1,015 thoughts on “Scroll Angels”

  6. Working getting caught up on some media.

    Finished Season 2 of Stranger Things. Decent, but didn’t really capture things quite like the original. I also thought they were trying way too hard this time with song selections that were just too on the nose most of the time.

    Also watched the Scarlett Johansson version of “Ghost in the Shell”. I hadn’t partaken of any of the previous versions, video or comic. Decent and very beautiful. However, it seemed a much more shallower take on the questions of identity and what it means to be human than Blade Runner, or even the original Robocop, which it seemed to share an awful lot in common with.

    • I still haven’t seen SJ’s GitS. I recall thinking the original was pretty deep, a thousand lifetimes ago.

      Your opinion is so wrong about Stranger Things 2, Ed. So wrong! So, so, so wrong.

      • Yeah Season 2 is pretty goddamn great. Ed just hates all things Netflix. It’s a Netflix bias I say! Get thee behind me, Edward!
        DING DING! SHAME!*

        *note. I don’t even watch goddamn Game of Thrones and I’m pretty sure I know everything there is to know. #GoTinherantinthesystem

      • I’m kind of on his page with the music. I did LOVE a lot of the music choices but I often found them distracting from the show. They didn’t advance or support the plot (just the time period) but often they where forced “front and center” anyway.
        Several times it felt like it was a character who had randomly shown up and stood center screen yelling “ME ME notice ME hey guys look at ME.” Then it would exit frame with no explanation and the show would continue.
        At least it was music I liked though.

        • I kid Ed. I didn’t have that reaction to the music, but it is a valid point.

          Overall, I felt like it was akin to the way Alien/Aliens upped the stakes. And the they used an 80s movie trope beautifully in the final episode for a great emotional payoff.

        • Bingo! I think you really captured it. I mean, yes, I enjoyed all the songs and was able to appreciate the references. But, at the same time, they did tend to overpower the narrative.

          Also, with the big setup going back to the trailers with Ghostbusters – I was a bit disappointed that they pretty much completely forgot about that reference in the approach to the climax.

          That said, I did enjoy it! I don’t hate everything on Netflix…and, for the record, I like Flash Gordon! 🙂

  7. Speaking of anime turned live action… I recently watched the live action Death Note on Netflix and it wasn’t half bad. I don’t watch a lot of anime, but will do so when I find one I like well enough (e.g. Witch Hunter Robin). Anyone have an opinion on the anime version of Death Note?

  18. Wow. I just got the most realistic spam mail yet. It was a paypal receipt for a scuba knife. It looked so much like a real paypal receipt (I ordered something else last week so used it for comparison). It said, “if this payment was not authorized by you log in here and cancel it.)

    Good thing I’m a paranoid mouse. I logged into paypal but on my own through my web browser, not through the link.
    Seriously, this was scarily good.

    • I liked that book, but not enough to continue the series.

      I may have been a bit grumpy that he did such a great job with the body-hosting concept that I’d used in Spherical Tomi.

      I’ll definitely give the show a chance.

  27. So it’s raining today. The first since I got my new roof.
    … and my roof is leaking more than ever.

    So now instead of getting all of my errands run that I had to do this morning because I will be waiting from 1 to 5pm for the cable repair guy … I am now waiting for the roofer.
    And also trying to dry a hardwood floor.

    Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

  45. You know your hubby had a rough day at work when he comes home and says “thank you for being normal”
    I guess he had to deal with some crazy parents yesterday

    • Best heard with an unkempt beard, gauged ears, and a fez at an independently-owned coffee shop.

      (They’re hipsters, you see. . . .) And yes, that is a fucking hipster list. RE: Kendrick Lamarr: people keep recommending him. I’ve listened, but I don’t get it.

  51. In addition to the Pearl Harbor attack and the shooting of John Lennon, December 7 is also the day that Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released.

    In fact, the long, sweeping shots of the Enterprise from that first screening are still playing, right now.

  60. Crap joke for the day:

    Two scientists walk into a bar.
    “I’ll have H2O,” says the 1st.
    “I’ll have H2O, too,” says the 2nd.
    Bartender gives them water because he is able to distinguish the boundary tones that dictate the grammatical function of homonyms in coda position, as well as pragmatic context.

  61. With the help of Alcohol, I have forced myself to get the boxes of winter clothes out and am swapping them with the “summer” clothes in my closet.
    I hate giving up on summer but I fear it has given up on me.

    Does anyone else still have clothes they wore in high school?

  65. My pop culture weekend:

    Finally getting to Sense8 season 2. Love the V for Vendetta nod.
    Mindhunter. Seriously good, smart stuff.
    Hip-Hop Family Tree. Fascinating non-fiction comic about the origins of Rap music.
    And we’re off to see The Shape of Water today. Don’t let me down, Guillermo.

      • Bingo. Not for nothin but he clearly has a drinking problem. When I saw them a few months back he could barely form complete sentences in the between songs banter he was so sloshed.

  71. Why would the box office even sell tickets for $485 apiece? I suppose it’s an interesting way to try to put scalpers out of business. . . .

    Excuse me, while I try to start breathing again after seeing a $2000 checkout price come up in my Ticketmaster app.

  74. Hubby asked for a Ferrari for Christmas, so I got him one. True, it’s a hot wheels Ferrari but that’s as close as he’s going to get

  80. Crap joke for the day:

    “I still can’t believe that my nan and grandad are having sex at 86.”

    “Really? Why’s that?”

    “Because they live at number 84”.

    • Booooo. I hope they put Bon Jovi’s plaque next to The 1910 Fruitgum Company.

      I don’t object to Dire Straits, The Cars, Nina Simone, or Moody Blues, but it’s a travesty that Judas Priest and Link Wray were left out. I’d also cast my votes for Depeche Mode, Rage Against the Machine, LL Cool J, and Radiohead. My votes were completely shut out.

    • Sad day, although not unexpected. The difference in his health from 2010 to 2014 was pretty daunting. Between his diabetes and alcoholism and other life choices I wasn’t expecting him to live more than 5 years. I am happy that I got to speak to him personally on two separate occasions.

      RIP Warrel, may your spirit forever burn bright.

  109. NPR talking about today’s Net Neutrality vote.
    They had a guy on to present the case for getting rid of it. Litterally his whole argument boiled down to
    ” … the handful of guys in control of the Net haven’t done anything bad yet, so why not give them complete autonomy.”

    While that might be an argument (a totally lame, 4th grader on the playground argument) in defense of why we should trust these men … it is NOT an argument for getting rid of Net Neutrality.
    They presented no argument as to why, for the public’s sake, it needed to be gotten rid of.

    So I did a google search to see if anyone had presented any reasons why getting rid of it would be a good thing. That search led to Breitbart (of course) so I clicked. I figured if anyone could manufacture a sound reason it would be that propaganda site.
    Nope.
    The best they could come up with was
    – “It stifles technological development”, which is proven false by the shear fact that the internet thrived and grew like mad before the current technology for throttling and blocking existed.
    – “It limits the amount of profits an ISP can make.” Big fat harry deal. It doesn’t PREVENT an ISP from making profits and how MUCH profit a private company makes is NOT in the general public’s interest or concern to begin with.

    So … how can we even have a “debate” on Net Neutrality when the side that is against it can’t even offer a “public’s best interest” reason to get rid of it.
    Madness.

    • The thing that aggravates me is that the majority of the public do not want Net Neutrality lifted, but the FCC is going forward anyway under the authority of a handful of people. The Pubs are going to pay a price for this come mid-terms.

      • The Alta government are currently debating a bill making certain procedures mandatory for sexual harassment in the workplace.
        Like this, the argument against it has been, “companies are pretty good at taking care of this on their own so it doesn’t need to be mandated”
        People are silly

      • It’s pretty clear who’s in charge.

        You’re more optimistic than I am about them facing repercussions. . . . Between gerrymandering and their tried-and-true population control methods, I’m less confident that the villains will be removed from their seats.

  117. Crap joke for the day:

    During the communist-era period in Russia, a husband and wife are taking a walk; during winter time. The husband says “oh, it’s starting to snow ”, his wife is insistent that it’s actually raining; not snowing . As they continue their walk, they spot a soldier familiar to them. When they approach the soldier, they ask him if he thinks it’s snowing or raining. His opinion is that’s its raining . Rather smugly the wife turns to the husband and says “see, I told you! For Rudolph the Red knows rain dear”.

  121. So a recent FB Bjorking set me to thinking (always dangerous)…
    So here is Friday’s topic for pondering –
    TOP 5 PROBABLY INSANE BUT CERTAINLY BONKERS, WOMEN WHO ARE ALSO POSSIBLY MUSICAL GENIUSES.
    (I figure we could also do this for Men but somehow I think that is a much longer list.)

    So the two who come immediately to mind are Kate Bush and the already mentioned Bjork.
    Any other nominees?

    • Tori Amos takes the Top 5 spots.

      Shirley Manson and Stevie Nicks may not be geniuses, but they’re immensely talented. And (apparently) nuts. Sarah McLachlan?

      Yes, we’d need to spend the rest of our lives compiling the list of crazy male musical geniuses.

    • Sounds a lot like The Ongoing History of New Music’s episode on Queens of Quirk, though he never referred to any of the women as bonkers. IIRC, the women he picked were Bjork, Kate Bush, Patty Smith, Florence Welch, and several others. He also did a Kings of Quirk episode too.

      • Patty Smith?
        Hmmm. Definitely talented but I am un-aware of her … “eccentricities”.

        I have always suspected that Stevie Nicks’ persona was a purposefully crafted marketing device. She talks the game but the only unstable vibe I got from her was when she was stoned and or drunk.

        I am not familiar with some of those other mrs ladies. I should check them out.

      • Agreed. To label any of these artists as “crazy” or “insane” or “bonkers” is pretty goddamn unfair. Quirk is a much better label.

        • “Crazy” is probably not the most PC term. Sure. “Quirky” or “eccentric” are probably friendlier terms.

          Although all of the women cited above are more like Trent Reznor or Ozzy crazy, not Ted Nugent or David Lee Roth crazy.

        • Perhaps – “not processing data in the same way that a statistical majority would”?

          Okay, so “bonkers” tends to have negative connotations because we tend to attach that to folks who have loud arguments on a public street with sign posts, or shoot up school buildings, or Donald trump.
          But sometimes “bonkers” is a gift that enables people to see the world in a totally different way and present it to us in a stunningly wonderful aural or visual fashion.
          I would still be a little frightened to be alone with some of those folks at a small table in a dark restaurant. I mean, when I look into someone’s eyes … it makes me uncomfortable if it is “standing room only” in there.
          http://tinyurl.com/ya47yb42

  130. The Netflix write up: he opposes demons in all their malevolent forms, but his faith will be tested when he confronts the very source of evil .

    It sure where the “zero” come in, though

  206. What did I think of this movie? It was ok. It didn’t add anything new to the genre, but it wasn’t completely derivative either. I’d put it in the middle of the pack

  218. Morning Oan
    We had to buy a ladder this morning. We’ve been in our new house for a bout 1.5 years and the lights are starting to burn out. We have 10’ ceilings so standing on a chair wasn’t going to work

  225. Yet another of my pet peeves … web sites with a “Our Top (X) List” that put each and every item of that list on IT’S OWN PAGE. So if it is a top 25, you have to click (and load) 25 separate pages (and all of their ads) to see the list.
    I refuse.

  226. However, after school, if there is enough snow, they may decide to cancel the council meeting and hubby might not have to work late. Kids and teachers may have to trudge through the snow but parents seem to be a little more delicate

  234. shamelessplug/ For those that missed Mr. Mangans massive metal (alliteration!) list for 2017. Here it is. Mad props for putting an industrial album #4. Yes, folks. It’s that good.

    Jack Mangan:
    1. Kai Hansen – Thank You Wacken
    2. Necromancers – Servants of the Salem Girl
    3. Galley Beggar – Heathen Hymns
    4. KMFDM – Hell Yeah
    5. Cavalera Conspiracy – Psychosis
    6. Ne Obliviscaris – Urn
    7. Prospekt – The Illuminated Sky
    8. Witherfall – Nocturnes and Requiems
    9. With the Dead – Love From With the Dead
    10. Zeal & Ardor – Devil is Fine
    11. Exit Eden – Rhapsodies in Black
    12. Interstelar – Resin
    13. Life of Agony – A Place Where There’s No More Pain
    14. Bloody Hammers – The Horrific Case of the Bloody Hammers
    15. Unleash the Archers – Apex
    16. Evil Invaders – Feed Me Violence
    17. Shores of Null – Black Drapes for Tomorrow
    18. Seven Kingdoms – Decennium
    19. Quicksand – Interiors
    20. Lo Pan – In Tensions EP
    21. Wolfheart – Tyhjyys
    22. Overkill – The Grinding Wheel
    23. Beastmaker – Inside the Skull
    24. Ancient VVisdom – 33
    25. Bobaflex – Eloquent Demons
    /shamelessplug

  241. Terrific Tweet

    Delilah S. Dawson
    ✔
    @DelilahSDawson
    I can’t stop laughing at the fact that our government is so desperate to make us look elsewhere for five minutes that they’ve resorted to alien footage. LOOK, YOU GUYS. REAL ALIENS. ALIENS ARE REAL.

  243. Today’s schedule has me wanting to run screaming into the streets.
    Way too much stuff. Way too little time.

    I’m already a day behind. Yesterday’s sink replacement project that I had budgeted 3 hours for … took 12 hours.
    Ahhhh … the holidays. :l

  244. Those customs boys and gals are such spoilsports. My DPSS gift arrived today and I know what’s inside without opening the box.

    Thanks Desert Pixie.

  246. I’m gonna follow-up here about the banned words thing, where the conversation won’t veer into insanity. (But of course, feel free to disagree, rant, freak out, etc)

    So apparently, we’re going to accept the flimsy, vague statement from the CDC head, and continue just accepting that the government has likely sent one of its agencies a list of words they’re not allowed to say.

    • It’s yet to be seen. Will the scientists bow down to the overlord’s “guidance” or will they stick to their guns and say “you told the press these words weren’t banned”?
      … or, are there clever enough boffins there to replace the banned words and phrases with accurate words and phrases that Steve Bannon would find EVEN WORSE ?
      Unfortunately the best “we the people” could do is get some sort of “petition in support of freedom of speech for scientists” started and send it to the CDC.

  248. Happy Holidays y’all… looks like I missed out on the Secret Santa this year. Sorry about that. Life being crazy and all happened I guess, but just wanted to pop in and let you know that I love you all and Merry Christmas and all that jam.

    Keep on Deadpanning. 🙂

  251. So added to my schedule this morning was a meeting with my roofers to come up with a NEW plan for stopping my new roof from leaking.
    My catch pans had collected 2 gallons of water by 3am this morning and more than another gallon by 6am. 🙁

  254. I just tried to watch a BBC Documentary on the KKK. I lasted 3:40 and I had to stop. I could not handle the ignorance of the klan members being interviewed.

  256. Just got back from seeing the optometrist. So lucky me, I managed to get an ingrown eyelash that ended up scratching the eye. The doctor put painkiller drops in my eye. It now feels weird as my one eye starts to go numb

  258. Well.
    Started searching for the status of the jacket I had ordered for my dad back on Dec 12th.
    Only to discover that the order is listed as “canceled” with no explanation or so much as an email to me telling me it had been canceled.
    Nice.
    Because things have been going too well lately.

  261. I’m seriously considering upgrading my Dropbox, not just for music, but also as a backup destination. Anyone else gone this route? Or want to caution me against doing it? Or have a better alternative to suggest?

    • /my2cents
      I am always leery of storing large amounts of data with a company who, at a whim, can suddenly up the price of their services, potentially leaving you in sort of an extorted situation.
      Worse still is the seemingly capricious nature of “tech company ownership”.
      You may have a signed agreement with Mega Tech over who owns your stored data and who they share that with … but if you wake up in the morning and Mega Tech has been bought out by Giga Data, they are not necessarily bound by the agreement you signed with a company that no longer exists.
      /my2cents

  270. What a wonderful Christmas Eve with my family. Got the sister and her crew to pop over to our place. Fun times and I have to admit — I am spent on playing Betrayal At House On the Hill for the next few months.

  272. I post this every year.
    I post it again here….

    Fuck Christmas!
    It’s a waste of fucking time
    Fuck Santa
    He’s just out to get your dime
    Fuck Holly and fuck Ivy
    And fuck all that mistletoe
    White-bearded big fat bastards
    Ringing bells where e’er you go
    And bloated men in shopping malls
    All going Ho-Ho-Ho
    It’s Christmas fucking time again!

    Fuck Christmas
    It’s a fucking Disney show
    Fuck carols
    And all that fucking snow
    Fuck reindeer
    And fuck Rudolph
    And his stupid fucking nose
    And fucking sleigh bells tinkling
    Everywhere you fucking goes
    Fuck stockings and fuck shopping
    It just drives us all insane
    Go tell the elves
    To fuck themselves
    It’s Christmas time again!

  281. God damn Agents of Shield is out of this world.
    *cough*
    Serious though these last two seasons have been mastercrafts of story telling. Highest recommendation.

  283. Morning Pan

    Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We did. Now we’re sitting in front of the fireplace glad we don’t participate in the Boxing Day silliness. At -27C, I don’t want to go anywhere

  286. … least we forget –

    http://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-has-trump-golfed-gone-to-mar-a-lago-2017-12

    On Tuesday, when he ventured to the Trump International Golf Club in Florida, Trump marked his 85th day at one of his golf clubs since becoming president.

    Since Trump is staying at his Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach, Florida for Christmas, Tuesday also happened to be the 111th day the president spent at a Trump property since his inauguration in January, as The Washington Examiner’s Kelly Cohen noted in a White House pool report.

    Added up, and Trump has spent more than 33% of his presidency at a Trump property since taking office. And on more than 25% of his days in office, Trump was at one of his golf clubs.

  287. Be honest with me
    Really you could be frank
    Come on and lay it on me
    Come on and validate me, me
    I need

    Enough talk about me
    Let’s talk about you
    What do you think of me?
    What do you think about me, me, me…

    I need..
    What about my wants
    What about my needs
    I want..
    I need…

    • Jumanji was a lot of fun.
      Movie wise, tons of plot holes and such issues but that’s not why you go to see this one. See it because it’s a lot of fun.
      Also – this may have been my favorite roles for several of these actors.

    • I can’t defend the comment. . . There are so many ways I could refute this, I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

      Bono still does a lot of good for oppressed people in the world, so I don’t think we should crucify him over one dumb, mostly-harmless (please do correct me) comment. I’m pretty sure that the Internet will burn him alive for this, though.

    • I don’t think that Bono is some great sage, but I think his statement is similar to what Mike Mennenga used to say about most movies being marketed to 12 year old girls. In other words, the music market will adapt to the largest music buying demographic and that seems to be young girls at the moment.

    • Yes, I don’t think he is wrong, I just think that a guy who writes songs might have found a more eloquent way to put it.
      BTW – My experience is that this music phenomenon is very cyclical in pop. I suffered through the rise of pop music’s Boy Bands in the 90’s and before that it was the late 70’s, pre-new wave, James Taylor/soft rock/MOR period Ick.
      Punk was coming on at that same time but unless you had access to a college radio station or lived close enough to a major US city you probably had no way to even no Punk existed.

  305. Mangan delayed Xmas happened tonight! It was a good evening. Excited to get Bruce Dickinson’s autobiography. I hope my eyeballs are ready for an actual dead tree book, after so much 2017 reading on screens.