1,007 thoughts on “Site Password: 1234

  1. I put down a deposit for a steam deck.

    Gulp!

    At least this one might actually arrive at some point unlike the ominous silence from the makers of Play date.

  2. We watched, and enjoyed Army of Thieves last night. I know it’s supposed to be a prequel to Army of the Dead, but it wasn’t a zombie movie at all. If you like heist movies, I’d recommend it

    • I preferred Army of Thieves and was disappointed that Army of the Dead didn’t continue with the characters. Also, that final vault was so disappointing after the designs in Thieves.

    • Truly a rock icon in breadth and depth. The number of projects he was a part of as well as the number of artists he guested with is truly astounding.

  3. Ok, now Steam isn’t even pretending. At least with some, the titles are more obscure to the game theme. But when “Elf Wives Cheat to Ride My Meat” is recommended, you know they have given up trying.

  4. CW: All Our Yesterdays – ST:TOS

    You know S3 gets a lot of stick but this is a cracking episode.

    Yes I did read the sequels by A C Crispin

  5. Props for attributing the animation style to Tex Avery as he is one of the all time greats. But I think they drop the ball (most likely intentionally) on attributing much of the interactive idea to the Dragon’s Lair video game. If you watch the preview the concept looks like most of the “hour and a half of animation” is the cat dying because you answered a trivia question wrong (muck like most of the Don Bluth animation in Dragon’s Lair is Dirk dying over and over because you chose the wrong direction or didn’t time your response correctly).

    https://geektyrant.com/news/trailer-for-netflixs-tex-avery-inspired-interactive-animated-project-cat-burglar-from-the-creators-of-black-mirror

    • I wish there were anyway to confirm these stories. Or maybe not, because for every one story that might be fabricated you know there will be many many who die in anonimity doing horrifically brave things.

      I read another about a solder who stopped an advancing Russian tank Collum by running onto the bridge and setting off the demolition charges while on the bridge.

      When this finally ends, Putin should be arrested and prosecuted.

  6. On a lighter note. . . .

    TIL: All of the spaceships on the Boston album covers are actually spaceships.

    I should have checked these more closely when I was younger, but oh well. Don’t look back.

  7. Yesterday was my busiest day in years.

    RenFaire all day. Huzzah! It was as crowded as the worst day I’d ever seen at Disneyland. All outdoors, except the mermaid exhibit, and they required masks and social distancing in there. The girls had fun.

    I did feel for the regulars. (The NY RenFaire was briefly a big deal for me, many eons ago.) The hordes of mundanes (including us) must have been rough.

    • And then a Bruce Dickinson spoken word show at night. Which was great (although Henry Rollins does it better).

      So two big events with big crowds in one day. The numbers and official guidelines say I’m good (because I’m boosted) – – it just feels weird.

    • Had a beer with a buddy tonight. He and his wife are friends with a family that lives in the Ukraine between the airfield the antonov was in and a fighter base.
      My friend is trying to get the paperwork through to get that family’s daughter out, to come live with them. The dad is undergoing treatment for cancer and can’t leave. His wife will stay there with him.

      There really aren’t words. Or maybe it is all the words. Either way-
      Fuck Putin.

      • One thing missing in the article and other complaints is that you can no longer backup purchases. That used to allow you to download a .cbz or .pdf of many titles. Obviously that isn’t in line with Amazon’s stance that you don’t own your purchases, so it is gone with this upgrade.

        • I’ve heard and agree with this complaint too. I’m shocked Amazon has never had a major competitor rise up on that platform: “If you buy it, you own it. We won’t take it away from you.”

  8. Looks like the new Batman movie is getting generally favorable reviews. At 3 hours though, I’d rather watch it at home than in a theatre. I guess I’ll be waiting for streaming options to check it out.

  9. Marc Maron: Did you see Power of the Dog, did you see that movie?
    Sam Elliott: Yeah do you wanna talk about that piece of shit?
    Marc: [ohh noo] You didn’t like that one?
    Sam: Fuck no.

  10. Morning Pan
    I think kitty has a sore tooth. I’m going to call the vet this morning and see if I can get her in.

    • Had this conversation the other night. For all of the mental deficiencies in the US and Soviet leaders of the 80s, in hindsight, they were pretty clearly never going to just go off half-cocked and push the button.

      Recent US and Russian leadership? Yeah, I don’t have the same confidence.

      But what are ya gonna do?

      • In the book Dead Hand, there is a story about Brezhnev watching an exercise for a nuclear launch where he had to press a button that was not actually linked to missiles launching.

        Brezhnev was nervous it would lead to an actual
        launch so the Generals had to keep telling him
        It was fine to press the button…

        • Yeah. For many of those leaders and generals, up until the 80s, they had actual exposure to war and its consequences. Now… not so much.

  11. When working on a collection of short stories, you can sure tell the American authors from any of the others. They are the ones missing u’s in their words as well as spelling words er instead of re

    This just means extra work for me as I fix them all.

  12. First real concert in years. According to the CDC and the experts and the observations from the medical professionals in my life, I’m good.

    Volbeat/Ghost co-headlining. Unfortunately, Volbeat didn’t close the show, so I had to hear their entire set. Eh, they were fine. Ghost, however, put on an amazing performance. It was good to be back.

  13. I don’t see this going over well.

    https://geektyrant.com/news/amc-theaters-is-charging-extra-for-tickets-to-see-the-batman

    Their argument = concerts and sporting events work by having you pay extra for better seats and more popular bands/teams, therefore we should be able to do the same thing with movies.

    The problem (IMHO) = if all other theaters don’t take the same approach people will just go to see a more popular movie in a great seat at a different theater for less money.

    • Another point here.
      If the theatre charges me more for a “better” seat, in my mind they have just accepted responsibility for a “better” experience.
      If someone nearby is talking or carrying on, I will be asking for a refund.

      Also, f$&@ that.
      I will wait and watch it at home with my own cocktail, snacks, bathroom.

      Theatres are correct in thinking that they need to evolve … but making the experience WORSE (in this case financially) is not the direction to head in.

      • “Theatres are correct in thinking that they need to evolve … but making the experience WORSE (in this case financially) is not the direction to head in.”

      • The home experience is pretty amazing right now. What can a theatre offer to sweeten the deal other than (manufactured) early access?

        • There strengths I can think of are-
          -Early release.
          -BIG screen.
          -Rich surround sound.
          -Seating for a LARGE group of your friends.

          Somehow they need to leverage that.
          Maybe some sort of “box seating” for you and your pals?
          I don’t know what else they can do.

      • And all this after everyone thinking that theaters were not going to survive COVID. I don’t understand the reasoning behind the super rapid transition from what can we do to get more people into the theaters to the power move they are trying now. Maybe back when theaters were still really popular. But not now when they are struggling just to get anyone to go.

        • I’m curious about the market research that led to this. Was it based on consumer polls or just speculation? Was there a trial run somewhere?

          (I didn’t read the article end-to-end, so forgive me if it’s in there)

          • Excellent point. They claim that they’ve been doing it in Europe for many years. The article also said that they will be rolling this out slowly so I imagine that equates to the Batman movie being their trial run.

  14. I need more info, but it looks like the torches and pitchforks for Sam Elliott may be a little bit premature.

    https://consequence.net/2022/03/sam-elliott-power-of-the-dog/

    I only know what’s here and in a handful of the comments. Sure, I cringe at some of his words, but I don’t get the sense that he’s going full Pence. Or even half-Pence. According to one commenter, he also praised “Brokeback Mountain” and past Jane Campion films. So maybe he just has a huge beef with this “Power of the Dog” movie?

  15. Sometimes work is all whiskey and cheesecake.
    Sometimes it all be like Bam! Lulled you in a false sense of security. We’re gonna make you hate your life.
    Then sometimes, like today, it falls somewhere in between.

  16. A brand new gaming store in Scottsdale. I went in to check it out last weekend.

    The place was packed! – – but it was about 70 dudes playing Warhammer at 10 different tables, with one table dedicated to Magic: The Gathering.

    There was one corner with a small selection of tabletop games, but otherwise, almost their entire inventory was dedicated to Warhammer and other games like that.

    Is this the future of nerdy tabletop gaming?

    • Meanwhile, AZ Game Depot, one of the better gaming stores in town, is closing down. Apparently it’s owner retirement, so at least their story ends happily.

      Now the only good one left (that I know of) is Imperial Outpost, over on Rhett’s side of town.

      • Yeah, Imperial is still going strong. There is a newer, but smaller game store by the Stadiums that seems pretty cool. Goat Games or something.

    • That’s been about what I’ve seen in the gaming stores in Orlando. I used to belong to a group that played table top games every other Saturday. Every time we tried playing in a gaming store it was us in a back room and metric asston of Warhammer people.

    • The Gizmoplex is mostly a rebranding of the old MST3K site at this point. There should be the first episode of the new season (Santo in the Treasure of Dracula) in week or two. I’m at a kickstarter pledge level where I’ve seen the episode and had a tour of what the Gizmoplex is going to look like when they get it fully ramped up in May or so. It will be pretty cool and there will be ways to have group watch parties. BTW, they really changed up the intro quite a bit and the feel is a bit different as they were forced to transition to really small sets with greenscreens.

  17. Speaking of hokey terribleness. . . 3 eps into TOS S3. Paradise Syndrome is playing right now. Kirk loses his memory and a Native American tribe on another planet think he’s a god.

    As bad as Spock’s Brain was, it’s a thousand times better than this one.

    S3, E2: The Enterprise Incident, was actually pretty excellent.

  18. Well if the intelligence pundits are to be believed, the Russian army will collapse by Sunday.

    Fingers crossed and all that.

  19. Even before I’d started this TOS full watch, I’d thought that “And the Children Shall Lead” was the all-time worst episode. I still have most of S3 to go, but after rewatching, I think it’s going to keep that title. “Spock’s Brain” is The Godfather, in comparison.

    • It’s unfortunate that one can’t temporarily forget all they have seen AFTER these were made. I think it would soften the perception of them.

      I sheilded my young ones from seeing any sci-fi until I felt they were old enough to watch/ grasp TOS. They were in elementary school.
      Then we did what Jack is doing and watching it through their eyes was magical.
      With nothing to compare it to, they took it for what it was and not for what it wasn’t or what it could be.
      I guess we can never really go back.

  20. Crap joke for the day:

    A defendant was on trial for murder. There was strong evidence indicating guilt, but there was no corpse. In the defense’s closing statement the lawyer, knowing that his client would probably be convicted, resorted to a trick.
    “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have a surprise for you all,” the lawyer said as he looked at his watch. “Within one minute, the person presumed dead in this case will walk into this courtroom.” He looked toward the courtroom door. The jurors, somewhat stunned, all looked on eagerly. A minute passed.
    Nothing happened.
    Finally the lawyer said, “Actually, I made up the previous statement. But you all looked on with anticipation. I therefore put to you that you have a reasonable doubt in this case as to whether anyone was killed and insist that you return a verdict of not guilty.”
    The jury, clearly confused, retired to deliberate. A few minutes later, the jury returned and pronounced a verdict of guilty.
    “But how?” inquired the lawyer. “You must have had some doubt; I saw all of you stare at the door.”
    The jury foreman replied: “Oh, we did look, but your client didn’t.”

  21. We watched West Side Story on the weekend. Usually I’m a fan of musicals but this one just didn’t click for me. It had all the elements. Beautiful set. Music. Dance numbers. but still…
    John said he didn’t really feel any chemistry between the two main actors. Maybe that’s it. *shrug*

    • I had a good experience with them some years back. I get the sense that was early in the game though and those who participated were people who were listing properties that were already short time rentals and the owners were actually “professional” about it.
      Now it seems over run with grifters and those who have no intention(or ability) of providing a good experience. They are just trying to grab some of that cash.

    • I’ve also never seen the movie. I didn’t care much for the song back then, but it’s impossible to dislike now.

      Definitely transports me back.

      • I like “Stay” but I have a weird feeling whenever I consider the songs of that era. A lot of overplayed sad women folk songs in the day. Do you know where your cowboys have gone?

          • Yeah, that’s the thing. I like female singers, I like folk music, it just seemed to me that radio stations were trying to make a scene happen, rather than let it grow organically.

          • I get what you are saying–and you aren’t really wrong–but let’s not overlook the number of women rockers from that era too. Bikini Kill, Tracy Bonham, The Breeders, Liz Phair, Elastica, Garbage, just to name a few. And I like quite a few of the “sad women folk songs” too.

          • Well if we are naming names …
            Courtney Barnett makes me want to violently destroy my audio gear.
            I’m a guy who likes “unique” vocal styles but hers just makes me HATE to the point of rage!

  22. Crap joke for the day:

    An engineer dies and reports to the pearly gates. St. Peter checks his dossier and says, “Ah, you’re an engineer — you’re in the wrong place.”

    So, the engineer reports to the gates of hell and is let in. Pretty soon, the engineer gets dissatisfied with the level of comfort in hell, and starts designing and building improvements. After awhile, they’ve got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and the engineer is a pretty popular guy.

    One day, God calls Satan up on the telephone and says with a sneer, “So, how’s it going down there in hell?”

    Satan replies, “Hey, things are going great. We’ve got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and there’s no telling what this engineer is going to come up with next.”

    God replies, “What??? You’ve got an engineer? That’s a mistake — he should never have gotten down there; send him up here.”

    Satan says, “No way. I like having an engineer on the staff, and I’m keeping him.”

    God says, “Send him back up here or I’ll sue.”

    Satan laughs uproariously and answers, “Yeah, right. And just where are YOU going to get a lawyer?”

    • Little known fact – engineers have to be able to recite this joke from memory to earn their diplomas.

      It never gets old.

  23. I enjoy it when the high school senior declares at 11:15pm that she needs to print stuff for school tomorrow. . .

    . . . When the dead old printer’s corpse is still plugged in, and it’s refurbed replacement is still sitting in the box it arrived in yesterday.

  24. Stealing Van’s crap joke thunder:

    Woman: Do you have any batteries?

    Clerk: Yes, come this way (wiggles finger).

    Woman: If I could come that way, I wouldn’t need batteries.

  25. So according to an article in the new scientist, if you have a a garden and a slug/snail problem, make balls of bread dough and leave them
    In the garden. The slugs/snail will home in on the dough, allowing you to collect them and dispose of them.

    Personally I just let my little garden run wild and leave the slugs/nails to themselves.

    • Started to read. Fascinating that it could have been the first feature cartoon before Snow White, if talks hadn’t fallen through.

      I thought John Carter was fine. It reminded me a lot of Attack of the Clones as a messy big-screen CGI action fest. I’d have been glad to have more sequels.

      • There is a lot of that but I assumed it was do to all the water I am drinking.
        People keep telling me my head won’t hurt so much if I drink a lot of water.

          • Ha! I wish.
            Head is much better this morning.
            Think I’ll avoid the alcohol though. At least a few more days. I’m afraid it might bring back the headache.
            Shame too because this place is swimming in craft beer!

      • That probably comes with less headache ?

        Sunny but cold day.
        Taking my eldest around for her Birthday. Visited a pet store to get her supplies for her Hermit Crabs (only pet her landlord will allow).
        Went to an area called Arvada (sp?) which seemed nice. Visited a greenhouse and got a lovely, hanging plant.
        Stopped in her favorite Disc Golf shop “Another Round”. Got her a disc and one for me that she is going to hand dye for my Birthday 🙂
        Having a nice visit. Learning to live with less oxygen.

    • I have to admitt that I don’t know any specifics about Cosby’s crimes.
      I know the overview, he was convicted of drugging and then rapping a woman (women?).
      I don’t know how many, I don’t know when (was it something he did for a decade? Durring the “Cosby Show” years? His whole life?)
      I mean, I have heard a bunch of stuff here and there but I don’t think I’ve ever read a detailed accounting of what came out in his trail (trails?).
      Don’t know if I need to. Basically, after he was convicted, I wrote him off.

  26. Elton Dan show tonight. Not autocorrect – – it was an Elton John tribute show. The guys singing voice is nothing like the original, but the songs sounded great anyway.

    The show ended earlier than expected and right after “Sad Songs,” which felt weird. And I didn’t need “Candle in the Wind,” but it seems strange to do an Elton John set without it. I DID need “Funeral for a Friend/Loves Lies Bleeding” and I didn’t get those either. Oh well. I’d still see Elton Dan again.

    • Oh no!

      So many great roles. “Altered States” gets some oddball love .He was also great as Keanu Reeves’ braindead stoner buddy in I Love You To Death`

      • And of course, the gory details are coming out now. It seems he committed some heinous acts in the 1980s. Oh well, we can celebrate his great career.

        And the 80s was long time ago – – Hopefully he was able to make amends and become a better person in the following decades.

    • The last time I watched it, my reaction was “How the fk did anyone like this??”

      But that was awhile ago. I should give it a rewatch.

      I do recall that the Colin Farrell remake was completely forgettable. No pun intended.

  27. /Rant

    Saw Death on the Nile today, not too bad but bloody fucking hell can we stop AC adaptions, maybe adapt writers from the 21st century..just a thought.

    • I only found her books in the past decade, so I’m feeling the opposite. I’m good with well-produced adaptations for modern audiences. I liked Murder on the Orient Express, so I’m way down for this one.

      I know the pre-Branagh Agatha Christie shows and movies have a loyal fanbase, but they always seemed hopelessly dated to me.

    • Definitely some odd rumblings from across the pond today. I mean, aside from these couple of Kenneth Branaugh adaptions, I can’t say I’m familiar with any movies made from Agatha Christie’s works in the last few decades.

      On the other hand, it seems everything that isn’t a comic book movie is adapted from books written in this century (Hunger Games, Harry Potter, etc,)

    • How about adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, Alice in Wonderland, A Princess on Mars, War of the Worlds, etc. Honestly I think we’ve had enough adaptations already of Sherlock Holmes and Alice in Wonderland. I’d like to see more Barsoom movies. And the last version of War of the Worlds was down right atrocious. But I think we can take from a variety of sources and time periods. It’s all in how well it’s executed.

  28. Having decided there was too much oxygen … we relocated to Breckinridge.
    Another day of headaches but that has past. Still trying to catch my breath.

  29. So. At the ER with my older daughter. She’s fine, but we’re just getting her checked out to be sure.

    She was crossing the street near our home and some sack of shit hit her with his car, then drove off. No one got any info on him, so this POS is off scot free. She was too scared to ID anything about him.

    I can only hope he crashed further up the road and was killed without harming anyone else.

  30. Oh look, she can do housework for the first time in several weeks.
    I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or not. *sigh*

  31. The husband took the wheels of his office chair. I know why he did it but it still makes the chair impossible to move when I want to vacuum.

    • Vonnegut is most likely always right. As for the theories in this article, I could never hope to fully wrap my head around all of the implications and any of them will be difficult to demonstrate scientifically so I think of them mostly as philosophy.

      Later in the article they talk about a different theory with a mirror universe in which time and entropy flow backwards. That one seems more like science fiction. I did love a David Brin book called The Practice Effect in which the protagonist finds himself in a world where time flows forward, but entropy flows backwards. I highly recommend it.

      • I wouldn’t even categorize the block universe theory as a “theory” since that should have direct, observable implications. In any case, it is an interesting mind experiment, but that’s about it imo.

        I think I’ve heard variations of the mirror universe for years.

    • The practical implication of that article seems to suggest that time doesn’t really exist if past, present, and future are all just “now”.

      I can’t say I find the proposal terribly convincing.

      • I don’t think they suggest that they are all now so much as that they are as fixed as x,y,z coordinates. The earth exists in space at a constantly moving set of coordinates. We can’t change that, but we can map it. They are suggesting the same with time (except that we can’t yet observe/map the future) The upside is a lack of paradoxes because traveling back in time would not change anything. The downside is that my dream of finding a way to bring my wizened adult mind back in time to inhabit my teenage head so I can avoid all my past mistakes (and make a whole new set of even dumber mistakes) is shot to hell in this framework. I’ll just have to assume a different framework. If I’m wrong, I’ll simply have to live my life all over again exactly the way it happened (ug).

    • I only know about her character because she was in Ultimate Alliance 3. I guess I understand that it would be hard to emulate her primary power without it looking goofy, but on the other hand that is her primary power. There was a Fantastic Four cartoon that came out in the 80s and they replaced the Human Torch with a robot because they didn’t want to constantly redraw the animated flames. This seems like the same kind of thinking.

  32. A few years back we upgraded our Amazon Alexa speaker unit to the new video version. The video version is now in the kitchen and the old Alexa speaker is now located in our television/office room. So last night we were watching a documentary on Netflix and there is a scene where a guy asks his Alexa to play a song. Our Alexa complied and we had his song playing on the television and our Alexa playing the same song a few milliseconds behind and we had this weird echo effect. Pretty surreal.

    • This is similar to why we had to change the “wake ID” on ours to “Computer”.
      I often keep the radio playing throughout the day and for a while it was all the rage to have commercials where the characters were asking their Alexa to do things. Ours would try to comply.
      I was not amused.

  33. OK. This is getting into the land of strange now. I have always really liked Vonnegut and his writing style. Slaughterhouse 5 is a definite contender for my favorite book of all time. I watched the recent documentary on Kurt Vonnegut and it has put me back onto re-reading some of his stuff. So I’m now in re-reading Breakfast of Champions. Today we had the Vonnegut discussion here about being unstuck in time. On a separate level, I like to find old movie that I might have missed. There is a movie called Slapstick of Another Kind that looks absolutely atrocious except that it is chock full of powerhouse people like Jerry Lewis, Madeline Kahn, and Marty Feldman. But I really like old crappy comedy so I decided to watch. The story is “A rich, beautiful couple give birth to deformed alien twins who, when their heads are together, are the smartest kids on the planet.” With the parents and the children both played by Jerry Lewis and Madeline Kahn. The special effects around the twins in particular look like this should be an MST3K movie.

    As I start watching the movie, the credits start and, lo and behold, it lists “in Kurt Vonnegut’s”. So I had to do some research. He is, indeed listed as the first name under “writers” (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088134/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0). I’m not familiar with the novel “Slapstick that it’s apparently based on, but I looked it up and it includes “Dr. Swain is a hideous man whose ugliness, along with that of his twin sister Eliza, led their parents to cut them off from modern society. The siblings came to realize that, when in close physical contact, they form a vastly powerful and creative intelligence.”

    So, wow, so much Vonnegut. It reminds me of the movie Repo Man where Tracy Walter’s character talks about the “lattice of coincidence” in which someone says “plate” or “shrimp” or “plate of shrimp” and you suddenly start to see “plate of shrimp” everywhere around you (at which point in the movie you start to see a lot of “plate of shrimp” references (side note: watch Repo Man if you haven’t yet. It’s insanely good). I feel like I’m going to see more and more Vonnegut all around me. And I couldn’t be happier about it.

    • I’ve somehow never heard of this movie(also haven’t read the book). It looks painful – – but I suppose Repo Man would look bad too, and it’s a favorite of mine (and it made a great Palooza).

  34. For those keeping score at home, I canceled ComiXology Unlimited. I’ll miss having access to all of those books, but the new interface is dreadful. It’s such a chore to find books, that I would be more frustrated than anything else. Also, it’s been over a month now, so I’m spite of some empty promises, they’re clearly not serious about undoing the damage.

    Sad, it used to be a great way to connect with comics.

    Sadly, ComiXology is the only game in town for digital comics that isn’t tied to one publisher (Marvel, DC), so I will still buy new books from them.

  35. Ah, the famous interracial kiss between Kirk and Uhura (not actually the first on TV, there was an earlier one).

    Sadly, “Plato’s Stepchildren” is one of the worst of all TOS episodes (though not the actual worst). Good gawd, so many cringey scenes.

    -Kirk and Spock performing Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
    -Kirk slapping himself.
    -Kirk making horsey noises while the little guy rides his back.
    -Spock dancing.

  36. Deadpanites you really should give Severance a try,

    Just saying, cough up the 5 bucks and bunge it on AppleTV+, it’s worth it..

  37. So does anybody else find the DP website getting slowing when you refresh or post a message?

    It feels looks I have a dodgy connection but a speed test on my mobile connection indicates it’s fine.

    • Absolutely. Rebels started off a bit rough, but by the end of it run had given us some of the best Star Wars ever produced. That episode was a high water mark that, sadly, most Star Wars fans likely aren’t even aware of.

      • I would never have completed the first season if I was watching on my own, but I’m glad I persisted. Rebels best moments are the best of all the animated shows.

        Ahsoka dueling Vader was not quite as great as this one – – but up there.

    • As someone who has coached both male and female athletes in the same sport, over more than a decade, I can say that this author is “cherry picking” an awful lot of data just to support their theory.
      For the general athletic community, my experience does not support their thesis.

    • I’ve heard plenty of Nightwish before, but somehow never listened to Oceanborn.

      Wow, now I get it. I’ve always just liked them, nothing more – – but this album is a masterpiece. Even those with Metal allergies might dig it.

  38. Talking of Vonnegut, there is a documentary called ‘Kurt Vonnegut Unstuck in Time” which is available on Hulu in the US.

  39. Looks like Amazon is taking some feedback into account for ComiXology. The backup your purchases function is back, but you do have to look for it. I haven’t noticed much improvement in the app itself. I’ve been reading my comics in the iOS Kindle app, mostly because it will mark what I’m reading in GoodReads.

  40. JW: Quiz Show

    Watching this decades later, the realisation hits that Rob Morrow did a Robert Redford impression through the whole fucking film.

    Sigh.

  41. Hubby’s home this week for spring break. It’s very had to work when he’s playing games on his computer. I want to play too.

  42. So I bought these minimal shoes that are cheap version of those shoes that are supposed to support your feet in a more natural way.

    Which basically means slightly wider and thin soles. They are comfortable though, certainly might make a good spring/summer shoes if they last.

  43. Crap joke for the day:

    A guy was boarding a plane when he heard that the Pope was on the same flight. “This is exciting!” thought the gentleman. “I’ve always been a big fan of the Pope. Perhaps I’ll be able to see him in person.” Suddenly, the man realized his seat was right next to the Pope himself!
    Still, the gentleman was too shy to speak to His Holiness.

    Shortly after take-off, the Pope took a crossword puzzle out of his carry on bag and began penciling in the answers.

    “This is fantastic!” the gentleman mused. “I’m really good at crosswords!”

    It crossed his mind that if the Pope got stuck, he’d ask him for assistance.

    Almost as if providence struck, the Pope turned to the man and said, “Excuse me, but do you know a four letter word referring to a woman that ends in ‘unt’?”

    The three Cardinals behind, in front of and beside him shrunk down in their seats, as far as possible, all looking for something on the floor.

    The gentleman was in morbid shock.

    He couldn’t breathe.

    He went within himself, thought deeper, longer for a plausible answer and after almost a minute, the dark clouds of evil parted in his mind and the sun shone in.

    Turning to the Pope, the gentleman said with reverence and politeness, “I believe, Your Holiness, that you’re looking for the word, ‘aunt.'”

    “Of course!” the Pope mused, not taking his gaze off the crossword. “You wouldn’t happen to have an eraser, would you?”

  44. I think hubby and I are going to switch cars. They’re the same year but, because he commutes to the city for work, he has almost four times the klicks on his than I do. We’re hoping, having him put the extra kilometres on mine will extend the life of both cars.

  45. Have there been any changes to the backend of the Deadpan site in the last few days? I use Feedly to get updates and it’s been acting odd for only this site. Instead of displaying all of the updates, it says I have x number of updates and only shows me one at a time.

  46. Went to bed at 9 last night (me!!)

    Was still up until 3am coughing, sneezing and feeling blecch. Good times.

    The test was negative and I never lost my sense of taste or smell, so I don’t think it’s that. Just crud.

    /end complaining

    • Get better man!
      In total selfishness… if you can, keep us posted as to how things manifest. Sort of “our reporter on the ground”.
      Though I too am triple vaxed and still mask (about 50% of the time)… I figure it’s “when” and not “if” before it gets me and I’d like to know what to expect/watch for.

      • So. . . . the full story:

        I assume I caught it at the Judas Priest concert last week (Tuesday). I started to feel congested and achy on Saturday. I took a home COVID test on Sunday (or was it Monday?) and it was negative. I even took LeeLoo to her first karate class on Monday – – we were all masked up the whole time.
        The symptoms steadily worsened as the week progressed. Achy, headachy, congested, tired, blecch. So I took a different brand of home COVID test last night, and it came up positive.

        Today I’ve done nothing but sleep, which I think has helped, but I’m not out of the woods at all yet. Yes, because of my vax status, I’m not worried for myself.

        I am concerned because LeeLoo has tested positive. She had a 101 temp last night.

  47. Big news from MST3K land. You really want to do that free registration for the Gizmoplex (https://www.gizmoplex.com/browse). I just got a backer update with this information:

    “Starting on MAY 6, all registered Gizmoplex users will be able to stream EVERY AVAILABLE CLASSIC EPISODE – that’s over 125 episodes from Seasons 1-10 – for free, and without ads!
    Yeah, you heard us: even if you don’t have a Gizmoplex Member Pass, you’ll be able to stream the entire MST3K classic collection for free, and – for a limited time – without advertising!”

    And if you are interested in season 13:
    “Grab a Season Pass ($135) before the SEASON PREMIERE on May 6, and you’ll also get a DIGITAL DOWNLOAD of Season 13 – worth $85 – for free!”

    Honestly, $135 for a season pass is a bit steep. But they are doing more than just new episodes. They are also doing live stream events each month and a bunch of other bonuses. Although probably still steep at $135.

  48. Little one is crabby today. Presumably because she’s sick.

    Me, I’m still coughing and blecch. Sleep just isn’t happening (worse than usual).

    Seriously fuck COVID.

    • That blows. Sorry about the little one. There is some data that if you have been vaxed and still manage to get Covid, your immunity will be stronger. How long that immunity lasts is still up in the air.

        • The science is on our side. Little ones tend to recover just fine. Vaxxed people tend to recover fine. But I don’t want to tempt the universe any further with any optimism. Last time I did that, I caught covid.

          For posterity: we were both trending in the right direction yesterday, we’ve both had worse days today. I am less achy, but more congested. Her temp is fine, but she’s very moody, which is not like her at all.

  49. One more complaint – – I had a coworker telling me on a call to take ivermectin, to “not believe the media.” It worked for him! Being a polite person, I just nodded and smiled. I did mention that I’d heard good things from people I trust sources about remdesivir, but this expert then told me to avoid it because it was full of side effects.

    Seriously, how did these people come to dominate our conversations? It’s like the smelly guy on the subway has taken over all discourse.

    • The same guy took over a company call during Texas’s big energy crisis to rant about “the windmills.” When a higher up said, “That was disproven immediately,” he retreated into more dogma, so everyone else, recognizing treacherous political talk ahead, dropped the topic.

  50. We watched the first ep of Halo. It’s quite a departure from the games and books, imo. But, it was enjoyable in its own right. I’ll just think of it as an alternate universe version. 😀

  51. Interesting look at what may have been going on in other countries to make it APPEAR that ivermectin was effective against Covid. (Narrator- “It was not”.)

    Fwd to me from my eldest, who is currently studying for her Masters in the bio-engineering world.

    https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdarpE6R/

  52. We finally watched Eternals.

    It’s really not bad at all. It’s not amazing – – but I feel like a few days with a skilled film editor, and you could have had something really excellent.

    Lots of parallels between this and Justice League – – even a few DC jokes – – but it’s far, far better than any of the DCU movies.

    The most far-fetched thing in this movie would have been Angelie Jolie’s enormous lips.

  53. Still fighting with my MacBook and Firefox.
    Every site I try to go to gives me a warning that says it’s certificate is bad and it won’t open the site.
    Tried-
    – Making sure computer’s date/time is accurate. It is.
    – Erasing every bit of cache, history, cookies… everything has been deleted.

    Still nothing.
    I know the sites are OK because my old computer will access them.

    Frustraighting

    • Covupdate:

      We have 3/4 of the household tested positive now.

      The littlest one seems to be recovering. Fingers crossed.
      I’m recovering, but still coughing more than I’d like. The worst part is the Covidsomnia. And of course, lack of sleep (worse than my usual) isn’t helping anything.

  54. I’m not gonna shut down talk of the Smith/Rock thing. I’m sure there are important things to be said about it.

    But jesus, I was already tired of it last night.

  55. So we watched the animated Aladdin tonight, and wow, it has not aged well. Even the Robin Williams parts were often seriously dated. (Hey kids, look, it’s Jack Nicholson jokes! And a Rodney Dangerfield impression!)

  56. If I can distract you from that Star Trek episode you’ve watched 100 times, The Last Days of Ptolemy Greyon Apple TV+ is also rather good.

  57. Speaking of Apple TV+, we did at least make it through the 2 seasons of Ted Lasso.

    Truly a special show. Took us completely by surprise. It surpasses the hype. We’ll have to find ways to watch future seasons.

    • I HATED Kennedy.
      Like, a lot.
      Like, so much that I WROTE her a letter (email did not exist at the time) asking if perhaps she wouldn’t find something else to do with her life. I believe I may have been a bit more acerbic with my wording than that.
      That is the only “personality” I have ever written to in my life.
      This is how strongly I disliked her.

    • Regardless of his recent track record – – on and off camera – – this guy was such a huge part of our formative movie and TV days. Truly sad news.

  58. I didn’t think I was going to enjoy ‘Our Flag is Death’, but 5 episodes in and I’m really enjoying it.

    On HBO Max in the states or you could go down the ironic route to watch.

    Cough

  59. We quite liked the first episode of Moon Knight. However, personally speaking, I don’t think it’s a show my eldest should watch

    • As a casual fan of the character, I liked it too. Intriguing premise, intriguing bad guy. The main character whose perspective we get is a bit of a cliche, but it works.

      Do you think there would be triggers for for your eldest?

      • Yeah, big time triggers. I’ve never made it a secret she has schizophrenia. She doesn’t have a split personality, but the voices and hallucinations were big time early on before she was diagnosed. She keeps them in check now but still…

    • I was afraid Teresa wouldn’t like it because of the time gaps, but she really liked it. I’m quite happy with the first episode.

    • Fun idea. It looks more like a social/party game than a “sit down in your chair and play alone” kind of thing. From their perspective, it’s a good idea.

      Will I play it if invited? Sure! Will I buy it? Doubtful.

  60. Yesterday I replaced the 3, burned out bulbs in my kitchen ceiling fixtures with three LED bulbs.
    Today they wouldn’t turn on. Took one out and put it in a different fixture and it worked. Put it back up and nothing.
    Resolved to take them back. Went to kitchen pantry for breakfast, turned on the pantry light and all three kitchen bulbs came on.
    I begin to suspect I am living in a 3 stooges episode.

    Can turn pantry light off and the other bulbs stay on. Played with it a bit. Sometimes 1 or 2 lights come on when their switch is flipped but to get all 3 I must flip switch in pantry.
    Internet turned up no hits on this so I call GE help line. Got routed to a technical person. She was amused at the situation and congratulated me for being the first to report this situation.
    Guess I need to scour the town for any remaining, incandescent, “Reveal” bulbs.

    BTW – after spending 2 days trying to trouble shoot my laptop, it still tells me every website’s certificate is invalid and just will not work on many of them even if I tell it to ignore the security message.

    I think I shall go out and pull weeds from the garden. I don’t think those are digital yet.

      • Yeah, it is either your light fixture or your circuit that connects your fixtures. I’m not an electrician, but my intuition is telling me there is some electrical resistance in your fixture or circuit. The extra power draw of flipping on your other switch is enough to overcome the resistance and turn on the bulbs. Imagine me telling you this in the voice of Cliff Clavin.

  61. A joke worthy of Van:

    A little dog goes into a saloon in the Wild West, and beckons to
    the bartender. “Hey, bartender, gimme a whiskey.”

    The bartender ignores him.

    “Hey bartender, gimme a whiskey!”

    Still ignored.

    “HEY BARMAN!! GIMME A WHISKEY!!”

    The bartender takes out his six-shooter and shoots the dog in the
    leg, and the dog runs out the saloon, howling in pain.

    Three years later, the wee dog appears again, wearing boots,
    jeans, chaps, a Stetson, gun belt, and guns. He ambles slowly into the
    saloon, goes up to the bar, leans over it, and says to the bartender,
    “I’m here t’git the man that shot muh paw.”

    • Huh, I have just been hearing “Convoy” in recent days. Asking google to play “Eastbound and Down” auto generates a follow on play list that includes this one.

    • Even that one had some differences, yaknow.

      I’ll grudgingly agree with the article, but that still doesn’t diminish my love for BR and MR.

      ASD is goddamned great stuff, though. No debate.

    • Half a million views in a few days. At this rate he might just make enough money to pay off what it took to make that guitar.

      And totally agreed about the talent it takes to pull this off.

        • Vai was at the last MHoF event in Jan 2020, getting inducted and inducting Satriani. He and his wife were clearly not open to stop and chat, so I didn’t approach him.

          Unlike the gaggle of fanboys who chased him everywhere.

    • I didn’t notice anything off about it. But I’m not a native British English speaker. I will say that after years of watching British comedies, I can (with utter confidence) say that the accent was better than Dick Van Dyke in Marry Poppins.

    • And (minor detail spoiler) some one even says to him at one point, “What’s with that accent?” I think, even if it is dodgy, they gave a workable excuse.

  62. Morning Pan

    With luck, (fingers crossed) I’ll do a movie on Friday. It’s been awhile, I know.
    I’m getting off some meds today so I’m hoping life will be back to normal

    • From the article –

      A week before Russia invaded Ukraine, Waters told an interviewer on Russia Today that talk of a Russian invasion was “bullshit … anybody with an IQ above room temperature knows [an invasion] is nonsense”; he has subsequently condemned the invasion calling it “the act of a gangster”, while also condemning “propaganda to demonise Russia”

    • If we start to go down that route, how many clarifiers would it take to describe “Yes” for any given album?

    • With season 2 of Picard airing, there seems to be a lot of Trek news lately. In my Facebook feed, an old friend of mine, posted about how he and his brother were on set to observe the taping of TNG S1E25 “Conspiracy”.

      He posted, “At some point when Patrick is picking up the phaser and the take is cut, he stands up and tosses the phaser II in the air end over end and catches it again by the handle.
      Mind BLOWN.
      Picard and Riker holding those phasers in that shot will live with me forever.”

      • I was on Reddit today and on the /r/startrek group, someone was watching Star Trek : The Motion Picture for the first time thanks to the Paramount+ 4K Remaster.

        The fellow was astounded that the movie featured the theme from Star Trek: The Next Generation

        I’ve never felt so old…

        • I remember how the decades felt distinctly different. 1984 was so much different than 1994. 2008 and 2022 seem about the same. Everything after the ’90s is just one long decade. That gives me a warped perspective on the passage of time.

    • When we visited the wonderful Space Center in the south with the wonderful JustaJoe, they had a bunch of these kinds of posters, referencing Stargate, different versions of Trek, Aliens.

      Who’s surprised that career space scientists are also nerds?

  63. Was going to do a movie today but woke up to a ton of work. Seriously, who drops a bunch of work on a Thursday evening?

  64. JW: The Duke

    An actual visit to the cinema to see this very British film. The geordie accents by the main cast were pretty good.

    Doubt you’ll see it on your side of the pond. ?but I enjoyed it.

  65. Today we were talking about porpoises and I made a Hudson Hawk reference. Hubby had no idea what I was talking about. I think I will introduce him to the (fun) hot mess that is Hudson Hawk. I wonder if it will hod up. I have my doubts.

  66. Took in the new 4K Remaster of Star Trek: The Motion Picture on Paramount+ . While still not a perfect film, it’s certainly much better than folks give it credit for. It’s based on the 2001 Director’s Edition, which I don’t think I had actually seen before.

    I do recommend it if you’ve got access. I also stayed through the credits to take in this bit of a 40 year overdue fix:

    https://www.facebook.com/michael.okuda/posts/10158334328617204

    • I’m definitely more Wars than Trek, but I’ve seen a goodly amount of Trek over the years. I remember people giving the first Trek movie a lot of crap for being slow, but I really, really liked it. It was visually stunning and I loved the concepts it got into.

      • I’ve never agreed with the common opinion that the first Star Trek is a bad movie – – but – – it is goddamn slow. That scene of viewing the Enterprise is majestic. . . then tedious. . . then oh my god, move on!!

        I recall reading as a kid that the Trek community felt that it was a fine Sci-Fi movie, but not really true to Star Trek. That’s why we got Wrath of Khan, which was more true to its roots.

  67. That Dark City article (I posted April 10) is pretty interesting. The parallels between Dark City and the Matrix are obvious, but I didn’t know DC was actually a direct influence on the Matrix.

  68. Well the ‘From’ season finale was rather short of anything indicating what the fuck was going on.

    Hopefully it will get a S2.

  69. For Mother’s Day, my Boo is using their 3D printer to make me a Majima statue. She keeps sending me pics of the work in process. The last one was of a bunch of limbs beside a Coke bottle. It was a little disturbing

  70. So, the eldest daughter wanted to see The Batman a second time, so I took her.

    OK – – it’s good. Way too long, but my interest held for most of it. Honestly, it waned* a little bit in the final chapter.

    All of the actors were damn good in their roles, yes, including Robert Pattinson.

  71. Ok, let’s see what Netflix has on tap. Whatever it is, it will just be a normal pbp. My brain is still getting off spreadsheet mode so isn’t feeling overly creative right now.

  72. Ok, today’s movie is Privlige
    The write up: Dark rituals. Family secrets. And a demonic evil lurking in the shadows. In this town, privlige comes at a terrible price.