When I was a kid, there were these giant posters of line drawings that came with a pack of colored felt-tip pens which you use to color it. I ended up with a couple of them, but wasn't really a fan because it was more fun to draw my own pictures to color. The way I made it fun was to go crazy with it. I had a "space" poster where I remapped the colors. Everywhere I would normally color blue I would color green. Green was pink. Pink was yellow. And so on. This lead to a rather interesting conversation when I wrapped it around one of my school books. A teacher thought I might be colorblind because CLEARLY I had a problem. I assured them that it was just for fun, but it got sent to the administration anyway. This just lead to an even stranger conversation when I was told that if I'm not colorblind that I shouldn't be pretending that I'm colorblind.

Funny. Here I thought that I was just amusing myself.

As it turns out "amusing myself" always ended up with my getting into trouble.

The constraints of social conformity have always been a buzzkill to creative thinking, which is why I've never been any good at adhering to it. Dress this way. Act this way. Believe this way. Think this way. Because if you don't then there will be consequences.

To which I never hesitated to say "fuck you," because the world needs me more than I need to feel a part of it. Seriously could not care less if people want to exclude me from their clique-based emotional economy or call me names or talk about me behind my back. Sure there have been times that it stung a bit because the people doing it were people I thought cared about me, but ultimately it had zero bearing on my life. Probably because I was a part of internet culture very early on and could always find my tribe regardless of location, distance, or situation. There were always groups that liked the same kind of stuff, had a similar way of looking at the world, and had similar beliefs, so I was never really "alone," even while alone. And I've been lucky to find "my people" in Real Life too, so there's that.

But that was me as a young adult up until now.

I don't know that I was ever seriously bullied by my school peers as a child. Sure I was poked fun at sometimes... that was a given... but other than isolated incidents I can count on one hand, there was no relentless torture. If anything, more bullying came my way via some of my teachers than fellow students.

But it's a different world now.

Bullying, as a matter of course, is relentless and devastating in a way it never was when I was a kid. And it's not just high schoolers who face all new levels of torment thanks to the very internet which saved me from being alone... it's increasingly younger and younger kids. Kids who have no defense because there's increasing indifference towards their plight. Fellow kids run from them so they aren't targeted next. Teachers don't want to get involved because it could get them targeted by parents of bullies. And parents of bullies rarely seem to care (or, even worse, encourage it). Some kids exist in a never-ending nightmare from which they cannot escape. But we allow it because it's always "somebody else's kid."

Until it isn't.

Back on December 19th, my mother's birthday, I found the story of a 12-year-old kid who committed suicide because of relentless bullying. His name is Eli Ballance...

12 years old.

He wasn't even given a chance to find his people.

Undoubtedly he would have eventually found friends who valued him and to whom he could relate to... but he couldn't find a way to live long enough for it to happen.

His mother tried to keep him safe at school... a place, mind you, that kids are required to attend... but they refused to promise her anything. Not that I am putting the blame entirely on educators. Teachers have to put up with increasingly hostile workplaces where they struggle to keep their heads above water as they are vilified and persecuted for trying to do their jobs. But there has to be something that can be done. If parents won't take responsibility for their kid's bullying and teachers are in a place where it's nearly impossible for them to do it without risking their lives or jobs, then there has to be a third party looking out for kids that are at risk. Because this problem is not going away. It's not going to disappear.

I have no idea why Eli was bullied. Not that it matters. His mother said he was "smart, funny, and compassionate." And that's all that really should matter.

Eli's mom is now advocating for change and wears shirts with the words "Pick Kindness" on them as a way to keep other parents from having to go through what she is.

I wish her luck.

Not just for her own peace of mind, but for all the kids like the me of my childhood who would have a tough time surviving in the world today. We deserve a shot at growing up and find our way in the world. We deserve to be able to say fuck you and find happiness despite a world that needs us, but doesn't want to accept us as we are.

I went to the office as planned. That part was okay.

Then I went to get my teeth cleaned, found out that the hygienist I've been going to for 20+ years had left, I had a serious tooth-related issue that needs to be dealt with, Albertsons didn't have any squirty cheese, Our Flag Means Death was cancelled, and then everything turned to shit.

After the week I had dealing with my chest cold, HAVEN'T I SUFFERED ENOUGH?!?

The good news is that the streets were nicely plowed after the snow that got dumped on us fell, but of course there are people still driving as if they are on bare pavement when the roads haven't been sanded. Not far from my home somebody in the car in front of me did not give themselves enough time to stop and went blowing right past the stop sign onto a busy street. As I watched it all happen I was like "Go with God, there buddy!" because I thought for absolute sure that I would be witnessing an accident. But... miraculously... God must have been watching out for them (or they were very lucky), because no collision occurred.

Then I got to read this headline...

POPE CALLS FOR UNIVERSAL BAN ON SURROGATE PARENTING, CALLS IT "DEPLORABLE"

"Deplorable." Surrogacy is "deplorable."

I am saying this as a former Catholic... assholes dictating reproductive rights can seriously go fuck themselves. This guy has absolutely ZERO authority to be calling for a "universal ban" on surrogacy. For those who want children but cannot have them for whatever reason, surrogacy is an option. For women who carry other people's children for whatever reason, surrogacy is a right. It is categorically absurd for this asswipe WHO DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A UTERUS AND CAN'T* HAVE SEX TO BE DICTATING REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS TO ANYBODY (except for those Catholics who turn to his words for guidance, I guess).

But UNIVERSAL BAN? Yeah, fuck ALL the way off with that bullshit. You know what *I* deem deplorable? The Catholic Church not turning priests who sexually assault children over to the police. Clean up your own fucking house before you dictate how other people live in theirs.

Jesus.

Old white men constantly dictating what women can and cannot do with their bodies is the height of asshole arrogance. Especially this crusty old fuck...

Photo of Pope Whatever taken by AP Photo/Andrew Medichini

Maybe one day religious leaders won't be drenched in hipocrisy, but I'm not counting on it.

"We all too often have socialism for the rich and rugged free market capitalism for the poor."

—Martin Luther King Jr.

When it comes to colonoscopies, I've been very open about the experience. Mostly because I want to encourage others to have the procedure.

Colon cancer, if caught early, is very much survivable (over 90% survival rate). And if you catch pre-cancerous polyps before they turn into cancer, then you're golden. They can be easily removed before something goes terribly wrong. And speaking of which, there's this news...

Colon cancer incidence rises sharply in under 50s.

And yet I don't know that insurance covers colonoscopy if you're under 50 without a doctor's recommendation? That's not great.

If you are 50 or older, haven't gotten a colonoscopy yet, and can get one... please, for the love of God, get one! I had pre-cancerous polyps that were removed in my first time, was clean as a whistle the second time and, although I complained endlessly about the prep for the procedure (cleaning out your colon is no fun at all), the procedure itself was no big deal. They can give you a sedative and you can be doped up and even sleep through it if you want. Or you can go commando and skip the sedation for big fun during the experience.

Just do it. This can literally save your life.

I hope you're sitting down... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Ingenuity! The absolutely remarkable longevity of the little Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has been an absolute joy to behold. He was supposed to max out at five flights over 30 days. He completed 72 flights over three years! Way to go!

If you haven't yet, please go to Google and search for "Ingenuity Mars Helicopter" then click on the little animated copter to see what happens.

   
• Beefalo! I don't know how people cannot love the Kelce brothers...

I'm so glad that I was a fan of them both before Taylor Swift entered the picture. And even before Travis's incredible guest-host spot on Saturday Night Live

   
• Remote Remote! The question "Who lives in this remote crater in Madagascar" that tags this video is not the question they ask in the actual video. That would be "Why did these people move to such an isolated space?" And the reason they changed it is likely because they realized that the why is obvious. It is painfully clear that it's in a volcano, volcanos have incredibly rich soil, and it looks green so there must be water there... which is backed up by the fact that there's very clearly some agriculture happening at the location. Regardless, this video combines my love of maps, cultures, and travel into a heck of a worthwhile watch...

Satisfying. Right?

   
• This Country Hates Women, Part 3,257: I Miscarried in Texas. My Doctors Put Abortion Law First. Stories recounting this type of repugnant fucking bullshit enrages me to the point that I can't even see straight. I honest to God marvel on a daily basis that women haven't put a torch to this country.

   
• Faith! Oh look. Sometimes a “Man of God” is actually a man of God...

The number of hypocritical "Christians" I see on a daily basis who pick-and-choose which of Jesus's teachings they have to follow just blows my mind.

   
• Resort! I've lived in Washington State for the vast majority of my life. And even though I'm not a skier, you'd think that at some point it would have occurred to me that people simply do not fly here to ski. I can name a dozen "destination" ski resorts around the world, but not one of them are in Washington or Oregon. And here's a look at why...

Makes perfect sense. And yet I never thought about it until I saw this video.

   
• STORY: NFL fans could do a whole lot worse than singing the Black National Anthem at the Super Bowl. I wonder if all these people losing their minds over Lift Every Voice and Sing (AKA "The Black National Anthem") that will be performed at the Super Bowl have even taken ten seconds to look up the lyrics and the meaning of the song. And has everybody forgotten Sheryl Lee Ralph's stunning performance of the song just last year? The outrage machine fires people up for money. Making people mad and divided gets them paid. And we let them do it. This song is perfectly appropriate to be sung at the Super Bowl, and anybody who knows what it's about should have zero problem with it. And, oh yeah, THEY ARE STILL GOING TO SING THE USA NATIONAL ANTHEM! NOTHING IS BEING TAKEN AWAY OR REPLACED!!

   
Okay. You can stand up now. See you for more bullets in a week.

I am banging this entry out early because I have a house to clean, but better early than ever... because an all new Very Special YouTube Edition of Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Strangers! The meat of this excellent video story is about 10 minutes long. It is absolutely worth your valuable time to watch. Especially if you want to know what this experiment we call "life" is all about...

I've seen feature-length movies that didn't work this hard. Brilliant.

   
• Crash! Remember when police officers stood on the driver's side to talk to you when you get pulled over? Thank heavens they changed procedure and switched to the passenger side, or this officer would have certainly been killed...

Wild. It's just wild to watch it happen. Even more wild that nobody as hurt. And you have to wonder what happened. Was somebody looking at their phone or what?

   
• We Are the World! It's interesting how USA for Africa came together. I mean, not shocking because it's pretty much what you'd expect, but it's exciting to watch as the dominoes started to fall and people were getting involved. If you have Netflix, this documentary is gold. Especially if you like music...

I actually think there was likely enough material to make a second part, because the stories behind having so many legends in a single room are undoubtedly endless.

   
• Power! On Friday I mentioned the Marques Brownlee Waveform Podcast where they were talking about the Apple Vision Pro, and they mentioned a relaxing "game" called Powerwash Simulator. I played this at a friend's house, but don't actually own it, so I had no idea what all it contains. Basically, you select a dirt object in the game, then power wash it until it's clean. That's it. When you wash all the dirt and grime off the object you selected, you finish the job and "win." It turns out that one of the things you can wash is the Perseverance Mars Rover! I've fast-forwarded to that part of this review (5:45 minutes)...

And look! The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is there too! How cool is that? If I had a Vision Pro and Powerwash Simulator was available, I'd buy it just for this.

   
• Attendant! I learned very early on when I was flying constantly about how being a flight attendant works. There are all kinds of excuses as to why their pay doesn’t start until the cabin door closes, usually having to do with making sure that their maximum legal hours worked doesn’t expire in mid-flight after a delay. But it’s all bullshit. I 1000% support flight attendants earning a living wage for the work they do, and excuses are just excuses. Airlines can find a way to pay these hard-working people fairly for the work they do...

   
• HOT! Hot Ones is a surprisingly deep interview that runs at a brisk pace while buying into an absurd concept of eating hot sauce. And regardless of how you feel about John Oliver and his politics, he has some really funny moments... and some surprisingly astute observations... that aren't straying into political territory...

It just goes to show that John Oliver has some very smart takes the go beyond politics.

   
• Tay Tay Today! The bat-shit insane conspiracy theories that Fox "News" is drumming up over Taylor Swift don't concern me. It's the fact that some of their viewers actually buy into the conspiracy theories. They don't even make any fucking sense. Like if Taylor Swift says anything AT ALL that's political, she's an evil Biden puppet. But all the "musicians" who show up on Fox "News" to talk Conservative politics are real patriots? Jesus Christ. Taylor Swift hasn't said shit. But apparently Conservatives are shitting their pants over the idea that she could, and so they want to jump in front of it. Anyway... Seth Meyers has a look down the rabbit hole of Taylor's existence, and it's worth a closer look...

Anymore doesn't our reality seem like a fucking bad movie?

At the beginning of each year I don't make resolutions. Instead I make a list of dreams for the next 365 (366 in 2024) days. I'm not talking about pie-in-the-sky dreams of unrealistic fantasy that are unachievable, but dreams which can actually happen. High on that list is that Taylor Swift continue to trigger people in all the best ways. Because apparently this is something that is badly needed. And you know what? January just ended and I'm just going to check that one off my list. Whether she's just existing... or watching her boyfriend play football... or she's being accused of being a demon in league with satan... she triggers more ridiculous people on a daily basis than I could ever hope for. And I love you for that, Taylor!

   
Now I need to get back to cleaning my wreck of a house. See you next Sunday with more bullets.

I find it hilarious how the same people losing their fucking minds over T-Swifty and T-Rav are the same people who reminisce so fondly back to their high school days when the lead cheerleader dated the captain of the football team... assumably because that was indicative of a cleaner, more wholesome age when "men were men, women were women," and nobody was "woke." Plus they're both white, so isn't this is literally their wet dream?

And of course all the people who have nothing but horrible things to say about Taylor Swift are all of a sudden "concerned" for her because Travis Kelce was filmed yelling at his coach to put him in the game after a fumble (or whatever). It was absolutely nothing, which is why the uproar is so silly. But I do like the memes that have come out of it...

And, while we're on the subject... you cannot foster a killer attitude of dominance at all costs in a sport which has the players going out on the field to beat up on each other, and not expect to see something like this. This was literally one of the most important games Kelce will ever play, and adrenaline and emotions are running hot. This is how he has been conditioned to act to make him a more brutal athlete. It's what his coach expects from him. Yes, it's not very sportsman-like. Yes, it's out of line. But all these people acting all shocked over it genuinely puzzle me. This is football.

Not that Taylor Swift is immune to stupid shit...

Lord. Another day, another triggered snowflake who has no clue what the fuck they are talking about.

The entirety of her album Reputation was created as a "defense mechanism," as related by Taylor Swift herself (which was in retrospect because she did zero promotion for it at the time). She had been ruthlessly attacked in the media and portrayed as an evil snake, a heartless witch, and serial dater. SO SHE FLIPPED THE SCRIPT AND WROTE THE ENTIRE ALBUM AS IF SHE WAS ACTUALLY THE PERSON SHE WAS ACCUSED OF BEING! THIS IS NOT HER. THIS IS A CHARACTER THAT THE MEDIA AND THE GOSSIPS AND THE TROLLS CREATED! So when she had this incredible stage show with the snakes and and the "evil," it was not her worshipping Satan or whatever the fuck people want to accuse her of... it's just a portrayal of how she was portrayed. Why is that so difficult to understand for these people?

But, yeah... let's start accusing women of being witches and all that idiocy. It's the Salem With Trials all over again, so why not? Nice to know that NOTHING HAS CHANGED in over 300 YEARS.

Personally, I want nothing but the best for Taylor and Travis. I love them both and I hope they're happy.

JUST SO LONG AS TAYLOR STOPS SHOWING UP TO SUPPORT HER BOYFRIEND AT FOOTBALL GAMES BECAUSE IT'S DESTROYING FOOTBALL!!!

Yes. YES! STOP DESTROYING MUSIC, TRAVIS!!!

I have been hearing that I'd be able to file my taxes for free for as long as I've been paying my fucking taxes. But of course it will never come to pass because even though this has been a bipartisan issue from the beginning, Intuit buys off the government so that they keep getting to rake in our fucking money.

I had heard that there was going to be a new effort to come up with a free government alternative, but of course Republicans are now doing their level best to torpedo it by cutting the IRS budget because I guess the payola they get is just too good. Billionaires and millionaires don't want a strong IRS because then there will be money available to audit more tax returns and catch more tax dodgers like them. Intuit doesn't want it because it takes money out of their pocket. So the super-wealthy and the TurboTax pieces of shit pay pay pay politicians so they can fuck fuck fuck the American people.

Never mind that increasing the budget of the IRS will actually pay for itself because they will be able to go after tax dodgers... and there would be plenty of money available to build a free tax system too... people keep voting for treasonous politicians who are looking out for their own pocketbook instead of the American people who elect them.

The whole ugly story is here...

But will the American people actually fucking do anything about it? Of course not. The lies from the politicians they worship like gods are easy to believe when you turned off your brain long ago.

If somebody would throw a science text book into Alabama, that would be great. Preferably science book on tape, as it seems lawmakers are not much into reading words in those learnin' books.

And while we're on the subject, I thought it was unlikely that politicians could be more fucking stupid and willfully ignorant than the likes Lauren Boebert, Louie Gohmert, and Majorie Taylor Green. But then along comes fucking Tommy Tuberville and it's all "Hold my beer." Jesus.

We have seriously got to have a basic competency test for all political condidates before they can even get on the ballot. I mean, critical thinking skills would be nice... but right now I'd settle for not being as dumb as a box of fucking rocks.

Wah! My weekend is already half over and I'm not ready for it to be Sunday! But Sunday it must be... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Goonies Never Die! I watched this video reflecting on the career of Josh Brolin solely in the hopes that he would talk about Men In Black 3. That movie is so incredibly underrated. It's an amazing film. And a large part of that is Josh Brolin doing a Tommy Lee Jones impression... perfectly... for most of the runtime. And obviously GQ knew that's the thing everybody wanted to hear, so they saved it for last...

I sure wish that we could have heard more about his experience working on that movie.

   
• Otin! Oh man. The new Disney+ series, Iwájú, is Afrofuturism done very well... but it's so much more than that because there's like a lot going on. And it's very much steeped in Nigerian culture, which is to say that it's something wonderfully different than the same old shit we usually get. Bravo to Disney for giving us something fresh and new for a change. And for using amazing voice actors who breath life into these characters...

The frickin' FOOD in this show is unreal. They put a lot of focus on it as a part of entrenching you into Nigerian culture. And, I tell you what, the emotion they pack into these 20 minute episodes is substantial. Tola is the main character of the show... but it's her best friend Kole who will break your heart. Dang they put a lot of hardship on this poor kid. The villain in this series is a very, very bad man! AND GOOD LORD THIS SHOW IS BEAUTIFUL. They use color to illustrate the class divide in this future Nigeria, and it's very, very hard not to see it because it's the visual language they paint with. And, as if all that wasn't enough, the sound design is equally wonderful. Great surround effects to envelope you in the environment. If you have Disney+, it's very much worth checking out. The episodes are short, so it's a quick watch.

   
• Ramona! Ramona Fradon is a legendary artist whose gorgeous illustration style has been seen on a vast number of comic book characters. I think I first saw her work on Aquaman reprints or the Super Friends comic. But over the years the thing I most remember her for is the "special event" Wonder Woman stories they'd get her to draw. She had a more "cartoony old-style" that wasn't my favorite for the comics I was into, but that didn't mean I couldn't appreciate it from an artistic standpoint. Far from it, her minimalist style is beautiful because she could get some very expressive line-work that stood very well on its own. I remember reading about her retirement (which was January 5th) and she passed four weeks later on February 24th at the age of 97. Her final work was a trio of covers for Women's History Month...

Though one of her more brilliant works was a private commission piece that she did a few years ago...

Rest In Peace. You were a trailblazer and true artist from the start.

   
• Help Me, Todd! Okay... let's do the math. Paramount+ wants $60 a year to subscribe with ads. Without ads is $120 a year. BECAUSE IT COMES WITH SHOWTIME, WHICH I DO NOT WANT! No option to get CBS shows without ads and without Showtime. I would pay $90 to get a year of ad-free, but Paramount is a joke of a company who wants me to subsidize their Showtime programs which I have no interest in watching. And so... do I pay $60 so I can watch So Help Me Todd with ads... or do I just subscribe to the show on iTunes for $30 without ads and I can watch it as much as I want? Well, because I don't believe in paying for stuff I don't want AND I detest ads, I'll just buy the show on iTunes. It is, after all, my favorite network show on television...

It's not like CBS has any other shows I can't live without. I'll just watch episodes of NCIS Hawaii once Paramount runs out of money from trying to force crap on people they don't want and they're forced to sell episodes of the show to Netflix because the person in charge of the company is a fucking moron. Can't wait for the spin from the Paramount PR office when profits drop to record lows and they have to convince shareholders that the people running the company aren't fucking idiots who just lost $60 from me. Of course, this is the network who canceled Magnum P.I., so it's not like I expect rational thought to come out of their leadership. But hey, maybe they'll renew So Help Me Todd and get another $30 out of me next year? Stranger things have happened!

   
• Keep Your Fucking Bullshit Politics Out of People's Lives! The insane... FUCKING INSANE... crusade against IVF is usually seen as something that affects only women. That's not true. It affects women, men, and those identifying as neither... it affects families. And I am disgusted to my core that dumbfuck politicians who don't give a shit about facts... or ANYTHING or ANYONE except MONEY and POWER... put these dipshit laws on the books. Fuck them and all the people who vote them into office. A man wrote an article for GQ Magazine talking about what he and his family went through, and it's worth a read.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Republican senator blocks bill to protect IVF. Cindy Hyde-Smith is a literal ghoul. She's a shell of a woman who has been filled with a hatred for other women that's shockingly brutal and cruel. Nothing quite like watching a woman embrace the patriarchy to dismantle an option for women who want to be mothers. I get why regressive men vote for toxic, misogynistic pieces of shit to represent them in government. But I will never in a million years understand how women vote for... whatever the fuck this horrific excuse of a human being is... who works overtime to endanger their lives and strip away their rights...

If your God didn't want IVF for us, HE WOULD HAVE DESIGNED HUMAN EMBRYOS TO BE DESTROYED WHEN FROZEN! But of course their belief in an all-powerful deity doesn't allow logic to be applied to anything, so here we are. Fucking anti-science dumbshits making a decision for others in the "Land of the Free" over an issue they probably don't even fucking understand. Sadistic fucks.

   
• Spam! Just when I think I've hit all the keywords to stop spam texts from politicians reaching me, along comes one more to add. Eventually I'll get there! I regret more than just about anything I've ever done sending money to one candidate... ONE... via "ActBlue." And the spam texts and emails have never, ever stopped ever since. No matter how many emails or phone numbers I block. The fuckers just keep making up new ones...

I love how ActBlue, which is about as skeezy an operation as you'll find just says "It's not our fault you keep getting donation requests from us... we just just provide tools for candidates to fundraise! You can't blame us!" And yet... all the people "using their services" are constantly saying "It's not the criminals! It's the guns that are the problem!" So... which is it? If ActBlue acted responsibly and forbade people from using their donation processing system if they send spam texts, and accepted complaints from people getting spammed with ActBlue requests who never "opted in," then there wouldn't be a problem. But ActBlue doesn't give a fuck. The more people using their service, the more money they make. And so I will never, ever donate to any candidate using ActBlue. I wish others would do the same. Then candidates would have nobody to blame but themselves for getting into bed with these fucking assholes.

   
• Fishy! The first Aquaman was dopey fun. So long as you didn't think too hard, it wasn't horrifically bad. Kind of a fantastical globe-spanning adventure. But Aquaman 2? Yeah, it's horrifically bad. And though some of the visuals are really great... most of it is so bad that it practically looked animated like a cartoon. And not in a good way. As if all that wasn't enough, the film is obsessed with Aquaman having piss be squirted in his mouth. Baby piss. Octopus piss. I spent the movie pretty sure that his wife is going to be pissing in his mouth any minute now. Or just full-on brick in his mouth. Which is the natural escalation we need. Hilariously, they ended Aquaman 2 the same way that they ended Black Panther... and THEN they ended it AGAIN the same way they ended Iron Man! They copied TWO Marvel Studios movie endings in the same film! Holy shit am I glad that the Zack Snyder reign of terror over the DCU is now officially over.

   
I guess that's enough trash for one Sunday. See you next week.

Growing up in Washington State, you can't help but be very aware of Boeing. It was founded in Seattle just over 100 years ago, and it's tough to grow up here and not know somebody who was touched by the company in some way.

Well, at least until 2001, when Boeing moved its HQ to Chicago (and then subsequently moved to Arlington last year). Since that time, this once-great titan of industry has had its share of problems.

And it turns out that they were bigger problems than I could have guessed, for all the reasons that I should have expected...

Sad. Horrifying. And oh so predictable.

Who I feel bad for are the many Boeing workers whose jobs are in jeopardy because of decisions that were entirely outside of their control... and airlines like Alaska Air who trusted Boeing to put out a quality product that's safe and reliable.

Not to mention all the passengers and crew whose lives are put into danger because Boeing management cares more about making a buck than human lives.

I am not a big football fan. I rarely watch it. I don't care about it. My spectator sports are hockey (Blackhawks) and baseball (Red Sox) and those are the only sports I bother to keep up with. I do like an occasional basketball game because, like hockey, it's fast-moving and can be exciting to watch if you've got two great teams that are well-matched.

That being said...

I became a fan of the Kelce brothers before it was cool (e.g. before Travis started dating Taylor Swift), and so while I don't keep up with football, I definitely keep up with them. Their podcast is excellent, especially when they talk about life outside of football. And their appearances everywhere are always entertaining (Travis Kelce's appearance on Saturday Night Live is one of the best episodes ever).

But anyway...

Jason Kelce retired. Have a tissue ready...

Football is a brutal sport which takes a heavy physical toll. I can't believe that he managed to power through for this long. Regardless, wishing him all the best. I really hope that the podcast continues, because it's filled with so many great moments. And you learn stuff about stuff!

Congrats. You've left quite a legacy.

Total TikTok ban is imminent? - So... it's okay for US corporations and our government to give our private information to China without our consent... but we can't choose whether or not we want to watch TikTok and potentially give our viewing habits and location directly to China? It's okay for US corporations and our government to unload their bullshit propaganda onto social media users, even when it suits Chinese interests... but if China uses TikTok to do it directly, it's a problem?

Got it.

So long as the Chinese monitoring data and propaganda is collected for them by American companies, it's great. But collected directly by China is bad.

God Bless America.

I find it laughable that Congress thinks they're doing something here. They're fucking us on a daily basis while inventing some scenario so they can say they're keeping us from being fucked. Sounds about right. BECAUSE FREEDUMB!

Telling you right now, if Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, and Dr. Kim Schrier support this bullshit... but will still allow Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Twitter, and the rest to exist (ALL OF WHOM HAVE SHIPPED OUR INFORMATION TO CHINA)... They will never get another vote from me.

Just kidding. I didn't vote for Murray and Cantwell last time... they're shills for Big Pharma who voted against drug-importation from Canada out of "safety concerns." Because, you know, you can't turn on the fucking television without hearing how prescription drugs have killed another million people in The Great White North. And, as if that wasn't enough, they have the fucking gall to talk about people not being able to afford life-saving drugs like they weren't responsible for taking money from pharmaceutical companies to protect their profits.

I fucking DESPISE Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell. And yet every time I bring up their hipocrisy, everybody tells me about all the "good" things they do. And I'm like REALLY?!? Washington is the fucking bluest state in the entire country. Anybody replacing them would be Democrats who would do all the "good things" they do... plus be there for the other votes we need our Senators to weigh in on. So vote them the fuck out of office.

Banning TikTok is just another fucking smokescreen for all the heinous shit that's actually going on in politics. But you can't blame politicians for exploiting it because their voters keep believing the shit they shovel.

So more (political) power to them, I guess.

There's no lack in irony that China bans all foreign social media platforms. But here in the good ol' USA, we don't do that because we believe in freedom.

At least we did.

To say that Akira Toriyama is influential in the pantheon of manga creators is a massive understatement. The guy is best-known for having created Dragon Ball, but he had other works which were worthy of praise.

One of the most famous stories about this absolute legend is that he used the same pen to draw every manga he ever created, and the reason he stopped drawing was because he lost his favorite pen holder, which he had been using since he was a teen. I don't know if it's true or not, but boy is that a good story...

Whenever another of my manga and anime heroes passes, I always look back on those we've already lost. Satoshi Kon. Fujio Fujiko. Isao Takahata. Satoshi Iwataki. Yoshito Usui. Kentaro Miura. Kazuki Takahashi. Among others.

So much talent gone from this earth.

And yet their works remain...

Dragon Ball isn't going anywhere.

Rest in Peace, sir.

The annual rebuttal to the State of the Union address is a thankless job which never goes well on either side of the aisle. And yet, for reasons which escape me, politicians are always lining up to take on the task. I honestly don't see an up-side of any kind for doing so. Best case scenario is that you perform so well speaking out against the president that you impress people enough to further your political career.

But that would take somebody who's truly crafty, clever, and smart... with charisma to match.

Katie Britt has none of those things.

But boy did she ever think she did. Which just goes to show that people are never lacking the ability to overestimate their smarts. She's about as smart as a stick of butter, and she put that on full display for everybody to see (much like I put mine on full display with this blog!).

She also was willing to show what a lying piece of shit she is, but that's neither here nor there given how politicians don't seem to be penalized for lying.

Absolutely everybody who saw her heinously embarrassing performance of the rebuttal was just waiting for her to be the subject of Saturday Night Live's cold open and, well, SNL wasn't about to pass that up (as I noted on Bullet Sunday). Here it is again in case you're one of the three people who hasn't yet seen it...

And now Katie Britt is doubling down on her stupid shit as if her speech was perfect, and is blaming Democrat lies (instead of her own?) for the perceived problems with all the stupid shit she said. Which is baffling. President Biden has done plenty of things that are worthy of scrutiny... so why make shit up? Why over-dramatize it when it speaks for itself? Just point out where the problems are, explain why you thnk they're bad, offer up real solutions, and tell people why you're a better alternative.

It seems as if doing that is a no-brainer, but... well...

Remember how I said that best case scenario is that you perform so well speaking out against the president that you impress people enough to further your political career? Worst case scenario is that you perform so badly that your political career is over.

If there's any justice in the world, that's exactly what we have here.

Don't even worry about the fact that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. Don't give it another thought. There's no need... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Biggie! This video shows the largest city on earth throughout history, and it's absolutely mind-blowing...

Fascinating how the USA doesn't even register until the end.

   
• Good on NASA! In a day and age when young Black men are getting told left and right that they have to cut off their locs or they can't be in school or can't be in sports... Tyrone Jacobs released his NASA headshot...

If NASA doesn't have a problem with natural hair, why the fuck do schools think they have a right to say a damn thing? Newsflash: THEY DON'T. Same goes for tattoos. Same goes for any outward appearance which doesn't keep you from doing the job.

   
• Queer Comedy! Hannah Gadsby is headlining a gender-queer Netflix Special and I finally got around to watching it. I was expecting her to not touch on the controversy she had with Netflix because, well, how can you use your platform to criticize your platform? But she just went for it. Nothing held back. And Netflix is obviously airing it, so good on Hannah and good on Netflix, I guess...

It's not a home-run, but a lot of the jokes are very funny. I enjoyed it.

   
• More Clavell! The new Shōgun series is magical to me. I love that the Japanese is subtitled and not dubbed. The language is taking me back. And bless you, Hulu, for putting some money into this. It looks incredible. Sure they wander from the book a bit, but I think that their choices are interesting ones. And I love the cast...

If only we'd get a 12-part adaptation of Noble House next. Not a gutted version, but complete with the Cold War elements and fascinating look at Hong Kong through its people.

   
• Just Poor! Am I being punked? I do not in any way understand the acclaim for Poor Things. I fucking hated this movie despite loving the other films from most everybody in it. Yes, it’s gorgeous, the imaginative sets are genius, and the cinematography is incredible (the use of different lenses throughout is just =chef’s kiss=)... but the story is a big departure from the book. And absolutely not in a good way...

The book is a wonderfully layered story of how men view women, and it uses the concept of “unreliable narrator” so that you truly don’t know who or what to believe. And there are multiple conflicting “truths” that are tainted by things like misogyny, perspectives, and even the wishful thinking of different characters. But the movie? Bella is a child’s brain in an adult body as a matter of fact, which makes the entire thing a fucking nightmare. It’s child porn with a loophole. And it lacks the subtlety and complexity that made the book so interesting. In my view, Bella loses a lot of her agency in the movie. Her experience and story is viewed entirely through the lens of men she encounters, even as she is rapidly maturing and coming to understand how the world works for a woman. Movie Bella really doesn’t face adversity to truly understand anything either. It’s all observational, and nothing feels earned as she wanders from place to place. And, good Lord, the music is a horrific assault that made me want to turn on subtitles and view it on mute. Who the fuck wants to listen to this? So many times I am able to dislike popular movies for myself, but appreciate that they exist for others. But this time? Hell no. I regret the precious time I wasted watching this mess. It gutted a wonderfully interesting book and turned it into soft core porn for the male gaze which is contrary to what I took away from the source material.

   
• Whistle Broken. John Barnett did not shoot himself? Or maybe he did. Regardless, I am putting the 100% entire complete blame on Boeing. The guy dedicated 32 years of his life to this company but had a conscience. So when management decided to ignore his concerns about declining quality and falsify data on serious issues with manufacturing, he reported the cover-up as a "whistleblower." And now he's dead. Right in the middle of the lawsuit against his former employer. Again, this guy devoted 32 YEARS of his life to this company. They then set out to absolutely destroy what life he had left because he wanted passengers to be safe. They finally succeeded. Regardless of whether he ended it himself or somebody did it to him.

   
• Cancel, Please! Why don't streaming services allow you to block shows and movies? Take HBO Max, for example. I never want to watch Bill Maher. Ever. Never ever. I don't care who he has on. I'd rather light my pubes on fire and jump into a barrel of gasoline than watch that moronic self-righteous piece of shit asshole for even two minutes. But every time I start HBO Max, there he is. There's no way to block the dipshit. No way to get him off my TV. And no amount of ignoring him will get HBO to get the fucking message. On Facebook I can block somebody I don't want any contact with. But with HBO, there's no options at all. Can't even give him a thumbs-down so the algorithm will stop inundating you with his bullshit. It's nearly enough for me to cancel HBO, because having to look at Maher's smug face is tantamount to torture.

   
Hope the rest of your Sunday is a good one.

Can't he just sell Mar-A-Lago and be fine with the fines? He says it's worth $739 million!

Of course the property was valued at more like $75 million in court documents, so he might have to sell some other stuff too... but he's got the assets to post that bond. Not a problem at all. He's apparently worth billions of dollars, so it really shouldn't be any problem at all, even if all his money is tied up in "assets and investments." Sell your stuff. That's what everybody else has to do. It's what I've done when I needed money. Granted, it wasn't $464 million, but I don't have a bunch of pricey properties available to me, so...

In other news... Jordan laughing at his own jokes is always a classic...

One more sleep until Hump Day.

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge over Baltimore Harbor is yet another tragedy that happened at a place that I've been multiple times. And I have the same weird feeling in my stomach that I get every time. I've flown into BWI (Baltimore/Washington International) quite a few times, and I'd cross the bridge whenever I was avoiding driving through Baltimore by taking the scenic route North to Wilmington, Philadelphia, or New York.

The photos of the collapse ended up being a lot more devastating than I had first thought. I figured it was only a section of the bridge... but nope. It's the bridge. The only thing left are the ramps up to it on both sides. And, as of this writing, there are still six workers missing...

I cannot imagine what this will do to the lives of people who live on one side but work on the other. A five to ten minute hop across the bridge will likely increase to at least 40 minutes going around during rush hours. Interesting to note that people are posting videos of drivers actively driving around the barricades which have been set up in order to try and cross a bridge that's no longer there. It's insanity...

And speaking of insanity...

Notorious insurrectionist and twice-impeached ex-president Donald J. Trump's latest grift is selling Bibles and (presumably) advocating for a Christo-Fascist State, despite the fact he is easily one of the most un-Christian people on earth...

What a load of horse shit.

He says unironically that we have to bring back the Christian religion into this country. But what does that actually mean? How far does he think that should go? Does he plan to revoke The First Amendment? Is it his goal that attending Christian church be mandatory for all American citizens? And that the Christian Bible should be taught in schools? Will proof of being a Christian be required to even BE an American citizen? It's the height of irony that this $60 Bible he's pushing has The Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and The Bill of Rights in it considering he has made it very clear that he wants to gut all of them.

He says the Bible is his "favorite book?" I'd love to see him talk about any of it in depth, because the idea that he has studied the Bible at all... let alone applies Scripture to his daily life... is laughable. He can't even get through The Ten Commandments! Because with the exception of not killing anybody (that we know of... and even that's debatable because he's definitely killed people indirectly by his actions) and not dishonoring his parents (that we know of, but I'll give him that one too), it would seem he's broken the remaining eight handily. Some of them multiple times. Including #1: Thou shalt have no other gods before me, because clearly the only god he believes in and the only god he serves is money.

These times we live in. Jesus Christ.

It's the time for April... fools?

Every once in a while I fall down a flat earth rabbit hole, knowing full well that I'll be saying "What the fuck?" at least a hundred times.

And this time around it all started because somebody commented "Nobody believes the earth is flat. You're just being trolled." and I'm like "Holy shit! Somebody actually believes that flat earthers don't exist?!? Obviously they don't get out enough, because flerfers are everywhere, and invest huge amounts of time defending their beliefs with "irrefutable proof" (that's neither irrefutable nor proof).

The insanity surrounding the impending eclipse just makes it all the more mind-blowing. Eclipses occurr where and when scientists say they do because of a model which involves a globe earth. They can literally show you how the calculations work so you can see how they arrive to their conclusions. And yet... people will look at all that and be "Nah, it's flat."

Even when they fail to prove it themselves. As with my favorite flat earth video of all time, which is a whopping one minute and seven seconds long...

Uh huh.

Meanwhile there are people saying that the National Guard being deployed for the eclipse is proof positive of the government knowing it's the End of Days... when, in fact, it's just because the expected influx of people to the totality zone (along with people trying to watch the eclipse while driving) makes for a potentially dangerous situation that local resources simply cannot handle.

And of course CERN has decided to fire up the Large Hadron Collider on the same day of the eclipse to drive the tin-foil hat brigade off the rails.

Now THAT'S trolling. Expert level.

UPDATE! If you have eclipse glasses you will be throwing away, donate them instead! This is so great.

The first eclipse I remember viewing was the Great Eclipse of February 1979. We were right on the edge of the "Totality Zone," which means that everybody in the region was eclipse-crazy. "We don't even have to travel to have the best seat in the house!" Except... Central Washington in February (especially back then) is usually overcast skies, so nothing (especially the "best seats in the house") was guaranteed.

But then the Big Day arrived and, miracle or miracles, the skies were not terrible. It was a school day, which meant that our science teacher showed us how to view the event with a piece of paper with a hole in it casting the shadow of the sun onto another piece of paper. AKA the shittiest way to view an eclipse. You'd think for this monumental event, the Washington State Department of Education would have sprang to give us all safety glasses, but it was what it was. We all went outside with our papers, and I remember a lot of it very well despite my being 12 years old (almost 13) at the time. But mostly I remember how thrilled I was to get out of science class.

The next eclipse was only 92% where I lived back in 2017, but I had great equipment to view it and take photos, which made it a heck of a lot more memorable than looking at a shadow on a piece of paper...

Plus... my cats had fun because I was staying home with them, so there's that.

The eclipse today wasn't that eventful... we were told it would be just a small chunk out of the bottom. I brought my glasses to work to have a look since the skies weren't too terrible, but then forgot. Oh well.

INTERESTING TO NOTE: My last kidney stone was in 2017. The date of the last eclipse here was 2017. — OBVIOUSLY NASA IS CAUSING KIDNEY STONES WITH THEIR WOKE "ECLIPSES," WHICH WE ALL KNOW IS REALLY JUST THEM REPAIRING HOLES IN THE FIRMAMENT DOME! I DEMAND THAT MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE USE HER FULL POWER IN CONGRESS TO INVESTIGATE IMMEDIATELY!

IN OTHER ECLIPSE NEWS: No wonder people thought that The Rapture was going to be today. It happened on Rex Manning Day! (happy Rex Manning Day to all who celebrate)...

I can't celebrate Rex Manning Day without looking up this awesome commercial that Ryan Reynolds gave us last year...

I will spend tonight watching Empire Records for the hundredth time, of course. Such a classic.

IN OTHER, OTHER ECLIPSE NEWS: So how about that Rapture? A ridiculous number of people were coming out of the woodwork claiming that the pending eclipse was clearly a sign that the End of Days was here because they were "activating" the CERN Super Hadron Collider to open a portal and invite the devil to invade so his demons could collapse society and power off the grid (or whatever dippy shit they came up with). Did God change His mind? Shouldn't all these false prophets be getting stoned to death? I'm not holding my breath that the same people posting this shit to social media are going to recant and say they were wrong. Oh hell no. They're already off to the races on whatever other stupid crap they can dream up. Like blaming President Biden for the high cost of shit while corporations are reporting record high profits. Almost as if the corporations are using inflation as an excuse to raise their prices to all-time highs so they can make billions upon billions of extra dollars without getting blamed for it (thus driving inflation even higher). Imagine that! Nope. BIDEN DID IT! And it's like, come on. The Biden Administration has done plenty of actual fucked up shit without having to push stuff like this. But, it's an election year, and high prices are an easy campaign talking point for people to understand, so here we are.

IN OTHER, OTHER RELIGIOUS NEWS: Today The Vatican took time away from their busy schedule of passing around photos of altar boys to declare that surrogacy and gender-affirming care are on par with euthanasia and abortion when it comes to being an affront to human life and a violation of God's Divine Plan...

First of all... if God didn't want surrogacy to produce life, he wouldn't allow it to be possible. Period. My theory is that Catholic priests just find confessional stories about surrogacy to be boring, and would rather hear about a parishioner confessing to getting raw-dogged by a football team because it gives them something fun to beat off to (because they're not having sex... right? RIGHT?!?). Otherwise, why are people who can't have children weighing in on how other people have children? It's insane. You'd think that they'd love the idea of the new Catholics this might create. That's just sound financial sense when it comes to the number of donations on the plate.

Second of all... as a former Catholic, I feel that I'm completely within my right to say that I don't give one single solitary fuck as to what these assholes think is "dignified" about "life." They continue to protect their priests who routinely abuse and sexually assault children. They continue to exploit people in ways that are in direct contradiction to the Bible. They are a monstrous corporation masquerading as a church. Until they clean their own fucking house, they have absolutely ZERO authority to even have an OPINION about what people do with their lives (especially when it comes to gender-affirming care, which can literally saves lives... lives that they don't give a fuck about in the first place, mind you). And even if they did clean house, they can still fuck off with their bullshit, because unless somebody CHOOSES to turn to them for guidance, their OPINION is worth less than jack-shit. Keep your idiotic bullshit within the walls of your fucking child indoctrination camps for the benefit of sexual predators, AKA "Catholic Churches."

I realize that my time as a youngster spent with the Catholic Church was me wearing rose-tinted glasses... but it still pains me to be gunning for them like this because, for better or worse, it was an important part of my life. Particularly when it comes to my grandmother. In all honesty, I don't think the majority of Catholics approve of how The Church deals with many things, but they need their Faith in their lives, so they continue to look past all the heinous shit out of self-preservation. And honestly? I don't blame them. This world is a cesspool, so whatever you need to get through the day is what you need to get through the day. I just wish that more Catholics would hold The Church accountable so that it wouldn't get to keep abusing people and ruining lives without consequences.

Now... I'm off to make dinner and get ready to Say no More, Mon Amour with Rex Manning!

I should have baked cupcakes.

   
Rest in Peace Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.

ANNNNNND... DONE! NOBODY IS SELLING YOUR DATA TO CHINA EXCEPT AMERICAN COMPANIES! THERE! WE'VE FIXED ALL OF AMERICA'S PROBLEMS! NOW WE'RE VOTING TO GIVE OURSELVES A RAISE AND THEN GO INTO RECESS FOR A FEW MONTHS! — God how I fucking detest our politicians. What a bunch of worthless fucking pieces of shit.

NEWSFLASH: Biden signs bill that could ban TikTok, a strike years in the making

Yet another case of politicians loudly announcing "DON'T LOOK AT WHAT I'M DOING! DON'T PAY ATTENTION TO ME! LOOK! OVER THERE! IT'S TIKTOK! SURE EVERYTHING'S FUCKED AND WE'RE DOING FUCK-ALL ABOUT IT BECAUSE PEOPLE GIVE US MONEY IF WE DO FUCK-ALL... BUT THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT! IT'S TIKTOK! TIKTOK IS AN IMMEDIATE THREAT TO ALL AMERICANS! SO APPLAUD US! BOW DOWN BEFORE US! RE-ELECT US! IGNORE THE UNGODLY AMOUNT OF MONEY YOU PAY US! BECAUSE WE'RE WORKING HARD ON YOUR BEHALF! BECAUSE TIKTOK! YOU'RE WELCOME!"

How did we, as a country, end up in this sorry, pathetic state?

Oh well. TikTok was on it's way out anyway because they're shoving ads down your fucking throat every five videos and I'm sick to death of it... but I suppose Congress needs something to do to have the appearance that they're doing anything at all.

UPDATE: And now... this...

NEWSFLASH: Tesla Driver Who Trusted 'Autopilot' Charged With Killing A Motorcyclist

If I hadn't already had to stop riding a motorcycle, I'm telling you right now that this story alone would get me to stop. It's already incredibly dangerous because people driving cars so often aren't paying attention, and riding a motorcycle makes you incredibly vulnerable because you don't have any protection... but this is just beyond.

Tesla should have to pay a billion dollars to the family of this rider. A BILLION. DOLLARS. There has to be meaningful repercussions to them having a car with a feature that's actively killing people. I hope the driver loses everything for not monitoring the car's driving as they should have been. And Tesla should lose everything for making this outright murder possible in the first place.

But Tesla says that they warn drivers that their "fully self-driving" feature requires monitoring, so they'll likely not pay a fucking cent. Yet they name it "fully self-driving."

Christ.

As a former motorcyclist who has clear memories of being very nearly killed (or seriously damaged) twice on the road by drivers who don't give a shit whether they kill somebody... it's disheartening to know that the vehicles themselves don't care either. My thoughts go out to the family and friends of this rider who lost somebody who did absolutely nothing to deserve their fate.

Anybody who supports revoking Net Neutrality either has no idea what the fuck they are talking about... or they run a Big Cable or Big Telco company and lust over the idea of controlling the internet for a buck... or are politicians sucking Big Cable and Big Telco dick for cash. There's seriously no other options here. Revoking Net Neutrality is a seriously bad move from every possible angle when seen from the perspective of the American people. Period.

And now that the FCC isn't being raw-dogged by eternal piece of shit Ajit Pai, the commission agrees. Because Net Neutrality has been restored. Granted, it was in a 3-to-2 split vote along party lines (apparently Republicans are really into sucking Big Cable and Big Telco dick for cash all the way down the line). But who cares? The right thing finally came out on top. So now we don't have to worry that Comcast will throttle certain sites that might be competing with their interests... and Verizon won't charge extra if you want to stream movies from a company that's not paying them a bunch money. The list of good things go on and on. It's a free an open internet the way the internet should be.

At least until another Ajit Pai ends up in the FCC to fuck things up again due to some bullshit tactics by politicians who don't mind selling out the American people for cash.

And speaking of bullshit political tactics...

Biden just signed a bill that could ban TikTok. His campaign plans to stay on the app anyway.

OF COURSE the fucking Biden campaign is still using TikTok after he signed a bill that could ban TikTok! Did you honestly think they wouldn't?

This possible ban conveniently takes place AFTER the election, so that was likely the plan all along. Hypocrisy. It's what's for dinner. And breakfast. And lunch. And dessert. And brunch. And snacks. And... reason No. 1,756,342,456 that I loathe our fucked-up political system in general and oh-so-many politicians specifically.

It continues to blow my mind that people are into politician worship over common sense, and we allow a system of having to vote for the lesser of two evils be the system we keep allowing to happen.

I woke up mostly pain-free, so my ambition was to clean my frickin' home. But I can't let cleaning get in the way of my Sunday obligations... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Dead! I enjoyed Netflix and Neil Gaiman's Dead Boy Detectives. Though it really makes me want a Death: the High Cost of Living series even more. But anyway... the one thing that disappoints me is that in the original comic books, they were dead BOY detectives. Young boys. 12-year olds I think. These "boys" are in their twenties. Not really boys at all. This changes the dynamic of the story in a kinda weird way. But they did keep the random weirdness that makes the comics so good, so there's that...

I really wish that they had cast young kids, but I guess that wouldn't work if we get a second season because they would age out when they're not supposed to age at all? But odds are we won't get a second season because Netflix gives all their money to Zack Snyder for his shitty fucking movies (Rebel Moon Part 2: The Scargiver was BEYOND shitty). Oh well. Netflix keeps this up and I won't have a need for their service. One more streamer in the toilet.

   
• Street! My favorite YouTube rabbit hole this week was courtesy of Printographer. He takes street photos of people... then prints out a photo to give to them. The results are sometimes pretty great...

Public employees like police officers and public workers seem like the best candidates for this. I'm not sure how I feel about snapping random women... and especially kids? Seems like an invitation to trouble? I'm too cynical, I guess. I hope that all these people (public or not) give their permission to be posted to YouTube.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Many people say their Apple IDs were inexplicably reset last night. — I was one of the people affected, and it fucking sucked. All my app-specific passwords now have to be reset. Does Apple know how much time that takes? DO THEY GIVE A SHIT?!? And of course Apple's promise to kill having to enter passwords is fucking bullshit, because NOT ONCE was FaceID or TouchID used for anything. It was just an endless loop of entering fucking passwords. Assholes. Jesus Christ and I sick and fucking tired of Apple's hypocrisy cycle.

   
• FUCKING ARREST HER! I don't give a shit if if this psychotic asshole is the D.A., why the fuck wasn't she treated like ANY OTHER PERSON would have been if they acted this way during a valid traffic stop? Why wasn't she dragged the fuck out of her garage, slammed up against the back of her fucking vehicle, fucking handcuffed, THEN FUCKING ARRESTED?

"Let me call my supervisor." Good Lord. She's a D.A., so she gets to drive 55 in a 35mph zone? Fuck that. Fuck her. She's absolute garbage, and the fact that she thinks people like her are above the law means she has NO FUCKING BUSINESS BEING A D.A. OR EVEN NEAR THE D.A.'S OFFICE. I hope she gets fucking fired from her job and thrown IN FUCKING JAIL. You know... LIKE I WOULD BE IF I WERE TO ACT LIKE THIS DURING A FUCKING TRAFFIC STOP. And can you imagine if this was a Black woman pulling this attitude? D.A. or no D.A., she would be lucky to survive it. "I had a bad day." Yeah, that's a valid excuse to get out of speeding. Seriously, public officials who exploit their office for personal gain need to be in jail.

   
• On the Tip! TLC Forever is on Netflix. I've seen TLC documentaries before, but this one seems different? Not sure if I saw it when it was released last year. They just got to the part where they are shooting the making of the video for Waterfalls where they are out in the middle of a giant water tank. I was there at Universal Studios California while they were shooting it...

I even took a photo, but I have no idea where it is because I'm pretty sure it was taken on film. Regardless, they have a heck of a story.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Vaccine breakthrough means no more chasing strains. This... this right here... is a miracle. The ultimate goal of RNA vaccines since the very beginning. And yet there will be people who would rather suffer and die (or, tragically, rather their child suffer and die) than accept this gift from science... or gift from God, if you're so inclined. I will never understand where this world went off the rails. We used to embrace science. It used to not be all absurd religious drama and conspiracy theories. Maybe Satan does exist, and this is his handiwork?

   
• Full-On Drag! Glorious. Everybody already knows my thoughts on Jamie Oliver, so you'll understand why I loved this video...

It's always nice when I'm not alone in my loathing of public personalities!

   
And now back to cleaning up. Can't somebody buy me housekeeping services? Is that really too much to ask?

Jerry Seinfeld came out bemoaning that he "wouldn't be able to make Seinfeld today" because of the "extreme-Left" and "PC crap" has killed comedy. I think I might have laughed for a solid five minutes.

What the fuck is it with these irrelevant assholes who think that they can suddenly become relevant by having a stupid fucking take that's so far outside of reality that it has people questioning whether or not it's time to induce dementia medication? Nothing quite like announcing to the entire fucking world that you are so old and set in your ways that you can't evolve with the times.

Seinfeld out here acting like Ted Lasso doesn't exist. Jesus.

The thing that really kills me is that the co-creator of Seinfeld, Larry David, just ended an epic run on his post Jerry gig that was killing it season after season. I was not a huge fan of Curb Your Enthusiasm, but they must have been doing something right to go for TWELVE FUCKING SEASONS.

COMEDY: NOT SO DEAD AS WE WERE LEAD TO BELIEVE.

And then I ran across this TikTok that pointed out something I hadn't even thought of... It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which wrapped its 16th season and is coming back for a 17th... seems to have zero problems continuing it's particular brand of comedy in this "Comedy is Dead" era...

   
Why can't these idiots just roll around in their piles of money and stop embarrassing themselves like this? I mean, it's not faling asleep then farting yourself awake in the middle of your hush-money-for-adultery trial, but it's pretty close.

I'm in full-on construction mode here in my home, but have no fear... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Shield Gate! Yesterday I mentioned that every time I watch Rogue One: A Star Wars Story I go running to the internet to watch the super-cut of all the space battles because they're just so cool and amazing to look at. And here you go...

You're welcome! Dang pushing the Star Destroyer into the Shield Gate was brilliant fun.

   
• Acolyte! The big news out of yesterday was that Star Wars gave us a peek at new Star Wars on Star Wars Day...

Looks darn good! But I'm so used to being shown the best bits of the show in the trailer, then finding out that it's nothing like what they showed us. So I guess we'll see.

   
• Mazes Got Nuthin' on This! I fell down a rabbit hole of videos of crows being geniuses. Then octopi. And then... rats?!?

Rats driving a car. Who knew?

   
• Dementia Village! The dementia care home I found for my mom wasn't a sterile, boring, hospital-like place. It looked more like a home with different textures and colors and interesting things to look at... other patients to visit with. Her room was likewise nothing like a hospital room, and could be filled with all her stuff so it felt familiar. The hallways was in a big loop so she couldn't get lost. For what it was, I thought it was quite nice. The only thing missing was a way for her to wander outside and look around. And idea which was has been explored by this Dutch facility, which is incredible...

As happy as I was with the facility I found for my mom, I would have been thrilled if she could have stayed in a place like this. So much more friendly. I really hope these "dementia villages" catch on.

   
• Hulk Smash! The Incredible Hulk Coaster at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure Orlando is hands-down my favorite rollercoaster. I rode it the year it debuted, then rode it plenty more times over the years (one visit to the park I rode it five times!). This video talks about the coaster, and I've skipped past all the non-Hulk-Coaster crap at the beginning...

I did ride it after the refurbishment, and was impressed. They kept the classic coaster everybody loves... just made the experience better from start to finish. No other coaster I've ridden since has compared to it. Not bad for a coaster 25 years old!

   
• AI FAIL! I had the same thing to say about both the Humane AI Pin and the Rabbit R1: "Once Apple & Google unleash AI assistants on their phones, all these additional gadgets are toast." But this was before either of these devices were released to horrific reviews. They're useless. Snazzy Labs has a great overview of both devices at the same time so you only have to watch one video...

The Humane AI Pin was fucking useless on paper and is worse than useless in practice. I was a little more bullish about the Rabbit R1 because it at least had a screen to interact with stuff and sounded like it had a better service. But it turns out that it's worse than useless too. Which is to say that Apple & Google are winning before they've even released anything. How boring.

   
• Fuck This Fucking Fuck! I gotta say... watching puppy-killing piece of shit Kristi Noem getting dragged from one end of the internet to the other is the best thing ever. She murders animals not because she needs food or is in danger... but because she just fucking loves to kill (surrendering your "problem" puppy to an animal shelter means you can't kill it, so she must love it)...

I hope her political career is truly toast, because a sadistic fuck like this has no business holding any political office. If she thrills to kill a fucking puppy... can you imagine what she would do to make lives harder for people she doesn't like? And now she's blaming all her lies and bullshit on her ghost-writer. Which is hilarious given that SHE NARRATED HER OWN AUDIOBOOK AND KNEW FULL WELL WHAT IT CONTAINED! That happened after she fucking lied about staring down Kim Jong Un. Jesus what a dipshit asshole.

   
And now back to construction, already in progress.

He was trapped in a region of non-stop war in Syria, but did his best to help people and feed cats in the area. And died there after joking about having dug his own grave.

It's a good thing I'm not God. Because I'm telling you right now, there would be no hiding from my wrath. Nothing could save you. I would wipe all violent aggressors off the face of the fucking earth without so much as a thought. One minute you're killing innocent civilians and cats... then next minute you would find yourself transported to the surface of the sun.

Which kinda begs the question... where is God in the middle of things like this anyway?

Definitely not in Syria, that's for sure.

I'm building build building this weekend, but I haven't forgot about you, dear reader... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• DestructiPad! Apple introduced their amazing new iPads in the worst way possible. To illustrate how this miracle device is capable of a huge number of creative endeavors, from music to art to research, they released a commercial where a massive hydraulic press squishes musical instruments, art supplies, and other physical tools into nothingness. And they let you see the destruction in excruciating, closeup detail...

Now, I get what they were trying to do... but holy shit. Who thought this ad which celebrates the death of physical creativity would be a good idea? The first thing I thought was "Do they not speak with foreign culture consultants before releasing their ads?" Because the first thing I thought of was... there are cultures where creative tools are revered, and destroying them like this is an unforgivable act. And, sure enough, the outrage was immediate. Particularly from Japan, where something like this is unforgivable. But it should anger anybody who thinks this kind of waste is senseless. Apple ultimately apologized, but it is crazy to me that they were so stupid as to do this in the first place. They could have animated it... or used cardboard cut-out representations... or anything where the actual objects weren't destroyed.

   
• MaxiPad! Tone-deaf commercial aside, the new iPads are incredble. The display, the power, the larger size, the new stylus... it's a digital creator's dram come true. I don't use my iPad enough to justify buying a new one (I have a 2020 iPad Pro), but was curious to know how much my ideal iPad configuration with accessories would cost. It's $2000... not including AppleCare. But no worries... Apple will give me $65 to trade in my old iPad Pro! Yikes. I'll just wait for the MacBook Pro M4, thanks.

   
• Exit! Okay. Dang. Sometimes short films have more impact per second than a multi-million dollar flick...

This brilliantly illustrates how a film doesn't necessarily have to take its time and build up characters into fully-realized people in order to be entertaining. Sure traditional long-form movies are my preferred way to experience a story, but running into something like this shows that it's not the only way to tell a story. If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check out my last short film pick, Two Strangers Meet Five Times.

   
• THERE IT IS! And... scene...

Here's the thing: I have never had a desire to wear nail polish. It's never been my thing, even when I was into cultures where it was a part. But seeing all these snowflakes getting so triggered by FUCKING NAIL POLISH makes me actually want to start wearing it. The idea that guys can't accessorize their appearance without being trashed by the toxic masculinity brigade is absurd. Why the fuck are people so invested in what other people are doing with their appearance? Let them do them and you do you. It's not that hard to ignore shit that makes others happy that you wouldn't do for yourself.

   
• EXIT SLOW! Ah yes. The Union Street exit in Seattle. I have taken it many times. And have seen people nearly lose control many times. Never seen a crash... but I believe they happen often because of how it's designed. Some guy set up a camera to catch accidents of cars taking the exit too fast, and they do indeed happen often...

You'd think that people driving in an area that they are unfmiliar with would be following all suggested speed signs rather than ignoring them. Odds are, there's a reason that they tell you to slow way down.

   
• More Runner! One of my most favorite films of all time is Blade Runner 2049. It shocks me to this day that it wasn't a massive blockbuster success. This is the film that genius-director Denis Villeneuve made before his celebrated Dune films, and it's equally phenomenal. This week it was annonced that Amazon Prime Video is making a sequel series... WITH MICHELLE FUCKING YEOH!!! I gotta tell you, I have no idea when Blade Runner 2099 is going to happen, but I am already looking forward to seeing it. If it's even half as good as 2049, it will be well worth the wait.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Ted Cruz Called Automatic Airline Refunds a ‘Dumb Idea.’ Senators Disagreed. Do you think that if Ted Cruz blows enough airline executives he can take his next Cancún vacation for free? The refund is not immediate-immediate. It's only if your flight has been significantly delayed and you don't rebook another flight to replace it. The only thing this changes is that you don't have to fill out a bunch of paperwork and let the airline string your along forever... or issue you some stupid credit that you'll never use before it expires. Where the fuck does this boot-licker asshole come up with this outrageous shit? Do people even believe his ridiculous crap anymore? Ted Cruz is a fucking embarrassment, and the fact that he still has a job shocks the shit out of me. Republicans don't think that they deserve to get their money back with a minimum of inconvenience when they get fucked over by over-bookings or maintenance failures or whatever? Get real.

   
And now back to hammering...

Harrison Butker, a kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, delivered a commencement speech at Benedictine College this past Saturday. He's a hardcore regressive Catholic. Benedictine College is a Catholic college. So it should shock absolutely nobody that Butker unleashed a grotesque missive that was steeped in everything from misogyny, antisemitism, and homophobic bigotry to COVID misinformation, toxic masculinity, and general hatred of anybody who dares to not share his "values." He also decided to take a jab Taylor Swift (who's regarded as nothing more than "a teammate's girlfriend"), for which I can only hope that her boyfriend kicks him in the fucking dick.

No, people shouldn't have been at all shocked. And yet shock people he did.

Do I think it was crass that this asshole would stand up in front of young women who have worked long and hard to graduate from college only to tell them that until they are wives and mothers their lives don't mean shit and their entire purpose is to be barefoot and pregnant? Of course I do. But what did everybody think that he was going to say? That's Christian female gender roles in a nutshell.

Do I think it was disgusting that he would take jabs at the LGBTQ community with his "deadly sin pride" bullshit and prop up toxic masculinity by telling men to fight against ideas and people he doesn't consider culturally "masculine" enough? Absolutely. Gotta be an alpha-male for Jesus!

And am I even remotely surprised that it's now being brought to light that Butker hooked up with a male cheerleader at Georgia Tech when he went there? Oh fuck no. That's the easiest thing to believe out of any of this. History has shown us again and again that the harder a homophobic bigot attacks the LGBTQ community, the more skeletons they have in their own rainbow-painted closet. They're always compensating for something...

UPDATE: And of course TikTok removes the video. Butker can drone on with his homophobic, misogynistic, antisemitic bullshit no problem... but anybody dare to retort to that and it's REMOVED FOR BULLYING TIME! Well, the internet is forever, so if your browser can support video embeds...

The minute Harrison Butker came for the gays, it was only a matter of time until we found out why. I'm just surprised it took this long. Usually you can clock the tea on an egg timer.

Oh well. Here's hoping that Harrison Butker gets the life he deserves.

Which of course includes Travis Kelce kicking him in the fucking dick.

Kapgar left a comment on Monday's entry which reminded me of something that always puts my stomach in a knot: The Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandal.

Kyle Beach was on my radar when he came up to the practice squad in the Blackhawks because I saw that he had played in Spokane (which is across the basin from me in Washington State). He never made it to any NHL play, so I lost track of him fairly quickly, but I absolutely knew of him back then.

A decade later in 2021 he came forward as a victim of sexual assault at the hands of a coach during his time with the team. He was 20 years old at the time. When the news broke I was still a diehard Blackhawks fan, because the Kraken had only just started playing and I wasn't invested with the team yet.

I will never forget hearing Beach's interview about his assault at the hands of coach Bradley Aldrich. It was so incredibly painful to watch him break down as he talked about feeling so utterly alone and afraid as he had to endure ridicule by his teammates. Even worse, he was told by the organization that what happened was his fault, which means he got no support from the staff who essentially called him a liar.

The interview was heartbreaking, but incredibly important...

That hurt me to watch back then. A lot. In some ways it hurts more now, because the entire scandal irrevocably changed my relationship with my favorite hockey team.

Seeing how horrifically this was handled by the Blackhawks and Beach's teammates soured me on them instantly.

Indeed, it was directly responsible for me becoming a fan of the Seattle Kraken, where I could start anew with my love of hockey. That they are my local team just made it all the easier. I've never left the Blackhawks behind completely, but it's seriously tough to follow the team when Kyle Beach is still fresh in my mind. My Blackhawks jersey still hangs in my closet, where it's been ever since. I think the only way I'd wear Blackhawks gear again would be if I got a customized Beach jersey...

Because I'm just going to say it: Beach is a fucking hero for coming forward and advocating for change. Nobody deserves what he went through, and I wish every single man everywhere could see this so they understand that assault can happen to anybody, and our toxic masculinity culture means that nothing and nobody will save you. Instead you get dismissed, called a liar, and ridiculed. This isn't the way it should be, and things have got to change.

Lucky for all of us these assaults are finally being dragged kicking and screaming into the public eye. And we have heroes like Kyle Beach to thank for it. He says that he received a lot of support after speaking out. I sure hope that's true because he deserves nothing less.

I'm deep into home improvement projects, but don't despair... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Read a Book! Two excellent documentaries A Beatles doc on The Beach Boys (Disney+) which was very good, but had a horrible sound mix. The music is blasting... sometimes over the dialogue. And then there's the Reading Rainbow doc (Netflix) which is perfect...

Well worth your time. Especially if you're familiar with the program. I remember it would play in the lounge at college even though it was meant for kids. But it was not dumbed-down entertainment, so it was watchable for everybody.

   
• Sixty-Nine, Dude!! So there I was, ready to turn in for the night this past Tuesday when I saw a bright light flickering out my window. At first I thought it was just a plane because the light looked red. But it never moved, so I pulled out the StarWalk 2 app on my phone and found out it was a comet named 13P/Olbers which comes around every 69 years. It won't be here again until 2094, so I hope you saw it while you had a chance...

Sweet! Really makes me wish I had a telescope!

   
• Beautiful Cabin Crew Scarlett Johansson! When powerful people want something and you won't give it to them, then they just take it. Doesn't matter if that power comes from money... or people who are controlling a powerful force in our lives like A.I... what's yours is theirs. In the case of Scarlett Johansson, OpenAI. took her voice after she told them she didn't want to work with them. Hope with all your might that powerful people don't want something you have.

   
• I'm Good, Thanks! Sonos released the news that their new "Ace" headphones will release on June 5. And it's like they honestly think I would buy their shit? I couldn't use Dolby Atmos on my Sonos soundbar because it took years for them to fix the "pop of death" that plagued it. YEARS! Their interim solution was to "turn Atmos off" WHEN THAT'S THE ENTIRE REASON I BOUGHT IT! Between that and their shitty fucking app that makes using their gear a horrendous ordeal (I am filled with rage every time I have to scroll through a playlist because it keeps pausing to load), there's zero fucking chance I'd spend $450 on a pair of their fucking headphones. It's weird to think that Sonos was once the pinnacle of audio equipment with incredible features you just had to have (considering you could afford it), but now I honestly don't care if they flame out and shut down.

   
• Smell That Freedom! France has released a stamp that smells like baguettes! Nifty. BUT ALL 'MURICAN STAMPS SMELL LIKE FREEDOM! U-S-A-! U-S-A-! U-S-A-! U-S-A-! U-S-A-! U-S-A-! U-S-A-! U-S-A-!

Except I still want some of those baguette stamps. Who wouldn't?

   
• Enter The Sandman: Part Two! I have been anxiously awaiting to see who gets cast as the remaining Endless for the second season of The Sandman, and here they are...

Perfect. But I am still waiting for an adaptation of Death: The High Cost of Living. I don't understand why it's not been announced. It would be relatively cheap to produce. Just write a check for a fraction of the money you gave to Zack Snyder to crap the Rebel Moon movies out of his ass and call it good.

   
• Pigment! Wonderful look at a 300 year-old artisanal pastel shop in France...

I love stuff like this. In an age when computer-generated A.I. "art" is all the rage, it's nice to see the craftsmanship that goes into the tools of creating actual art.

   
• Corruption. the only REAL bipartisan issue! I saw this last week and it hasn't left my head. And yet we keep voting for this fucking bullshit instead of persecuting them all for treason...

Treason, which I'll remind you, is punishable by death in this country.

   
Until next time, buckaroo.

I had a really rough night and ended up watching a boatload of YouTube videos to take my mind off the stabbing pain that was shooting through me. Sure it meant I only got 3 hours and 42 minutes of sleep and was exhausted all day long, but it beats having to take painkillers that wreck havoc on my internals.

One of the standout videos I watched was Jenny Nicholson at her most hilarious. The longer this went on, the funnier it got. I think I have a hernia now...

   
BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! There was more Jenny madness to be had: "I guess I don't know that guy's nationality just by looking at him... so... maybe in his case it is okay to be doing this." In this video she's taking a look at this Canadian church which has become famous for their Easter plays. I WAS NOT AT ALL PREPARED!! As she runs through them, things just keep getting more unreal as the years go on. I cannot fathom how much time is spent on these productions. But it's a lot. TIME THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SPENT WORSHIPPING THE LORD! GAH!

   
Another great thing I saw was the trailer for Moana 2, which looks gorgeous and hilarious...

   
I finally joined Nebula to watch Thomas Flight's exclusive videos and discovered Mary Spender. What a phenomenal talent. She's on YouTube too and worth a listen. She's got her original music there, but she also comments on music in general. This video on the song Dreams by Fleetwood Mac is so good. What a wild story...

   
And now it's today! I've always loved Antonio Banderas. Even when the film isn't great, he puts his all into his role and is always worth watching. What's so great is that the guy never stops working. The first thing I saw him in was Philadelphia. But the movie I first really remember him from was "Desperado." Then there was Mask of Zorro and The 13th Warrior and Once Upon a Time in Mexico which cemented him as a favorite. Right now I am watching a 2017 film called Security on Netflix. I liked it. Banderas has lost absolutely nothing. And then... BEN KINGSLEY?!?? It's kinda Die Hard in a mall, but in a good way. Plenty of action, some dark turns, and Banderas killing it...

Enjoyed it quite a lot. In a day when fascist assholes are wanting to close libraries, ban books, and keep kids from reading, it's nice to remember more literate times.

In other news...

As usual, neither the Left nor the Right is happy with my reaction to the Trump verdict, but I'm getting used to it. Because what I have to say is this... "Great! Now let's go after the rest of these corrupt politicians and purge the government in BOTH parties."

Overwhelming evidence. Guilty on all 34 counts. That's what his party wants representing them in government? But then I look at Democrats and their love of Nancy Pelosi and her corrupt insider-trading ass, which they excuse away because her husband made the actual trades, and it's like... yeah. She couldn't have possibly told him to sell their Google stock right before Google would be sued over antitrust violations. That totally tracks.

Americans need to wake the fuck up. The only reason that 90% of these politicians are in government "service" is so they can exploit their office for money and power. Period. Ban politicians from trading stocks or accepting money from PACs and lobbyists, make the penalty for corruption be death by firing squad, and watch how fast most of them abandon a job that once meant guaranteed money and power.

Corruption is built into our political system, and the ones who can stop it are the ones running it.

Which is why I pledge fealty to no politician or political party. I am sick of all of it.

Last year I bought a power washer that was on sale because it seemed like a handy thing to have. Turns out that I could have saved the money because I can get the same "pressure" with a garden hose nozzle. There is a nice thing about the power washer, however. You can put cleaning solution or window cleaner or whatever in it to wash while you spray. That's a handy enough feature that I don't regret buying the thing. Though I do wish I. Would have gotten the electric power tank instead of the battery power wand. That would have been more powerful, I think.

I wish I could say that I'm talking about power washers because I power washed my house when I got home but, alas, it was because I fell down a power washer art rabbit hole...

If you search for power washer art on YouTube, you'll find all kinds of cool stuff.

AND THEN I fell down another rabbit hole of HOAs fining people for not pressure washing their driveway.

AND THEN I fell down another rabbit hole of HOA assholes.

AND THEN I got this in my feed...

Alternative facts. Jesus. Really hoping we don't get a repeat of this bullshit.

Did I watch the debate? Oh fuck no. Why torture myself? I despise our choices and already know who I'm voting for, so it's senseless. Biden may be too old, too far into mental decline, and a politician I can't stand, but at least I'm confident he will listen to smart people when it comes to making decisions. Trump is also too old, also too far into mental decline, and also a politician I can't stand, but I have zero confidence he'll listen to anybody. Including the dumbass sycophants he surrounds himself with. I also have zero confidence that he won't continue to grift the country for personal gain as he always has... all while doing everything possible to fuck over poor people so that rich people get richer. And fuck over women and LGBTQ people so that his demented far-right Christian base can have even more power to fuck over women and LGBTQ people. This is a definite "lesser of two evils" situation that's not even close. Even if it seems cruel to even have Biden on the ballot. Because my God.

I'd ask why these two pathetic options are what we're stuck with... but I already know the answer. Republicans and Democrats have fired up the hate to such stratospheric levels that there's no need to find competent candidates. People don't vote based on who's competent... they vote against the party they've been conditioned to hate most.

And the entire country suffers for it.

One way or the other.

We are so fucked.

Just when you think it can't get any hotter here this July, I drop in to prove you wrong... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• I don't want two mommies! Tig Notaro's latest special (on Amazon Prime) is hilarious, as I knew it would be. If the end of this clip doesn't convince you that you need to see it, I don't know what will...

Stand-up is a highly specific talent to have. Tig makes it look so easy.

   
• NEWSFLASH! Oklahoma state superintendent announces all schools must incorporate the Bible and the Ten Commandments in curriculums. So... all schools in Oklahoma are now Christian schools. So much for that pesky "freedom of religion" thing we were so proud of back in the day.

   
• NEWSFLASH! New Drug Provides Total Protection From H.I.V. in Trial of Young African Women A miracle from science. Cue the anti-vax dipshits in 3... 2...

   
• Celine! Wow. This Celine Dion documentary on Prime Video is tough to watch. I mean seriously tough to watch. I feel so bad for her...

And yet... she has shitloads of money to help her get through her health challenges, and that's tempering my sympathy a bit. Because the entire time I'm thinking "What about the poor people going through this kind of thing who have no money for cutting-edge treatments, personal nurses and staff, and the ability to not work and still survive?" Regardless, there are moments where they show her performing or using her music... and it takes my breath away as it always has. I wish her the best of luck because the world is a better place with her music in it.

   
• Don't Drop the Baby! I'm telling you right now. If Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce break up, I will be more devastated than I've been for any breakup I've personally ever had. This is so great...

Travis talked about it in the season finale of the New Heights podcast...

   
• Miyazaki! There is no greater animator than Hayao Miyazaki. I am an impossibly massive fan, and have been since first visiting Japan in the mid 90's where I was exposed to his work (starting with 1988's My Neighbor Totoro). This video dives into something that seems simple on its surface, but is actually a rather complex take on a legend...

So... not really hating America, after all. I was very lucky to have attended one of Miyazaki's rare American appearances in the USA, and he was nothing but gracious and kind.

   
• Buh-Bye! After the price increase for ad-free HBO Max earlier this month (it's now $169.99 a year, whereas I was paying $99 a year then $129 or something like that) I dumped them because I am not watching any fucking ads. So instead of getting $129 a year out of me, now HBO will get $34 a year out of me because I'll just subscribe for one month ad-free every 6 months to watch the stuff I want to see. Which ain't a lot. And so... there goes $95 in revenue. And I have no regrets. The genie is out of the bottle. Watching without ads is the ONLY way to go. If my option is to watch fucking ads, I'd rather go without.

   
Back to pulling weeds in the heat.

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 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.

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.

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.

I don't watch The Olympics because I find it hard to give a shit. It all seems like exploitation and abuse wrapped in a flag, and it really irks me that there are Olympians who are struggling to afford to eat and pay rent while billions of dollars are being tossed around the event.

But every once in a while a heartwarming story gets through.

I've made no secret of my love of Türkiye. It's a wonderful country with wonderful people, and I obssess over it more than a little bit. I loved my visit and dearly wish I could return one day.

Along with my love of the country, is a love of their entertainment. I love their TV shows and movies (Kardeşim Benim is one of my all-time favorite flicks), and I really love their reality television shows. The Türkiye version of Survivor is the best.

So it comes as no surprise that this story coming out of the Olympcs is just so epic. And also so very Türkiye. I give you Yusuf Dikeç...

   
Now see, if the Olympics was nothing but stuff like this, I would absolutely tune in!

Put your Mouseketeer ears on... because a very special, all new D23 Edition of Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• D23! I've been fixated on all things Disney since I was a kid, and it's not something that's faded away. As I've gotten older I've just shifted my focus to the work that goes into making Disney happen. The animation that goes into the films and shows. The imagineering that goes into the parks and properties. The drive. The creativity. The planning. It's all so fascinating to me. Which means the D23 Expo which Disney puts on to announce the stuff that's going on is something I look forward to each year. So let's take a look at some of my favorite things that happened, shall we?

   
• Villains Land! While Disney has been teasing this for decades, Universal Studio's Universal Monsters Land at their upcoming Epic Universe park finally made them get off their stupid asses and actually make it happen. For the love of God I don't understand why Disney has been so regressive in their parks given how profitable they are. They limp along, giving us remakes of old rides by slapping new window dressing on them like Tiana's Bayou Adventure... drop new attractions after frustratingly long intervals like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Mickey's Runaway Railway, and TRON: Lightcycle Run... but the only thing that's really been new-new at the American parks has been Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Land from five years ago. Meanwhile Universal Studios has been eating their lunch by dropping tons of cool stuff at their parks on a regular basis and building an entirely new park. So thank you, Universal, for being the reason that Villains Land is finally happening...

Copyright ©2024 by Disney

Getting new attractions beats having Disney whining about stagnating attendance. BUT WHEN YOU KEEP RAISING PRICES IN A POOR ECONOMY WHILE NOT DOING SOMETHING EPIC TO DRAW IN NEW VISITORS, WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU EXPECT?!? It's like Disney management is brain dead. They just want to keep the status quo, not spend any money to do great things people want to see, then expect people will continue to pay for that just because their Disney. It's just so bizarre.

   
• Monsters, Inc. Land! Wow. It's like Disney has been reading my blog or something. I have long said that Disney Parks is missing a massive opportunity by saddling Monsters, Inc. with lackluster attractions. Laugh Floor is boring. And the videos of Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! doesn't look much better with its lackluster animatronic retreads from the disastrous Superstar Limo ride that was a total bomb. But creating Monstropolis at Disney Studios and coming up with an actual attraction that's worthy of the movies? I'm all in...

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Pixar

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Pixar

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Pixar

Interesting that Disney doesn't have a suspended coaster attraction and this will be the first one. Looks darn good, if the implementation is anything like the concept art. Reeeeeally going to need to convey massive depth for that to work. Looks like it's not, so I hope that there's an illusion or screen extension or something...

I'm hopeful that Disney doesn't cheap out on this, because it could be such a cool attraction if they put the money into it.

   
• Cars Land... East! California Adventure has had a Cars Land for a while. It features the excellent Radiator Springs Racers attraction, a version of which is coming to... Frontierland in Magic Kingdom? FRONTIERLAND?!? Bonkers. Apparently this will be themed to the American West to "fit in"... albeit in an animated contemporary setting (seriously... this is bonkers). Which is essentially a mountain version of Radiator Springs Racers...

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Pixar

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Pixar

There's also a kid-friendly ride coming, which looks like a retread of Autopia. Something I thought would happen to the literal Autopia in Disneyland and Tomorrowland Speedway in Magic Kingdom...

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Pixar

Don't know if this means that Tomorrowland Speedway will be paved over for something new, exciting, and completely inappropriate for the space... but we can hope!

   
• Talk About Bruno! It would appear that Walt Disney World is paving over Dinoland U.S.A. in Animal Kingdom to create a Tropical Americas Land. This will involve a new Encanto attraction that's a ride through Casa Madrigal...

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Pixar

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Pixar

And they'll also be tearing out the theming in DINOSAUR to make it become a new Indiana Jones attraction. Which is ironic given that DINOSOAUR is a retread of the much, much better Countdown to Extincion attraction that used to be there. The Indy ride will have a bit of a head start because DINOSAUR uses the same vehicles that are used in the Indiana Jones Adventure ride in Disneyland...

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Lucasfilm

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Lucasfilm

No idea what in the heck these attractions have to do with animals to belong in Animal Kingdom, but here we are. Remember when Disney was focused on building immersive experiences that created entire worlds? Well that's out the window now, apparently (see: Cars Land above). At least Pandora tried to build attractions that have alien animals in it.

   
• Avengers... Assemble? I haven't been to Disneyland's Avengers Campus because the scathing reviews make it sound like there's just no reason to go. They slapped Guardians of the Galaxy all over Tower of Terror then surrounded it with crap which has impressed nobody. Apparently Disney is finally going to address that by tossing in two new "E-Ticket" attractions. The fist being Stark Flight Lab (featuring Robert Downey Jr.)...

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Marvel Studios

The second ride is Infinity Defense which will have you helping the Avengers battle Thanos in New York...

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Marvel Studios

The ride vehicles makes it look like this is a rehash of what Universal Studios did for their Spider-Man ride. Regardless, it also looks I finally may have a reason to give a shit about California Adventure again. That's nice.

   
• Coco! And speaking of California Adventure, it's also getting a new boat ride based on Coco, which will hopefully be a wash of color with fantastic animatronics and a good story as promised in the concept art...

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Pixar

Anything less would be a complete waste of everybody's time.

   
• Avatar! And yet another new attraction announced for California Adventure is something based on Avatar: Way of Water that's, surprise, another boat ride...

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Lightstorm

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Lightstorm

Copyright ©2024 by Disney

I don't know if this will be in California Adventure proper (which seems to be rapidly running out of room) or if it's part of the Disneyland Forward expansion. Either way, it will be nice to get some fresh IP in the park.

   
• Walt Disney: A Magical Life! The idea of having an animatronic Walt Disney talk to people ala the Abraham Lincoln attraction seems like a no-brainer. Apparently the issue was waiting for technology to catch up to the point where Disney was satisfied that Walt could be brought to life, and now we're here...

Copyright ©2024 by Disney

So as not to enrage fans of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, Walt Disney: A Magical Life will somehow rotate with the existing Disneyland show. I would be very interested in seeing how that's going to work. Are the show stages on motorized engines which slide them into place? Hoping that they release a behind-the-scenes documentary on Disney+ for that.

   
• Lion King Paris! Apparently Disneyland Paris is bypassing Tiana's Bayou Adventure and getting a Lion King flume ride instead...

Copyright ©2024 by Disney

Remains to be seen if they do something stupid like making the ride be some kind of unwanted sequel to the film like Tiana's Bayou Adventure or actually try to tell the story of the movie which is what everybody wants to see.

   
• Spider-Coaster Shanghai! And Shanghai Disneyland is getting a roller coaster based on Spider-Man...

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Marvel Studios

I hope they make it more exciting than the crappy Incredicoaster that they made for California Adventure. Slapping static statues on sticks around the track is just sad.

   
• Spider-Man Hong Kong! Also in Asia? What looks like a Spider-Man drop-tower ride looks like it's coming to Hong Kong Disneyland...

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Marvel Studios

I can't think of drop rides in Disney Parks with the exception of Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror in Magic Kingdom, the former inferior duplicate in California Adventure (which now has a Guardians of the Galaxy makeover, and another copy in Disneyland Paris. It will be nice to see a fresh take on the concept.

Sorry Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, nothing new for you!

   
And that's a wrap on D23 PART ONE. See you next entry!

Did you take your Mouseketeer ears off? Well put them back on, because PART TWO of a very special, all new D23 Edition of Bullet Sunday on Monday focusing on the TV and movies stuff starts... now...

   
• Agatha! Marvel's marketing for the new Agatha Harkness series has been genius. The kept changing the title, which was worrisome... like they didn't know what they were doing... but then they announce it was Agatha All Along and the joke was too good (IYKYK). And now we have a trailer...

Looks like it could be entertaining. A little sinister. Except it also looks like there's going to be a lot of time of her coven not having powers, which isn't great. One month and some change away, so I guess we'll see.

   
• Maui! I loved Moana. It was beautifully realized, was funny in the right places, had a good story, and featured amazing songs by Lin Manuel Miranda who, sadly, isn't returning for the sequel...

Still looks stunningly beautiful.

   
• IncrediSequel! Pixar's gorgeously stylized world of The Incredibles is a real joy in my life. I've watched, studied, and obsessed the two movies over and over. And now there's a third one coming...

Copyright ©2024 by Disney and Pixar

Cannot tell you how much I'm looking forward to this!

   
• More Video! Here's a run-down on all the stuff that was talked about. Think there was also something about Percy Jackson but I don't know what it is.

• Zootopia 2 - This was a good film with fully-realized world-building that was cool to watch. Apparently they took their time to get the sequel right, so I am anticipating good things.
• Frozen 3 - The sequel to Frozen, however, was a complete mess. Overly-complex and nonsensical, I couldn't believe the direction they took the story. While it was good to see the characters again, I really hated it. Hopefully the threequel will right the ship.
• Dream Productions - A spin-off from the wildly successful Inside Out movies, I'm not a huge fan of the material so this is kinda lost on me. Maybe the concept will make things interesting enough to watch, but it doesn't seem like something I'll want to watch.
• Win or Lose - I have heard nothing about Pixar's first TV series, but it's debuting December 6th, so I guess I'll find out what it's about soon.
• Elio - I love me the sci-fi and the teasers we've gotten for Elio are almost too good to be true. Except... we're not getting anything significant about the movie. At D23 we learned that Zoey Saldaña is joining the cast and a new trailer which looks phenomenal (it's been leaked though not officially released yet). This is near the top of my list of films I'm looking forward to.
• Hoppers - A young girl who can transfer her mind into a beaver? Alan Tudyk? TAKE MY MONEY!
• Toy Story 5 - I honestly thought that the franchise should have ended with Toy Story 3 because it was such a perfect end to the story. But then we got Toy Story 4 and it was fantastic, so now I'm optimistic that Pixar can pull another miracle out of their battered old hat.
• Skeleton Crew - As much as I'm mortified at the thought of a Star Wars series featuring kids... the fact that Jude law is in this kinda has me intrigued to see how it's going to go. The trailer certainly looks interesting.
• Andor: Season 2 - One of the absolute best shows to ever come out of Star Wars (heck it's better than most of the movies too), Andor was shockingly good. And we're promised that the second and final season leading right into Rogue One is even better? Sign me up.
• The Mandalorian & Grogu - I don't like the idea that Disney is milking the franchise by cutting a movie out of it (this should have been the next season of the series) but I am excited to see it. Sure, The Mandalorian has stumbled a bit, but it's still a show I love and look forward to.
• Marvel Studios - I talked about their announcements from Comic Con here.
• Ironheart - A huge part of me wonders why this series seems to keep getting buried. Now it's not debuting until frickin' September 2025?!? At least they brought Ryan Coogler out to assure everybody it's not dead (like I'm assuming Armor Wars is). But where's info about his animated Eyes of Wakanda series? When does that come out? Is it still 2024? It had to be mentioned, but I'm not seeing it talked about?
• Daredevil: Born Again When it comes to television adaptations, the Netflix Daredevil series is top-tier. Marvel Studios knew not to mess with perfection, so they are integrating the show into the MCU. And there are few things in television land that I'm looking forward to more. Especially after watching the leaked trailer, which looks like everything we could want. When the trailer is officially released I'll definitely be breaing that down.
• Avatar: Fire and Ash - =sigh= we keep being told that the third Avatar flick will be a complete departure from what's come before. And Lord, I hope so. Because right now I can appreciate the movies from a technical standpoint because the visuals are mind-blowing, but they are only mildly entertaining from a story viewpoint. The sequel was more of the same, trying to get you to care about giant blue people by injecting tragedy into their story. I'm betting Fire and Ash will be more more of the same. How many blue kids do they have left to kill off? One for each of the planned sequels, I guess.
• Freakier Friday - This was created because of "demand" from fans, but that seems a suspect claim to be making. At least they aged up the characters so they're not pretending the sequel takes place a week after the first film.
• Lilo & Stitch (Live-Action Remake) - Oh gag. The original movie is one of my favorite films of all time. The direct-to-video sequels and television show are something I've watched many times. And what makes it perfect is that the animation was this gorgeous 2D throwback that's incredible to watch. So why make a 3D live-action remake to trash it? I will talk more about this travesty as more info is released, but right now the CGI Stitch character is abhorrent, and they really need to take another pass at it or face a "Sonic the Hedgehog" situation.
• Snow White - And speaking of shitty, unnecessary remakes... this one is highly problematic, even for Disney. Because when you've got people like Peter Dinklage outright trashing the idea, shouldn't you reconsider going there? I couldn't be less interested.
• Tron: Ares - The leaked trailer throws the series into a direction which should have been obvious after the ending of Tron: Legacy, but seemed too wild to entertain. Not too sure how I feel about Jared Leto being in this... or Jeff Bridges, which should be impossible... and it's weird that Sam and Quorra are nowhere to be found given the story, so has Tron: Legacy been removed from continuity? Is this a full-on reboot of the franchise? Very confusing.
• Mufasa: The Lion King - I'm so meh on all these live-action movies of beloved animated films. There's been so few that have been worth my valuable time (I liked The Jungle Book, but that's it) so I honestly don't care about yet another one strip-mining Disney's treasures for cash.

   
And that's a wrap on D23 because I refuse to talk about Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's Monster Truck movie... because didn't somebody already make a monster truck movie that failed miserably?

Whoa! Better put those Mouseketeer ears back on! Turns out there's a surprise PART THREE of a very special, all new D23 Edition of Bullet Sunday on Tuesday focusing on the TV and movies stuff starts... now...

Yesterday afternoon when I took a minute for lunch I saw that Disney is confirming that in order to make room for Cars Frontierland, they're plowing over Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island!

I admit to being more than a little shocked. Those are staples of the "Disney park experience" in America, and I really thought that both Cars Frontierland and Villains Land would be dropped in behind Frontierland like this...

But nope! We don't know exactly how the configuation will be, but it's probably something more like this maybe...

Now, when it comes to Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, you can kinda get away with paving under Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. It's just an abstract of the West Coast original. But if Disney announced that they were paving over Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island AT DISNEYLAND?!? Disney fans would probably burn the place to the ground. That was dug out by Walt Disney Himself, by God, and nobody better touch it!

   
In Disney other news...

I skipped over some important news concerning Disney Cruise Lines. They announced four additional new ships ON TOP OF the four they have being built and the five that are in operation. That's a total of thirteen ships. That's a lot of ships. But DCL is a very popular way to cruise, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised...

My mom loved cruises, and we actually cruised with Disney once. It was a fantastic cruise... and I'm saying that as somebody who is not a big fan of them. There's many, many things that Disney does right which made the experience great by comparison.

My favorite is that even though you shift to different themed dining rooms from night to night (which is so cool), your wait staff stays the same. And it made a huge difference. I loved the pizza on the ship. One night while mom and I were at dinner, I mentioned that I wish pizza was on the menu. Not only did the wait staff say "We can do that!"... they asked me every other night if I wanted to have some pizza again. Most of the times, I took them up on it, because I'd rather have pizza than bread. By the end of the cruise, I was so spoiled by my service team that I was more than a little depressed at our last dinner together. On other ships, the servers were just there and not much else. Even if their service was fantastic, you were on to other servers next time and it was forgotten.

My second favorite thing about DCL is that they have character meet-and-greets. As a massive Mickey Mouse fan, I absolutely took advantage of the opportunity to have my photo taken with him. One night at dinner I wore my Mickey sweatshirt and Mickey went ape-shit pointing and laughing at it... pantomiming "THAT'S MEEEEE!" and then he wanted a guy at our table to take a photo of us (pay no attention to how drunk I am in this photo)...

Mom made friends with Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale, Goofy, and... PLUTO!

Yeah. It was pretty great. Like when I met him the following day and he once again freaked out that I had him on my shirt...

My mom, on the other hand, loved Donald Duck (because he was also in the Navy) and after she explained that to Donald, he ran and got her when the YMCA started playing so they could do the YMCA dance together...

Now, I'm not saying that mom didn't have fun on the other cruises we took together. She always had fun. It's what made it so fun to take trips with her. But when I say that dancing with Donald Duck was a high that lasted the entire trip... well... it did. She talked about it for years after. It didn't make the entire cruise for her. But it came close.

There are many, many other great things about cruising with Disney. The most surprising being... sure there's kids onboard, but Disney puts a lot of effort into keeping adult guests kinda separate so they're not bothered. Since you rotate with your same table and service staff to every restaurant, mom and I had the same all adult table every night. Which was great. There's also places that adults can escape where children aren't allowed. Which is also great. I don't recall ever being bothered by any kids the whole cruise.

And also the ships are beautifully appointed and unique...

And, yes, that actually is a Dale Chihuly chandelier hanging in the atrium there.

But anyway... my days of cruising are likely over. I only ever did it because mom liked it. But if I ever were to cruise again, it would probably be with Disney.

But anyway... this should be the final part to my D23 commentary. But you never know. Tomorrow Disney could announce that they are blowing up the Matterhorn and you'll have to go find those Mouseketeer ears once again.

So... what has been going on in my life while Blogography has been in Walt Disney World for the past 18 days? Glad you asked... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• EIGHTEEN DAYS?! Yeah, with the exception of that Caturday where I put Mickey Mouse ears on my cats and that final Future Backwards entry, all of those posts were (mostly) written on the flight back home from Orlando. But they were five very, very long posts that nobody would want to read. So I chopped them up into shorter posts that nobody would want to read. You're welcome!

   
• AI Apocalypse! WAAAAAAHHH! HA HA HA! Yeah, Eddy Burback is killing it on AI. Must watch video, because it's not just funny but has some great info on the current state of the tech...

I have no objection to AI, in theory, but all too often it's based on outright theft. And if people aren't being compensated for their hard work being scraped to make (bad) AI happen, then AI shouldn't happen!

   
• Fuzzy Feelings! Congratulations to Apple on winning Best Primetime Commercial from the Creative Arts Emmys. This is a spectacular spot that is beautifully shot and executed...

If all ads were this good, I'd actually want to watch ads. Here's a quick behind-the-scenes...

So much of the ads we're inundated with are creatively bankrupt. And it's not about money because I've seen many, many great ads which have been done on the cheap. Many thanks to companies like Apple for continuing to understand that people don't want their TV programs interrupted by shit.

   
• Sacrifice. This is what righteous anger looks like (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

But the people who most need to see this... the people who profess to stand with our military... will never even bother. It's easier to build the narrative you want when truth doesn't factor into the equation.

   
• After the Fall! I'm sad that The Fall Guy movie remake wasn't a huge success, because it's such a fun movie. Would love to get a sequel that probably won't happen. If you want to see it, an extended cut of the film is currently streaming on Peacock TV.

Universal Pictures should make it just to benefit humanity.

   
• Ace! How can you not adore Serena Williams? I love how she was asked how she could not have ever drank a "Honey Deuce" in all the years she’s been at the Open and she’s like “I was playing.” If there’s a GOAT in tennis (maybe even in all sports) she is absolutely it...

I love it when god-like beings are revealed to be just like the rest of us!

   
• small. If you've been following my blog for a while, you know I'm a bit obsessed with tiny homes and small space living. Heck, I even designed a tiny home once! I don't know that I would ever actually choose to live in one unless it was my only option, but I have gotten so many great ideas from watching videos like this absolutely brilliant one right here...

That is one amazing apartment. I could absolutely live in something this beautiful and thoughtful. And speaking of small, check this out...

44 houses in the space originally meant for 9. That's incredible. And good for everybody involved.

   
• YES ITS YOU HI! This cool video is worth your valuable time to watch to the end. Brought a smile to my face after an awful day when I first saw it...

I absolutely love stories like this.

   
And now back to our regularly-scheduled non-Disney content. Probably.

Last night I was constantly checking the news for word on what Hurricane Helene is up to. I have more than a few friends in her path, and seeing it escalate to a Category 4 storm was more than a little worrisome. Heavy rains, flash flooding, surges, strong winds, and evacuation orders are bad enough. But hearing how a rural sheriff's office is telling people to “Please write your name, birthday, and important information on your arm or leg in a PERMANENT MARKER so that you can be identified and family notified” is mortifying.

I put my laptop away and went to bed after the hurricane made landfall because the stress of it all was hitting hard. And I'm not even there. I can't imagine what it's like for people in the path of the storm. All I could do was hope that people were taking the evacuation orders seriously and staying safe.

And then I woke up this morning and grabbed my phone first thing to see what is happening...

"Hurricane Helene was a dangerous Category 4 storm when it made landfall over Florida's Big Bend area late Thursday night but weakened rapidly as it raced inland early Friday and was downgraded to a tropical storm in mere hours, the National Hurricane Center said. Still, Helene was bringing a "life-threatening" storm surge, strong winds and heavy rain, the center said."

So... good news is that the hurricane is now a tropical storm.

Bad news is that this tropical storm is still going to be dangerous, and 4 million people are without power as I type this.

This is more than likely our lives from here on out. Drastic increases in ocean temperatures causing more and more dangerous weather. I remember when the USA was getting maybe one hurricane making landfall each year. Then it was two. In the Year of Our Lord 2024, we've had four. And hurricane season isn't even over yet.

Climate change is undeniable at this point. There's no denying it because you can see it with your own eyes. People can debate the cause (I, for one, have read the science and believe that we have met the enemy and he is us) but sticking our heads in the sand pretending it doesn't exist is futile. Our climate is changing, and we have to do something to live with that. Spend the money to better our infrastructure for evacuations and build shelters for when that's not possible. Provide more funding to the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration so we can learn more about the dangerous weather that is regularly forming off our Southern Coast and hopefully be able to better predict where storms will arrive so we can save lives.

In other words, we need to do is the opposite of what Project 2025 is mandating. That would be the blueprint for radically restructuring the government with policies to be enacted immediately upon a Trump victory in the presidential election. Among those policies are plans to utterly gut NOAA and NWS by having them no longer be independent to report their findings and do their research, but instead be under the direct control of the executive branch. Which is to say that the president can tell these vital, life-saving agencies what they can do and what they can say. If they'll even get to operate in the first place. Project 2025 wants the National Weather Service to charge for their forecasts or abandon weather forecasting entirely. But since they are reported to already be working with commercial organizations, who knows what that even means. Are they saying that if you want to know if your house is in the path of a hurricane, you have to pay $5 to find out? Isn't this kind of shit why we pay taxes?

Trump himself has disavowed Project 2025 because it's unpopular with just about everybody, but even a cursory look at the facts shows that he's been living it and advocating for it. And most of the people working on it are from his administration or are associated with him in some way. Which is to say that educating yourself on Project 2025 and voting accordingly would be a smart move, because the damage this plan would do is unfathomable.

As are most things to do with politics in this country.

I had a very long post written for today... woke up to read through it before posting... then deleted it. I'm trying not to go on political rants because once I start, I tend to not be able to stop myself. Suffice to say that I am sick and tired of of political parties making up lies about their opponents when there are plenty of truths that they should be calling out.

What started my rant is the never-ending claim by Republicans that women are having post-birth abortions... WHICH AREN'T EVEN A THING. And claiming otherwise vilifies and endangers women's lives. And I simply do not understand why this country hates women so much that this is where we're at.

But rather than continue down that road and end up with yet another post I'll have to delete, here's a video by a doctor I found which breaks it all down better than I ever could. Stop vilifying women for seeking care and endangering their lives with this shit (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick).

When you lie like this, this is what it leads to (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

There's a lot of things that we can "agree to disagree" on. This isn't fucking one of them.

Didn't my weekend just get started a minute ago? How is it that it's almost over? Again? Oh well, it's not like this blog is suffering along with me... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Potential! I wasn't going to tune into the new ABC show High Potential because it's a remake of a French series I've seen (called HIP: High Intellectual Potential). But then I saw Kaitlin Olson was starring, and decided it would certainly be unique enough to merit a watch, even if the stories were the same...

I like it. Same but different. And Kaitlin Olson continues to impress.

   
• Murder Bear! This year's Fat Bear Week has been a real drama-fest this year. Fat Bear 469 murdered Fat Bear 402 on camera. And apparently murder is disqualifying behavior, because Fat Bear 469 is nowhere to be found on the bracket...

On the discussion board somebody wrote "Rest in Power, Fat Bear 402," and so that's where we're at now.

   
• Talent! The number of actors passing lately has been really disheartening. Now John Amos (of SO many amazing roles in TV and movies) and Ken Page (whose iconic voice gave life to Oogie Boogie in The Nightmare Before Christmas) are gone. John Amos hit with Good Times, but my favorite roles were from Coming to America and The West Wing (where his talent was really allowed to shine)...

And Ken Page? Oh man...

Disney may have disavowed The Nightmare Before Christmas when it debuted, but they have sure been leaning into the characters hard in recent years. Not only does Oogie Boogie dominate Halloween at Disneyland with his Oogie Boogie Bash, but he was just added as a racer in Disney Speedstorm...

Rest in Peace, sirs. The characters you created will live on.

   
• So Not Weird! They need to get Haley Joel Osment on Saturday Night Live stat...

I don't know how it's possible, but he captures J.D. Vance better than J.D. Vance does.

   
• UNSUBSCRIBE!!! I love adidas footwear. Their Terrex Swift R2 Mid Gtx boots are the best pair of shoes I've ever owned. They're the only shoes that I spent money to have repaired when they wore out (twice) because I just didn't want to let them go. Eventually I purchased replacements for my beloved shoes. But instead of going through Zappos.com as I usually do, I made the huge mistake of buying them direct from Adidas. And now I get fucking emails from them EVERY DAMN DAY. How many fucking pairs of shoes do you think i need? My pair of Terrex Swift R2 Mid Gtx lasted five years (with repairs). And here's the deal... YOU CANNOT UNSUBSCRIBE BECAUSE THEIR UNSUBSCRIBE LINK DOESN'T WORK!

I abhor shit like this. I think this is actually illegal in Washington State? But here's where it gets worse. There is NO option on their website... none that I could find anyway... where you can tell them not to email you. All you can do is subscribe to more lists...

If I got an email once a month... even every-other-week, I wouldn't be phased. BUT EVERY FUCKING DAY?!? How is this anything less than harassment? Who the fuck could possibly want this?

   
• And speaking of WA! For the record? Johnny Cash was talking about Mattawa, WASHINGTON STATE IN 'MURICA... not Mattawa, Ontario in Canada... when he said he's been "everywhere."

Bet on it.

   
• THE AD LITERALLY WENT TO A PORN SITE YOU ASSHOLES!! Facebook doesn't give a single fuck about anything but money. You can report ads for linking to porn sites, but Facebook never looks at where their ads go when you click, so it doesn't matter. So long as the ad itself isn't pornographic, they don't care who sees it.

Well, I give up. Facebook closes their eyes to absolutely everything... porn, scams, abuse... they don't care so long as the money keeps rolling in.

   
And now back to the rest of my rapidly diminishing Sunday. Or what's left of it, anyways.

It's gotten to the point that I don't want to look at my news feed because it's all political bullshit and I'm just too tired to engage with any of it. After skipping past a bunch of stuff that was only guaranteed to enrage me, I stopped at a story headline I didn't understand at first... Keller ISD students with lunch debt of $25 or more to be served alternative meals, district says.

Now, I'm sure that a lot of people would read this story and say "Oh... well it's not like they're letting kids starve, so that's okay! If the freeloader kids don't like what they're being served and can't pay for a full meal like everybody else, they can just starve then!"

But, yeah, I am definitely not one of those people.

Some kid who was born into poverty is going to be even more stigmatized by his peers because he's getting a fucking sandwich instead of a proper meal. And, as God is my witness, I will NEVER understand how Good "Christian" People™ can claim to give a shit about children when they are thrilled to abandon them the minute they leave the womb.

This is fucking disgusting.

Instead of having my taxes go to fucking billionaires who get all the breaks and have all the loopholes to avoid paying a fucking dollar into the infrastructure that they directly benefit from, give my contribution to hungry kids.

Fuck EVERYBODY involved in this reprehensible system who thinks that this is okay.

I'd advocate for a Go-Fund-Me to pick up the slack that this community isn't willing to subsidize... but it's just like these kind of assholes to spend it on a new football field or some such stupid shit instead of writing off children's lunch debt as the money was intended for.

Crap like this makes me as mad as I have ever been. These are KIDS! Do you think they are in any way responsible for their situation? At least try to help them have a fucking childhood before they get beat down by a society who happily vilifies and attacks the poor.

It amazes me that people can be made aware of something atrocious like this in the Year of Our Lord 2024 and say "Fuck those hungry kids!" Because this is precisely what that is.

I didn't sleep at all last night. I'd try... but then found myself grabbing my phone to see what havoc Hurricane Milton was unleashing on friends I have in Western and Central Florida (where I have many friends, because I used to have work in Orlando).

But what was once a Category 5 Hurricane was downgraded to a Category 4 Hurricane then was downgraded yet again to a Category 3 Hurricane once it made landfall. Apparently it plummeted to a Category 1 by the time it made it to Orlando. Which is not to say that everything is peachy, it's just that it's a lot less worse than it could have been. Definitely less worse than it was projected to be.

So today I got up texting with friends. Those who left Florida are returning. Those who stayed are picking up the pieces. Some were okay but without power. Some were without power and had flooded streets. Others were relatively untouched, and just had to gather up debris.

Florida was very, very lucky.

But not entirely.

Because the entire time after Milton was first announced as having been formed, I had to read the most inane fucking bullshit on social media sites from the tinfoil hat brigade that I've ever seen. Most of it having to do with "The Gubermint" using "Weather Control" to "Create Hurricanes to Attack Red States Ahead of the Election just like they did in North Carolina!"

Jesus Christ.

It's like... come on. These same people don't think Climate Change is real because "man isn't enough of a force to affect the weather" and yet they think President Biden has a weather control device in The White House basement? Or is it the Jews? It's on the same satellite as their giant space laser maybe.

And of course logic goes right out the fucking window.

If this technology existed and presidents have access to it... you just fucking know that President Trump would have used it. He masturbates to the idea of taking revenge on his enemies and couldn't help but use that tech if it existed. And if it was only just now developed (while at the same time having existing for decades... DO YOUR RESURCH!) and Biden is the first president in history to have control of it... why the fuck would he aim a hurricane at the biggest Democrat-held regions of Florida? Tampa, Orlando, and even WOKE DISNEY WORLD were his targets? That's huge Democrat territory! Huge!

And it's always these dipshits throwing out stuff that they don't even understand like CLOUD SEEDING! and HAARP! and 5G! and RADIO WAVES!

Cloud seeding is my favorite conspiracy theory, because it's a "technology" that we're not even sure actually works and, even if it did work, it's just not possible to use it at the scale that would be required. As explained in this post...

From Meteorologist Nick Lilja — October 8 @ 8:25am
   
Building on my previous post, it's important to recognize the difference between cloud seeding and full-scale climate manipulation.
   
In my last post, I discussed the manipulation of air parcels and the atmosphere as a whole. It simply can't be done because the energy and work (the physics version of "work," not human effort) required to manipulate the air over something as small as a pot of boiling water is already quite large. Scaling that up to the entire atmosphere is, frankly, not possible, especially when considering other energy factors like solar and oceanic energy, which far exceed anything humans could contribute.
   
So, attempting to steer or manipulate a storm or hurricane in any particular direction is impossible.
   
For those suggesting I "Google" cloud seeding, I want to assure you that no one gets through an Earth Science degree or a 15-year career as a meteorologist without encountering such topics. I've read scientific papers and scholarly articles on the subject—no need for Google.
   
Does cloud seeding happen? Yes.
   
Does it work? We can't know.
   
Here's an example to explain why:
   
A typical cloud might be 2 miles wide and 25,000 feet tall. Some quick math shows that it contains about 2,189,564,415,845.94 cubic feet of air. That’s two trillion, one hundred eighty-nine billion, five hundred sixty-four million, four hundred fifteen thousand, eight hundred forty-five point nine four cubic feet.
   
Most cloud seeding is done by small airplanes. But let’s think big and use a C-130 cargo plane. A C-130 has about 5,000 cubic feet of potential payload space. That payload is only 0.00000025% of the volume of that cumulus cloud.
   
Could the C-130’s payload help a single cloud grow slightly taller for a brief period? Perhaps. But we can’t measure the difference it makes because there is no "control" cloud to compare it against.
   
Sure, it has rained from cloud-seeded clouds before. So let’s assume the cloud only rained because it was seeded. Great, you've nucleated some water vapor around the seeded material. Now you have raindrops forming around those particles.
   
Once the raindrops fall out of the cloud, they take all the seeding material with them. Then what? Do you seed again? And again? And again? Given the size and scope of this process, you can see how entropy (as discussed in my previous post) becomes a massive factor. It takes a lot of work to bring order to this chaos.
   
And even with all that effort, we still can't effectively measure the impact.
   
Furthermore, seeding a single cloud is vastly different from trying to seed an entire hurricane. As I mentioned previously, a typical hurricane contains around 78,824,318,970,453,922.64 cubic feet of air. That’s seventy-eight quadrillion, eight hundred twenty-four trillion, three hundred eighteen billion, nine hundred seventy million, four hundred fifty-three thousand, nine hundred twenty-two point six four cubic feet.
   
Now, the payload of that same C-130 represents about 0.0000000000025% of the volume of the hurricane.
   
For context, salt makes up about 3.5% of seawater, sodium about 0.2% of soft water, and chlorine about 0.003% of pool water.
   
A C-130’s cloud-seeding payload represents 0.0000000000025% of the water vapor in a hurricane.
   
Even if cloud seeding were attempted, given the raindrop formation processes in a hurricane (have you ever noticed how much smaller raindrops are in tropical systems?), the effort would be washed out almost immediately.
   
And I'm left asking, "then what?", again.
   
None of this is a feasible solution to an end goal of some sort of control and manipulation of our atmosphere. It simply can't be done with any sort of measurable outcome - good, bad, or otherwise.

But don't go trying to foolishly explain any of this shit to the people throwing out all this stupid bullshit (like infinitely dim Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene who, yet again, has me wondering how she has enough brain power to keep breathing, let alone compose a tweet).

The simple fact is that simple people don't give a shit about truth or facts. All they want is to bite into absolutely anything which fits their ignorant narrative. And then repeat it without any proof or evidence so they can look "smart" (if that's what you want to call it). And if something challenges their views strongly enough they will never concede the point... they'll just move on to the next idiotic talking point they can find (or dream up).

I never take anything off the table. It's always possible that some technology or some new science has been developed that is so incredibly complex and unfathomable that it might as well be magic (because ALIENS!). So could there be some magical technology out there that can control the weather? Sure. But is this weather control drama some massive enterprise with hundreds of people involved who are all able to keep it a secret? That really is nuts. Two people can only truly keep a secret if one of them is dead. But hundreds?!?

And let's be real, if Biden did have access to weather control tech that could create massive hurricanes, and he was willing to use it against American citizens... Mar-A-Lago would be the first target. And needless to say the droughts in The Great Liberal State of California would be a thing of the past.

Come on comspiracy theorists... at least put a little thought into the crazy shit you're peddling.

I used to go to Orlando 3 or 4 times a year for work, so it was inevitable that I would get caught in a hurricane at some point. And I did twice. Although since Orlando is so far inland, a hurricane there is not the same as it is when you're on the coast. It's heavy rains and strong winds while life goes on (mostly) as usual.

Except when it doesn't.

Your flight might get delayed or canceled (but that's always a possibility... hurricane or no hurricane). Maybe places will close early because they know people likely won't be wanting to go out in the weather. Or maybe plans will have to be changed for one reason or another. But it's rarely something serious.

Except when it is.

For one of the hurricanes I was in town, Walt Disney World actually closed. Which almost never happens because Disney loves money, and shuttering the parks for even a day costs them millions. This past Thursday when Hurricane Milton was battering Florida, I thought to look at the Disney app (which is still on my phone) only to see this...

Walt Disney World is open 365 days a year, so seeing everything closed tells you how serious they were viewing the situation. A quick Google search reveals that Walt Disney World has only been closed 11 times since they opened in 1971, which really drives it home.

You'd think that people would appreciate how Disney is willing to shut down to keep people safe when things get serious, but not everybody feels that way. Some people were livid that Disney would dare ruin their vacation by closing. Never mind that a potentially deadly hurricane was poised to tear through the place, WHAT ABOUT MEEEEE?!?

The parks were open the following day (Friday) and no worse for wear, so all those people griping about their "ruined" vacation only lost one day.

When it comes to Milton, it's a miracle that things weren't much worse than they were. They were certainly projected to be. I was seriously wondering if Disney World was going to be trashed or at least seriously damaged. But it wasn't, and Mickey Mouse lives to take our money another day.

I'm home again and the bullets are flying... because a very special all new all Montana Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Roadside Attractions! Whenever I travel (and especially when I am traveling through rural areas of the USA) I always consult with Roadside America to see what cool, interesting, or crazy stuff might be around. I'm especially into the oddities that get reported, but the more traditional attractions are nifty too. The South Missoula, Montana region I was in didn't have a lot of listings, but there were a few. The first being The Squashed Cat concrete sculpture which sits outside a parking garage in Missoula proper...

Next up was the Giant Silver Slipper...

And lastly there was Cowgirl in a Beer Mug...

Roadside America never disappoints. I took a pass on the Wall of Elk Heads and the Doll Museum.

   
• Hands-Not-Free Driving! The rental car I got was a new Chevy Malibu. It had some features I really wish I had on my old piece of shit car (backup cameras, for one), some features I hated (the braking system is abhorrent, and I never felt truly in control of the car), and some features I am on the fence about. The biggest being something called "Lane Assist." There are cameras that can see the lane boundaries, and if the car thinks you are getting too close to one side or the other, it will nudge your wheel in the opposite direction. At first I was confused because I had no idea this was a feature... but it didn't take long before I understood what was going on. It's kinda cool in many respects, but when I tested it? Not so much. I let go of the wheel as I was approaching a corner with no other cars present. The car dutifully drifted back to the center of the lane. But then continued to drift until it went over the center line. The next time I tried it, the car started ping-ponging around the lane a bit. But here's the real problem... when they repair roads with tar, it's shiny for a while. When the light hits it just right, it appears white. The Lane Assist sees this as a lane border, gets all confused, then kinda freaks out. So... while this is a nifty feature in theory, I think that I'd opt to turn it off because it proved to be more annoying than anything else.

   
• WARNING! There is one more "feature" in the Chevy Malibu that I found stupid as hell. When I was testing the "Lane Asisst" I took my hands off the wheel, but was still very much ready to take over if something went wrong (and had to more than once!). But the car took my non-driving to be an indication that I wasn't paying attention and was texting on my phone or something. Because this is the message it displayed on the center console...

And it's like... I was focused on driving. UNTIL I HAD TO READ THIS MESSAGE! What the fuck? The car takes your attention away from driving to tell you to focus your attention on driving? Who thought this was a good idea? The car also offered a helpful suggestion on the main console...

Yeah, buddy. I'll get right on that.

   
• It's Big! Montana's nickname is Big Sky Country, and you see it everywhere... even when you were near mountains like I was...

BUT ZOMFG! THE CONTRAILS! LOOK AT THE CONTRAILS! THE GUBERMINT IS OUT TO KILL US AND CONTROL THE WEATHER WITH PLANES DUMPING CHEMICAL CONTRAILS! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! Or it's just frozen water vapor that is released in the exhaust when jet fuel is burned. Maybe it's just that.

   
• And speaking of the gubermint trying to kill us! I have long believed that Montana must be one of the reddest states in the country. When I looked into it, I was very wrong. They don't even crack the top ten. Don't get me wrong... they're still pretty red because they clock in at #16 on the list, but it's not the overwhelming slam-dunk I thought it was. Which explains why there are a lot of campaign posters out. And some of them are just so bizarre as to lapse into crazy territory. One that I saw that had me mentally checking out. I was leaving Target and a guy was sitting in a lawn chair after a long line of Trump posters... one of which said "STOP THE LIBS FROM KILLING MONTANA'S CHILDREN!" And I was like "Whoa! Did Biden ride through town on a horse with a shotgun and start shooting every child he sees? I must have missed that in the news." Naturally, I'm assuming that this had to do with abortion, but some of this shit is so insane that I am never 100% sure. All I do know is that most of the talking points against abortion are such outlandish lies that I can't take the arguments seriously... even though my own faith believes all life is precious and abortion isn't really on the table except in cases where other life will be lost or compromised. And yet... this IS still fucking America, so my personal beliefs don't get to dictate what other fucking people do. That comes from believing in the freedom American's have to choose their own faith. Or no faith. But I guess some people don't give a shit about liberty unless everybody believes the exact same they do, and that's also America. Unfortunately.

   
• Home Again! My initial plans were to meet up with a friend tomorrow and go snap photos in Glacier National Park. I have already been, but it was the middle of Summer when the crowds were insane. I thought it might be nice to walk around the parts of the park that are still open and play around with the camera on the iPhone 16 Pro. Alas my friend had something come up and couldn't make it, so I decided to change my flight and come home a couple days early. Boy have I turned into a homebody as I've gotten older! There was a time I would have just forged on ahead and went looking for adventure. Now I'd rather sit on the couch watching television with my cats. Especially as the weather turns colder!

   
And there you have it. My two days in Montana are over, and I probably won't be flying anywhere until next year, so I guess that's the extent of my travels in 2024. At least that's what my cats are probably hoping.

I fucking detest career politicians.

As I looked down my ballot I decided that anybody with more than two terms in office wasn't getting my vote and I just don't give a shit. If the alternative candidate was too awful to consider (and they all were), I made a write-in vote with a qualifying officer from The League of Women Voters.

In my head, that should be the maximum. Two terms. Anything longer and the only thing that most of our asshole "public servants" become focused on is maintaining the money and power that their position has given them. It's not focusing on the people they are supposed to be working for... it's re-election.

And I am done.

The only way we're going to get politicians who really serve the people is to make it so that government positions are actually designed to be a call to serve.

And not the overpaid, neverending gravy train that they are now.

Poll after poll after fucking poll has revealed that Americans want term limits. But the people who decide how many terms can be held are the politicians who benefit from them being unlimited, so guess what we get?

Not the will of the people, that's for fucking sure.

I will never understand why the office of The President of the United States of America is limited to two terms when Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell can park their asses in office for an eternity as US Senators to clean up with cash from the Big Pharma lobby for voting against American citizens, generally, and Washington citizens, specifically, to get paid.

Without term limits, we are held hostage by our politicians and judges. And we forever will be so long as they get to be the ones who decide that it's going to be that way.

Politics have this country so divided that we're more interested in making sure our side wins at any cost than to be sure that the people on our side are still on our side.

So I'm not playing that game this time.

I may have finally turned the heat on to make my cats happy, but never fear, I still have money left to blog... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Bread! Yesterday I baked a loaf of bread for a neighbor, but since my oven is broke I had to make it one of those flat loaves and bake it in my toaster over. It turns out pretty great, all things considered. But then all I could think of was freshly-baked bread, so I checked to see if my starter was good to go, and...

Bread for me today. Except I actually made rolls, because I figured it would be easier to make sliders or little sandwiches that way. =sigh= I sure hope that there's some really good deals on ovens for Black Friday... or, more likely, for President's Day. I want to be able to bake stuff again.

   
• Winner Winner! My favorite game show is Pyramid (which started as The $10,000 Pyramid). I remember watching it with my mom when I was a kid, though I think by then it was The $25,000 Pyramid

What's surprising to me is that even though you know all of these runs are winning runs, it's still stressful! There's some great players on here. Noticeably missing is Rachel Dratch, who is spooky-good at the game...

I kinda wish there was a way to play that game for everyday people. I mean, sure, they've made home versions over the years, but it's not the same experience as pairing up with a celebrity on a show stage with an audience and playing. Guess I'll just have to apply one day or something.

   
• And Speaking of Game Shows... There's loads of game shows out of the UK that I obsess over. The two most notable being Taskmaster and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. Absolutely nobody does game shows like the Brits when they are celebrity competitions. Nobody. Since there's no real contestants and just famous people having a laugh, it gets absolutely bonkers, and is so much fun to watch. Take for example...

I don't know why we don't do more of this kind of thing on our side of the pond.

   
• Early Days! Somebody shared this video of gymnast Ian Gunther asking other gymnasts he's performing with to sign a photo for him... but it's not a current photo, it's a photo of them when they were young...

The reactions are priceless. I love stuff like this.

   
• Stranger Things! Doctor Strange: The Multiverse of Madness grossed nearly a billion dollars worldwide and had a brilliant teaser for a sequel when Clea showed up in the post-credits scene. But the most exciting part? Somehow they got frickin' Charlize Theron to play Clea!

So where is Doctor Strange 3 on the development slate? We keep hearing about new Avengers movies, new Spider-Man movies and the like... but no sequel to a near-billion dollar film that people are dying to see? Is Kevin Feige still in charge at Marvel Studios? What's going on there?

   
• And speaking of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Doctor Strage... You can't put this much thought into super-hero movies...

Wanda was done pretty dirty. I mean, yeah, I get it... kinda compelling to have an innocent hero get corrupted in a way that makes them become a villain. And Wanda did turning to The Darkhold would only speed up that process. But come on! The Scarlet Witch has been abused to death in the MCU, and it's beyond bizarre that they don't seem to be interested in redemption for the character. I keep hoping that this will be rectified... maybe it will happen in the Vision Quest mini-series... but the longer they wait the more it seems like nobody cares.

   
• NEWS: A Pregnant Teenager Died After Trying to Get Care in Three Visits to Texas Emergency Rooms! So much blood on these asshole's hands, and yet NONE OF THEIR SUPPORTERS GIVE A SHIT! This country hates women. HATES them. Their only purpose is breeding stock to make more labor and more cult members. Other than that? Oh it's always "Oh well" and moving on to more death.

As I'm typing this, somebody on Facebook just commented "...if women die because of a problem with the baby, that's God's will." And I am like, if absolutely everything that happens is God's will and He's an all-powerful being Who can make anything a reality, then why didn't God just design it so that terminating a pregnancy for any reason results in immediate death? If He's God, then He could absolutely have designed it to work that way, right? — Then the conversation spiraled into "the devil" and "temptation" and "God's wrath" and every other bullshit thing you can think of from a person with no critical thinking skills who hasn't studied the Bible even a little bit. I am so fucking tired of this shit.

   
And now back to my toasty 72° homestead.

If Harris won, Trump supporters would have been in disbelief because everything they saw convinced them the presidency was a lock. Trump won, and now Harris supporters are in disbelief because everything they saw convinced them the presidency was a lock. Most of us live in a confirmation bias bubble which tells us what we want to be told. And when reality unfolds otherwise... well... hopes are going to be dashed over expectations not being met.

Alas, reality is my bubble, and I didn't have expectations one way or the other. I knew the race was a dead heat, and the only thing I was certain of was that polls don't mean shit and it was anybody's ballgame.

So while I'm not shocked at the results, I can't help but be disappointed.

Not just because Trump is too fucking old and mentally unfit to be president (just as Biden was), but because his campaign message mostly consisted of calling people stupid and being generally awful. That's what passes for political discourse now? That's really what we want as president?

I guess so, because the American people have spoken.

And the consequences here could be pretty dire if you're anything other than a straight, white, healthy, wealthy, Christian man.

If you're not a man, you have to worry if a full abortion ban is in the cards. This means that not only will rapists get to choose the mother of their children and young girls and women who are pregnant from rape will be forced to carry to term, but that it's increasingly dangerous to get pregnant period. Because if something goes wrong, your chances of dying are much higher if you can't get the care you need when medical professionals are too terrified of being imprisoned to do what they need to do to save your life. That's already been happening since Roe V. Wade was overturned. Trump has said he won't push for a national abortion ban, and I hope that's true, but it seems like it's going to be easier than ever to get state legislation passed.

If you're not a Christian, you have to worry if Christian Nationalism is going to escalate to a point where it's dangerous to practice your faith in a country where you're supposed to have freedom of religion. Our country was founded on the idea that Church and State would be separate. But that hasn't been true in a while, and it's been made very clear that the Christian faith is the only faith that's going to be recognized by the administration. The trickle-down from that should worry everybody including Christians because we don't know what "brand" of Christianity is going to be calling the shots. JD Vance, for example, is a Catholic convert who is intent on forcing Opus Dei Catholic values on Americans. And while Trump can deny ties to Project 2025 all he wants, make no mistake, that's going to be his administration blueprint because too many people tied to it are tied to Trump. And Project 2025 is the blueprint for a Christian Nationalism that's very different from what the average Christian might think.

If you're not wealthy, you have to worry if the tax burden will continue to shift away from millionaires and billionaires onto the backs of the middle and lower classes. Trump has made promises that the wealthy will pay less of their fair share than they already do, so the money has to come from somewhere. And you also worry whether you'll ever be able to retire since Social Security, Medicare, and essential services for the aging could end up gutted. And that's not even touching on these massive tariff increases Trump has promised, which will inevitably end up being put back on Americans... making everything more expensive than it already is. Which will just be extending a trend for consumers, since American corporations are already experiencing record profits thanks to price gouging. It will be interesting to see if Trump will actually do anything about it as he's promised to do. Could be that it's too late to do anything because consolidation into monopolies has progressed too far.

If you're not healthy, you have to worry if health care will even be available to you. Pre-existing conditions, affordable insurance, government-sponsored research, and Federal assistance could all be shuttered if the Affordable Care Act is dismantled. And the nightmare scenario of having an anti-science, anti-vax, anti-doctor politician like RFK in charge of the nation's health agencies could be a blow to health care from which it could take decades to recover. Of all areas to worry about, this could be the most dangerous. People forget (or choose to deny) just how many people died from that initial COVID wave because the White House didn't have a plan for a pandemic response and fully ignore the plan that was left to them. Another event like this could have horrific consequences now that we will be even less prepared. How Americans have been convinced to paint "science" as some kind of evil entity that should be destroyed boggles my mind. I guess we're well on our way to once eradicated diseases like polio to make a comeback.

If you're not white, you have to worry if you're going to be on the receiving end of an even larger share of the violence and inequity than society seems all too anxious to force on you in a country which was designed to be a melting pot of peoples and ideals. Doesn't matter if you're an American citizen or not... if you don't look "MAGA American" or you don't act "MAGA American" or you don't think "MAGA American" you're at risk of becoming a target of political policies. Though even if you are white, our president has made it very clear that anybody defying him will be targeted. Rival politicians, journalists, and anybody not onboard the MAGA Train is seen as a threat worthy of retribution and persecution, and that's going to be regardless of skin color. So at least there's something that will be based on racial equality to come out of the administration? I dunno. What I do know is that if these mass deportations happen, we're going to be in quite a pickle. Who is going to harvest crops and build stuff and do the tough jobs that most American citizens don't (or won't) do? I guess we'll find out. Maybe it will be robots.

And if you're not straight, well... what isn't on the table to worry about? A government backed by the Supreme Court means that marriage could be threatened. Equality and anti-discrimination protections could be threatened. Access to health care and social services could be threatened. It goes on and on and on. These marginalized persons have been ruthlessly attacked on the campaign trail with lies and vitriol, and the election has sent a very clear message to the LGBTQ+ community: We're going to do everything we can to relegate you to second-class citizen status and strip away anything that benefits you. And it's more than a little heartbreaking to think that this will make a toxic society even more aggressive when it comes to my LGBTQ+ friends and co-workers who are doing nothing but trying their best to play the hand they were dealt in life.

   
So, yeah, I am choosing to hope for the best, but it's tough not to be pessimistic when Trump will likely do exactly what he's said he'll do. I wasn't spitballing fantasy scenarios in this entry... he's showed us exactly who he is, let us know in no uncertain terms what he's about, and promises were made. So you have to be preparing yourself for the worst case scenario if you don't fit in the "MAGA American" mold despite being 100% American.

This will undoubtedly include a lot of Trump supporters who don't realize this means them.

So I guess we'll see what unfolds over the next four years. Could it be that a lot of people are worrying about nothing?

Anything is possible.

Alas, it's just not very probable in this case.

   
In the absence of action there is indifference. Even if people pretend otherwise.

And pretend they do.

Winter is finally here because there was a dusting of snow on the ground when I woke up this morning, but I can't be out rolling around in it... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Betty Gets Stamped! Betty White is getting her own postage stamp in 2025!

I'm happy that they used a photo of her when she was older since that's how most people would recognize her. But they could have done a set of four with Betty through the ages since her career has been so long and varied... just sayin'.

   
• Happy! I want so badly to see Piece By Piece but the price to buy it is still the in-theater price of $25... so I guess I'm waiting a minute. But, come on, doesn't this Pharrell Williams doc look incredible? Genius, really...

If there's one thing I'm certain of, it's that we need more LEGO documentaries like this.

   
• On The Bayou! Walt Disney World's Splash Mountain has been re-themed into Tiana's Bayou Adventure for a while now, and at last Disneyland's has been transformed as well...

As I said when I took a look at Orlando's ride, I think this was a bit of a missed opportunity in that they should have told the story of the film Princess and the Frog, but they didn't. So that means beloved characters like Ray (not to mention one of Disney's best villains, Dr. Facilier) are missing. That's a darn shame.

   
• Bug Reports! I've lost count of the number of times that I've reported a bug to Apple that they never address. Whenever you receive an email with a meeting link and click "ACCEPT" to let the sender know that you'll be there, the message is immediately deleted. And, no, it's not because Apple Mail adds it to your calendar with the meeting link. It's because Apple Mail IS A BRAIN-DEAD PILE OF SHIT AND NOBODY AT APPLE GIVES A FUCK!

It is absolutely abhorrent how Apple never seems to care about people trying to do actual work with their stupid shit. I have been reporting this same bug for fucking years now.

   
• Cheap Danger! You should probably watch this video. It's a sign of what's going to be coming in other industries. Corporations raking in BILLIONS of dollars yet refusing to pay anything to keep workers and customers safe, because there's no repercussions. And now there will be even less, because the next administration has made it very clear that they're going to continue to put corporations over people...

This is going to cost lives. Not even a question.

   
• Justice! NEWSFLASH: American livestreamer indicted in South Korea over offensive antics. Oh noes. I sure hope that nothing happens to him while he's doing time for being one of the worst people on the face of the fucking planet. He's been terrorizing and disrespecting people, places, and important things for what seems like forever. The number of heinous things he's done is so long that I'm shocked he hasn't been banned from all of Asia. Maybe it's forthcoming.

   
And now we return to Winter, already in progress.

There's a lot that I could say about current events.

But I think that this TikTok from Pastor Paul Drees is the closest to how I am feeling about things, so it's probably best that I just go with it instead of trying to dance around what I'd like to say... what I should probably say... or something I might immediately regret if I say...

"Health care" in these United States is utterly fucking horrendous.

You've got an entire industry whose entire point is to take money out of the system. It serves absolutely no other purpose.

If all the money that the American people paid into "health" insurance only for insurance companies to FUCK THEM OVER was instead put into actual health care, we'd be paying less for far, far more.

I had to go nearly three fucking weeks without medication prescribed by my doctor because my "health" insurance company wouldn't fill it without "prior approval." And it's like... my doctor says that I require it. That's all the fucking approval you fucking need. But no. They had to deny the prescription. Then my doctor had to send in paperwork asking for approval. Then the insurance company had to process shit while I waited. Then I'm guessing the CEO of the insurance company had to fly to St. Barts on their private jet for a week to consider if, in fact, they would allow me to have what my doctor says I need. THEN they decided to allow the prescription to be filled.

Two days after my medication was finally in my hands, I got a letter telling me how "pleased" my "health" insurance company was to approve my prescription request.

For the love of God I don't understand how Americans have been continuously conned into thinking that this is the way health care should work. Forget one greedy fuck at a fucking insurance company... the entire country should be in goddamn flames over this bullshit.

And perhaps one day it will be.

As I mentioned yesterday, a few flat earthers who were not afraid to risk being proven wrong were flown to Antarctica so they could see that the sun doesn't set but instead circles around you. After two days of the sun going around them, they were indeed proven wrong.

To the shock of absolutely nobody with an analytical thought in their head...

But, hey. Even if you don't trust those globist shills, you can totally trust me! I experienced polar day first-hand. Of course I wasn't as close to the South Pole as the team is, so the sun was lower on the horizon for me than it was for them... but I was in Antarctica and I did see the sun circle around me without fully setting. So, yeah. Welcome to nighttime in the Antarctic Circle (which is even more amazing when there's clouds out like this...

Photo by ME... TAKEN IN ANTARCTICA!

The views in Antarctica are incredible.

Though they're even prettier when the sky is clear...

Photo by ME... TAKEN IN ANTARCTICA!

There's one flerfer who said that the team wouldn't even be able to get to Antarctica because people with guns would stop them and keep them from approaching. To what end? No fucking clue. But they got called from Antarctica by MCToon to hilarious effect...

And... I'm dead.

But of course the diehard flerfers lose their dipshit cult following if they admit that all possible evidence tells us the earth is a globe, so now they're all coming up with every wacky excuse they can think of to explain why what people see is not what's really happening.

Christ.

I'd probably feel better about this shit if people could just admit that they don't know how anything works and are too lazy to learn about it. But nope! You've got a subset of humanity that would rather twist logic in a pretzel than admit they're just being ignorant.

Though the whole "flat earth" deal needs a hell of a lot more than a pretzel given how insane it is.