Posted on General

Whiskey in the Jar

Author Jack Mangan and artist Kyle Burles are back for more! Following up on their amazing collaboration on “Am I Evil? The Graphic Novel,” they’ve teamed up again for a new take on the classic Irish legend and folk song, “Whiskey in the Jar,” which has famously been performed by Thin Lizzy, Metallica, The Irish Rovers, The Dubliners, The Pogues, Jerry Garcia, and many others.

This adaptation will feature a Steampunk/Cyberpunk/Post-Apocalyptic twist on the setting and story.

Stay tuned. More details to come.

344 thoughts on “Whiskey in the Jar”

  8. So I did another thing. From the FB post:

    In other news, my Christmas Horror short story, “Santa Thing,” is now now available through Amazon:

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQ632222

    I’d greatly appreciate if you’d give it a download. I think the story is fun.
    To quote myself from a 2010 interview with Sapphire Neal: “It’s an extremely dark redefinition of the classic Christmas mythos, replacing “Jolly Old St. Nicholas” with an army of volatile, monstrous creatures. The story centers around a rather disgruntled North Pole Elf who’s out in the field, trying to catch one of these things before it kills again.”
    Content: Language/violence/peril/mild gore (It’s a Horror Story, FFS)
    “Santa Thing” was originally released as a full cast audiodrama on the Deadpan podcast episode #189, as well as the awesome HorrorAddicts.net, episode #52.
    (The voice actors were:
    Elf/narrator: JustaJoe
    Danielle Miller: Ryah Deines
    James Miller: Jack Mangan
    The Santa Thing: Lejon A. Johnson
    DMS Supervisor: Jack Hosley)

  14. So with the latest AppleTV update there is a new screensaver you can choose that is Snoopy animations.

    Don’t think I’ve ever hit select quicker.

  17. Not at all what I expected. Criticism aside, the husband and I really liked the new Joker movie. It was a good sequel to the previous movie

  19. Hey, I want to thank Jack Mangan for personally delivering my Secret Santa gift. See’s candy is a favorite of mine. We need to hire the young one to play ball with Moose to tire him out in the future. It was nice that he took an early nap. LOL

      • “They” did not dissapoint.
        My youngest was smiling and grinning all the way through just like me!
        It was a great experience.

        Once again, their show comes across as if they are entertaining themselves and just happened to have invited the rest of us to hang out and watch. This was the last show of this year’s tour and it is amazing that they can still bring the energy and playful fun.

    • It looks good. One question:
      “We will try to get to this as soon as we’re down counting the giant stacks of money bags in the backs of our limousines.”
      Should “down” be “done”?
      (sorry, I really need to get out of professional mode and into retirement mode)

  24. So with the release of iOS 18.2 UK AirPod Pro 2 owners got the hearing test function enabled.

    Anyway did the test and my hearing is fine.

    The silver lining to mostly going to folk music gigs.

  26. Crap joke for the day:

    When a new child visited our Sunday school, the teacher greeted him and asked his age. The little boy held up four fingers.

    “Oh, you’re four,” said the teacher. “And when will you be 5?”

    The child stared at her and after a few seconds replied, “When I hold up the other finger.”

  31. In theory, Canada Post went back today. However, who knows when I’ll get my package as I’m sure they have a lot to go through since they have been off for a month.

    • I don’t know much about the strike. I tend to side with the workers by default, but I’m not informed enough to take a side here. Are you satisfied with the outcome? Or does it just matter that it’s over?

      • There was no outcome. The government ordered them back to work and assigned a mediator.
        I did think some of the demands were a little much but I also felt Canada Post wasn’t offering enough. Neither side was willing to compromise

  32. Everyone born after the year 2000 finds The Polar Express to be pure magic. Everyone born in the previous century is creeped out by the uncanny valley animation.
    The story is also weird, but most of the strangeness is there to set up the big roller-coaster rides throughout the movie.

    • I read this somewhere –
      The REALLY creepy thing about the uncanny valley is that it exists because somewhere in human evolution, survival depended on being able to detect something that appeared to be human … but wasn’t.

      • I would be skeptical of evolutionary or overly psychological explanations of the uncanny valley. I don’t know of any data that could exist to support any claim about it being related to survival in our past evolution so it can really only be speculation. Might make sense, but it’s as disprovable as a flying spaghetti monster.

  34. So it appears my dreams of being a geriatric gymnast have been dashed (haha).

    Physio told me no amount of exercise is going to get back the flexibility I’ve lost with arthritis.

    So there is that.

  35. After spending a month in postal purgatory, my parcel finally arrived. It’s amazing how much you can stuff in a little box.
    Thanks to the Mangan’s for being my own personal cross-border czars.

  41. I think the Deadpan episode file may have gone kablooey, so I’ve posted “Santa Thing” to YouTube, in case anyone wants to visit a Christmas past.
    https://youtu.be/fTfI34EBjwA

    The players: JustaJoe, Ryah Deines, Lejon Johnson, Jack Hosley, and me.

    Believe it or not, it was Jack Hosley, aka WNDR Wolf himself, who sent me the file.

    • That trailer does nothing to sell me on the movie. The dog is extremely silly. I’m sure the internet is going nuts, but I’m not going to dismiss the whole thing, based just on that.

  48. Ah I’m old enough to remember computer studies class where you had to write programs in basic on paper which was sent off to entered and run on a local Uni’s mainframe.

  49. Crap joke for the day:

    A bloke walks into a pub one night, asks for a pint of bitter, downs it in one, slams the pot down on the bar, shouts “PISS!” and walks out again.

    The next night he walks into the pub again, asks for a pint of bitter, downs it in one, slams the pot down on the bar, shouts “PISS!” and walks out again.

    This goes on every night for a week, and the landlord’s getting pretty sick of it, and when the bloke walks in for the eighth night in a row, the landlord says “right- piss off!”

    And the bloke says “is it? I’ll have a pint of mild, then.”

  57. We don’t talk much sports here, and especially not baseball, but I was saddened to hear that Rickey Henderson died today. There was a time in my youth when I was baseball-crazy, and even though he didn’t play for a NY team, he was still my favorite player. Pure excitement every time he came up to bat, and even better when he was on base. I hope his stolen bases records stand forever. RIP.

  58. Watched Ghost Story last night, the reviews at the time were mixed but I still found it creepy and Alice Krige was great as the vengeful ghost.

  59. If you want to watch a good horror story this Xmas than The Autopsy of Jane Doe on Netflix is well worth a watch.

    Plus I could tell by certain actors it was filmed in the UK and not the US.

    Hah!

  61. OK, that Severance season 1 finale was excellent. This is how you do it.

    I’d hesitantly recommend the show, though. Its pace is probably a little slow for some. And the “weirdness for the sake of being weird” is a little off-putting. Overall, I’m glad I watched it.

  62. We just finished watching “black doves“.
    We liked it. It has a few writing problems here and there, but overall pretty solid action/spy show.
    I thought Keira Knightley did an excellent job in this.

  65. A Christmas Story has a bunch of hidden treasures if you watch with subtitles – – especially dad’s mutterings and Ralphie’s gibberish when he’s punching the bully.
    Did you know the bully’s name was Scut Farkas? All these years I thought it was Scott.

    I’ve seen this 20000 times, but it’s been awhile since I did a full viewing. I think it still holds up. The little one was amused.

  66. Stolen from FB:

    “Five Golden Rings? That’s five ring-necked pheasants.

    Maids-a-Milking? Cattle egrets.

    Ladies dancing? Cormorants. Or maybe that adorable monk parrot on TikTok that dances and sings to “Makin’ Bacon Pancakes.” So cute.

    Lords-a-Leaping? Herons.

    Pipers piping? Sandpipers.

    Drummers drumming? Woodpeckers.

    It’s all birds, all the way down. Your true love is a druid or possibly a ranger whose abilities have gone haywire after rolling a fumble.”

    • Mrs. Asshat and I each have our must-see movies and tv specials. Miracle on 34th St (original black and white version) is on her list. I can watch and enjoy it, but it’s one I would be fine skipping if it was up to me. She also has to watch The Christmas Shoes and A Hobo’s Christmas. She has to watch those on her own because seeing them once was already too many times for me and I’ve sat through them for too many years. My list for Christmas movies that have to be viewed is much shorter with It’s A wonderful Life and A Christmas Story. For me it’s the specials that have to be viewed every year. Starting each year with the first animated Christmas Special Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, then needing to see Emmett Otter’s Jugband Christmas, The Christmas Toy (don’t get me started on how Toy Story is actually a remake of this special IMHO), many Rankin and Bass specials, and the Chuck Jones Grinch That Stole Christmas.

      • I was having a discussion with a friend about It’s A Wonderful Life and how I feel it’s a sad movie because his dreams get crushed even though it’s his choice to allow that to happen.

        The friend disagreed but we both agreed Donna Reed singing Buffalo Girls will you come out tonight is one of the best scenes in the movie.

        • George is one of cinema’s greatest characters. How many times could he have made the selfish choice, but he instead sacrificed for others?

          That movie is loaded with beautiful little moments.
          “Why don’tcha kiss her already?”
          The swimming pool.
          “He’s making violent love to me, mother.”
          “Get me, I’m given’ out wings.”
          “Zu Zu’s petals!”

        • I feel it starts as a sad movie, but has a very uplifting ending. And the ending is what really makes that movie for me. He thinks all his life that to be successful he needs to travel, build things, and make lots of money. But he learns that his success is in the positive actions he takes for those around him. I like that message. I see a similar concept played out in the musical Pippin. Pippin thinks he needs to go off and do great things like become a painter or king, but none of that fulfills him. The only thing that really works to create any kind of happiness is in being there and doing something for the people immediately around him.

      • If I was to have a much watch list, at the moment it would be The Muppet Christmas Carol and Screwged.

        I burned myself out on a Christmas Story. I watched it a little too much over the years. Once we’ve had some time apart I’m sure it will make it back on the list.

        • We’ve definitely burned ourselves out on a few Christmas movies over the years. I was glad we had a bunch of relatively new ones to check out this year including Christmas Chronicles (which we somehow missed in the past), Red One, Dear Santa, and The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland. All pretty well done. I can live this year skipping some of the standards like Christmas Vacation.

  81. It was a lovely day, full of presents and family time. The best part was a visit from the eldest daughter, in spite of her working Xmas Eve and again on Xmas night.

    Santa brought us Abducktion, which we tried out. Fun game for sure, although we got bogged down on a rules clarification (still unanswered).

    I hope everyone else had a good one.

  82. Boxing Day in the UK (and Canada).

    I will not be going to any sales.

    Doctor Who Xmas Special and the new Wallace and Gromit to watch this morning.

      • I got you beat – only one of those for me, and the only time I’ve been to the theater this year. Dune Part 2.

        About half of those on the list I’ve not even heard of. Movies aren’t really a medium I care much about anymore.

      • There are many on that list that I’d like to see, but. . . I’ll get around to them when I get around to them. Even if I were to go alone to the theater, going out to a movie requires a lot of steps and planning. And there’s so much I try to do every day, that 2+ hour time commitment sometimes feels like a lot, even for home-viewing (this is something I need to fix). It’s kinda offputting.

        Case in point: Tiffany asked if I wanted to go see Nosferatu. My response:

        I guess. . . ? I’d never intended to go see it in the theater. I’m sure I can wait until it’s available at home.

    • Wow! I only managed to see two of these movies. Furiosa and Hundreds of Beavers. I definitely highly recommend Hundreds of Beavers. Furiosa was good, but Hundreds of Beavers is super strange and funny.

  85. Was gonna show the little one The Santa Clause just because, but I realized that this movie had never really been a big deal around here, so. . . .

    . . . so we decided to try The Christmas Chronicles instead. Kurt Russell is great, of course. The movie has some good moments. If I were a teacher, I’d have handed it back to the student with the note, “B. With a little more effort, you could have made this an A+.”

  86. Well just watched Molly and Max in the Future, a very quirky low budget sci-fi rom com.

    Oh and watch the credits you get glimpses of how some of the SFX was achieved and one scene was reminiscent of the doors in the Original Star Trek that were opened by stagehands off screen.

  88. Well the rewatch of The Peripheral tv series has begun. I had forgotten the changes and additions to the book’s plot.

    But damn even the first episode is good.

  90. Cirque du Soleil Crystal is touring the US again. It’s all of the jaw-dropping visuals of a Cirque show, but on ice. We caught it a bunch of years ago, and I gotta tell ya, it’s one of the most amazing live shows I’ve ever seen, of any kind. Holy crap the tickets are expensive. . . but – – see this if you can.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnb0Gwd1FYU

  92. Woah !
    Watched “Fight Club” for the first time last night. I really liked it and it was nothing like I had somehow thought it was.

    My eldest had recently watched it and just couldn’t decide if they liked it or not and wanted us to watch it together.

    I was not expecting such a Donnie Darko -esque, art film. I found it brilliant in the way it encompassed the hopeless, cubical drone feeling of that time period… very much like “Office Space” if that movie had carefully followed the Stapler guy’s decent instead of the whacky whimsical antics of the nerds.

    This also proved interesting because my kids had no point of reference for some of that and were basing their interpretation of the film on what is going on today instead of 20 years ago.

    Anyway. Check this one off the list.
    Have seen it now.

  94. The left analog stick on the PS5 controller has started to drift.

    By all accounts for an expensive system the controllers are made cheaply with a big mark up on price for buying new ones.

    Bit annoyed about that.

    • I’m not sure how effective breaking the first book up into two seasons is proving to be.

      I think they’re also running into trouble with how much is being changed from the books. I certainly don’t demand such adaptations be absolute duplicates, but too many changes makes it hard to keep the story straight.

      Just recently started the third book. Going to be interesting to see what they do with this with two seasons committed to go.

    • I still look forward to each episode, but I agree, there is a lot of filler in season 2.

      Spoiler…..

      I think they lingered way too long on the crazy guy (Solo?) in silo 2. We’ve established he’s nuts, and how many water expeditions do we need there?

  98. So downloaded the demo of a game.

    You control a small boat that sucks up oil spills, it’s a pixelated isometric game.

    I could quite happily play the game for hours.

  99. So the latest internet theory about a lot of plane crashes recently (apart from the one the Russians shot down) is that a lot of the older plane maintenance people retired or died from COVID and companies haven’t been able to keep on top of maintenance.

    The other one is that companies have been saving money on maintenance and that is the reason.

  102. Happy New Year’s Eve Deadpan
    My year in review:
    It started normal then got crazy in the middle.
    In June my mother came out to visit. It was the first time we were in the same space in at least a decade. While there were some tense moments, we all survived.
    In July, with the exception of my mother and the husband (who may not count since I reminded him every day for the week leading up to it), everybody I know (and am related to) forgot my birthday. The husband says I didn’t age because birthdays don’t count if they’re not acknowledged.
    In August I got into a tiff with my mother because I think my uncle cheated her out of as much as 20k. My uncle can do no wrong in my mother’s eyes so I came out the bad guy. (I spoke to her at Christmas, we both avoided the subject to that was ok. Although I found out she told the kids but, for reasons that make sense, not me, she’s moving to the same town her brother moved to a couple of years ago).
    Since then, life has gotten back to normal, if a bet hectic. Turns out, planning for retirement is actually a lot of work.
    Here’s to a less interesting 2025.

  103. I’ll wait till midnight for wishing.

    2024 was pretty uneventful. Visited a friend in April and delighted she was converted into the notion that a Total Solar Eclipse was worth the effort to travel.

    Got a knee op, it won’t take me back to normality but the pain relief has been welcome.

    Having a quiet NYE watching movies and eating snacks.

  104. You’ve all had the inside scoop on my life for almost as long as you’ve known me. My life tends toward the chaotic. There was a time I clearly either subconsciously craved that or was simply too tolerant of chaotic forces in my day-to-day.

    I think the most significant move for me in 2024 came in November when I chose to break from my IT career path to make a go at the non-profit music world. That’s my focus for 2025.

    I’m all-too-aware of the fascist elephant in the oval office. I know that nothing good will come of that, but I’m hoping against hope that it won’t have an extreme impact on our daily lives.

  105. It’s been an interesting year. It started on a sour note, last New Year’s Eve, we had to put our beloved dog Myst to sleep. I’ve had to confront some consequences of getting older, blood pressure, and eczema, and I’ve been having an ongoing issue with my hearing. I’ve some sort of blockage in my left ear, not an infection, but it is near deaf. So I’ve been struggling in my conversations a bit. I will see a specialist this year, but whether it is something they can treat or some congenital thing, I don’t know. Hearing aids are probably in my future. Otherwise, things are going very well. Teresa started her own business and is making double what she used to. I got a raise and we hired a financial planning company to invest our savings. If trends continue we’ll be able to retire in five years without any lifestyle change. I realize that is a pretty privileged thing to say. Quite the contrast to 2009 when Teresa’s pay was docked, and I was paid minimum wage for non-billable hours and only worked 4 days a week. My daughter is in her last year of college and my son who took a three-year break and changed majors returned to college and they should both graduate this May. My hope is that there will be so much infighting in the new US administration that the worst of Project 2025 cannot be brought to bear. I wonder if they have thought of the consequences of cutting Social Security and firing half of all federal employees. There will be unemployment, people unable to pay their bills and consequently, businesses that can’t sell services all under the specter of tariffs and rising inflation. It will be a challenge. I try to console myself with the knowledge that the nation has confronted worse and emerged better. Americans do have the capacity to learn, but generally not unless it affects them personally. So some setback, some big gains, and some potentially serious political issues for the New Year. I guess that is life.

  106. 2024 was more ups that downs for us, those we had a pretty sizeable downer this summer with our son in the hospital for a week with severe blood clots. He’s been doing well since then and just went in for a round of checkups these last few weeks with the surgeons and hematologists. He doesn’t have to wear compression socks all the time anymore, but he’s still going to be on blood thinners for the foreseeable future. My daughter and I had ourselves tested and we all share the same genetic defect and protein C deficiency that make us more prone to blood clots. So far, neither of us are on medications and I’d prefer to keep it that way. We’ll probably look at a second opinion for our son in a year or so to see if he really needs to keep on blood thinners forever himself. While we’re got these higher probabilities, only he ended up with clots after our travels and after getting non-symptomatic COVID.

    We enjoyed an excellent trip to Alaska for a cruise with family and friends and got to take in a few of the sights of Seattle during our short stay. We took a few other smaller trips, but with various complications, it was largely a down year for travel. Hopefully will fix than in 25 in particular with a Deadpan get together (hint hint).

    Work has been solid, though my wife is going through an odd transition with her company of 20+ years getting bought out by another one. The new company is based here in Houston, so that’s promising for her in the long run, though she may end up going back to office work at some point. Retirement is looking doable, but we’re still a decade plus away. Our goal is to get Jen retired first and I’ll be her sugar daddy making the money to support her lifestyle :). I actually enjoy my company and the folks I work with, so I’m not in any urgent need of punching out.

    Did get to spend a lot more time on the bike saddles this year. While still nothing compared to “serious” cyclists, I did have my best year of miles by a large margin.

    2025 looks pretty promising overall from where I’m sitting and we’re heading into it with optimism.

  110. So a fav quick meal is scrambled egg on toast.

    The toast is buttered and the scrambled egg is put on top the toast. The scrambled egg is eaten and then the toast.

    A US friend thought that it was weird. So North Americans, if you eat scrambled eggs how do you serve them?

    • So… I am a fan of egg sandwiches. Fried egg, bacon, cheese, and salsa on any kind of bread. But that is eaten as a regular sandwich and not egg first. Although I see nothing odd about eating scrambles eggs on toast, it’s not something I’ve thought to do before. I can definitely see the eggs leaving some flavor and moistness aside that could enhance the flavor of the toast.

  114. “I’ve got soul but I’m not a solder.”

    Every time this song comes on the radio, I instantly flash back to “Southland Tales”

    Thanks Jack.

  116. This morning is the eye doctor.
    First visit since all that eye surgery last spring. At that time they cut a slit to relieve inter-ocular pressure. Then they had to do another procedure to re-open it because I heal too well.
    It supossidly solved the pressure in that eye but Incould no longer see 20/20 out of it even with glasses. At the time they said the best I would do would be 20/25.
    Since then though, I think my vision has gotten worse in that eye.

    Cue Mick Jagger:
    “What a drag it is getting old.”

  117. Watched S1 of Squid Game over the past couple of days. Far better and more nuanced than I expected. And episode 6 was especially well done. I’m looking forward to S2, though I’m keeping my expectations lower. S1 did a great job exploring a lot of interesting themes. I hope S2 isn’t a retread. Still, it looks very entertaining. 😀

    • Eggers still hasn’t convinced me. I thought The VVitch was admirably made, but too slow. I’m hearing the exact same criticisms of Nosferatu from the second-wave of movie-goers, now that the first wave of gushing fans are done with it.

      I am curious about Nosferatu, but I can wait til it’s available at home.

      • My brother and I have this same argument with VVitch. He thinks it’s phenomenal and it just didn’t do anything at all for me. Think I’ll wait for Nosferatu as it seems like it will be much the same. Astoundingly well made, but not the type of movie I enjoy.

  119. Finally started watching Skeleton Crew on D+. We are about a half dozen episodes in. The husband is enjoying it more than me. I really dislike the little girl

    • I still find it interesting that there is this huge push for so called “social justice” (NOT complaining about social justice, I LIKE inclusion and broad representation in my media) in certain franchises (like Disney), but they still write things where the boys and the girls in youth-oriented programs are still so highly stereotypical, at least from a personality standpoint. Seems like the boys in Skeleton Crew are clueless adventure seekers and the girls are uptight rule followers. Might be a result of them wanting to create Goonies in Space. But still annoying.

  121. Happy Perihelion Day!

    Today the Earth is the closest it gets to the Sun.

    However for us Peeps in the Northern Hemisphere the tilt of the Earth’s axis has a bigger effect on weather and that is why it’s Winter and not Summer.

  123. Finished a Watchmen re-read. Genius. This is seriously the most brilliant comic ever published (aside from Am I Evil?, of course. . . ) It absolutely still holds up, 40 years later. The storytelling is masterful.
    And as cultural commentary – – Alan Moore was so incredibly prescient, foretelling a politically polarized, media-dominated culture of fear.

      • I forgot about these – – thanks! I do need to watch them. Does it even include the Black Freighter stuff?

        I was continually reminded of the Snyder film as I was reading. His movie would have been a masterpiece if he’d kept faithful to the source.

          • Filed under “First World Problems:”

            I watched Watchmen: Chapter I on MAX, and yes, it’s excellent. So I looked for Chapter II – – and it’s not there. Not on MAX, not anywhere. (I’d prefer not to rent it)

  124. One of the best things to happen for communications within relationships
    “Cellphones”
    (not smartphones. Specifically portable telephones)

    One of the worst things to happen for communications within relationships:
    “Earbuds” ( not headphones but specifically those little devices that you can’t always tell they have in if you are across the room or they have long hair)

    Discuss.

  125. I can distinctly remember times where I was the last person at work, sitting there waiting for a return call from my spouse (was she on the road? In a meeting? Headed to the store?) to see what she was up to because my friends were all gathering somewhere and I needed to know if I was headed home or headed out.

    Cell phones liberated me from that. We could make plans on the fly. You could head to your meetup and your spouse could reach you as soon as they were available.

    Earbuds – beyound being an isolating thing. If you can’t tell they have them on you are liking to try to communicate the little, random thoughts couples share – “look at that bird on the feeder”, “my mom called today and is feeling better.”, “I am enjoying this book I’m reading”
    By the 2nd or 3rd comment you get treated with exasperation as they suddenly start reaching to turn off their audio, pull out an earbud and give you that “What! What is it? Is there anything else you want to say to me?” look.
    The result is you train yourself not to speak unless they speak to you first or if you are close enough to clearly see there are no earbuds in.

  126. It’s all fun and games being a homeowner till the roof starts to leak.

    Yeah, feel like I’ve backed to the 70s putting a bowl under the leak.

  127. Oh and wireless earbuds are bloody great.

    Except for the batteries than can’t be replaced.

    On long international flights and ones with ANC they great.

    • They’re pebbles of evil and anyone who enjoys them is scum!

      (I’m kidding. I just fear that someday classic headphones will be made obsolete.)

      • The big chunky over-the-ear headphones seem to have made a comeback, but seems more like a fashion statement than people actually wanting to hear their music with the best possible audio.

        • The husband uses big headphones. Both for the computer and listening on his phone.
          I can’t use either headphones or earbuds as they give me headaches.

  128. Because I’m me, I spent the morning getting all my 2024 paperwork in order. I’m ready to start on my taxes.

    Bring on 2025!

  130. Finished the third book of the Silo trilogy today. The third was definitely the weakest of the three. Personally, I felt the second was the strongest overall – though I’m sure that’s a minority opinion.

    Will be interesting to see how it plays out in the remaining seasons of the TV version.

  131. Visited some old friends who just returned from seeing Rapa Nui and Antarctica. Lordy, what an amazing trip.

    Don’t worry, Kurt Russell and HP Lovecraft jokes were made.

  134. Watched Ron Howard’s latest “In the heart of the sea” last night.

    Big budget feel. No real stand out performances. Won’t make you think to much but sometimes that’s just fine.
    Enjoyed it but probably won’t remember it a few weeks from now.
    If you are looking for some action and some drama and some recognizable faces with a lot of ocean – this is your film.

  136. Zuckerberg has totally bent the knee to trump.
    Under Meta’s new content moderation policy, certain online attacks are banned *unless* the target is LGBTQ, in which case the attacks are allowed.

    They actually have an exception to restrictions on attacks on LGBTQ persons.

    • I’d heard that fact-checking was no longer a thing on FB (the memes have been rich), but I hadn’t heard that last detail allowing attacks on LGBTQ+. Sickening. And yes, this is all in anticipation of the incoming fascists.

      On some level, many humans just accept that periods of oppressive control are part of some grand societal cycle.

      • So I guess from meta we now migrate over to Bluesky?

        One wonders how long that will last.

        It is just hard to imagine having as much money as a Billoinaire has pouring into their bank account everyday, and still feeling the need to cow towel to a petty, tin-pot dictator.

        • Ah. I found this and it would explain it.
          ++++++
          USDOJ is suing Meta under antitrust laws. Trial is supposed to start in April.
          Zuckerberg doesn’t like that.
          Zuckerberg met with Trump.
          Trump doesn’t like fact checking or human rights.
          Zuckerberg stops fact checking and changes LGBTQ policy to make Trump happy.
          It’s a quid pro quo setup.
          +++
          Except Zuch hasn’t been paying attention. trump never pays his bills.
          Caving on to him only lets him know that he has got you by the short hairs.
          That Zuch would think trump will ever let him off the hook is just so cute.

          • This sums up everything pretty accurately. I’ve seen clips of Zuck’s previous hearings. He shows them none of the arrogance you’d expect, he immediately devolves into sniveling.

            This whole upcoming term is shaping up like a Bond villain scenario, except the Bond villains aren’t usually sunsetting deep into dementia.

          • I may have done this math here before…but it bares repeating.

            If you had $1 Billion invested and made a paltry 7% a year on that, you would be making an additional $70 million a year doing nothing but sitting on your hands.
            You’d never have to touch the initial Billion and you’d have an extra $70 million a year to try and blow through before the next $70 million rolled in.

            How many years of this would it take before you completely lost track of what it feels like to be an actual part of the human race?
            You would specifically have to make a point of working at trying to be part of us. I think Malinda Gates does this. Maybe others we’ve never heard of.

            The math example above is how much cash rolls in if you have just 1 billion.
            Zuc is said to be worth over $170 Billion.
            Bezos, over $200 Billion.
            Are they “monsters”? Probably not.
            I will say that they are no longer “us”.

  138. Crap joke for the day:

    Paddy wants a job, but the foreman won’t hire him until he passes a little maths test.
    “Here is your first question,” the foreman says. “Without using numbers, represent the number nine.”
    “Without numbers?” Paddy says. “That’s easy.” And he proceeds to draw three trees.
    “What’s this?” the boss asks.
    “Have you no brain? Tree plus tree plus tree makes nine,” says Paddy.
    “Fair enough,” says the boss. “Here’s your second question. Use the same rules, but this time the number is 99.”
    Paddy stares into space for a while, then picks up the picture that he has just drawn and makes a smudge on each tree and hands it back.
    The boss scratches his head and says, “How on earth do you get that to represent 99?”
    “Each of them trees is dirty now. So, it’s dirty tree plus dirty tree plus dirty tree. That makes 99.”
    “All right, last question. Same rules again, but represent the number 100.”
    Paddy stares into space again; he then picks up the picture and makes a little mark at the base of each tree and hands it back.
    The boss looks at Paddy’s picture. “You must be nuts if you think that represents a hundred!”
    Paddy leans forward and points to the marks at the base of each tree and whispers, “a little dog came along and pooped by each tree. So now you got dirty tree and a turd, plus dirty tree and a turd, plus dirty tree and a turd, which makes 100!”

  139. One of Tiffany’s coworkers kept calling our little one “Little Miss Sunshine,” saying she looked just like young Abigail Breslin in the movie. I’d seen it back then, but Tiffany never had. So rewatched tonight.

    Man, what a gem.

    • My daughter is a gem, yes, but I meant the movie. Much more striking to me now than it was when I watched the Netflix DVD, 18 years ago.

      And what a cast: Greg Kinnear, Steve Carrell, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, with a small role for Bryan Cranston.

  140. Stolen from Brian Asman on FB:

    “Fifty years ago, our entertainments were shared and non-interactive. We mostly heard the same songs, watched the same shows on the same 4 networks, etc. The proliferation of entertainment choice is great for viewpoint diversity, but now instead of choosing from 4 shows airing at 8 o’clock, we might spend hours playing a random mobile game no one else has ever heard of or watching a YouTube video only 3 people in the entire world have ever seen. We can curate our entertainment experiences, as well as participate in them, to degrees never before imagined. This is done in several ways–for example, when we play a game we are literally influencing the narrative, but if we watch a live streamer and comment on their content, we are participating in that too. We are becoming conditioned to expect the ability to influence, if not outright control, our experiences.
    Through that lens, it makes sense–if I can choose which path to go down in a dungeon crawler, or tell a YouTuber to suck it in real time, why shouldn’t I be able to have an author rewrite a scene especially for me?
    These sorts of attitudes will become more common, not less. And with the rise in generative AI, we are at risk of building a pop cultural Tower of Babel where every single one of this has a perfectly bespoke entertainment experience that no one else can relate to. Gone will be the water cooler discussions of whatever the fuck happened on LOST last night (TBF, thanks to streaming these are largely rare anyway), because generative AI will let us watch TV shows we have designed ourselves to our own specifications. Questions like “What’s in the hatch?” will be irrelevant, because we can put any goddamn thing in there we want.
    And while as much as I want to make my own LOST where it turns out Tupac and Biggie are in the hatch, Mr. Eko survives for two more seasons, and Nikki and Paolo are played by cartoon dogs, the damage done to one of the basic ways we relate to each other–discussing entertainment–will be incalculable.”

  141. I had a similar discussion with Teresa about how the market caters to individually bespoke items and entertainment. My daughter loves an obscure video game character called “The Fire Keeper” from the Dark Souls. I wanted to get her a figurine but I couldn’t find one on Amazon. However, there was a guy on Etsy from Turkey who 3d printed and hand painted them, made to order. It is amazing to have access to such a personalized choice. Art will continue down these niche avenues in a similar way. But, I think we will yearn to be challenged when we have had our fill of self-servant media. There could be a backlash against AI for this reason.

  142. Had to call the Retired Teacher’s Association today. They had the husband’s birthday wrong at 1985 so we had to fix it
    It had the husband and I wishing we could retire at 20 years younger. That would be nice

  143. Today was the day I discovered there are such people as Terracotta Truthers.

    They believe the Terracotta Warriors are fake and made by the Chinese goverment to be a tourist trap.

  144. For those not on the Facebooks:

    Today was a crap day. Driving to have lunch with my daughter, my traffic lane came to a standstill, but the car behind me did not. They hit my rear bumper at full speed.
    No one seems to have been badly injured. I was fortunately alone in the car at the time. I did go to urgent care afterward because I feel strains in my thumb, neck, and back. But x-rays look fine.
    My Mazda CX-5 is almost-certainly totaled. I realize things could have turned out a lot worse, but it still makes for a shit day. And a bunch of shit to deal with in the days ahead.

    Do I have any faith that the insurance company will handle their end of it?

  145. Crap joke for the day:

    An Englishman and an Irishman walk into a bakery, their eyes scanning the shelves laden with freshly baked goods. Spotting a tray of warm buns on the counter, the Englishman hatches a plan. In one swift motion, he snatches three buns, slips them into his pockets, and strolls out, his face beaming with pride.

    Outside, he nudges the Irishman and says, “Now that is skill. Did you see how I took those buns without anyone noticing? That’s what I call the art of stealth.”

    The Irishman chuckles and shakes his head. “Stealth? That’s just petty theft. Let me show you how to get those buns with style and wit.”

    Intrigued, the Englishman follows the Irishman back into the bakery. With confidence, the Irishman approaches the owner and says, “Good day, sir! Would you like to see a magic trick guaranteed to blow your mind?”

    The owner, intrigued and curious, nods. “A magic trick? Alright, show me what you’ve got!”

    The Irishman flashes a charming smile. “For this trick, I’ll need three of your finest buns.”

    The owner hands over a bun, and the Irishman promptly eats it. He then requests a second bun, devours it, and does the same with a third. Standing there, he wipes his mouth and smiles contentedly.

    The bakery owner, now thoroughly unimpressed, scowls. “Magic trick? All I see is you eating my buns! Where’s the magic?”

    The Irishman grins, points at the Englishman, and says, “Check his pockets.”

  149. So, I’m up this morning putting away the Christmas decorations and I was flipping through looking for something to play in the background while I’m disassembling. Came across “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” which I love, but haven’t actually watched in….forever. So, fire it up.

    It’s still as sharp and clever as ever. But, what jumped out at me on this watch is EMPEROR FUCKIN PALPATINE is the BULTER!

    And, while his part is obviously much smaller than the three leads, he kills it whenever he’s in a scene. Especially his sparing with Steve Martin.

    Now I really want him to play a part in Only Murders in the Building.

    • I recall that the Ruprecht scenes were fall-down funny, but that the rest of the movie was kinda dull – – but that was my teenage self’s review.

      In light of this new information, I think I now need to rewatch Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

  151. Crap joke for the day:

    What do you get when you cross a mosquito with a mountain climber??

    Nothing! Everyone knows you can’t cross a vector with a scalar..,

  153. I see the meme about “recrudescence” being the word of the year, but I think “enshittification” is much more apropos. It really sums up the majority of my experiences with technology-related systems in 2024 and so far in 2025.

    • I can’t say that I’ve heard of “recrudescence” before, while “enshittification” has long been adopted into my personal dictionary. A most useful and descriptive word.

      I think that’s actually already been word of the year as selected by one of those organizations that makes such declarations that no one pays attention to.

    • “We need to do a semen test, please get the sample tomorrow in this jar”, I instructed my elderly patient
      The next day the he came back with the jar and its empty
      “Sorry, you seem to have had some trouble?” I was concerned
      He said, “Doc, at home I tried hard with one hand and then both hands. I asked my gf for help, but no luck. Finally, I called a friend from down the street, to…
      “Was it so difficult, hold on…you asked your neighbor for help!”
      “Yeah, but none of us could open the jar”..

  155. I have a question. What makes a book good?
    Have you ever read a book where all the pieces are there but somehow it just doesn’t click. However, you can’t figure out why It doesn’t work for you because, for the reasons above, it should.
    It’s also not that the writing’s bad. It may not be award winning, but still . . .
    So, when you read a book, what is that “thing” that makes it works for you?

    • I mean I’m genre biased in liking sci-fi but other than that I have no idea.

      Mind you I was reading one book by a new, well respected author and one line made me want to throw the book against the wall in anger. Other than that thought it was a good book.

    • I want relatable characters who act in accordance with their motivations. I like my prose descriptive but not obtuse. Finally, does the conflict resolution pay off? Using Stephen King as an example, “The Stand” triumphs in all three. “The Tommyknockers” has okay characters, and the climax is kind of a letdown.

    • So clearly, the content needs to engage me but I think what sucks me in and makes me a fan is the “Voice”.
      That is a hard one to define. I suspect it is word choice, phrasing and meter that the author chooses. Something about it just lets me hear those characters voices in my head. Of course then there needs to be consistency of those characters and of the general “voice” of the narrative.

    • I’ve figured out that for me a story needs to either have strong characters, or a strong narrative. Both are nice, but it’s got to have at least one.

      By that, I mean I can enjoy a book that is more of a character study if the characters are well developed, even if the story doesn’t move very strongly. On the other hand, I can enjoy a book where the characters aren’t deeply developed and are more props to move the story along that the writer is trying to tell.

      If I’m not learning who the characters are and the story isn’t taking me anywhere, then it’s a struggle to stick with.

    • Honestly, voice and pacing are (almost) everything for me. If your paragraphs are clunky – – or amateurish, then I’m gonna bail out in the first few pages.

      I’ll drop out further down the road if the pacing is overlong, if it gets tedious or dull, or if I don’t find myself caring about the characters.

      Genre almost doesn’t matter to me (almost). If you convince me that a book is great, then I’m interested, regardless of genre.

      • I don’t care about genre much. I read everything, from westerns to romance, but I tend to prefer fantasy and SF.

        As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to dislike epic SF/F due to the ridiculously large cast of characters. This is because I tend to prefer character-driven stories. I still enjoy plot-driven books, but I find them harder to enjoy; I can just read a non-fiction book for the “ideas” instead. But if you give me a book with a good plot and a character that I care about, I will avidly read the book to the end. And that can also apply to non-fiction books as well.

        Like Jack, I also care about writing style. If the writing is too florid, or tries to mimic an old style, or the writer is showing off how amazing they write, then I tend to put the book down. I suspect the writing style I prefer would be considered a bit quotidian by some, but when I read, I prefer to be in a a flow state instead of an analytical one. My reading is not an assignment; I don’t want to work to enjoy the book. There are some exceptions to that, but those come down to “good plot+good characters”.

  160. Currently on hold with our utilities company and suddenly realizing that you can’t spell “Utilities” without having a “UTI”.

      • Given the favorable depiction of Fisk in Hawkeye and the brief, but amazing, fight sequence of DD in Echo, and the fact that Disney/Marvel don’t want to F this up, I’m really looking forward to this. Cautiously optimistic.

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