1,013 thoughts on “On toward 1000”

  9. Just finished the 2nd season finale of Picard. After the … disaster that was season 1, I wasn’t sure I was going to bother, but Q’s return intrigued me enough to give it a go.

    While it still had it’s issues, it was overall a much more satisfying and cohesive story. Much more of what I would expect of a story to feature a more senior and seasoned Jean Luc Picard.

    I think they pretty well stuck the landing with the finale and everything built up toward it in a way that both respected the Star Trek that came before it, and gave us some new twists and moved the universe forward.

    • I’m seeing a lot of love for SNW. I’d always been suspicious about a show focused on Pike, due to his tragic story trajectory from TOS, but if it works, it works.

      Plus, Star Trek loves to mess around with timelines. They can absolutely make it work.

  11. Other series we’re watching.

    Moon Knight: As good as I hoped for.

    Outer Range: Weird, I don’t understand anything that’s going on, but the acting is top rate and it oozes atmosphere.

    The Outlanders: Starting to turn a little soapy. I feel like they need to bring this one to a close. It is still entertaining, but I don’t really look forward to new episodes.

    Better Call Saul: Still awesome.

    • I enjoyed Moon Knight, but due to my weird sleep schedule, I dozed during a few episodes.

      I kept feeling like the show wanted to go a little more brutal, but couldn’t, because Disney. I think Moon Knight could have used a little more edge. I don’t get off on explicit violence, don’t advocate for it, but directors like Tarantino and Scorsese have used it artfully. It can have its place in storytelling for certain stories. See also the Deadpool movies.

      If Disney is going to own fucking everything, then I’d like to see them be a little more permissive for the types of story elements allowed in their shows and movies.

    • When you catch up, be aware that there is a pretty important end credit scene in the last episode. I didn’t realize this until I saw a story on it in one of my feeds and had to go back to revisit.

      Moon knight was well done and enjoyable. I’m not going to shake the rafters or sign petitions until I get a Season 2. But if one appeared I would watch it.

      I was ever so slightly worried that the director was making comments about wanting to correct past mis-portrayals of Egypt that there would be too much focus on trying to show that Egyptians are not the way they have been shown in the past. All told, I didn’t even really notice anything odd or out of place about the locations. It was just well done. Which, IMHO, is the way these things should be done.

      • We also had to go back and watch the post credit scene later. Should have known better and expected it.

        Especially since it was actually pretty important to the story.

    • At that time, most commercial videos released in the UK were priced so high that video rental was the only option. The first film I bought on VHS to keep was The Last Starfighter and that was years after the cinema release.

  16. The local paper had an article on how the last pay phone in the city is being removed next week. Honestly, I didn’t know there were any pay phones left

  17. Crap joke for the day:

    Two attorneys went into a diner and ordered two drinks. Then they produced sandwiches from their briefcases and started to eat.

    The owner became quite concerned and marched over and told them, “You can’t eat your own sandwiches in here!”

    The attorneys looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and then exchanged sandwiches.

  18. Off-hours software releases make so little sense.

    I’m on a call that only just started (6pm AZ time), and is expected to run until about 6am. The bulk of my work is expected to begin anywhere between 12am at 2am.

    • I’ve never seen a blogpost with 20 chapters. . .

      I did skim it, and – – to state the obvious – – this guy seems like a piece of human garbage.

  23. The last fucking straw with this.
    I know this site is far off the beaten path, but I still won’t say anything more in a public space.

    Goddamn skeksis.

  25. Crap joke for the day:

    The husband had been slipping in and out of a coma for several months yet the wife stayed by his bedside every single day.

    When he came back to his senses, he motioned for her to come nearer.

    As she sat by him, he said, “You know what?

    You have been with me all through the bad times.

    When I got fired, you were there to support me.

    When my business fell, you were there.

    When I got shot, you were by my side.

    When we lost the house, you gave me support.

    When my health started failing, you were still by my side.

    When I think about it now…

    I think you bring me bad luck!”

      • I hope so too. I’ve not been impressed with the writing for Whittaker. She was never given a chance to shine the same way as the previous Doctors.

        • With a very few exceptions, I thought the writing for Capaldi wasn’t good either.
          And IMHO I felt like the writing started to faulter towards the end of Smith’s term. I think I read that the show runners who had helped bring the franchise back had left to do another BBC series.
          What ever the change, the writing went slack and I went from being a huge fan to losing interest before the end of Capaldi’s term.
          ‍♂️

          • Guys, there were a LOT of terrible episodes for all 5 modern day Doctors. I think the bad actually outnumber the classics.

            But it’s true that the first 4 all had great scenes and great speeches, and some timeless villains and moments.

            I plan to slog through the Whitaker episodes, but so far in her series, nothing like that.

  33. Amidst all the insanity of the pat few days, I neglected to mention that I finally got to the final TOS episode. Turnabout Intruder has a low IMDB score, so I was surprised that it was actually pretty good.

    The full run took a strangely long time for me to complete, but I’m glad I did it. Admittedly, many episodes were on as background while I did other stuff, and many episodes leaked right out of my brain within days of viewing – – I’m certainly no TOS scholar, but I’m glad I did it.

    I don’t think I’m up for TNG. . . Too many atrocious episodes. I might consider DS9.

    • In light of the second season of Picard and the start of Strange New Worlds, we’ve actually taken on to start watching all of Star Trek from the beginning.

      Watched the pilot and the first episode of TOS in the last couple of days. Going to be an interesting ride. I do appreciate the updated graphics of the space shots – they even accounted for the slight changes to the model going from the pilot to the regular episodes.

      And, while I’ve been less of a canon snob both for Trek and Wars than others, I appreciate the necessity to not nitpick over how the show looked back then or try to retcon every little thing. It’s a much better way to enjoy the old show.

    • In light of the second season of Picard and the start of Strange New Worlds, we’ve actually taken on to start watching all of Star Trek from the beginning.

      Watched the pilot and the first episode of TOS in the last couple of days. Going to be an interesting ride. I do appreciate the updated graphics of the space shots – they even accounted for the slight changes to the model going from the pilot to the regular episodes.

      And, while I’ve been less of a canon snob both for Trek and Wars than others, I appreciate the necessity to not nitpick over how the show looked back then or try to retcon every little thing. It’s a much better way to enjoy the old show.

    • I watched a handful of TOS episodes when I was a kid. In college I got in with a group of hard core sci-fi people that were flabbergasted that I had not watched TOS and made me watch their entire VHS collection over a weekend. I can say with much conviction that is the wrong approach to get someone into Star Trek. I would watch TNG where there was a group also watching it and I’ve see a descent amount of DS9 episodes. I did like the first season of Enterprise. I keep wanting to go back and at least do a watch starting with TNG, but I just don’t get around to it.

      • I could never get into TNG when it was new. I saw a handful of really good episodes, but overall, meh. Of all the others from that era, I imagine I’d struggle the least with DS9.

        I’d agree that a force-binge of TOS would be rough. Overall, though – – I’m glad I did the full watch. I will rewatch the great ones, but never again the full 3-season run.

        My favorite TV Trek has been Discovery ssns 1 and 2. That’s all I’ve seen of the modern stuff.

  34. I only clicked “post” once. I thought the system was supposed to prevent a double post like that. That’s a pretty lame super power, I must say.

  42. I’m starting a new rumour.

    The queen is pregnant

    How did I come to this? She didn’t open parliament this year. According to the news, she only missed opening parliament twice before. Both times it was because she was pregnant. Therefore…

  46. Heading back home today, the plane was almost fully booked up so I had to pay 80 bucks to get an aisle seat…grrrrr!

  58. Morning Pan

    Covid seems to have his John harder than me. John got it first and is still feeling the effects. However, I’m feeling almost normal this morning. It’s strange because I’m usually the one that gets kicked by any health issues

  63. Ryah, I emailed you at shaw, but it was seemingly at the worst of it for you.

    It didn’t even need a response – – just checking to see if you got it.

  64. Well I just checked and I won’t be getting a notification to buy a Steam Deck till October at the earliest.

    Early Xmas present for myself I guess.

    • Looks like I won’t be able to order a PS5 from Amazon until sometime in 2024. I wonder if they will have their refresh by then?

  65. OK Ghibli experts – – I’m planning a movie night with the 4-yo tonight, if we can get started early enough. I’d like it to be a Ghibli movie I’ve never seen before.

    So, what do you recommend: Porco Rosso or Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind?

    Leaning heavily toward Nausicaa, btw.

    • Porco might be a bit boring for a 4 year old, although I prefer it to Nausica.

      Have you seen Arriety or When Marnie was There?

      • I saw Arrietty on its first US theatrical release. I recall finding dull, but that was a long time ago. She might like that one, though – – good thought!

        I will look up When Marnie Was There. Thank you, sir.

        • We did go with Nausicaa. It was good, no more, no less. A little hard to follow at times, especially when you’re 4.

          For the first half of the movie, I thought she was wearing a miniskirt with no underwear, until I finally realized they were stretchy leggings.

    • My first guess this was done by a racist white man, 22 years or younger with a gun fetish. *Checks notes* The fact that I can accurately describe the perp, tells us that we are socializing this type of mass murderer. Perhaps we should stop doing this.

  67. I’m infuriated that the controlling minority half of our government got elected on rhetoric and platforms that support and encourage these scumbags.

    I’m infuriated that the majority Democrats are too spineless to take meaningful action against the hate media and gun laws that keep enabling and encouraging these scumbags.

    • Just a couple years ago, In trying to avoid actually doing anything about the problem, the Republican’s bumbled onto something that could actually be addressed and would have gone a long way towards fixing so many problems.
      For a brief shinning moment they proclaimed “It’s not a gun problem, it’s a mental health problem.”
      That the Dems didn’t latch on to that and then relentlessly press for readily accessable/affordable counseling for every American, was a fatal blunder.
      Not just for gun violence but for the veritable cornucopia of other angst that are tearing this country appart.

  75. The new Death on the Nile is really well done, and AFAICR with my sleep-deprived brain, pretty faithful to the book – – although I’m pretty sure Agatha hadn’t envisioned such a diverse cast.

    Branagh’s Poirot is a bit more grim than the guy I recall from the handful of Christie books I’ve read, but it does sort of fit. Celebrity or no, his life is surrounded by death and murder.

    I’m down for more.

  76. The husband is still suffering some lingering effects. He turned on the fireplace this morning. My house is like a sauna right now

    • I’ve seen the ads for that, yeah. I have the Z2 books for Dio and for Anthrax, but I had to order both. For some reason, Z2 don’t seem to ship to the shelves of any LCS.

      It’s frustrating to see all of these projects taking off while AIE is stuck in the art phase.

      • She-hulk was my first concept of the sexism in comics. When Bruce gets angry he gets several feet taller and many, many times wider/bulkier. When she-hulk appears she just gets sexier.

        • Maybe I’ve only seen later comics as she was muscly in them, I mean not as much as the Hulk but still a lot of muscle definition.

          • She’d replaced The Thing in the Fantastic Four for awhile when I was a young reader, and yeah, she wasn’t bulky at all, just va-va-voom. Her clothes gor ripped to shreds and fell off just about every time she got into it.

    • I love Tubular Bells for sure. But I’m in a group of probably 10 people that really likes Mike Oldfield’s pop music. Moonlight Shadow, To France, 5 Miles Out, Shadow on the Wall, Family Man. Some of my all-time favorite songs.

      • I only know Moonlight Shadow and 5 Miles Out of those you listed, but I do like them both.

        I’d recommend his “Songs of Distant Earth” album to anyone. It’s just brilliant. Yes, it’s based on the Arthur C. Clarke novel.

  89. The knob on my closet door broke. It didn’t just come loose, it looked like the bolt that went into the knob itself sheared off. It’s rather strange

  90. I think some (many) people just enjoy the frantic. They aren’t satisfied if issues are merely urgent or high priority – – they have to be “5 Alarm Fire!” I will never ever understand or condone this mentality.

    Chaos or bust.

    • There was a fascinating time at my workplace where we had an older guy who was an ex Helicopter pilot/university professor/FAA executive. I’ve never met a more chill person in all my life. No emergency or disaster of any kind would ever seem to phase him. At the same time, we had a younger person in the office who was one of those people that you’re describing. Every issue, no matter how small was a major disaster and that person enjoyed nothing more than creating “swirl” and lighting fires. When the two of them worked on the same projects it was like watching the irresistible force and the immovable object go at it. I miss having that kind of entertainment at work.

  96. Well after watching episode 3 of Strange New Worlds, I’m hooked, and got a crush on Number One.

    A series I’m going to continue to watch.

  106. My toaster oven died in a spectacular poof of sparks. My house now has that wonderful electrical fire smell.
    (Just the oven died. Nothing actually caught fire)

  107. Crap joke for the day:

    The CEO of a large company was in need of a secretary. He spread ads all over town. A few days later, there was a knock on his door. It was a dog. He had a newspaper in his mouth. He opened it to the classifieds page and pointed to the ad that the CEO had placed. The CEO was impressed. But he thought it was a joke, so he playfully decided to test the dog:

    – I need a secretary who understands the basics of computers.

    The dog went to one of the secretary’s desks, climbed on the chair, turned on the router and the computer, in total tranquility. The CEO was amazed, but decided to go further:

    – I need a secretary who understands spreadsheets.

    The dog quickly opened Excel, grabbed a stack of papers, and started scanning names and contacts. The astonished CEO desperately followed:

    – I need a bilingual secretary!

    The dog replied:

    – Meow.

  108. A couple of weeks ago, when we got hit with Covid, John got hit harder that I did, he was laid up in bed, while I was ok enough to keep the house going. During that time, I was getting dinner ready and dropped a pot lid. John didn’t t know what it was, he just heard a loud clatter. He gets out of bed and comes running downstairs to make sure I’m ok.
    Today, he was upstairs, and I hear a loud bang. I wondered what he dropped and kept doing what I was doing.
    I don’t know if this says more about me or him.

  109. So it just occurred to me that the first time I must have heard Dairy Queen mentioned was in the song Kissing with Confidence.

    So now you know.

  112. So I bought Tempest 4000 for the PS4 today as it was on sale.

    Never thought would I would say high res graphics are inferior to low res ones but by goodness this game suffers from graphics that are too well defined. Plus by default the SFX volume is set way too low so the game seems muted in comparison to TxK on the Vita, at least that is easily fixed.

    Still it’s Tempest, which a great way to spend half an hour not thinking just reacting..

  113. Took the elder daughter to see The Crow at the local Cult Classics theater screening. The B-movie aspects stood out more – – but so did the emotional scenes. Brandon Lee was an absolute powerhouse in this movie. Ans the soundtrack still rules.

    Fire it up!

  114. JW: Dual

    Another weird film from the director of The Art of Self Defense. Well acted, funny in places, would have liked the endgame to be more ambiguous.

    • Because the film/TV industry is insanely hypocritical. They talk a huge game about being politically progressive, but when it boils down to it, they only want to portray women as having impossibly slender bodies no matter what the context.

      • …but also, how many of us look like Chris Hemsworth?

        I guess it depends on the film but if I am going to sit down for 2 hours of escapism, I don’t really mind if I am looking at pretty people.*

        That seems to be a different issue though from them not making “She Hulk” look like a monster. I thought that was kind of the point behind the whole “Hulk” thing. Just being green doesn’t instill much terror.

        *Disclaimers: definition of “pretty people” may vary. For some reason, I expect the people in my comedies to look goofy.

        • But the lead roles for male actors can be slender (e.g., Elijah Wood), to medium sized build (e.g., Adam Sandler), to the bulky Chris Hemsworth. Female lead roles only seems to go to the slender body types. I will agree though that for comedic roles it’s mostly anything goes although there are 100 Jack Black bodies out there for ever Melissa McCarthy.

          • This does remind me of the recent fiasco where clueless execs ordered that no Luisa toys be made for Encanto, thinking kids wouldn’t be interested in a female with a larger body type – – and she turned out to be the character in the highest demand.

            I didn’t intend to dismiss your appropriate outrage, Van, by citing decades-old comics, which, um, just might have been drawn tailored to the male gaze.

  116. My elder girl gets home from work at about 9:30pm tonight, says, “Did you guys order Taco Bell?”
    “No.”
    “Oh, there’s a bag outside.”
    I check, and there’s a bag and a box full of tacos with a DoorDash receipt. No address, just Nick G.’s name across the top. I know most of my direct neighbors, and I have no idea who Nick G. is or where he might live.

    The DoorDash driver hadn’t rung our bell, hadn’t confirmed that it was Nick G’s place, had just dropped the food outside our front door and left. According to the time on the receipt, it had been out there for 2 hours. Poor Nick G, whoever he was, had probably figured out 90 minutes earlier that his tacos weren’t coming.

    Anyway, Taco Bell chicken quesadillas reheat nicely.

    • That’s why I don’t do Door Dash or any of the other services. I tried twice and ended up with a driver that went to some insane address 20 miles away from me, kept texting to ask for a gate code (I don’t live in a gated community), ignored every text and call that I sent explaining where I was, and ended up dropping my food on some strangers door step so that it wasn’t their problem any more.

      • I use Skip. They seem to be pretty good. Although I’ve heard of people’s food being left at random homes in our complex (think similar to Jack’s complex for those that have been there), it hasn’t happened to me.

        • Me and my sister used Deliveroo for a while, but they started delivering the wrong food order and with the rather expensive delivery charge it was ending up costing too much money.

  118. So I learnt today there are still Sundown towns in the USA (a phrase I learnt about after watching Lovecraft country) and there ain’t all in the Deep South..WTF!

  120. There’s a Mercedes Lackey controversy going on right now that – – from the outside – – seems pretty dumb. SFWA has barred her from their Nebula conference because she referred to Samuel R. Delaney as a “colored” author. In their statement, they say that “Mercedes Lackey used a racial slur.”

    Delaney has said it didn’t bother him. Apparently, a number of authors of color have backed her, but at least a few were offended by her choice of words.

    I heard my grandparents use that word all the time in a non-hateful/non-fearful way. They’d never have used the ugly slurs. I don’t get to tell any marginalized group which words they should and shouldn’t find hurtful . . . but, to me, this incident seems harmless enough, and it seems to be 100% without malice on Lackey’s part. I don’t know her history or even her books, TBH, but in this case, it seems to me that she’s just an old lady using the terminology she grew up with. Yes, people need to change and adapt. . . IDK. I’m curious to get other opinions.

    • For me, it’s the “without malice” that makes it harmless. Language and society are constantly changing and I think it best that everyone tries and keep abreast of what current expectations are. My general rule is, that I won’t address someone’s race or sexual orientation unless they specifically ask me to. As a society, I look forward to the day when we emphasize the humanity and character of individuals rather than their race, etc. I would rather talk about a comedian, who happens to be black, than a black comedian.

    • I think it’s impossible to say anything without offending someone somewhere in some way. The choice of words was probably poor, but I can see how it can be difficult to keep up with the ever changing acceptable ways to discuss anything. I once had to give a talk at work about my past experiences and I had a slide dedicated to my first career in which I said that I worked with autistic and developmentally disabled children. Someone in the audience made that teeth clacking disapproval noise at me which I chose to ignore. When I asked her later what had bothered her, she said that I was essentially a heartless jerk for stating the disability before the person because it’s supposed to be the other way around. When I asked her what part of dedicating a decade of my life to working with people with disabilities she missed when calling me a heartless bastard, she got even more upset. I couldn’t get her to understand that in the decade that I worked in the industry, the terminology had changed a dozen times and that I simply couldn’t keep up with the the changes that continued in the field in the 20 years since then. Didn’t matter to her. There was just no excuse for using the wrong terminology regardless of my intentions or actual personal feelings on the matter. I feel like Lackey is experiencing the same kind of thing here. It doesn’t matter to the people who are upset with her what her intentions were or what her actual personal feelings on the matter are. They are just going to label her based on the slip in language.

      • I feel like we’re rapidly approaching a point where no one will be able to have any meaningful conversations about anything for fear of slipping up and using a wrong word when they do it. The loss of those meaningful conversations is what’s really going to hurt in the long run.

  122. Teresa and I saw Doctor Strange for the second time last night. I still found it as entertaining as the first time around. I have a few quibbles, but overall I liked the horror take and Raimi style. If the gang wants a more spoilerific review I’m game.

    • Ok.
      I knew nothing about the new Dr. Strange other than it was another Dr. Strange. I am only luke-warm on the character so I figured I’d see it eventually, at some time. Probably.

      … but YOU had me at “horror take and Raimi style” !

      Marvel should have led with THAT.

    • I’m unsure why it’s surprising anymore. Guns are more important than kids in this country. I’m sure the authors of the 2nd Amendment would be fine with this and specifically had this in mind.

        • This will not be addressed until some nut shoots up a Republican fundraiser event and kills some high profile Republicans … or shoots up a corporate board meeting at a high profile company.
          Until the super rich or powerful become targets, there is no need for them to act.*

          *I am not advocating for this, I am simply stating what seems factual.

  133. “My first guess is this was done by a racist white man, 22 years or younger with a gun fetish.” It’s sad that my statement in this thread about Buffalo is still applicable here. Looking at Wikipedia, this Texas town has about an 80% Hispanic population. Reports are still coming in, I’m inclined to believe this was racially motivated as well.

    • It wasnt and now we get to hear all the jackasses say “a derp was he a legal citizen? Ah derp its cause he went crazy while at home during the pandemic a derp a derp anything but gun control a DERP”

  134. Stolen NFTs. I feel like 1) this will result in some interesting legal precedents and 2) maybe now that it’s been show to be possible to steal/resell NFTs maybe we can get past this silly concept. It’s one thing for a celebrity with the social media and financial status to resolve something like this, but the rest of the people (when it happens to them) will be mostly without recourse.

    https://geektyrant.com/news/seth-greens-new-series-white-horse-tavern-in-jeopardy-after-his-bored-ape-nft-is-stolen-and-sold

  138. In positive news, we attended the graduation of my eldest girl tonight.

    She’s officially done with High School! It’s been a such a long, long, difficult road for her, but she still excelled and achieved this big win. I’m so beyond proud and happy.

  143. I got tired of our guest room being more of a storage room than anything else. We never have guests, but if we did, they wouldn’t have actually been able to sleep on the bed as it was covered in stuff. Today I changed that. Now our guest room is usable again.
    Of course, I have no intention of having anybody over, but that’s not the point.

    • To hell with Tom Cruise and that movie and anyone who watches it.

      OK. .. I’ll ease up on the last one. But not the first two.

  145. Took my dead toaster oven to the recyclers. Next up, I’m going to hang a picture.
    Today is obviously a stuff around the house day

  147. Hubby just texted. Apparently they are suspending a bunch of kids for smoking pot in the girl’s washroom.
    He is so done with this year.

    • I’ll allow it.

      I would put this in the top 10 episodes of all of Trek. A fantastic melding of the fresh and the familiar with damn near perfect execution. And an accurate black hole to boot.

      Good episode of The Ready Room to go with it as well. The science advisor’s segment gave me that first season SeaQuest vibe.

  153. So we didn’t realize until too late that Kenobi had released tonight, so we only watched Ep 1. Man, what a difference it makes to have a great lead actor.

    • Is that sarcasm? I mean I like Ewan in stuff but great actor..not sure about that one.

      Anyway I won’t be able to watch the first episode till tea time.

      • I was really impressed with him in Shallow Grave. I think he can act. I just think I got turned off by his Episodes 1-3 work.

      • Hssssss!

        Ewan has been great in just about every role I’ve seen. He and Ian McDarmid (sp?) gave the only great performances in the Prequels. And I feel like he’s head-and-shoulders above everyone else in the first Obi-Wan episode.

    • CP Glycerine by Bush
      The rock video channel is having an “alt rock classics” weekend. Which leads to the question, what is alt rock vs. Normal rock?

      They’ve played NIN and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers before this.

  158. What makes a classic? The first three videos were in 4:5 but this video is in wide screen? Is a classic length of time passed or memorability of the music?

  159. Instead of watching music videos, I really should just be listening while starting dinner. Sooner or later I’ll get on that

    • It definitely went in some directions I wasn’t expecting. Will be interesting to see how continuity gets resolved.

    • I find it interesting that I normally don’t care for drama shows without at least some element of “speculative fiction” like sci-fi, fantasy, or horror. Most I won’t even try at all. I wonder what it is about shows like Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and Fargo that managed to drag me in. I couldn’t begin to say.

  169. We passed on the “Phoenix Fan Fusion” this year for a number of reasons. Seeing all of the pictures is a little bittersweet. I’m seeing some COVID panic in comments about it, but I truly don’t know at this point how safe things really are out there.

    I will say: I don’t fault anyone for being cautious or for masking up. I will always defend that choice.

    I’d really like to return to Cons as a panelist someyear soon, like I used to do, but I need actual current stuff out there to qualify.

    • Passed on it this year as well. Covid is mostly endemic now, but I would still like a solid year for things to die down even more before we start attending cons again.

    • Sort of thing I would put on to go to sleep to.
      I don’t mean that in a bad way. Sometimes at the end of the day I need something that totally relaxes me and takes my brain off somewhere pleasant. This would certainly do that.

  177. Stranger Things, Season 4, Ep 1. Good start.

    Two quibbles:

    I’ve know plenty of DMs, and plenty of guys like that. But I’ve never known any DMs who were like that – – at and away from the DM screen.

    High School Freshmen? All of these kids look like they’re seniors, at least.

  179. Crap joke for the day:

    This little old lady goes to the doctor and says, “Doctor I have this problem with passing gas, but it really doesn’t bother me too much. It never smells and it’s always silent. As a matter of fact, I’ve passed gas at least 20 times since I’ve been here in your office. You didn’t know I was passing gas because it doesn’t smell and it’s silent.”

    The doctor says “I see. Take these pills and come back to see me next week.”

    The next week the lady goes back. “Doctor,” she says, “I don’t know what you gave me, but now my passing gas… although still silent, it stinks terribly.”

    “Good”, the doctor said, “now that we’ve cleared up your sinuses, we’ll start to work on your hearing.”

  181. I think I will go get my 2nd Covid booster today if I can find the Pfizer.
    Been a Moderna man for the last three.
    Maybe the Pfizer won’t make me as sick.

    • Yes.
      Currently waiting to go get my 2:30 Covid shot.

      2nd Moderna and first Moderna booster made me sick as a dog. But it was just for about 20 hours and since I have some travel coming up it seems wise.

  183. Chicago’s albums “IX” and “X” are still pretty much perfect.
    Super musicianship, wonderfully funky when they need to be funky and smooth when they need to be smooth.
    Just perfect.

    • True.
      We were kind of discussing this over the weekend. I pointed out to some people that while there may be a “right” to own guns, there is no right for ammo. 😀

      • I have some pro gun friends that would tell you that’s not an issue. They have the equipment and supplies to make their own bullets. 🙂

  188. It’s Wednesday, that means it’s new Obi episode day.

    Never seen the Stormtroopers with armour so dirty.

    The actress Moses Ingram has been receiving racist abuse for being in Star Wars so new day same old shit.

    • We might not get to Obi-Wan until Monday, which means I’ll undoubtedly know all the juicy bits through spoilers and memes. Oh well.

      Racist crybabies around the popular franchises have become so fucking predictable. They’re not “fans” or “in the fandom.” They’re just whiny bitches, throwing tantrums as history leaves them behind.

      • I thought Obi-Wan started out incredibly strong and it was the performance of Moses Ingram that lead me to that conclusion. Racists can eat it.

        • I agree.

          My only “nit” is that it seems to run contrary to some accepted canon, but I’m hoping it will be explained as the series goes on.

    • I’ve seen the stories about this, but can’t begin to fathom why. It’s not like she’s the first person of color to be in a star wars movie. Why should it even be an issue anymore?

      • See – “They’re not “fans” or “in the fandom.” They’re just whiny bitches, throwing tantrums as history leaves them behind.”

        I would add that some are neither racist or misogynists. They are just social losers who have found this sort of behavior is an easy way to get attention.
        I don’t know which is worse.

        • But I don’t get what they are being whiny bitches about. What we’re seeing in Kenobi is not even remotely close to new behavior for Star Wars so I don’t see why it even comes up as an issue. It’s not like they’ve made a remake of Gilligan’s Island with a multicultural cast. They have made a show that has always had multicultural actors and continued the trend.

  189. So bought a sub woofer to add to my sound system for my tv.

    Due to the bank holidays won’t be able to get till Monday.

    /gnashes teeth

  190. Here is a question:
    On Monday I sent a note to my boss saying I would be terminating my employment at the end of the year (yes, I gave seven months notice). I have yet to hear back from her—on anything for that matter. I think she may be deliberately ignoring me.
    The question is, how long should you wait until following up? I know, given it’s seven months, it’s not a big rush, but it should at least be acknowledged

    • Wow, that’s gotta be awkward. I wouldn’t wait too long. I’d definitely bring it up tomorrow or early Friday.

      That’s a big life move!

    • If you hadn’t mentioned it in your resignation note, a good way to bring it up is a second note where you offer to help find and train a replacement but need to work that into your normal workload.

  191. Data point-

    I got the Moderna vaccine and the 2nd shot made me very I’ll for an evening.

    When I got my first booster shot (Moderna) about 9 hours after the shot I suddenly felt bad. Flu like symptoms. I went to bed and things got much worse. Had a night of high fever, chills, nausea, body ache and headache. By the next evening I was fine again.

    Yesterday at 2:30 I got the Pfizer booster. Within a few hours I felt a little “off” but no more then I do from pollen allergies.
    Slept well last night. Felt good this AM but have been steadily going down hill. Flu-like symptoms (all over body aches, headache, no energy). If this is the worst of it I will be happy.
    I may be going back to bed though.

    The wife and kids do not seem to have any reaction to the vaccine/booster.

    • I was part of the J&J trials so I have their one shot and their booster. In my last visit, they told me that I should go and get another vaccine because the J&J hasn’t been as effective and the CDC is recommending it. Just reached out to my doctor today to see if he thinks I should get another booster or a full series of something else. Based on all the data points I’ve heard so far, seems like the Pfizer has way less side effects than Moderna so I’ll see if I can swing it that way.

      • Well they have been rumblings that J&J, AstraZeneca and other vaccines that use the altered virus route to vaccinate, give longer protection against serious complications of Covid than the mRNA vaccines.

        • My doctor said either Pfizer or Moderna would be just as good for me and that I should do a full run. In the long run it’s highly unlikely to be bad to get another vaccine so I’m in. Looks like I’m not as protected as I would like with just 2 shots of the J&J.

          “The researchers found that three shots of messenger RNA vaccines (either Pfizer or Moderna) were 83% effective in preventing emergency room or urgent care visits, followed by 79% for a Johnson & Johnson vaccine plus a messenger RNA booster. Two J&J shots were 54% effective, and a single J&J shot was 24% effective.”

  197. As I’ve been in Vegas for the last few days, the comment have gone a bit to far for me to reply to the original comment regarding a DP mmmmeetup in 2023.

    Personally, I’m rather disappointed that we didn’t consider a 2022 mmmmmeetup, especially since we usually do it in the September/October time frame.

    I’m all in for a 2023 meetup. I’m vaxxed and boosted and back to living life pretty much as normal.

    • Fantastic, Ed! I just came back here to post about this (see below), and I agree with you on the point that we really should start planning our next MMMMeetup. I also saw Van’s FB posts from his recent tour of US diners – good to see that you’re out and about again, Van!

  200. Feeling quite back to myself this morning. And on that note, a news article popped up in my feed that indicated the US may be in its fourth biggest Covid wave yet but due to a ginormous under reporting we can’t really say it isn’t bigger.
    It also mentioned that more than half of those surveyed who had Covid, didn’t know what Paxlovid was. Apparently this is medicine you take as soon as possible after infection and it greatly reduces severity and may lesson long term Covid effects ( too early to tell).
    I was wondering if any of you who had Covid were prescribed that?

    • Never heard of Paxlovid. I’ll ask my nurse.

      Good news: My county’s numbers are currently in the “Low” category, and the ICU I hear about hasn’t had any pure Covid patients in awhile.

      Bad news: Case numbers are higher than the previous week, however. I hope this doesn’t mean a new trend is beginning.

      • Apparently the US is in its 4th highest wave so far. I am not sure if that is taking into account the vast UNDER reporting that is happening due to home testing.
        Good news as you pointed out, is that vaccinations have ment much lower numbers ending up in the hospital.

  202. So it is that time of the year where the weather is perfect for having my morning coffee on the back porch and just taking a moment to do nothing.
    In case you were wondering, this is what has led to my recent flurry of DP postings.

  204. Finally saw “Coda”.
    Solid film.
    Without it’s hook it would be what we used to refer to as a “TV movie of the week”. However, it’s ambitious goal is achieved and IMO definitely made it “Academy Award nomination” worthy.

    How’s that for a non-spoilerific review.

    • Yes, this newest episode was simply delicious. I also appreciated that, while the series is episodic, they acknowledge the events of last episode leading to them being in space dock this week.

  208. The first episode of S3 of the Orville is on Disney+ in the UK.

    That was so quick I downloaded the episode via other means before noticing.

    Cough

  210. A friend sent this to me. It’s a guy that opens WW2 ration cans to show the contents. Interesting to see how these things were put together. I had always just assumed that each can had “canned food” contents like a can of beef stew or a can of mac and cheese. It actually contains a whole set of goodies inside.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52SpfF1yvA0

  213. Crap joke for the day:

    A soldier ran up to a nun. Out of breath he asked, “Please, may I hide under your skirt. I’ll explain later.”

    The nun agreed…

    A moment later two Military Police ran up and asked, “Sister, have you seen a soldier?”

    The nun replied, “He went that way.”

    After the MPs ran off, the soldier crawled out from under her skirt and said, “I can’t thank you enough, sister. You see, I don’t want to go to Ukraine.”

    The nun said, “I understand completely.”

    The soldier added, “I hope I’m not rude, but you have a great pair of legs!”

    The nun replied, “If you had looked a little higher, you would have seen a great pair of balls…. I don’t want to go to Ukraine either.”

  216. So the new Doctor Strange film is going to Disney+ on June 22nd.

    So if you have not seen it yet, waiting might be a good option.

  217. I must confess, I generally find Looper’s content to be pretty shallow and click-baitey, but this one is pretty good talking about Val Kilmer’s return as Iceman in the new Top Gun.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSVIkMS_Ys4

    Cool to hear that he’s going to be featured in the new Willow series as well. If you’ve not seen “Val”, I definitely recommend it.

  218. Of possible interest to the Deadpan community:

    500 Days to the ‘Ring of Fire’ Eclipse Across the Americas

    I know we had talked about planning a future Deadpan Meetup around the April 2024 solar eclipse. It looks like the October one might be close-ish to Ed’s neighborhood, too (or I might be wrong about that; please correct me if I am). Just something to think about.

    Also, hello, Deadpan! Those of you who are Facebook friends with me know I just went to Star Wars Celebration. I’m back in Omaha now after spending a few days with family, during which I finally caught up on The Book of Boba Fett (good!) and finally started on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (also good!). Going to watch the latest episode shortly.

    • So sad. In the days that I ran an art show for a major sci-fi convention Ken would always come to the convention as a dealer and refused to be a guest. Said he made so much money in the dealers room he just couldn’t afford the time away. He was a brilliant artist and I will definitely miss him.

    • This is the moment where I wax nostalgic about being a young lad, laying on the floor of my parents living room floor, listening to Albums and studying album covers in great detail.
      It was one of the upsides of being to young to drive, home video games/internet didn’t exist and only there were only 4 channels on the television. Sometimes you were forced to spend quality time with an LP.

  222. Not sure what I came in contact with yesterday during my walk, but my legs are covered in itchy hives. We have to go to Heritage Park (Van’s been there) for an event for John’s work in a couple of hours. I’m not a happy camper.

  223. There are times I just don’t understand the business minds at some places. Universal is going all out in their classic monsters line:

    https://geektyrant.com/news/halloween-horror-nights-is-bringing-the-wolfman-dracula-and-the-mummy-together-for-the-first-time

    https://geektyrant.com/news/master-splinter-is-van-helsing-in-necas-new-universal-monsters-x-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-action-figure

    But at the same time is closing down the one actual Universal Monsters themed item they have at Universal Studios:

    https://orlandoparkstop.com/news/theme-park-news/monsters-cafe-closed-permanently-at-universal-studios-florida-rumored-to-become-minions-cafe/

    I get that the monsters cafe was probably not bringing in the business it would require to keep it open. But wouldn’t that caution them from going over the top with their monsters in other capacities? Maybe they just realized monsters aren’t the right draw for food but are for other things?

  225. Crap joke for the evening:

    A farmer stopped by the local mechanic’s shop to have his truck fixed. They couldn’t do it while he waited, so he said he didn’t live far and would just walk home.

    On the way home, he stopped at the hardware store and bought a bucket and a gallon of paint. He then stopped by the feed store and picked up a couple of chickens and a goose. However, struggling outside the store he now had a problem – how to carry his entire purchases home.

    While he was scratching his head he was approached by a little old lady who told him she was lost. She asked, ‘Can you tell me how to get to 1603 Mockingbird Lane ?

    The farmer said, ‘Well, as a matter of fact, my farm is very close to that house I would walk you there but I can’t carry this lot.

    The old lady suggested, ‘Why don’t you put the can of paint in the bucket. Carry the bucket in one hand, put a chicken under each arm, and carry the goose in your other hand?

    Why thank you very much,’ he said and proceeded to walk the old girl home.

    On the way, he says ‘Let’s take my shortcut and go down this alley. We’ll be there in no time.

    The little old lady looked him over cautiously and then said, ‘I am a lonely widow without a husband to defend me… How do I know that when we get in the alley you won’t hold me up against the wall, pull up my skirt, and have your way with me?’

    The farmer said, ‘Holy smokes lady! I’m carrying a bucket, a gallon of paint, two chickens, and a goose. How in the world could I possibly hold you up against the wall and do that?

    The old lady replied, ‘Set the goose down, cover him with the bucket, put the paint on top of the bucket, and I’ll hold the chickens.

  227. JW: Security

    Cheesey Die Hard clone, Antonio Banderas is rather good as an action star and Ben Kingsley is as wooden as a a thing made out of wood.

    It’s on Netflix, was a pleasant Sunday evening viewing.

  229. I do have to thank you guys for geeking about the Murderbot books. I’m on the 3rd right now, and enjoying the hell out of it. The first two were also great fun.

  233. So waited an hour for the Sonos app to add the sub woofer to my Sonos setup before I realised the app had crashed.

    Doh!

  234. So waited an hour for the Sonos app to add the sub woofer to my Sonos setup before I realised the app had crashed.

    Doh!

  238. Steve Vai talking about Tom Waits:

    “Tom Waits is my favourite living artist. When I discovered his music it stopped me dead in my tracks. And the first record of his that I heard was Mule Variations. When I used to play with David Lee Roth he was a huge Tom Waits fan, that was the only artist I ever heard him talk about with reverence, and to be honest I didn’t know Tom’s music at all then.

    “When I was in Whitesnake we toured with a band called Bad English, whose singer was John Waite, and I got confused and thought, “Dave loves this guy?” Finally a friend who’s a complete music snob recommended Mule Variations and I realised it was a completely different artist! And that was the beginning of my love affair with Tom Waits.”

  240. As a nipper I would get pissed off with my parents fascination with the obituaries section of the local rage.

    One day my Dad commented that I was not to worry I would never read my own..

    • Only watched S1, which was smart and really deep, but a total mess.

      I worry that the decision makers’ takeaway will be, “OK, no more stuff that’s smart and deep.”

  251. Been listening to “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” today (Don’t tell my *Metal-only!* friends).

    We played this one a lot in the record store, when it was brand new. I always liked it, never loved it. I like it more now, but still basically feel the same. I think I might prefer her Fu-Gees stuff.

    • Of interest in this article (one of many points) …
      All of the added duties piled on police (such as “social worker” ) Are clearly giving them less time to solve “crimes”.
      Which is what the original “Right-fund the police” folks were asking for. Re-allocating funds for more social worker response teams to relieve the cops of domestic calls.

      • I think this is spot on. Right fund the police, hire more social workers, and adopt more screening and training of police personnel.

        • As with most things, I think it’s more complicated than right funding or defunding. I work with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) as other law enforcement agencies. I am a member of the American Society of Evidence Based Policing. I have attended a good number of conferences and workshops on the topics. I have talked with law enforcement officers, trainers, Captains, etc. They are well aware of what is going on, and they are working towards the right solutions. It takes time, money, and effort. They may or may not get it right, but they are working in the right direction, at least from what I’ve seen.

          The best plan forward (IMHO) is still Obama’s presidential order on 21st century policing https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/final-report-presidents-task-force-21st-century-policing

          One area that I think is on the right track and I want to see expanded is the shift in mentality from the warrior mindset to the guardian mindset. Law enforcement officers often have a military background and were historically trained in military fashion with the “warrior” mindset with things like “verbal judo” and “command presence” and a very “us” vs. “them” mentality towards the community at large. The new concept is to train Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) with the mindset that they are part of the community and should be integrated within the community. Unfortunately, much of this is simply going to take time to get the older LEOs and older mentality out of that mode (and or waiting for those people to retire).

          Another area I would like to see with more effort is “procedural justice”. This is the idea that people often perceive encounters with law enforcement more based on the perception of how they were treated or the concept of fairness than the actual outcome of the encounter (e.g., they can get a ticket either way, but in one case drive away with a positive perception of the event and in another case drive away with a negative perception.

          As for the most newsworthy cases of problems with de-escalation and implicit bias. Companies like mine are actively working on solutions funded by agencies such as DARPA and the Department of Homeland Security. But it takes time and evidence-based science to get there. There are a plethora of “implicit bias” training courses out there. But little to no science went into creating them and there is little to no evidence that they are having any impact.

          Yes, there are bad LEOs out there. Yes, some of the problem is in the system itself. There are issues with how LEOs are hired, how they are trained, how they are evaluated, how encounters are evaluated, etc. But the solutions have to be evidence based and they need to be implemented well. And, they need to take into account that the vast majority of LEOs are doing their jobs well, are putting themselves in danger every single day, and deal with issues that create mental heath issues such as depression and suicide at rates that dwarf most other occupations outside of the military.

          I could go on forever, but I’m just rambling at this point.

          • You keep right on rambling. I always appreciate the perspective of folks who actually know something compared to the rest of us who are often taking it of our asses based on anecdotal experience or save random articles we’ve read.

          • I have been working alongside Department of Homeland Security for many many years. I work with Law Enforcement, the Transportation Security Administration and the US Border Patrol. I’m quite use to knowing, understanding, and sympathizing with groups that get a lot of vitriol from the general public. Thankfully I haven’t see anything like vitriol from anyone here. Arguments seem pretty well grounded and based on solving the problem rather than just saying that a whole group of people are evil or to be hated in any way. That’s why I stick around.

          • I will add this thought –
            My perception is that LE Agencies have long held the concept that “airing their dirty laundry” was bad for the department. They have a “we will take care of this ourselves” mentality.
            This culture of “keep it quite” must end because
            (a) According to a joint FBI/ATF report, The forces have been infiltrated at EVERY level by the “Bad Apples” and thus “policing themselves” has simply stopped happening in too many cases.
            (b) The cat is out of the bag. Video has and continues to very publically show us the bad apples in action, often as other LEO just watch them. The trust is gone.

            In order to re-establish public trust, we need to see a news item a week about a “bad apple” being convicted or at least fired for their behavior. Old school says this is bad PR but we already know there is a problem (we see new video of this weekly) and this would make it at least FEEL like LEO was finally cleaning house.

          • Agreed that there should not be a culture of hiding issues and/or dealing with things on their own. Although I don’t know that weekly “public execution” style stories would make things any better (in reference to your request for a news article a week about bad apples being fired/convicted). I feel like the media is already trying to exacerbate the issue as much as possible. Not sure if that kind of story in that king of volume is really a solution to much of anything.

      • Agreed. “Defund” was never the right word, not that it would make a difference to those who blame the victims.

        We need a varied police response. Sending “that kid from high school was kind of a dick and is now a firearm-wielding bully” into every delicate situation was never the best idea.

  255. All right I’m calling on the musical brain trust that is the Deadpan.
    I stumbled across a rebroadcast of the Royal Albert Hall concert of “Tommy” and I began to wonder what other established bands have done full albums that were “rock operas”.
    The only others that come to mind was one I vaguely remember that was a version of “The War of the Worlds” (not original of course).
    I think Green Day’s “American Idiot” is supposed to be a concept album and there is a Broadway show that goes with it. Not exactly the same but it may be the closet thing.
    Anyone know of any?

    • Savatage had “Streets: A Rock Opera.” They’ve apparently worked a few of those tunes into the Trans-Siberian Orchestra setlists.

      I assume we’re not talking about the obvious concept albums, like “The Wall” and “Operation: Mindcrime” ?

      Maybe some of the albums of Nightwish?

      A few interesting ones here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_opera I would have thought of “Jesus Christ Superstar” as more of a musical.

      • Thanks all.
        I think in my mind … Darkside, while an album that is meant to be listened to in a certain order, it isn’t of the same thing as “Tommy” or “The Wall” which tell a story almost like a screen play.
        I also wouldn’t have included JC Superstar. Although it IS a rock opera it was created by a Broadway writer and not by an established Rock Band who decided to branch out.

        • Extending on this reply, there is some mixing of terminology here. A rock opera is different than a concept album, at least in my mind and based on the consensus that I see online. A concept album tells a complete story with songs that are strung together in a common theme. A rock opera does all of the things that a concept album does, but has structures that are intended specifically for theatrical presentation of the content. Tommy, Jesus Christ Superstar, etc. are meant to be performed, as is, on stage or in a movie platform with no spoken word components whatsoever (which is what distinguishes them from musicals). Rock operas are quite rare. However, concept albums are all over the place. Frank Zappa – Joe’s Garage, Genesis – The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, The Who – Quadrophenia, Jethro Tull – Thick as a Brick, etc. War of the Worlds is a musical because of all the spoken/narrated components.

  257. Today I decided to live life on the edge. I ate lunch with a still partially frozen mouth from visiting the dentist.

  258. Hubby requested a transfer. He found out last night it was approved. Today it will be announced he’s moving to be principal of an elementary school come September.

  259. Crap joke for the day:

    One Sunday morning Joe burst into the living room and said: “Dad, Mom, I have some great news for you! I am getting married to the most beautiful girl in town. She lives a block away and her name is Susan.”

    After dinner, Joe’s dad took him aside and said: “Son, I have to talk with you. Your mother and I have been married 30 years. She’s a wonderful wife but she has never offered much excitement in the bedroom, so I used to fool around with women a lot. Susan is actually your half-sister, and I’m afraid you can’t marry her.”

    Joe was heartbroken. After eight months he eventually started dating girls again. A year later he came home and very proudly announced: “Dianne said yes! We are getting married in June.”

    Again his father insisted on another private conversation and broke the sad news: “Diane is your half-sister too, Joe, I am very sorry about this.”

    Joe was furious. He finally decided to go to his mother with the news.

    “Dad has done so much harm. I guess I am never going to get married,” he complained. “Every time I fall in love, Dad tells me the girl is my half-sister.”

    His mother just shook her head and said: “Don’t pay any attention to what he says, dear. He’s not really your father.”

    • BUT NON CHRISTIAN NON STRAIGHT BROWN PEOPLE!!!!!!!!

      In all seriousness this show is FUCKING delightful. I know its only Ep1 but could be a real sweet treasure

  263. Finally finished season 2 of “The Boys”.
    Somehow I hadn’t seen the final 2, head exploding episodes.
    I realize there is another season but I am tempted to leave it where it finished.
    It just feels like a good ending.

  264. Fuckhead neighbors at it again. This time they succeeded in towing my daughter’s car.

    I declare this species a failure.

      • Our neighborhood has ridiculous “no parking ever without a pass” rules for the parking spaces. You’re only ever allowed to park in your garage. We have 3 cars and a 2-car garage, and literally nowhere else close by to park.
        My daughter’s car was parked in one of these spots for a few hours, so some pathetic swine with nothing else to do had her car towed.

  265. Morning Pan.
    I had a really strange morning/night.
    Usually John gets up ten minutes or so before me. He goes downstairs and feeds the cat and has breakfast while I shower and such.
    This morning I got up, showered, brushed my teeth, etc. my not mail morning routine. The cat decided to join me. Which was strange as usually she’s downstairs gobbling her food.
    Anyway, I patted her then left the washroom and started to make the bed. John startled me as he was laying in bed, covered up and semi-asleep. I asked him why he was in bed. Is everything was ok.
    He looked at me and said he was about to ask me if I was ok. It turns out, it was only 2:30 in the morning. I don’t know what I was dreaming but, for some reason, my brain decided it was time to get up.

    I’m really tired now

  267. Oh, and Maverick is fucking terrible. Sure, the aerial scenes are very exciting, but every scene that’s not in a plane is painful. It’s hard to enjoy a movie when you want to punch almost all of the characters in the face. So much cheap melodrama bullshit.

    Someone sat for 10 minutes with a yellow-lined notepad and probably got paid $X0,000,000 dollars for the screenplay.

          • I have no dog in this hunt because I have no desire to see this film anytime soon let alone go into a theater for it, but it’s interesting that this film has a 97% on RT after nearly 400 critic reviews and a very high 78 on metacritic.

            I’m not saying massive positive critical reception combined with massive box office makes for a good film, just almost always massive positive critical reception and massive box office makes for a good film.

            You two are the only people I know (well at least who’s opinions I respect at least) who didn’t like the film.

    • You know I bought and really liked this album in 1993. But I think I love it more now. It is very challenging and brilliant.

  269. Oh Crap!
    Could have been worse but Geesh!
    ++++++++++++

    John L. here.
    Last night’s show was amazing and it was so wonderful to finally be back up on stage and playing for all of you again. It was a joy.

    Unfortunately, Mr. John Flansburgh was in a rather serious car accident on his way home from the gig. The initial report is that he has seven broken ribs, several of which have multiple fractures. The good news is that no vital organs were involved and the long-term prognosis seems positive. Of course, there will be a lengthy recovery process.

    Sadly, we are going to have to postpone the rest of the June tour dates once more. We will return with more details on all of that in due time. For now, we are hopeful that the late summer dates beginning August 30th will be able to continue as planned.

    Please send your healing rays to Flans, drive safely, and we look forward to seeing everyone as soon as possible.

    Yours,
    John Linnell

    • An update:

      A note to all from John F. of TMBG
      Greetings from the hospital. I am writing to you with my glasses a crumpled memory, while under a thick cloud of pain medication. In spite of that, I wanted to write to all of you to explain what exactly happened to me.
      Last night in a car service on the way my to my apartment after the magnificent Bowery Ballroom show, I was in a rather dramatic car accident. Crossing into an intersection, our car was t-boned by a vehicle going at a very fast speed. The force of the impact actually flipped our car over to its side. While the driver and I oriented ourselves to our new sideways, broken glass and airbag-filled reality, we sensed the ominous smell of motor oil and smoke. Remarkably, just a moment later it seemed, a dozen NYC firemen arrived and set their minds on finding a way to liberate us. To them and the fantastically efficient EMS who whisked us to a trauma center, I will be forever grateful.
      While sitting in the CT scan machine, I was working out how much more time I would need to get to DC for the next show in my diminished state. When I explained my plan to the doctor, he explained I had broken seven ribs (a majority of the ribs on my right side) and some of them in multiple places, and I wasn’t going to be anywhere but in a bed for the foreseeable future.
      While the pain in my side has only gotten worse since, it is my heart that is really breaking over these events. The entire band and crew have been working so hard to create a new show worthy of your interest and your endurance over these miserable COVID years. Last night was such a victory, and with unplayed new songs in the works and rearrangements of older material with the horn section, it was all feeling like a new beginning. But today I am in the hospital. I would understand anyone thinking we are just a band born under a bad sign and giving up hope, but I also know someday we will rock again — and for me, that day couldn’t come soon enough.
      Until then I will be watching reruns of Sex in the City until I am strong enough to reach the remote. Wish me luck. I’m going to need it.

  270. So just watched the second episode of S3 of The Orville and it’s nice it’s back and this horror episode was pretty cool.

  271. Crap joke for the day:

    A father and son went hunting for the very first time.

    The father said “Stay here and be very quiet. I’ll be across the field.”

    A little while later the father heard a blood-curdling scream and ran back to his son asking, “What’s wrong? I told you to be quiet!”

    The son answered,

    “Look, I was quiet when the snake slithered across my feet.

    I was quiet when the bear breathed down my neck.

    But when the two chipmunks crawled up my pant legs and said ‘Should we eat them here or take them with us?’ I panicked…”

  272. A woman was golfing when she stung by a Bee. She knew there was a Dr in the clubhouse so she went in to see him.
    Where were you stung? he asked.
    Between the 1st & 2nd hole.
    Well then, your stance is to wide . . .

    • Keep sending this to your “Trump Lacky” politicians –
      “Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain,” – Liz Cheney

  275. Yesterday I get up at a stupid time thinking it was morning. This morning I was dive-bombed by a moth. Maybe I haunted.

  277. So episode 6 of Strange New Worlds watched and put to bed.

    Another excellent episode and that ending.

    People on twitter are claiming it ripped off Le Guin’s ‘The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas’.

  282. TIL: Matthew Wilder’s “Break My Stride” is a go-to for TikTok videos, and because of this, many teenagers think it was one of the biggest hits of the 80s.

        • My comment on your FB page bears repeating. I think all of the performances in this movie are wonderful (yes, Shelly Duvall was perfect as Olive Oyl), and I really love a bunch of the songs. Especially “He Needs Me.”

          It doesn’t really even matter that there’s no real story. It’s just a charming movie. One of my fave Robin Williams roles.

          • The song where Olive is singing about how Bluto is “LARGE” is an absolute scream.
            Once you realize that she is probably making a veiled reference to the size of his wobbly bits, her performance of that number becomes pure GENIUS!

  285. Seems this new artist named Kate Bush is all the rage with the kids. Anyone ever heard of her? Thinking of checking her out….

  286. Crap joke for a Sunday morning:

    A wealthy old lady decides to go a photo safari in Africa and takes her poodle along for company.

    One day the poodle starts chasing butterflies and before long, discovers that he’s lost.

    Wandering about, he notices a hungry-looking leopard heading rapidly in his direction.

    The poodle thinks, “Oh, oh!”

    Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat.

    Just as the leopard is about to leap, the poodle exclaims loudly, “Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?”

    Hearing this, the leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees.

    “Whew!”, says the leopard, “That was close! That poodle nearly had me!”

    Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard.

    So off he goes, but the poodle sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up.

    The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans, and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.

    The leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, “Here, monkey, hop on my back so you can watch me chew that poodle to bits!”

    Now, the poodle sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, “What am I going to do now?”, but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn’t seen them yet, and waits until they get just close enough to hear.

    “Where’s that damn monkey?” the poodle says, “I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!”

  287. Tiffany had the Tombstone movie on in the background, and wow, that movie just pulls you right in. It’s impossible to ignore. So many great, iconic performances.

    • Not having Apple TV, I haven’t seen this.
      I will chime in though that I LOVE this sort of humor but rarely if ever does a TV show pull it off. I don’t know why it’s so hard to pull off but for me, after an episode or two I am done.
      Could be that it’s because the “joke” is the premise and any joke if told over and over and over, just grows stale.
      So in order to be successful I would think that the show needs to just be a really good show to begin with and that “the joke” is just the “background noise”.

      All that being said, I love this kind of humor and hope that it is around long enough for me to see it.

    • I suspect this will be like Breakjng Bad, where I feel they should have stopped after season 4 with Walter showing his true colours after Gus is killed.

    • Looks like it was the inspiration for a whole slew of games including one of my all time favorites, Burger Time.

  297. Updated my resume and clicked around a little on Dice and CareerBuilder. Now I’m getting barraged with texts and calls. Not annoying at all.