Snow at last. Snow at last. I still think we're going to be in the middle of a drought come Summer, but on Friday there was finally snow. Quite a lot of it actually. But don't you worry about me... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Nowalla, Part Deux! Remember location-sharing apps from back in the day? The primary players were FourSquare and Gowalla. My hands-down favorite was Gowalla, which made exploring fun and had stamps you could collect. I was such a fan, that I bought my own Gowalla stamp for Blogography HQ...

Then one day Gowalla shut down after being acquired by Facebook (I'm positive that Facebook bought it just to kill it because they didn't want any competition for their "check-ins"). All the stamps I collected, all the places I logged, all the travels I shared, all the objects I found, all the spots I founded... not to mention my custom stamp... were gone. We were promised that we'd be able to download our data, but it never happened. I'm still a bit raw over it. Then it was announced that Gowalla would be relaunching back in 2021. I somehow missed that the new app was released in 2023. At which point it immediately ceased development. When I found it last week, I downloaded it just to see what it was like. And it was shit. All the charm was gone. And of course none of the stamps or any other stuff from the original was still there. It just lets you share your location with friends in a boring way... like Facebook... and they shouldn't have even bothered.

   
• Lil'! Just the internet doin' it's internet thing. And right now the internet is obsessing over Lil' Finder Guy. He briefly appeared in Apple marketing for their new MacBook Neo...

Now he's been modeled and is popping up everywhere...

From Basic Apple Guy

He's based on the Apple Finder logo which Apple appears to be playing with...

Apple marketing is waking up, it would appear.

   
• New! And speaking of Apple's MacBook Neo, the reviews are starting to hit and it's more impressive than I thought it would be. I selected this one to share, because it nicely puts things in perspective...

Nice! But not shocking. The A-series chip in an iPhone is very capable. I just wasn't expecting it to be this capable in a laptop. It's marketed to people who want to do simple things and have no need for the power of a MacBook Pro. But apparently you can still use it for Pro things.

   
• Human Clay! I had seen the story that Aardman, the company behind some of my favorite animation, was in danger of shutting down because the company making the clay they use was being shut down. It was nowhere nearly so dramatic, which I found out from this video I saw last night. Still, it's interesting...

If nothing else, I'm a little encouraged that this video dispells the idea that Aardman is going to give up on hand-hewn clay to tell their stories and start using 3D modeling instead.

   
• Crumbley! My undying love for Zoey Deschanel cannot be overstated. I thought I was alone in finding Crumbl cookies do not even remotely live up to the hype. Most times I find them to be a lump of sugar that are underbaked. Other times I enjoy the topping more than the cookie underneath...

I've had one cookie I enjoyed from Crumbl, and it was no more special than other bakery cookies I've had. It was essentially a soft version of a big OREO cookie with OREO crumbs on top.

   
• No Love Like Christian Hate! This is absolutely fucking outrageous...

If you're going to imply that Mayor Zohran Mamdani had something to do with 9/11 and call him an "enemy" because of his faith, then are you also going to tie every atrocity committed by Christians to every Christian in this country? All the shootings and bombings by self-professed Christians means that Christians are "the enemy within the gates?" It shouldn't be a surprise that Tommy Tuberville is dropping stupid racist shit like this. That's all he does. And he can't comprehend what "freedom of religion" means in the "land of the free" so ignorant dipshit bigoted crap and lies are all you get. And lest we forget that his "Tommy Tuberville Foundation" gave less than 18% of the money it took in to actual charity. So even if he wasn't already douchebag, he'd still be a piece of shit. Just look into how he treats our military veterans. How he treats any American who isn't Tommy Tuberville. This is the guy who calls Democrats "a satanic cult," but his every action just proves where true evil is, and it looks him in the mirror every morning. Tommy proudly processes to be a member of The Church of Christ, but is one of the lease Christ-like people on the planet. I have Muslim friends who are worth a hundred of him. A thousand of him. It's not hard when they're being compared to inhuman garbage.

   
• I'm a Meme! This is a better story than it has a right to be...

Fate, sometimes, has other plans.

   
• Aeon! One of the most amazing apps I use on a regular basis is Aeon Timeline. It's mainly a writing tool, but I started using it to outline projects at work and it's a complete and total game-changer. Of course if you are a writer, it is a godsend. I haven't found an easier way to organize my thoughts for events in time... no matter what they may be.

If you need to work with timelines for whatever reason, it's worth a look.

   
Since the snow hasn't all melted yet, I'm going to be cowering in my home all day. If I get ambitious, I might clean my house and wash clothes.

I may be fucked up because the fucking clocks were fucking changed again, which is fucking rough because I'm hard at work on this fine Sunday, but don't worry about bullets... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• For the Love of God, Make the Stupid STOP! Look, more people want us to go on permanent Daylight Saving Time than don't. Some of us are so fucking desperate to stop dicking around with the clocks that we're even considering permanent Standard Time (which is not a better option, but it is the only one you can make happen without getting the fucking dumbasses in Congress to ACTUALLY FUCKING DO SOMETHING). This is all so stupid. Just do it. Just make Daylight Time permanent and fucking MOVE ON FROM THIS BULLSHIT.

   
• Nacho! One of my favorite chefs is Saúl Montiel, who appears on Epicurious often. He's entertaining and a genius in the kitchen. Even when he's cooking with meat, I learn new things that I can then adapt into a vegetarian recipes. Yesterday I found that he recently made Perfect Nachos that are vegetarian from the jump. They look incredible...

Damn that looks delicious. No clump of stuff dumped on top of the chips, and when you grab one chip you don't take the entire plate of cheese as you would with cheddar. My next grocery order is going to include the ingredients for this bad boy. Best cooking tip you'll ever get from me... go to the Epicurious page and search "Saúl Montiel" to get more awesome tips than you can shake a spatula at.

   
• YOU FOLD IT IN! After Catherine O'Hara's passing, I'm seeing a non-stop parade of clips with her in them. But this is the first time I've seen her in LEGO. It's one of her most classic scenes...

Oh how I miss Schitt's Creek.

   
• Libarry! Every time I see the Obama Presidential Library in the news, I wonder what in the hell they were thinking...

I detest this design. It looks like a brutalist nightmare... lacking warmth, beauty, elegance, or architectural fluidity. It could have been so much more. I often wonder what type of statement these oppressive-looking monuments are supposed to be making. Whatever it is, this one feels opposite of the presidency it is supposed to be representing.

   
• Lanterns! It's interesting how James Gunn is trying his best to differentiate all the DC projects so they're not merging into sameness. And while I can't say that the concept for a cosmic-spanning character like Green Lantern to be trapped in a distinctly earth-bound scenario, I do appreciate that Lanterns is striving to be something different...

And then there's the rumor that Gunn wants to bail from his contract a year early because he feels at odds with his studio's new Paramount overlords. And wouldn't it be interesting if he returned to Marvel? Seems like Paramount would do just about anything to avoid that.

   
• NEWSFLASH: LLMs can unmask pseudonymous users at scale with surprising accuracy. For better or worse, I put my name on the shit I say. My name is at the top of the sidebar of every entry on Blogography. And my real name is used on all my social media as well. And, believe me, I struggled with whether or not I wanted to go that route. In The Beginning Times, it felt like more people were using a pseudonym than their real names, but I ultimately decided to skip past that. Who cares what I say? And then I got a reader showing up where I live, and figured I may have made a mistake (the threats were also having me re-think things). But now, decades later, it turns out that staying anonymous is a thing of the past. AI can unmask you with "surprising accuracy." I wonder if this will cut down on the number of people making "anonymous" threats? One can only hope.

   
• Frod! I think I shared this years ago. I bears re-sharing....

I do the same thing... for my cats.

   
• Denial Isn't Just a River In Egypt! Every time washed up, bargain basement Hercules homophobe Kevin Sorbo opens his mouth... it's either to say something shitty. Or work in movies like Meet the Spartans so he can kiss dudes...

That's it, Sorbo, put your back into it! Such a hypocrite. Lord what a piece of shit.

   
And now I'm going back to work. Feel sad for me since my circadian rhythm is fucked.

Don't think that yet another war started by the "president of peace" and chairman of the "board of peace" who campaigned on a promise "no more wars" will send me into a rage so fucking deep that I can't blog... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Health is Overrated! There's a fuck-ton of idiocy in the news this week, but I'm going to focus on one. Wanting an anti-science, anti-vax, medical residency drop-out dipshit grifter social media influencer as your fucking Surgeon General. No big deal. Just the health of all Americans at stake. Jesus Christ.

   
• Classic Dutch: Expert spots vulnerability in Dutch national security, gets trolled with a souvenir t-shirt for his efforts. "So I notified the Dutch CERT that a Dutch ship was using a satellite router with a default password and that it was exposed to the internet. They notified me that the vulnerability was mitigated and asked for my address to send me a T-shirt. At first I was worried, but today I received the shirt."

This is epic. Dutch government +1000 points. No notes.

   
• Cuteness Overload! I'LL TAKE FIVE!!!

Though I'm not sure how the cats would react. Probably not well.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Denmark to tackle deepfakes by giving people copyright to their own features. And it's fucking absurd if everybody else doesn't follow suit. We are getting to a point where AI can render new realities. Do you want anybody to be able to use your likeness to have you doing whatever they can dream up and it looks convincing enough that people think it's really you? Kids in school are already taking their own lives because assholes are releasing deepfakes of them in horrific scenarios, and the sooner we start introducing severe penalties for abuse the better.

   
• No Freedom for You! This story appeared in my Facebook feed a couple days ago: "Trans man jumps in frigid lake & saves baby from drowning: 'I wasn’t going to let that baby die'" — Could have just said "man" but okay.

Then right after that, this story appeared: "Kansas is suspending the driver's licenses of trans people. Just abject cruelty. Nazis also revoked identity documents from trans people."

What the fuck is it about trans people merely existing that makes people become total assholes? They're just trying to live their life the best they can with the cards they were dealt, so why the endless persecution? Why in the so-called "land of the free" can't they be free to be who they are?

   
• Shitter! Oh God. I knew Twitter was awful... but I had no idea. The second half of this video is terrifying...

The death and destruction caused by bullshit and lies promoted on Twitter is cause to shut it the fuck down.

   
• Political Inaction! I am not wired to handle physical credit cards and ID cards. Despite trying real hard to keep them all in the same place, I keep losing them. Which is why I love my Apple Wallet and Apple Pay. But some cards don't work with it. Including my Driver's License... because the fucking assholes in Washington State government are looking for more ways to tax us instead of doing shit that will make our lives easier. Mississippi has digital licenses, but the state claiming to be a bastion of technology doesn't? A bill has been in legislative hell for THREE YEARS without movement. Fucking useless politicians. Especially stupid given that this is a bipartisan bill It was sponsored by both parties: Mark Mullet (D), Phil Fortunato (R), Chris Gildon (R), Marko Liias (D), Joe Nguyen (D), Jamie Pedersen (D), Claire Wilson (D). God how I fucking hate political idiocy. We've also voted to make Daylight Saving Time permanent... that's going nowhere too. JUST GET THIS SHIT DONE!

   
• When it absolutely, positively, has to be a pain in the ass! Remember when you could just call FedEx, tell them you had a package to pick up, and they would take care of it? Not any more. I spend 40 minutes trying to get a package picked up. Couldn't do it. The company that sent me the label tried for an additional half hour. Couldn't do it. It's insane. You can't even go online and do it because you have to have an account or some other stupid crap. Service has gone right out the window. I used to love FedEx... now I outright loathe dealing with their bullshit.

   
And now back to yet another war, already in progress. Ironic that our commander in chief is calling upon the Iranian people to rise up against the government when Americans can't even fucking protest the government (as guaranteed in our Constitution) without getting fucking shot.

Insomnia has been kicking my ass, but I'm not letting that stop me... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Punch-kun! I ran across the tragic story of the macaque snow monkey "Punch-kun" because I still follow Japanese news. Punch was abandoned my his mother and took comfort in an IKEA stuffed orangutan named "Djungelskog." There were numerous photos of the poor little guy doing his best to find acceptance and love from a plushie...

But then, after days on his own, he finally got a hug from one of his troop...

So that's nice. Especially after the shit-show of a week we've had.

   
• Whither Pixar? When Onward was released in 2020, it was a turning point for me when it came to Pixar. With one exception, I didn't like any of these films. And I never really understood why. I never bothered to search my feelings to understand what it was about Pixar that was turning me off. Then this morning I saw this...

And there it is. The reason there's one exception to Pixar from 2020 onward? It's because I've been to the coastal Italian towns which inspired the film Luca. I have a personal connection to the movie because I can draw on an experience that I've had. It's also why I can like a movie like Elio, but not fall in love with it.

   
• Dave Smash! I've been a big Morningstar Farms fan since becoming vegetarian decades ago. I veered away to Boca Burger for my burgers because they had superior taste and mouthfeel, but after Kraft bought them out and fucked up the recipe, I went back to Morningstar Grillers. They aren't great, and you have to know how to cook them so the texture isn't awful, but at least I'm not gagging them down. And then... Beyond Meat released Beyond Stack Burgers...

Now, I should say that Beyond does make an actual smash burger product, but they're not sold near me and aren't meant to be frozen (though you can), which means you have to eat them the day you open the package. The "stack" version always come frozen and are meant to stay frozen until used. Which means I don't have to eat them all after opening the package. But anyway... I found that I can get the Beyond Stack Burgers locally (well, 25-minutes away locally, but still). I absolutely love these burgers. A little high in sodium (260mg per patty), but not atrocious. They also cook weird, with a strange foamy residue in the pan, but the results are tasty enough when you smash them that I just don't care. As a bonus, Beyond has packaging that actually works... unlike shitty Morningstar Farms packaging which I hate, hate, hate.

   
• Thor Tells Jokes! I really want to see this standup as a special... where is Netflix when you really need them?

Hearing this makes me want to watch Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King again. It's a highly personal work which happens to be very, very funny. And touching.

   
• The Dow! The Dow! This is an absolute banger...

I couldn't even watch the hearing because Bondi is a gaping fucking asshole. Instead of using her position to serve the American people and seek justice, she's conspiring to protect child predators. She's such a massive pile of lying fucking shit that any time she speaks I see red, so I don't put myself in a position to watch. Thanks to this video, I can see the highlights in a way that doesn't make me want to hide under my bed and start screaming.

   
• SANDIWARA! Given my love of all things Michelle Yeoh, I was thrilled when a friend shared this with me...

The comments having people saying this should be a Malaysian tourism video. I cannnot disagree. This definitely makes me want to visit Penang (I've only ever been to Kuala Lumpur in the country).

   
• Finalizada! Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família... AKA the Sagrada Familia basilica, is finally nearing completion. After 144 years...

Fascinating. I've visited Sagrada Familia three times over a 20 year span. It never seemed like it was any closer to being completed. Now that we're so close, it feels like it might be time to visit Barcelona again. Not that I need an excuse... it's one of my favorite cities on earth.

   
• Sci-Fi Entertainment! This list isn't perfect, but dang if it doesn't make me want to re-watch every one of these films...

Even though I've already seen all of them more than once. Some of them many times.

   
And now back to needing more sleep.

I've said my good bye to Aaron, have returned home from Kansas City, and am more exhausted than I can process, but never you fear about bullets gone missing... because a Very Special Ace Fontana Memorial Edition of Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• It's a Cluster! I headed to Seattle on Wednesday afternoon and spent the night at the airport so I wouldn't have to stress about making my morning flight (Seattle traffic can be notorious). And all day Wednesday and very early Thursday, I was desperately trying to check in with Alaska Air, but couldn't. Worried that something was wrong, I got to the airport three hours early for my 8:21am flight. And was met with a massive crowd of people. Nobody could check in. You had to stand in line for hours to get a boarding pass, and it was so badly organized that nobody really knew what to do. I barely made my flight. — Look, I know technology goes wrong sometimes... but when you have ZERO plans for how to handle things when it does (especially when you knew there was a problem the previous day) that's a serious fucking oversight. I love Alaska Airlines, but this was one of the biggest cluster-fucks I've ever seen in 45 years of travel. That's saying something.

   
• In Remembrance! Aaron's Celebration of Life was well-attended, and there were two things I took away from it: 1) Aaron touched a lot of people, and if only a fraction were able to be there, we may never know how many people that is... and 2) It was sobering to find out that our friendship, which I thought was atypically special, wasn't all that unique at all. Everybody there felt as though their friendship was atypically special. How many people have the ability to make most every person they meet feel like that?

His 51st birthday is on Tuesday and, as I found out on Saturday, it's hard to celebrate his life without him in it.

   
• Arena KC! Aaron's band performed at his celebration, which was bittersweet. Made even more so because they had just completed a new promo video last month...

A rock star from start to finish.

   
• An Aaron By Any Other Name! While I was waiting for my plane in Kansas City, I was looking through the many, many photos I had collected of Aaron over the years. One caught my eye, because it was double-Aaron...

I first knew him by his blogging handle, Jester. Then I knew him by his name, Paul. Then I knew him by his stage name, Ace. And then I knew him by his middle name, Aaron, which he took as his name because he thought he was more an Aaron than a Paul. But no matter what I was calling him, he was always a great friend.

   
• FindMy! It's interesting to note that the only person I've ever had in Apple's "FindMy" service was Aaron. Because we were either meeting up when I was in town for work or we were meeting up in some random city with other people, it was just easier to use the technology of the day to make our lives easier...

I don't think I ever bothered to open the app unless I was specifically trying to find him. Which is a shame. Because if I had opened it when I was in Anaheim last February, I would have seen that he was in the city at the same time. But, alas, I never knew he was there until he saw that I was in the city and texted after I had already flown home.

   
• The Football! My hotel was across the highway from Arrowhead. Just think how close I was to where Taylor Swift likes to watch her boyfriend play football!

Of course that's also where she played her KC stop for the Eras Tour. And where Travis Kelce attended the show in order to try and give her a friendship bracelet, which is far more historically significant than some silly sportsball game.

   
• MCI! I love Kansas City International Airport. It's beautifully maintained. It's smartly organized. There's plenty of places to sit. There's good variety of things to eat. It's just a generally great place to fly into and out of. In other words, the complete opposite of the shit-show that Seattle-Tacoma International has become. =sigh= I probably wouldn't be so jealous if only Seattle didn't keep ripping out seats to put in retail shops... and could manage to keep all the escalators running for more than five fucking minutes.

   
• Bright Light! Bright Light! For nearly a decade I had to stop driving in the dark because I couldn't see properly. Even the smallest light source would flare out and obliterate everything. Then I got the lenses in my eyes replaced and, suddenly I could see at night again. Driving back across the mountains from Seattle in the dark was a relaxing experience... except not really. It's shocking (or not) how many people drive with their brights on. And though it doesn't blind me any more like it used to, it is irritating. Whether they are coming at me or are behind me (or coming at me with regular lights and then turn on their brights before they fully pass), it's set me back to square one. I don't remember it being like this before I stopped driving at night but, given the way things are going, I shouldn't be surprised.

   
And now I really should get some sleep. Or try to.

Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks! You may be thinking that Bullet Sunday will be canceled because of the Superb Owl (I am not calling it by its real name because you can be sued for that), but you would be wrong... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Loot! This is not a Superb Owl commercial. It's a fake commercial from the television show Loot. And yet, it really should be a real commercial, because...

Can Maya Rudolph do any wrong? A completely serious question here.

   
• Doggy! If there's anything that will get me to go to the theater to see Supergirl, it's Baby Krypto...

I'm sure the rest of the movie is nice too.

   
• Daddy! I sure hope that Instagram is fucking working again and the right video is here, because damn!

Nothing beats a good joke before having to go back to work in the morning!

   
• Unreality. Watch this and be unshocked that this is how the world works...

Nobody and nothing matters more than corporate profits.

   
• Unreality: Part Two! Lest you think that the USA government is alone for being one of the most horrifically corrupt pile of shit on the face of the earth, here's a video for you. I swear, governments just don't seem like the ever operate in the best interest of the people they are supposed to be serving...

And now is where you fall down a Boy Boy rabbit hole like I did, because they have some phenomenal videos about things that will make you think. Assuming you have an open mind to do so.

   
• Together! I like it when content creators put some creativity in their stuff. This is pretty funny...

There's so many shitty content "creators" who just play other people's content and react to it. They don't even try. Yet they probably get gabillions more followers than people who put the effort in.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Trump wanted Dulles Airport, Penn Station named after him — in exchange for releasing federal funds. CAN YOU FOR EVEN FOR ONE SECOND IMAGINE WHAT THE REACTION WOULD HAVE BEEN IF OBAMA HAD TRIED SOMETHING LIKE THIS? CAN YOU? I MEAN, SERIOUSLY... CAN YOU JUST FUCKING IMAGINE???

   
And there you go. If you'll excuse me, I'm back to not watching the Superb Owl.

I am on the brink of exhaustion, but that's not going to stop the bullets... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Legotype! I never cease to be amazed at what people are able to build out of LEGO. This blows my mind...

It makes me want to get my LEGOs out of the garage and see what I can dream up. Ezcept I know that's going to do nothing but set me up for disappointment because I will never do anything as cool as create a fully-functional LEGO typewriter.

   
• He's a Wonder! I have mixed feelings on Wonder Man, the latest Marvel Studios series on Disney+. The concept is good and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley are sublime. But it also drags badly as it attempts to deconstruct the mindset of somebody with super-powers wanting to be normal who's striving for an acting career. Had they split the runtime between psychoanalysis and action, this could have been a home-run. But this is a Wonder Man series without any actual Wonder Man, and it's a problem...

They even cheaped out on the psychoanalysis by bringing up obstacles with a former girlfriend and a brother which just... fizzle (though the brother is a character from the comics who may make for an interesting second season character). One minute it's a huge worry (and even a cliffhanger!) and the next minute there's just a wet fart of a resolution which means nothing and earns nothing. Nobody learns anything. The conflict was artificial and banal. But, hey, the performances are a master-class and that's not nothing.

   
• Divorce! Instagram has been really pissing me off, because I'll copy a link... post it... then have Instagram show people a completely different video. So who the fuck knows what you're going to see below. Hopefully something funny, as I intended...

   
• A Toast! And if Instagram is feeling like showing you this video as intended, you'll see a skit set in Australia. But it really could be the USA, and I'm rather proud about that...

   
• It's the GOAT! Of all the rabbit holes to fall down... I fell down a baby goat hole...

Why are baby animals always so darn adorable? Are there any ugly baby animals? There's plenty of ugly babies, so I'm guessing there must be. Somewhere. But I'll bet they're so ugly they circle back around to being cute again.

   
• Truthiness! This is so infinitely relatable as to be frightening...

Or rather... more frightening than the state of the world already is.

   
• So Cold! Bobby Broccoli's Cold Fusion video series has been compiled into a single video. It's absolutely fascinating (as all his videos are). As a science geek, I remember very well when the Pons/Fleischmann experiment blew up... and ultimately collapsed. But I never really knew much past the headlines. Is this video 3 hours? Yes. But the time flies by, because it's got it all...

The very end of the video has snippets of an interview with Pons/Fleischmann that makes me really, really despise them. They are scummy "scientists" who betrayed scientific principles, lied to the scientific community, and wasted millions of dollars... but they were the victims? Lord. — Cold Fusion is a holy grail of science because the implications are so far-reaching for all humanity on this planet. I don't know if I want to live to see it... or if I'll be better off dead when it happens.

   
And now? Time for a nap.

It's not just another day in hell... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms! I really liked the Dunk and Egg trilogy of books, but was wary of the HBO/HBO Max adaptation because I feared that they would fuck it up like they fucked up Game of Thrones after they ran out of books. But the showrunners say that they will not adapt stories that don't exist, so there's that...

I will say that Dunk and Egg are both flawlessly cast and the first episode is promising. Charming even. I really hope they nail it this time.

   
• DRAMA! Lord only knows I need a cute distraction from the horrors of the day, and here it is...

I don't know how dog groomers don't end up kidnapping a dozen clients a day.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Washington state lawmakers consider 10-cent bottle fee to boost recycling. Christ. Everybody has a recycle container that's bigger than their garbage can now... we already have incentive to recycle. Recycle bins are EVERYWHERE! This isn't the 1970's! This is just going to make shit even more expensive because now you can't use your recycle bin because you don't get your money back unless you make another trip to the store. Get fucked. This stupid shit is driving me insane. Is this going to make such a massive difference as to be worth the trouble for everybody involved? Are stores going to have to raise prices again to cover the labor of having to be a recycling center? This is performative politics, and I really hope that voters ACTUALLY THINK FOR TWO FUCKING MINUTES and shoot this idiocy down. INFURIATING.

   
• Seafarer! My latest YouTube obsession is Joe Franta talking about his life as a U.S. merchant mariner. It's all interesting and fascinating stuff. The first one I watched was when he was working on a cruise ship instead of the cargo ships he usually works on...

He's a fairly level-headed and pragmatic guy, giving you both the good...

And the bad...

My favorite videos are the behind-the-scenes stuff where he talks about what life is actually like and how he gets by when on the job...

If you want a great channel to watch, here's the one for you.

   
• Pengo! This story from years ago is going around again. Some documentarians rescued some penguins... and were roundly criticized for interfering in "natures plan" or whatever...

Yeah... you could not stop me from helping creatures in need. I care more about these penguins than I do 99.9% of the people on this planet, and I am not a part of the United Federation of Planets, so the Prime Directive doesn't apply to me!

   
• He-Him-Man! I gotta say, the new trailer for Masters of the Universe looks darn good...

And of course dipshits across the internet are losing their shit because of the frame where Adam has his pronouns under his name tag. Except ADAM IS HE-MAN... THAT'S THE JOKE! So who is it that's ruining everything? Dipshits like this who just want to complain about how "pronouns" are destroying the American way of life, I'm guessing. Gawd. We truly are living in the stupidest timeline.

   
• Alex Pretti. The right to protest is baked into the First Amendment. It literally guarantees citizens "...peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances..." The State of Minnesota allows open and concealed carry of firearms with a permit. The narrative of Alex Pretti approached officers brandishing a handgun has been proven false. Video evidence shows exactly what happened. Alex Pretti was pepper-sprayed while protecting women and then murdered. Executed. Shot 10 times. The only time his weapon was unholstered was when it was removed from him. The only thing in his hand was a camera at the time of his murder...

I've seen video analysis saying that he was reaching for his gun. It's absurd. The actual analysis is clear to anybody who doesn't buy into a bullshit narrative they cling to. Yes, this video is by partisan MS NOW, but the analysis is on-point...

Alex Pretti worked on curing cancer before becoming an ICU nurse at a VA hospital. He dedicated his life to helping others. He died helping a woman who had been shoved to the ground. Witnesses have testified that he was no threat to anybody... he did not brandish a weapon... he did not reach for a weapon... he did not attack anybody... he was just trying to help when he was executed. Alex's parents released this statement...

"We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump's murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man."

Done and done. It's the very least I can do.

American citizens are being executed in broad daylight by government action while legally filming at a legal protest. And you know it's problematic when even the NRA is chiming in for a full investigation. It's painfully obvious that this country has taken a horrific turn. I cannot help but wonder how history will view this period of our country. I suppose it depends on whether the government or the people are the ones left standing at the end of it all.

   
And now... back to our shared nightmare.

Don't fear the reaper... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Cardio! For somebody whose on the internet way more than he would ever admit, it's genuinely shocking that I somehow missed this viral video from last year...

Poor thing. She nearly had a heart attack. And can you really blame her?

   
• Pet Heaven! Oh man. I need to get Jake & Jenny baptized so they can get into Pet Heaven! Never even thought of it!

A friend sent me this video because they call their cat Boo-Bear, just like I call Jake Boo-Bear. Or "Bubair" if you'd rather.

   
• That Mitchell & Webb Look! The fact that you know what's coming just makes it all the funnier...

David Mitchell is phenomenal in the BritBox series Ludwig, if you're looking for something good to watch.

   
• Fart Patio! I miss Portlandia...

There's something about scathing satire which speak truth in a way you love to see.

   
• I'm Donut! I look forward to this event every Christmas, but didn't find it last year. But they did reenact it, so I must have somehow missed it...

Some traditions should never die. Especially when donuts are involved.

   
• Gain? I've been in a lot of smelly situations. I've had some smelly jobs. But there is nothing... NOTHING... that I've experienced which is worse than the horrific stench of Swiffer "Fresh-Scent with Gain" mop pads. I accidentally purchased them instead of the usual Swiffer I get (the boxes look almost identical) and have been trying to use them every once in a while because it's wasteful to throw them in the trash. Especially given how expensive they are. Tonight I spilled spaghetti sauce in my kitchen and grabbed the Swiffer. And now, in the middle of winter, I have all the doors and windows open because my house smells like total ass. I do not understand how people want their house to smell like this shit. I regret using them every time, and I really, really need to suck it up, take the L, and toss them... because this is awful awful awful.

   
• Greenland? Maybe I'm cynical in that I think this whole load of nonsense about Greenland being taken by the USA is just another bullshit distraction from the Epstein Files. But if it's not? Two things. 1) In 1917, the Virgin Islands were sold to the USA to become a US territory by Denmark, and part of the agreement is that the USA recognize full Danish control over Greenland. In other words, we signed up for this. And, 2) Somebody out of NATO has already said "If you take Greenland, we take every single base of the Americans from Aviano to Ramstein, from Romania, to all the other military bases will be confiscated, and you will lose it, and the whole position of American power since World War II, if you take Greenland, you have to leave." Which is to say that we would be in seriously deep shit. I cannot fathom how incredibly fucking stupid it would be if somebody... ANYBODY... doesn't explain that there are consequences to being a complete moron in this situation.

   
And now? Time to wash another load of clothes.

Can you believe that I was actually considering ditching Bullet Sunday and Caturday in 2026? Madness! But fear ye not... because you got a Caturday yesterday and all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Muji! One of my favorite brands is not a brand at all. At least, not a brand like we normally think of brands. When I was going to Japan frequently, I happened across 無印良品... Mujirushi Ryōhin. Which literally translates to "No Brand Quality Products." And that's the long and short of it. There's no branding on any of the products and no logo... their goods have no paid endorsements and no advertising. They just exist simply and beautifully. And they are priced fairly. Back in those days, it was mostly a kind of stationery store. Now they sell just about everything, but the same philosophy permeates every item. Which is why I was so happy to see that one of my favorite YouTube Channels has taken a good look at the company.

Muji is very, very Japanese. To understand the brand is to understand a lot about the Japanese people. And the lovely host of The Science of Products does an amazing job of breaking it all down. Somewhere in the boxes out in my garage are the Muji notebook and pen I bought on my very first trip to the Land of the Rising Sun. I wanted to write down all the weird, wild, and wonderful stuff I was experiencing and came unprepared. My Japanese was terrible, but I could make myself understood. I popped into a hotel in the area I was at, said "Kami to pen wa doko des kamasu ka?," and was given a map with the location nearby. A few days later I found (and fell in love with) "Tokyu Hands," a massive, massive stationery store in Shinjuku. But there's a soft spot in my heart for Muji, a not-brand I still love. One of these days, I need to get to Portland, Oregon and visit the store there. Or, you know, go back to Japan and visit a few of them there.

   
• Akasaka Nooooo! And speaking of... I wanted to locate where I bought my notebook, found it, was curious how far away from my hotel it was, then saw on Google Maps that it was "permanently closed." So I ran to Google and got this: "Yes, the Akasaka Excel Hotel Tokyu permanently closed on August 31, 2023, due to the termination of its lease agreement, after serving Tokyo as a business and tourist hotel since 1969. The closure was announced by Tokyu Hotels (TOKYU HOTELS Co., Ltd.) as part of their company press releases." This is really sad to me, because I would have totally stayed there again if I ever make it back to Tokyo.

   
• Tubs! I needed this...

Aren't animals wonderful? Case in point...

I really need to get me a trash panda.

   
• Bugged! Finally rented Bugonia. I am not a Yorgos Lanthimos fan, but admit he kinda knocked it out of the park with this one. You get a true ending, thankfully, but I have so many questions about what transpired...

Watching the game develop between Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons relied entirely on them selling it as actors... and they did not falter.

   
• Hey Nancy! Good news, everyone! We're mere hours away from me starting to write my all-new all-SEXY version of Nancy Drew! She's solving mysteries by day and breaking hearts by night... and doing both SEXILY this time!

It's only a matter of time before I think of an idea for a new Mickey Mouse and Nancy Drew crossover novel.

   
• Zipf! If you have an interest in languages, then this 20 minute video is for you...

Surprising... but shouldn't really be surprising. If you know what I mean.

   
• Triangle of... Sadness? I wonder if I beseeched Beecher's Handmade Cheese to stop making their cheese in thick triangles and switch to triangle logs if it would do any good? Cutting up thick triangles results in inconsistent piece sizes.

I'd probably buy double the amount of my beloved Marco Polo if I knew I could cut it into consistent piece sizes that would fit on crackers.

   
• Smart Dumb Home! For anybody wondering what I ended up doing after I couldn't get Apple's HomeKit HomeShit to recover, I actually did end up deleting about seven devices so I could re-add them and then re-write my Automations. Apple bastards. Those devices wouldn't resolve no matter how many times I rebooted my hubs. Beyond shitty... but at least I didn't have to start over from scratch.

   
And there you go... the first Bullet Sunday of 2026 is in the can.