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.
Inspirobot says:
Seek advice. Don’t just try to build a teleporter.
So how’s that teleported coming along?
-d +r
Terrible. Nobody’s given me any good advice on building it.
Don’t build it in your bathroom.
No one needs that kind of extra traffic in there.
Next Friday, I might actually have time to do a PBP
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.
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.
*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.
The free story this month on the Tor book club has been well reviewed:
Hopefully not tempting fate but Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood are still alive,
Silver linings and all that.
This seems like a random statement. . . ?
I’m sure I’ve told you my Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood story?
(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.)
You hadn’t and you actually met them you lucky so and so.
It was a very cool experience, yeah. Very nice guys.
CP: Running with the Wolves — AURORA
A version of that song was used in Wolf Walkers film:
Seems like cleaning the washroom in the nude, then showing, then dressing would be the best vector to avoid having cleaning chemicals on your clothes or person if that is the goal.
Wrong link, right link below. 😉
Doing bridge construction in the nude sounds full of perils.
Definitely want to avoid getting the bends.
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?
Well I can’t for others but you may have that distinction all to yourself.
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.
The Immigrant Song in Old Norse. I can’t say it’s great, but it’s pretty cool.
At my Boo’s while snow tires being put on the car
CP: Koyaanisqatsi — Philip Glass
I recall connecting with this guy at a Phoenix ComicCon 10,000 years ago. We also both did an artsy event together back in the day – – me playing guitar, him doing live drawing. Then life happened and that connection evaporated.
One of those people who it’s impossible to dislike.
Morning Pan
I think I’m going to clean my desk this morning. Who knows what I’ll find.
This is cute.
Type in your location and it will tell you where you would end up if you dug straight down.
Mine said, “You`re alone and the water is so cold.”
I guess the term, “Psychedelic Soul” has been around longer than I have, but I never realize that so much of my favorite Funk, RnB, Soul, Motown, etc. falls into this category.
There’s a world of difference between instant and homemade. If you like to make and eat soup, it is worth trying.
Yeah, one of our favorite restaurants in town is Ramen Hood. I really hope they survive.
We’ve tried a few successful homemade ramen experiments – – the real thing, not the 20 cent bricks – – but we’ve never gotten anything that really mimicked the restaurant.
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!”
Morning Pan
Will be doing a bpb later today. Don’t know what movie it will be yet.
So the day will begin like this huh? I think I might do a pbp instead.
Finished watching a NetFlix docuseries last night called High Score. It was about the early days of video games. We quite liked it.
We’re about twenty minutes away from movie silliness
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
A quiet suburban street
No trespassing
Kitty cat ears
A dare
Numbers for a number
I am so shocked
One year later
You don’t want to be a grease monkey all your life
Product placement
Why do most haunted houses have half moon upper floor windows for spirits to look out of?
That’s illegal in Alberta
Knock knock
That’s not how it works
Time to explore
Bloody walls
He’s spoiling the mood
Now the chair is spoiling the mood
A phonograph
A relative?
They can’t leave
No service
Can’t get out that way either
A broken mirror
Nine fingers Sal
Egging the house
Is that Lloyd?
A study
Really? Just put your hand in an urn?
He’s turning into a zombie
People stew
Her room
She’s a wild thing
Actual parents worrying. What’s that about?
He’s getting worse
It’s moving
What do you want?
Seriously? It’s a deserted place
Cue the thunderstorms
Don’t go down there
She’s coming
Lloyd doesn’t look so good
Game over man
Not Scooby Doo haunted
Ewww
Here comes the sun
Where’s Rachel?
Now for the bent over backwards walk
She’s aging
Do you really think a door will help?
She helped
Burn it down
She’s watching
Dax is going to do something stupid
Ok, that was pretty cheesy
Here comes the Calvary
ReLly gonna try that. It’s been hours
Why not call an ambulance?
She’s heartless
The twist ending was such a shocker
Meh. It was what it was. Not exactly ground breaking but entertaining enough, I guess
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
The new season is making my appreciate turning up the volume on my Sonos soundbar.
I guess M and the Marshall are comparing dick sizes with the speeders.
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.
Yeah, I heard about this. However, 90 years is still a good run.
Good night James Bond
🙁
Wait a cotton picking minute, so one of the bad guys in Get Smart was called The Claw, the bad guy in Inspector Gadget cartoon was Dr Claw and Don Adams voiced IG and played Maxwell Smart:
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.
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.
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.
Michigan—a swing-state—has just decided to allow open-carry at the polls.
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)
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.
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.
Oh no. *hugs*
This is pretty cool. select the year you were born and see what words were first used that year.
I have a crap load of words “born” the same year as me including: lunar module, dance off, Automatic teller machine (who knew ATM was that old?), humongous, recreational drug, and spaghetti western.
John Lennon is in the crowd, clearly enjoying his altered state.
Not a fan BUTas a fan of music this excites me
Charlie Watts’ Adam’s Apple is the unofficial 6th member.
Great name for a band too…
CP: Whichever Way the Wind Blows – Bob Mould
Excellent.
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)
Kitty woke us at ten to four this morning. Almost a normal time.
Here we go.
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.
Pretty fascinating take on ISS’s past and present.
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.
ROUSes? I don’t believe they exist.
CP: A Victory Of Love — Alphaville
We might be headed for another record breaking warm day today
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.
I will hunt them down and rip out their eyeballs if they troll you!
Great job on getting this interview picked up!
CP: Here Comes The End — Gerard Way
I fnished watching The Queen’s Gambit.
Sooo good! The lead actress was mesmerizing.
The ebook is 99p on Amazon in the U.K. today, think I’m going to buy it.
CP: Hell’s Eight Acres — Adam Ant
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.
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.
We can still abolish the electoral college, though. That’d be fine.
And impose term limits. That would also be just great.
In these pandemic times we are urged to buy books to support author and book shops.
But what if the author is long dead?
How long? If their work is not yet in public domain, then all income would go to their estate.
We have an author that passed and all his royalties go to his widow. So, in buying the book, you are still supporting their family.
There’s the rub.
Have a great birthday, Pixie!
Happy Pixie Day !!!!!
Thank you!
Happy birthday to my main squeeeeeeeeeze!
And to mine!
Happy Birthday To Rhett’s wife!
Squeeeeeeeeeze you right back!
But also, happy birthday Pixie!
Yes! Happy birthday!
Thank you, Ditto!
Thank you!! And Happy Birthday to my bday Pannite buddy, Teresa!!!!
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.
Awwwww. You are actually having weather there? Shocking, I say! 😀
Yeah, didn’t have any until now, but should be cleared up by mid-January.
I needed the AC in my car when I drove to pick up lunch today.
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.
Wow. That wasn’t so good. At least the first 10 minutes of it. That’s all I gave it.
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.
4 bit processor running at 1.5Mhz, no wonder 8 bit computers from 20 years before had programs that could eat these things for breakfast.
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.
You could have added some class and style to the Rat Pack.
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
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.
My arm has been pricked. Now just waiting the requisite 15 minutes before I head out
Tubular Bells is one of the most fascinating pieces of music ever recorded. Mike Oldfield is a character. I kinda need to watch this, at some point:
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.
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.
I think we’re going to go into the way back machine and watch Damnation Alley. A little sci-fi cheese is a good thing
“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.”
A friend of mine Googled their name and so I decided to do the same, as I don’t think I’ve ever done it before.
Did you know I’m on the SF database? It’s only a single line but still, cool. http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/eaw.cgi?219088
Excellent!
Nice!
I’ll search the SF database for “Lunny, Bittle.”
We watched Damnation Alley last night. Now we’re asking ourselves why.
Ah a film with a great first 5 minutes and then bleurgh!
Morning Pan
Today, like yesterday, is a good day to hibernate.
I don’t think I’ve ever lost socks when doing laundry. Re-usable masks however…
Seriously, where do they go?
One of us might be pre-downloading Assassin’s Creed Valhalla right now.
Read as: Assasin’s Creed: Vanilla
🙂
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.
“ Rhett is a wealthy CEO with a new desire for following God’s plan for his life, and he’s trying to reunite with his sister, Karen, whose life he once ruined.”
Seriously, what should we know
I think that was just the ruff draft.
Other than the name I can’t see any parallels. Plus, my sister isn’t a Karen.
“Skinny Love” is a great folk song. I really like everything I’ve ever heard from Bon Iver, but I’ve never really explored their catalog. Maybe this can be my map to start exploring.
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.
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?
Do not think that our enemies have not noticed our current disarray and chaos.
These are dangerous times.
It’s a good point, but I’m more concerned about the people right here who’ve declared all of us to be their enemies.
CP: Circles And Squares — We Were Promised Jetpacks
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.
the Sun has come up in the future, so you can relax about that…
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*
Happy, happy, birthday ditto!
Dutch Museums Unveil Free Digital Collection of 1,000+ Artworks by Van Gogh
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.
Yeah I’m tired of reading about how “bad” TPM is. It’s fucking 21 years later. Get over it. We’ve had much worse Star Wars films since then.
..and I’m tired of your bitching about people botching about TPM.
-o +i
Whoops!
Honestly, after watching all the hate you spilled for Raised by Wolves and then watching it myself and seeing the brilliance that is it, your taste/opinions are extremely suspect.
Bitch.
Don’t talk to me about taste when you like that pile of crap..fucker!
I know I know buddy. Your peanut brain can’t grasp it. It’s ok, friend. There’s always Mad About You and King of Queens for you to be able to enjoy
I don’t actually believe you like the show, but you hold Scott on such a pedestal that you cannot bring yourself to say it’s shit.
Sleep tight pinhead.
I’m no Scott apologist. Believe what you like you fucktard, This is one of the best shows of 2020
Neither one of you guys are fucktards.
I thought there was a lot of brilliance going deep down below the surface of RBW. Some amazing philosophical ideas about the nature of families and parenthood. I’d love to read the screenplays and whatever other source material was there. Some great concepts. Ridley Scott has always been a deep thinker.
But man, I disliked the execution of this series. And much of the look of it. And the finale.
Amazing. Every word of what you just said in that last sentence was wrong.
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.
In some good news, the Am I Evil? draft is in the hands of my lead artist. Now we figure out just how much needs to be trimmed or reworked.
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.
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”!!
A one armed bandit?
The cops were in hot pursuit?
This evening’s cocktail choice is an honor of The Dude.
Care to guess?
White Russian?
The Dude abides.
Although I am wondering if I should be more woke and go with the Black Russian?
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.
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).
This has been a difficult day.
*hugs*
Hey Deadpan
Had a wonderful long weekend. Didn’t want it to end.
Now, back to staring at spreadsheets.
What they don’t tell you is he was subsequently fired for leaving his workplace for an indefinite period of time, and now gets to spend the new year looking for a new job 😉
Amazing. . . Every word of what you just said was wrong.
I didn’t write the article!
“Every subsequent live-action film except Revenge of the Sith and Solo features an epic third act battle involving fighters.”
It’s like your all a bunch of astronauts…on some kind of Star Trek.
..no, wait that’s not right.
Right cause Sith STARTS the film with an epic battle involving fighters.
This article sucks. And Van’s an enabler for sharing it.
Ok, great!
NO YOU!
No yiu!
I love ROTJ. Interesting that this article completely misses the point of why ROTJ was a turning point. It was (IMHO) where the series started to be written specifically for children, with adults being able to tag along for the ride. I didn’t notice it at the time because I was a kid. I figured it out after rewatching years and years later. I still think the brilliance of Rogue One was that it was the first time since Empire that I felt the movie was written for adults.
I would agree with this.
Although I would add that I love all of the original 3 films, even with their faults.
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
Time marches on, friend.
Fade to Black.
One thing about getting up stupid early is your work is mostly done by the time everybody else gets to their desk.
Are we going to do DPSS this year?
I hope so. I’ll PM Amy
Amy says she’ll post an announcement either tomorrow or Thursday
Excellent.
Thank you, TEB!
Boy, this feels like a Slack conversation.
What’s that? You say you need a new pair of slacks?
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.
Beyond the right call, especially now. This holiday season is going to be small and compact in the Lo Pan household and I honestly can’t wait. We’re going to no get togethers.
I’m going to get much shit from my family for it, but some things are much bigger than simply having to receive shit.
Well done to both of you.
Also applauds making the right, if inconvenient and unpopular decision.
If you haven’t seen the spaceship comparison video. . . they do a good job of hitting all of the major and minor franchises.
Where else are you gonna see the Rocinante, the Millennium Falcon, and Space Battleship Yamato all together in one place?
Ok, that was cool. Some of those size comparisons are staggering.
There. My floors are clean for another fortnight.
I have 3 dogs. I can count how long my floors stay clean in minutes.
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.
Point being: With motivation, we can accomplish great things (mitigate pandemics, go to other worlds, etc.) Everything we do now is a red tape money nightmare. We’ve got to start pushing toward the Star Trek social model (not that nay of us will see it).
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 want to have beeeeers with LoPan until he gets REALLY angry and then I want to slink into a dark corner and just watch what happens next.
Oh it’s real easy. Just point me in the direction of people mixing circles during COVID for Thanksgiving…
I’ve listened to most of it. No classics (so far), but it’s good. Not on par with their best, but that’s OK.
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.
Well, this just might make up for Raised by Wolves
Bear. Poked.
Well no HBO Max in the U.K. but I’m guessing it won’t be long before it’s available by other means.
I did not want to get up this morning.
I swear, I spend more time converting US words to Canadian than putting together the rest of the damn book.
Find: hat
Replace: toque
Replace all
… and center with centre, colour with colour, labeled with labelled, and so on, and so on
Must be a lot of work adding “eh” to the end of every sentence.
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?
Also.
I have the hiccups.
For Thanksgiving this year, the kids and I are making a pot of Fettucini Alfredo and staying in to play games.
That sounds like a great Thanksgiving. Just you and the kids?
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.
I still have the hiccups.
BOO!
My cat snores. It’s both cute and disconcerting
I think one year, we need to do a Thanksgiving of buttered toast, popcorn, jellybeans, and pretzels, in honor of the Peanuts special.
Living Colour on a podcast talking about fascism. I haven’t listened, but I’m intrigued.
People suck
That is all
Hugs. Yes, and sorry.
That worked!
I’ve just been busy with spreadsheets and didn’t get around to tell you til now.
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.
Yeah, I think we’ll hang on to Netflix.
I’m told that some platforms have a Rifftrax app. That’s really the only one I’d need.
Sad indeed. I was fortunate enough to have visited Arecibo once. Glad I made it when I did.
Wow! End of an era.
Can we blame this on 2020 as well?
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.
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?
CP: Realize — AC/DC
I spoke to Amy. She’s having a week (we’ve all been there) but should have something up in the next few days
The first sci-fi book I ever bought was ADF’s novelisation of The Black Hole.
It’s Friday.
I’m in love with Flora Cash … like all their music. Anyone else?
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.
The fact this little punk is still alive when police executed the antifa shooter just boggle the mind.
JW: Love and Monsters
Rather enjoyed that film, didn’t end the way I thought it would.
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.
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.”
Yes 🙁
Or for the “I’m willing to take that chance” crowd, someone else might be dead or on a ventilator by Xmas. 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.
JW: Arrietty
My rewatch of Studio Ghibli films continues with this utterly charming film and I hated the Borrower books at school.
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.
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.
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.
I know it’s a PANE but you have to applaud their TRANSPARENCY. They could have just let it SLIDE and ended up SHATTERING your world.
/applause
JustaJoe was seriously on track with his incredible puns.
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.
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.
Part of me is excited, part wonders how this material failed to be capitalized on by Christopher Tolkien if there was any hope of making a dime off of it in the past.
I’m still holding out for his vast world-building texts on Farmer Giles of Ham.
Perhaps with some clever writing they can transition to the big screen.
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.
John use to play all the time. He would watch all the tournaments too. He hasn’t for a long time but was, for a while, pretty decent at it.
We are re-watching.
Binged like 6 episodes last night.
Really solid show.
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.
How kind of them to wait until the last possible minute to tell the people on the front lines.
Although it still sounds like the correct move.
John isn’t against the idea, although having half the school still in will be strange. He just wishes the had a heads up first
Teachers getting a pay freeze over here as a ‘reward’ for working through a pandemic,
I woke up and went straight to my desk. I should think about throwing my body into the shower.
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?’
This will ruffle some feathers. I don’t fully agree, but I don’t fully disagree.
First glance, I thought this was about the Mandelbrot set.
The word “Mandelbrot” makes me think of Howie Mandel playing with a Lite Brite.
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?
Yep, agreed.
I have a beef dip going in the slow cooker. Pretty soon my house is going to smell yummy
Today’s Brussels sprouts not the same variety as the ones of your youth:
And thank goodness for that! I hated them as a kid for exactly the reasons described in the article.
I liked Brussel sprouts
Hubby’s working late today
It ain’t cool to be no jive turkey so close to Thanksgiving.
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.
Addendum. Today the Alberta government declared an outbreak in hubby’s school. Doesn’t mean a damn thing as they won’t close it. They’re just acknowledging things might be a little out of control.
I thought your premier declared all indoor gatherings illegal?
Isn’t a school day an indoor gathering?
Are these students or staff that is getting sick?
both.
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
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
Vent away 🙁 Ugh and hugs all around.
I do blame the lizard aliens who wear human disguises and control the world governments.
Did any of you guys indulge? I recall that Ed got into the Black Friday spirit in years past.
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.
You’re a loose cannon, Klein!
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.
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.
Now I’m wondering if I mistyped the email address.
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.
DPSS gift is on it’s way.
CP: Declination — NanowaR of Steel
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was released 38 years ago today.
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.
Did I share this before? Crap jokes by the bushel.
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
Bunny bids. Not! So! Cheap!
Nice!
Now here’s your coat.
Apparently Ben Bova passed of COVID related complications.
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.
Holy crap, Billy Idol made it to 65.
Morning Pan
This morning I get to install and explore a newer version of our bookkeeping program. The excitement never stops here in bunnydom.
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
That was going to be our next show after Queen’s Gambit, but we’ve started up The Good Place again.
So I learned today that the mythical bunyip hangs around in waterways,
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.
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.
Got a new phone that supports 5G.
My mobile phone company does not support 5G in my county.
No eta on when they will.
Bugger!
5G seems to be largely a myth at this point. Given the amount of towers that are required due to the short effective distance of the 5G signals, I think it’s going to be a long long time before it becomes a reality for most people.
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.
What if Rush and The Police sucked? (quiet down, you)
I haven’t watched yet, but I’m curious.
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.
I haven’t seen this point clarified anywhere: Will these releases be free for subscribers? Or will it be like Disney+’s Mulan, where you pay a giant fee for each movie, on top of your monthly membership?
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.
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!
Loooooooved it!!!
And the Lone Wolf and Cub tribute continues…..,
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.
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.
Oh jj, fingers crossed for you, your Mam and your Dad.
*hugs*
*hugs*
*Hugs*
The woman behind the marketing that sold the NES to a skeptical USA:
Interesting. I just started watching “High Score” on Netflix this morning. I think it’s six or eight episodes. Just finished number 3. Number 2 featured the rise of Nintendo after the great collapse of Atari and she featured prominently in convincing Nintendo to redesign the aesthetic of the “Famicom” into the NES that we all came to know and get addicted to.
My wife made the comment that it’s rather weird watching a history show like this….that we actually lived through.
Episode 3 featured the narrator talking about a floppy disk as “the USB drive of the day”….
Episode 1 was great. I intend to keep going.
I just watched it, too. It was a great episode.
My DPSS gift has been ordered.
🙁
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.
Oh no. As others have said, I’m sending you moral support, maximum power.
You do realize he’s a satirist and comedian, right? Probably not. You’re fired! 😀
I love David Sedaris. This wasn’t all that funny of a bit – – but I guarantee actual LOLs if you read one of his essay collections.
Agreed. David Sedaris is typically super funny. This one was pretty meh. As it’s Christmas time anyway I recommend 6 to 8 black men (it is Christmas and not racist I promise). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPfg20k5TE8
It wasn’t very funny, true, but we’ve all secretly wished for this power.
JW: Freaky
An enjoyable mashup of body swap/slasher flick.
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.
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.
And also btw, that Mandalorian thing Van posted last week is a pretty hilarious 30 seconds.
Agreed. We’ve set our DVR to record it on Sunday.
Now that’s how you do advertising.
I think I’m in camp WTF with Van on that one…
Mario Lopez’s existence ruins the fun of it.
DPSS gifts away!
Oooooooooo
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.
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.
I was going to post a link to an IGN article announcing Alfred Molina’s return as Doctor Octopus in the next Spider-Man movie. That is very exciting news. . . but I decided to post this article instead:
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.
Or maybe the jibberish he spouts during his speeches is actually code for those aliens. . .
That old radiator was a weapon against a pandemic:
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 🙂
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
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.
Ticket to Ride: Stay at Home, a free print and play expansion
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.
It’s snowing
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!
And to that end – I think it might be featured with Naked Justin Bieber this year!
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.
So what you’re saying … is that you are a Doonesbury fan?
😮
Apparently, Charles Schulz was not a Doonesbury fan. He didn’t think much of Garry Trudeau.
He did like Berkeley Breathed, though, AFAIK.
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.
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.
Progress!!! I hope you’re feeling better too, sir.
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.
We’re on the final season of Dark. I highly recommend it. Although, keeping everything straight is a bit of an exercise.
My husband won’t commit to a gift for his parents. Time is running out.
It was apparently a big day for Star Wars announcements. I gotta look em up. The highlights I’m are of:
Rogue Squadron
The Ahsoka series
Hayden Christensen will be in the Obi-Wan series
Of all the streaming services, Disney+ is setting up to be a keeper.
And “Last of Us 2” wins GotY. 😀
JJ! Whats the word, bird?
Are you in the clear?
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!
Nurse J0e! Wasn’t that a series?
Just take of yourself, while you take of everyone around you.
It’s my non-controversial opinion that Fantastic Four would probably work better as a series, but here we are with a new film on the way. I assume it’s part of the next phase’s major story arc.
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.
Do you suppose they will be required to make it bad?
You know, in keeping with tradition.
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.
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.
Who are you ? And where is the real Jack?
I’m not sure if this is said in agreement or disagreement with my Pop Culture 101 term paper above.
You aren’t fooling anybody Alvie!
OK, great!
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.
Fuck Alvie anyway!
Alvie’s a good guy. My problem is with his buddy Jimmy. I’ve been waiting 15 years now for my magerzines!
This Christmas, over dinner, my father will be looking down on us all….
He’s not dead he’s just really fucking condescending.
😀
*hangs coat back on hook*
You can stay.
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.
This makes me want to reveal my diabolical plans to my unwitting young Sith disciple.
I’d never given Run the Jewels a fair shot. Probably not for everyone, but this is great old-school Rap/Hip-Hop. These would have definitely merited some stolen rap lyrics.
Morning Pan
I think I’m going to make some whipped shortbread cookies today
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
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
Nice list.
JaJ approved!
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.
The Race for Space Album by PSB is fantastic.
I actually had to look up Martha and the Muffins.
That brings back memories. 😀
“Echo Beach, far away in time…”
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
Left my folks on their own last night for the first time since last Wed.
No one died, so …
Progress.
Progress is good. How are you and everyone else feeling?
I learned that all 3 of my Indiana cousins were hospitalized with COVID. All are home now.
So far … so the rest of the family has avoided it.
I remember this one. Stupid song is now stuck in my head
I was fully expecting everyone to learn a big lesson about inclusion and acceptance, but no – – the message I got from “The Sweater” was “LEAFS SUCK!!!”
—
I didn’t realize that “The Cat Came Back” was a Canadian cartoon. I do remember that one.
The NFB has put out a metric ass ton of fantastic animation. I with the US had some sort of equivalent.
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.”
Now, now I’ll get your coat.
Well we all knew it couldn’t last.
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.
JW: The Expanse S5E1
Oh it’s back baby!
We were going to start watching tonigh but hubby’s school has another COVID case so he’s working late
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!
…hands Van a kami…
“But I’m not paying £45 for this duck.”
So this would be your lame duck session?
Holy crap. Axl Rose’s vocal range is 5 1/2 octaves?!
Damned impressive.
I believe it. His vocal swings are only outmatched by his mood swings.
Well. My kitchen is clean, I did my floors, and the second of three loads of laundry is in the wash
I’m tired
You fucking assfaced cunt. Julian Glover played Veers. Bulloch played the AtAt driver next to him. WHICH IS WHAT I SAID
He chose….poorly
We named the dog assfaced cunt!
Not according to Wikipedia and his obituary.
I think the real controversy here is if “The Mandolorian” stole Deadpan’s “This is the Way” motto.
:Heart:
I need to hear Mando say, “This is the motherfucking way.”
Mace Windu should have.
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
You want it all but you can’t have it.
I get this.
CP: Make You A Believer — Sass Jordan
My cat is being particularly sucky this morning
Huzzah! Work is done until the new year. Time to party!
Not a single mention of Wile E. Coyote in this article.
I agree. No mention of his prior work. He really should get credit for constantly testing that. 😉
CW: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom on Netflix.
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.
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.
It’s kind of hard to separate Socrates and Plato’s teachings, but Aristotle was quite different. I’ll have to check out that book.
Well, fuck…don’t click if you’re not current on The Mandalorian
My younger self always wished that Motorola’s 68000 processors would overtake Intels 086 processors.
Morning Pan
We’re suppose to get a ton of snow today but it hasn’t started yet.
I guess White Christmas doesn’t have the same thrill if it happens every year.
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”.
A group of friends and I in college attempted to come up with definitions for terms like this. Unfortunately, the only one I can remember is that a “shit ton” is 3 times more that you can carry.
Why’s the soup so heavy at the Chinese restaurant? Because it’s won-ton.
I’ll get me dad coat.
Good to know.
The definition that is.
Not the joke.
I just finished “Ghost of Tsushima” and found the ending very moving.
I’ve played two of the top ten and my kids have played two more.
Still haven’t defeated Meg in Hades.
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.
Dirty filthy naughty bawdy joke of the day.
CP: Bring On The Night — The Police
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.
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.
Well, I think I got my DPSS, but I’m not sure since there was no note or anything. So, if you send me some Lego, then Thank You! 😀
Whelp. We got our 10+cm of snow last night. It’s a winter wonderland out there.
Funny and sad and amusing and a complete waste of time.
I enjoy that these peopel literally have no names. “Sugar Ray Guy”. “Tonic Guy”. “Tribal tattoo guy from Stained”
Right. It’s hilarious, but also uglysad.
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.
I’m not the gifter on this one – – but I’ve heard it’s a fun game! It looks similar to Organ Attack and Exploding Kittens.
I still remember seeing Memento in the theater (no pun intended). Mind completely blown (no pun intended). This seems like a fascinating, seriously deep examination.
We recently watched A Christmas Carol with Guy Pierce in it. It was darker but quite good.
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?
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.
Thank you very much.
I watched “March of the wooden solders”.
The 1938 Laurel and Hardy version (colorized, BOO).
I do not know who the target audience was but Geesh is it creepy! Like… not scary creepy but weird creepy.
Like, “slightly bad drug trip” creepy.
I haven’t seen it since the 70s.
I recalled seeing it as a young child. Maybe 1st or 2nd grade.
I mostly remembered being disturbed by it but couldn’t say why.
Now I know.
Going to be the remastered edition of The Last Starfighter as I eat my tea tonight.
Oh yeah that was still great.
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.
The last column in New Scientist magazine often mentions the many variations on people selling dubious and usually very expensive devices.
Merry Christmas!
And a very Merry Christmas to you and all of The Deadpan!
And to all, a Good Night.
Merry Christmas Deadpan!
Merry Christmas Deadpan!
Merry Xmas, Deadpan
CW: Soul
Which was rather wonderful.
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.
WW84 – I declare that it is good. Ignore the reviewers, for they are woefully inadequate in their praise.
We plan to watch it tonight.
As do we.
Agreed.
Merry Christmas Deadpan!
*BigSquishyHugs*
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.
WW1984 was an entertaining not very good movie
Take that as you will
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.
We rather enjoyed WW84, despite some goofiness.
WW84.
Discuss….
Spoiler Page?
Merry and Happy Christmas!
Group hug
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!
I enjoyed it but the fight scenes left me cold, just like Birds of Prey, which was a shame.
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)
Whoever cut the trailer for WW84 deserves a fucking Oscar and that is all I can even say about that.
-Matt Wallace
CP: Chess. The album version with Murray Head. Not the horrible actual musical they turned the brilliance into.
I love the big song. In this age of “everything is available,” I oughta check out this full album.
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.
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.
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.
Encouraging news JJ
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.
Paid is good. I wonder how this vaccine is expected to differ from the Moderna and the Pfizer.
I salute your participation in this and will be buying you a round of your favorite beverage at our next meeting.
I salute you sir!
That is a terrific commitment, TRA! I hope it is the vaccine you did receive!
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.
CW: The Death of Stalin
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.
*Thumbs up*
I’m relieved to know you’ve gotten the vaccine!
These are uncertain times to say the least.
Mini biopic of Talking Heads Bae player Tina Weymouth:
She’s Chris Frantz’ Bae. They went on as the Tom Tom Club together after Talking Heads.
Morning Pan
A lazy Monday morning here in bunnyland
I figure we’ll ride this page out until 1/1.
Do we need a riding crop?
Was this supposed to be a text to hubby?
!!!
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.
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.
Baking with children or a gritty crime procedural?
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.
The kooks are going to have a field day with the headline, but the article reveals that this is somewhat predictable, and seemingly within the realm of expectations.
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.”
I started playing Hades over the holidays.. Good game. It took about 20 escapes to beat Meg. Now it is on to other areas.
Yeah , took me a long time to beat Meg, great game.
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…
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.
A pretty good collection, you can’t go wrong with a Halo game.
Sad story. I think a lot of businesses are telling the same one.
Spent a pleasant half hour playing tetris on this:
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?
If youre like most of America it wont matter and youll wander in maskless willy nilly…
It was actually pretty empty. We were fine. Had some fun digging in the sand!
Van! Kahlua and cream is delicious! No one told me.
Happy New Year, you old Deadpan and Loan!
Happy 2021, Mountain Timers!
Happy 2021, you Pacific’ers!
Welcome to 2021!
Happy new year!
So, 2021 it is then. Welcome aboard!
New page for the new year?
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.
Probably will pick up a playdate when it gets released but I don’t have a cart collection to make buying the others an option:
Well now.
Congratulations on getting funded.
film photography is not dead it seems:
https://petapixel.com/2020/10/21/lomography-unveils-panoramic-35mm-film-camera-with-liquid-filled-lens/
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.
Inspirobot says:
Seek advice. Don’t just try to build a teleporter.
So how’s that teleported coming along?
-d +r
Terrible. Nobody’s given me any good advice on building it.
Don’t build it in your bathroom.
No one needs that kind of extra traffic in there.
Next Friday, I might actually have time to do a PBP
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.
Halloween 2020
https://vimeo.com/470244796?ref=fb-share&fbclid=IwAR1k5CcW4onE-aAh-gTK2ut2xzUpcP5VBTq5RYtBacXXTkuozm_sZU3j5Zo
A reboot I can get behind. Too bad we don’t get Hulu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNCDu4nmt8M&feature=emb_logo&fbclid=IwAR3HSOzL5Yu6YjpNZqF4zmfC6WaywBG2ZHYJdqWEB80LnGxCIikMb3v-maM&ab_channel=Hulu
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.
*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.
I’m on it!
Virtual tour of the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo:
https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/get-a-sneak-peek-into-ghibli-museum-with-these-videos-052520
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.
The free story this month on the Tor book club has been well reviewed:
https://www.tor.com/2020/10/20/download-a-free-ebook-of-the-haunting-of-tram-car-015-by-p-djeli-clark-before-october-24/?utm_source=exacttarget&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_term=tordotcom-tordotcomnewsletter&utm_content=na-readblog-blogpost&utm_campaign=tordotcom&e=3531931559f5003ca3c6eb11527363a50f511dd20dcb4a5592da9097b90f56da
Hopefully not tempting fate but Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood are still alive,
Silver linings and all that.
This seems like a random statement. . . ?
I’m sure I’ve told you my Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood story?
(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.)
You hadn’t and you actually met them you lucky so and so.
It was a very cool experience, yeah. Very nice guys.
CP: Running with the Wolves — AURORA
A version of that song was used in Wolf Walkers film:
https://youtu.be/rc0eMtRRkhw
https://twistedsifter.com/videos/14-century-bridge-construction-in-prague-animation/
Seems like cleaning the washroom in the nude, then showing, then dressing would be the best vector to avoid having cleaning chemicals on your clothes or person if that is the goal.
Wrong link, right link below. 😉
Doing bridge construction in the nude sounds full of perils.
Definitely want to avoid getting the bends.
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?
Well I can’t for others but you may have that distinction all to yourself.
I would put on boxers at least.
+speak
Would it make more sense to clean, then shower?
https://loudwire.com/sebastian-bach-walks-out-interview-rob-halford-joke-response/
Sebastian Bach shows class, Rob Halford is very graceful when dealing with dimwit homophobe comedians.
Interesting that when Sebastian Bach walked out of their interview, they tried to put the blame on him.
I can’t help but think that Sebastian was left out to dry here. He did the proper thing and no one, not even Halford, acknowledged it.
Look at us both sticking up for Sebastian Bach!
I agree. May we all be so fortunate to have such devoted friends that stick up for us.
I’ll fight the world for you, you fucking Canuck!!! 😉
another slice of computing history:
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/10/how-indiana-jones-fought-the-communists-and-led-an-era-of-activist-video-games/
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.
CW: The Queen’s Gambit E1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia0vVQnNGcc
The Immigrant Song in Old Norse. I can’t say it’s great, but it’s pretty cool.
At my Boo’s while snow tires being put on the car
CP: Koyaanisqatsi — Philip Glass
I recall connecting with this guy at a Phoenix ComicCon 10,000 years ago. We also both did an artsy event together back in the day – – me playing guitar, him doing live drawing. Then life happened and that connection evaporated.
One of those people who it’s impossible to dislike.
https://shoutoutarizona.com/meet-daniel-davis-creative-hooligan/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln5OBnXmB8M&list=RDLn5OBnXmB8M&start_radio=1&t=6
She’s apparently a Phoenix local artist. No connection, just kind of a good song and a clever concept to the video.
Akira animation analyzed: https://boingboing.net/2020/10/23/a-deep-dive-into-the-incredible-animation-of-akira.html
Morning Pan
I think I’m going to clean my desk this morning. Who knows what I’ll find.
This is cute.
Type in your location and it will tell you where you would end up if you dug straight down.
Mine said, “You`re alone and the water is so cold.”
https://www.antipodesmap.com/
Water as well.
Yep. Water water water
Water. The closest land is Madagascar.
Same, though I believe that’s actually the case for most of us living on land.
Many years back, zeFrank did a thing where he had people on opposite sides of the globe put pieces of bread on the ground to make an earth sandwich.
http://www.zefrank.com/sandwich/
Yeah, his show was pretty fun
JW: Queen’s Gambit E2
Not a great fan of non scifi period dramas but really enjoying this series.
Did I mention that we slogged all the way through Raised By Wolves?
My one-word review: ugh.
At this rate we can start a HateRidleyScott club.
Ha! Never! He’s one of my all-time favorites.
Raised By Wolves is very smart and ambitious, but it’s also super sloppy and awkward. It’s confusing, yes, but it’s more confused.
It must be lonely all by yourself on that hill
A hill I’m prepare to die on..fucker!
That you will, Johnny. That you will
CP: Tainted Love — Claire Guerreso
There’s a new “Tainted Love” cover out there by Sepultura.
Yeah, it doesn’t work.
https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/10/david-bowie-livestream-tribute-reznor-corgan-oldman/?fbclid=IwAR0m1FxZY-1zrxBB1-pUV6t5NAUrx_nAt12QXvTN4PY1l3wwG7MsHDf4ixU
CP: Rat Race — Brody Dalle
Psychology Today and. . . . GWAR:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brick-brick/202010/michael-bishop-and-the-power-punk-rock-conversion
Looking at the British comics available in October 1965:
http://galacticjourney.org/october-20-1965-a-wonderful-shadow-british-comics-overview/
No Captain Britain? I’m disappointed.
CB wasn’t around in 1965.
That’s no excuse.
CP: The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill – Hüsker Dü
I may have to find time for this new musical obsession:
https://www.brooklynvegan.com/30-essential-psychedelic-soul-songs/
I guess the term, “Psychedelic Soul” has been around longer than I have, but I never realize that so much of my favorite Funk, RnB, Soul, Motown, etc. falls into this category.
Getting snow tire put on my car this morning
The 50 greatest apocalypse novels:
https://t.co/LVoulMoDFD
I’ve read very few of them, but have seen the movie adaptation for a good number of them
Kudos to LitHub for debasing themselves with an article about Spec Fic.
I’ve only read a handful of those.
Now we are all ready for the winter
Chains on the tires?
Chains are frowned upon in the city as it tears up the roads. However, changing out summer tires for winter ones are recommended.
Mike Patton is patient with an excited Eric Andre:
https://www.revolvermag.com/premium-video/culture/eric-andre-interviews-mike-patton-mr-bungle-faith-no-more
For those with the time, energy, and inclination: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-the-best-ramen-at-home-236345
Alternately: settle for the $0.20 packets from the supermarket.
I already make ramen. I think the recipes in “Japanese Soul Cooking” are excellent. Plus, you want the marinaded eggs instead of just plain hard boiled, imo.
https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Soul-Cooking-Tonkatsu-Kitchens/dp/1607743523
There’s a world of difference between instant and homemade. If you like to make and eat soup, it is worth trying.
Yeah, one of our favorite restaurants in town is Ramen Hood. I really hope they survive.
We’ve tried a few successful homemade ramen experiments – – the real thing, not the 20 cent bricks – – but we’ve never gotten anything that really mimicked the restaurant.
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!”
Morning Pan
Will be doing a bpb later today. Don’t know what movie it will be yet.
So the day will begin like this huh? I think I might do a pbp instead.
Finished watching a NetFlix docuseries last night called High Score. It was about the early days of video games. We quite liked it.
I liked episode 1. I intend to keep watching.
An interview with the guy who wore a long scarf:
https://t.co/CROZZcF2yl
Misremembering the British Empire:
https://t.co/xK3lNEDFe2
CP: Where Evil Grows — The Poppy Family
We’re about twenty minutes away from movie silliness
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
A quiet suburban street
No trespassing
Kitty cat ears
A dare
Numbers for a number
I am so shocked
One year later
You don’t want to be a grease monkey all your life
Product placement
Why do most haunted houses have half moon upper floor windows for spirits to look out of?
That’s illegal in Alberta
Knock knock
That’s not how it works
Time to explore
Bloody walls
He’s spoiling the mood
Now the chair is spoiling the mood
A phonograph
A relative?
They can’t leave
No service
Can’t get out that way either
A broken mirror
Nine fingers Sal
Egging the house
Is that Lloyd?
A study
Really? Just put your hand in an urn?
He’s turning into a zombie
People stew
Her room
She’s a wild thing
Actual parents worrying. What’s that about?
He’s getting worse
It’s moving
What do you want?
Seriously? It’s a deserted place
Cue the thunderstorms
Don’t go down there
She’s coming
Lloyd doesn’t look so good
Game over man
Not Scooby Doo haunted
Ewww
Here comes the sun
Where’s Rachel?
Now for the bent over backwards walk
She’s aging
Do you really think a door will help?
She helped
Burn it down
She’s watching
Dax is going to do something stupid
Ok, that was pretty cheesy
Here comes the Calvary
ReLly gonna try that. It’s been hours
Why not call an ambulance?
She’s heartless
The twist ending was such a shocker
Meh. It was what it was. Not exactly ground breaking but entertaining enough, I guess
Seems to have been a by-the-numbers Horror.
Playdate update:
https://t.co/lyoZ5Rd5Sg
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
The new season is making my appreciate turning up the volume on my Sonos soundbar.
I guess M and the Marshall are comparing dick sizes with the speeders.
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.
Fuck!
https://t.co/wqllERClZr
Yeah, I heard about this. However, 90 years is still a good run.
Good night James Bond
🙁
Wait a cotton picking minute, so one of the bad guys in Get Smart was called The Claw, the bad guy in Inspector Gadget cartoon was Dr Claw and Don Adams voiced IG and played Maxwell Smart:
https://youtu.be/lBcimH1OEbM
Yeah, Inspector Gadget was pretty clearly modeled after Get Smart.
A halloween costume party I can get behind:
https://t.co/sGag0t5lB0
These are great!
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.
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.
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.
Michigan—a swing-state—has just decided to allow open-carry at the polls.
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)
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.
So there is now airbags for cyclists:
https://hovding.com/
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.
Oh no. *hugs*
This is pretty cool. select the year you were born and see what words were first used that year.
I have a crap load of words “born” the same year as me including: lunar module, dance off, Automatic teller machine (who knew ATM was that old?), humongous, recreational drug, and spaghetti western.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1967
Grinch and knockoff in the long list for my birth year.
Higgs-boson! I find it hard to believe that “fly-on-the-wall,” “Heimlich maneuver,””zin,” and “string cheese” are that new.
I find it hard to believe that “lo mein” was not a word until 1970.
So today I’ve bought Hades and now I must wait as it downloads.
I’ve had several friends strongly encourage me to give this game a try. I’ll probably do that after I finish “Ghost of Tsushima”.
I enjoyed Hades
Unfortunately Ghosts isn’t available on the PC yet
I finished “Umbrella Academy” season 2 yesterday. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was a stronger season than the first.
I loved the sound track as well, still no news on whether there will be a S3..
S2 was a huge improvement on S1.
CP: Fa Fa — Guster
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.
We finished Bly Manor and decided to rewatch Hill House. We enjoyed Bly fine, but Hill House exceeded it in every way. Hill House is just splendid.
I’ve said elsewhere, Blyth Manor looks like it was shot in the 70s/80s on the cheap.
Agreed.
JW: The Queen’s Gambit E7
Great ending, bloody great series, if you have Netflix, give it a try.
We’re in the middle of it. Quite enjoying it so far
This is pretty electrifying, even if you’re not much of a Rolling Stones fan.
https://news.avclub.com/the-rolling-stones-share-remastered-footage-of-their-fi-1845548743
John Lennon is in the crowd, clearly enjoying his altered state.
Not a fan BUTas a fan of music this excites me
Charlie Watts’ Adam’s Apple is the unofficial 6th member.
Great name for a band too…
CP: Whichever Way the Wind Blows – Bob Mould
Excellent.
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)
Kitty woke us at ten to four this morning. Almost a normal time.
Here we go.
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.
You are a spitting image of your Dad.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/11/after-20-years-of-service-the-space-station-flies-into-an-uncertain-future
Pretty fascinating take on ISS’s past and present.
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.
ROUSes? I don’t believe they exist.
CP: A Victory Of Love — Alphaville
We might be headed for another record breaking warm day today
I hadn’t heard of this Freaky Friday “remake” but making it into a comedy slasher film is brilliant! 😀
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svqgoAOYFq4&feature=emb_title
Nothing like a sneezing fit after you’ve just completed mastication of a mouthful of nuts…
A rare sighting of the lesser spotted JB
Toot toot, peanut butter.
Well off to bed, I’ll find out in the morning what sort of shit storm the rest of the world can expect.
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.
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.
https://www.treblezine.com/22712-10-essential-psychedelic-soul-albums/
For further investigation.
Well that looks interesting:
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/11/raspberry-pi-400-the-under-100-desktop-pc-you-didnt-know-you-needed/
If you want some distraction, watch videos of this guys Lego train sets:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1_vgAoHkxrxPCgl0BJqelQ/
Our local train park has a bunch of layouts of different size, including a small LEGO set. Neat stuff.
Morning Pan
Off to the city this afternoon
I haven’t read his books in years, haven’t watched a new adaptation of his in years – – but Stephen King’s perspectives are always gold:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/10/30/stephen-king-adaptations-mr-mercedes/
I see that “Emotional Support Canadians” is trending. So I was going to inquire if Ditto or Ryah have been assigned an American yet?
Haven’t been assigned anybody. Why, are you looking for support?
Poutine and Kraft Dinner required: stat.
I take support if it is being offered. 🙂
https://twitter.com/Darth_Pingu/status/1323786312084762624
CP: I’m Not Your Hero — Tegan and Sara
Off to the city!
BTW, this is the site I’ve been checking: https://www.bbc.com/news/world/us_and_canada
Too much clutter and noise at the usual US media staples.
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.
I will hunt them down and rip out their eyeballs if they troll you!
Great job on getting this interview picked up!
CP: Here Comes The End — Gerard Way
I fnished watching The Queen’s Gambit.
Sooo good! The lead actress was mesmerizing.
The ebook is 99p on Amazon in the U.K. today, think I’m going to buy it.
CP: Hell’s Eight Acres — Adam Ant
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.
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.
We can still abolish the electoral college, though. That’d be fine.
And impose term limits. That would also be just great.
Voyager 2 is still rocking:
https://www.engadget.com/nasa-contacts-voyager-2-via-deep-space-station-dish-154502422.html
In these pandemic times we are urged to buy books to support author and book shops.
But what if the author is long dead?
How long? If their work is not yet in public domain, then all income would go to their estate.
We have an author that passed and all his royalties go to his widow. So, in buying the book, you are still supporting their family.
There’s the rub.
Have a great birthday, Pixie!
Happy Pixie Day !!!!!
Thank you!
Happy birthday to my main squeeeeeeeeeze!
And to mine!
Happy Birthday To Rhett’s wife!
Squeeeeeeeeeze you right back!
But also, happy birthday Pixie!
Yes! Happy birthday!
Thank you, Ditto!
Thank you!! And Happy Birthday to my bday Pannite buddy, Teresa!!!!
Woot woot
No cavities!
I’m intrigued by a few of these:
https://music.avclub.com/nick-cave-miley-cyrus-and-21-more-albums-we-can-t-wai-1845530816
I had no idea we were getting a new Nick Cave.
No new Nickelback. 🙁
CP: Soul Man — Sam & Dave
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.
Awwwww. You are actually having weather there? Shocking, I say! 😀
Yeah, didn’t have any until now, but should be cleared up by mid-January.
I needed the AC in my car when I drove to pick up lunch today.
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.
Wow. That wasn’t so good. At least the first 10 minutes of it. That’s all I gave it.
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.
Who had this on their 2020 bingo card?
https://www.spin.com/2020/11/creed-drummer-says-band-may-reunite/
Eyes wide open! 😉
One of my sisters bought me this chess computer back at the turn of the century (never opened):
http://kantack.com/chess/kingarthur.htm
4 bit processor running at 1.5Mhz, no wonder 8 bit computers from 20 years before had programs that could eat these things for breakfast.
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.
You could have added some class and style to the Rat Pack.
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
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.
My arm has been pricked. Now just waiting the requisite 15 minutes before I head out
Tubular Bells is one of the most fascinating pieces of music ever recorded. Mike Oldfield is a character. I kinda need to watch this, at some point:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYGfaYI1n8c
This looks great.
I’ve got to find the time to watch this all later.
CP: No Time To Die — Billie Eilish
My god Ryah, did you watch the new Mandalorian episode??
Egads!
It has spiders in it.
We wait until all the episodes have dropped before watching the season.
Mandalorian – Into the Spider Verse
Have a wonderful birthday Lost Ralph!
Yea Ralph!
Happy Birthday!
I’ll just leave this right here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn-h78tuNiU&ab_channel=BadLipReading
Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse has finally arrived on the U.K. Netflix.
15 minutes in and it’s still Cool AF.
Congrats America
Well they are all calling a Biden win.
So thank fuck for that and I’m not even American.
This is amazing! My new favourite song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSWszdSHkyE
This joke will never get old.
This by the same band runs a close second
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9WWz95ripA
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.
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.
I think we’re going to go into the way back machine and watch Damnation Alley. A little sci-fi cheese is a good thing
“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
A trip down memory lane:
https://youtu.be/OI20uSRtJUU
CP: El Camino – Elizabeth Cook
A friend of mine Googled their name and so I decided to do the same, as I don’t think I’ve ever done it before.
Did you know I’m on the SF database? It’s only a single line but still, cool.
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/eaw.cgi?219088
Excellent!
Nice!
I’ll search the SF database for “Lunny, Bittle.”
We watched Damnation Alley last night. Now we’re asking ourselves why.
Ah a film with a great first 5 minutes and then bleurgh!
Alex Trebek finally lost his battle with cancer
https://globalnews.ca/news/7450091/alex-trebek-jeopardy-dies-cancer/
What is “Great sadness”?
The guy brought a lot of joy and knowledge into the world. RIP
Wolves it seems are the more generous canine:
https://t.co/2OZc6RRIkO
Morning Pan
Today, like yesterday, is a good day to hibernate.
I don’t think I’ve ever lost socks when doing laundry. Re-usable masks however…
Seriously, where do they go?
One of us might be pre-downloading Assassin’s Creed Valhalla right now.
Read as: Assasin’s Creed: Vanilla
🙂
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.
I kind of want a lizard backpack now.
https://gfycat.com/decentsecretgrouse-friendly-animals-friends-lizard
CP: What’ve I Done to Help — Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
If 2020 has been good for anything (aside from voting out fascists), it’s been cool collaborative cover tunes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhCvNhTzSt4&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR0P9UFVI2XhyyrUfDJ3nGRYPyRKzF3yzhk8cvlvYWrOeADClr1fmB7XFd8
We Care a Lot.
And the very end!
Per Bunny’s act of googling her name I figured I would do the same. I found this: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fetching-sweetness-dana-mentink/1123225025
What the?
Is there something you want to tell us, Rhett?
“ Rhett is a wealthy CEO with a new desire for following God’s plan for his life, and he’s trying to reunite with his sister, Karen, whose life he once ruined.”
Seriously, what should we know
I think that was just the ruff draft.
Other than the name I can’t see any parallels. Plus, my sister isn’t a Karen.
Did you once ruin her life??
Not that I remember. LOL
Ha!
Type loser.com in a browser tab.
It’s snowing again.
*sigh*
https://www.stereogum.com/2105938/best-bon-iver-songs/lists/10-best-songs/
“Skinny Love” is a great folk song. I really like everything I’ve ever heard from Bon Iver, but I’ve never really explored their catalog. Maybe this can be my map to start exploring.
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.
CP: Trouble’s Coming — Royal Blood
Bookmarked for later: it’s only 9 minutes, so…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&feature=share&v=Mh5LY4Mz15o&fbclid=IwAR2li-EkncraeEA0kdQ0KZS8xjZFpLqYyEil7sCvhe_ureX-wLoBS5t8MNo
A “Funny and relatively short history of Japan:”
Prepare yourself, bad Irish accents incoming:
https://youtu.be/kadUgcIxODM
Today is the start of a five day weekend. W00t!
Very nice!
Noice! For both of you?
Yup
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?
Do not think that our enemies have not noticed our current disarray and chaos.
These are dangerous times.
It’s a good point, but I’m more concerned about the people right here who’ve declared all of us to be their enemies.
UmBrella Academy is getting a S3.
Yahoooooo!
https://bit.ly/38uvn0A
I’m waiting for Klaus to get his own spinoff.
CP: Circles And Squares — We Were Promised Jetpacks
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.
As much as I’m deeply suspicious of rah-rah self improvment blogposts, this one intrigued me:
https://ideas.ted.com/which-of-these-6-time-traps-is-eating-up-all-your-time/?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Many good points.
Hubby has started calling his Audible his “phonebook”
Why not, I say, why not?
https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arts/funniest-alex-trebek-clips-of-all-time-jeopardy-simpsons-11511843
Happy Birthday ditto!
the Sun has come up in the future, so you can relax about that…
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*
Happy, happy, birthday ditto!
Dutch Museums Unveil Free Digital Collection of 1,000+ Artworks by Van Gogh
https://mymodernmet.com/van-gogh-worldwide/
Happy birthday, ditto! Thank you for being born!
Have a great birthday ditto!
Thanks everyone! It’s been an exhausting day at work, but at least I’ll have a long weekend. 😀
Leonids meteor shower starts this weekend:
https://earthsky.org/?p=53077
The clouds say no.
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.
https://film.avclub.com/the-20th-century-ended-with-the-creative-whimper-and-bo-1845615542
Yeah I’m tired of reading about how “bad” TPM is. It’s fucking 21 years later. Get over it. We’ve had much worse Star Wars films since then.
..and I’m tired of your bitching about people botching about TPM.
-o +i
Whoops!
Honestly, after watching all the hate you spilled for Raised by Wolves and then watching it myself and seeing the brilliance that is it, your taste/opinions are extremely suspect.
Bitch.
Don’t talk to me about taste when you like that pile of crap..fucker!
I know I know buddy. Your peanut brain can’t grasp it. It’s ok, friend. There’s always Mad About You and King of Queens for you to be able to enjoy
I don’t actually believe you like the show, but you hold Scott on such a pedestal that you cannot bring yourself to say it’s shit.
Sleep tight pinhead.
I’m no Scott apologist. Believe what you like you fucktard, This is one of the best shows of 2020
Neither one of you guys are fucktards.
I thought there was a lot of brilliance going deep down below the surface of RBW. Some amazing philosophical ideas about the nature of families and parenthood. I’d love to read the screenplays and whatever other source material was there. Some great concepts. Ridley Scott has always been a deep thinker.
But man, I disliked the execution of this series. And much of the look of it. And the finale.
Amazing. Every word of what you just said in that last sentence was wrong.
Ah stupidity reigns:
https://t.co/sXDOwvpxRV
Bad media influencing gullible people.
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.
In some good news, the Am I Evil? draft is in the hands of my lead artist. Now we figure out just how much needs to be trimmed or reworked.
Yea!!
One tough lady:
https://t.co/TivqYLzoSS
CW: V for Vendetta
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.
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”!!
A one armed bandit?
The cops were in hot pursuit?
This evening’s cocktail choice is an honor of The Dude.
Care to guess?
White Russian?
The Dude abides.
Although I am wondering if I should be more woke and go with the Black Russian?
A good Naked Gun joke
This is brutal:
https://tonyortega.org/2020/11/07/medal-by-medal-scientology-founder-l-ron-hubbards-stolen-valor-is-laid-bare/
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.
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).
This has been a difficult day.
*hugs*
Hey Deadpan
Had a wonderful long weekend. Didn’t want it to end.
Now, back to staring at spreadsheets.
What they don’t tell you is he was subsequently fired for leaving his workplace for an indefinite period of time, and now gets to spend the new year looking for a new job 😉
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg4Mq5EAEzw&fbclid=IwAR1AtcycXjvWVHf6VfCWV-KVJ_ppdsSGvJVwIeriRSdHXauCnzAk5fzFSpU&ab_channel=Coca-Cola
I’ll quiet my blackened, cynical heart and acknowledge a sweet short film. Not just a saccharine, coporat- – – no! It’s a sweet short little story.
… about a man who is now unemployed, and used all his savings to travel to northern Canada
Can’t be as bad as that film with the Japanese woman who thinks Fargo is literally true.
What went wrong with ROTJ:
https://t.co/qQOcQlsnNE
Amazing. . . Every word of what you just said was wrong.
I didn’t write the article!
“Every subsequent live-action film except Revenge of the Sith and Solo features an epic third act battle involving fighters.”
It’s like your all a bunch of astronauts…on some kind of Star Trek.
..no, wait that’s not right.
Right cause Sith STARTS the film with an epic battle involving fighters.
This article sucks. And Van’s an enabler for sharing it.
Ok, great!
NO YOU!
No yiu!
I love ROTJ. Interesting that this article completely misses the point of why ROTJ was a turning point. It was (IMHO) where the series started to be written specifically for children, with adults being able to tag along for the ride. I didn’t notice it at the time because I was a kid. I figured it out after rewatching years and years later. I still think the brilliance of Rogue One was that it was the first time since Empire that I felt the movie was written for adults.
I would agree with this.
Although I would add that I love all of the original 3 films, even with their faults.
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
Time marches on, friend.
Fade to Black.
One thing about getting up stupid early is your work is mostly done by the time everybody else gets to their desk.
Are we going to do DPSS this year?
I hope so. I’ll PM Amy
Amy says she’ll post an announcement either tomorrow or Thursday
Excellent.
Thank you, TEB!
Boy, this feels like a Slack conversation.
What’s that? You say you need a new pair of slacks?
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.
Beyond the right call, especially now. This holiday season is going to be small and compact in the Lo Pan household and I honestly can’t wait. We’re going to no get togethers.
I’m going to get much shit from my family for it, but some things are much bigger than simply having to receive shit.
Well done to both of you.
Also applauds making the right, if inconvenient and unpopular decision.
CP: Gereg — The HU
HU hast mich.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTPwbVqU6lc
If you haven’t seen the spaceship comparison video. . . they do a good job of hitting all of the major and minor franchises.
Where else are you gonna see the Rocinante, the Millennium Falcon, and Space Battleship Yamato all together in one place?
Ok, that was cool. Some of those size comparisons are staggering.
There. My floors are clean for another fortnight.
I have 3 dogs. I can count how long my floors stay clean in minutes.
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.
Good talk!
Thanks for tuning in last night, Mr. Lo Pan!
A positive, rational commentary on the vaccine:
https://twitter.com/mark_toshner/status/1328837111869566976?s=20
Point being: With motivation, we can accomplish great things (mitigate pandemics, go to other worlds, etc.) Everything we do now is a red tape money nightmare. We’ve got to start pushing toward the Star Trek social model (not that nay of us will see it).
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!!!!
Fun interview with AC/DC on their new album
https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-ongoing-history-of-new-music-episode-898b-the-return-of-ac-dc/
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 want to have beeeeers with LoPan until he gets REALLY angry and then I want to slink into a dark corner and just watch what happens next.
Oh it’s real easy. Just point me in the direction of people mixing circles during COVID for Thanksgiving…
I’ve listened to most of it. No classics (so far), but it’s good. Not on par with their best, but that’s OK.
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.
https://variety.com/2020/film/news/wonder-woman-1984-hbo-max-release-1234804411/
Good move. But the article isn’t very clearly-written. I guess they don’t know the release date?
I think it might be on Christmas Day.
https://geektyrant.com/news/wonder-woman-1984-will-be-released-in-theaters-and-on-hbo-max-on-christmas-day
Well, this just might make up for Raised by Wolves
Bear. Poked.
Well no HBO Max in the U.K. but I’m guessing it won’t be long before it’s available by other means.
I did not want to get up this morning.
I swear, I spend more time converting US words to Canadian than putting together the rest of the damn book.
Find: hat
Replace: toque
Replace all
… and center with centre, colour with colour, labeled with labelled, and so on, and so on
Must be a lot of work adding “eh” to the end of every sentence.
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?
Also.
I have the hiccups.
For Thanksgiving this year, the kids and I are making a pot of Fettucini Alfredo and staying in to play games.
That sounds like a great Thanksgiving. Just you and the kids?
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.
I still have the hiccups.
BOO!
My cat snores. It’s both cute and disconcerting
I think one year, we need to do a Thanksgiving of buttered toast, popcorn, jellybeans, and pretzels, in honor of the Peanuts special.
Might need to get permission from Apple TV first.
My own dog, gone commercial. I can’t stand it.
https://www.singforscience.org/episodes/episode-06?fbclid=IwAR1JPrPdbMUyw4L57MF6Y05lyqtn6ya9AOzTucQWS4FPvWHajjXQKkSvSDI
Living Colour on a podcast talking about fascism. I haven’t listened, but I’m intrigued.
People suck
That is all
Hugs. Yes, and sorry.
That worked!
I’ve just been busy with spreadsheets and didn’t get around to tell you til now.
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.
Yeah, I think we’ll hang on to Netflix.
I’m told that some platforms have a Rifftrax app. That’s really the only one I’d need.
Detective L on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMX26aiIvX5pMzi8tiNAkFCYliG0n3MdD
Sad:
https://www.engadget.com/arecibo-observatory-decommission-182031343.html
Sad indeed. I was fortunate enough to have visited Arecibo once. Glad I made it when I did.
Wow! End of an era.
Can we blame this on 2020 as well?
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.
CP: Visitor — Of Monsters And Men
I don’t often post links to the National Review. . . https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-dumbest-coup/
It’s a short read.
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?
CP: Realize — AC/DC
I spoke to Amy. She’s having a week (we’ve all been there) but should have something up in the next few days
https://xkcd.com/2348/
My number 1 complaint with text-based and Monkey Island-style games.
Disney being wankers:
https://bit.ly/35JUQkI
The first sci-fi book I ever bought was ADF’s novelisation of The Black Hole.
It’s Friday.
I’m in love with Flora Cash … like all their music. Anyone else?
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’m in.
As I said on FB, I’m in.
You’ll have noticed his name in TOS credits:
https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/herb-solow-dead-star-trek-1234837054/?fbclid=IwAR13aK8-LkORE4xXe3OOwBzoT02aJbdcZWDyp-aKT_AdzWnySO3Lr9TOz2Q
I’m glad I live in a world where someone has time to record and compare various modem sounds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckc6XSSh52w
Epic fight!
https://t.co/sMU8Jr2iEp
WTF:
https://bit.ly/332rQTN
The fact this little punk is still alive when police executed the antifa shooter just boggle the mind.
JW: Love and Monsters
Rather enjoyed that film, didn’t end the way I thought it would.
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.
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.”
Yes 🙁
Or for the “I’m willing to take that chance” crowd, someone else might be dead or on a ventilator by Xmas. 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.
JW: Arrietty
My rewatch of Studio Ghibli films continues with this utterly charming film and I hated the Borrower books at school.
https://www.screen-idle.com/wagner-estate-officially-acknowledges-that-ride-of-the-valkyries-lyrics-are-kill-the-wabbit/
Now stuck in your head*
*if you were born before 1990.
57 years ago on this day, the first episode of Doctor Who aired.
Depressing reading:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/76144/why-no-one-wanted-aws-third-pound-burger
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.
Hmmm:
https://t.co/x63OgUJr30
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.
Plus, he’ll yeah:
https://t.co/eVKp5uLqEX
He’ll yeah, indeed. But don’t hold your breath.
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.
I know it’s a PANE but you have to applaud their TRANSPARENCY. They could have just let it SLIDE and ended up SHATTERING your world.
/applause
JustaJoe was seriously on track with his incredible puns.
But I dunno, I suspect a frame job.
Christ would you get a handle on these posts?
Season’s Greetings from your Witcher…
https://youtu.be/ZVzFGttzPWc
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.
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.
New material from J.R.R. Tolkien?
https://geektyrant.com/news/new-unreleased-middle-earth-material-from-jrr-tolkien-is-being-released-next-year
Part of me is excited, part wonders how this material failed to be capitalized on by Christopher Tolkien if there was any hope of making a dime off of it in the past.
I’m still holding out for his vast world-building texts on Farmer Giles of Ham.
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/utah-monolith-art-trnd/index.html
*Throws a bone in the air*
Paints the Danube blue.
It will be a little early, but I got hubby this for his birthday.
https://www.feinashi.shop/products/2020-advent-calendar-mini-guitar
Got some good news and I got some bad news:
https://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-expanse-renewed-for-sixth-and-final.html
Perhaps with some clever writing they can transition to the big screen.
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.
Linda Interrupted:
https://crimereads.com/linda-interrupted/
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.
Queen’s Gambit lived up to the hype.
It’s apparently setting Netflix viewer records too?
Deservedly so.
By all accounts it has also helped increase the sale of chess sets.
https://t.co/eKWKVwgYAy
John use to play all the time. He would watch all the tournaments too. He hasn’t for a long time but was, for a while, pretty decent at it.
We are re-watching.
Binged like 6 episodes last night.
Really solid show.
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.
How kind of them to wait until the last possible minute to tell the people on the front lines.
Although it still sounds like the correct move.
John isn’t against the idea, although having half the school still in will be strange. He just wishes the had a heads up first
Teachers getting a pay freeze over here as a ‘reward’ for working through a pandemic,
I woke up and went straight to my desk. I should think about throwing my body into the shower.
https://lithub.com/ray-bradburys-greatest-writing-advice/
Ray Bradbury’s Greatest Writing Advice.
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?’
TL/DL
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/20/opinions/the-mandalorian-is-this-really-the-way-stewart/index.html
This will ruffle some feathers. I don’t fully agree, but I don’t fully disagree.
First glance, I thought this was about the Mandelbrot set.
The word “Mandelbrot” makes me think of Howie Mandel playing with a Lite Brite.
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?
Yep, agreed.
I have a beef dip going in the slow cooker. Pretty soon my house is going to smell yummy
Today’s Brussels sprouts not the same variety as the ones of your youth:
https://t.co/29Vcwx1pSn
And thank goodness for that! I hated them as a kid for exactly the reasons described in the article.
I liked Brussel sprouts
Hubby’s working late today
It ain’t cool to be no jive turkey so close to Thanksgiving.
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.
Addendum. Today the Alberta government declared an outbreak in hubby’s school. Doesn’t mean a damn thing as they won’t close it. They’re just acknowledging things might be a little out of control.
I thought your premier declared all indoor gatherings illegal?
Isn’t a school day an indoor gathering?
Are these students or staff that is getting sick?
both.
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
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
Vent away 🙁 Ugh and hugs all around.
I do blame the lizard aliens who wear human disguises and control the world governments.
Happy Thanksgiving to us in the US!
To those abroad, Happy Thursday!
While I still prefer the Disturbed version, this is not a bad cover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdVjVtpr55M&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR3mqY3ccED1_lVzxRKiRKSHcdJRIO7MBClN8n2YgpdAANYrLieeS78rry0&ab_channel=PTXofficial
Latest episode of the Mandalorian was rather good and had something for fans of the SW animated series.
It was a good episode!
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorial-cartoon/Editorial-cartoon-for-Nov-26-2020-573204051.html
Good Mourning/Black Friday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_1dHzlWzns
Did any of you guys indulge? I recall that Ed got into the Black Friday spirit in years past.
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.
You’re a loose cannon, Klein!
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.
OMG, this is a glorious Stan Lee moment.
https://laughingsquid.com/animation-of-stan-lee-on-profane-rant
Set to animation.
Or PBS station is at this moment, airing some concert of Joe Bonamossa (sp?) from England.
He make guitar sing pretty
Bonamassa is incredible. His ticket prices are the only reason I’ve never seen him live.
I saw him in concert once, was good but he talks like Deputy Dog.
That’s not a bad thing but I kept looking out for Musky..
My turn for a bad joke
Q: Do sea creatures play football?
A: Yes. In fact, there are 20,000 leagues under the sea
Q: How do you turn soup into gold?
A: you add 24 carrots
(Blame hubby for these)
All Deadpan Secret Santa emails and Facebook PMs have been sent! Enjoy! 🙂
Thank you Amy.
Hear ye, hear ye!
The LEGO Star Wars Holiday special is good. I have spoken.
Hubby had a rough week and wants this
https://propstore.com/mobile/product/conan-the-barbarian-1982/lot-183-entertainment-memorabilia-live-auction-conans-arnold-schwarzenegger-atlantean-sword-and-four-behind-the-scenes-photos/
I want a Zonda.
Looks like we are both going to be disappointed
Wow! I like that link.
Lots of James Bond memorabilia.
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.
CW: Super-intelligence
Meant to be comedy but I’m not laughing.
Some wheeling and dealing behind the scenes at this year’s DPSS. (We’ll explain later)
/intrigued mode on
Oh no.
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55117704
RIP, David Prowse. He changed my life as Darth Vader without ever speaking a word.
85, a damned good innings.
A trailer for the Mandalorian done in spaghetti western style:
https://youtu.be/IJH_RbnrGUs
When you want the fastest way to calculate pi to trillions of digits:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chudnovsky_algorithm
The Thing if it happened to Pengu:
https://youtu.be/QAoONl2P8fw
This was a tiny bit disturbing, actually.
But I found it interesting it was almost identical to Clay Cat. Why did we need two versions of the same thing?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG33zECv8dc&ab_channel=LeeHardcastle
A slice of Arizona history:
https://buff.ly/3nM4hX7
Fascinating!
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.
Now I’m wondering if I mistyped the email address.
How a computer program almost started WW3:
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/11/wargames-for-real-how-one-1983-exercise-nearly-triggered-wwiii/
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.
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.
You can cross David Eddings off your classic fantasy writers list:
https://t.co/zvyR7LJOet
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.
DPSS gift is on it’s way.
CP: Declination — NanowaR of Steel
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was released 38 years ago today.
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.
Also
CE: Pistachios (purchased at the Swap Meet)
Why are these so addictive?
https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/the-50-best-jokes-for-little-kids/
Did I share this before? Crap jokes by the bushel.
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
Bunny bids. Not! So! Cheap!
Nice!
Now here’s your coat.
Apparently Ben Bova passed of COVID related complications.
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.
Holy crap, Billy Idol made it to 65.
Morning Pan
This morning I get to install and explore a newer version of our bookkeeping program. The excitement never stops here in bunnydom.
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
That was going to be our next show after Queen’s Gambit, but we’ve started up The Good Place again.
So I learned today that the mythical bunyip hangs around in waterways,
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.
In short: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1IxOS4VzKM
Is that the lass off Crazy Ex Girlfriend?
Classic. 😀
The book or the song? 😀
I think this is the thing that launched Rachel Bloom’s career to do stuff like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. (Never seen that show)
Both. 😀
My writing is a bit more clumsy, as evidenced by the phrase: “appreciate the greatness of his nuts” in that paragraph.
Although, I suppose it fits with the Rachel Bloom song. . .
This is scary:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/26ohtpc1ao
Ellen is now Elliot:
http://bit.ly/2JBjonj
Not really surprised, and am very glad for him.
Good for them finding their own way. Hopefully this helps create a more accepting society.
It will be interesting to see how it affects his role on Umbrella Academy.
Shame:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/12/arecibo-radio-telescopes-massive-instrument-platform-has-collapsed/
CP: Drown — milet
The things you reference throughout the course of the day. . . .
https://weirdal.fandom.com/wiki/Visuals:Fat
Could also reference this. The author is an extremely good friend of mine (my daughter’s godfather).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082VPGQLK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Hmm! Te “You Got Lucky” video is an all-time MTV favorite.
Please tell me you can see this.
Perhaps someone can find a none Twitter version.
https://twitter.com/rexchapman/status/1333810781121630210?s=21
Yes! This is glorious.
That was awesome
The books have arrived from my DPSS, than you TEB.
All three? After I ordered, they said book one would show up after 2 & 3
Thank you!
Although since I was expecting a new case for my iPhone I initially thought Amazon had screwed up.
Just 2 and 3 for now.
CP: Baby Talk — Lush
Recently developed an appreciation for this band.
I love Lush and have for years. 😀
Welcome to the club. 😀
Sorry I didn’t see this reply earlier, I was too busy gazing at the tops of my shoes.
And if you like Lush, you’ll like Piroshka
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHThQtKdFIw
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.
https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2559603/mad-max-actor-hugh-keays-byrne-is-dead-at-73
RIP, Immortan Joe.
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.
Got a new phone that supports 5G.
My mobile phone company does not support 5G in my county.
No eta on when they will.
Bugger!
5G seems to be largely a myth at this point. Given the amount of towers that are required due to the short effective distance of the 5G signals, I think it’s going to be a long long time before it becomes a reality for most people.
Did you check your email Ed?
https://boingboing.net/2020/12/02/watch-guitarist-rocks-with-bird-pal-happily-sitting-on-his-hand.html
You need this 30 seconds of bird cuteness.
🙂
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.
https://news.avclub.com/david-wain-wants-to-know-what-if-rush-and-the-police-s-1845799079
What if Rush and The Police sucked? (quiet down, you)
I haven’t watched yet, but I’m curious.
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.
Good news I guess
https://bit.ly/2I6ukcj
I haven’t seen this point clarified anywhere: Will these releases be free for subscribers? Or will it be like Disney+’s Mulan, where you pay a giant fee for each movie, on top of your monthly membership?
Free for subscribers
https://t.co/frgzrp7Rgb
Thank you, kind sir.
Wait, Tom & Jerry?????!??!
CP: Out of My League — Fitz & The Tantrums
https://mst3k.org/2020/12/03/watch-all-the-turkey-day-host-segments-right-here-including-the-new-short-featuring-emily/
At around the 28-minute, there’s a new segment featuring Emily, who (I think) will be the new show host, if we get MST3K back any time soon.
Morning Pan
I think we’ll Christmasfy the house this weekend.
Dramatic footage of Arecibo’s destruction.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/12/nsf-had-a-drone-watching-as-arecibos-cables-snapped/
Still makes me mega sad.
https://games.avclub.com/25-years-ago-catan-became-an-american-hit-by-beating-m-1845783601
It’s still strange to me how mainstream Catan is. It feels like an obscure nerdy thing.
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
CP: Running on Empty — Jackson Browne
Every episode of the Mandalorian:
https://youtu.be/Y7EB4ZYWKYI
The latest from The Hu. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpxA_ZxGX_M
Love it! 😀
Hu’s on first?
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.
We’re listening to some of Rob Halford’s Christmas music. I’m not sure what to make of it
Here’s a sample
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkSYiKHhp0E
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!
Loooooooved it!!!
And the Lone Wolf and Cub tribute continues…..,
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.
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.
Oh jj, fingers crossed for you, your Mam and your Dad.
*hugs*
*hugs*
*Hugs*
The woman behind the marketing that sold the NES to a skeptical USA:
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/12/all-out-war-breaks-out-in-san-franciscos-chinatown-in-warrior-s2-finale/
It’s right at the bottom of the article..promise..cough!
https://arstechnica.com/video/watch/war-stories-how-the-nes-conquered-a-skeptical-america-in-1985
Interesting. I just started watching “High Score” on Netflix this morning. I think it’s six or eight episodes. Just finished number 3. Number 2 featured the rise of Nintendo after the great collapse of Atari and she featured prominently in convincing Nintendo to redesign the aesthetic of the “Famicom” into the NES that we all came to know and get addicted to.
My wife made the comment that it’s rather weird watching a history show like this….that we actually lived through.
Episode 3 featured the narrator talking about a floppy disk as “the USB drive of the day”….
Episode 1 was great. I intend to keep going.
I just watched it, too. It was a great episode.
My DPSS gift has been ordered.
🙁
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.
Oh no. As others have said, I’m sending you moral support, maximum power.
Hmmm:
https://youtu.be/KGultrg7l0I
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.
RIP Squiggy. https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/david-lander-dead-dies-squiggy-laverne-shirley-1234847158/
https://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/pathological-consumption-has-become-so-normalised-that-we-scarcely-notice-it/
Consume. Consume. Consume. Buy. Buy. Buy.
If you like the beach:
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/05/business/hawaii-free-trip-remote-workers-trnd/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=fbCNN&utm_content=2020-12-05T19%3A00%3A06&utm_term=link
This is amazing, btw.
Overanalysing a song:
https://t.co/MV6owY3DXr
Fill your boots with Bond:
https://io9.gizmodo.com/you-can-now-stream-a-bunch-of-james-bond-movies-for-fre-1845820189/amp?__twitter_impression=true
There, our house is ready for Christmas
Why David Sedaris can just fuck off now:
https://cbsn.ws/2IjNc7Z
You do realize he’s a satirist and comedian, right? Probably not. You’re fired! 😀
I love David Sedaris. This wasn’t all that funny of a bit – – but I guarantee actual LOLs if you read one of his essay collections.
Agreed. David Sedaris is typically super funny. This one was pretty meh. As it’s Christmas time anyway I recommend 6 to 8 black men (it is Christmas and not racist I promise). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPfg20k5TE8
It wasn’t very funny, true, but we’ve all secretly wished for this power.
JW: Freaky
An enjoyable mashup of body swap/slasher flick.
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.
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.
And also btw, that Mandalorian thing Van posted last week is a pretty hilarious 30 seconds.
Reposting the link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7EB4ZYWKYI&feature=youtu.be
CP: The Beast — Laura Marling
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/upshot/epidemiologists-virus-survey-.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab
I never know if a NYTime article will be available to me. This one was. Fascinating read from the actual experts.
This has become my regular “pick me up” site
I just can’t get enough of the cute
https://www.vanaqua.org/babyotter
D’awwwww. One of them was playing with a bucket.
But this is the most important link of the day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh2UmXaa-4E
I only watched a few seconds of it. My uncle is the butler.
Cool. How did he get the gig?
Good question! I assume through his old stage acting contacts. He used to do some amateur theater around NYC and NJ.
He’s apparently done at least one other rap video. I need to find the link.
You know, this song is actually pretty good.
It would seem that having a kid play Pop Smoke in the video is not just a gimmick. The real Pop Smoke was shot and killed in February.
WTF:
https://youtu.be/rHHbTm3Npfk
That is hilarious
Agreed. We’ve set our DVR to record it on Sunday.
Now that’s how you do advertising.
I think I’m in camp WTF with Van on that one…
Mario Lopez’s existence ruins the fun of it.
DPSS gifts away!
Oooooooooo
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.
.. and it’s goodbye to Chuck Yeager:
https://apnews.com/article/jim-bridenstine-chuck-yeager-air-force-world-war-ii-f027e8960916cbd8094ab9f05ec2cbf2?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP
The future is here:
https://youtu.be/tBJ0GvsQeak
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/12/this-arizona-college-student-has-taken-over-60-driverless-waymo-rides/
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.
We haven’t bought game in a while. However, this week we had to order this.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/281259/isle-cats
Wil Wheaton’s Tabletop needs to come back. I don’t know if I want to play this game, but I want to see it played.
Sad:
https://t.co/HVrxWX80UA
Missed it yesterday, but Tom Waits just turned 71.
Wahoo!
https://t.co/jnLJ57SAt6
I was going to post a link to an IGN article announcing Alfred Molina’s return as Doctor Octopus in the next Spider-Man movie. That is very exciting news. . . but I decided to post this article instead:
https://www.ign.com/articles/galactic-federation-of-aliens-are-in-contact-with-us-and-israeli-governments-claims-former-official
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.
Or maybe the jibberish he spouts during his speeches is actually code for those aliens. . .
That old radiator was a weapon against a pandemic:
https://t.co/mt2VhNLZS0
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 🙂
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.
http://blog.daysofwonder.com/2020/06/02/ticket-to-ride-stay-at-home-a-free-print-and-play-expansion/
Ticket to Ride: Stay at Home, a free print and play expansion
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.
It’s snowing
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!
And to that end – I think it might be featured with Naked Justin Bieber this year!
Yay!
It’s a wind chime isn’t?
So glad you liked it!
I laughed, I cried and then I got angry:
https://t.co/I0dCOVgSNi
WTF:
http://cos.lv/d3lc50CGX7a
George Carlin was unavailable.
CP: The Other Side — Aerosmith
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
NY Times paywall. Ack!
So what you’re saying … is that you are a Doonesbury fan?
😮
Apparently, Charles Schulz was not a Doonesbury fan. He didn’t think much of Garry Trudeau.
He did like Berkeley Breathed, though, AFAIK.
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.
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.
Progress!!! I hope you’re feeling better too, sir.
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.
We’re on the final season of Dark. I highly recommend it. Although, keeping everything straight is a bit of an exercise.
My husband won’t commit to a gift for his parents. Time is running out.
Who knew storm troopers could play so well?
https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2020/12/09/imperial-march-carol-of-the-bells-an-epic-star-wars-piano-cover/?fbclid=IwAR2PHljD8PVOXdRa4bXm0O1fb8TP8uLoLoDal462egHrePhHJzaDyICr4gI
Brilliant!
Great two part series on the evolution of stereo:
https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-ongoing-history-of-new-music-episode-901-the-story-of-stereo-part-1/
https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-ongoing-history-of-new-music-episode-902-the-story-of-stereo-part-2/
Bob Odenkirk going Liam Neeson was not something I was expecting if 2021:
https://youtu.be/wZti8QKBWPo
I’m in! 😀
Best comment:
“Don’t Call 911”
“Then whom should we call?”
“You better call Saul…!!”
Your coat sir! Lol
I watched without sound, but it’s a decent-looking trailer! A little bit of Al Bundy meets John Wick.
Rats love driving tiny cars:
https://t.co/QmLQBXJiad
“It was for a study. . .” Oh come on, you just wanted to see cute little rats driving around in tiny cars.
Calculate your COVID age:
https://alama.org.uk/covid-19-medical-risk-assessment/
Sweet Jesus, I don’t think I’ve ever “Shut up and take my Money!”‘d so hard
https://youtu.be/5bLkTjn6Y_s
Patty fuckin’ Jenkins + Star Wars!
OMFG YES!
It was apparently a big day for Star Wars announcements. I gotta look em up. The highlights I’m are of:
Rogue Squadron
The Ahsoka series
Hayden Christensen will be in the Obi-Wan series
Of all the streaming services, Disney+ is setting up to be a keeper.
And “Last of Us 2” wins GotY. 😀
JJ! Whats the word, bird?
Are you in the clear?
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!
Nurse J0e! Wasn’t that a series?
Just take of yourself, while you take of everyone around you.
https://www.darkhorizons.com/star-wars-gets-new-ahsoka-lando-series/
Here’s the link to allll of the big Star Wars news. Now that we’ve watched Clone Wars, I can appreciate the trailer for The Bad Batch.
Meh to most.
Ok The book called Karma has a plot that is eerily reminiscent of a short story I remember reading in my youth:
https://www.tor.com/2020/12/11/five-novels-about-the-world-after-the-end-of-the-world/
But can find so little information on the author that I have no idea if the author extended a short story into a novel.
T Cat got her DPSS the other day. She’s saving to open it on Christmas. Just thought we’d let you know she got it. 😀
Amazon says that my DPSS gift was delivered to the recipient (not T Cat). Someone should have received it yesterday.
I also got notification that my gift was delivered. I hope the recipient received it.
The album version is OK. This unplugged version is amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2C0GmQo9PU
It’s snowing quite nicely right now
Yesterday was (mostly) Star Wars, today is Marvel. And less impressive.
https://www.cbr.com/mcu-announcements-fantastic-four-secrets-invasion/
Do we need 2 new Iron Man armor series?
It’s my non-controversial opinion that Fantastic Four would probably work better as a series, but here we are with a new film on the way. I assume it’s part of the next phase’s major story arc.
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.
Do you suppose they will be required to make it bad?
You know, in keeping with tradition.
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.
Speaking of Star Wars, many of these images are amazing:
https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-celebration-2020-art-show-revealed-exclusive?cmp=smc%7C4307026631
I especially like the kid in the toy aisle.
CP: Too Excited — Tilly & The Wall
JW: Wolf Walkers
An utterly charming animated film, if you have an AppleTV+ subscription give it a watch.
Names of Scottish gritters, not as boring as you would imagine:
https://t.co/VchYtRbSqN
For Your Ice Only is the winner
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.
Who are you ? And where is the real Jack?
I’m not sure if this is said in agreement or disagreement with my Pop Culture 101 term paper above.
You aren’t fooling anybody Alvie!
OK, great!
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.
Fuck Alvie anyway!
Alvie’s a good guy. My problem is with his buddy Jimmy. I’ve been waiting 15 years now for my magerzines!
This is kind of amazing:
https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/12/neil-young-archive-free-holidays/
cracking a serial killer’s last message:
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/12/zodiac-killer-cipher-is-cracked-after-eluding-sleuths-for-51-years/
I love the song but the singer doing the cover is a bit shouty:
https://youtu.be/92C7auMxer8
Goodbye to Le Carre:
https://t.co/jakDHc8zSU
Morning Pan
Looking to be a light work day today. Just a newsletter to put together and a video to upload.
CP: Coming of Age — Maddie Medley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZQTF-0Wem0
Some similarities to Meg Myers, but I’m really enjoying this song.
I’m having a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, and then I have some blackberries for a snack later this afternoon
CP: Lash Out — Alice Merton
I agree with this. That’s all.
https://truthout.org/articles/the-126-gop-house-reps-who-tried-to-overthrow-democracy-must-not-be-seated/
Headline is funnier than the article:
https://www.thebeaverton.com/2020/12/star-wars-fans-excited-about-new-series-starring-gleep-glorp-or-whoever-the-fuck/
Cunt it in the Bin!! ..2020 that is:
https://youtu.be/vpDG_t3XYsU
Morning Pan
We have a virtual book launch this afternoon
I’m saying it this way from now on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd8yJdkSNbM
Please don’t!
I wonder if she has a Microsoft computer.
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.
😀
*hangs coat back on hook*
You can stay.
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.
Holy crap, is this coming out tomorrow?
https://tv.avclub.com/the-sky-is-falling-on-another-great-season-of-the-expan-1845878898
?????
That would be great!
Blob Opera:
http://g.co/blob-opera
This makes me want to reveal my diabolical plans to my unwitting young Sith disciple.
I’d never given Run the Jewels a fair shot. Probably not for everyone, but this is great old-school Rap/Hip-Hop. These would have definitely merited some stolen rap lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sff7Kc77QAY&feature=emb_logo
If you have a switch I would recommend buying both games next year:
https://www.engadget.com/spelunky-2-roguelike-nintendo-switch-summer-2021-release-date-175133657.html
Morning Pan
I think I’m going to make some whipped shortbread cookies today
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
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
Nice list.
JaJ approved!
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.
The Race for Space Album by PSB is fantastic.
I actually had to look up Martha and the Muffins.
That brings back memories. 😀
“Echo Beach, far away in time…”
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
Left my folks on their own last night for the first time since last Wed.
No one died, so …
Progress.
Progress is good. How are you and everyone else feeling?
I learned that all 3 of my Indiana cousins were hospitalized with COVID. All are home now.
So far … so the rest of the family has avoided it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZyDsF-Gp3o&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1eR1Cvp4EQwFuVp4V-Qzxb5edLZKDnnPSoABQxrEqjTj_0R0WJ9A4gNis
Canadians, was this a TV staple of your childhood? It’s so charming.
I vaguely remember the story. The NFB put out a lot of stuff like that when I was young
We used to get the Canadian animations in the UK, this was one of favs:
https://youtu.be/FJl_4IsQJ2g
I remember this one. Stupid song is now stuck in my head
I was fully expecting everyone to learn a big lesson about inclusion and acceptance, but no – – the message I got from “The Sweater” was “LEAFS SUCK!!!”
—
I didn’t realize that “The Cat Came Back” was a Canadian cartoon. I do remember that one.
The NFB has put out a metric ass ton of fantastic animation. I with the US had some sort of equivalent.
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.”
Now, now I’ll get your coat.
Well we all knew it couldn’t last.
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.
JW: The Expanse S5E1
Oh it’s back baby!
We were going to start watching tonigh but hubby’s school has another COVID case so he’s working late
On the ADF royalties being cut off by Disney:
https://www.polygon.com/2020/12/16/22166064/star-wars-alien-novelization-disney-royalties-sfwa-alan-dean-foster
Not especially illuminating, but kinda interesting to compare Lucas’s backstory vision from 1980 to what he put on screen 2 decades later.
The link:
https://geektyrant.com/news/george-lucas-original-backstory-for-anakin-skywalker-in-the-star-wars-saga-revealed
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!
…hands Van a kami…
“But I’m not paying £45 for this duck.”
So this would be your lame duck session?
Holy crap. Axl Rose’s vocal range is 5 1/2 octaves?!
Damned impressive.
I believe it. His vocal swings are only outmatched by his mood swings.
Well. My kitchen is clean, I did my floors, and the second of three loads of laundry is in the wash
I’m tired
This is pretty amazing LEGO work:
https://www.spoon-tamago.com/2020/12/13/hokusai-great-wave-lego/
RIP to the O.G. Boba Fett.
https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/12/jeremy-bulloch-boba-fett-obituary/
🙁
He’ll always be General Veers’ AT-AT driver to me
That was Julian Glover you booze addled fiend.
You fucking assfaced cunt. Julian Glover played Veers. Bulloch played the AtAt driver next to him. WHICH IS WHAT I SAID
He chose….poorly
We named the dog assfaced cunt!
Not according to Wikipedia and his obituary.
I think the real controversy here is if “The Mandolorian” stole Deadpan’s “This is the Way” motto.
:Heart:
I need to hear Mando say, “This is the motherfucking way.”
Mace Windu should have.
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
You want it all but you can’t have it.
I get this.
CP: Make You A Believer — Sass Jordan
My cat is being particularly sucky this morning
Huzzah! Work is done until the new year. Time to party!
https://www.pastemagazine.com/games/best-of-2020/best-board-games-of-2020/
A few of these games seem interesting. Intrigued by Pendulum and Dragomino.
There are apparently Mandalorian S2 Finale spoilers running rampant today. Click and scroll your socmeds with caution. (I haven’t seen anything)
CP: Sputnik — Public Service Broadcasting
My fav after Go! and Gagarin
https://www.tor.com/2020/12/10/legendary-buck-rogers-brian-k-vaughan/
This is pretty great news. Brian K. Vaughn is a beast. The only downside would be if it delayed the next Saga.
Why gravity doesn’t work instantly:
https://t.co/qmcT1rpFlU
Not a single mention of Wile E. Coyote in this article.
I agree. No mention of his prior work. He really should get credit for constantly testing that. 😉
CW: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom on Netflix.
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.
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.
It’s kind of hard to separate Socrates and Plato’s teachings, but Aristotle was quite different. I’ll have to check out that book.
Well, fuck…don’t click if you’re not current on The Mandalorian
https://imgur.com/a/igoUY2Z
Dammit, Ed.
Don’t forget the “high M count”. 😉
I apologize if that seems spoiler. Hmmm. I don’t think it is, but I probably still shouldn’t have posted that.
I think that comment is vague enough. At least you didn’t mention the part where Jar Jar Binks got the Sarlacc in a headlock.
Well, the whole competition with what they could catch with their tongues was just too juvenile to mention. 😉
Ha! Awkward when they both tongued Lando’s leg at the same time.
And he liked it! You know Lando is not picky, but still!!!
How Intel’s fuckwittery lead to the creation of ARM:
https://arstechnica.com/features/2020/12/how-an-obscure-british-pc-maker-invented-arm-and-changed-the-world/
My younger self always wished that Motorola’s 68000 processors would overtake Intels 086 processors.
Morning Pan
We’re suppose to get a ton of snow today but it hasn’t started yet.
I guess White Christmas doesn’t have the same thrill if it happens every year.
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”.
A group of friends and I in college attempted to come up with definitions for terms like this. Unfortunately, the only one I can remember is that a “shit ton” is 3 times more that you can carry.
Why’s the soup so heavy at the Chinese restaurant? Because it’s won-ton.
I’ll get me dad coat.
Good to know.
The definition that is.
Not the joke.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UocEGvQ10OE
Peter Jackson’s 2021 Beatles documentary looks utterly charming. This is a great 6 minutes.
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.
A tribute to arguably the first palmtop computer:
https://t.co/w2o8Sz5wIW
Polygon’s best games of 2020:
https://www.polygon.com/2020/12/14/22166004/best-games-2020-ps4-xbox-one-switch-pc-series-x
Good list overall. Some good comments too.
I just finished “Ghost of Tsushima” and found the ending very moving.
I’ve played two of the top ten and my kids have played two more.
Still haven’t defeated Meg in Hades.
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.
Dirty filthy naughty bawdy joke of the day.
CP: Bring On The Night — The Police
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.
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.
Well, I think I got my DPSS, but I’m not sure since there was no note or anything. So, if you send me some Lego, then Thank You! 😀
Whelp. We got our 10+cm of snow last night. It’s a winter wonderland out there.
Your dangerous acid of the week:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluoroantimonic_acid
When you positively, want to kill everybody in the room..
This stuff corrodes glass!
I’m thinking Van may need to erase his search history.
More a reference to Jackie Brown than evil intent.
Um.
Double um.
https://www.stereogum.com/2111567/eve-6-guy-is-spilling-the-90s-alt-rock-tea-on-twitter/news/
Funny and sad and amusing and a complete waste of time.
I enjoy that these peopel literally have no names. “Sugar Ray Guy”. “Tonic Guy”. “Tribal tattoo guy from Stained”
Right. It’s hilarious, but also uglysad.
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.
I’m not the gifter on this one – – but I’ve heard it’s a fun game! It looks similar to Organ Attack and Exploding Kittens.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/639172/octopuses-punch-fish-silly
The URL says it all. Do watch the 32-second video.
Octopi aren’t of this earth. I’m convinced.
Funny – – I saw this link on Scott Sigler’s FB page.
CP: Grandma (Destruction) — Kuniyuki Takahashi
Kuniyuki Takahashi really went in a dark direction with his follow-up to “Grandma (Doilies on the Furniture)”
Grandma was never the same after she got hit by that reindeer. 😉
WTF:
https://thedirect.com/article/marvel-mcu-themed-musical-performance-new-years-eve
Bloody hell:
https://t.co/0TcHsPuP1D
Seems like a fun long read. http://nautil.us/issue/79/catalysts/lessons-for-a-young-scientist
Lego Star Wars in Latin:
http://www.legonium.com/spes-nova
It’s the entire film !!!
Someone with so SO much time on their hands.
CW: Midnight Sky on Netflix
https://cinephiliabeyond.org/lived-all-our-best-times-left-with-the-worst-christopher-nolans-memento/
I still remember seeing Memento in the theater (no pun intended). Mind completely blown (no pun intended). This seems like a fascinating, seriously deep examination.
We recently watched A Christmas Carol with Guy Pierce in it. It was darker but quite good.
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?
RIP Leslie West of Mountain:
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/leslie-west-dead-1106777/
Don’t read if you have not watch the S2 finale:
https://screenrant.com/mandalorian-finale-moff-gideon-scared-luke-jedi-powerful/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
Goodbye to James Gunn (not the film director):
https://locusmag.com/2020/12/james-gunn-1923-2020/
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.
Thank you very much.
I watched “March of the wooden solders”.
The 1938 Laurel and Hardy version (colorized, BOO).
I do not know who the target audience was but Geesh is it creepy! Like… not scary creepy but weird creepy.
Like, “slightly bad drug trip” creepy.
I haven’t seen it since the 70s.
I recalled seeing it as a young child. Maybe 1st or 2nd grade.
I mostly remembered being disturbed by it but couldn’t say why.
Now I know.
Going to be the remastered edition of The Last Starfighter as I eat my tea tonight.
Oh yeah that was still great.
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
Zsu Zsu’s petals
My mouth’s bleeding’, Burt!! Whaddya know about that?!
I hadn’t realized that the UK was a big snake oil exporter
https://englishelectric.uk/
The last column in New Scientist magazine often mentions the many variations on people selling dubious and usually very expensive devices.
Merry Christmas!
And a very Merry Christmas to you and all of The Deadpan!
And to all, a Good Night.
Merry Christmas Deadpan!
Merry Christmas Deadpan!
Merry Xmas, Deadpan
CW: Soul
Which was rather wonderful.
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.
WW84 – I declare that it is good. Ignore the reviewers, for they are woefully inadequate in their praise.
We plan to watch it tonight.
As do we.
Agreed.
Merry Christmas Deadpan!
*BigSquishyHugs*
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.
WW1984 was an entertaining not very good movie
Take that as you will
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.
We rather enjoyed WW84, despite some goofiness.
WW84.
Discuss….
Spoiler Page?
Merry and Happy Christmas!
Group hug
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!
I enjoyed it but the fight scenes left me cold, just like Birds of Prey, which was a shame.
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)
Well this explains a lot:
https://cosmosmagazine.com/physics/universe-shouldn-t-exist-cern-physicists-conclude
Whoever cut the trailer for WW84 deserves a fucking Oscar and that is all I can even say about that.
-Matt Wallace
CP: Chess. The album version with Murray Head. Not the horrible actual musical they turned the brilliance into.
I love the big song. In this age of “everything is available,” I oughta check out this full album.
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.
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.
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.
Encouraging news JJ
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.
Paid is good. I wonder how this vaccine is expected to differ from the Moderna and the Pfizer.
I salute your participation in this and will be buying you a round of your favorite beverage at our next meeting.
I salute you sir!
That is a terrific commitment, TRA! I hope it is the vaccine you did receive!
Visiting the place where some of TESB was filmed:
https://www.themarysue.com/visit-hoth-star-wars-festival-finse-norway/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
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.
CW: The Death of Stalin
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.
*Thumbs up*
I’m relieved to know you’ve gotten the vaccine!
These are uncertain times to say the least.
Mini biopic of Talking Heads Bae player Tina Weymouth:
https://youtu.be/rY_BfWwbCrw
Base not bae
Bass not base.
And she’s probably somebody’s bae.
She’s Chris Frantz’ Bae. They went on as the Tom Tom Club together after Talking Heads.
Morning Pan
A lazy Monday morning here in bunnyland
I figure we’ll ride this page out until 1/1.
Do we need a riding crop?
Was this supposed to be a text to hubby?
!!!
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.
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.
Baking with children or a gritty crime procedural?
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/are-you-baking-cookies-with-children-or-starring-in-a-gritty-crime-procedural
What a great turn of events for this kid. Much respect to Neil Fallon of Clutch for playing along.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNPZDwOrca4
Nice!
the best board game APPs n 2020:
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/12/best-new-board-game-apps-of-2020/
Issues of make consent with Bridgerton and WW84:
https://t.co/yD49Cb7i06
Male not make
Best optical illusions of 2020:
https://newatlas.com/science/best-optical-illusions-2020-contest-winners/
Cool. I especially like the Coke can.
Those were cool
Oooo, I liked the Sunray one!
https://thehardtimes.net/opinion/opinion-if-die-hard-is-a-christmas-movie-why-doesnt-bruce-willis-marry-alan-rickman-at-the-end/
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.
:heart:
https://twitter.com/Goodable/status/1344020733899509762?s=20
A gorilla suit on the ISS.
Started watching Big Sky, goodness it’s not very good.
Even Katheryn Winnick can’t save it.
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.
Modern trailer for 1973 Westworld:
https://youtu.be/dnR5jqiG-og
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).
My Pavlovian response to mention of Lenny Henry:
https://youtu.be/o3HjH9gRQCw
The line; “you get overtaken by a Sinclair car” refers to this:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5
Dancing robots:
https://youtu.be/kpeODvGJE1Q
Still on hold, Jj?
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.
The kooks are going to have a field day with the headline, but the article reveals that this is somewhat predictable, and seemingly within the realm of expectations.
https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/er-nurse-tests-positive-for-covid-19-eight-days-after-receiving-vaccine
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.
https://movieweb.com/batman-two-franchises-simultaneously-dc-comics-movies/
Seriously, the Batman fatigue is already too strong.
“I don’t think anyone else has ever attempted this”
He’s right. It’s because it is a stupid idea.
I always preferred Mary-Anne over Ginger
https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/12/30/gilligans-island-star-dawn-wells-dies-of-covid-19/
Same :'( My condolences to the Professor.
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.”
I started playing Hades over the holidays.. Good game. It took about 20 escapes to beat Meg. Now it is on to other areas.
Yeah , took me a long time to beat Meg, great game.
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…
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.
A pretty good collection, you can’t go wrong with a Halo game.
Sad story. I think a lot of businesses are telling the same one.
Spent a pleasant half hour playing tetris on this:
https://sameboy.github.io/
It’s so accurate it emulates the gameboy color’s SoC interfering with the onboard speaker. It’s off by default but the option is there…
The 26 levels of yo-yo trick difficulty :
https://youtu.be/HeJKz1Cc0mc
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?
If youre like most of America it wont matter and youll wander in maskless willy nilly…
It was actually pretty empty. We were fine. Had some fun digging in the sand!
Happy New Year Deadpan from the future!
Is it worse?
The futures bright.
So there are lightbulbs in the future?
It’s all gas.
My god, 2021 is full of stars. . .
Happy New Year, Van!
Madness;
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/31/952536531/pharmacist-arrested-accused-of-destroying-more-than-500-moderna-vaccine-doses
Never read any of his works but very sad:
https://t.co/ukYWWe3zwZ
Van! Kahlua and cream is delicious! No one told me.
Happy New Year, you old Deadpan and Loan!
Happy 2021, Mountain Timers!
Happy 2021, you Pacific’ers!
Welcome to 2021!
Happy new year!
So, 2021 it is then. Welcome aboard!
New page for the new year?
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.
Probably will pick up a playdate when it gets released but I don’t have a cart collection to make buying the others an option:
https://www.engadget.com/alternative-consoles-analogue-playdate-intellivision-atari-2021-140044860.html
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you all!
Happy New Year!
New page! Move along, move along:
http://jackmangan.com/on-to-the-next-thing/