This morning I sifted through all the photos that I found on an abandoned backup drive. Most of which I never thought I'd see again after Apple lost my iCloud Drive data back in January. It was dumb luck that I even had the drive, yet alone was able to recover anything off it. Some of the photos were on my blog, but they were low-resolution. Now I had the originals back.

The most important ones to me were those of Jake and Jenny when they were little. I had most of the images backed up in multiple places, but there were a few sets that were only on iCloud Drive. Like this one...

How terrible would it be to have lost that?

Hope you have a backup strategy for your photos.

Summer is in full-swing but 100º heat won't deter me... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• mini! When Sony unleashed the MiniDisc format, I was all in. I bought the home stereo deck. I bought the car player. I bought the portable. It was such a fantastic format (for the day) and the ability to have advance recording abilities made it a great way to curate your favorite music...

Of course then digital audio arrived and physical media was, understandably, dead. And don't get me wrong, there's no going back after you've had digital (except maybe vinyl, because the sound is so beautiful) but there are days I think back to the magic of MiniDisc and I really do miss it.

   
• Hero! Francisco Oliveira is a wig specialist outside of São Paulo, Brazil in the city of São José dos Campos who changes lives with his unique skills. What's remarkable about his videos is that when he's working with a child he'll put them at ease by showing that he wears a wig too...

His entire feed is filled with feel-good videos, if you need a brak from the horrors of the world.

   
• Gone Ballistic! I have never understood just why Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever was so horrendously reviewed. No, the movie's story wasn't all that good... it had a lot of inexplicable shit hanging off of it... but the stunts were fantastic and I thought Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu did a pretty good job with the material they had to work with. Now, finally, I have found this video where somebody takes a deep dive into the movie. And oh boy... strap in...

Add me to the list of people who would love to see a director's cut of Ecks vs. Sever where Kaos gets to make the movie he always intended.

   
• Movie Sunday! Beverly Hills Cop IV: Axel F was fun. A total 80's throwback that was a predictable but an entertaining watch. The Beekeeper, however, was delicious to watch. This is the best I've seen come out of Jason Statham in a minute. If you love a good revenge flick, this one ticks all the boxes...

So many movies have been so disappointing lately that I can't tell you how happy it makes me to finally have something worthwhile to watch.

   
• Christianity? While browsing through Facebook I was surprised to see a number of posts being shared which say something like "If you can afford tattoos, you can afford to buy your own food. PERIOD!" And the comments are all "AMEN!" and I'm sitting there thinking... okay then. If somebody has tattoos, they should just fuck off and starve if they suddenly have a financial crisis or lose their job or get sick? Totally tracks for today's modern "Christians." What fucking Bible are you reading where passages like this DON'T EVEN EXIST: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." These faux "Christians" are rewriting the Bible in realtime, and I am at a total loss. I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, WHATEVER YOU DID FOR ONE OF THE LEAST OF US YOU DID FOR ME.

   
• More Kaulitz! I love the German band Tokio Hotel. I really love Heidi Klum. So Kaulitz and Kaulitz on Netflix is a perfect fit for me. It feels a lot less fake than I was expecting, and is a fun watch. It's all in German (with English subtitles available), which just ramps it up to the next level...

I'm not much of a reality TV fan, but this was interesting from the standpoint that it was just so crazy. But in a good way.

   
• Quality! It took over a half hour, but I finally managed to reconnect my Sonos SUB to my speakers again! It just randomly got lost for no reason and I had to power cycle my entire system four times and cycle my router twice to make it happen. I would have called Sonos for support, but they would have just blamed it on my router, like the always do when there's a problem. It's always your "router" and your "network." My router can easily handle streaming 4K video... but, according to Sonos, it can't handle a fucking low bit-rate audio stream EVEN WHEN NO OTHER MAJOR TRAFFIC IS ON MY NETWORK? And I'm still waiting for them to fix the skipping that happens when streaming from Apple Music. YouTube Music works fine. Apple Music does not, even though they claim to support it. Of course Apple Music streams flawlessly to every other audio device I own... it's just Sonos... but I'm sure they'll blame it on Apple, my router, my network, sunspots, Obama, and oxygen molecules in the air... absolutely ANYTHING except their equipment or software! When I think back to the years of saving pennies it took in order to put together my Sonos gear, only to have it be a steaming pile of shit... things get real depressing real fast.

   
And now? Back to weeding my yard and hoping I don't get heatstroke.

Today it's 104º

Tomorrow is supposed to hit 107º

Which is why I was on the river this past weekend instead of today!

These scorchin' times we live in.

Back before the charity I worked with shut down, I was traveling quite a lot. My work very generously allowed me to work while on the road, so I was able to volunteer at places all over while still earning a living. This morning as I was digging through my messy desk to find some documents I needed, I ran across the travel schedule I had for 2019. The last trip listed was a quick overnight to Las Vegas in September. And that's what I've always told people was my last travel as a volunteer.

Except it wasn't.

But I'll get to that in a second.

After finding my schedule, I was racking my brain trying to remember what that last trip was about. It couldn't have been as a "handler" (making arrangements for a wealthy donor and being at their beck and call while they were in town) because that would have certainly taken more than one night. I don't think it was a presentation, so my guess is that I had to pick up a check... or get something signed... or meet for recruitment... or any of a dozen things that took me to Vegas 5 to 6 times a year.

I ran to this blog to see if I had left a hint about it or even mentioned where I was in Sin City, but it was apparently so uneventful that I never even mentioned having went.

Then I clicked forward a month to October of 2019.

And there it was... a trip to New Orleans. I flew out on the 6th, worked the 7th, then flew back home on the 8th. An entire trip to my favorite American city that I had completely forgotten about.

Although, like Las Vegas, I've been to New Orleans so many times that I've lost count. And since I wasn't there on vacation or to meet up with friends or anything exciting, it's not surprising that I wouldn't remember having gone. Work is work, even when you travel to do it, and that's usually nothing to write home about. Something that only people who have to travel for work will ever really understand, because most people think that traveling for work is a non-stop vacation. Which it most definitely is not.

And that was the end of that.

Just before my travel was due to start back up again in February, the pandemic happened. Travel kept getting pushed back until international trips were outright canceled. Then domestic trips were canceled. Then all the money we had to operate went towards helping people as waves of deaths hit Europe. The charity would shutter soon after, and I've only been on one plane trip ever since.

It has been very strange indeed to go from being on the road 1/3 of the year to not traveling at all.

And while I do miss it from time to time, I think I'm far happier knowing that those hectic days are behind me.

But not entirely.

Yesterday I joined my friends for another float down the river. The excessive heat (it hit 110º) is causing the water level to plummet, so this might be one of the last chances I get without moving to deeper water.

Despite the heat, the cool river was a treat. And there were birds and deer about, which is always fun to see on a trip.

We've been told that the heat will break soon. Today I was hoping for a temperature under 100º, but I guess that'll happen tomorrow since today was 102º.

The fact that I've been working every day of my vacation would be tragic if not for the fact that I am thrilled come Monday I won't be completely drowning in all the work I missed. That makes it all worthwhile.

Today I did get to hang out at a friend's pool after going to the office in the morning. Then go out to dinner. Then finish a book I've been reading (I'm trying to catch up with the Jack Reacher series, and this was #27, No Plan B, which is excellent... even though the books aren't the same since Lee Child started collaborating with his brother on them so Reacher keeps going after he retires). So, plenty of vacation to be had.

In other news... why are book covers for major authors so frickin' boring?

I get that you want a popular bestselling author like Lee Child to dominate so his fans will notice it on the shelf (or, more to the point, notice it in an Amazon thumbnail), but surely they can come up with something more interesting than this?

Yes.

It's so perfect out here in Washington that there are delays in deliveries.

Assumably because postal carriers want to head to the beach...

Makes about as much sense of this...

Oh well. Good thing this isn't life-saving medication I'm waiting on. At least I hope not.

Jake, if you couldn't tell, is a big cat.

Not necessarily grossly obese... but big. Like he has Maine Coon in his genetic makeup or something. And, yes, he could stand to lose some pounds. Though he gets the same amount of food as his sister, who looks a third his size, so I don't think he's over-fed. The only extra food he gets is if his sister decides to not eat all her food.

But anyway...

This past week my cat food order arrived and the cardboard cap that was on the flat of wet food cans got dropped on the floor because my cats (all cats?) just love to sit in them.

Or, in Jake's case, lay in them.

Try to lay in them, rather...

To say that he was frustrated because he didn't fit is an understatement. He kept pushing and pushing and kicking and clawing trying to get himself inside that box. Then he squawked at me, but didn't seem to understand that there was nothing I could do about his situation.

Maybe I need to look for a larger box somewhere. Or build one.

Because my cats are nothing if not spoiled.

I ended up working half of the time of my "vacation" this past week, so I'm actually more tired than if I had not taken a vacation at all. But here I am... putting in the work blogging... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Sweet Niblets! I've been a fan of Defunctland for years. The other day I ran across an episode that I have never seen. Which is odd, because it's undoubtedly one of the most famous... solving a mystery that nobody knew needed solving. And it's a roller coaster, and it just gets more fascinating as it goes on. And the finale when the dominoes start falling? And that moment at the end where Kevin drops the bomb on you as to how he decided to honor the composer? chef's kiss It's an hour and a half. But it's brilliant. Just watch it. And if you can get to the end without feeling anything, then you're a stronger person than I am...

Now that's some investigative reporting! A very good episode, regardless of your feelings about Disney or Disney Channel. Because that tidbit about the pre-marketing for Finding Nemo? Holy shit. That's undoubtedly how the whole world works now. Corporations buy politicians to make laws and promote ideas that are setting the stage for their future plans. Corporations pay movie stars and influencers to get people indoctrinated into a way of thinking which suits their goals. It's genius and very sinister indeed.

   
• Useful Vandalism! I don't know why this video was recommended to me, but I am really happy it was...

Given the shitty bureaucracy that plagues life in These United States, I applaud this. It wasn't malicious. It wasn't a distraction. It wasn't superfluous. It was a much-needed addition which had been overlooked for far, far too long. I had to drive in L.A. many times during the "Era of Maps," and I know that I certainly would have appreciated this!

   
• May The Chocolate Be With You! Ooh! Look what I found at the grocery store...

They taste like OREOs, so they're delicious, of course. But the cookie stamps are darn good too...

Just the treat for a Star Wars fan!

   
• Poster! And speaking of a treat for Star Wars fans, this is also a treat for hardcore restoration fans like myself...

A stunning poster beautifully restored. I don't know about you, but doesn't it seem shocking how you can just toss soap and bleach on a printed poster... then pressure wash it... and not have it completely turn to pulp?

   
• Cat Distribution System! Would I give up my entire vacation to some exotic location to rescue an animal?

Yes. Yes I would.

   
• Disposability! I have written on this blog many times about how frustrating it is that clothes I own from 15-20 years ago are still in great shape whereas something I bought last year is falling apart. It is maddening and financially grotesque. We are living in an age where everything is disposable and not meant to last. And now I've found a video that jumps into the why of it all...

And there you go. I gotta say... it is beyond gross how US politicians can't get off their fucking asses and actually DO SOMETHING about this idiotic loophole that floods us with shitty clothes that are created out of exploitation. What the fuck is our government good for if they can't hop on a no-brainer action like this?

   
Now for a much-deserved couple hours doing nothing.

The thing I like most about television is that it's usually not very challenging. When television is at its best, I can have it on while working or goofing around the internet and still understand everything that's going on even though I'm not paying full attention. Then, if the show ends up incredible... or demands more attention than I gave it in order to appreciate it... then I'll rewatch it. And pay closer attention in future episodes. Shows like Ted Lasso and Veronica Mars are not exactly challenging, but there's just so much to them than what's on the surface. They demand not only my full attention, but I will rewatch every episode many times.

And then there's shows that actually are challenging.

Shows like the first seasons of Westworld and True Detective And, of course, the first season of Twin Peaks.

It's no secret that I consider Twin Peaks one of the greatest television shows of all time. At least it was before they solved the murder of Laura Palmer and flushed the whole fucking series down the toilet with the absurd stupidity of everything that followed.

The movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me which everybody expected would wrap up the cliffhangers of the final episode ended up being a prequel story. It was roundly panned and reviled, even by fans of the show. I didn't hate it. Mostly because it was so much better than the shitty episodes that the show devolved into in the final season after David Lynch left. No, it wasn't what I wanted, but it was fine.

When it was announced 25 years later that a third season (Twin Peaks: The Return) was in production with David Lynch, I was beyond ecstatic.

Until it arrived. Critics loved it. Fans were mixed. I fucking hated it.

HATED IT!

It was boring and relentlessly stupid, choosing to go full-on art house cinema instead of riding the line between art house and conventional the way the shows' first season did so flawlessly. I was frustrated beyond my ability to express that Lynch and Frost abandoned everything that made Twin Peaks so brilliant to waste my time with a pile of shit.

I have rewatched the first season and the first third of the second season numerous times. I've watched the balance of the second season exactly twice. I watched the third season only once. And that was too much. I wish I had never seen it.

But anyway...

After work I threw on YouTube (which I watch more than any streaming network) and saw a video from four years ago which claimed to explain everything to do with Twin Peaks. This is the kind of video that I never watch when it comes to this one show because I love drawing my own conclusions. At least up until the episodes that followed Laura's killer being revealed, at which point I don't give a crap. But I watched it in the hope that it would at least have an interesting take on the stuff I hated.

Well, I've watched it, and here's what I have to say about it...

That was 4-1/2 hours I'm not getting back. This guy drops the bomb with the crux of the "solution" at the 55 minute mark. And while I don't want to outright state that it's wrong, I will say that I don't agree with it at all. But when it comes to his analysis that goes on around the "solution," I did find it an interesting thought experiment.

But, yeah, unless you're a massively huge fan, this video will undoubtedly be a waste of your time...

In oh so many ways, I'm done with Twin Peaks. This video was the final nail in the coffin.

Another day, another data breach notice in the mail. These companies do not give a single fuck about safeguarding your data because the cost of the consequences of a data breach are cheaper than putting the protections in place. It's always "Oopses! Here's a year of credit monitoring" like that fixes the fact that your address, phone number, purchase history, and everything about you is now out on the internet. The fact that our politicians are paid to LOOK THE OTHER WAY while YOUR PRIVATE INFORMATION IS DISTRIBUTED is abhorrent. There should be consequences so serious for a data breach that companies start to give a fuck. But that won't happen so long as our "political representatives" are on their payroll.

I own a bajillion DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs. I love movies and television. I love owning my favorite shows so I can re-watch whenever I want. When digital streaming came along, I made the switch happily because I simply didn't have the space to store all that physical media. But then we all found out a sad truth... shows and movies you bought and paid for can be taken from you with absolutely no recourse. You pay for the right to stream something, and that right can be stripped from you at any time when a studio removes it from Google Play or iTunes or wherever.

So back to buying physical media, right? The studios can't break into your house and take those back!

Except they don't have to. Because physical media isn't made to last, and some studios know that... but don't give a shit. They got your money, and that's all they care about. Something this video talks about in depth, mostly focusing on the abomination that is Warner Bros., who is a fucking shitty company for many reasons, and this is a big one...

It's absolutely bonkers that those of us who do the right thing and pay for the stuff we want to own get punished for it. And yet here we are.

Buy physical media? It rots and no longer works.

Buy digital copies? Studios can strip them from you at any time.

Subscribe to a studio's streaming service directly? Studios can remove those shows even more easily.

The only option left is to buy physical media, then "back it up" by ripping it to your computer. Legally, you do have a right to have a backup so long as you continue to own the original media. Which is to say that you can't buy a DVD, rip it, then sell the DVD. Except... it's illegal to circumnavigate copy protection to actually make the backup. And of course DVDs and Blu-Rays have copy protection.

It's a total load of shit. Personally I am of the belief that once you buy a DVD or Blu-Ray or digital copy of something, you should maintain the right to view it regardless of what happens. If a DVD rots, you should have the right to purchase replacement media at cost or get a digital copy for free. And once something is sold digitally, studios don't get to take it back from you. They must provide a way for you to get what you paid for. Or else they shouldn't be allowed to sell it in the first place.

But powerful studios own our politicians, so that's expecting too much.

THEY doing illegal shit to strip you of what you bought is forgivable. YOU doing illegal shit to have access to what you paid for is not.

Typical.

Yesterday I blathered on about asshole movie studios depriving customers of what they paid for... access to movies and shows that were sold to them. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Something I cannot fathom is how studios will sit on shows they own and not release them for people to enjoy. This was something that hit me pretty hard after Stephen Dunham died in 2012. He was the star of Oh Grow Up! (from 1999), a series I loved that can't be watched anywhere. It was never released on DVD, was never offered digitally and, from what I can tell, has never been shown on any network after its original run. I have it recorded on 8mm tape somewhere, but don't know that I have a player capable of playing them even if I could find the tapes. You can tapes to be converted to digital, but companies won't do it because they're copyrighted material.

What a waste. Dunham was a good actor and his work deserves to be seen. The pilot episode is on YouTube, but not much else...

Sometimes you can get lucky. There was a show called The Palace Guard (from 1991) which I loved that was eventually released as a part of a Stephen J. Cannell DVD collection set (and I've seen it on some free-view services from time to time... it's currently playing for free on Plex). It was a fun show about a cat burglar that becomes a security expert for an international chain of hotels. But I don't know how much longer those DVDs will even work, if they haven't crapped out already (see yesterday's post)...

Other times you can get... kinda lucky. A Connie Sellecca and Greg Evigan vehicle I liked called P.S.I. Luv U (also from 1991) was never released for home video in any format... but some kind soul uploaded all episodes to YouTube nine years ago, albeit in atrocious quality, and I have watched through them all a couple times...

No idea how legal it is, but if the studio who owns it isn't going to do anything with the show, somebody has to. It's one of six series I would very much be thrilled to purchase (and there's plenty of others)...

• P.S.I. Luv U (1991)
• Strange Luck (1995)
• Cupid (1998)
• Oh Grow Up! (1999)
• Now and Again (1999)
• The American Embassy (2002)

The frustrating thing about all this is that it costs practically nothing to convert a show to digital format. It's all automated. You put the tapes in the machine and push a button. The software which encodes it and cleans it up doesn't require any technical expertise. Just a person to load/unload.

You'd think with streaming networks desperate to have content for their services which are exceedingly cheap, this would be a no-brainer. But it's not like you could accuse studio executives of having a brain.

Mac users like to think that the many viruses and problems which plague Windows users doesn't effect them, but they're wrong. The fact that the world runs on Windows means that existing in the world means that Windows problems can affect you. There couldn't be a better example of this than today's "CrowdStrike" disaster.

CrowdStrike is a cyber security company whose products protect your computers from going down due to external attacks and protect your data from data breaches. Today they sent out a security update to their Windows host customers which, alas, ended up being defective. This caused all the computers which received the update to crash. Hard. A global IT outage occurred. Which means everything from airports and airlines to banking and health care were hopelessly fucked. All you saw anywhere and everywhere was the dreaded Windows Blue Screen of Death™...

So whether you are a Mac user, Linux user, or Windows user... you were hopelessly fucked by consequence. Like these people in what I'm thinking must be Berlin Brandenburg Airport (I've only flown into Berlin a handful of times... so while "Ankunft" is definitely German, I can only be positive that this is not Cologne-Bonn's airport, which I am very familiar with)...

Photo by Liesa Johannssen/Getty Images

Now, given how much travel I've done in my life, I've been in situations just like this. Mostly as a consequence of weather, but sometimes it was technical. I've definitely seen the Windows Blue Screen of Death™ in more than one airport. I do not envy these people trying to deal with the clusterfuck that's become their life. I can't even remember all the places I've been stuck over the years. But it's happened many, many times. In the beginning when I hadn't traveled so much, it was both frustrating and terrifying. But as the number of trips I took went up, my anxiety went down when problems popped up. It'll all work out, no matter what happened, I knew that I'll get to where I'm going eventually. Accommodations to my situation will be made. Which is not to say that sadness didn't occur. I missed a Christmas back when my mom and grandmother were still alive and, given how important that holiday was to them, I was understandably upset about it.

But technology happens.

In other news... after watching Jason Statham in the incredible action flick The Beekeeper, I've made it my mission in life to watch all of his films that I haven't yet seen. There's not a lot because I'm a huge fan of the kinds of films he makes. The best of the films I watched this week was Safe...

Is there anything brilliantly new to be had? No. But there were a number of interesting bits in-between the fighting. Can't ask for more than that!

The highlight of Jake and Jenny's day is when it's time to eat. Which I try to keep interesting for them by feeding them a few small meals throughout the day instead of one or two big meals. But anyway... out of the small meals they get, the two that are the most important are breakfast and dinner because that's when they get wet food.

To remind me about it, I have alarms that play on my HomePods. It's a triggering situation for my cats. They hear that alarm and start to go nuts because it signals their favorite times out of the day.

And lately I've been hyping it up for them.

The alarm goes off and I'm like "OH MY GOODNESS! OH MY DAYS! IT'S BREAKFAST TIME! JAKE! IT'S BREAKFAST TIME! WHERE'S JENNY? THERE SHE IS! JENNY, IT'S BREAKFAST TIME!!!" At first my cats were kind afraid of my ranting. But now it spurs them on. Jake will run to a scratching pad and start going to town, at which point I'll say "THAT'S RIGHT, JAKEY BEAR! TEAR THAT SHIT UP!!!

And then I run downstairs with them as they're at maximum hype.

At which point I regret my actions a little bit, because they're so hyped up that they have absolutely zero patience for me to dish up their breakfast. They want their food now!

Although... Jake and Jenny do crash hard after breakfast and dinner now...

Which means it's a lot easier for me to get some work done before heading into the office.

I may be melting from working too hard when it's too hot, but don't you fear... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• LIFE-CHANGING NEWS! I WILL NEVER BE BUYING KETCHUP AGAIN! Tonight I wanted a burger for dinner. I had used the last of my ketchup, so I went to grab a fresh bottle... and... I DON'T HAVE ANY! CANCEL MY AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP, BECAUSE HOW DO YOU RUN OUT OF KETCHUP IN THE USA? But I had tomato paste, so I Googled a recipe. There are many. All of them have vinegar and sugar, then spices. And so I decided to just roll my own and wing it on the spices until it tasted good. I just kept adding them... black pepper, garlic powder, oregano, onion powder, chili powder, mustard, celery powder, berbere, and a little cayenne. INCREDIBLE!

I COULD EAT THIS OUT OF THE BOWL! IT WAS SO GOOD ON MY BURGER THAT I AM COOKING FRIES SO I CAN SMOTHER THEM IN IT! I WILL NEVER BUY STORE KETCHUP EVER AGAIN! LOVE. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Guess running out of store-bought ketchup was a blessing in disguise.

   
• Exploding Kittens! Netflix has an animated series that takes its name from the Exploding Kittens card games which doesn't really follow the game. Instead it focuses on God and the Devil being banished to earth as... cats? They had Tom Ellis who played Lucifer for six seasons, so the fact that he's God now is clever casting...

It's pretty well done, over all. Some hilarious moments and pretty good stories. If you've got Netflix, it's worth checking out.

   
• Manny! So... The Hollywood Reporter has taken a quote completely out of context to use as a headline, and it's pretty bad. Especially given what Manny Jacinto actually had to say. My comment left on their Facebook follows...

"I understand that you have to create click-bait headlines so people will visit your site... but was it really necessary to pull this quote completely out of context so it makes him seem like a raving prima donna instead of being grateful to have the job and be a part of the movie? — 'There was this sense of where the film was going [on set], like I can see them focusing the camera more on these [other] guys and not taking so much time on our scenes. Fortunately, it still was a great experience — you get to see this huge machine at work, see how Tom Cruise works, and you get to be a small part of this huge franchise.'"

What a shitty fucking way to misrepresent what Manny was trying to say. He seems like a nice guy. I loved him in The Good Place and he's darn good in The Acolyte. But I guess you can't have an Asian guy making it in Hollywood. Gotta crush him by making him look bad to everybody and turn them against him. Just goes to show that there's an agenda in all "reporting"... even when it coes to entertainment "news."

   
• I CANNOT EVEN! Prague, one of the most beautiful cities on earth, is home to one of my favorite restaurants on the entire planet: Lehká Hlava (Clear Head). So to see the spreading of bullshit lies about Czech restaurants gaining traction out of ignorance is rage-inducing. Fortunately, Honest Guide is on the case...

It's like... come on. Can't people do the bare fucking minimum of looking into "injustices" before spreading idiotic crap like this? The answer is obviously no! because the truth isn't what's important any more. It's getting views and clicks.

   
• M3GAN! Okay... I tuned into this movie because it's got a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, but wasn't expecting much. I thought it was going to be a Chucky rip-off. BUT NOPE! This movie is nuts! In the best way, of course. SO DISTURBING!

If you've got Peacock, it's streaming there for free and is well worth your time.

   
• And Now... a Reminder! "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'" ― Isaac Asimov

And it's getting worse every fucking day.

   
• The Olds! And so the inevitable happened... President Biden pulled out of the race. As somebody who is not a fan, I shed zero tears. He's too old to be president, and it's ludicrous and cruel that he was ever being considered in the first place. Interesting to note... with Biden gone, that makes Trump the oldest person in the history of the United States to be on the ticket for president. Blergh. He's too fucking old too! He's only three years younger than Biden, for Christ's sake. And his mental abilities are decidedly worse, because he doesn't have Biden's stutter to keep distracting his brain while he's speaking. When are we going to stop with all these politicians who are too fucking old and out-of-touch to hold office?

   
And now I return you to our regular scheduled programming.

Help.

I go to bed thinking about my ketchup. I wake up craving my ketchup. I have been obsessed with homemade ketchup for three days now. I'm on Batch No. 6 trying to find my favorite recipe with no end in sight.

Which is dangerous for me, because I'm eating a lot of veggie burgers and fries lately...

What I've learned in my experiments so far...

• I am sticking with 6oz. cans of tomato paste. So nice to be able to whip up a fresh batch when I want it, though it does keep nicely for a week in the refrigerator. I've found that letting the flavors meld overnight in the refrigerator gives a better balanced ketchup.
• Different brands of tomato paste have different thicknesses. Usually the cheaper store brands are thinner and the premium brands thicker. I prefer the thicker stuff because I can add more vinegar taste while keeping the ketchup thick. I will never go back to thin, pourable ketchup ever again.
• I like sweeter ketchup. Not sickly sweet, but with a little extra sugar to make it more like candied tomatoes.
• I don't add salt. And if I do, it's barely any because the food I put it on is salted. Even if there's no salt on the food, I still prefer ketchup without.
• For that reason I don't add any "salted" spices like celery salt and garlic salt.
• The most common "kick" of spice in recipes I've found is cayenne pepper. But I prefer chili powder. It has a more pleasing complexity to it. And it doesn't take much to be noticed. But once you go past the point where it's noticed, the heat makes a very tasty sauce indeed. Fries with ketchup that's got some heat to it? Magic.
• One of the things I've tried in my experiments is eliminating ingredients to see which spices aren't contributing to the flavor. Turns out they're all important. Not only that, but the more variety of spices I add the better it tastes to me. I prefer ketchup with smaller amounts of more spices than larger amounts of less spices. The most surprising? Celery seed powder. In my 6oz. can recipe, I only use around 1/8 teaspoon of the stuff, but it really makes a difference. Makes me happy that I accidentally bought the powder instead of the seeds.
• One of the varieties I've happened upon that I really love is double oregano ketchup (which I'm calling "Italian Ketchup"). And where it's best used? As pizza sauce! Seriously! No more buying jars of prepared pizza sauce from the stores either. This stuff is amazing on a toasted bagel then broiled with mozzarella cheese on top.
• After I go through all the usual spices like black pepper, garlic powder, oregano, onion powder, chili powder, mustard, celery powder... I've been experimenting with others. The best I've found are some of the African spices I've been addicted to. Mostly blends like Berbere, Ras El Hanout, and The Spice House Marrakesh Market Blend. Many include a touch of "warm" spices like cinnamon or cumin or cardamom blended with peppers and such. Even small amounts add really cool complexity to the flavor profile.

I never realized just how bad ketchup is from the store. Even the premium brands are watery and boring. But after making my own? There's really nothing better. And the fact that you can customize it so easily makes to make a condiment that suits your individual tastes? Perfect.

What the fuck is taking McDonald's so long to roll out the McPlant veggie burger nation-wide?

It's been THREE YEARS. They can't get their shit together in THREE YEARS? And why in the hell would you debut it in Texas, of all places. It seems like the percent of the population who's vegetarian/vegan in Texas would be fairly low compared to other states...

This is so embarrassing.

Though... the only reason I give a shit about the McPlant is because it's closer to me than the incredible Impossible Whopper at Burger King. Otherwise, I'd be eating at Burger King all day long because not only did they release their vegetarian option nation-wide, but they did so years ago, and it's fucking delicious.

When I was working in Tokyo, I saw trucks sporting one of my favorite logos of all time... for a company named Yamato Transport.

They're a popular shipping and moving company in Japan, and their logo has a mom black cat (kuro-neko) carrying a baby black cat. Thus implying that they will take care of your goods as a mother takes care of her child...

Total genius, really.

Anyway... in my Facebook feed was an ad for a T-shirt with the logo on it so I jumped at it. Except it's not officially licensed like so many scams that Facebook allows to run as ads (I got scammed by a Marine Layer imitator because Facebook is an asshole company*). And so I wrote to Yamato Transport directly and asked if they sell shirts with their logo.

Probably won't hear back, but I had to try because I want that shirt!

   
*I bought a shirt and sweatshirt from Marine Layer and absolutely loved them. So when Facebook showed me an ad for a Marine Layer summer clearance sale, I hopped on it. But since Facebook doesn't give a shit about anything but money, the ad wasn't vetted and turned out to be a scam. A fake company using a duplicate of the Marine Layer site... even sending out a Marine Layer branded confirmation. When I didn't get a ship notification or my order after two weeks, I found that none of the support links in the email work. Fortunately I was able to dispute the transaction. But WTF Facebook? Why not go after advertisers the way you go after your users? Oh... that's right... BECAUSE MONEY!

The ad is STILL RUNNING.

I am losing all employer contributions to my HSA until the end of the year because the IRS will only allow $4150 per year to land there, and I had to add up to that amount to pay for one of my eye surgeries. This isn't even touching the $1000 I got to add because I'm older than 55.

This is so fucked.

It was my understanding that everything after $5150 in my HSA would be taxed, and I was like "well, whatever..." but it was not made clear anywhere that any contribution over the non-taxable amount made to my HSA would be rejected.

Honest to God I don't understand why this country isn't in active revolt over shit like this.

Given the fact that we have to pay for health care insurance then pay what insurance won't cover, shouldn't all medical expenses be tax exempt?

I have to pay taxes for something the government should be providing in the first place only to end up having to pay taxes on what they're not doing because insurance companies fucking OWN our politicians? What the fuck?

How are politicians not dying of shame over this bullshit?

Oh... wait a second... our politicians are openly sucking lobbyist dick for cash, so they have no shame. I forgot myself for a second.

It is sheer insanity that nobody actually knows how anything works and you can't find out that you fucked up until you get fucked. It's this kind of impenetrable, idiotic, red-tape, bureaucratic process that makes people hate the government. Or maybe it's just me.

Meanwhile... politicians pat themselves on the back for passing yet another pay raise for themselves.

God bless America.

Compared to my other eye surgeries, the whole cataract lens replacement surgery thing was a drop in the bucket. It doesn't even register to me. But the stellar results absolutely register.

People are asking me questions about how I'm doing two months on, so I decided to interview myself and ask the questions that people might want to know about. I'm both a great interview and a great interviewer, so this should be a treat for the both of us.

• Any regrets over getting cataract surgery? Zero. Less than zero. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
• If the surgery is so great, why didn't you get it back in middle school when you started wearing glasses? Bad eyesight is not a qualification, because your lenses are still clear at that young age. I mean, maybe there's a way to find a doctor who would replace them, but insurance certainly wouldn't cover it. And it's probably not a good idea anyway. It wasn't until I didn't feel safe driving at night that it was even an option from an insurance perspective.
• You got two-focal-zone lenses (mid-range to infinity) how's that working out? Phenomenal. I mean, sure, it's an adjustment going from nearsighted to farsighted, but for 90% of day-to-day life, I don't need readers. For 5% it would be a bit more comfortable to be wearing readers, but I can get by without. And for the remaining 5% I need readers to see something close up or that's very small type... although half of those times I hold the object 30 inches away and squint so I don't have to look for readers and I can get by.
• So... you don't regret passing up on the three-focal-zone lenses so you wouldn't need readers at all? Nope. Wasn't worth the risk to me. If I lost any contrast or color fidelity at all it might have jeopardized my work. The two-focal-zone lenses I got are gradated so that there's minimal light splitting, and that was far less risky than having the light split three times and losing information. It's not like you can just swap out lenses cheaply or easily if you don't like them, so the gradated two-focal-zone lenses were the right choice for me. If my situation were different, I might have risked it.
• So no loss of contrast then? As I mentioned in my initial posts, my contrast was actually improved, because there was a bit of fogging happening to my natural lens that got replaced.
• And the color? Once my brain realized that it didn't have to compensate for my natural lenses turning all dingy and yellow any more, it quickly remapped colors back to what they should be. Took less than a week.
• So no down-side at all? No. Except, kinda. I've always been light sensitive, but after my surgery that's next level. Bright light pretty much incapacitates me now. I don't dare go outside on a sunny day without a good pair of sunglasses. And the ones I'm wearing are the really expensive ones I bought for my Antarctica expedition. They have shields on the side to block stray light and are perfect. I'm told most cataract surgery patients gradually lose this sensitivity (if it happens at all) but that hasn't been the case for me.
• So driving at night, the reason you got your lenses replaced in the first place, must be bad with the headlights shooting in your eyes? Not really. Well, sometimes, when the oncoming car has their brights on. But that bothered me before the surgery. Night driving is much improved. Almost no glare or halos where it used to be a serious problem.
• What about the floater exaggeration problem? Once my brain got used to my eyes focusing at the lens instead of a pair of glasses away from my lens, that sorted itself out. In fact, I find that I actually notice my many floaters less than I used to. Before surgery if somebody even whispered "floaters" I would instantly be distracted by them. But now? Here I am talking about them and I'm not seeing them at all. I think my brain has an easier time dismissing them when the focus point is where it's expected to be.
• You're too happy. Surely you can think of one thing that sucks? I'll give you two. 1) The cost when you get multi-focal-zone lenses because they aren't covered by insurance... and 2) I never realized how often my glasses were keeping me from getting stuff in my eyes. Sawdust is the worst. I never worried about it when I wore glasses while woodworking, now I have been trying to train myself to wear my safety glasses so I don't end up hurting.
• How's the eye abrasion issue? That was no joke. Recurrent corneal erosion is painful and made my vision blurry in the eye that got scraped during surgery. But once I was prescribed some sodium gel to keep my eye from swelling while I sleep so it could heal, it was good as new in less than a week.
• So what happens now? Once everything is paid off, I'm finally going to get that fancy anal bleaching procedure done. I'm going to have an asshole that looks as fresh as it did 30 years ago! And don't you worry... I fully plan to blog the entire procedure!

And there you have it.

If you're needing cataract surgery, it's definitely worth looking into. I can only speak for me, but it's one of the best things I've ever done.

I'm trying to be smarter about my life, but I regularly fail. Take yesterday, for example. I had some vaccinations to get, and rather than getting them spaced out (the smart thing), I didn't want to take extra time off work and so I just got them all at once. Which will come as no surprise to my readers. I did my last colonoscopy without sedation so I wouldn't have to cancel an appointment that I booked afterwards. But anyway... I needed some allergy shots. I needed one of my vaccinations updated. And I wanted another COVID booster before an upcoming trip (Yeah, I know... this is #7 and I'm not dead yet! Maybe these things are safe after all! And effective because I =knock wood= haven't gotten COVID yet!). That should have been two appointments at least a week apart. But nope! I have two arms!

And what, exactly, does this have to do with Caturday?

Glad you asked!

I find that I don't use the laundry bags in my closet except to hold junk that should be elsewhere. They never get dirty laundry. I always take it downstairs with me after my morning shower. So I've decided to add another hanger bar. That way I don't have to put my clothes in two closets, they'll all fit into my one bedroom closet...

Oooooooh. Photoshop visual follows...

BUT WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH CATURDAY?!??

Okay... okay!

Despite feeling like I was run over thanks to stupidly getting all my shots at the same time, I decided to work on my closet before going to my class reunion. I cut the mounting board. I found the drywall studs. Then noticed that Jenny was glaring at me from the perch on the window. She was likely sleeping there and I woke her up...

But rather than vacuum up the dust, drill holes, then screw the board in place so I could add the bar... I put everything down and left.

I'll wait until after I get back and she's come downstairs for dinner.

Because as much as I would love to have my closet finished, I love my cats more. I don't intentionally upset them if I can help it... ever. And this closet thing can wait.

Happy Caturday!

I'm in the middle of upgrading my closet, but it's time for a break... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• What is that? Let's start with the funniest thing I've seen all week...

This video short may be better than Revenge of the Sith!

   
• Super! Supacell is the Netflix series that Marvel Studios and Disney+ wish they had made. The only super-hero-television-show I've enjoyed more was Hawkeye. This show is exceptional. Where did they find these actors? I don't know that I've seen any of them before, and they're all so amazing. As if that wasn't enough, the show looks beautiful. Truly movie-quality gorgeous. Sure, the budget for the special effects isn't huge, but they make the most of what they had... and you're not looking at a shitty CGI wankfest every scene...

Absolutely worth your valuable time to watch.

   
• Ummmm! So... they're making a television series based on the book Bad Monkey which came out a full decade after the original Bad Monkey from Blogography...

I should sue! Yes! I should totally sue! Except I love Vince Vaughn, so I kinda want to see this show!

   
• Spider-Cat! Well this is awesome...

   
• Section 31! Normalize putting Michelle Yeoh in everything. Everything!

Seeing her in a deliciously evil role is too good to be true.

   
• Fake Ink! I wish to God that movie makeup crews knew how to apply realistic fake tattoos to actors. I am watching a sweet rom-com flick on Netflix called Find Me Falling, and Harry Connick Jr.'s rock star character has the absolute WORST fake ink on him. The lines are all perfectly crisp and the black ink is deepest black... like it was put on him last week. But it's tribal, which means it's at least two decades old...

Every time I saw it I was taken completely out of the film because it looks so fucking ridiculous. Do the people who make these fake tattoos know what an actual tattoo looks like?

   
• It's a Fucking Book! God forbid people be exposed to an alternative point of view. Families come in all shapes, sizes, and configurations...

Books. Like. This. Saves. Lives.

   
• TRON TRON TRON! I've been happy to see a lot of people sharing a meme with brilliant composer Wendy Carlos (debunking the idea that "trans people didn't exist five years ago when she transitioned in the early 70's) . Her TRON soundtrack still gives me chills when I think back to her groundbreaking work in electronic music. What people might not know about her is that after her first album Switched on Bach became a wild success, she was transitioning and terrified that her being credited as "Walter Carlos" on the album would cause problems... so she wore a wig and fake sideburns to appear more masculine at her public appearances...

Since then, all her albums were issued (or re-issued) with her properly credited as "Wendy Carlos." I find it horrific that society is sliding back to a time when trans persons were persecuted and ridiculed so viciously and openly. What has Wendy done to the world to deserve that except spread joy and feeling with her music? What has any trans person done to deserve this? They're just living their lives the best they can with the cards they were dealt. Just like we all are. Seek out Wendy's work. Some incredible stuff out there.

   
Hoping the last Sunday of July finds you well.

It's early Sunday morning and I'm watching one of the many videos leaked out of Hall H from Comic Con International that featured the official Marvel Studios announcements. I was going to post this for Bullet Sunday, but wanted to see if more videos would get officially released before posting my thoughts.

The announcements were huge, but also surprisingly reserved. Of course spoilers abound, so if you want to go in blind to the upcoming Marvel films... or want to watch the Hall H video for yourself, might want to turn back now.

• Peter! Wait... where did he go? Rob Delaney, come back!
• Wolverine & Deadpool becoming the biggest opening for an R-rated movie of all time is nice. Hopefully it shows Marvel Studios that they don't have to be 100% family-fare to be successful, because there's a lot of characters which would benefit from an R rating.
• Captain America: Brave New World should be interesting. Sam has the adamantium shield but not Cap's super-serum super-strength, and has to rely on his wings to give him an advantage. Now, whether or not Marvel too advantage of what makes the New Cap special remains to be seen. On February 15th, 2025, alas. But what I'm most excited to see is Joaquin Torres becoming the new Falcon.
• A "return to Winter Soldier" is not the worst thing to happen to the franchise. It's one of the best MCU movies of all time.
• Oh... looks like Marvel does plan on making Sam different without the super-serum! NICE!
• The Leader could be a fantastic villain. But I've seen him used so stupidly in the comics that I am reserving judgement until I see it.
• Danny Ramirez being able to give as good as he gets from Anthony Mackie is something else!
• Giancarlo Esposito is an exceptional actor. And he's playing SIDEWINDER?!? Guess that means Cap is facing off against The Serpent Society. From the trailer, it looks like they have him dressed in black, which is great, because a comic-accurate costume would be hysterical.
• Harrison Ford... AT COMIC CON?!? Well then. I was absolutely not expecting that. Good on him for jumping in despite the fact that he's probably very tired of conventions after his Star Wars fame. His shoutout to William Hurt (who originated his character) was nice.
• Thunderbolts* is a tough concept to bring to a movie, and I can't help but wonder if they've radically changed it. In the comics a new team of heroes debuted at a time when the world needed them, but then the shocking twist happened... these were not new heroes. They were old villains playing heroes. Honestly I don't care so long as they keep it fun. And here's David Harbour to make the presentation fun, so fingers crossed.
• What's the asterisk for on that? Changing the name?
• Oh... here it comes...
• ...or not.
• I keep forgetting that Hannah John-Kamen is returning as Ava in Thunderbolts. Which seems weird given how much I loved her performance in Killjoys.
• Wyatt Russell got a lot of shit for U.S. Agent in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier series and it was entirely unjustified. If anything, he was too good in the role to get people to hate him so much. I seriously hope that he has a good role in the film so people will stop pitching shit at him for a job well done.
• Black Widow was kinda a sad film. They waited until the character fucking died before she got a movie (despite her dropping in everybody else's movies)... then really put the spotlight on Florence Pugh since she was taking over the character. Plus the movie was mid. I am still livid that Scarlett Johansson was shitted on so badly by Marvel Studios. Black Widow deserved more.
• The Fantastic Four has gotten some truly shitty movies before coming to the MCU. Which is such a shame because if people would just follow the fucking comic book and pick up on what makes it so frickin' great... THEY ARE A FAMILY OF ADVENTURERS WHO JUST HAPPEN TO BE SUPER-HEROES... AKA The Imaginauts era, everything would be fine. Dang I hope that Marvel Studios nails this.
• Matt Shakman keeps getting lauded for WandaVision, a show I hated. I was not thrilled when he was brought on to Fantastic Four, but it sounds as though his work on WandaVision along with his studying 1960's New York could be an asset? I dunno. I really, really hope they knock this movie out of the park.
• The free fan looks VERY much like the movie is taking inspiration from The Incredibles which is the best news possible. That is one of the most stylistic retro-futuristic movies ever made.
• Surprise! The cast! Ebon Moss-Bachrach is a very good actor. But in his most famous role for The Bear all he does is fucking scream most of the time. I know he's capable of more, and I really hope we get too see something softer because The Thing is more about being Ben Grimm than the raw power of his super-hero persona.
• As much as I love Pedro Pascal (and boy do I), I really wanted John Krasinski and Emily Blunt to head The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Oh well. I'm sure he will be amazing in this. I'll just try to forget how he was absolute shit (though no fault of his own) in the shitty fucking Patty Jenkins Wonder Woman 1984 disaster, and I'm sure everything will be fine. I will never forgive Jenkins for following her first Wonder Woman masterpiece with one of the greatest super-hero movies of all time with that shitty, SHITTY fucking sequel. And now it looks like she's going to take a dump on Star Wars too. After WW1984 she should never work again. NOBODY who was responsible for that should ever be given money for movies again.
• For the love of God I hope they let Ebon Moss-Bachrach bring this kind of humble aesthetic to The Thing. If they go the HULK SMASH route I'll be very disappointed. Very.
• I don't know much about Jpseph Quinn except his masterful performance as Eddie in Stranger Things. That's a very good start for Johnny Storm. His character is played as a hot-head, but no so over the top that he's beyond reason and a bad caricature of a bratty asshole with super-powers. Even though the first slate of FF movies were shit, Michael B. Jordan and Chris Evans knew the assignment. Even when they were supposed to go too far with Johnny, you got the feeling that wheels were still turning. And that's critical.
• Vanessa Kirby gives off complex vibes when it comes to her roles. I think I most remember her from the Mission Impossible movies, and that's not a bad thing. Sue Storm should be of a similar mindset, which is to say she's complex, capable, and whip-smart instead of just eye candy. Scarlett Johansson was exploited as Black Widow in many respects, but at least they always came back to the fact that she was a valuable and impressive member of the team despite not having super-powers. Hopefully they don't forget that when it comes to The Invisible Woman.
• Bringing back The Russo Brothers to direct the Avengers flicks is like... MENSA-level smart. They know what to do with an ensemble film, and their takes on Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame is literally all you could want. I hope that the reason Destin Daniel Cretton is no longer involved is because he's making a Shang-Chi sequel. Which is probably a better use of his talents anyway.
• Avengers: Secret Wars is something to look forward to. The concept is vast in a way that even the comic books strive to match. Absolutely anything is possible in this movie. Anything. How Marvel Sudios chooses to take advantage of that will either make or break the film.
• The primary antagonist in Secret Wars is the all-powerful godlike Beyonder. I have said multiple times that the ideal person for the part is Alan Tudyk. But who will be Marvel's choice?
• Doctor Doom! Yeah, Hall H had no choice but to explode at that news.
• Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is now Avengers: Doomsday which is pretty much all they could do given how badly Ant-Man: Quantumania was received, how utterly mid Loki: Season 2 turned out, AND then the whole Johnathan Majors mess which made it impossible for him to return as Kang the Conquerer. Kang, one of the best, most powerful villains in the MCU was utterly trashed, so replacing him with Dr. Doom (yet another phenomenal Marvel villain) was a no-brainer.
• Welp.
• Robert Downey Jr. as Victor Von Doom is a bold choice. And while it would be very easy for this to just be a Multiverse variant of Tony Stark's Iron Man, I seriously hope they are smarter than that. The possibilities are endless, really. Maybe a villain who was defeated by Iron Man goes back in time to clone a baby Tony Stark, then raises the clone to become the ultimate villain: Doom. Or maybe it’s a shapeshifter using Stark’s face to disorient their foes. Or maybe it’s a robot looking like Tony built by the real Dr. Doom. Literally hundreds of ways This could go.
• There was nobody who could have played arrogant Tony Stark better than Robert Downey Jr, and Doom is at least 10× more arrogant. He's perfect for the part, however it comes to pass.

And now the surprising omissions which were not mentioned. Anything to do with the Disney+ series... Agatha All Along, Daredevil: Born Again, Eyes of Wakanda, and Ironheart. On the movie side, nothing to do with the long-promised Armor Wars and Blade flicks, no announcement of an expected new Spider-Man film, nothing about Shang-Chi, and... weirdly... nothing to do with X-Men either. I guess they want to save something for next year? But that's realy disappointing given the hot news we got from past Comic Cons.

And so... pretty much good news over what we actually got. Maybe the drastically-reduced slate of movies and shows happening will give us better-quality releases?

One would hope.

On Sunday I managed to finish up the closet upgrade project and consolidate my two closets into just the one. Which wasn't easy, because Jenny was having none of it. I had to work around her or listen to her complain. And I really don't want to listen to her complain.

My plan was to coast for a while before starting another project, but the cruel, cold hand of fate intervened last night. Long story short... I took on a new charity project.

Which surprised me because after the charity I volunteered with shut down back in early 2020, I decided 16 years of donating my time was enough, and I was going to do my own thing from here on out. But when somebody you enjoyed working with calls... and it's for a seriously good cause... and you know that it's going to be something that helps a lot of people... well... how can you say no to that?

And so I didn't.

Which means that for the next couple weeks my evenings will be occupied with pushing forward on the 50 to 60 pages that have to be designed, illustrated, laid out, and assembled. So long as I get 4 to 5 pages a night completed, I should be done ahead of schedule. Which is kinda what you want to have happen for things like this, because you absolutely can't run late.

And so...

Not sure if I'm going to have to take a short sabbatical from Blogography, but if I end up disappearing you'll know it was for a good cause.

I was at the hospital today, and I have thoughts.

I love how Americans are all brainwashed with stupid shit like "sOcIALiZEd mEdiCiNE is THE WOrSt becaUSE You haVE tO wAIT sO long FOR aN APpoinTMeNt!"

And then the doctor tells me "You need to have this done so we can have an idea what we're dealing with. Here's the number you call for an appointment." And then... "The soonest appointment is the second week of October." So I'm like "Um... pretty sure my doctor is needing this to see what's wrong with me, is there any way to get me in sooner?" And the answer is... "Not unless you're admitted to the ER. October is only available because there's a cancelation. Usually this would be into December."

It's sad that most 'Muricans are such stupid fucks that they believe politicians when they talk shit about Medicare for All, because most of them are too fucking ignorant to understand that the politicians are bought and paid for by the insurance companies to say that.

And all I can do is think "Well... that's how our political system works, and people don't seem to give a shit about fixing it, so... here we are." And it's even true here in Washington State where our politicians are as fucking deep in payola as any of them.

But in a Blue way!

Jesus. I don't know what it's going to take before Americans get sick of paying the highest possible price for our shitty fucking health care, but this is who we are, thanks to the powerful insurance lobby.