Today's post was supposed to be shitty companies who use AI photos for their products who then ship you crap that doesn't match the image of what they sold you... but I just finished watching The Residence on Netflix, and cannot shut up about it.
I cannot fathom this series dropping out of my top five favorite shows of 2025. And I'm dying to see more of "The World's Greatest Detective," Cordelia Cupp, and hope we get a second season. And a third. And a tenth...
They apparently built the largest, most accurate set of The White House ever constructed, but it's more than that. They did some incredible doll-house shots that I found myself rewinding and re-watching again and again. These scenes are alive with people moving through it, and are incredible to behold...
And while I adore absolutely every last person in this phenomenal cast, the dynamic between Uzo Aduba and Randall Park is mind-blowing. How? How did they manage to figure this out when casting? And while I am profoundly sad that the amazing Andre Braugher died and had to be replaced in a major role, I have to say Giancarlo Esposito did such a remarkable job. Different than his usual characters. A beautiful performance really. I love, love, love this show.
WELL WORTH YOUR VALUABLE TIME! Thank you Shondaland for this exceptional show!
If you aren't old enough to remember what it was like to exist before smart phones, then you have no idea how utterly bizarre the world was back then. Comparatively speaking.
I, of course, am not only familiar with the world before smart phones, I'm familiar with a world before personal computers! Yes. I am that old. And the weird thing is that I do not think about The Before Times. Like at all. I never call up Google Maps or answer a text on my iPhone and think "Gee... remember what it was life before Steve Jobs blessed humanity with this thing? As far as I'm concerned, smart phones feel like they've always existed.
No, what got me to thinking about The Before Times was this video by Eddy Burback where he gave up his mobile phone. And even then, I didn't really think about it UNTIL he got to the part where he was watching old episodes of Sex and The City at the 15-minute mark. THEN I was like "Holy crap..."
I am not to the point where I want to give up my iPhone.
Not even a little bit.
That being said, I am very, very glad that I got to experience life without smart phones. It was a very different time. And not really in a bad way.
I am a bit more mixed when it comes to personal computers. On one hand, being there at the beginning of it all was a super-exciting time to be alive. But on the other hand, it would have been nice if personal computing was a bit further along when I was younger. Particularly in high school.
Though given the horrific state of cyber-bullying, maybe I should be glad it was still in its infancy.
Ooh! Spring is finally here! But am I going outside to enjoy it? No... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...
• Stuck on You! Betty White's social media advertised that the US Postal Service tribute stamp to her was finally released. As my favorite celebrity of all time, of course I wasted no time heading to the USPS website to buy a sheet and also get the cancelation release...
Note the paw print earring. I also picked up some of the Keith Harring "Love" stamps which I had no idea existed.
• Close to You! Okay. First of all... how could you have never heard Karen Carpenter before? Second of all... I wish I could erase my memories of Karen Carpenter's phenomenal voice so I was able to hear her for the first time again...
What's interesting is searching YouTube for this topic. There are a LOT of reaction videos. And all of them go about how you think they would. If you've never heard Karen Carpenter with the music stripped away... you need to do that.
• Tariffs, Anyone? Aerogarden is shutting down, so their hydroponic systems are on sale for half price in a variety of places. I had one at my old place and loved being able to have fresh herbs available... but it broke when I moved.
So I just bought two of them (they only seem to have the small 6-pod units left @ $60, though I'm told they can be had for $50)...
I also bought a boat-load of seed pods (third party, because the Aerogarden has always been crazy expensive). Given how groceries aren't going to get cheaper any time soon... or ever, given how much of our food is grown in Mexico or harvested in the US by migrant workers who are getting deported... I need to do what I can to afford to make meals I love more affordable. Cilantro, which I eat a ton of, has reached $1.70 a bunch. Parsley $2 a bunch. Basil $3 a package. Thyme $3 a package. Jalapeños are 50¢ each. Butter lettuce is $4 a head. It goes on and on.
My $120 Aerogarden investment plus cheap seed pods will end up paying for itself in under a year. Now I'm considering growing my own tomatoes, tomatillos, cucumbers, and peppers outside to save money. The problem is that I work so much I won't be able to tend to them as they need. I dunno. I should try and find a way, because holy shit is eating expensive.
• Nice Beaver! Yeah, baby beavers are about as cute as it gets. Around the 90-second mark you can really hear them crying and squeaking. My heart. The total video is 10-1/2 minutes long, and the babies are just in the first two minutes, but you'll want to watch it all...
Half the video was a beaver eating avocado and beaver chow. I couldn't stop watching.
• License to Kill... A Studio! So I don't get accused of misogyny by hammering away at another incompetent female movie exec (the first being LucasFilm's Kathleen Kennedy) I'm going to let a woman do it in this video (oh man how I love Nerd Cookies!)...
But I am going to chime in and say "Amazon Prime Video... WHAT. THE. FUCK. TOOK. YOU. SO. LONG?!?" Jennifer Salke made so many moronic and expensive mistakes that it's beyond shocking she lasted this long. Usually you have to be a straight white man to get a pass on being this bad at your job. Hopefully Amazon will get their shit together and hire somebody who knows what the fuck they're doing and take advantage of their many amazing IPs. Because MGM deserves better.
• M'Baku to the Future! The Avengers: Doomsday cast announcement video was fun, I guess. But the only addition that truly made me want to happy-dance was Winston Duke as M'Baku. Don't care about the X-Men, but I've wanted a Disney+ M'Baku series since we've had Disney+, and it boggles my mind we haven't gotten one yet...
No Daredevil. No Moon Knight. No Blade. No Eternals. No Marvels. No Spider-Man?!? Strange. Oh... and no Doctor Strange?!?
• U-S-A! U-S-A! Thank heavens anti-vaxers and RFK are intent on bringing back preventable diseases by presenting misinformation about vaccines! The companies who makes iron lungs could use the business after the polio vaccine was developed and wiped out a need for their product. To get a look at what future generations of Americans may be in for, here's an interesting (but sad) look...
I remain absolutely floored at how anti-science rhetoric and "alternate facts" are fucking up this country. And I'm mortified that kids who have no say in getting vaccinated are going to pay the price for it.
And, on that happy note, I'm going to go enjoy this fine (albeit a bit overcast) Spring day... by cleaning my house.
Before I get to it... this Facebook video of a cat getting its butt wiped at a cat show is about as cat as it get.
Most every morning I have some kind of video conference call. Jenny avoids them like the plague. At most she will go running behind my desk at top speed to get back to my bedroom. Jake, on the other hand, is one of those cats that end up in viral TikTok videos because he has absolutely zero problem asking for attention during a call. He will walk across the desk and put his butt in my face. He will flick his tail while walking back-and-forth. And he will sometimes start squawking because he's still hungry after breakfast.
But most of the time?
He just sits on the shelf I built on top of the stairwell (the one I made after Jake had fallen off and hurt his foot) and... stares at me.
Sometimes in a more entertaining way than others...
The reason I have this photo is because I took it in order to show it to the other person on my call.
I fully realize that the crazy things my cats do sound unbelievable, so I always make sure I have the receipts.
As I'm writing this, my cats have once again taken over the bed. I have about 1/4 at the very edge. I took a photo before Jake spread himself out to full length and kept pushing on my right leg until I moved it...
15 minutes later, the automated feeders triggered to dispense their 9:00pm snack and the bed was mine again.
For a while, anyway.
I watch a shit-ton of YouTube. It's 90% of my entertainment because the content is just so wildly diverse... and you can run across some real gems that rival anything you'll find on any network or streaming service. It's the very first app on my television Home Screen. And this is why I pay for YouTube Premium so I don't have to watch ads in everything (well, except when the video has a sponsor, which I categorically loathe, but can fast-forward through easily enough).
I'm going to start sharing my favorite YouTube channels here. Again. I used to do that, but stopped for some reason. Earlier in the month I shared Food Explained and, since I'm in a cooking channel rabbit hole at the moment, today I'm sharing Chef Saúl Montiel. He is, by far, my favorite celebrity chef. No contest. He's incredibly talented, very funny, and is the type of guy you wish was in your local restaurant down the street.
I first found him on Pro Chef and Home Cook Swap Ingredients videos from Epicurious...
I mean, come on... the guy is a genius in the kitchen.
Chef also has his own YouTube channel where he shares essential life skills, like making guacamole (which is my heaven on earth)...
His family is adorable overdrive...
One of my goals in life is to eat at his restaurant, Cantina Rooftop. Just look at their breakfasts...
If you love cooking (or just love food) Chef Saúl should be on the top of your YouTube list.
What the hell is wrong with app developers now-a-days? Do they just not give a shit? Do they not beta test? Do they not use their own software? Because I've been trying my best to understand why 90% of the apps I use are total crap, and I am at a complete loss.
Apple HomeKit HomeShit's app is the obvious contender for worst of the worst. It's so insanely bad that I automatically assume it will fail at what I want it to do. We were promised that Siri with Apple Intelligence would fix how utterly brain-dead their tech is at implementing even the most basic commands, but now Apple is delaying the rollout... despite the fact that they sold me my new iPhone based on smarter Siri coming soon! They had commercials with Bella Ramsey advertising it and everything! So now there are lawsuits by people who feel misled. And I want to join up because I'm definitely feeling like Apple has taken a giant shit on me yet again. I don't give a fuck about "Apple Intelligence"... just make it so I can get an automation to work for more than a day and let me control my home on my Mac without having to constantly restart the Home app. And, while you're at it, stop having your iPod mini tell me to switch to my iPhone app to open a damn door WHEN I AM TALKING INTO MY iPHONE AND SIRI HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THAT I'M SPEAKING TO IT THERE!
But the thing that happened today which compelled me to write this post?
Microsoft.
Who else? They have a long, long legacy of bullshit.
So there I was logging in to a shared drive on Microsoft servers when I get a message that I need to authorize access with the Microsoft Authenticator app. Authenticating is normal now, alas, and many companies are doing it to curb piracy. Adobe apps are all authenticated with their app, for example.
But unlike Adobe, where my Apple Watch will display buttons to allow or reject access... Microsoft has only ONE button after asking you to approve sign-in: Dismiss.
What the entire fuck?
Why even bother to have Apple Watch services if they aren't worth a shit? If I am going to have to open my iPhone to authenticate, fine, but leave my watch the hell out of it. Why pester me with a question that's impossible to answer?
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
How are Microsoft developers, who obviously know what they coded into the app, looking at this stupid bullshit and saying "Yep! That's the way we want it to work!"
The future may be now, but the technology of the future sucks.
UPDATE: Right on queue, Marques has some thoughts...
It's beyond shitty how Apple has degenerated to its current state. I can't fathom this kind of bullshit happening when Steve Jobs was running the company.
Up is down. Blue is red. Bananas are apples.
I swear at this point nothing can surprise me. Except... what does continue to surprise me... even though I am fully aware that it shouldn't... is the fact that there are people so indoctrinated into a narrative that they question nothing and believe absolutely everything they're told, no matter how outlandishly stupid.
So long as what they're told fits into what they want to believe, there's no need for any other perspective. And sure as fuck no need for facts.
I should have never stopped drinking on my birthday.
Meh. Just ignore me today. I'm catching up on the news and am probably just jealous that I'm not included in all the cool group chats.
However...
Remember when a government employee sending emails on a personal server was considered such a reckless breach of security that it resulted in two FBI investigations? I do. Political opponents wouldn't shut the fuck up about it, even after the employee was cleared by the investigations. But now those same people have ZERO problem with how top-secret information is transmitted (hell, they don't even give a shit who is receiving it), and think there should be ZERO consequences for a massive security breach.
And of course the same sycophants who were screaming about the emails are falling for the banana in the tailpipe because they're being told there's no banana in the tailpipe.
Like I said, I am fully aware that this shouldn't surprise me even a little bit. Maybe it's because I want so badly to believe that people can finally wake up to reality that I have no choice but to be surprised. But in a world of "alternative facts" maybe I'm being too hopeful.
I should stop.
But without hope, what else is there?
You know how when the end of your vacation is pending and you try to enjoy those last precious moments of your time off... but can't help but think about all the stuff that's waiting for you back at the office? That's where I'm at now. And I can't drink myself into forgetting, because driving responsibly is more important than ever given how idiots on the road are looking at their phones all the time. OR READING A BOOK... WHICH, I SHIT YOU NOT... IS SOMETHING I SAW ON SUNDAY! I was a passenger, so I could see that a woman had a literal book on top of her steering wheel. And the reason I noticed WAS BECAUSE I SAW HER TURNING THE PAGE! Gotta be super-sober when assholes like that are on the road. Which is infuriating, because I'd argue somebody who's reading is more dangerous than somebody who's had a few drinks. I wonder if she knows about audiobooks?
Anyway...
Yesterday for my birthday we left the casino to eat at a bar. It was Monday, which is apparently "Crab Night" where you can blow through as much crab as you can eat for just $39.99... and, let me tell you, there were people eating serious amounts of crab.
Being vegetarian, that wasn't for me... but I did get a kick out of the sign for it...
I think poor SpongeBob's leg got accidentally erased while they were hanging the sign. But Patrick came through with all limbs attached...
Poor Mr. Krabs!
Though if you like eating that gross stuff, I'm sure he was delicious.
Suppose I should pack my suitcase.
WAAAAAAAAHHHH!
Today's my birthday!
Except I'm writing it two days later because I am (was) drunk in a casino for my birthday.
I'd say I'm one year closer to retirement, but it's looking doubtful that I'll ever be able to retire given the current plans for Social Security and the dire state of my 401K. So I guess I'll just be happy I'm one year closer to death? That sounds about right.
Happy belated birthday to me.
I may not be at home, but I'm still tossing bullets aplenty... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...
• Cinematic Apathy! Simon Stålenhag is a brilliant, brilliant writer/artist who has crafted some of the most amazing books you'll ever see. The Electric State is a beautifully dark and haunting tale where every illustration looks like it belongs in a museum. The Russo Brothers, whose Avengers movies are genius, made a boring, safe adaptation that completely misses the point (on Netflix). It's awful, even though the source material is phenomenal still...
Even if it were a completely new movie that was an original work it would be awful.
• Qualls! This is easily one of the best Hollywood interviews I’ve ever seen...
What a fascinating guy.
• Port of Seattle! I’ve been saying for decades that SeaTac Airport (AKA Seattle-Tacoma Airport) is one of the shittiest airports in the world, even on the Federal level at Border Control. As you can see here. The airport is busted, nonsensical, inconvenient, and prioritizes space for businesses over space and comfort for passengers. I am filled with dread every time I fly out of the shithole. And I’m filled with embarrassment whenever visitors have to use it.
• Found On The Internet Part 7,365,411! I could use this award almost daily...
And so could you if you read this blog daily!
• Reagan?! I'll just put these videos here for no particular reason...
No reason at all.
• Lumon Terminal Pro! BWAH HA HA HAAAA! If you're watching Severance on AppleTV+, then Apple's latest computer may interest you...
• Vaccinate! I feel bad that anybody suffers the consequences of science-denial... it's all programming and ignorance... but I feel even more terrible that their children have to suffer with them. Because Jesus Christ...
Your God gave us vaccines, but here you are... wanting your child to die instead of accepting a literal miracle that was handed to you.
See you on the other side of the mountains. One of these days.
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