Apparently the package I sent to ditto is still in transit. I’m glad I sent it early.
I cleaned out my purse this morning. I really should do that more often.
We are busy at work getting ready for WWC on Friday (http://www.whenwordscollide.org/). Some of our authors are already in town so we’re going for lunch on Thursday.
Oh! What will be the WWC highlights this year?
Remind me to tell you about one of our past room parties and the (then) managing editor of Penguin. Most of what happened cannot be said on a public forum.
!!! You have to watch yourself around those penguins.
…and for you birdwatchers out there that was a rare sighting of the lesser spotted double post.
He’d become a DWI punchline around Phoenix for awhile, but it looks like he got his act together before the end. I hope he had some good years before the Alzheimer’s took hold. That’s a terrible way to go.
This is an amazing story. Those girls rock. I think MetalAsylum’s followers need to be informed.
From the latest Ansible:
‘Zachary Mason’s novel Void Star has been praised as cyberpunk in the Gibson vein, but Mason deplored an interviewer’s use of the C-word: ‘Not even remotely. I’m not even exactly sure what it means. Bionic implants and mirrored sunglasses? Yes, the definition eludes me. / I think of it more as literary fiction that uses science fiction and genre elements.’ (KCRW, 29 June) Which makes all the difference. [NA]’
Fuck you Zarchary, I wouldn’t give you the skin off my shit.
The praise sparks my interest, but his douchebag response immediately douses it.
On a serious note, my brother in law is seriously ill in hospital with an infection from a scratch by his pet cat.
They had to operate to see how bad the infection was.
Fingers crossed.
That’s awful Van. Best wishes to him.
An unfortunate reminder to wash the area asafp any time you’re scratched or bitten, even if it’s a domestic animal.
Interesting note from a family member:
“Btw, talking with XXXXXXX’s sister last night – who is a Dr of optometry, she said even with the glasses, LOOK AT THE SUN ONLY BRIEFLY and look away. The infrared can heat and damage the retina even when you don’t feel pain. Staring at the sun causes PERMANENT damage. She is so terrified of this event that she was not going to distribute the glasses, but her patients kept asking and she decided it was better to ensure they had good ones since they were going to do it with or without her blessing.”
Just food for thought.
Does this also apply to the mushroom clouds?
It’s Labor Day at Ground Zero doesn’t have quite the same ring as Christmas
If we have a clear day, I’ll make quick glances through a filter, maybe I should make one of those shoe box thingies that show the progression of the eclipse.
Watching the weather report for the mmeetup. Van, you might get your thunderstorms
I’m sure he would be game for a good tornado chase but let’s hope for clear skies :/
We need damn clear skies – – for at least 2 minutes on Monday!
Well, it is still 11 days out and we are in one of the most unpredictable weather locations in the country. I think it is far too tell just yet. The weatherman that I trust the most provided this forecast a while ago: “In this yellow area there is still s good 70% chance of it being clear enough for you to have good viewing.” http://weather2020.com/2017/07/20/the-eclipse-forecast-updated/
I’m still waiting on the update.
Well I hope we get clear skies, I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
But that’s a bonus I’m making this trip to see friends.
Then everyone wakes up blind and gets eaten by Triffids.
wait … different story.
Morning Pan
Getting ready for WWC. Don’t be surprised if you don’t hear much from me until after the weekend.
Today’s Google doodle for the anniversary of the birth of Hip-Hop is outstanding. Be sure to watch the full opening video with Fab 5 Freddy too.
Who let the tumbleweeds in this feed?
Hope everyone is doing good
Everyone’s earning accomplishments on the Hip-Hop Google doodle.
Heh!
As I played with that I realized that “Hip-Hop” was actually the rise of the producer.
While you it helps to have good musicians, good singers and good writers … many of the truly epic Albums/singles throughout history, would not have been so without so guy sitting in a studio deciding what sounds to put where and at what volume each of those sounds should be.
“Dark side of the Moon”, “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band”, “Thriller” just to name a few.
Hip-Hop was a chance for people with those talents to step out of the anonymity of the studio and do their thing (in real time no less) in front of a crowd.
So imagine if George Martin or Alan Parsons had set up their equipment, with all of their audio elements in a club and been told to do their thing. A one shot deal that wasn’t being recorded so “mistakes” would be forgotten almost as soon as the next audio rolled. All with the underlying goal being to get people on the dance floor.
How awesome might that have been?
The Hip-Hop Evolution documentary series on Netflix goes way indepth about the NYC originators, and the DJ Kool Herc parties. Great stuff.
In response to a Ed made sometime in the past week or so:
io9 are OK, but really fixated on comics and toys. Fine, OK; it’s the content that works for them and their audience. Me, I get nothing out of their toy obsession, and only rarely get anything out of their comics coverage.
I’ve mangled my name many times with quick typing logins to applications, but today’s ‘jack manbag’ was a first. . .
eeeww
Not my best AKA name.
I got nothin….
Lo Pan? Save us!
Post-Modern Jukebox and Straight No Chaser co-headlining— and Tiffany scored us random first row tix! Then ice cream doughnut sandwiches afterwards at a place directly under the infamous trump billboard with the dollar signs and mushroom clouds, to the sounds of an all-grrrl punk trio in retro attire. Exciting evening!
Bracing myself (and trying to pack).
I start my 20 hour 3 day drive (well, 40 hours of round-trip driving over 9 days) tomorrow.
It least there is a good chance of seeing you guys next Friday night. Maybe half day on Saturday?
… and of course that whole celestial thing.
The rest of the trip will be a bit of a drag.
Deciding whether to take the iPad this year.
Topping off my iPod.
I’ve been saving up my Escape Artists podcasts for about 2 months now so I would have something to listen to. I am anxious to finally listen to them!
Terrorist attack in Charlottesville, Va. – 1 Dead. At least 19 injured.
Driver plows through crowd of people. Stopping only when he struck a car he couldn’t see because of all the people he was mowing down. Then he speeds off in reverse.
If you can find it, watch the video of the Governor of Virginia giving his statement on the situation. I know nothing about the man but after seeing trumps lame – not going to call out the Nazi’s – response … THIS man came across as Presidential.
Then I read President Obama’s response … which was to quote Nelson Mandela, and it was a painful reminder of just exactly how far from anything resembling “leadership” our country has fallen.
Enjoyed Atomic Blond, that is all.
In other news – packing the car for a road trip.
Packing my bag for plane trip.
Hey KS folks…. how prevalant are the mosquitoes there at this time?
It depends on the humidity. They haven’t been bad this year, but you may find some.
As long as they don’t find us.
Overstimulation weekend continues now with Steve Martin Martin Short!
???
Was this another of your dreams?
I do often dream of elderly men dancing, singing, and cracking jokes. . .
This was really a blast. Those 2 guys are still really, really funny, and Steve Martin’s Blugrass band, The Steep Canyon Rangers, are just unbelievable. Go see this show!
Don’t worry Pixie they will home in on me first.
The mosquitoes that is and not Steve Martin.
We had to put up netting around our house to keep Steve Martin out.
Goodnight :tumbleweeds:
Ah the joys of cattle class.
May have an US Athlete traveling home in cattle class.
Famous?
Is he offering to take me back home with him?
Morning Pan
Made it through the con in one piece. Although, I think I need to sleep for 24 hours straight.
Next, three days of home, then off to see the peeps.
(I thought I said this earlier)
Woot for surviving the con! Woot for Meetup travel! Some of us are en route already!
Going to check in for the first leg of my flight. I won’t be able to check in for the connecting flight until lunch time.
Well, that was painless. It also let me check in to my connecting flight so I don’t have to do that later.
Exciting! Where are you going? 😛
Any last minute requests? I will be going on one final errand run in the morning.
Ummmmm I have to pack tonight!
Ummmmm, Rhettro- are we planning on a Star Wars RPG mission?
Real Life sort of derailed my plans, but if you guys want to continue, I can put something together. 🙂
If possible and not a huge burden for you, Rhett – – and if weekend timetable allows – – then I’m in!
It’s not a burden, I’ve already done a lot of work behind the scenes to have an idea where things would be heading. Plus the game system allows for some quick planning.
ditto, Rhettro!
I resemble that remark! 😀
Count me in. 😀
My med droid needs people to heal.
So I’m in.
Also, do we feel the need to congregate for a Game of Throne viewing on Sunday? Or will we all wait until we get home?
(is this a question for the mail thread?)
Umm…. we don’t have HBO. Sorry.
Do you have a device that plays HBOGO? We could potentially use my HBO Go account.
Other than the first couple of episodes of S1, Tracey & I haven’t watched GoT. If people really need to watch it on Sunday, that would be OK. We can get it set up on the PS4, I believe, with your credentials.
I would have to wait till I got back home so I’m in if enough people want to watch it.
This seems to have been semi-resolved in the other conversation.
I’m fine with what works best for everyone. I can splinter off and watch with other addicts or wait til we get home.
If I watch it before hubby, he would not be a happy camper
CL: What Went Down -Foals
Dig this song
Morning Pan
Having some breakfast, then it’s off to the airport for this bunny
Sitting and waiting for my plane. It only took a half hour to go through security, so not too bad
My flight. Is running 15 minutes late. Hopefully that won’t mess with my connecting flight. When I booked my flight I had almost an hour between flights. They changed it a number of times so I now only have half an hour. If this flight is delayed too much, there may be issues
Hmm. The Deadpan website has been blocked through the airport wifi. Naughty Pan 😉
We haven’t boarded yet. The only good thing is my connecting flight is no a half hour later than my ticket says
Safe Travels!
Safe travels, Bunny!
Safe, happy travels to everyone! Whether by planes, trains, or automobiles. (You may now picture Van and Lo Pan re-enacting the “Those aren’t pillows” scene).
Well, they’ve covered all the vehicles.
If there are any shenanigans in the office, I don’t want to know! 😉
Well Bladerunner was mentioned at least once.
Gas is cheap here.
Religious books for children at a service station freaked me out a bit.
Wish I had though to get a picture of the manned table of free Spanish language religious materials sitting to the side of the line at the latin food place that was converted from a gas station (https://goo.gl/maps/LrvsVcJffxu). Now that’s ‘murican.
My connecting gate was way the frock at the other end of the airport. Made it at a quick jog. Boarding now
Admittedly, it’s a rare thing that I find a Vox article to contain anything remotely approaching intelligent thought. However, that professor pretty much hit the nail on the head.
While we older generations regularly bag on millennials (though, I often find myself cheering all the things they are supposed to be killing off, especially golf), the statistic that such a large fraction of them favor government restrictions on free speech are probably the one thing that most deeply concerns me about them.
So, I find myself fully pretty much fully agreeing with this article.
I already miss ya at this Mmmmmmeetup, Ed!
“At root, we protect freedom of expression — even hateful expression — in order to strengthen democratic legitimacy.”
“Many of the Charlottesville marchers weren’t just shouting hateful slogans; they were carrying weapons. We must thus consider not merely the constitutional rule against viewpoint discrimination, but also the lack of constitutional protection for true threats.”
I like that the author brought up both of these counter intuitive points and I agree with both statements. The freedom to talk about ideas, even hateful and stupid ones, are core to the notion that public discourse is free to consider all things. But also the point were speech becomes threats, it is no longer protected speech.
I’m late to this conversation but I thought it was a good article and wanted to chime in saying so.
I believe you have the right to say hateful evil things in public but you must do so with the realization that the public has a right to to disagree with you, loudly and in great numbers … and if their voice drowns out yours … that is democracy in action.
Hey, everybody! I am in town, posting from the parking lot of Barley’s Overland Park. See you all when you get here!
I haven’t been following GoT, so I’m not really interested in watching it, but I would absolutely love to continue with Star Wars: Edge of the Empire gameplay if y’all are up for it. 🙂
You need to take precautions against party crashers.
Morning Pan. The dittos and I have been up for over an hour. The other lazy bums sharing the house are only just starting to stir 😉
Partying is hard work!
We’ll own that proudly.
Tony Mast!
7:30 and, so far, ditto and I are the only ones moving
Two clergy persons are on an airplane, a Catholic priest and a Mormon bishop.
After a while, the priest turns to the bishop and asks, “Is it still a requirement of your faith that you are not to drink coffee?”
The Mormon bishop responds, “Yes that is still one of our beliefs.”
The Catholic priest then asks, “Have you ever had a cup of coffee?”
“Yes,” says the Mormon bishop, “I have to admit on one occasion, I did succumb to temptation and tried a cup of coffee.”
The Catholic priest nods in understanding and goes on with his reading. A while later, the Mormon bishop speaks up and asks, “Father, is it still a requirement of your church that you remain celibate?”
The Catholic priest replies, “Yes, that is still one of our vows.”
The Mormon bishop then asks, “Father, have you ever fallen to the temptations of the flesh?”
The Catholic priest replied, “Yes, Bishop, on one occasion, I was weak and broke my vow.”
The Mormon bishop nodded understandingly for a moment.
A few minutes later he smiled, looked at the Catholic priest and then said, “A lot better than coffee, isn’t it?”
Awesome extended MMMmmmetup weekend still in progress!
Rain and clouds go away, please, so we can see the eclipse!
Total ecloud of the sun.
Future mmmeeetups have been discussed. More later.
Well, while it was only a 67% eclipse here in Houston, there were thankfully enough breaks in the clouds today that I could see it. Pretty cool through the proper eyewear.
The kids were in school today, but the district they attend bought glasses for all students and staff so they could go outside and safely enjoy the event.
I’m so glad to hear that some schools out there are getting it right. The schools in Central Florida are so concerned about law suits that they literally put the schools on lock down, with outdoor sporting events cancelled and no one allowed to leave the school. They allowed parents to sign kids out early to go home and watch the eclipse. The dumbest part is that we hit out highest eclipse at 85% at 2:51pm and the schools let the kids go to the buses at 3:05pm. As if the eclipse was suddenly over at 2:52. Infuriates me to no end.
That is pretty damn sad. Well, for my part, I wrote a letter to the superintendent and all the members of the school board regarding the fact that with our early start to the school year, the kids would be in class the day of the eclipse. I suggested it would be a great opportunity for the district to get glasses for everyone and take advantage of the opportunity. I was a bit disappointed that I never got a response from anyone, but they sent out an announcement a few days before the start of school that everyone would have the opportunity. They also sent home opt-out forms for parents to fill out if they didn’t want their kids to participate.
So, I can’t claim credit for making it happen. I’m sure several parents in the district expressed concerns about kids missing out since the school start date had been moved up. But I can at least say I did my part. We bought glasses for the four of us months ago and I was going to send them to school with my kids if they didn’t get any provided.
Off to our final lunch in KC.
Made it through security fairly quickly. Now the long wait begins to board my plane
Thanks everyone that made it out here for the KC meetup. You are a cool group of friends and it was a blast hosting you. For those travelling today, I hope you make it home safe and with no hassle.
Like.
Thanks, ditto and T-Cat, for the hospitality! I had a wonderful time! 🙂
Safe travels everyone!! Thanks for a great MMMmmmeetup. We missed all of you who were not in attendance this year.
I’ve decided that my family is going to move permanently into ditto’s office. I hope he and T-Cat don’t mind.
A girl wasn’t meant to run that fast. Got to my gate with time to use the washroom. They are just starting pre boarding
Managed to snag a window seat on both flights so this bunny’s happy
The Mangans are home safely in Phx. No fires downtown yet…
I arrived home and made a cup of tea, How English is that?
morning Pan
Nice to sleep next to hubby again
Thanks to ditto, t-cat, and Cynful for hosting a wonderful mmmmeetup
Indeed.
So…tired…zzzzzzz
And here I am, back at my desk.
I have to say the flight from Charlotte to London, at just over 7 hours seemed to fly by.
The Airbus 330 had a similar layout to the 777.
American Airlines over booking an international flight was a dick move by the company.
For those that didn’t know, I had to take a connecting flight to Charlotte then back to Phoenix. I had a few odd characters flying out to KC and the first leg out to Charlotte. So on my final leg back I was in first one to my bank of three coach seats. I sat back watching the motley crew of potential seat neighbors walk past. No not fat Gandolf! whew… No not the scary biker dude! whew… Not the elderly sick woman! whew… I ended up with a Miley Cyrus look alike. We high fived each other when the central seat person never showed up. Another wreaking ball avoided.
Maybe you can incorporate some of those characters in the next segment of Edge of Empire
To protect their identities, all subjects will be represented as Jawa.
The twerking during the flight must have been awkward, though.
Most of the trip she was watching videos on her laptop and dancing in her seat and sketching tattoo designs in her notebook. Twerking wouldn’t have surprised me.
I think Jack was probably referring to your twerking.
I kept it to a minimum, plus we had the room of an empty seat so who wouldn’t?
The captain has illuminated the “no twerking” sign.
Careful. You could end up on the TSA’s “No Twerk” list.
Lots of work done and last load of clothes in the dryer. I need a nap
I agree with the author that many of these points are irritating. I don’t agree that the show is “terrible”, the dragon scenes are a payoff for the years of punishment the viewers endured. Plus, HRR’s procrastination have left the producers to fend for themselves.
I agree with Rhett that the author makes many good points, but it also overreacting a bit.
I agree that GoT has become so formulaic that it’s lost some of it’s appeal for me.
*mild Spoiler*
I was hoping the Night King would fail at the final scene of this last episode, just so the show wouldn’t feel so cliche at this point.
Night King sounds like an Interstate truck stop.
I’ve found that when the show has scenes with low special effects, it still manages to do what got me into the series in the first place… surprise me. It loves to set your expectations for a character or set of characters and then completely turn those expectations around. In this season, at least, the ridiculous and most formulaic nonsense seems to be associated with the grand scale special effects scenes.
See “years of punishment” type comments are why I never started Walking Dead and Ill never start this show.
My better half is too addicted to WD for me to avoid it. I’d have been happy watching the first season and the eventual final one and not watched the episodes in between.
I found very little reward to following WD, which is why I dropped it after season 3.
GoT, on the other hand, has had many, many rewarding moments – – and some great storytelling.
I like Walking Dead. Season 2 was dreadful, but the rest of the series was quite enjoyable for me. Except for the ridiculous cliff hangers at the end of most seasons that mostly had people wondering for years if Glen had finally bit the big one.
I finally watched Guardians 2 last night. Fun. 🙂
One of us! One of us! One of us!
Jack, your pint glass is still here. I’ll get it shipped to you this weekend.
Sorry :-/ :-/ :-/ Thank you for shipping it.
Incidentally, we found the barcade at Zona Rosa, and because I got the high score on their recently reset Galaga machine, I got a free pint glass there too. Take that, alien bug swarms!
You were just leaving something behind to stake your claim on his office.
I am NOT saying she’s wrong. But I do know he was her biggest champion when she was coming off of a double mastectomy. This sucks.
Also… her accusations that he copied her clown skit? That’s legit.
Yeah, the clown bit is too close to be coincidence.
Is it possible that she’s saying he needs to confront it head-on instead of deflecting because of the seriousness of the allegations? Not necessarily saying he’s guilty and needs to fess up? I dun quite know.
I’d be seriously disappointed if these allegations were true.
I have no dog in this hunt, don’t really follow CK and haven’t seen this show but I found the following to be misleading. “Notaro remains firm that CK has nothing to do with the show in a new interview with The Daily Beast. “He’s never been involved,” she says. “His name is on it. But we are writing the show, the writers’ room. We’re sitting in editing. We’re acting. We’re on set. We’re doing press.”
Lewis CK is listed as “Executive Producer” for this show. 90+ % of the time, everything mentioned above is NOT handled by an executive producer. The vast majority of the time the “Executive Producer” is just lending their money or their name to a project to help get it produced. Frequently, in exchange for that they will be responsible for hiring the Producer and /or maybe the Director or a few other lead people but that is it.
So saying he is not at all involved is probably correct and completely normal. It is the writer’s framing of it, as if there is something unusual there, that seems a little bit like the writer is trying to start the article off with a manufactured, sinister overtone. I just don’t see any need to try and manufacture a false sense of outrage when the rest of the allegations do that quite well by themselves.
So Ed looks like you had better watch out for Harvey.
Morning Pan
yesterday was hot, hot, hot. We got up to 30C (86F). You’d think I was still in Kansas 😉
The sky is overcast right now. With luck, we might finally see some rain.
One of our small green glasses seems to have gone missing. Does anyone know what happened to it? Was it broken during the party?
I only recall the green glass on the bathroom sink. :-/
Tiffany only steals glasses from breweries, not from friends’ homes. 😉
lol. Yeah, I wasn’t worried about that. I’m sure it got stuck somewhere that I haven’t checked yet. I was just curious since I haven’t found it yet.
A QUEST !!!!
If you get enough XP you may be able to ascend to a Boozatarian
Yah i put that green glass back in the kitchen from the bathroom sink— but please check the bathroom sink area again…
Is anyone interested in sharing our photos via Dropbox? It would make it easier to download them instead of via Facebook.
I didn’t take many but I would enjoy seeing those taken. So yes please
Count me in.
I’m in a theater by myself to see Atomic Blonde. Good thing I didn’t choose a horror movie today.
Charlize will make up for that.
I didn’t know it was based on a comic until last night. Good to know.
Stay safe ed from texas!
We’re hunkering down. Good thing I’m not planning to leave, as there’s no gas to be had today.
School district has canceled classes for tomorrow, and I’m sure we’ll all be home come Monday and Tuesday as well.
Family Bonding time.
Get out the “Risk” game.
Let your kids take Australia.
And seriously, please keep us updated (here or other social media when you can).
I’m flying to Albuquerque on Sunday and realized my connecting flight was in Dallas. Fortunately, I’m on Southwest, so it was only $17 to change the flights so that I’m connecting in Kansas City instead. Glad it was being talked about here. I’m oblivious and probably wouldn’t have known anything about it until my flights got cancelled Sunday morning.
We’ll remember to wave as you pass through
This shit looks scary legit. Man stay safe and batten down them hatches!
We have another friend in Pearland that’s going thru this too.
Will carve out some time. I unapologetically love that movie. And I’ve never seen any of the many sequels.
Morning Pan
Today will be all about sales reports and washing my floors.
Van, did you get the email I sent yesterday?
Yup, thank you, both books claimed.
Thank you.
Floors done. Now to convert sales reports from US funds to CDN funds. My life is so exciting :ermm:
I actually got more done than I expected today. Not only did I do the sales report, but I got a good start on year end.
Here’s to being productive. :happy:
I’m having an asparagus quiche for lunch. It’s full of yum
Any dish with asparagus does not compute
Today is Tiff’s mom’s birthday. Surely an emotional one around the Mangan household today.
🙁
:heart:
What the bunny wrote.
:heart:
When I get the urge to write crap poetry, it reminds me that I miss the DP podcast.
I’m hearing about evacuations in south TX now. hope Ed and family are safe!
Agreed! Stay safe, Ed!
Yeah, that’s further down south from us. Folks that live on the water are about to get a whole lot more of it in their houses for the next week.
Unless we lose power for an extended length of time, I’m expecting to ride it out. We should get a lot of rain, but I don’t anticipate we’ll be getting anything in the house where we are.
I like it. I love it.
CP: I Like It, I Love It — Lyrics Born
So, Cat 4 it is….Harvey wants to play rough.
When Harvey beings out the whips remember your safe word.
Seriously though, please be careful. Only good thoughts
While we were eating dinner, one of the televisions was turned to CNN and they were talking about Harvey. The header showed ” Texas officials encourage writing your name and social security number on your arm if you choose not to evacuate”. This led to the discussion whether this was for identifying for deportation purposes or morbidity.
Just before Katrina, desperate first responders in Mississippi resorted to that, trying to drive home the seriousness of the situation in an attempt to try and get some of the old timers to evacuate. Those folks had weathered a lifetime of storms and figured they could ride it out.
I talked with one paramedic who saw an entire family that was likely to be killed because the 80 year old patriarch refused to leave. She told him if it was her time then so be it. Problem was her sons were not about to abandon her and their wives wouldn’t leave them.
The paramedic finally ask her to please write her name and SS# on her torso because the bodies they found after this sort of event had usually been thrashed around in the water with a lot of debris that tore off their clothes and limbs or at least their fingers making, them hard to identify.
Interestingly enough, THAT did the trick. She still wasn’t concerned about her own morbidity but the idea that people would see her naked … that was a deal breaker.
Humans. Go figure.
They don’t often make sense.
CP: The Truth — Handsome Boy Modeling School
… any updates from Ed?
We’re still here. Actually, we got a couple of inches of rain during the night, but we’ve been in a region that has largely been free of rain the rest of the day. The big training arm of the storm was further east and the tornado was several miles to the west of us.
So far, so good!
There’s apparently also a displaced alligator concern across many southern neighborhoods, due to Harvey.
I don’t care if it is a great band name– I really don’t want Displaced Alligators on my street.
Don’t know if it’s good for international folks, but Google Play is offering Peter Dinklage’s “Rememory” for free to own today. The premise looks interesting enough, and how bad can you go when you’ve got Tyrion Lanister as your lead?
I’m sure Adam Sandler must have had some compromising pictures of people to get that one made…
Atomic Blonde: I thought it was a solid spy flick.
Charlize- killed it!
Pretty good. Agree about the stdk !
It’s a bank holiday weekend and I’m working it.
Grrrr!
What a difference a day makes. Bayou behind the house is definitely the highest we’ve ever seen it. My weather station shows we’ve had 15.75″ since the begining and 5.5″ of that since midnight.
For once, the weather folks may not have been exaggerating…
Did you prep the bigger boat just in case?
Still holding out okay?
Disconcerting to be sure.
Based on where the water is after 15.75″ … what’s your guess as to how much more rain it will take before your feet start to get wet. 🙁
It’s hard to say. The bayou behind our house still has several feet of vertical, and of of course it spreads out much wider as it does so. What’s harder to gauge is how much water is pouring in still from upstream. They’re still talking about another 20″ over the next couple of days.
What really makes this even more difficult is just how widespread the deluge is. We’ve had issues in previous years where particular spots got overwhelmed. This time, there’s no dry spots our real capacity for the water to drain to.
Maybe it’s too much of a precaution, but we have started moving some essentials up to the second floor.
I hope the youngers aren’t too freaked out. That goes for the parents too.
I think that is clear thinking on your part.
What do they call it .. a cost/loss study ? Which would make you the most upset a year from now – that you did some unnecessary work … or that you didn’t head off a bunch of loss when you had the chance to?
Besides, got to do something to keep the kids busy! 🙂
Hoping for the best.
Looks like the school year is going to pretty much be a do over – our district a a couple of others have canceled classes through Labor Day.
Meanwhile, in cattle country, we are, once again, having record breaking heat. Expect daily temperatures of about 32C (just shy of 90F) for the next few days. I think I need a bigger fan
Finally listened to this.
Wonder if it was produced by Trent Reznor.
Nope. Ade Fenton.
Di na na nunt na nunt, Di na na nunt na nunt
Well, the power has lasted long enough and the flood waters remained at bay for the really important things – got to see the Game of Thrones season finale. Holy Cow!
Now we’ll see what happens overnight. At least with how the weather radar looks now, I think I’ll be able to wake up to dry floors again in the morning.
That outcome matters the most!
As for GoT, I’ve been avoiding Facebook.
Here’s hoping you are high and dry for the duration.
Any chance you have “flood insurance”?
I tried to buy some after Katrina and State Farm told me that you can only get it through the federal government. The Federal Government told me I could only get it if I lived in an officially zoned flood plane. I do not.
I wonder how many folks in Houston live in a “zoned” flood plane. I wonder how many bought the special flood policy … because “home-owners” will not cover that. This is going to be bad 🙁
Apparently plane = plain according to my spell checker.
We do carry flood insurance. According the the map, I’m outside the 100 year, but inside the 500 year flood plain. So, we do at least have that going for us. It would suck, but it wouldn’t be a financial catastrophe. It is separate from our home policy, as is our windstorm insurance. That may be the best plot armor in this case – we’re too well covered to have something happen…
Since I looking to stay up for a while to make sure we weren’t in for a repeat of last night (and so far, we’re looking dry in my neck of the woods tonight), I took the opportunity to watch that “Rememory” movie. Overall, I enjoyed it. The premise was interesting and rather original. Dinklage definitely carries his weight.
Not likely to win any awards, but not one to be ashamed of, either.
‘Not likely to win any awards, but not one to be ashamed of, either.’
Ask any of those I’ve been with…..
At least they don’t say “looking dry in my neck of the woods tonight” . . .
Cough. . .
Keeping fingers crossed for your neck of the woods, Ed!
So plenty of games to ponder buying in the future for the board gamers on here:
I’m not going to rush to the defense of Rocky II – – which I’ve never fully seen, and haven’t partially seen in decades – – but isn’t the key difference (SPOILERS) that he beats Apollo at the end?
Hence me using the word basically.
And without Rocky II, there couldn’t have been a Rocky III, which would have meant no Rocky IV.
… and what about Rocky & Bullwinkle ?
We’re just waiting for Mr T. And I’m not talking about the bull
It is a very good essay.
Boiled down to a few sentences, I think his point is – We all feel/have felt pain caused by someone else. We share that as humans and maybe we should allow that to be a starting point that brings us together.
There wasn’t a single point I disagreed with. Very good article.
Have you all told me about this band and I forgot?
I never saw Super Troopers 1.
Full disclosure … I’ve never seen Rocky. Any of them.
You aren’t missing much, well at leAst as far as Rocky 1 and 2 is concerned.
Super Troopers is overloaded with hilarious moments. There’s a lot of stupid-funny, but also a lot of classic moments. I have zero faith that Super Troopers 2 will be any good.
The first Rocky is a Best Picture winner, and I recall it being pretty great stuff – – especially if you don’t know the ending. (cough) I do think you can stop after 1, although Creed is supposedly just as good.
I enjoyed Creed quite a bit.
Morning Pan
Having a lot of trouble getting my butt in gear this morning.
I just put kitty’s water dish in the dishwasher. The way she’s acting, you’d think she was dying of thirst. The fact she has another water dish is beside the point as it’s not her favourite dish. Sometimes she’s worse than having a kid around
Well Deadpan, we knew it was going to happen at some point. It’s movie time
Today’s movie is I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House
The Netflix Write up: a nervous nurse who scares easily finds herself caring for an ailing horror novelist while living In a house with hidden secrets
It’s a Netflix original, which means nothing as I’ve seen some of those which were not very good (Spectral comes first to mind)
A house where someone dies can never again be bought or sold by the living. Only borrowed from the ghosts within
Ok, the preamble is too long. Get on with the movie already
She’s still talking
Blah, blah, blah
Oh look, there is something happening. She’s still narrating, but al least the screen shows more than blackness
She finally stopped talking. Now let the movie actually begin
Old lady
Exterior, evening
She spends a lot of time just standing
You know, they invented the light for a reason. Turn some on
What an old cassette player
And we’re just standing again
She’s narrating again
My goodness she seems to have a lot of toiletries
Maybe they ran out of light bulls and she hasn’t gone to the store to get more yet
Holy crap, she used a light switch
What an old fashion phone
She missed the upside down chair
Would love some Ed from texas check in announcement……
My other friend, who fled yesterday, made
It to Memphis today
None of the dining room chairs match
The pone cord is moving on its own
Back in to the darkness
More narration
The carpet has been put in its place
An actual typewriter
No tv
She’s not a very good nurse
Time passes. I know because her narration told me
What the hell is she doing with the flowers?
Answer the door.
Moody wall
She’s having a very odd conversation with the estate lawyer
Reading a scary story by her patient
The nurse is just strange
Yum. Blackberries
Now she’s covered in mold, just like the wall
The story of Pally Parson’s
I just want you to know, I have no idea what’s going on
Rain
The walls and windows are as thin as bones
Eleven months later and the tv still doesn’t work
I admit, this movie dose have some creepy moments. However, I thin 80% of it is because the nurse (the main character) is weird and creepy herself. Seriously, I wouldn’t want her looking after me
She still seems adverse to lights
Looking for the source of the mold
She found a box labelled Polly
Now she’s feeling up the box labelled Polly
The woman has definitely embraced the art of slow motion
Polly’s box contains another box
That second box contains letters
Now we know how Polly died
And where he hid the body
Once again, a terrible nurse. Can’t even brush her patient’s hair properly
Polly is whispering into Ms. Blum’s ear
Give it up Lily. That tv is never going to work
Lights are still not her friend
Polly has her head on backwards
Light. Try to embrace them
She’s screaming. I can’t figure out why
She’s narrating again. *sigh*
Ms. Blum fell
So, how did she die?
And we’re narrating again
The movie is over
Like I said, it did have a few creepy moments, but I found it more baffling than anything else
Netflix should stick to Marvel Shows And Voltron
I finally read that Crow article that Van posted a few days ago. Great info about a great film.
And yes, it would be good to hear an Ed update, when you can!
Ok, I have to admit I still have not watched the season finale of Luke Cage, but Misty with robotic arm is making me look forward to S2:
Yep, the Texas outpost of Deadpan Land remains high and dry. We had quite a bit of rain directly on us and upstream of the watershed that we sit on. Still, the bayou behind the house is holding at the level it has for the last few days. Flow velocity has shot way up, through.
Jen’s parents and sister did get a good bit of water in their homes, unfortunately. They’ve gathered up their stuff and are currently trying to find enough dry pavement to get from her parents place over to us.
At least for our place, I think the threat has not passed.
Glad to hear your house is dry, I hope your extended family get the help they need.
Dammit! /not +now
i.e. I think the threat has now passed.
However, we’ve not been able to find a proper Moses to part the waters in a drivable spot to get my in-laws over to us. Hopefully, the flooded bayous will have receded enough overnight with the end of the rain to allow travel tomorrow.
Is a Proper Moses like a Personal Jesus? Do we need to get Depeche Mode involved?
😀
Just don’t ask Typhoid Mary.
There’s a fly in the house. Kitty is amused
Some more impressive pictures…though they barely capture what the region has been through.
Highlites –
“Psychologically, however, they are more vulnerable than Millennials were: Rates of teen depression and suicide have skyrocketed since 2011. It’s not an exaggeration to describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. Much of this deterioration can be traced to their phones.”
“It may be a comfort, but the smartphone is cutting into teens’ sleep: Many now sleep less than seven hours most nights. (snip) Fifty-seven percent more teens were sleep deprived in 2015 than in 1991. In just the four years from 2012 to 2015, 22 percent more teens failed to get seven hours of sleep.”
“The correlations between depression and smartphone use are strong enough to suggest that more parents should be telling their kids to put down their phone. As the technology writer Nick Bilton has reported, it’s a policy some Silicon Valley executives follow. Even Steve Jobs limited his kids’ use of the devices he brought into the world.”
I have my doubts.
True that corelation is not causation.
Still, the skyrocketing rates of mental health type issues is stunning.
I read somewhere it was more access to social media (which can be accessed by the phone)more than the phone itself. After all, if you want to feel depressed, as a school aged child, ask the world of social media how you look/feel/or any other such things. People can be cruel.
Yep.
The article states – “What’s the connection between smartphones and the apparent psychological distress this generation is experiencing? For all their power to link kids day and night, social media also exacerbate the age-old teen concern about being left out. Today’s teens may go to fewer parties and spend less time together in person, but when they do congregate, they document their hangouts relentlessly—on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook. Those not invited to come along are keenly aware of it. Accordingly, the number of teens who feel left out has reached all-time highs across age groups. Like the increase in loneliness, the upswing in feeling left out has been swift and significant.”
It’s nice to be among the youngest in the crowd again! Toto just wrapped, waiting now for Pat Benatar.
Africa is a good song guys, but I dunno if it merits a 20-minute jam.
So did Ms Benatar still have the vocal chops?
Funny you should ask. . . . I thought she sounded mostly great, but she was struggling a bit to hit the high notes. She was acting surprised about it, so I assume she was just having an off-night. She’s 64, belting out these songs every night, so it’s going to happen from time to time. Unfortunately, she was a tiny bit of a diva about it, blaming AZ dryness and cutting off “Hell is For Children” before it finished.
I’d still recommend seeing her while she’s still performing.
I find the ideas of eating dogs is revolting.
I know it’s hypocritical as pigs are just as intelligent and I eat bacon.
But I still find it revolting, I don’t care who you are.
This is an interesting quandary. Excluding the vegetarian argument, there are other animals that fall in the same category, the horse comes first to mind. This is considered a delicacy in some countries but there are people who would cringe at the idea. How about monkey? Not chilled monkey brains ala Indiana Jones, but actual cooked meat?
On a related note, that falls under my crazy upbringing, when I was on the farm we had a sow named Spot. She was all pink except for one black spot on her nose. She was basically a pet dog. If you went to pet her, she would roll over to get a tummy scrub. She would come when called, and was generally a 500 lb. dog. Ostensibly she was a breeder, but there came a time… You just don’t know how it affects a twelve-year-old girl to see her pet headless, strung up on her back legs, with the blood pouring out.
In conclusion, while I admit the idea is also distasteful to me, if it was the normal food choice in the land, I would probably try dog. I’ve had wolf, would it be much different? It would just add to the list of exotic foods I have tried. Again, it would have to be what is normally eaten in the area. I have no desire to try such delicacy in North America, or anywhere else it is not the normal custom. I’ve eaten enough “pets” to last a life time, thank you very much.
That’s a pretty awful story, Ryah, but apparently pretty common. I’m glad I was a city boy.
There’s zero logic to my rules:
I’ve eaten rabbit.
I wouldn’t eat dog, although I might if I ever visited Taiwan or China, and it was served to me. Same for horsemeat.
I eat pork, but am uncomfortably aware of their intelligence, compared to dogs.
I will never eat octopus or dolphin – – or any kind of primate. These creatures have shown too much self-awareness for me to ever consider them a food source.
These rules set to change when our current world leaders push us into a Mad Max apocalypse.
Morning Pan
Today we try to wrastle inventory into shape. Then it’s lunch with Boo.
Today is my boss’s birthday. Best boss ever.
Ah inventory, why do you hate me?
I give up. I’m leaving in 15 minutes anyway. Inventory can sit and stew.
(actually, I sent a note to my boss asking why we’re are out by 100+ items.)
There, I’ve cleaned my desk and destroyed all the evidence.
On Tuesday I give all the records a quick once over to make sure I didn’t miss anything and then year end will be over. :w00t:
And hey, I should also point out that it was good having a beer and talking about Motley Crue, family, and Vanamonde with Lo Pan last night.
Nothing good I hope.
You’re a great houseguest, Van! I have firsthand experience with this.
Motley Crue, on the other hand….
I can’t wait to hear about your first hand experience… 🙂
Well, looks like I chose correctly. Of the two, Dark Matter never really caught my interest. I was on board with Killjoys from the start, even though it’s no longer really the show it started out as.
True, but I still enjoy Killjoys. 🙂
I thought you were pretty meh on Dark Matter?
I am, it’s like Blakes 7 with better SFX and less interesting characters.
But it was one of those crap shows I would watch.
Oh! Happy birthday, T-Cat!
What the man said.
Happy Birthday Ed from Texas!
Happy birthday, Ed from TX! I hope you get lots of unsoggy presents, and that all of your people remain safe.
New KMFDM is good! Some old-style Deadpan humor in my review:
If you want a perfect encapsulation of everything that is despised about Pitchfork, go read their review of “Two Against Nature” and remember that that album won the Grammy for best album of 2000.
Or, conversely, if youre Beck, Eminem, or Radiohead it encapsulates everything you hate about the Grammys…
Yeah, While I enjoy the books, and TV show, I don’t think it’s a game I would want.
Late Happy Birthday wishes Ed!
Saw the new “Defenders” show was now on Netflix so I decided it was time to quit procrastinating and get with it.
Been binge watching “Iron First” and “Jennifer Jones”.
When I finish those I shall tackle the other one whose name escapes me at the moment.
Curious to get your take on them. I have yet to see the Defenders, although the lackluster reviews aren’t encouraging.
Jennifer Jones … not bad. Could be better. Not as quick paced and “snappy” as I am used to from my Marvel shows … but maybe that is what they have to do to pad out a weekly show in order to get a full season of episodes. Also seems to rely on the title character doing things that are sometimes just stupid, in order to keep the plot from getting wrapped up mid season. a lot on the title character doing things that seem stupid. Also, also … I find it interesting that the show is chocked full of graphic violence, graphic sex and strong language … but no nudity. IMO that doesn’t effect the show, I just find it interesting that of all of the things they are willing to show happening to the human body … they draw the line at actually showing it naked. I am 12 eps into it.
Iron Fist – As I have never been a martial arts fan, I find I am liking this a LOT more than I thought I would. I am 4 eps into this and I like that there seem to be multiple sides to this story line and it isn’t clear exactly who the “good” guys are. So far I am like this more than Ms. Jones’ story.
In defense of JJ:
As far as I remember, most of her stupid actions were done either out of emotional conflict, general self-destructiveness, or mind control.
I also winced at a lot of the villain’s antics. The metaphor was very powerful, and definitely struck a nerve with me.
Well I have a confession to make:
I’ve never watched ‘This is Spinal Tap’
Seen clips, but never watched it from beginning to end.
Tonight I shall rectify that on a trip to the arty cinema.
You’ve probably heard most of the best jokes already, but there are still so many great little moments throughout. That may be my most frequently quoted movie.
By far my favorite satire/mockumentary. I’m sure youll hate it
No, but the Amp going to 11 was the funniest bit.
Christopher Guest at his comedic best.
There are some great jokes paired with a lot of slow periods.
I really want to say this is a tongue in cheek article, but…
Right! I kept waiting for the wink.
I mean… New York post is one Kevin Bacon degree away from The Enquirer.
The fact that it fails to talk about the million dead SOUTH Koreans that would result or the untold number of Japanese that would die (prevailing winds will carry the fallout over Japan) makes me fear it isn’t a joke.
The simple fact that the Chinese have told the US that they will come to NK aid if the US attacks first also means this could quickly spiral into a nuclear confrontation.
There is the theory that Kim is the only leader out there that is more (or at least equally) inept than Trump.
That Kim is a figure head who is propped up and kept in power by his Oligarchs. As long as this handful of men continue to be able to run their side hustles and fill their off-shore coffers, Kim is allowed to play “great emperor”.
CHINA is the key here. They are the ones that allow trade to continue with NK. That NK is a huge thorn in the side of America and China is the one making NK possible … gives China a BIG bargaining chip.
So I have heard it suggested that this whole situation becomes defused if the US is just willing to negotiate with China. I am not sure what piece of the puzzle they want but if the US was just willing to suck it up and give it to them … this apparently ends with out ANY of the nightmare scenarios.
So all we have to do is have Trump be the adult in the room and let China “win” this one.
“all we have to do is have Trump be the adult in the room”
The link below is another of the countless opinion pieces, but it brings up many points I hadn’t considered.
NK already has the artillery power to lay waste to SK. That was already a deterrent to invasion, so why nukes? This post states it may be to keep the US at bay while it marches on SK, a goal it has always wanted.
I find his theory unravels as soon as he wrote the following “Assuming Kim is a rational actor,”.
I have never seen Kim be accused of being a “rational” anything.
Interesting point about NK’s motives. Unless they have some secret unknown supervillain scheme, they have nothing to gain from an exchange vs. the US. As scary as those maniacs are, the scarier maniac is in the White House.
While I don’t advocate head-in-the-sandism or chosen ignorance, I’d also warn against hanging too anxiously on to these headlines.
Other things you can do:
Remain informed, spread awareness, notify elected officials of your concerns, get involved with legit activism, rock the vote.
I’m reminded of the line in “War Games” that “the only winning move is not to play.” I’m not an advocate of a preemptive attack especially considering the death sentences we’d be handing our allies. But in the same token, NK will keep on upping the capacity and range of their weapons. Add in the fact that it is in NK’s, Russia’s and China’s interest to keep NK a functional dictatorship as it is a distraction for US policy. I guess the best case is that NK evolves the way China did and becomes less fanatical as it ages, but there are no indications that will be the case.
I still think this is a “follow the money” issue.
Get China to play along with threatening to seize the off shore assets of those who are really running the shore and Kim will become a tiger with no teeth. Got to get China to be interested in curbing this problem … and then those pulling the strings will get Kim to calm down and go back to focusing on his Elvis Cosplay and hanging out with Dennis Rodman.
justaJOe is a smart man. 🙂
Sadly, I am probably JUST as qualified to be President as the current holder of that position. 🙁
We all need someone SO much more qualified than I.
You’d be a vast improvement, of course a bag of Cheetos would be an improvement over the Cheeto in Chief.
As for North Korea – I’m not yet convinced that a preemptive strike is the least worst alternative. I agree that China is the key, since they are the ones keeping what few lights are still on in NK.
That said, about the only leverage I could see that we could apply would be a full on denial of access to the US market for all Chinese products until they stop propping up NK. Of course, that would likely crater the US economy in the process. Still, I’d rate that as a less worse prospect than a shooting war.
This has truly been a cluster going back through several administrations and none of them have handled it worth a damn.
Yeah but I’d rather actual presidents not handle it instead of a button humping lunatic playing as president
As I have heard it explained, we have NO pre-emptive strike capability that shuts down even MOST of NK offensive abilities. At least not in the first round.
Apparently their Nuke program is widely spread out in deep underground facilities that would be impervious to our nukes and take a long time for us to find with bunker busters and there is NO guarantee that we even know where it all is.
Also, NK apparently has the worlds largest collection of chemical weapon artillery shells and they are all aimed at SK. At the first sign of any “incoming” NK would lay waste to 100’s of thousands. Also – the THAAD systems they are installing in SK are for missiles. They do nothing to artillery shells.
So a pre-emptive strike does some damage, knocks out some capability but all it really achieves is the start of a shooting war.
Really, the term “pre-emptive” is a bit of a misnomer here as it doesn’t pre-empt a night mare. If it could produce anything positive I suspect it would have happened years ago.
And speaking of bombs, had the pleasure of watching Terminator Genysis last night.
It was a film.
Also watched a much better Arnie film called Maggie. A really well done, zombie slow burn that actually made something new of the tired genre. I know it wasn’t all around reviewed well, but Arnie is honestly brilliant and the fresh, heartfelt take makes it a Lo Pan winner
Have a lie down.
But I agree with you about Maggie.
In total agreement of Maggie. Fresh takes on anything is something we need more of.
I kinda hated the ending of Maggie, but otherwise, I was greatly impressed. Who knew that Arnold could actually convey emotion and be an actual actor?? I hope he does more roles like this.
Me too. I didn’t like the ending, but the overall movie was good, and I loved that Arnie did something very different.
Morning Pan
Today I wrastle a manuscript into book shape.
Hubby wore his pink shirt to work today, once again proving real men do wear pink… and ties with guitars on them.
Crap joke, that may or may not be based on a true event:
An retired WW2 fighter pilot was invited to speak at an all girls school about his wartime carreer.
“So there were two of the fuckers behind me, three fuckers to the right of me? Another fucker to the left” he told the audience.
The headmistress went pale and interjected:
“Ladies, the Focker was a German aircraft”
The pilot replied:
“That may be, but these fuckers were in Messerschmitts!” …
I had a client back in the 80’s who used to tell me that one on a regular basis. He kept forgetting he had already told me. He especially liked to tell that if there were any women present.
ick
Speaking of games, we finally got around to playing Clank! at our house. My son won both games, but it is a fun game with lots of potential strategy. Don’t believe the rated 45 minutes a game, it takes at least a couple of hours with 3 or more people.
Well, I did my research on web hosting sites and wrote up a report for my boss. Once a decision is made, I get to create a website from scratch. I’m both excited and frightened of this prospect.
I keep doing things I’ve never done before in this job. It’s kind of cool.
Exciting! Will you go the WordPress route?
Ha! No. Our site is currently through WP (a holdover from a long time ago) and, honestly, neither my boss or I like it very much. Keep in mind, neither of us have any coding knowledge. None. Zero. Zip. We find, with our current site, it’s rather unwieldy to work with and not fun whenever a new title has to be added.
Every hosting site I looked at does WP compatibility but the big thing for us is drag and drop as well as wysiwyg.
I’m curious to see what you come up with. Not for this site – – I have no plans to switch Deadpan from WP – – but for the future of MetalAsylum.net.
I too am interested in know what Hosting site and platform you come up with … because you have to know these things to become king.
this Irma kinds scares me. My heart goes out to all of the people of the Caribbean Islands, the Keys, and Southern Florida. I hope the predictions are wrong and that this storm weakens over the next day or so, to a (less catastrophic?) smaller beast.
Good Luck, TRA! I think you are primarily out of the path, but still….
When I went to bed last night I thought we finally had an elderly relative convinced to drive North to the Orlando airport this morning and LEAVE.
This morning she texted that she was rethinking because Irma had weakened. *face palm*
Sure. Down to 175mph. Like that is going to make a difference.
Told her to consider which scenario was “worse” … spending a nice weekend in Atlanta that maybe didn’t turn out to be necessary – or having to camp out in her house for a week or more with no power and maybe no water.
Clearly she is going to wait until it is too late and she CAN’T leave.
Humans.
I don’t know. I’ve been to Atlanta….
(Seriously, your’e 100% right. Sorry you’re dealing with this worry. She needs to get out of the evacuation zone immediately.)
Well she has decided to stay and ride it out.
In her “pre-manufactured home”.
Based on the other old timers in the retirement community telling her that in Andrew they barely got any damage.
Never mind that this storm dwarfs that one.
So I am starting to make my list of what I need to take on a rescue mission late Sunday/early Monday.
Of course this could all just go away.
It could.
At the moment, in Orlando, we are at a high probability of experiencing tropical storm force winds and a low probability of experiencing hurricane force winds. I’m expecting to lose power for a few day, but to have a relatively damage free experience. Only time will tell on this one.
I hope that is the case. The last wind estimate I saw around 5 hrs ago (based on a path that took the center straight up the state) showed 75mph sustained winds all the way up to the Georgia state line.
Fascinating write-up on Rotten Tomatoes, and its effect on the film industry.
Trivia time.
Today I learned Captain America and Johnny Storm are the same person.
Go figure.
Capt America was quick the upgrade for his super hero status
was a quick upgrade (from Johnny Storm) to Capt America.
meaning he is a way better actor in Capt America than he was in Fantastic Four.
Oh right. I thought you meant in the comics.
You really didn’t know?
Bloody hell..
Sorry Van. I don’t follow actors careers quite that closely
Considering how terrible that movie was, I’ve chosen to forget everything about it.
Agreed, I’d never want to watch that first Captain America again.
😀
What?
Next you’ll be telling me that Batman/Dare Devil are the same person, or Green Lantern/Deadpool or Storm/Catwoman or Supman / The Atom.
Good smokey morning, Deadpan
Jack, further to the earlier conversation, I gave a list of 8 top choices to my boss, putting Hostgator as my top pic. They get an editors choice rating through PC.Magazine and seem to do everything we need. It’s really hard to know without actually working with them
Whether or not M goes with my recommendation… *shrug*
It may be a bit late for this but the last few times I went searching for a host site … one of the things I did was to call a host companies “customer support” phone number.
For one thing, I wanted to see how hard it was to get to a human on the phone.
When I did get a support person, I explained exactly why I had called and gauged what kind of reception I got. A small percentage were surly or sounded tired and haggard (an indication that they were overworked) which to me was a warning sign. Most were actually receptive and thought this was a pretty good idea.
Kitchen disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled. Next up, the floors
A former co-worker suggested “Mary Kills People” to me. It’s an interesting series, only 6 episodes for the first season. If nothing else, it opens up the dialogue. It is well acted though.
Somewhere I just read an article that included the offhand thought … if Godzilla rose up from the Gulf and laid waste to the Houston area, then another came trudging into south Florida wreaking havoc to Miami … we’d waste no time and spare no money building giant, Godzilla killing, mech suites and training fighters to go in them.
History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man.
… aaand just got a phone call.
Seems that all the old timers who had convinced her to stay … have now evacuated. So she has now hit the road with her infirmed next door neighbor.
Hope she doesn’t spend the duration of the storm in her car on an interstate.
That’s been a definite risk here. The gas stations along the interstate have run out of fuel and traffic is reportedly moving around 5-7 miles per hour (significantly slower that Irma). People are getting stuck on the highways with no gas and just leaving their cars there to be towed away. Central Florida is still on par for Cat 1-2 winds, so we should be prepared. Again, never know until it hits (supposedly tomorrow afternoon).
I hope you and your loved ones (including the bottle collection) stay safe.
As so frequently occurs in these Natural disaster situations, those making poor decisions usually end up causing a negative impact for others.
Hearing that other relatives are having to now drive INTO the evacuation to retrieve our tardy Kin. Seems she is now too tired to drive any farther and of course, there are no hotel rooms to be had in the South East.
It is a car with 4 pensioners but only two drive and the youngest is 79.
So now another car will be added to the mix as well as 2 more drivers who will now face a 12 to 14 hour round trip to pick up people who decided NOT to leave when there was ample gasoline and the opportunity to make it an easy 2 day drive.
Wasn’t smart enough to take my advice 2 days ago but at least she was smart enough NOT to call me to save her from her own folly!
I’m not necessarily defending her. But, please keep in mind that we’re getting a lot of varied information, disinformation, exaggeration, and advice from a lot of different sources. A few days ago, I wasn’t even convinced the storm would actually hit Central Florida at all. Now it looks like it’s coming straight through, but at Cat 1 or Cat 2 speeds (not nearly what was predicted) and then I still see somewhere in any given story that this could be the most … storm in recorded history. Never sure what to actually believe any more. Only tomorrow will tell for sure.
To everybody in any hurricane’s path, stay safe and dry *hugs*
Crap joke for the day:
So this married man was visiting his girlfriend one day, she asked him to shave his beard.
“James, I like your beard but I would really love to see your handsome face.”
James replied “My wife loves this beard, I couldn’t possibly do it. She’ll kill me!”
“Oh please” the girlfriend asked again in a sexy lil voice.
“Really I can’t My wife loves this beard!” The girlfriend asked once more and he finally gaves in……….
That night, James crawled in bed with his wife while she was sleeping. wife woke up somewhat, felt his face, and replied “Oh, Michael, you shouldn’t be here. My husband will back home soon!”
So, random question, particularly for the non-American Deadpan contingent:
How do you pronounce grimaced or grimace
I’m listening to a an audio book and the author uses both of these words excessively. But, on top of that, the narrator pronounces them gri-MACED, with a hard second syllable and the ace part pronounced like the word ace.
I’ve only every used or heard it pronounced more like grimm-assed, with a slight emphasis on the first syllable.
The guy reads it like he’s never encountered the word before reading this book and tried to sound it out phonetically.
But, I’m left to wonder if this isn’t just a case of international folks pronouncing things differently. The narrator appears to be from the U.K.
I’ve Sent you how I would pronounce the word
In messenger.
I said enquiry rather than inquiry..ack!
I appreciate the effort, my friend. Sadly, Facebook won’t play the clip. I’ve tried several different times and it just sits there like it’s getting ready to play…any moment now….it just never does.
Never sure why sharing pictures and video on Facebook is such an amazing hassle. It’s a video of Mrs. TRA and I enjoying hurricanes in the pool during a hurricane. The sad truth is that Irma hasn’t really ramped up by this point.
Second update. 9:28pm EST and all is reasonable. The power has flickered often, but not gone out completely.
I’ve tried with a video, see if that works.
So I don’t do horror stories, but I’m going to see The new IT tomorrow.
The reviews have been mixed.
If by ‘mixed’ you mean 80% positive, 20% negative…then I guess
Have you read the book?
No, life is too short.
I read it at an age when it wasn’t that daunting. It’s probably the only that ever truly frightened me. I’m curious to see how the movie translation works. (Aside from creepy Tim Curry, I never thought much of the tv miniseries)
Ripped thru Iron Fist in a few days. I am beyond confused at all the hate. Yeah, there were dumb parts. Yeah there were a couple holes in the plot you can drive a Mack through, but how that’s different than most Super Hero properties I dont know. Sometimes I think people need to just calm the fuck down and enjoy the chop socky/actual descent character story.
After all.. it could be Inhumans…
Of all the Marvel to series on Netflix, it’s at the bottom.
But, I don’t hate it, now go and watch Defenders.
No it’s not. S2 of Daredevil is.
And I will.
You are so wrong it’s not even funny.
Yeah Ill combat you with actual facts and figures on this. S2 of Daredevil was so disappointing that its unwatchable the second time
Sez you!
I juzt did!
I’m glad you agree.
That I “sez” DD season 2 is shit? Yes I agree
I’m just reveling in your wrongness.
The Elektra actress was perfect in DD S2, even if they bungled the character a little bit.
I also did not hate Iron Fist, but I’d have a hard time recommending it.
I’m now about halfway through Iron Fist.
I don’t hate it.
I have tired all of the Netflix Marvel series…couldn’t stand any of them for more than a couple of episodes. Not sure if it’s just something about the whole aesthetic of them all, but they just aren’t drawing me in at all.
IT was ok, but be warned it’s only half of the story, I hadn’t realised they had split it into two films.
TRA – you are now our Canary in the Coal mine.
You are the closest person we have to Seabring so any updates on weather, power et… would be swell.
Here’s hoping it is a very UN-interesting event for you.
Don’t worry. We’re safe in this video. We’re just screwing around because we’re waiting for the real storm to hit. There have been some really good winds, but they were not going at it while we were taking the video.
Oh, the humanity!
The Simutron, less exciting than it sounds but analog computers still fascinate this old foagy:
And since so many are talking about it……
I was highly unimpressed with the Orville trailer, so I’m not all that surprised by the severe bashing the pilot has received. . . . and it’s had a few defenders, but I’m not finding their praise to be credible (except for Ed’s “Suck it, critics!”).
I went through a Family Guy kick, and I generally like Seth McFarlane, but – – to steal Ryah’s phrase – – he’s not as cute as he thinks he is. He sucks as a leading man. I hated his schtick in that Western movie, and I get the impression that Orville will be that same schtick, just in space.
If it survives, or if I hear the right words in its favor, then I’ll check it out. Otherwise, I’ll pass, and not lose any sleep over it.
/rant
Jerry Pournelle died, was never a great fan of his work:
I’ve met him. He was ok. Nothing exciting in either direction (exceptionally nice, or exceptionally an ass). That is usually best in a guest.
I saw an interview with home once where he claimed he was responsible for the collapse of communism.
I stopped reading his works after that.
-o – e
+i
Never read his stuff. It would seem that he battled with a lot of people in the SF community, but there’s still a lot of reverence for his work.
Morning has morninged. Power is out and likely will be for several days (thawing meat BBQ block party tonight). The winds are high right now, but no rain. No damage to property (for me at least).
Good to hear you have arrived at today unscathed.
Let the BBQ’s begin !!!!
See, I knew this Irma was just a liberal conspiracy! /satire
Morning Pan
It’s another day.
We go shopping on Sunday mornings. Every morning, before we leave, I ask hubby if there’s anything he needs to be added to the list. Yesterday he assured me he didn’t need anything. This morning he came up to me rather sheepishly and asked if I could pick up some antiperspirant for him. I told him I should say no to teach him a lesson.
Silly hubby :ermm:
Hubby and I discovered something odd the other day.
We like to go on walks when it’s warm and not too smokey. We both have the same make and model of phone.We both put our phone in our front pocket when we walk. However, when we get home, his phone will say we walked 8 clicks, mine will say we only walked 5.5.
The only thing we figure is different is the length of our stride.
Were the step counts widely different?
Not really. only by a couple of hundred. Which, when you’re talking 6k or so, isn’t very much
Did either one of you experience any lost time.
/whistles the “X Files” theme.
My fitbit and my phone are never in agreement about my step counts.
the cat just fell asleep across my arm as i’m tryimg to type. How am I suppose to get any work done now?
The humour often falls flat, everybody in the cast outacts McFarlane and it feels old fashioned.
Still it was enjoyable enough, the perversity of Fox decisions to cancel shows means it will probably get a S2
We tried watching The Orville last night but there was something wrong with the sound so we had to stop about ten minutes in. It’s re-airing tonight so we’ll try to watch it again tomorrow.
Subject heading from my inbox –
“We’re have suspicious action you’re account here”
Apparently they are also experiencing a complete failure of all primary and secondary Grammar systems.
Crap joke for the day:
A Boss Asks his Employee: “Do you believe that
there is Life After Death?”.
Employee: “Certainly not, there’s no proof of
it”.
Boss: “Well, there is now. After you left early yesterday to go to your brother’s funeral, he came here looking for you.” …
It’ still hot as hell in Phoenix- no apocalyptic weather here.
So I watched Marc Maron stand up show on Netflix.
Didn’t find him that funny, but the routine about getting older and wondering if you have time left to do x was the best bit of the show.
He’s always been hit-or-miss for me, although people are always recommending his podcast.
Never better, though, than as the sleazy manager in GLOW.
Seems like a smart guy, a little bit of a downer though.
My co worker is a white privelage, “I’m not a commoner,” Right Wing-Trump Enthusist, who does Ju Jit Su and likes to roll around with other dudes on the mat.
I bring this up because everytime he tells the rest of the team about his Ju Jit Su rolling sessions, I think to myself, “huh this guy seems like he is power-hungry and a control freak.”
He’s never allowed himself to completely blackout- he taps out at the last possible moment, and he has mentioned to us how easy it really is to put a chokehold on someone (ie a girl on a date) causing them to blackout and not remember they did.
Because my co-worker is a vocal Teump supporter, I am afraid of him- meaning I would not trust him in any environment outside of a critical care hospital setting.
What doea that say about me?
You’re smarter than the average bear. Although, I don’t know if I’d want to be in a room alone with him even in the hospital setting.
Yeah, sounds like a creep, someone to avoid if you can.
This is the only time in history that someone’s political candidate of choice can help to indicate whether or not you’re safe in a room with them. Did he specifically say he could put a sleeper chokehold on a date? Because that’s really scary.
No. It’s been brought up in the past about how simple it is to do.
I truly believe he would never do that to a woman. But, I don’t feel the same way about his colleagues at his training center
It’s an all male class?
If so, that is weird in this day and age.
When you discover a web comic and have to read the whole lot in one sitting:
That’s pretty big news. My first reaction is disappointment. I think this means it will be pretty good, but not on the same level greatness as the originals.
I don’t feel good or bad about this development. Abrams seems to want to build on his past efforts so I expect EP9 to be pretty good. Truth be told I’m actually more interested in the side movies being made. I think they afford more opportunities to be original.
Adulting today sucks
CP: Atomic Dog — George Clinton
I just spoke with Doom Metal icon, Lee Dorrian. Super nice guy. The accents aren’t exactly the same, but there were a bunch of moments when I thought I was speaking with Van.
If he’s Scottish I will have to hunt you down..cough
Ah he is from Coventry, you are safe.
Very similar sense of humor too, if not the same musical tastes.
Hmmmm… have you ever seen the two of them together at the same time?
*This article is for entertainment purposes only. Please don’t pour burning caramel on your loved ones.
I played kickball last night for the first time in . . . . 30+ years? Sprinting from one base to another will let you know exactly how out of shape you are.
Did you still get picked last 🙁
By the way – – the pint glass arrived, and has been used. 🙂 Thanks, Dave and T-Cat! And thanks, Tony!
CP: I Won’t Give Up — Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School of Medicine
This is hardly news about this author but at least some people stood upto him:
There’s a story about a gropy Isaac Asimov toward young Connie Willis that knocked him off of any pedestal I’d ever placed him on. Let’s not even discuss Arthur C Clarke’s offenses.
No power yet. Estimate currently sits at Sunday by 7pm. Then again, that’s their estimate for having every person in Florida back on power. I see how important I am to the electric company.
That’s a drag. I thought I recalled you talking about the neighborhood pulling together to look out for each other?
The neighborhood is great. We had someone who’s power came back on lend us their generator so we still have most of what was in our fridge/freezer. Others have offered to let us come over and take showers. Some came over with their chain saw to help us clean up a small tree that had the top snap off. People from work have lent me fans so we can sleep at night (sooooooo hot, we just lay in a pool of sweat all night rather than sleep). The list goes on. It’s the power company that is odd. I live pretty squarely in the center of the neighborhood. The line of houses that intersects my house does not have power. EVERYONE ELSE in the neighborhood has power. I’m sure there is a logical explanation. It just eludes me.
Ick.
I heard FEMA this morning saying that the wind damage was such that they are having to rebuild the grid. Not just replace breakers or reconnect lines but actually having to replant poles, hang transformers, rebuild substations.
It would be nice if the code for all of that has been updated they way they did with the buildings.
There has been this super friendly and cuddly cat hanging around our home the last few days. I’m going to post something in the Airdrie pets page but, if there are no bites, and she’s still around in a couple of days, we may be getting a new cat…
To condo of lost cats…
-To +The
How will Tegan do with a new cat horning in on her turf and her scritchy attention time?
That’s an issue. I spoke to the vet on the best way to introduce a new cat. With luck, iT will be a moot point. I’m hoping the cat actually does have an owner, just a not very responsible one
Harry Dean Stanton has died, off too see Jones the Cat:
:’-( RIP, Bud. He was one of a kind, one of the greatest ever.
His new movie, Lucky, has been getting great reviews.
Wow he was a great of the supporting role genre’.
Sort of a back handed complement for someone who had worked as long and been as successful as he had.
He will be remembered though.
I will put “Paris, Texas.” on my to see list, immediately.
OK. Power is finally back on. There was an issue with a transformer when they had us first turn it back on and my Blu-ray player put out some serious smoke before we figured out what was going on. But, they fixed the problem, and I hated that Blu-ray player anyway. All is well now.
Maybe it was the Blu-Ray player that was causing the problems in the first place.
That’s great to hear you have your power back!
Hopefully that will be the last one of those storms (for you) for a few decades.
And if you tried to sell that story to someone for a TV/Movie production, they’d tell you it was too ridiculous to be believable. Truth is, indeed, stranger than fiction.
Mother! Was really weird.
If your resistance to arty pretentious bullshit is high then you may enjoy it.
I saw that David Brin who is fairly actively anti-rightwing, call that article a hit-piece. Gregory Benford also called it BS.
The descriptions of his books sound pretty outrageous, but I’ve never read him. TBH, even if the author embellished the RW message a bit, I don’t ever intend to.
On reflection, you have to wonder if it was you in his place, would you have waited or iniated the apocalypse.
Morning Pan
A hubbiless evening in store for this bunny
Kitty update:
it’s always A fine line. While she’s been hanging around my house for a few days, you wonder if she belongs to someone and is just hanging around because I have a cat that likes to look out the (normally open) window. Or if she is really lost. That’s why I didn’t bring her in immediately. Went out today and did a brief walk around and, of course, she’s not here now. The neighbours say they’ve seen her on an off for awhile. If she comes back again I will decide what to do at that time
I think she may have run because, when I opened the door, Tegan threw all kinds of kniptions, hissing and growling like mad.
However, I did come across someone who lost a cat several months ago that looked a lot like this one. If I do see the cat, I will probably contact this lady first
We’ve had these two cats together for almost 2 years, and they’re still like mortal enemies. Tiffany thinks that one day they’ll become friendly, but I think they’re too old.
I’m playing a game on my iPad. I was just saw an ad for an Ashley Madison app. I’m not sure what to think
Time for some ice cream. Then it’s time to curl up with a book.
CR: The Operative by Gerald Brandt
Is the extra info ruining the mystique of our favorite Sci-Fi franchises? Answer: yes.
I just heard about the passing of Len Wein. I met him. Hubby and I took Len and his wife to Banff when they were out here. He was a really nice guy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Wein
I saw a lot of mournful posts after he died. I’m apparently more familiar with his work than I thought. RIP
In honour of talk like a pirate day
What is Captain Hook’s favourite place to shop?
The second hand store
The tumbleweeds are strong this week
Yes, they arrrrrr.
Jeenus, Drump. Stop talking about “We the People” of the US when speaking to the UNITED NATIONS!
Maybe I’ll do a pop after lunch just to add to the comment count
Amazon is doing a giant sale on Marvel comics. I am having a hard time finding a link to post tho…. and not 100% sure when the sale is happening. Possibly now. I will keep trying to find a postable link
Hopefully, this one works – it may open up in Facebook
My phone is updating, I’ll do the iPad after the movie
Ok, let’s see what Netflix has on tap today
Oh, this looks promising
Dead Awake
The write up: While investigating the death of her twin sister in her sleep, a social worker unwittingly opens the door to an evil entity.
I wish I could investigate things when I’m sleeping
Sleep paralysis: blah, blah, blah
A door opens
I wonder if this means a window closed?
Old hag syndrome
Death by nightmare
Produced by Glen Walker. The only reason this caught my eye is the title came up beside a girl walking
Surprise
You had to invite her
You know you don’t do the easy way
Boy is she a party pooper
She needs a dance partner
She has nightmares
Hey, let’s start a new thread, with the PBP continuing over there 🙂
She can’t move in her sleep
She wants to go home
She lives with her parents
Her sleep journal
OK, Bunny. There’s a new page, if you want to jump the PBP over there. (Just for fun. If you see this. Not required.)
Oh looky there, a new board all shiny and fresh.
On a horse with no name.
Morning Pan
Another lazy summer day.
Apparently the package I sent to ditto is still in transit. I’m glad I sent it early.
I cleaned out my purse this morning. I really should do that more often.
We are busy at work getting ready for WWC on Friday (http://www.whenwordscollide.org/). Some of our authors are already in town so we’re going for lunch on Thursday.
Oh! What will be the WWC highlights this year?
Remind me to tell you about one of our past room parties and the (then) managing editor of Penguin. Most of what happened cannot be said on a public forum.
!!! You have to watch yourself around those penguins.
Fascinating article, btw. http://www.healthyway.com/content/here-are-8-things-that-are-making-people-less-attractive-according-to-science/11471
Well if your face is asymmetrical you are screwed (or not screwed) for life.
Ha!
Lo has warned me that I will be locked in his basement for two days and maybe let out to see Essbee if I behave.
Woof!
Don’t forget your collar.
And your safe word
..and it’s goodbye to Glen Campbell:
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40870474
..and it’s goodbye to Glen Campbell:
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40870474
…and for you birdwatchers out there that was a rare sighting of the lesser spotted double post.
He’d become a DWI punchline around Phoenix for awhile, but it looks like he got his act together before the end. I hope he had some good years before the Alzheimer’s took hold. That’s a terrible way to go.
The more things change. . .
http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-disney-earnings-20170808-story.html
…and the winner for the dumbest article I’ve seen today goes to:
http://ow.ly/ebmh30egtAi
Oh, I’m so relieved now!
OMFG!
A army of mercenaries with their own PRIVATE AIR FORCE, hired by the White House, backed by the US government but with the only actual US control over their actions being if the US fired the contractor (Black Water) who has hired them.
What could possibly go wrong with this ?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/08/war-afghanistan-trump-white-house-weighs-bold-plan-privatize/548004001/
Morning Pan
According to USPS my package should be delivered to ditto today.
Yep. It just arrived. Do you want me to open it now, or should I wait and put it in your room?
You can open it. It’s just Cdn snacks for the Saturday, like usual
Check your stereotypes at the door.
http://www.npr.org/2017/08/09/542238928/meet-voice-of-baceprot-the-all-girl-metal-band-making-waves-in-indonesia
This is an amazing story. Those girls rock. I think MetalAsylum’s followers need to be informed.
From the latest Ansible:
‘Zachary Mason’s novel Void Star has been praised as cyberpunk in the Gibson vein, but Mason deplored an interviewer’s use of the C-word: ‘Not even remotely. I’m not even exactly sure what it means. Bionic implants and mirrored sunglasses? Yes, the definition eludes me. / I think of it more as literary fiction that uses science fiction and genre elements.’ (KCRW, 29 June) Which makes all the difference. [NA]’
Fuck you Zarchary, I wouldn’t give you the skin off my shit.
The praise sparks my interest, but his douchebag response immediately douses it.
On a serious note, my brother in law is seriously ill in hospital with an infection from a scratch by his pet cat.
They had to operate to see how bad the infection was.
Fingers crossed.
That’s awful Van. Best wishes to him.
An unfortunate reminder to wash the area asafp any time you’re scratched or bitten, even if it’s a domestic animal.
Interesting note from a family member:
“Btw, talking with XXXXXXX’s sister last night – who is a Dr of optometry, she said even with the glasses, LOOK AT THE SUN ONLY BRIEFLY and look away. The infrared can heat and damage the retina even when you don’t feel pain. Staring at the sun causes PERMANENT damage. She is so terrified of this event that she was not going to distribute the glasses, but her patients kept asking and she decided it was better to ensure they had good ones since they were going to do it with or without her blessing.”
Just food for thought.
Does this also apply to the mushroom clouds?
It’s Labor Day at Ground Zero doesn’t have quite the same ring as Christmas
Worth a repost:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2585/will-looking-directly-at-a-solar-eclipse-make-you-go-blind
If we have a clear day, I’ll make quick glances through a filter, maybe I should make one of those shoe box thingies that show the progression of the eclipse.
Cool:
https://vimeo.com/141891887
WTF:
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/ofc/6256376954.html
….and with this link I will say goodnight:
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/08/the-story-of-the-ducktales-theme-music
Watching the weather report for the mmeetup. Van, you might get your thunderstorms
I’m sure he would be game for a good tornado chase but let’s hope for clear skies :/
We need damn clear skies – – for at least 2 minutes on Monday!
Well, it is still 11 days out and we are in one of the most unpredictable weather locations in the country. I think it is far too tell just yet. The weatherman that I trust the most provided this forecast a while ago: “In this yellow area there is still s good 70% chance of it being clear enough for you to have good viewing.”
http://weather2020.com/2017/07/20/the-eclipse-forecast-updated/
I’m still waiting on the update.
Well I hope we get clear skies, I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
But that’s a bonus I’m making this trip to see friends.
Then everyone wakes up blind and gets eaten by Triffids.
wait … different story.
Morning Pan
Getting ready for WWC. Don’t be surprised if you don’t hear much from me until after the weekend.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/deadpool-director-tim-miller-adapt-neuromancer-fox-1028185
Maybe this one will happen.
If it does happen, I hope it’s better that Johnny Mnemonic
Before hitting play, close your eyes and listen for the polar bear:
https://youtu.be/48EhCzA3U_s
Kind of a stretch, but fun. 🙂
Today’s Google doodle for the anniversary of the birth of Hip-Hop is outstanding. Be sure to watch the full opening video with Fab 5 Freddy too.
Who let the tumbleweeds in this feed?
Hope everyone is doing good
Everyone’s earning accomplishments on the Hip-Hop Google doodle.
Heh!
As I played with that I realized that “Hip-Hop” was actually the rise of the producer.
While you it helps to have good musicians, good singers and good writers … many of the truly epic Albums/singles throughout history, would not have been so without so guy sitting in a studio deciding what sounds to put where and at what volume each of those sounds should be.
“Dark side of the Moon”, “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band”, “Thriller” just to name a few.
Hip-Hop was a chance for people with those talents to step out of the anonymity of the studio and do their thing (in real time no less) in front of a crowd.
So imagine if George Martin or Alan Parsons had set up their equipment, with all of their audio elements in a club and been told to do their thing. A one shot deal that wasn’t being recorded so “mistakes” would be forgotten almost as soon as the next audio rolled. All with the underlying goal being to get people on the dance floor.
How awesome might that have been?
The Hip-Hop Evolution documentary series on Netflix goes way indepth about the NYC originators, and the DJ Kool Herc parties. Great stuff.
In response to a Ed made sometime in the past week or so:
io9 are OK, but really fixated on comics and toys. Fine, OK; it’s the content that works for them and their audience. Me, I get nothing out of their toy obsession, and only rarely get anything out of their comics coverage.
I’ve mangled my name many times with quick typing logins to applications, but today’s ‘jack manbag’ was a first. . .
eeeww
Not my best AKA name.
I got nothin….
Lo Pan? Save us!
Post-Modern Jukebox and Straight No Chaser co-headlining— and Tiffany scored us random first row tix! Then ice cream doughnut sandwiches afterwards at a place directly under the infamous trump billboard with the dollar signs and mushroom clouds, to the sounds of an all-grrrl punk trio in retro attire. Exciting evening!
I had a dream like that once.
Wait … are you saying this actually happened?
Almost surreal!
http://www.theonion.com/article/area-man-on-personal-mission-to-explain-why-univer-29922
I actually agree with Area Man about Godfather 3.
I cant wait to see you all fine people in 6 days!
Bracing myself (and trying to pack).
I start my 20 hour 3 day drive (well, 40 hours of round-trip driving over 9 days) tomorrow.
It least there is a good chance of seeing you guys next Friday night. Maybe half day on Saturday?
… and of course that whole celestial thing.
The rest of the trip will be a bit of a drag.
Deciding whether to take the iPad this year.
Topping off my iPod.
I’ve been saving up my Escape Artists podcasts for about 2 months now so I would have something to listen to. I am anxious to finally listen to them!
Terrorist attack in Charlottesville, Va. – 1 Dead. At least 19 injured.
Driver plows through crowd of people. Stopping only when he struck a car he couldn’t see because of all the people he was mowing down. Then he speeds off in reverse.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/12/1688980/-Charlottesville-anti-racist-protester-dies-after-car-crashes-into-crowd-Suspected-driver-arrested
Awful subhuman scum.
I just learned about this site:
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page
Much needed, if done right.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/12/politics/trump-charlottesville-statement/index.html
If you can find it, watch the video of the Governor of Virginia giving his statement on the situation. I know nothing about the man but after seeing trumps lame – not going to call out the Nazi’s – response … THIS man came across as Presidential.
Then I read President Obama’s response … which was to quote Nelson Mandela, and it was a painful reminder of just exactly how far from anything resembling “leadership” our country has fallen.
Enjoyed Atomic Blond, that is all.
In other news – packing the car for a road trip.
Packing my bag for plane trip.
Hey KS folks…. how prevalant are the mosquitoes there at this time?
It depends on the humidity. They haven’t been bad this year, but you may find some.
As long as they don’t find us.
Overstimulation weekend continues now with Steve Martin Martin Short!
???
Was this another of your dreams?
I do often dream of elderly men dancing, singing, and cracking jokes. . .
This was really a blast. Those 2 guys are still really, really funny, and Steve Martin’s Blugrass band, The Steep Canyon Rangers, are just unbelievable. Go see this show!
Don’t worry Pixie they will home in on me first.
The mosquitoes that is and not Steve Martin.
We had to put up netting around our house to keep Steve Martin out.
Goodnight :tumbleweeds:
Ah the joys of cattle class.
May have an US Athlete traveling home in cattle class.
Famous?
Is he offering to take me back home with him?
Morning Pan
Made it through the con in one piece. Although, I think I need to sleep for 24 hours straight.
Next, three days of home, then off to see the peeps.
(I thought I said this earlier)
Woot for surviving the con! Woot for Meetup travel! Some of us are en route already!
http://metro.co.uk/2015/08/14/your-favourite-retro-games-renamed-with-the-titles-they-really-deserve-5343105/
Brilliant.
I take umbrage of the first paragraph of this article. :ermm:
True, this does speak to those whose idea of board games extends no further than Parker Bros and Milton Bradley.
http://great78.archive.org/
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/arts-culture/106319-philly-company-digitizes-collection-of-25000-old-records-and-growing-free-to-download
Fantastic find. I’ll be listening to this for a while.
There’s a great deal of crackle on most of the tracks, but this led me to a pretty great, pristine version of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”
Well a bit of a bugger.
British Airways says my flight from Kansas to Charlotte has been cancelled on my day if return.
It’s an American Airlines flight, but their website doesn’t mentioned it’s been cancelled.
Will have to ring in the morning..grrrr!
Well strange, AA and Iberia confirm flights are on, so goodness knows what is going on.
It was possibly rescheduled to a slightly different time or they changed plane types. Sometimes the notifications get messed up.
Yeah that could be possible, appears to be some discreacny in the times by about 5 minutes.
https://www.good.is/articles/neo-nazis-tricked
Ha!
Sorry – – I certainly hope this article has nothing to do with BA or AA.
Morning Pan
We had quite the thunderstorm yesterday. It was close enough that it tripped two of our main breakers.
Coming back from Denver airport there was some dork lightning.
Ok, what is dork lightning?
Pure grain Red Bull?
Autocorrect strikes again, meant to type Fork.
Don’t forget the Vodka….
Or in this case would it be moonshine?
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was a fun rewatch.
OMG you got him to watch it?
*faints*
Well it was the cheap cinema, which was perfectly nice after Lo had basically described as a rat infested fleapit.
+it
Well done, young man.
I don’t advocate violence – – really ever. But these girls still get points for being on the right side.
http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/doll_skin_puncha_nazi_video
Morning Pan
Going to check in for the first leg of my flight. I won’t be able to check in for the connecting flight until lunch time.
Well, that was painless. It also let me check in to my connecting flight so I don’t have to do that later.
Exciting! Where are you going? 😛
Any last minute requests? I will be going on one final errand run in the morning.
Ummmmm I have to pack tonight!
Ummmmm, Rhettro- are we planning on a Star Wars RPG mission?
Real Life sort of derailed my plans, but if you guys want to continue, I can put something together. 🙂
If possible and not a huge burden for you, Rhett – – and if weekend timetable allows – – then I’m in!
It’s not a burden, I’ve already done a lot of work behind the scenes to have an idea where things would be heading. Plus the game system allows for some quick planning.
ditto, Rhettro!
I resemble that remark! 😀
Count me in. 😀
My med droid needs people to heal.
So I’m in.
Also, do we feel the need to congregate for a Game of Throne viewing on Sunday? Or will we all wait until we get home?
(is this a question for the mail thread?)
Umm…. we don’t have HBO. Sorry.
Do you have a device that plays HBOGO? We could potentially use my HBO Go account.
Other than the first couple of episodes of S1, Tracey & I haven’t watched GoT. If people really need to watch it on Sunday, that would be OK. We can get it set up on the PS4, I believe, with your credentials.
I would have to wait till I got back home so I’m in if enough people want to watch it.
This seems to have been semi-resolved in the other conversation.
I’m fine with what works best for everyone. I can splinter off and watch with other addicts or wait til we get home.
If I watch it before hubby, he would not be a happy camper
CL: What Went Down -Foals
Dig this song
Morning Pan
Having some breakfast, then it’s off to the airport for this bunny
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlyi5mckg0
Sitting and waiting for my plane. It only took a half hour to go through security, so not too bad
My flight. Is running 15 minutes late. Hopefully that won’t mess with my connecting flight. When I booked my flight I had almost an hour between flights. They changed it a number of times so I now only have half an hour. If this flight is delayed too much, there may be issues
Hmm. The Deadpan website has been blocked through the airport wifi. Naughty Pan 😉
We haven’t boarded yet. The only good thing is my connecting flight is no a half hour later than my ticket says
Safe Travels!
Safe travels, Bunny!
Safe, happy travels to everyone! Whether by planes, trains, or automobiles. (You may now picture Van and Lo Pan re-enacting the “Those aren’t pillows” scene).
Well, they’ve covered all the vehicles.
If there are any shenanigans in the office, I don’t want to know! 😉
Well Bladerunner was mentioned at least once.
Gas is cheap here.
Religious books for children at a service station freaked me out a bit.
Wish I had though to get a picture of the manned table of free Spanish language religious materials sitting to the side of the line at the latin food place that was converted from a gas station (https://goo.gl/maps/LrvsVcJffxu). Now that’s ‘murican.
My connecting gate was way the frock at the other end of the airport. Made it at a quick jog. Boarding now
Glad you made it!
I think we’re in Kansas, Toto
Holy cow, this is a long taxi to the gate
A long read, but worthwhile. Excellent points made. Feel free to disagree.
https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/8/16/16153248/free-speech-nazi-first-amendment-democracy-hate-speech
Admittedly, it’s a rare thing that I find a Vox article to contain anything remotely approaching intelligent thought. However, that professor pretty much hit the nail on the head.
While we older generations regularly bag on millennials (though, I often find myself cheering all the things they are supposed to be killing off, especially golf), the statistic that such a large fraction of them favor government restrictions on free speech are probably the one thing that most deeply concerns me about them.
So, I find myself fully pretty much fully agreeing with this article.
I already miss ya at this Mmmmmmeetup, Ed!
“At root, we protect freedom of expression — even hateful expression — in order to strengthen democratic legitimacy.”
“Many of the Charlottesville marchers weren’t just shouting hateful slogans; they were carrying weapons. We must thus consider not merely the constitutional rule against viewpoint discrimination, but also the lack of constitutional protection for true threats.”
I like that the author brought up both of these counter intuitive points and I agree with both statements. The freedom to talk about ideas, even hateful and stupid ones, are core to the notion that public discourse is free to consider all things. But also the point were speech becomes threats, it is no longer protected speech.
I’m late to this conversation but I thought it was a good article and wanted to chime in saying so.
I believe you have the right to say hateful evil things in public but you must do so with the realization that the public has a right to to disagree with you, loudly and in great numbers … and if their voice drowns out yours … that is democracy in action.
FYI, it’s frikken hot in Kansas
Yup, 88F 6 miles away from Dittos.
A slight detour and we may be here..possibly.
Woot!
Hey Everyone!
Obligatory Sausagefest post!
http://sausagefeststl.com/
You should drive over this weekend and do in-person promotion!
Oh look, we have a Lo Van
Or Van Lo from a certain point of view.
Look! A random post!
Travel day! Clicking our heels as we speak!
Safe travels! I’m still at work, but will heading home to pack sometime after noon today.
When do u arrive, Rhett?
So you have ruby slippers Jack?
They sparkle in Technicolor. Not as much in black and white.
For those attending tonight, we are going to the Overland Patk location. http://barleyskitchenandtap.com/op/
My apologies to those who cannot attend
Hey, everybody! I am in town, posting from the parking lot of Barley’s Overland Park. See you all when you get here!
I haven’t been following GoT, so I’m not really interested in watching it, but I would absolutely love to continue with Star Wars: Edge of the Empire gameplay if y’all are up for it. 🙂
You need to take precautions against party crashers.
Morning Pan. The dittos and I have been up for over an hour. The other lazy bums sharing the house are only just starting to stir 😉
Partying is hard work!
We’ll own that proudly.
Tony Mast!
7:30 and, so far, ditto and I are the only ones moving
Lazy bums.
..and it’s goodbye to Jerry Lewis:
http://apne.ws/GveNhHW
Two clergy persons are on an airplane, a Catholic priest and a Mormon bishop.
After a while, the priest turns to the bishop and asks, “Is it still a requirement of your faith that you are not to drink coffee?”
The Mormon bishop responds, “Yes that is still one of our beliefs.”
The Catholic priest then asks, “Have you ever had a cup of coffee?”
“Yes,” says the Mormon bishop, “I have to admit on one occasion, I did succumb to temptation and tried a cup of coffee.”
The Catholic priest nods in understanding and goes on with his reading. A while later, the Mormon bishop speaks up and asks, “Father, is it still a requirement of your church that you remain celibate?”
The Catholic priest replies, “Yes, that is still one of our vows.”
The Mormon bishop then asks, “Father, have you ever fallen to the temptations of the flesh?”
The Catholic priest replied, “Yes, Bishop, on one occasion, I was weak and broke my vow.”
The Mormon bishop nodded understandingly for a moment.
A few minutes later he smiled, looked at the Catholic priest and then said, “A lot better than coffee, isn’t it?”
Pixie rolled a 69. Teehee
Execute order 69.
Hmmm:
http://www.thewrap.com/joss-whedon-feminist-hypocrite-infidelity-affairs-ex-wife-kai-cole-says/
1. Uncool of her to drag this bitter hit piece into the public.
2. He’s always objectified and sexualized women while simultaneously empowering them. From what I’ve seen.
Morning Pan
This time it’s t-cat and I the only ones awake. Even ditto is snoozing away
Ditto and T-Cat were up late doing housework — I witnessed it. Give him a break. 😉
..and it’s goodbye to Brian Aldiss:
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/brian-aldiss-dies-aged-92-614886
Bummer. 🙁
Awesome extended MMMmmmetup weekend still in progress!
Rain and clouds go away, please, so we can see the eclipse!
Total ecloud of the sun.
Future mmmeeetups have been discussed. More later.
Well, while it was only a 67% eclipse here in Houston, there were thankfully enough breaks in the clouds today that I could see it. Pretty cool through the proper eyewear.
The kids were in school today, but the district they attend bought glasses for all students and staff so they could go outside and safely enjoy the event.
I’m so glad to hear that some schools out there are getting it right. The schools in Central Florida are so concerned about law suits that they literally put the schools on lock down, with outdoor sporting events cancelled and no one allowed to leave the school. They allowed parents to sign kids out early to go home and watch the eclipse. The dumbest part is that we hit out highest eclipse at 85% at 2:51pm and the schools let the kids go to the buses at 3:05pm. As if the eclipse was suddenly over at 2:52. Infuriates me to no end.
That is pretty damn sad. Well, for my part, I wrote a letter to the superintendent and all the members of the school board regarding the fact that with our early start to the school year, the kids would be in class the day of the eclipse. I suggested it would be a great opportunity for the district to get glasses for everyone and take advantage of the opportunity. I was a bit disappointed that I never got a response from anyone, but they sent out an announcement a few days before the start of school that everyone would have the opportunity. They also sent home opt-out forms for parents to fill out if they didn’t want their kids to participate.
So, I can’t claim credit for making it happen. I’m sure several parents in the district expressed concerns about kids missing out since the school start date had been moved up. But I can at least say I did my part. We bought glasses for the four of us months ago and I was going to send them to school with my kids if they didn’t get any provided.
Off to our final lunch in KC.
Made it through security fairly quickly. Now the long wait begins to board my plane
Thanks everyone that made it out here for the KC meetup. You are a cool group of friends and it was a blast hosting you. For those travelling today, I hope you make it home safe and with no hassle.
Like.
Thanks, ditto and T-Cat, for the hospitality! I had a wonderful time! 🙂
Safe travels everyone!! Thanks for a great MMMmmmeetup. We missed all of you who were not in attendance this year.
I’ve decided that my family is going to move permanently into ditto’s office. I hope he and T-Cat don’t mind.
A girl wasn’t meant to run that fast. Got to my gate with time to use the washroom. They are just starting pre boarding
Managed to snag a window seat on both flights so this bunny’s happy
Excellent news!
Got an aisle seat on the trip to London..yah!
Damnit, I missed the Blood Cauldron.
https://xkcd.com/1879/
The Mangans are home safely in Phx. No fires downtown yet…
I arrived home and made a cup of tea, How English is that?
morning Pan
Nice to sleep next to hubby again
Thanks to ditto, t-cat, and Cynful for hosting a wonderful mmmmeetup
Indeed.
So…tired…zzzzzzz
And here I am, back at my desk.
I have to say the flight from Charlotte to London, at just over 7 hours seemed to fly by.
The Airbus 330 had a similar layout to the 777.
American Airlines over booking an international flight was a dick move by the company.
For those that didn’t know, I had to take a connecting flight to Charlotte then back to Phoenix. I had a few odd characters flying out to KC and the first leg out to Charlotte. So on my final leg back I was in first one to my bank of three coach seats. I sat back watching the motley crew of potential seat neighbors walk past. No not fat Gandolf! whew… No not the scary biker dude! whew… Not the elderly sick woman! whew… I ended up with a Miley Cyrus look alike. We high fived each other when the central seat person never showed up. Another wreaking ball avoided.
Maybe you can incorporate some of those characters in the next segment of Edge of Empire
To protect their identities, all subjects will be represented as Jawa.
The twerking during the flight must have been awkward, though.
Most of the trip she was watching videos on her laptop and dancing in her seat and sketching tattoo designs in her notebook. Twerking wouldn’t have surprised me.
I think Jack was probably referring to your twerking.
I kept it to a minimum, plus we had the room of an empty seat so who wouldn’t?
The captain has illuminated the “no twerking” sign.
Careful. You could end up on the TSA’s “No Twerk” list.
Lots of work done and last load of clothes in the dryer. I need a nap
WTF Lo, have you been dressing up as a bear:
https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2017/06/08/bear-breaks-into-colorado-house-plays-the-piano-but-not-very-well/
You know I can bearly play. One might say it’s sound is a but grizzly as well.
Hmm.
http://theweek.com/articles/719732/game-thrones-become-terrible-show
I agree with the author that many of these points are irritating. I don’t agree that the show is “terrible”, the dragon scenes are a payoff for the years of punishment the viewers endured. Plus, HRR’s procrastination have left the producers to fend for themselves.
I agree with Rhett that the author makes many good points, but it also overreacting a bit.
I agree that GoT has become so formulaic that it’s lost some of it’s appeal for me.
*mild Spoiler*
I was hoping the Night King would fail at the final scene of this last episode, just so the show wouldn’t feel so cliche at this point.
Night King sounds like an Interstate truck stop.
I’ve found that when the show has scenes with low special effects, it still manages to do what got me into the series in the first place… surprise me. It loves to set your expectations for a character or set of characters and then completely turn those expectations around. In this season, at least, the ridiculous and most formulaic nonsense seems to be associated with the grand scale special effects scenes.
See “years of punishment” type comments are why I never started Walking Dead and Ill never start this show.
My better half is too addicted to WD for me to avoid it. I’d have been happy watching the first season and the eventual final one and not watched the episodes in between.
I found very little reward to following WD, which is why I dropped it after season 3.
GoT, on the other hand, has had many, many rewarding moments – – and some great storytelling.
I like Walking Dead. Season 2 was dreadful, but the rest of the series was quite enjoyable for me. Except for the ridiculous cliff hangers at the end of most seasons that mostly had people wondering for years if Glen had finally bit the big one.
I finally watched Guardians 2 last night. Fun. 🙂
One of us! One of us! One of us!
Jack, your pint glass is still here. I’ll get it shipped to you this weekend.
Sorry :-/ :-/ :-/ Thank you for shipping it.
Incidentally, we found the barcade at Zona Rosa, and because I got the high score on their recently reset Galaga machine, I got a free pint glass there too. Take that, alien bug swarms!
You were just leaving something behind to stake your claim on his office.
OK wtf is going on…
http://www.avclub.com/tig-notaro-wants-louis-ck-to-come-clean-about-his-alleg-1798352022?utm_content=Main&utm_campaign=SF&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing
I am NOT saying she’s wrong. But I do know he was her biggest champion when she was coming off of a double mastectomy. This sucks.
Also… her accusations that he copied her clown skit? That’s legit.
Yeah, the clown bit is too close to be coincidence.
Is it possible that she’s saying he needs to confront it head-on instead of deflecting because of the seriousness of the allegations? Not necessarily saying he’s guilty and needs to fess up? I dun quite know.
I’d be seriously disappointed if these allegations were true.
I have no dog in this hunt, don’t really follow CK and haven’t seen this show but I found the following to be misleading.
“Notaro remains firm that CK has nothing to do with the show in a new interview with The Daily Beast. “He’s never been involved,” she says. “His name is on it. But we are writing the show, the writers’ room. We’re sitting in editing. We’re acting. We’re on set. We’re doing press.”
Lewis CK is listed as “Executive Producer” for this show. 90+ % of the time, everything mentioned above is NOT handled by an executive producer. The vast majority of the time the “Executive Producer” is just lending their money or their name to a project to help get it produced. Frequently, in exchange for that they will be responsible for hiring the Producer and /or maybe the Director or a few other lead people but that is it.
So saying he is not at all involved is probably correct and completely normal. It is the writer’s framing of it, as if there is something unusual there, that seems a little bit like the writer is trying to start the article off with a manufactured, sinister overtone. I just don’t see any need to try and manufacture a false sense of outrage when the rest of the allegations do that quite well by themselves.
So Ed looks like you had better watch out for Harvey.
Ok then:
https://www.bushostelreykjavik.com/last-mcdonalds-in-iceland/
Kind of like a female led Stone Roses:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgggZYram1M
CP: I Know You’re Charming — Fotoform
The cats are really missing the extra attention.
So are some of the humans 😉
Morning Pan
yesterday was hot, hot, hot. We got up to 30C (86F). You’d think I was still in Kansas 😉
The sky is overcast right now. With luck, we might finally see some rain.
One of our small green glasses seems to have gone missing. Does anyone know what happened to it? Was it broken during the party?
I only recall the green glass on the bathroom sink. :-/
Tiffany only steals glasses from breweries, not from friends’ homes. 😉
lol. Yeah, I wasn’t worried about that. I’m sure it got stuck somewhere that I haven’t checked yet. I was just curious since I haven’t found it yet.
A QUEST !!!!
If you get enough XP you may be able to ascend to a Boozatarian
Yah i put that green glass back in the kitchen from the bathroom sink— but please check the bathroom sink area again…
This day!
Arrggghg
If Spongebob was an anime:
https://youtu.be/FkL4CjckRZ0
Is anyone interested in sharing our photos via Dropbox? It would make it easier to download them instead of via Facebook.
I didn’t take many but I would enjoy seeing those taken. So yes please
Count me in.
I’m in a theater by myself to see Atomic Blonde. Good thing I didn’t choose a horror movie today.
Charlize will make up for that.
I didn’t know it was based on a comic until last night. Good to know.
Stay safe ed from texas!
We’re hunkering down. Good thing I’m not planning to leave, as there’s no gas to be had today.
School district has canceled classes for tomorrow, and I’m sure we’ll all be home come Monday and Tuesday as well.
Family Bonding time.
Get out the “Risk” game.
Let your kids take Australia.
And seriously, please keep us updated (here or other social media when you can).
I’m flying to Albuquerque on Sunday and realized my connecting flight was in Dallas. Fortunately, I’m on Southwest, so it was only $17 to change the flights so that I’m connecting in Kansas City instead. Glad it was being talked about here. I’m oblivious and probably wouldn’t have known anything about it until my flights got cancelled Sunday morning.
We’ll remember to wave as you pass through
This shit looks scary legit. Man stay safe and batten down them hatches!
We have another friend in Pearland that’s going thru this too.
Holy shit. He actually did it
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/my-name-is-tobias-forge-and-im-the-man-behind-the-mask-in-ghost/
He is. . .
An interesting read:
https://medium.com/p/shadows-wing-legacy-of-the-crow-exclusive-cast-and-crew-interviews-d5e5e7f135a4
Will carve out some time. I unapologetically love that movie. And I’ve never seen any of the many sequels.
Morning Pan
Today will be all about sales reports and washing my floors.
Van, did you get the email I sent yesterday?
Yup, thank you, both books claimed.
Thank you.
Floors done. Now to convert sales reports from US funds to CDN funds. My life is so exciting :ermm:
I actually got more done than I expected today. Not only did I do the sales report, but I got a good start on year end.
Here’s to being productive. :happy:
I’m having an asparagus quiche for lunch. It’s full of yum
Any dish with asparagus does not compute
Today is Tiff’s mom’s birthday. Surely an emotional one around the Mangan household today.
🙁
:heart:
What the bunny wrote.
:heart:
When I get the urge to write crap poetry, it reminds me that I miss the DP podcast.
I’m hearing about evacuations in south TX now. hope Ed and family are safe!
Agreed! Stay safe, Ed!
Yeah, that’s further down south from us. Folks that live on the water are about to get a whole lot more of it in their houses for the next week.
Unless we lose power for an extended length of time, I’m expecting to ride it out. We should get a lot of rain, but I don’t anticipate we’ll be getting anything in the house where we are.
I like it. I love it.
CP: I Like It, I Love It — Lyrics Born
So, Cat 4 it is….Harvey wants to play rough.
When Harvey beings out the whips remember your safe word.
Seriously though, please be careful. Only good thoughts
While we were eating dinner, one of the televisions was turned to CNN and they were talking about Harvey. The header showed ” Texas officials encourage writing your name and social security number on your arm if you choose not to evacuate”. This led to the discussion whether this was for identifying for deportation purposes or morbidity.
Just before Katrina, desperate first responders in Mississippi resorted to that, trying to drive home the seriousness of the situation in an attempt to try and get some of the old timers to evacuate. Those folks had weathered a lifetime of storms and figured they could ride it out.
I talked with one paramedic who saw an entire family that was likely to be killed because the 80 year old patriarch refused to leave. She told him if it was her time then so be it. Problem was her sons were not about to abandon her and their wives wouldn’t leave them.
The paramedic finally ask her to please write her name and SS# on her torso because the bodies they found after this sort of event had usually been thrashed around in the water with a lot of debris that tore off their clothes and limbs or at least their fingers making, them hard to identify.
Interestingly enough, THAT did the trick. She still wasn’t concerned about her own morbidity but the idea that people would see her naked … that was a deal breaker.
Humans. Go figure.
They don’t often make sense.
CP: The Truth — Handsome Boy Modeling School
… any updates from Ed?
We’re still here. Actually, we got a couple of inches of rain during the night, but we’ve been in a region that has largely been free of rain the rest of the day. The big training arm of the storm was further east and the tornado was several miles to the west of us.
So far, so good!
There’s apparently also a displaced alligator concern across many southern neighborhoods, due to Harvey.
I don’t care if it is a great band name– I really don’t want Displaced Alligators on my street.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/aug/24/mathematical-secrets-of-ancient-tablet-unlocked-after-nearly-a-century-of-study?CMP=share_btn_fb
Talk about a late math assignment.
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/royal-family-doctor/n30770?snl=1 Bill Hader trying not to lose it….
“Her Downton Abbey”
The Chunnel.
Got to be careful of those trolls with riddles
Don’t know if it’s good for international folks, but Google Play is offering Peter Dinklage’s “Rememory” for free to own today. The premise looks interesting enough, and how bad can you go when you’ve got Tyrion Lanister as your lead?
https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Rememory?referrer=utm_campaign%3DSlickdeals&id=cE7gXjGzvbc
Pixels.
This.
I’m sure Adam Sandler must have had some compromising pictures of people to get that one made…
Atomic Blonde: I thought it was a solid spy flick.
Charlize- killed it!
Pretty good. Agree about the stdk !
It’s a bank holiday weekend and I’m working it.
Grrrr!
What a difference a day makes. Bayou behind the house is definitely the highest we’ve ever seen it. My weather station shows we’ve had 15.75″ since the begining and 5.5″ of that since midnight.
For once, the weather folks may not have been exaggerating…
Did you prep the bigger boat just in case?
Still holding out okay?
Disconcerting to be sure.
Based on where the water is after 15.75″ … what’s your guess as to how much more rain it will take before your feet start to get wet. 🙁
It’s hard to say. The bayou behind our house still has several feet of vertical, and of of course it spreads out much wider as it does so. What’s harder to gauge is how much water is pouring in still from upstream. They’re still talking about another 20″ over the next couple of days.
What really makes this even more difficult is just how widespread the deluge is. We’ve had issues in previous years where particular spots got overwhelmed. This time, there’s no dry spots our real capacity for the water to drain to.
Maybe it’s too much of a precaution, but we have started moving some essentials up to the second floor.
I hope the youngers aren’t too freaked out. That goes for the parents too.
I think that is clear thinking on your part.
What do they call it .. a cost/loss study ? Which would make you the most upset a year from now – that you did some unnecessary work … or that you didn’t head off a bunch of loss when you had the chance to?
Besides, got to do something to keep the kids busy! 🙂
Hoping for the best.
Looks like the school year is going to pretty much be a do over – our district a a couple of others have canceled classes through Labor Day.
Yikes!
Someone has been reading Van’s mind:
http://www.boredpanda.com/uninspiring-quotes-instagram-unspirational/?utm_source=didyouknow&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=DYK
These are quite funny.
Meanwhile, in cattle country, we are, once again, having record breaking heat. Expect daily temperatures of about 32C (just shy of 90F) for the next few days. I think I need a bigger fan
Nope, nope, NOPE!!!
https://weddingjournalonline.com/vacuum-pack-wedding-photographs/
When Tiffany and renew our vows. . .
Ummmm nope
+I
New song from Gary Numan
https://youtu.be/lHomCiPFknY
Finally listened to this.
Wonder if it was produced by Trent Reznor.
Nope. Ade Fenton.
Di na na nunt na nunt, Di na na nunt na nunt
Well, the power has lasted long enough and the flood waters remained at bay for the really important things – got to see the Game of Thrones season finale. Holy Cow!
Now we’ll see what happens overnight. At least with how the weather radar looks now, I think I’ll be able to wake up to dry floors again in the morning.
That outcome matters the most!
As for GoT, I’ve been avoiding Facebook.
Here’s hoping you are high and dry for the duration.
Any chance you have “flood insurance”?
I tried to buy some after Katrina and State Farm told me that you can only get it through the federal government. The Federal Government told me I could only get it if I lived in an officially zoned flood plane. I do not.
I wonder how many folks in Houston live in a “zoned” flood plane. I wonder how many bought the special flood policy … because “home-owners” will not cover that. This is going to be bad 🙁
Apparently plane = plain according to my spell checker.
We do carry flood insurance. According the the map, I’m outside the 100 year, but inside the 500 year flood plain. So, we do at least have that going for us. It would suck, but it wouldn’t be a financial catastrophe. It is separate from our home policy, as is our windstorm insurance. That may be the best plot armor in this case – we’re too well covered to have something happen…
Since I looking to stay up for a while to make sure we weren’t in for a repeat of last night (and so far, we’re looking dry in my neck of the woods tonight), I took the opportunity to watch that “Rememory” movie. Overall, I enjoyed it. The premise was interesting and rather original. Dinklage definitely carries his weight.
Not likely to win any awards, but not one to be ashamed of, either.
‘Not likely to win any awards, but not one to be ashamed of, either.’
Ask any of those I’ve been with…..
At least they don’t say “looking dry in my neck of the woods tonight” . . .
Cough. . .
Keeping fingers crossed for your neck of the woods, Ed!
So plenty of games to ponder buying in the future for the board gamers on here:
https://arstechnica.co.uk/gaming/2017/08/best-board-games-gen-con-2017/
Because what I really need is more games.
Crap joke, nicked from twitter:
I’ve been trying to teach my dog to balance an amphibian on his nose but you just can’t teach an old dog newt tricks
Did you also nick their coat?
Morning Pan
7am and I already have every window of the house open
This is a short week right?
No?
*sighs resignedly*
Well, the morning has come and we’re still here.
Some impressive perspective on just how much water in involved in this event:
https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000005394951/before-and-after-harvey.html
Wow. that’s a lot of water. Glad you are all safe, Ed.
I have friend in the Houston area and he and his family literally fled their home this morning and are on higher ground off of i10 at Weimar (?).
Please be safe and smart, Ed and fam!!!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middelfart
It’s going to be that kind of week.
Dont blame me!
CP: Epic — Faith No More
Saw Rocky 2 for the first time tonight.
It was a rerun of the first and a bit shit.
I’m not going to rush to the defense of Rocky II – – which I’ve never fully seen, and haven’t partially seen in decades – – but isn’t the key difference (SPOILERS) that he beats Apollo at the end?
Hence me using the word basically.
And without Rocky II, there couldn’t have been a Rocky III, which would have meant no Rocky IV.
… and what about Rocky & Bullwinkle ?
We’re just waiting for Mr T. And I’m not talking about the bull
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/12/opinion/sunday/identity-politics-white-men.html
Bravo. Feel free to disagree, but please read.
It is a very good essay.
Boiled down to a few sentences, I think his point is – We all feel/have felt pain caused by someone else. We share that as humans and maybe we should allow that to be a starting point that brings us together.
There wasn’t a single point I disagreed with. Very good article.
Have you all told me about this band and I forgot?
https://youtu.be/bOcjQbRTqO8
Not I.
GOT finale
Holy Cow indeed.
The finale season is looking like it will be one big battle..
CP: You Cross My Path — The Charlatans
Super Troopers 2 trailer came out today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbxd4GomQ9w
I never saw Super Troopers 1.
Full disclosure … I’ve never seen Rocky. Any of them.
You aren’t missing much, well at leAst as far as Rocky 1 and 2 is concerned.
Super Troopers is overloaded with hilarious moments. There’s a lot of stupid-funny, but also a lot of classic moments. I have zero faith that Super Troopers 2 will be any good.
The first Rocky is a Best Picture winner, and I recall it being pretty great stuff – – especially if you don’t know the ending. (cough) I do think you can stop after 1, although Creed is supposedly just as good.
I enjoyed Creed quite a bit.
Morning Pan
Having a lot of trouble getting my butt in gear this morning.
Boo!
http://www.sciencealert.com/a-physicist-just-explained-why-the-large-hadron-collider-disproves-the-existence-of-ghosts#.WaSY8iE5i3I.facebook
I just put kitty’s water dish in the dishwasher. The way she’s acting, you’d think she was dying of thirst. The fact she has another water dish is beside the point as it’s not her favourite dish. Sometimes she’s worse than having a kid around
Well Deadpan, we knew it was going to happen at some point. It’s movie time
Today’s movie is I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House
The Netflix Write up: a nervous nurse who scares easily finds herself caring for an ailing horror novelist while living In a house with hidden secrets
It’s a Netflix original, which means nothing as I’ve seen some of those which were not very good (Spectral comes first to mind)
A house where someone dies can never again be bought or sold by the living. Only borrowed from the ghosts within
Ok, the preamble is too long. Get on with the movie already
She’s still talking
Blah, blah, blah
Oh look, there is something happening. She’s still narrating, but al least the screen shows more than blackness
She finally stopped talking. Now let the movie actually begin
Old lady
Exterior, evening
She spends a lot of time just standing
You know, they invented the light for a reason. Turn some on
What an old cassette player
And we’re just standing again
She’s narrating again
My goodness she seems to have a lot of toiletries
Maybe they ran out of light bulls and she hasn’t gone to the store to get more yet
Holy crap, she used a light switch
What an old fashion phone
She missed the upside down chair
Would love some Ed from texas check in announcement……
My other friend, who fled yesterday, made
It to Memphis today
None of the dining room chairs match
The pone cord is moving on its own
Back in to the darkness
More narration
The carpet has been put in its place
An actual typewriter
No tv
She’s not a very good nurse
Time passes. I know because her narration told me
What the hell is she doing with the flowers?
Answer the door.
Moody wall
She’s having a very odd conversation with the estate lawyer
Reading a scary story by her patient
The nurse is just strange
Yum. Blackberries
Now she’s covered in mold, just like the wall
The story of Pally Parson’s
I just want you to know, I have no idea what’s going on
Rain
The walls and windows are as thin as bones
Eleven months later and the tv still doesn’t work
I admit, this movie dose have some creepy moments. However, I thin 80% of it is because the nurse (the main character) is weird and creepy herself. Seriously, I wouldn’t want her looking after me
She still seems adverse to lights
Looking for the source of the mold
She found a box labelled Polly
Now she’s feeling up the box labelled Polly
The woman has definitely embraced the art of slow motion
Polly’s box contains another box
That second box contains letters
Now we know how Polly died
And where he hid the body
Once again, a terrible nurse. Can’t even brush her patient’s hair properly
Polly is whispering into Ms. Blum’s ear
Give it up Lily. That tv is never going to work
Lights are still not her friend
Polly has her head on backwards
Light. Try to embrace them
She’s screaming. I can’t figure out why
She’s narrating again. *sigh*
Ms. Blum fell
So, how did she die?
And we’re narrating again
The movie is over
Like I said, it did have a few creepy moments, but I found it more baffling than anything else
Netflix should stick to Marvel Shows And Voltron
I finally read that Crow article that Van posted a few days ago. Great info about a great film.
And yes, it would be good to hear an Ed update, when you can!
Ok, I have to admit I still have not watched the season finale of Luke Cage, but Misty with robotic arm is making me look forward to S2:
https://iearths.blogspot.ca/2017/08/misty-knight-gets-upgrade-in-new-luke.html
Yep, the Texas outpost of Deadpan Land remains high and dry. We had quite a bit of rain directly on us and upstream of the watershed that we sit on. Still, the bayou behind the house is holding at the level it has for the last few days. Flow velocity has shot way up, through.
Jen’s parents and sister did get a good bit of water in their homes, unfortunately. They’ve gathered up their stuff and are currently trying to find enough dry pavement to get from her parents place over to us.
At least for our place, I think the threat has not passed.
Glad to hear your house is dry, I hope your extended family get the help they need.
Dammit! /not +now
i.e. I think the threat has now passed.
However, we’ve not been able to find a proper Moses to part the waters in a drivable spot to get my in-laws over to us. Hopefully, the flooded bayous will have receded enough overnight with the end of the rain to allow travel tomorrow.
Is a Proper Moses like a Personal Jesus? Do we need to get Depeche Mode involved?
😀
Just don’t ask Typhoid Mary.
There’s a fly in the house. Kitty is amused
Some more impressive pictures…though they barely capture what the region has been through.
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/08/hurricane-harvey-leaves-houston-under-water/538215/
These remind me the images from Hurricane Sandy in NJ.
So, apparently Bladerunner 2049 is getting some “prequel” minifilms leading up to it. This is the first:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn-csFKhQCg
Woa!
They had me at replicant.
… and this is disturbing
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/
Highlites –
“Psychologically, however, they are more vulnerable than Millennials were: Rates of teen depression and suicide have skyrocketed since 2011. It’s not an exaggeration to describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. Much of this deterioration can be traced to their phones.”
“It may be a comfort, but the smartphone is cutting into teens’ sleep: Many now sleep less than seven hours most nights. (snip) Fifty-seven percent more teens were sleep deprived in 2015 than in 1991. In just the four years from 2012 to 2015, 22 percent more teens failed to get seven hours of sleep.”
“The correlations between depression and smartphone use are strong enough to suggest that more parents should be telling their kids to put down their phone. As the technology writer Nick Bilton has reported, it’s a policy some Silicon Valley executives follow. Even Steve Jobs limited his kids’ use of the devices he brought into the world.”
I have my doubts.
True that corelation is not causation.
Still, the skyrocketing rates of mental health type issues is stunning.
I read somewhere it was more access to social media (which can be accessed by the phone)more than the phone itself. After all, if you want to feel depressed, as a school aged child, ask the world of social media how you look/feel/or any other such things. People can be cruel.
Yep.
The article states – “What’s the connection between smartphones and the apparent psychological distress this generation is experiencing? For all their power to link kids day and night, social media also exacerbate the age-old teen concern about being left out. Today’s teens may go to fewer parties and spend less time together in person, but when they do congregate, they document their hangouts relentlessly—on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook. Those not invited to come along are keenly aware of it. Accordingly, the number of teens who feel left out has reached all-time highs across age groups. Like the increase in loneliness, the upswing in feeling left out has been swift and significant.”
It’s nice to be among the youngest in the crowd again! Toto just wrapped, waiting now for Pat Benatar.
Africa is a good song guys, but I dunno if it merits a 20-minute jam.
So did Ms Benatar still have the vocal chops?
Funny you should ask. . . . I thought she sounded mostly great, but she was struggling a bit to hit the high notes. She was acting surprised about it, so I assume she was just having an off-night. She’s 64, belting out these songs every night, so it’s going to happen from time to time. Unfortunately, she was a tiny bit of a diva about it, blaming AZ dryness and cutting off “Hell is For Children” before it finished.
I’d still recommend seeing her while she’s still performing.
I find the ideas of eating dogs is revolting.
I know it’s hypocritical as pigs are just as intelligent and I eat bacon.
But I still find it revolting, I don’t care who you are.
This is an interesting quandary. Excluding the vegetarian argument, there are other animals that fall in the same category, the horse comes first to mind. This is considered a delicacy in some countries but there are people who would cringe at the idea. How about monkey? Not chilled monkey brains ala Indiana Jones, but actual cooked meat?
On a related note, that falls under my crazy upbringing, when I was on the farm we had a sow named Spot. She was all pink except for one black spot on her nose. She was basically a pet dog. If you went to pet her, she would roll over to get a tummy scrub. She would come when called, and was generally a 500 lb. dog. Ostensibly she was a breeder, but there came a time… You just don’t know how it affects a twelve-year-old girl to see her pet headless, strung up on her back legs, with the blood pouring out.
In conclusion, while I admit the idea is also distasteful to me, if it was the normal food choice in the land, I would probably try dog. I’ve had wolf, would it be much different? It would just add to the list of exotic foods I have tried. Again, it would have to be what is normally eaten in the area. I have no desire to try such delicacy in North America, or anywhere else it is not the normal custom. I’ve eaten enough “pets” to last a life time, thank you very much.
That’s a pretty awful story, Ryah, but apparently pretty common. I’m glad I was a city boy.
There’s zero logic to my rules:
I’ve eaten rabbit.
I wouldn’t eat dog, although I might if I ever visited Taiwan or China, and it was served to me. Same for horsemeat.
I eat pork, but am uncomfortably aware of their intelligence, compared to dogs.
I will never eat octopus or dolphin – – or any kind of primate. These creatures have shown too much self-awareness for me to ever consider them a food source.
These rules set to change when our current world leaders push us into a Mad Max apocalypse.
Morning Pan
Today we try to wrastle inventory into shape. Then it’s lunch with Boo.
Today is my boss’s birthday. Best boss ever.
Ah inventory, why do you hate me?
I give up. I’m leaving in 15 minutes anyway. Inventory can sit and stew.
(actually, I sent a note to my boss asking why we’re are out by 100+ items.)
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-41093066
Kudos to these guys for following through on one of Terry Pratchett’s final requests. With a steamroller.
The game of Clue we never got to play …
Terry Pratchett
At the fair
With a Steam Roller.
And speaking of brilliant people gone too soon. . . https://issuu.com/paulparkinson/docs/podcast_user_magazine_issue__16
I’m surprised how much this still gets me.
:'(
CP: Amends — Garbage
So bought a ticket to go to this next year:
https://nineworlds.co.uk/2018
It will be my first time to any sort of convention.
I didn’t recognize anyone at first glance, but I’m sure something appealed. Some cons are very fun, so I hope that’s one of those for you
Awesome! Cons are actually a lot of fun, when run properly. (As we’ll all see when we do Archon, someday).
Someday.
Four weeks from today, I’ll be purchasing alcohol, mixers, paper goods and 60 pounds of little smokies for Sausagefest!
With all the flooding going on, and Harvey, I decided to buy a solar charger for our phones. Just in case.
Check out the big brain on ditto!
Hard to get much solar power when it’s raining.
Wow. What will I do if it is *dark*? ;P
Add this to your arsenal and you might just find yourself, “the most powerful man in the neighborhood”!
http://tinyurl.com/ybhnh7u6
This is how supervillains are made.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/martha-stewart-snoop-dogg-ghost_us_59a4ef60e4b0446b3b860fd1
Doggy style.
Morning Pan
Kitty sees the vet today.
Did Kitty get a clean bill of health?
At the vet. Kitty’s ears are the best they’ve been in the two years we’ve had her. It’s amazing what a little tlc can do
*applause!*
Yea!
Yay!
A friend of mine makes home made jam. Today with lunch I’m going to try the safe apple-grape
safe = sage.
It was nummy
Is this the friend who makes the crabapple liqueur?
CP: Silver — Echo & The Bunnymen
And now begins the slow crawl back to “normal”
Just good to hear from you!
Hmm, disturbingly quiet around here. I promise, I’ve been showering the whole time!
Happy Friday morning before a long weekend Pan!
Today it’s all about cleaning my desk and shredding paper
Comedy gold:
https://www.someecards.com/news/politics/nazi-socialist-history-mike-stuchbery/
Goodbye to Oscar:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/richard-anderson-dead-six-million-855240
Not only have we been having a record hot summer, we are now reaching record for highest number of smokey days too
At least you can tell people you’re hot n’ smokey, when they ask.
I’m not bothered you haven’t noticed but I am bothered you care about it:
http://bbc.in/2x0zLBU
We are all whippersnappers to this thing:
https://www.cityweekly.net/utah/devastated/Content?oid=2305453
“Arborist Seppuku.”
There, I’ve cleaned my desk and destroyed all the evidence.
On Tuesday I give all the records a quick once over to make sure I didn’t miss anything and then year end will be over. :w00t:
And hey, I should also point out that it was good having a beer and talking about Motley Crue, family, and Vanamonde with Lo Pan last night.
Nothing good I hope.
You’re a great houseguest, Van! I have firsthand experience with this.
Motley Crue, on the other hand….
I can’t wait to hear about your first hand experience… 🙂
Cool.
“a beer”
There is cool and then there is this:
https://circuitbeard.co.uk/2017/08/28/tomy-turnin-turbo-dashboard-outrun-arcade/
That takes a lot of specialized knowledge to pull off a project like that.
CP: The Reckoning — UNSECRET featuring Matthew Perryman Jones
So it even ends like B7 on a bloody cliffhanger:
https://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/2017/09/01/september-1-2017-dark-matter-cancelled/
On the good news front:
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/killjoys-renewed-final-two-seasons-syfy-1202544960/
Yay!
Well, looks like I chose correctly. Of the two, Dark Matter never really caught my interest. I was on board with Killjoys from the start, even though it’s no longer really the show it started out as.
True, but I still enjoy Killjoys. 🙂
I thought you were pretty meh on Dark Matter?
I am, it’s like Blakes 7 with better SFX and less interesting characters.
But it was one of those crap shows I would watch.
Oh! Happy birthday, T-Cat!
What the man said.
Happy Birthday Ed from Texas!
Happy birthday, Ed from TX! I hope you get lots of unsoggy presents, and that all of your people remain safe.
New KMFDM is good! Some old-style Deadpan humor in my review:
http://www.metalasylum.net/reviews/2017/mr17044.php
Everyone knows it’s “Kill Mother Fuckin Depesche Mode.”
Also, if the album is as good as the song “Shock”… then they’re on to something. That jam is for real.
Also, terrible album title.
heh
made me laugh
also … made me want to check out the album.
Thank y’all. I’ll be starting the day trying to get caught up some more at work. The rest of the day will probably be wasted on frivolous pursuits…
Frivolous pursuits! Frivolous pursuits! Frivolous pursuits!
Have a wonderful, and dry, birthday Ed!
Happy birthday to the wonderful hostess, t-cat
She says thank you! 🙂
Happy birthday, Ed!
CP: Revolution — Van William feat. First Aid Kit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzVIwNucZ8A
And fun, safe, long weekend wishes to everyone, if have one. If not, then enjoy commemorating Japanese surrender day, 1945.
+you
Happy Birthday (a day late), TCat!!!!
The Hostess with the Mostest!
And ed,
You have to
Wait until
A day late for my happy wishes
Quiet.
You can hear a pin drop.
Gulp!
http://www.popsci.com/fire-ants-take-advantage-hurricane-harvey-floods
Yeah, they are some nasty critters…
I have memories of my mom throwing me in the shower to try to get them off me.
Hopefully the ants and the gators will cancel each other out?
Interesting concept:
http://radio.garden/live/whitehorse/ckrw/
Fun! How does it choose the stations for each region?
I have no idea.
Today I’m kicking it old school and making Rice Krispies squares
Happy Birthday, Ed!
I know, it’s a day late.
RE: KMFDM, my favorite on the new album is “Only Lovers,” but “Shock” is among the best. There are a few others on that level.
http://www.outerplaces.com/science-fiction/item/16691-terrible-science-fiction-movies-great-soundtracks
Co-written by Tee Morris.
I can’t argue with No.1 but I don’t think it deserves to classed as ‘terrible’.
Agreed. It’s not.
Steely Dan’s Walter Becker dies aged 67
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41140441
I hope he reeled in the years.
RIP
If you want a perfect encapsulation of everything that is despised about Pitchfork, go read their review of “Two Against Nature” and remember that that album won the Grammy for best album of 2000.
Or, conversely, if youre Beck, Eminem, or Radiohead it encapsulates everything you hate about the Grammys…
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/7486-two-against-nature/
How did any editor approve that piece? It’s almost impressive to be able to lose all credibility in the first sentence.
This seems to be a man and his opinion, an opinion adrift on an iceberg far removed from society at large.
Finally going to see WW
Good score.
Youre ahead of me!!!!!
And we tried some new Netflix series today. Norsemen is clever and fun. “Dad of Light” is good and moving, though the last episode was not needed.
Hmmm:
https://arstechnica.co.uk/gaming/2017/09/the-expanse-review/
Yeah, While I enjoy the books, and TV show, I don’t think it’s a game I would want.
Late Happy Birthday wishes Ed!
Saw the new “Defenders” show was now on Netflix so I decided it was time to quit procrastinating and get with it.
Been binge watching “Iron First” and “Jennifer Jones”.
When I finish those I shall tackle the other one whose name escapes me at the moment.
Curious to get your take on them. I have yet to see the Defenders, although the lackluster reviews aren’t encouraging.
Jennifer Jones … not bad. Could be better. Not as quick paced and “snappy” as I am used to from my Marvel shows … but maybe that is what they have to do to pad out a weekly show in order to get a full season of episodes. Also seems to rely on the title character doing things that are sometimes just stupid, in order to keep the plot from getting wrapped up mid season. a lot on the title character doing things that seem stupid. Also, also … I find it interesting that the show is chocked full of graphic violence, graphic sex and strong language … but no nudity. IMO that doesn’t effect the show, I just find it interesting that of all of the things they are willing to show happening to the human body … they draw the line at actually showing it naked. I am 12 eps into it.
Iron Fist – As I have never been a martial arts fan, I find I am liking this a LOT more than I thought I would. I am 4 eps into this and I like that there seem to be multiple sides to this story line and it isn’t clear exactly who the “good” guys are. So far I am like this more than Ms. Jones’ story.
In defense of JJ:
As far as I remember, most of her stupid actions were done either out of emotional conflict, general self-destructiveness, or mind control.
I also winced at a lot of the villain’s antics. The metaphor was very powerful, and definitely struck a nerve with me.
Well I have a confession to make:
I’ve never watched ‘This is Spinal Tap’
Seen clips, but never watched it from beginning to end.
Tonight I shall rectify that on a trip to the arty cinema.
You’ve probably heard most of the best jokes already, but there are still so many great little moments throughout. That may be my most frequently quoted movie.
By far my favorite satire/mockumentary. I’m sure youll hate it
No, but the Amp going to 11 was the funniest bit.
Christopher Guest at his comedic best.
There are some great jokes paired with a lot of slow periods.
http://www.boredpanda.com/abandoned-places-before-after-pablo-iglesias-maurer/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social_share&utm_campaign=3AMT
Notes from the highway.
Those are both cool and sad.
Home again from Cali… Cali… Cali….
Home again from Cali.
Yes, I think so.
The opposite of Grimdark:
http://ariaste.tumblr.com/post/163500138919/ariaste-the-opposite-of-grimdark-is-hopepunk
note to self, no more drinking on a school night.
Looks like I picked a bad week to quit sniffing glue.
Hmmm:
http://bit.ly/theybothdie
A few days back I had a dream that Fox was bringing “Fire Fly” back as an animated series. The few scenes I caught worked pretty well.
So this happened:
https://youtu.be/N3VONJxZEl8
Moral bankruptcy is calling:
http://nyp.st/2wBIeZT
I really want to say this is a tongue in cheek article, but…
Right! I kept waiting for the wink.
I mean… New York post is one Kevin Bacon degree away from The Enquirer.
The fact that it fails to talk about the million dead SOUTH Koreans that would result or the untold number of Japanese that would die (prevailing winds will carry the fallout over Japan) makes me fear it isn’t a joke.
The simple fact that the Chinese have told the US that they will come to NK aid if the US attacks first also means this could quickly spiral into a nuclear confrontation.
There is the theory that Kim is the only leader out there that is more (or at least equally) inept than Trump.
That Kim is a figure head who is propped up and kept in power by his Oligarchs. As long as this handful of men continue to be able to run their side hustles and fill their off-shore coffers, Kim is allowed to play “great emperor”.
CHINA is the key here. They are the ones that allow trade to continue with NK. That NK is a huge thorn in the side of America and China is the one making NK possible … gives China a BIG bargaining chip.
So I have heard it suggested that this whole situation becomes defused if the US is just willing to negotiate with China. I am not sure what piece of the puzzle they want but if the US was just willing to suck it up and give it to them … this apparently ends with out ANY of the nightmare scenarios.
So all we have to do is have Trump be the adult in the room and let China “win” this one.
“all we have to do is have Trump be the adult in the room”
The link below is another of the countless opinion pieces, but it brings up many points I hadn’t considered.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/foreign-policy/349208-north-korea-may-actually-want-war
NK already has the artillery power to lay waste to SK. That was already a deterrent to invasion, so why nukes? This post states it may be to keep the US at bay while it marches on SK, a goal it has always wanted.
I find his theory unravels as soon as he wrote the following “Assuming Kim is a rational actor,”.
I have never seen Kim be accused of being a “rational” anything.
Interesting point about NK’s motives. Unless they have some secret unknown supervillain scheme, they have nothing to gain from an exchange vs. the US. As scary as those maniacs are, the scarier maniac is in the White House.
While I don’t advocate head-in-the-sandism or chosen ignorance, I’d also warn against hanging too anxiously on to these headlines.
Other things you can do:
Remain informed, spread awareness, notify elected officials of your concerns, get involved with legit activism, rock the vote.
I’m reminded of the line in “War Games” that “the only winning move is not to play.” I’m not an advocate of a preemptive attack especially considering the death sentences we’d be handing our allies. But in the same token, NK will keep on upping the capacity and range of their weapons. Add in the fact that it is in NK’s, Russia’s and China’s interest to keep NK a functional dictatorship as it is a distraction for US policy. I guess the best case is that NK evolves the way China did and becomes less fanatical as it ages, but there are no indications that will be the case.
I still think this is a “follow the money” issue.
Get China to play along with threatening to seize the off shore assets of those who are really running the shore and Kim will become a tiger with no teeth. Got to get China to be interested in curbing this problem … and then those pulling the strings will get Kim to calm down and go back to focusing on his Elvis Cosplay and hanging out with Dennis Rodman.
justaJOe is a smart man. 🙂
Sadly, I am probably JUST as qualified to be President as the current holder of that position. 🙁
We all need someone SO much more qualified than I.
You’d be a vast improvement, of course a bag of Cheetos would be an improvement over the Cheeto in Chief.
Eastern European matchbox covers:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/maraid/albums/72157594234429063/page14/
silly people
http://www.warpedspeed.com/g/dumb-patients-correct-doctors/?utm_content=inf_10_1166_2&utm_source=gt&tse_id=INF_2b370890925211e7a7253d7eefa2109b
Tiffany needs to read these immediately.
So I’m watching the first episode of Will Vs the Future (don’t judge me) and the school principal is Biff!!!
Asymptote
I just like saying that word.
These are both creepy in the view of decay, and yet a impressive cool photo project:
http://gizmodo.com/watch-postcards-of-mid-century-resorts-transform-into-t-1798694530
As for North Korea – I’m not yet convinced that a preemptive strike is the least worst alternative. I agree that China is the key, since they are the ones keeping what few lights are still on in NK.
That said, about the only leverage I could see that we could apply would be a full on denial of access to the US market for all Chinese products until they stop propping up NK. Of course, that would likely crater the US economy in the process. Still, I’d rate that as a less worse prospect than a shooting war.
This has truly been a cluster going back through several administrations and none of them have handled it worth a damn.
Yeah but I’d rather actual presidents not handle it instead of a button humping lunatic playing as president
As I have heard it explained, we have NO pre-emptive strike capability that shuts down even MOST of NK offensive abilities. At least not in the first round.
Apparently their Nuke program is widely spread out in deep underground facilities that would be impervious to our nukes and take a long time for us to find with bunker busters and there is NO guarantee that we even know where it all is.
Also, NK apparently has the worlds largest collection of chemical weapon artillery shells and they are all aimed at SK. At the first sign of any “incoming” NK would lay waste to 100’s of thousands. Also – the THAAD systems they are installing in SK are for missiles. They do nothing to artillery shells.
So a pre-emptive strike does some damage, knocks out some capability but all it really achieves is the start of a shooting war.
Really, the term “pre-emptive” is a bit of a misnomer here as it doesn’t pre-empt a night mare. If it could produce anything positive I suspect it would have happened years ago.
And speaking of bombs, had the pleasure of watching Terminator Genysis last night.
It was a film.
Also watched a much better Arnie film called Maggie. A really well done, zombie slow burn that actually made something new of the tired genre. I know it wasn’t all around reviewed well, but Arnie is honestly brilliant and the fresh, heartfelt take makes it a Lo Pan winner
Have a lie down.
But I agree with you about Maggie.
In total agreement of Maggie. Fresh takes on anything is something we need more of.
I kinda hated the ending of Maggie, but otherwise, I was greatly impressed. Who knew that Arnold could actually convey emotion and be an actual actor?? I hope he does more roles like this.
Me too. I didn’t like the ending, but the overall movie was good, and I loved that Arnie did something very different.
Morning Pan
Today I wrastle a manuscript into book shape.
Hubby wore his pink shirt to work today, once again proving real men do wear pink… and ties with guitars on them.
Crap joke, that may or may not be based on a true event:
An retired WW2 fighter pilot was invited to speak at an all girls school about his wartime carreer.
“So there were two of the fuckers behind me, three fuckers to the right of me? Another fucker to the left” he told the audience.
The headmistress went pale and interjected:
“Ladies, the Focker was a German aircraft”
The pilot replied:
“That may be, but these fuckers were in Messerschmitts!” …
I had a client back in the 80’s who used to tell me that one on a regular basis. He kept forgetting he had already told me. He especially liked to tell that if there were any women present.
ick
If you like board games adaptions on your iPad:
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Board+Game/Eight-Minute+Empire/review.asp?c=75204
Hubby will often get iPad versions of our games
Speaking of games, we finally got around to playing Clank! at our house. My son won both games, but it is a fun game with lots of potential strategy. Don’t believe the rated 45 minutes a game, it takes at least a couple of hours with 3 or more people.
http://io9.gizmodo.com/theres-an-easter-egg-hidden-in-the-ready-player-one-mov-1797395680
Kinda cool.
Verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry excessively wordy, but there are some excellent insights here:
https://electricliterature.com/why-are-friendships-between-teen-girls-so-radioactive-c998f64e68a4
https://www.indy100.com/article/worst-tinder-date-gofundme-page-poo-window-fire-brigade-bristol-gofundme-7931031
If you haven’t yet heard this story.
OK, one more:
New Primus.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7957049/primus-new-song-the-scheme-desaturating-seven-album
Today is washroom cleaning day. Woo hoo?
There, two nice clean washrooms. :happy:
Well, I did my research on web hosting sites and wrote up a report for my boss. Once a decision is made, I get to create a website from scratch. I’m both excited and frightened of this prospect.
I keep doing things I’ve never done before in this job. It’s kind of cool.
Exciting! Will you go the WordPress route?
Ha! No. Our site is currently through WP (a holdover from a long time ago) and, honestly, neither my boss or I like it very much. Keep in mind, neither of us have any coding knowledge. None. Zero. Zip. We find, with our current site, it’s rather unwieldy to work with and not fun whenever a new title has to be added.
Every hosting site I looked at does WP compatibility but the big thing for us is drag and drop as well as wysiwyg.
I’m curious to see what you come up with. Not for this site – – I have no plans to switch Deadpan from WP – – but for the future of MetalAsylum.net.
I too am interested in know what Hosting site and platform you come up with … because you have to know these things to become king.
this Irma kinds scares me. My heart goes out to all of the people of the Caribbean Islands, the Keys, and Southern Florida. I hope the predictions are wrong and that this storm weakens over the next day or so, to a (less catastrophic?) smaller beast.
Good Luck, TRA! I think you are primarily out of the path, but still….
When I went to bed last night I thought we finally had an elderly relative convinced to drive North to the Orlando airport this morning and LEAVE.
This morning she texted that she was rethinking because Irma had weakened. *face palm*
Sure. Down to 175mph. Like that is going to make a difference.
Told her to consider which scenario was “worse” … spending a nice weekend in Atlanta that maybe didn’t turn out to be necessary – or having to camp out in her house for a week or more with no power and maybe no water.
Clearly she is going to wait until it is too late and she CAN’T leave.
Humans.
I don’t know. I’ve been to Atlanta….
(Seriously, your’e 100% right. Sorry you’re dealing with this worry. She needs to get out of the evacuation zone immediately.)
Well she has decided to stay and ride it out.
In her “pre-manufactured home”.
Based on the other old timers in the retirement community telling her that in Andrew they barely got any damage.
Never mind that this storm dwarfs that one.
So I am starting to make my list of what I need to take on a rescue mission late Sunday/early Monday.
Of course this could all just go away.
It could.
At the moment, in Orlando, we are at a high probability of experiencing tropical storm force winds and a low probability of experiencing hurricane force winds. I’m expecting to lose power for a few day, but to have a relatively damage free experience. Only time will tell on this one.
I hope that is the case. The last wind estimate I saw around 5 hrs ago (based on a path that took the center straight up the state) showed 75mph sustained winds all the way up to the Georgia state line.
Just found this great map
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at1+shtml/215356.shtml?hwind120#wcontents
Looks like only a 40% probability of 74+mph winds in the Sebring area. 80% chance of sustained 40mph winds.
That’s good I guess.
All the best wishes I can muster are with you, TRA!
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/business/media/rotten-tomatoes-box-office.html
Fascinating write-up on Rotten Tomatoes, and its effect on the film industry.
Trivia time.
Today I learned Captain America and Johnny Storm are the same person.
Go figure.
Capt America was quick the upgrade for his super hero status
was a quick upgrade (from Johnny Storm) to Capt America.
meaning he is a way better actor in Capt America than he was in Fantastic Four.
Oh right. I thought you meant in the comics.
You really didn’t know?
Bloody hell..
Sorry Van. I don’t follow actors careers quite that closely
Considering how terrible that movie was, I’ve chosen to forget everything about it.
Agreed, I’d never want to watch that first Captain America again.
😀
What?
Next you’ll be telling me that Batman/Dare Devil are the same person, or Green Lantern/Deadpool or Storm/Catwoman or Supman / The Atom.
Good smokey morning, Deadpan
Jack, further to the earlier conversation, I gave a list of 8 top choices to my boss, putting Hostgator as my top pic. They get an editors choice rating through PC.Magazine and seem to do everything we need. It’s really hard to know without actually working with them
Whether or not M goes with my recommendation… *shrug*
It may be a bit late for this but the last few times I went searching for a host site … one of the things I did was to call a host companies “customer support” phone number.
For one thing, I wanted to see how hard it was to get to a human on the phone.
When I did get a support person, I explained exactly why I had called and gauged what kind of reception I got. A small percentage were surly or sounded tired and haggard (an indication that they were overworked) which to me was a warning sign. Most were actually receptive and thought this was a pretty good idea.
Kitchen disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled. Next up, the floors
Lost in Translation:
https://storify.com/mooseallain/lost-in-translation/
A former co-worker suggested “Mary Kills People” to me. It’s an interesting series, only 6 episodes for the first season. If nothing else, it opens up the dialogue. It is well acted though.
FYI Van, the Brit isn’t the bad guy 😛
/faints
http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/now-is-exactly-the-time-we-should-be-talking-about-climate-change Phil Plait dropping truth.
Somewhere I just read an article that included the offhand thought … if Godzilla rose up from the Gulf and laid waste to the Houston area, then another came trudging into south Florida wreaking havoc to Miami … we’d waste no time and spare no money building giant, Godzilla killing, mech suites and training fighters to go in them.
History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man.
Great pull
Uhoh!
http://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-orville
A lot of those criticisms are the same ones I had with “Eureka”. Yet that lasted years.
It’s Sci-Fi though, so I am pulling for it.
Genre yes, but fox is the tv company.
NOOOOOOoooooooooooo!
Bye bye Darth:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41199638
Oh! You scared me. I thought the worst.
Me too.
Well he has dementia…
New Toadies album out today. Hope its good. The thing about the Toadies is that their last 3 or 4 albums are the epitome of 1/3 greatness, 2/3 filler.
I am pleased pleased PLEASED to report that this album is by far their strongest and most quality record in 16 years. Saints be praised!
Make up yo mind…
..and it’s goodbye to Don Williams, one of the few C&W stars whose songs I liked:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41209608
… aaand just got a phone call.
Seems that all the old timers who had convinced her to stay … have now evacuated. So she has now hit the road with her infirmed next door neighbor.
Hope she doesn’t spend the duration of the storm in her car on an interstate.
That’s been a definite risk here. The gas stations along the interstate have run out of fuel and traffic is reportedly moving around 5-7 miles per hour (significantly slower that Irma). People are getting stuck on the highways with no gas and just leaving their cars there to be towed away. Central Florida is still on par for Cat 1-2 winds, so we should be prepared. Again, never know until it hits (supposedly tomorrow afternoon).
I hope you and your loved ones (including the bottle collection) stay safe.
As so frequently occurs in these Natural disaster situations, those making poor decisions usually end up causing a negative impact for others.
Hearing that other relatives are having to now drive INTO the evacuation to retrieve our tardy Kin. Seems she is now too tired to drive any farther and of course, there are no hotel rooms to be had in the South East.
It is a car with 4 pensioners but only two drive and the youngest is 79.
So now another car will be added to the mix as well as 2 more drivers who will now face a 12 to 14 hour round trip to pick up people who decided NOT to leave when there was ample gasoline and the opportunity to make it an easy 2 day drive.
Wasn’t smart enough to take my advice 2 days ago but at least she was smart enough NOT to call me to save her from her own folly!
I’m not necessarily defending her. But, please keep in mind that we’re getting a lot of varied information, disinformation, exaggeration, and advice from a lot of different sources. A few days ago, I wasn’t even convinced the storm would actually hit Central Florida at all. Now it looks like it’s coming straight through, but at Cat 1 or Cat 2 speeds (not nearly what was predicted) and then I still see somewhere in any given story that this could be the most … storm in recorded history. Never sure what to actually believe any more. Only tomorrow will tell for sure.
To everybody in any hurricane’s path, stay safe and dry *hugs*
Crap joke for the day:
So this married man was visiting his girlfriend one day, she asked him to shave his beard.
“James, I like your beard but I would really love to see your handsome face.”
James replied “My wife loves this beard, I couldn’t possibly do it. She’ll kill me!”
“Oh please” the girlfriend asked again in a sexy lil voice.
“Really I can’t My wife loves this beard!” The girlfriend asked once more and he finally gaves in……….
That night, James crawled in bed with his wife while she was sleeping. wife woke up somewhat, felt his face, and replied “Oh, Michael, you shouldn’t be here. My husband will back home soon!”
So, random question, particularly for the non-American Deadpan contingent:
How do you pronounce grimaced or grimace
I’m listening to a an audio book and the author uses both of these words excessively. But, on top of that, the narrator pronounces them gri-MACED, with a hard second syllable and the ace part pronounced like the word ace.
I’ve only every used or heard it pronounced more like grimm-assed, with a slight emphasis on the first syllable.
The guy reads it like he’s never encountered the word before reading this book and tried to sound it out phonetically.
But, I’m left to wonder if this isn’t just a case of international folks pronouncing things differently. The narrator appears to be from the U.K.
I’ve Sent you how I would pronounce the word
In messenger.
I said enquiry rather than inquiry..ack!
I appreciate the effort, my friend. Sadly, Facebook won’t play the clip. I’ve tried several different times and it just sits there like it’s getting ready to play…any moment now….it just never does.
Never sure why sharing pictures and video on Facebook is such an amazing hassle. It’s a video of Mrs. TRA and I enjoying hurricanes in the pool during a hurricane. The sad truth is that Irma hasn’t really ramped up by this point.
Second update. 9:28pm EST and all is reasonable. The power has flickered often, but not gone out completely.
I’ve tried with a video, see if that works.
So I don’t do horror stories, but I’m going to see The new IT tomorrow.
The reviews have been mixed.
If by ‘mixed’ you mean 80% positive, 20% negative…then I guess
Have you read the book?
No, life is too short.
I read it at an age when it wasn’t that daunting. It’s probably the only that ever truly frightened me. I’m curious to see how the movie translation works. (Aside from creepy Tim Curry, I never thought much of the tv miniseries)
Ripped thru Iron Fist in a few days. I am beyond confused at all the hate. Yeah, there were dumb parts. Yeah there were a couple holes in the plot you can drive a Mack through, but how that’s different than most Super Hero properties I dont know. Sometimes I think people need to just calm the fuck down and enjoy the chop socky/actual descent character story.
After all.. it could be Inhumans…
Of all the Marvel to series on Netflix, it’s at the bottom.
But, I don’t hate it, now go and watch Defenders.
No it’s not. S2 of Daredevil is.
And I will.
You are so wrong it’s not even funny.
Yeah Ill combat you with actual facts and figures on this. S2 of Daredevil was so disappointing that its unwatchable the second time
Sez you!
I juzt did!
I’m glad you agree.
That I “sez” DD season 2 is shit? Yes I agree
I’m just reveling in your wrongness.
The Elektra actress was perfect in DD S2, even if they bungled the character a little bit.
I also did not hate Iron Fist, but I’d have a hard time recommending it.
I’m now about halfway through Iron Fist.
I don’t hate it.
I have tired all of the Netflix Marvel series…couldn’t stand any of them for more than a couple of episodes. Not sure if it’s just something about the whole aesthetic of them all, but they just aren’t drawing me in at all.
IT was ok, but be warned it’s only half of the story, I hadn’t realised they had split it into two films.
TRA – you are now our Canary in the Coal mine.
You are the closest person we have to Seabring so any updates on weather, power et… would be swell.
Here’s hoping it is a very UN-interesting event for you.
Yes.
First update.
https://www.facebook.com/jesse.flint.52/posts/10154674647206300?comment_id=10154674656551300¬if_t=feed_comment¬if_id=1505070509298004
Don’t worry. We’re safe in this video. We’re just screwing around because we’re waiting for the real storm to hit. There have been some really good winds, but they were not going at it while we were taking the video.
Oh, the humanity!
The Simutron, less exciting than it sounds but analog computers still fascinate this old foagy:
https://www.newscientist.com/letter/2144952-hugh-walton-hero-of-china-clay-computing-in-full/
The little heroes are often the biggest.
#crapwisdom
And since so many are talking about it……
I was highly unimpressed with the Orville trailer, so I’m not all that surprised by the severe bashing the pilot has received. . . . and it’s had a few defenders, but I’m not finding their praise to be credible (except for Ed’s “Suck it, critics!”).
I went through a Family Guy kick, and I generally like Seth McFarlane, but – – to steal Ryah’s phrase – – he’s not as cute as he thinks he is. He sucks as a leading man. I hated his schtick in that Western movie, and I get the impression that Orville will be that same schtick, just in space.
If it survives, or if I hear the right words in its favor, then I’ll check it out. Otherwise, I’ll pass, and not lose any sleep over it.
/rant
Jerry Pournelle died, was never a great fan of his work:
http://www.locusmag.com/News/2017/09/jerry-pournellle-1933-2017/
I’ve met him. He was ok. Nothing exciting in either direction (exceptionally nice, or exceptionally an ass). That is usually best in a guest.
I saw an interview with home once where he claimed he was responsible for the collapse of communism.
I stopped reading his works after that.
-o – e
+i
Never read his stuff. It would seem that he battled with a lot of people in the SF community, but there’s still a lot of reverence for his work.
Morning has morninged. Power is out and likely will be for several days (thawing meat BBQ block party tonight). The winds are high right now, but no rain. No damage to property (for me at least).
Good to hear you have arrived at today unscathed.
Let the BBQ’s begin !!!!
See, I knew this Irma was just a liberal conspiracy! /satire
Morning Pan
It’s another day.
We go shopping on Sunday mornings. Every morning, before we leave, I ask hubby if there’s anything he needs to be added to the list. Yesterday he assured me he didn’t need anything. This morning he came up to me rather sheepishly and asked if I could pick up some antiperspirant for him. I told him I should say no to teach him a lesson.
Silly hubby :ermm:
Hubby and I discovered something odd the other day.
We like to go on walks when it’s warm and not too smokey. We both have the same make and model of phone.We both put our phone in our front pocket when we walk. However, when we get home, his phone will say we walked 8 clicks, mine will say we only walked 5.5.
The only thing we figure is different is the length of our stride.
Were the step counts widely different?
Not really. only by a couple of hundred. Which, when you’re talking 6k or so, isn’t very much
Did either one of you experience any lost time.
/whistles the “X Files” theme.
My fitbit and my phone are never in agreement about my step counts.
the cat just fell asleep across my arm as i’m tryimg to type. How am I suppose to get any work done now?
You have fallen victim to a Cat1 Purricane!
Ok, this is a cute commercial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i5LvywRp4E
RE: The Orville
Well the pilot wasn’t that bad.
The humour often falls flat, everybody in the cast outacts McFarlane and it feels old fashioned.
Still it was enjoyable enough, the perversity of Fox decisions to cancel shows means it will probably get a S2
We tried watching The Orville last night but there was something wrong with the sound so we had to stop about ten minutes in. It’s re-airing tonight so we’ll try to watch it again tomorrow.
Subject heading from my inbox –
“We’re have suspicious action you’re account here”
Apparently they are also experiencing a complete failure of all primary and secondary Grammar systems.
Crap joke for the day:
A Boss Asks his Employee: “Do you believe that
there is Life After Death?”.
Employee: “Certainly not, there’s no proof of
it”.
Boss: “Well, there is now. After you left early yesterday to go to your brother’s funeral, he came here looking for you.” …
https://www.amazon.com/Undertaker-Dead-Black-Long-Leather/dp/B01FK076HE
Happy Monday.
It’ still hot as hell in Phoenix- no apocalyptic weather here.
So I watched Marc Maron stand up show on Netflix.
Didn’t find him that funny, but the routine about getting older and wondering if you have time left to do x was the best bit of the show.
He’s always been hit-or-miss for me, although people are always recommending his podcast.
Never better, though, than as the sleazy manager in GLOW.
Seems like a smart guy, a little bit of a downer though.
My co worker is a white privelage, “I’m not a commoner,” Right Wing-Trump Enthusist, who does Ju Jit Su and likes to roll around with other dudes on the mat.
I bring this up because everytime he tells the rest of the team about his Ju Jit Su rolling sessions, I think to myself, “huh this guy seems like he is power-hungry and a control freak.”
He’s never allowed himself to completely blackout- he taps out at the last possible moment, and he has mentioned to us how easy it really is to put a chokehold on someone (ie a girl on a date) causing them to blackout and not remember they did.
Because my co-worker is a vocal Teump supporter, I am afraid of him- meaning I would not trust him in any environment outside of a critical care hospital setting.
What doea that say about me?
You’re smarter than the average bear. Although, I don’t know if I’d want to be in a room alone with him even in the hospital setting.
Yeah, sounds like a creep, someone to avoid if you can.
This is the only time in history that someone’s political candidate of choice can help to indicate whether or not you’re safe in a room with them. Did he specifically say he could put a sleeper chokehold on a date? Because that’s really scary.
No. It’s been brought up in the past about how simple it is to do.
I truly believe he would never do that to a woman. But, I don’t feel the same way about his colleagues at his training center
It’s an all male class?
If so, that is weird in this day and age.
When you discover a web comic and have to read the whole lot in one sitting:
http://m.webtoons.com/en/romance/assassin-roommate/list?title_no=1050
“Girls Of The Wild” on the same site was quite a fun ride. And no, it isn’t what you think it is about. 🙂
I also really like Erma on Tapas, though I don’t like how Tapas is run.
https://tapas.io/series/Erma
J.J. Abrams to Write and Direct Star Wars: Episode IX
http://www.eonline.com/news/879384/j-j-abrams-to-write-and-direct-star-wars-episode-ix
That’s pretty big news. My first reaction is disappointment. I think this means it will be pretty good, but not on the same level greatness as the originals.
I don’t feel good or bad about this development. Abrams seems to want to build on his past efforts so I expect EP9 to be pretty good. Truth be told I’m actually more interested in the side movies being made. I think they afford more opportunities to be original.
Adulting today sucks
CP: Atomic Dog — George Clinton
I just spoke with Doom Metal icon, Lee Dorrian. Super nice guy. The accents aren’t exactly the same, but there were a bunch of moments when I thought I was speaking with Van.
If he’s Scottish I will have to hunt you down..cough
Ah he is from Coventry, you are safe.
Very similar sense of humor too, if not the same musical tastes.
Hmmmm… have you ever seen the two of them together at the same time?
http://cdn.theobelisk.net/obelisk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/lee-dorrian.png
This picture disproves nothing.
Crap mini joke:
Yesterday, someone told me I had a. Ice bum. I can’t see it myself..
+n
Nope. I like ice bum better
I thought that was the joke.
Morning Pan
Lunch with the boss today.
Yuck. iTunes 12.7 removes Apps and Books. So, you might as well delete the Mobile Applications directory since you don’t need it anymore.
How am I supposed to listen to my audio books?
Do you mean audiobooks or text?
Audiobooks. They currently reside in the books portion of iTunes. If they get rid of that, will they just count as regular music now?
Audiobooks is a separate menu and is still in iTunes. Books have to be manually copied to your device.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/lorynbrantz/9-genius-sex-moves-to-try-on-your-man-this-fall?bffbvideo&utm_term=.djv7X83K8#.rqKoqem2e
*This article is for entertainment purposes only. Please don’t pour burning caramel on your loved ones.
I played kickball last night for the first time in . . . . 30+ years? Sprinting from one base to another will let you know exactly how out of shape you are.
Did you still get picked last 🙁
By the way – – the pint glass arrived, and has been used. 🙂 Thanks, Dave and T-Cat! And thanks, Tony!
CP: I Won’t Give Up — Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School of Medicine
This is hardly news about this author but at least some people stood upto him:
http://lithub.com/when-roald-dahls-editor-decided-he-was-too-much-of-a-prick-to-publish/
There’s a story about a gropy Isaac Asimov toward young Connie Willis that knocked him off of any pedestal I’d ever placed him on. Let’s not even discuss Arthur C Clarke’s offenses.
Fascinating. https://theconversation.com/want-to-fix-americas-health-care-first-focus-on-food-81307
It won’t format well here, but this was a nice, simplified chart:
A quick guide to healthy eating
Benefit Fruit, nuts, fish, vegetables, vegetable oil, whole grains, beans, yogurt
In-between Cheese, eggs, poultry, milk, butter, unprocessed red meats
Harm Refined grains, starches, sugars, processed meats, high-sodium foods, industrial trans fats
If I was a millionaire, my idea of decadence would be taken snaps using this:
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/9/13/16304360/polaroid-onestep-2-instant-camera-impossible-project
If I were a millionaire, I’d buy a fake green coat
coat = dress
Not real fur – – that’s cruel!
Why would want a fake green dress?
Because having a real green dress is cruel
Morning Pan
The boss ok’d my webhosting recommendation. Next week, I get to pretend I know how to build a website.
It’s raining.
pouring, old man, etc.
Hopefully it’s not “raining old men”.
Hallelujah!
This:
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-true-meaning-of-nostalgia
It’s hard to believe it’s been a month already
http://www.mondo2000.com/ It’s like 1991 all over again!
Off to the recycle depot
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/09/marjorie-liu-monstress-interview/539394/
Stolen from ditto’s FB feed.
http://www.kalzumeus.com/2017/09/09/identity-theft-credit-reports/
https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2017/09/14/free-ebook-penetration-testing-survival-guide-55-value/
I don’t think that word means what I think it means
OUch!
Speaking of which … did you get power back yet?
Remind you of a certain comic book character much?
http://bit.ly/2y17XKC
/next year’s espionage drama “Red Sparrow,” which finally gives the Oscar-winning actress the James Bond role we’ve been waiting for./
pfffft!
See link below for Atomic Blonde.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944835/?ref_=nv_sr_1 ?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2406566/?ref_=nv_sr_1 ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Widow_(Natasha_Romanova) ?
The world’s deadliest assassin, male or female:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektra_(comics)
Bingo!
No power yet. Estimate currently sits at Sunday by 7pm. Then again, that’s their estimate for having every person in Florida back on power. I see how important I am to the electric company.
That’s a drag. I thought I recalled you talking about the neighborhood pulling together to look out for each other?
The neighborhood is great. We had someone who’s power came back on lend us their generator so we still have most of what was in our fridge/freezer. Others have offered to let us come over and take showers. Some came over with their chain saw to help us clean up a small tree that had the top snap off. People from work have lent me fans so we can sleep at night (sooooooo hot, we just lay in a pool of sweat all night rather than sleep). The list goes on. It’s the power company that is odd. I live pretty squarely in the center of the neighborhood. The line of houses that intersects my house does not have power. EVERYONE ELSE in the neighborhood has power. I’m sure there is a logical explanation. It just eludes me.
Ick.
I heard FEMA this morning saying that the wind damage was such that they are having to rebuild the grid. Not just replace breakers or reconnect lines but actually having to replant poles, hang transformers, rebuild substations.
It would be nice if the code for all of that has been updated they way they did with the buildings.
http://www.adweek.com/creativity/netflix-is-making-stranger-things-versions-of-classic-80s-movie-posters-and-theyre-amazing/
That is awesome! 😀
CP: “First Day in Hell” – Arch Enemy
There has been this super friendly and cuddly cat hanging around our home the last few days. I’m going to post something in the Airdrie pets page but, if there are no bites, and she’s still around in a couple of days, we may be getting a new cat…
To condo of lost cats…
-To +The
How will Tegan do with a new cat horning in on her turf and her scritchy attention time?
That’s an issue. I spoke to the vet on the best way to introduce a new cat. With luck, iT will be a moot point. I’m hoping the cat actually does have an owner, just a not very responsible one
Harry Dean Stanton has died, off too see Jones the Cat:
http://bit.ly/2fpEhA8
:’-( RIP, Bud. He was one of a kind, one of the greatest ever.
His new movie, Lucky, has been getting great reviews.
Wow he was a great of the supporting role genre’.
Sort of a back handed complement for someone who had worked as long and been as successful as he had.
He will be remembered though.
I will put “Paris, Texas.” on my to see list, immediately.
OK. Power is finally back on. There was an issue with a transformer when they had us first turn it back on and my Blu-ray player put out some serious smoke before we figured out what was going on. But, they fixed the problem, and I hated that Blu-ray player anyway. All is well now.
Maybe it was the Blu-Ray player that was causing the problems in the first place.
That’s great to hear you have your power back!
Hopefully that will be the last one of those storms (for you) for a few decades.
So this exists:
http://watsonandsuits.tumblr.com
Rule #34?
Historically bad box office numbers for 2017 — the same year theaters are upgrading to the new all-recliner seats. Does correlation = causation here?
I thought it was all Rotten Tomatoes fault.
So – – we were in those recliners to see IT. Seriously well done. Probably the most effectively scary movie I’ve ever seen in a theater.
I wont comment on this film until some time in 2019.
http://www.theonion.com/article/cassini-probe-realizes-too-late-was-setup-all-alon-56949
Someone set us up the bomb!
Power to this woman, I think what happened to her would have broke me:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-maryclaire-king/brca-marriage-testing_b_17908074.html?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004
That is a hell of a story.
And if you tried to sell that story to someone for a TV/Movie production, they’d tell you it was too ridiculous to be believable. Truth is, indeed, stranger than fiction.
Mother! Was really weird.
If your resistance to arty pretentious bullshit is high then you may enjoy it.
Weird, in a good way?
Nope.
W…..T…..F
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/17/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-golf-violence/index.html
Staying classless as always.
He has lowered the “cache” of the office of the President to that of a shady, Used Car Salesman. Sad.
I guess I now know why I’m crap at physics:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2017/09/15/boys-better-physics-learn-projection-whilegoing-toilet-researchers/
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/06/trump-fcc-sinclair-broadcast-expansion-241337
Undermine confidence in legitimate media, overrun the airwaves with your own propaganda.
Hmmm:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/from-lucifers-hammer-to-newts-moon-base-to-donalds-wallthe-sci-fi-roots-of-the-far-right
I saw that David Brin who is fairly actively anti-rightwing, call that article a hit-piece. Gregory Benford also called it BS.
The descriptions of his books sound pretty outrageous, but I’ve never read him. TBH, even if the author embellished the RW message a bit, I don’t ever intend to.
Nice grammar, Jack.
Holy Crap!
This guy wins the dads. Everyone else might as well go home.
https://youtu.be/j6zseFi070E
Bravo. The detail level is insane.
Can he also update my desk at work?
https://qz.com/1077632/octlantis-is-a-just-discovered-underwater-city-engineered-by-octopuses/
Octopolis. Take that, Ringo!
..and it’s goodbye to Mr Petrov, the man who saved civilisation in a low key way:
https://www.rt.com/news/403625-nuclear-soviet-officer-died/
On reflection, you have to wonder if it was you in his place, would you have waited or iniated the apocalypse.
Morning Pan
A hubbiless evening in store for this bunny
Kitty update:
it’s always A fine line. While she’s been hanging around my house for a few days, you wonder if she belongs to someone and is just hanging around because I have a cat that likes to look out the (normally open) window. Or if she is really lost. That’s why I didn’t bring her in immediately. Went out today and did a brief walk around and, of course, she’s not here now. The neighbours say they’ve seen her on an off for awhile. If she comes back again I will decide what to do at that time
I think she may have run because, when I opened the door, Tegan threw all kinds of kniptions, hissing and growling like mad.
However, I did come across someone who lost a cat several months ago that looked a lot like this one. If I do see the cat, I will probably contact this lady first
We’ve had these two cats together for almost 2 years, and they’re still like mortal enemies. Tiffany thinks that one day they’ll become friendly, but I think they’re too old.
I’m playing a game on my iPad. I was just saw an ad for an Ashley Madison app. I’m not sure what to think
Time for some ice cream. Then it’s time to curl up with a book.
CR: The Operative by Gerald Brandt
For those Saw fans:
https://youtu.be/kTXfAtckS3g Living with Jigsaw
And one more:
https://youtu.be/gZnronVFyDE Working with Jigsaw
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/may/16/hollywood-sci-fi-alien-covenant-blade-runner-2049
Is the extra info ruining the mystique of our favorite Sci-Fi franchises? Answer: yes.
I just heard about the passing of Len Wein. I met him. Hubby and I took Len and his wife to Banff when they were out here. He was a really nice guy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Wein
I saw a lot of mournful posts after he died. I’m apparently more familiar with his work than I thought. RIP
In honour of talk like a pirate day
What is Captain Hook’s favourite place to shop?
The second hand store
The tumbleweeds are strong this week
Yes, they arrrrrr.
Jeenus, Drump. Stop talking about “We the People” of the US when speaking to the UNITED NATIONS!
Maybe I’ll do a pop after lunch just to add to the comment count
Pop = pbp
Stupid autocorrect
I’ll give it a pass:
http://on.io9.com/feCCeg1
Three hours!!!
Off for a walk
Wind River was a bit of a strange murder mystery.
Well acted though.
Amazon is doing a giant sale on Marvel comics. I am having a hard time finding a link to post tho…. and not 100% sure when the sale is happening. Possibly now. I will keep trying to find a postable link
Hopefully, this one works – it may open up in Facebook
https://deals.kinja.com/amazons-selling-thousands-of-marvel-digital-comics-to-a-1818521633
CP: Sleepy Maggie — Ashley MacIsaac
iOS 11 update successfully installed on iPad
..and the iPhone 7 Plus
My phone is updating, I’ll do the iPad after the movie
Ok, let’s see what Netflix has on tap today
Oh, this looks promising
Dead Awake
The write up: While investigating the death of her twin sister in her sleep, a social worker unwittingly opens the door to an evil entity.
I wish I could investigate things when I’m sleeping
Sleep paralysis: blah, blah, blah
A door opens
I wonder if this means a window closed?
Old hag syndrome
Death by nightmare
Produced by Glen Walker. The only reason this caught my eye is the title came up beside a girl walking
Surprise
You had to invite her
You know you don’t do the easy way
Boy is she a party pooper
She needs a dance partner
She has nightmares
Hey, let’s start a new thread, with the PBP continuing over there 🙂
She can’t move in her sleep
She wants to go home
She lives with her parents
Her sleep journal
OK, Bunny. There’s a new page, if you want to jump the PBP over there. (Just for fun. If you see this. Not required.)
http://jackmangan.com/scroll-by-scroll/
Ack!
Ok moved the rest of the bpb to new thread