FIRST WEEKEND OFF IN MONTHS AND I'M SICK! But never you fear, it's not so debilitating that I can't blog... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts...now...
• Color it Purple! Why? Why can't this be the political attitude on both sides of the fucking divide?
It's probably because hate is what wins elections now. And how sad is that? There was a time that politicians would work for all their constituents, we need to get back to that. By electing people like this.
• Feeling Off! This is wild. The guy is in Seattle, but what he's talking about can apply to a lot of places...
The guy's channel is fantastic. I can't stop watching it. This video from last night has insights that's tough to wrap your head around...
How this guy doesn't have his own television show on HBO is beyond me.
• How are the kids? I laughed for five solid minutes watching this...
@ryan.maxwell22 It’s so cruel but fun 😭
♬ original sound - Ryan Maxwell
Didn't help that this guy was dying while reading it.
• Rhapsodic! I love stuff like this (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...
@juliencohen_piano The most INSANE Bohemian Rhapsody Flashmob you will ever see!! With 30 musicians and singers in the streets of Paris 😍 Lead singer: @Mickey Callisto Lead guitar: @GuitarOlly First 3 singers: @✨ DDKN ✨ Pop choir: @ddkn.off @Sone and @coline sicre Counter-tenor solo: @michaelkonesaki Second guitar: @Axel Thomas Bass guitar: @pasmaniandevil Opera choir (check out their instagram!): @eeva.matilda @chevalierdesatvrn @c.lui.michel @dounia.el_baaj @Emmanuelle Jakubek @Lisa Chaïb-Auriol @louthomasmezzo @celestelajeune @pariton_chuck @nicolaethetenor @olgavojnovic @romainjurmande @sarapaonemezzo @Shadi_officiel @msyatparis @tirsothevoice Video editing: @manondess_ Sound mixing: @t_jnvc Music coordination: @Eeva ♬ son original - Julien Cohen
I wish Freddie were alive to see this.
• Thunderstruck! This is absolutely amazing. I love AC/DC, and this is a flawless tribute...
I have an agent who’s single purpose is to wake me up with something fun every morning today it sent me this A+ https://t.co/Phc8NhFBPb
— Ronnie Evans (@RonnieAEvans) October 30, 2026
Give this young woman a beer!
• Racism: Alive & Well! Good GOD I'm sick and fucking tired of stupid...
@dr.eric.b #fyp ♬ original sound - Eric
Lord what a fucking racist piece of shit. And speaking of a fucking racist piece of shit...
@kareemelhagemd Every day, I am a little less surprised and a lot more disappointed.
♬ original sound - Dr. Elhage, MD | Derm Resident
No science? WE WRITE SCIENCE IN ARABIC NUMERALS, YOU STUPID FUCKING RACIST ASSHOLE! And what about algebra? Algebra comes from the "al-jabr" in the book title Al-Kitāb al-mukhtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-jabr wal-muqābalah by Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi... THE FATHER OF ALGEBRA! No literature? How the fuck could even the stupidest person not know of One Thousand and One Nights? It's a hugely famous collection of folktales, to which Sinbad the Sailor was added. How hasn't his ignorant ass heard of that one? And works from Arab authors are being widely translated into other languages... INCLUDING ENGLISH. Not that I expect this mutherfucker to read a fucking book. And notice that the turd never mentioned architecture. Probably because even his worm-addled brain knows that some of the most stunning architecture in the world comes from Arab origins. Or art, of which there is a fuck-ton of incredible works from the Arab world. Good God. — The asshole's got money... pick up a fucking passport and take a look at the world, dumbass.
THESE are the people representing this country? I just want it all to go the fuck away. What in the hell have we become?
• NEWSFLASH: Richard Norton, actor and martial artist, died after peptides triggered heart attack, coroner says. Good thing our Health Secretary is on the case: RFK Jr. eases access to unproven peptides despite opposition from FDA scientists. Jesus what a fucking stupid piece of shit. Anybody taking medical advice from the dumbass deserves what they get. Unfortunately, that means the United States of America, where he's inexplicably been put in charge of something he doesn't know jack-shit about.
Now back to laying on the couch with intestinal distress.
As you've undoubtedly noticed from the many photos I've posted, Jake likes to lay on my legs while I'm sitting on the couch. But only if I have jeans on! If I am in sweats or shorts or slacks, he wants nothing to do with laying on me.
Instead he will go to the end of the couch, sit down facing me, then stare at me until I go change into jeans.
Not exactly something I'm fond of given how much more comfortable it is to be lounging in sweats, but I've decided I am going to do everything I can to make my cats happy in the relatively short time they're on this earth. If he wants me in jeans, then that's what's going to happen...
But don't worry. When he's not on me, he's still flopped on his back spread-eagle to sleep...
And, no, I still cannot resist the urge to pet that belly...
Tonight was Halloween! The scariest night of the year... for Jake and Jenny. They are not accustomed to people knocking on my door and ringing my doorbell all night. They hate Halloween. Hate it! So much so that they usually cower upstairs in the closet.
But this Halloween I had two knocks on my door... total. And that resulted in four trick-or-treaters... total.
Which is pretty much just another evening here. Jake never left the living room, and Jenny ran upstairs both times... but ran back down immediately after the candy moochers had left. And since my turnout was so awful, I just told them to grab a handful, which they all happily did.
I had already picked out all the stuff I wanted for myself, so there wasn't a reason not to get rid of the rest.
Yesterday celebrated actor Patrick Stewart passed away, and it's a tough pill to swallow.
Which is strange to me given that I wasn't a fan of his two biggest contributions to Western culture... Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films. I mean, Next Gen was okay... not as good as the original Star Trek, but watchable. Sometimes even entertaining. But X-Men? Not even a little bit. I loathed the way those films made one of the best comic books ever created seem boring.
So what was I a fan of that Patrick Stewart was a part of?
Easy...
1) Patrick Stewart as... Patrick Stewart
Easily my favorite character was himself. His interviews were the stuff of legends. Always incredibly entertaining, funny, smart, and humble.
He could have never worked as an actor again, and I would have still loved him on the interview circuit.
2) Patrick Stewart as... Gurney Halleck
David Lynch's Dune was a highly problematic endeavor. But I still loved it because I loved the book. And a big part of the reason why the movie was fun for me was Stewart's interpretation of Gurney. Alas, some of his interesting scenes were cut from the theatrical release, but were somewhat restored in the various cuts out there...
I mean, come on. He got to lead troops into battle while carrying a little pug puppy! Do movies get much cooler than that?
3) Patrick Stewart as... Avery Bullock
One of the things that made Sir Patrick Stewart so likable was his willingness to poke fun at himself. The biggest indicator was accepting a role as the poop emoji in The Emoji Movie. But a far better one was Avery Bullock in American Dad...
Hilarious. Maybe too hilarious, because the self-parody never got old.
4) Patrick Stewart as... Narrator
Thanks to his friendship with Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, American Dad), Stewart got to narrate both Ted movies. There was something about his beautiful voice that lead to immediate credibility in a film, even when he was narrating something far from credible...
Any time Patrick Stewart spoke, people listened. Which is why he was tapped to voice so many characters...
5) Patrick Stewart as... Anything Animated
It was always a thrill to have him pop up in animated projects, because he was so fantastic in all of them. Here's just a sampling of what we were treated to...
What a loss. The guy was just so sublimely perfect at what he did. And we all got to tag along for the ride.
Rest in Peace, Sir. Sir Patrick Stewart.
I took the day off to work in my yard and get it ready for winter, but ended up having to work for four hours anyway. Oh well. I tried. Didn't get all my grass plants chopped down, so I guess I have something fun to do this weekend. Yay.
I was going to go get groceries (one of the more depressing activities, given the prices) and the first thing I wanted to buy was seedless strawberry preserves for my biscuits. So I grab my laptop and head to Safeway's website, search for it, find I have two options, and have to decide between them. I can get Smucker's on sale at a higher price, which I know I'll like... or I can buy into the unknown with Safeway's store brand and save $1.50...
I decide to save myself the $1.50 and go to add it to my cart. But, as you can see, I have to log in to do that. So I log myself in... search for seedless strawberry preserves again... and this pops up...
What the actual fuck is this?
So I open up a new browser and use a proxy to start over. I go to Safeway and... same exact thing. It's a completely different price once I log in.
Which begs the question: How many times have I already been logged in or didn't check a price before logging in only to have Safeway charge me more because they know I already shop there?
This is a crock of shit, and has me wondering if it's grounds for a class action lawsuit when stores charge different groups of people different prices for the same thing. It should be illegal.
And here I thought dynamic pricing digital tags were going to be the problem. Turns out that we're already there.
As an escape from the horrors of this world, I've been turning to board games as a distraction. I figured talking about what I've been playing might be a nice escape for Blogography as well. So this means I'll have Caturday on Saturday, Bullet Sunday on Sunday, and Game Week Wednesday on Wednesday. One less thing to think about each week, I guess.
I have been a Solitaire fan since forever. I played it with cards as a kid after my mom taught it to me... and then played on the computer when it became the de-facto digital game no matter what platform you were on. I have played many, many versions on computers over the years (anybody remember Kitty Spangles Solitaire?) and always come back to it when I need a quick distraction.
Until... Puzzle Dungeon!
This is a fun solitaire game that came out around 2020, I think. You're essentially battling your way through a dungeon, and I loved it. Eventually I got an extended print-and-play version and was hooked. But then I ended up losing all of it and Puzzle Dungeon was forgotten.
Until... my board game renaissance!
I looked for Puzzle Dungeon but couldn't find it for sale anywhere. But then the creator, Brian Garber, put up a pre-order for the game on his Etsy shop and I never clicked the BUY button on anything so fast.
And the game arrived last week! I've been playing it quite a lot (on the beautiful play mat you can buy for the game)...
From Brian's Etsy page...
What is Puzzle Dungeon? Puzzle Dungeon is a solo card game where you use one hero to battle 20 monsters. Each hero lists the types of monsters they're hunting. The goal of the game is to collect those monsters before running out of weapons.
Game Play: Each game is played using one hero, twenty unique monsters, and a thirty-two card arsenal deck. You'll deal and draw cards from the arsenal deck and try to match their suits to the monsters your hero is hunting. When you match with a monster, you discard the cards used and gain that monster's loot. If you can defeat all of the monsters your hero is hunting before you run out of cards, you win. You can play over 550 times using a different hero without any repeats. No other card game offers this much replayability.
And now... a warning...
This game will kick your ass... at first. It takes a while to get a handle on how the decks work and what the best approach is to deal with the monsters you're facing. But once you get a feel for that? It can still be quite a challenge, but it's an addictive one because you know what you're doing and can look ahead to how it works. Having not played it in years, I'm currently losing more than I'm winning but still having a blast.
I love Puzzle Dungeon. And pre-ordered both the Pets and Intro Deck which release next month.
If you end up buying the game, don't forget to pick up a play mat... it's pretty great, and a steal at just $25!
Dramatic lighting effect wasn't planned... it just turned out that way while I was organizing the box!
POSITIVES: Fun to play. Beautiful to look at. Quality parts. Massive variety for replayability.
NEGATIVES: The excellent storage box doesn't have room to sleeve the cards. Hopefully we eventually get a "big box" which allows for this.
Puzzle Dungeon (Art of Brian Garber Games)
★★★★★★★★★★
BLOGOGRAPHY GAME WEEK WEDNESDAY SCORE: 10 out of 10.
In my many trips to Japan, I have developed a deep affection for the Japanese people and their culture. In many ways, returning to the Land of the Rising Sun always felt like a strange kind of homecoming. As if I lived there in another life or something.
On my third trip, I think, I finally attended a sumo match, which was quite an adventure. I knew in advance I would be going, so I was sure to read up on the subject before flying across the Pacific so I could best appreciate it.
As you can imagine, there's a lot more to it than just large, powerful men slamming into each other.
Which is why I was nervous when I saw the latest Jason Kelce video had him as a 力士 ("rikishi" - sumo wrestler). I love the Kelce Brothers, but even the nicest people can heap incredible dishonor on other cultures... both intentionally and unintentionally. Turns out I didn't need to worry at all, as he very much tried his best to be respectful and he accounted himself well...
It's amazing that he always seems willing to put himself out there like this and try new things. Even when they might be potentially embarrassing.
UPDATE: Jason talks about his experience in the latest New Heights video...
So good. Jason's video is worth your valuable time to watch.
Lifelong piece of shit Vivek Ramaswamy released a horrific attack ad against his opponent, Amy Acton, which had Acton's piece of shit mother, Donna Arthur, telling people not to vote for her and calling her a liar.
Except...
Donna Arthur lost custody of Amy Acton at age 12 after Acton's stepfather was charged with raping her. The step-father was arrested, indicted, then fled and became a fugitive. Arthur stayed married to him until his death, despite him sexually assaulting her daughter.
And then Laura Loomer decided to chime in...
This is disgusting. But I'd expect nothing less from that ratchet cunt. What a horrifically vile fucking asshole.
Laura Loomer is vying to be the next press secretary and, given her predictable defense of pedophiles, she'd be welcomed with open arms by the administration. The only thing that keeps my rage in check is that she will one day be burning in hell with the rest.
And one of "the rest" is this serial abuser who doesn't give a fuck about anybody...
Painfully on-brand for him.
Though somebody pointed out how Donna Arthur and Trump are practically twins, and now I will never be able to un-see it. Cake on some orange makeup and it's as if they were separated at birth...
There literally is no bottom with these assholes. Just when you think they couldn't possibly stoop any lower, they prove you wrong. An ad which doesn't attack Acton's policies or positions, but instead has her mother attack her as a "liar" FOR BEING A SURVIVOR OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AT THE HAND OF A HUSBAND SHE STAYED WITH?!??
Seriously. Fuck this shit. I hope anybody defending this, including the entire Vivek Ramaswamy campaign, goes down in flames.
I'm away from home, but not away from my blog... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts...now...
• Fried Pies! I saw somebody post about Burger King having Fried Apple Pie so I made a point to stop and get one (along with an Impossible Whopper, of course). AMAZING! Run, don’t walk, to your local BK to have one!
• As You Wish! I'm sure I've seen this at some point in the distant past, because I remember bits and pieces... but it's really nice to see it anew...
• It’s Sliced Cheese on Bread... and It’s Rocking Copenhagen’s World. The Danish capital is obsessed with this stripped-down snack, and the city’s top bakeries won’t stop until they’ve perfected it. I really need to get back to Copenhagen one of these days!
• Oh Mary! I LOLd at this one...
Yeah. YEAH!
• Lies, Lies, and More Lies! Posted without comment...
Except to say... every word of this.
• Refreshing! This is actually "doing your own research"...
I don't understand why anybody would take anything in today's world at face value. Rooting out facts has never been easier.
• Because... BWAH HA HA HAAAAAA! HA HA HAAAA HAAAAAAA! =gasp= HA HAAAAA HA HAAAAA HA HA HA HAH HAAAAAAA! I haven't seen somebody get their ass handed to them this bad in a minute...
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is everything I want in a politician.
And now I'm headed back home. See you on the flip-side.
I am away from home today, remotely checking in on the cats throughout the day.
Thursday night when I wheeled my suitcase out to the car, Jake and Jenny knew exactly what was happening, and their behavior changed accordingly.
Jake decided He wasn't leaving my side... laying on my legs, my lap, and even my feet. The only thing that got him to leave was when the dinner alarm sounded...
Yesterday morning, they were waiting for me when I woke up. Jenny was next to me, Jake down by my feet. At least he was until I woke up. Then he wanted belly scratches, which irritated Jenny because he flopped down on her space to do it...
Because I like returning home from a trip to a clean bed, I stripped the bedding off and threw it in the wash. Then I tried to put out fresh bedding, but I couldn't even get the sheets on before the cats were all over the bed again. Eventually I gave up and sat in bed to deal with my morning emails and work. Jake once again decided to invade Jenny's personal space, but she was asleep and didn't mind...
So I guess it all worked out in the end.
Until I went to leave...
Last month when I decided to talk about my renewed board game obsession to distract myself from getting depressed over another 9/11 anniversary, I showed where some of my games were stored in my home. What I didn't show was above where my Marvel United collection is stored.
There I was unboxing some books and games I had in my garage. There were two old atlases I liked, but one of them had a bunch of ratty post-it notes sticking out. I went to remove them... and found out they were bookmarks of places my mom wanted to visit (and some of the places we had been)...
Apparently she started a wishlist after I started taking her on trips. So of course there's no way I could remove them. They mean more than the book. So now they're sticking out, just as she left them...
How cool is that?
Corsica (Ajaccio) is a place we stopped on a cruise I took her on back in 2010.
No idea why that place got a bookmark when all the other places on that map spread were not. Could be she put it there before the trip so she remembered to research it or something. I'll never know.
But I will always know that we explored the place together and it was a fantastic trip that she enjoyed a lot. And that's all that really matters.
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