gravy.

        • What Joe said. My German/Irish/English descended parents and grandparents made a lot of simple meat and potatoes and gravy meals when I was growing up.

          Not as much in my own adult years. But count me in the pro-gravy category.

      • I consider gravy to be one of the 4 food groups (gravy, cheese, bacon, beer… with chocolate as an essential vitamin). I do use a lot of gravy. I will say I haven’t thought of putting gravy on ham though. Not sure why. If I make it like a gammon steak and grill it up, I also grill up a bunch of pineapple to go with it. If I do it in the oven, I smother it with honey and brown sugar. Always feel like I have to balance the salty with some sweet.

  112. Apparently amongst the kids … the “thing to do” was to watch “Pride and Prejudice” every day this month. On Netflix. The version with Donald Southerland as the dad.
    It’s been a long month. Uhg.

  113. I’m gonna go ahead and disagree with the consensus. WW84 is pretty bad. Not disastrously Aquaman terrible. I don’t hate it, just don’t have any need to ever see it again.

    Fun mid-credits scene though!

  114. Anyone else who watched WW84 think that the body double for ST is a dead ringer for Lyle Waggoner? Totally nailed it.

    I enjoyed the nostalgic nod, if that was the intent (which I think it was)

  115. Meh. Just got my antibody test results.
    Negative. No antibodies.
    Somehow I managed to avoid it while nursing my parents through it. That what ever caused my Covid like symptoms wasnt Covid.
    Sadness.
    I was hoping to have the relative safety of having survived it. At least for a few months. Oh well, back in it with the rest of the population.

  116. BTW-
    I have relatives who live 2 hours south of Nashville, in Alabama… and they are still without cell service following the bombing.

    This was pretty definately NOT a “terrorist” action but some sort of well thought out “logistical” attack.

  117. RE: JJ’s posts:
    Is everyone else in your family in the clear now? I get what you’re saying, but I’m also relieved you didn’t suffer with a dangerous disease.

    If the point of the bombing was to sow disruption and fear, I’d still call it terror. I’m sure there’s a lot of “expert” speculation out there, but I’m going to hold off until we know.

    • So my Dad is finally starting to get his head clear. He doesn’t remember a whole lot of fine details about the last two weeks.

      My mom is also continuing to improve. She’s getting stronger every day but still gets week in no time at all. I wonder if she will have permanent lung damage. Hope not.

      Just two of the different modes of this virus.

      • Wow. It is such a strange myriad of outcomes from this virus.

        I do wish the best for your mom amd her lungs. Just take it one day at a time. It is all we can do.

        I am getting my first dose of the vaccine today. I will post my daily journal entry here for 4/5 days after.

        Everyone I personally know who has received their first dose already, has hs minimal to no side effects to report!

        Several nurses in a FB group I belong to, but do not know personally, have also reported minimal to no symptoms. Only a spattering of 1 or 2 have said they have had a few lingering past a few days (fatigue, nausea).

        I for one, plan to pre-medicate with tylenol today and will jump at the chancw to keep any headache or nausea away, with more meds, as needed.

        • I’m doing a vaccine trial for Ad26.COV2.S (the Janssen vaccine through Johnson & Johnson). The good new is that I have a 50/50 chance that I’ve been vaccinated. Other good (and unexpected news) is that I’m being paid pretty well to do it (original intent was just to help in any way I can). Also, good news is that I suffered no side effects of any kind. The bad news is that the trial runs for 2 years and I can’t know if I got the placebo or not and I can’t get any other COVID vaccines for 2 years.

  118. Going to have stop playing No Mans Sky, it’s such a time waster, I sit down to play, three hours go by in a flash and I even haven’t done much in game.

  119. First dose of Pfizer’s covid vaccine is in!

    Really efficient and pleasant experience at the POD.

    So far, just some heaviness sensarion in my arm.

  120. JW: Ava on Netflix

    Jessica Chastain shows she has the moves to be an action star but nice fight choreography can’t save this rather tedious film.

  121. 24hrs post vaccine.

    I feel good. My arm is def achy, and it is tender at the injection site- but no more than a tetnus shot.

    A few hours after the vaccine last night, O started to get a headache and felt a little lightheaded. I took Tylenol and chilled for about 30 min. Felt back to normal soon after that.

    • We’re pretty sure we’re quite far down the list. There is some grumblings about teachers but not likely to go beyond that. We’re pretty sure hubby had it back in February anyway.
      We don’t go out, and mask up on the rare times we do (grocery shopping). So not too worried about waiting.

  122. 48hrs post vaccine:

    All but a smidge of discomfort is left at the injection site. Otherwise, I feel fine! My normal self.

    I am curious to see how dose#2 goes and see if the arm discomfort is lessened or not.

  123. I have been on hold with ETrade for 2:20 minutes now. That’s 2 hours and 20 minutes of the same on hold song. Looped.

    I cannot NOT recomend them enough.

  124. From Neil Gaiman:
    The BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Anansi Boys has been available in the UK (on, for example, Audible or as a CD) and not in, say, the US, due to rights restrictions. BUT Radio 4 is rebroadcasting it this week. So wherever you are in the world, you can listen to Anansi Boys — the first five episodes go up this week at 11:30 in the evening UK time, and then episode 6 (which is twice as long) will go out on Saturday at 3 pm. And after that, they’ll be up for 30 days each. You can use the dedicated page or the BBC Sounds App to listen.
    It’s funny, moving, brilliantly acted and really very good. The link will take you to the BBC Radio 4 pages, which are filled with little treasures…
    It stars Lenny Henry, Jacob Anderson, Sheila Atim, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Adjoa Andoh, Tanya Moodie, Julian Rhind-Tutt and lots of other wonderful people….
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09ghv0c

    I never did read this one, even though I enjoyed American Gods (the book, not the TV series).

    • After 3 hours I put the phone (land line) on top of a radio speaker and walked away.

      How’s the vaccine coming along? Can you receive G5 signals in your head yet? 😉

      • I am back to no pain as of last night ( so about 50 hours post-shot.

        I feel fine. No enhanced cell signal, not able to contact other worldly lifeforms, either.

        Damn.

    • As has been stated since nearly the beginning of this mess, “the incubation period may be as much as two weeks”.

      What it points out, if anything –
      – Frequent, fast result testing is needed to really get a handle on this.
      – Everyone must continue to be on their guard.

    • Also, the vaccines are rated as stopping COVID a certain percentage of the time. That percentage is never 100. As more and more people get the vaccine, more will also get COVID after having the vaccine. A law of large numbers phenomenon. But, as the press has already shown, each and every one of these cases is going to be blows sky high out of proportion to make the numbers looks off.

    • Yeah it’s not a CURE it’s a vaccine. It was never touted that you can’t get it, only that you won’t get deathly ill. But people can’t/won’t do research. So….

      I have family members I DO NOT trust that are getting it and I fear for my grandparents.

      • To add to the horror, I learned of this from Gary Lindros’s post. And the first comment is some crazy woman yelling that she doesn’t believe it was Covid.

        JFC

        I’m venting here, because I will not give her the oxygen. (no tasteless pun intended)

        • To those who try to play the “literal” game (no one actually dies of Covid) I ask, “Do you take this same stand when someone is reported killed by a gun shot? No one actually dies from being shot. They die from lack of blood or organ failure.”

  125. Reflecting on No Mans Sky.

    My 17 year old self, who played Elite for three months solid would have loved this game. All the elements of Elite are in there (the trading, space battles and upgrading your ship) and you get to land on planets!

    Plus docking with space stations is automatic so no need for to risk blowing your ship up with a shoddy docking procedure until you could afford to install a docking computer…

  126. We had an old school Arcade open up, with pinball machines and old school video game cabinets. However they also had a couple of VR gaming bays and a roped off area with PC gaming machines and high speed Internet for MMO play but also in house tournament play complete with a lot of big, flat screens so spectators could watch the action.
    On top of all this, they bought and sold all manor of video game system software and even some “classic” gaming systems. They even had a section of old school, Atari cartridges.
    Seemed like a business model that couldn’t miss, except they opened about 3 months before a global pandemic. A business that counted on a packed room and lots of people handling the same equipment just wasn’t compatible with the new world.
    They closed their doors last Sunday but before they did. They put all their merchandise on sale and promised to give 40% of each sale to their employees so I felt compelled to make some purchases.
    I got the X-Box 360 versions of the following-
    “Dishonored”
    Halo 3
    Fallout New Vegas
    Prince of Persia
    Assassins Creed IV- Black Flag

    It all ended up costing me $22.
    Don’t know if that was a good deal or when I’ll ever play any of these but I thought I had heard of these games before.

  127. Fun happenings on the Deadpan Facebook page today

    Day off. We’re going to try the Tempe Town Lake beach today. What are the odds that it’s not crowded and we can actually enjoy the beach? Slim to none?

  128. I was listening to a podcast and they decided that most games shows and reality tv shows would make good Jams Bond movie titles. I.e. The Price Is Right, The Weakest Link, Love Island, The Bachlorette, etc.

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