I may be back from a few days vacation and mentally preparing myself to return to work, but the bullets cannot be stopped... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Andor! The first thing I did after getting home from vacation was take a nap. I had been up for 23 hours and needed sleep. The second thing I did? Watch the final three episodes of Andor...

And, yes, this is officially the best thing to ever come out of Star Wars in my humble opinion. So as not to spoil anything, I'll wait a while before breaking down my thoughts (and I do have them). Suffice to say that you should watch this. Whether you're a Star Wars fan or not.

   
• Murdery Goodness! The second thing I watched? Murderbot on AppleTV+. I was surprised that they are deviating from the excellent source material like they are... but I don't hate it. The show is just a separate thing. Not always in a bad way. Especially with the opening credits, which looks like it was made with dolls...

I can see where some diehard fans of the books will not like it, but I still think it's worth a watch.

   
• Super! The final Superman trailer has dropped...

This looks so good. I may actually end up in the theater for this one.

   
• Blast From the Past! Something that got brought to my attention... somebody has an old Blogography Bad Monkey hat for sale on eBay...

Wasn't expecting that! And $25... I think I sold them for half that?

   
• Duke's! If you think that I went all the way to Honolulu, Hawai‘i and didn't have lunch at Duke's, just like the good ol' days, you don't know me at all...

That Falafel Sandwich was ever so dreamy!

   
• Puka Dog! If you think that I went all the way to Honolulu, Hawai‘i and didn't grab a Puka Dog, just like the good ol' days, you don't know me at all...

I mean, yeah, it's called "Hula Dog" outside of Kauai now, but it's still a delicious veggie Puka Dog.

   
• Maters! When I got home, I noticed that tomatoes were starting to grow on my AeroGarden. At last...

I'm still not convinced that AeroGarden is feasible for anything but herbs, but here we are.

   
And now? Back to my post-vacation blues.

Yesterday I watched the latest batch of Star Wars: Andor episodes and wondered for the millionth time how Tony Gilroy managed to get this series past Disney. Heck, how did he even manage to get it past the Lucasfilm division of Disney?

The 12-episode second (and final) season of Andor is being released in four 3-episode chunks, each taking place one year after the previous chunk as it leads directly into Star Wars: Rogue One (which is the prelude to the very first Star Wars movie, A New Hope).

And this latest chunk? The third of four chunks? No spoilers, but...

Unbelievably phenomenal. You'd be forgiven if you thought things couldn't get better than the previous chunk... because how could you possibly know? Then all this happens.

The first episode, Episode 07, starts out a bit slow. A surprisingly leisurely pace given that we're past the half-way point and should be escalating towards the finish line. But then Episode 08 grabs you by the throat and slaps you across the face. Hard. Then it ends. At which point Episode 09 slams into gear, not giving you a chance to catch your breath.

I'm going to restrain myself talking about the series until a few weeks after it's all over because I don't want to spoil it for anybody. All I will say are these three things...

1. Andor deserves to win all the Emmy Awards. All of them. Writing. Directing. Acting. Design. Effects. Costumes. Music. Whatever. There's no other show that's doing what Andor is doing and, even if they were, nobody is doing it like Andor is doing it. If the show isn't at least getting a nomination in all categories for which it's eligible, then the Emmys mean nothing.
2. The show's greatness is that you don't have to have seen any other Star Wars show to enjoy it. There's a complete story being told here. But if you're a massive Star Wars fan, you're seriously rewarded. If you've watched the cartoons and read the books and played the games and followed the stories, your mind will be reeling with every episode. The entire time I'm watching, my brain is thinking "Oh... while this is happening, this person is doing this and that person is doing that!" or even "Holy crap! This character is at the same location at the same time as that character!" And then "ZOMG! Right after this happened, THIS happens!" It goes on and on. For those into Star Wars, there are inconsistencies that pop up of course, but Andor is the gift that keeps on giving because it's all going on at the same time as so much is going on.
3. But it's more than that. This series makes you recontextualize everything you think you know about Star Wars. And it does so while making complex scenarios so beautifully accessible. I cannot fathom how they will manage to top this, but I seriously hope that somebody at Disney is filling a dump truck with cash to back up to Tony Gilroy's house and offering him whatever he wants to continue with more Star Wars projects.

And so, yeah, if you're not watching... what in the heck are you waiting for? These are the droids you're looking for.

I'm not exactly sure why I'm taking time to fire off some bullets given how much stuff I have to get done today, but here we are... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• The Hawk! I had just finished rewatching Hawkeye, easily my favorite Disney+ Marvel Studios series, and was commenting how I wanted a second season so badly. Then this happened...

Well, shit. The guy was literally a part of billions of dollars in profit for Disney, and they want to pay him half of what he got for the first season? It's beyond shitty that this is how he was treated. Especially given how brilliant his series was.

   
• Unkerned! What is it with all these letter kerning crimes against humanity? This is atrocious. The Catholics couldn't get a designer for a tomb THIS important to them?

Literally "FR A NCISC VS" on that marker.

   
• Use The Force! Oh yeah, before I forget... May The 4th Be With You today!

Every once in a while I wonder what the world would be like if Star Wars never happened. It's honestly impossible to imagine. So much of sci-fi hinges on this one film. Sure there was the Star Trek TV series that came before it, but that was seen as a failure at the time (kept alive only by force of will from Lucille Ball and Desilu Studios). It was Star Wars that redefined what it means to be a blockbuster, and paved the way for so much of the science fiction we ended up getting. Sure, there might have been some other sci-fi movie that filled the void that the absence of Star Wars would have left... but I cannot even fathom what it might have looked like.

   
• Five Year Mission! And speaking of Star Trek... whenever I find an ad that I willingly want to watch, it makes me loathe bad ads even more. This ad is gold, and I love that the actors were game to do it...

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is the show that basically sells itself with its genius (and I cannot wait for the upcoming season), but it's nice to know that when they have to sell it they're trying to be interesting about it.

   
• Construction! Oh man. If you like carpentry, watching an American-style house get built by a Japanese carpenter is your new bliss...

I'm not saying that the final result is the design direction I would have taken... but the artistry that was involved in creating this incredible structure can't be denied. What a cool video.

   
• Elevation! Here's what's possible when you don't hand over the bulk of your country's GDP to the industrial complex that supplies your war machine...

It's proposed that the 2026 Military budget will be increased to $1 TRILLION DOLLARS. It's so absurd how modern warfare has changed so radically when it comes to how battles are fought, yet we're still throwing money into building this vast military force like it's the 1980's. I don't get it. I really don't. A trillion dollars?!? And we've got $92 million going to go into a fucking military parade on the president's birthday? What the fuck?

I mean, when you think about it, this is hardly surprising. But we're cutting NPR and PBS funding for this senseless crap? Seriously? We're cutting childhood cancer research for this shit? THIS?!?

   
• NEWS: CDC reports 216 children died this flu season, the most in 15 years — Congratulations anti-vaxers... things are looking up for you! Just think of how successful your campaign will be now that RFK is championing your cause! Maybe you'll go from hundreds of child deaths in 2025 to thousands in 2026! I mean, that's what you want, isn't it? That's the goal?

   
Not exactly sure how to wrap this up after delving into childhood cancer and easily avoidable child deaths. So... see you next week. I guess?

Star Wars, as a franchise, is something I love... even when it's bad. Though there's precious few things that I actually consider "bad," because there's always something cool or interesting to be found. I positively loathe The Phantom Menace, but loved the pod racing and ship designs. I also loathed Attack of the Clones, but loved the chase of Sam Wessell in the opening and everything to do with Obi-Wan's story. I thought Return of the Jedi was a massive step down from The Empire Strikes Back, but the big space battle and duel between Luke and Vader were amazing.

Things get more complicated after that, especially with the television series.

The Obi-Wan series should have been a home run. It stars one of my favorite actors, Ewan McGregor, and he is indeed phenomenal in the lead role. And Darth Vader too? Sign me up! But the story was so weak. Not deserving of the character that McGregor made me care about so much.

Ahsoka began as one of my most-hated characters, but once they had her start growing up and getting rid of the annoying sidekick idiocy with "Sky Guy" (Anakin Skywalker) she quickly became on of the best characters in the entirety of Star Wars. And then... then... they cast Rosario Dawson in the role! Her guest appearances in The Mandalorian were too good to be true. So how excited was I for her own self-titled series, Ahsoka? Very. And while the casting and performance and effects were all great, they saddled her with a story which wasn't really her own. It was so jam-packed with other characters that it felt as if she was a guest-star in her own show. Why not just call it Rebels? And then there were positively silly moments that sank it for me... like that crazy spacewalk scene where she battled star fighters. JUST SHOOT THE SHIP!

But oh well. I still enjoyed Ahsoka... it just could have been so much better.

Then, at the other end of the spectrum is the Star Wars television shows I love. The first two seasons of The Mandalorian were good to great. I loved Skeleton Crew, even though I was pre-disposed to hating it because I thought it was just going to be a bunch of bratty kids hanging around Jude Law. Nope! Brilliant Star Wars.

But the pinnacle for me is Andor. The first season was not just some of the best Star Wars ever made... it was one of the best television shows ever made. Period. Very close to one of my favorite things ever, The Empire Strikes Back.

And here comes the second (and sadly, last) season...

Based on the first three episodes alone, I'm guessing that it will end up overtaking Empire for me. It's THAT good...

There's a single line delivered near the end of the third episode which will haunt me for a long, long time. You can't say that about a lot of the stuff you see.

I'll withold my comments until a while after the series airs because I don't want to ruin it for anybody. But, dang... if you're not watching, you should be. Even if you don't care much for Star Wars.

I needed something good today.

And it doesn't get more better gooder than the new trailer for Andor Season 02. No joke. The first season is not just some of the best Star Wars ever made... it's actually some of the best television ever made. Period.

It's dropping April 22, and here's the trailer...

This series is such a gift. That it will end this final season by leading directly into Star Wars: Rogue One (another favorite Star Wars thing I love) is just the icing on the cake.

The videos have been good again this week... because a Very Special all new, all video Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Infinitly Watchable! Looking for your next watch? Black Doves on Netflix. Two episodes in and I didn't want it to end. If you like crazy spy thrillers, this is the one...

Ben Wishaw is genius in everything. Sarah Lancashire is good in everything. And Keira Knightley... here she is a revelation. She doesn't often get roles like this, but she should. This is contender for my favorite shows of 2024. UPDATE: I should mention that if you are playing "The Little Drummer Boy Challenge," you will lose if you watch the beginning of Episode 04.

   
• New Skeletons! Star Wars doesn't have to be just one thing. They can tell lots of kinds of stories within that universe. So if you don't like the latest series, Skeleton Crew, fine. If you can't accept that they are making "Goonies in Space," fine. If it's not "Real Star Wars" without Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker to you, fine. But for the love of God... can people stop shitting all over those who ARE enjoying it for what it is? Hate away if that's what you want, but other opinions exist. And I'm happy to see that the tide is turning on Skeleton Crew now that more and more people have seen the debut episodes and loved them. This is a darn good show and really good Star Wars to boot...

Usually I hate shows with kids because they're written to be whiny, annoying, and unwatchable. This series is different. Great characters that just happen to be kids. Worth a look if you've got Disney+!

   
• All My Love! At 99, Dick Van Dyke is in amazingly good health. Just look at this...

He's also got more marbles rattling around in his head than I do. Incredible.

   
• Woodworking! I loathe ASMR videos (but you do you, if that's your jam). This wonderful demonstration of craftsmanship is what I consider to be the ultimate destress stimulation...

And that's not the end!

Wonderful. I wish I'd happen upon several million dollars so I can retire and do stuff like this all day long.

   
• SQUEEEEEEE! Michelle Yeoh is delicious in this role. I love the movie already.

Of course, she's delicious in every role, so there's that.

   
• Smarty-Bird! Holy shit. Meanwhile, humans are eating paste, thinking the world is flat, and becoming anti-vaxers...

I, for one, welcome our new crow overlords.

   
• Business Partners! Your Sunday dose of happy...

That there are still people who think this is any less valid a love story than any other is kinda sad.

   
Until next week's bullets then...

Now that the heat is on at my house, I am warm enough to blog again... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Poh-Tay-Toh! One of my favorite YouTube series is the Epicurious Pro Chefs Taste Tests. I obsess over them because the chefs they get are always great. But my favorite is Jack Logue because he's kinda a void for most of the video... but when he likes something, you know it because he breaks on it. When he finds fries he likes, it's pretty great...

I waffle between Lamb Weston and McCain Foods USA depending on what's on sale, so it's good to know I'm buying the best. Though, to be honest, I am badly addicted to McCain Hashbrown Patties and tend to eat them over fries now-a-days. If you like cooking videos, these are worth a look.

   
• The Oven Bakes Again! My replacement oven arrived and it's very much like my old oven with the same basic features. But it does have one very big difference I love. The stovetop is a solid sheet! No gap filled with rubber to collect crumbs and gunk! It'll be so easy to keep clean!

Other than that, it's an oven. It'll be nice to be able to bake bread again.

   
• The Bold Failure of Kohler! I really hate having messy hands in the kitchen while cooking and needing to turn on the faucet, then getting the faucet all gunked up. So when I remodeled my kitchen, I bought a fancy touchless faucet and paid a plumber to install it. Four-and-a-half years later, and the "touchless" part of my "Bold Look of Kohler" failed. I was going to swtich brands, but stuck with Kohler so I wouldn't have to pay to have it installed. Instead I could use most of what was already under the cabinet, and just replace the main faucet part. The model I had isn't made any more, so I bought one that was similar. And of course Kohler changed everything, meaning I had to start over from scratch any way. And it was more difficult this time because they made some stupid fucking design decisions. Oh well. Saved myself $500 in installation charges I don't have after buying a new oven and a new touchless faucet.

   
• Thunderbolts*! I haven't been this excited for a Marvel Studios movies film since Avengers: Endgame. This looks great!

   
• Cap! And this?!? Also looks very cool!

   
• Star Wars Trilogy Redux! Simon Kinberg has been put in charge of writing a new trilogy of Star Wars movies. And I'm like Simon Kinberg? Hmmm. I mean, he did write gems like Mr. & Mrs. Smith and co-created Star Wars: Rebels... but he's got LOADS of absolute shit on his résumé as well. X-Men: The Last Stand? SHIT! Jumper? TOTAL SHIT! This Means War? SHIT! Fant4stic Four? HEINOUS PILES OF SHIT ON SHIT! X-Men: Apocalypse? ASPIRES TO BE SHIT! X-Men: Dark Phoenix? CAN ONLY DREAM OF BEING AS GOOD AS COPIOUS PILES OF SHIT! — Ugh. This does not sound promising at all. If I am confident of one thing, Kathleen Kennedy is going to continue her streak of shitty fucking Star Wars films. I still marvel that Rogue One and Solo managed to turn out as well as they did given how the sequel trilogy and the last Indiana Jones movie were mostly SHIT! And while I've enjoyed the Star Wars television shows, only Andor is quality enough that I can honestly say I love it. The rest have great moments, but don't satisfy as a whole. The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and The Acolyte could have been SO much better. And last season of The Mandalorian is tired. I sincerely hope that movie doesn't suck.

   
• ! Speaking of some of the best Star Wars ever, the second season of Andor has been given a start date: April 22, 2025. So long to go. But I'm confident it will be worth the wait. The first season is some of the best television I've ever seen.

   
And now I should probably climb in bed and try to get some sleep since I totally failed at it last night.

Continuing on with my recent trip to Walt Disney World... The last time I was in Orlando was September, 2019. The month prior to that, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios. It was wildly popular. I figured that I would avoid the park entirely and just wait a few months because I was returning in April of 2020. Surely the crowds would die down by then! But then the pandemic happened, and it would be five years before I returned to see it.

The land is still wildly popular and crowded. Existing on the planet "Batuu," the location is called "Black Spire Outpost" and takes place during the sequel trilogy timeframe. Its story says that it was once a vibrant, thriving place but eventually became a kind of backwater trading port that's home to smugglers and sketchy outlaws. AND KYLO REN?? Who is out recruiting visitors to become First Order operatives and trying to root out Resistance spies...

There's also places to shop and eat. My favorites being the Batuu Outdoor Market with little stalls that have souvenirs, and Oga's Cantina, a very cool bar where I got my Smiling Loth Cat Tiki Mug. The entire land is very well themed, and it feels like a physical place. Which is about all you could want as a Star Wars fan.

There are two major attractions in the land...

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run...

The story of the ride is explained in the queue and goes something like this... The Falcon is on loan to Hondo Ohnaka by Chewbacca so that he can steal some energy cells from The First Order to help The Resistance. Hondo (which is a fantastic animatronic) is accompanied by the droid R5-P8 (both characters are from The Clone Wars animated series)...

You are recruited to pilot The Falcon to do the job. As you work your way through the queue, you get to look down at The Falcon, which is awesome because it means Disney actually built the entire exterior instead of what you can only see from the ground...

And it's not just the outside, when you finally make it to the actual ride, you're literally inside The Millennium Falcon!

Once you're in the cockpit with five other people, you're divided up into six versions of three jobs... Pilot, Gunner, or Engineer. The pilots are easily the best job. If you're seated on the left you move the ship left and right, if you're seated on the right you move the ship up and down. Gunners and Engineers just press buttons that light up. You're trying to hunt down a flying transport train to blow it open so you can steal the goods. Let's recap, shall we?

The Bad...

• Pilot Error. You all have to work together to get the best score. And some people aren't suited for flying a ship at all. Or, if you're me, you've never done it before. I've played video games, which helped, but it would take 3 or 4 runs as pilot before I'd be any good.
• Mash Them Buttons. It gets worse... the Gunners and Engineers have their control buttons to their sides, but all the cool stuff is happening out the cockpit window to the front. You kinda have to use your peripheral vision to watch for buttons to light up so you can press them. If you don't and just look at your buttons, you'll miss absolutely everything happening on the ride. If you just look out the window, you'll not know when to press stuff. Because of that, I liked pilot best, but it's a high-pressure job because so much is riding on your skill to drive the mission, which cuts the fun a bit unless you've got five other understanding people flying with you.

The Good...

• The Story. Everything going on is nicely planned. It feels plausible within the framework of the Star Wars Universe.
• The Characters. The animatronics for Hondo Ohnaka and R5-P8 are fantastic.
• The Ship. Imagineers did a phenomenal job making you think that you're actually in the original Millennium Falcon. So very, very cool. Every Star Wars fan's dream.

   
And then...

The other ride is Rise of the Resistance. And it's stunning. The first time around, anyway. Basically the idea is that you're recruited by Rey and BB-88 to rendezvous with General Leia Organa. You'll get there by boarding a shuttle with a bunch of other recruits. In a very cool sequence, because the shuttle then blasts off the planet (you see yourself leaving Batuu when you look out the windows). Alas, you're captured by Kylo Ren. You then get forced off your ship to be herded into prison cells to await interrogation. But then... rescue! You're put into droid-driven cars to get you to the escape pods. A wild adventure ensues.

The Bad...

• Reliability. I rode this, then went to ride it again thanks to my having got Extended Hours at Disney Studios. It broke down before we ever made it to the shuttle. Time waiting in the queue utterly wasted, with no Lightning Lane ticket for your trouble. And the ride goes down all the time. They need to drastically look into fixing these constant breakdowns.
• Busted. There are parts of the ride that broke early on and have never been fixed. At one point you're in your car riding past a big space battle as blaster canons fire above you. Except the motion of the cannons is broke. So your car is stopping, reversing, and starting to avoid cannons that aren't even doing anything. It's pretty shitty. The parks are making millions. Fix the damn ride.
• Viewpoints. If you get a good spot, you actually see things that you won't if you don't get a good spot. On the shuttle it's entirely possible to be shoved against the wall where you can't see the ship taking off... or see Mon Calamari in the command center. You may not even know what's going on. Once you're captured and inside the ship, there's a big battle in an AT-AT bay. Where Finn(!) is there to help rescue you. Except if you're in the wrong car or in the wrong spot of the car, you might not even see him.
• The Minor Animatronics. When you are in a room with an entire legion of stormtroopers, you're shocked at first. But then you see that only a couple of them are moving, and the movements are minor. They rotate their head a little bit or whatever. It's kinda silly. More movement would have really sold it, because you spend too much time staring at frozen figures and it doesn't work.
• Re-Ridability. The only reason to re-ride this thing is because you got bad spots and didn't see stuff. Otherwise it's not such a thrilling experience that you'll want to spend 60-90 minutes waiting to ride it again. The best thing about the ride are the massive sets that are shocking to behold when you are first exposed to them. The scale of it all is mind-blowing. But once you know what to expect? There's just not much else there. I did end up riding it twice (on another day since it was busted during my extra hours event), but the second time was kinda meh.

The Good...

• The Shuttle Takeoff. It's simple, but effective. The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have a rumble floor or something to sell the illusion harder.
• The Concept. The idea of you being captured by The First Order, and how they build the story around that is pretty cool.
• The Scale. When I say that the massive scale of some of the sets are mind-blowing, I really mean it. You get deposited into a room that's so huge you have a tough time wrapping your head around it. That's an amazing achievement.
• The Main Animatronics. The Admiral Calamari and Kylo Ren animatronics are stunning. Sure the Kylo figure has a derpy moment when a hole is blasted in the room (he looks like his feet have been nailed to the floor and it looks crazy-stupid) but they're great. Other figures like Finn don't have great movement, but at least they are always moving.
• The Effects. The effects that are working are pretty good. Some of them look expensive (like Kylo Ren coming at you as his lightsaber ignites, which is some kind of screen/practical lightsaber hybrid) and some of them look simple and inexpensive (like Kylo Ren's lightsaber plunging through the ceiling to cut a hole for him to get you). But none of them look cheap (except the ones that are broken, of course).

   
Overall, I'm quite happy with the job they did on Galaxy's Edge. If you're a Star Wars fan, it's an experience to savor. There are things which could have been done better, sure. But for what it is I'm impressed. I actually wish I would have had more time there so I could have eaten at Oga's Cantina. And maybe Docking Bay 7 and Ronto Roasters too. And I am still hoping for another attraction to draw me back so I can eat there one day.

UPDATE: I was curious to know how they managed to get so many people through the queue on Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, because the ride only hold six people at a time. I ended up on a Reddit page which had a map that explains it, and I am completely blown away. Turns out there are not six people riding at a time, there's ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY! (plus there looks to be two ADA-compliant cockpits, so I guess it's actually a max of 132 riders possible?). There are four turntables with seven cockpits each. At any given time, one of the cockpits per turntable is loading while one is unloading while five are riding the ride. GENIUS! Just look at this...

While in the ride I guess I remember that there were people standing in different parts of the holo-chess room, I just didn't think about it much because we were waiting there to get in the line at the cockpit door. Even if I did realize it, I would have sworn there was just one cockpit behind each door! This actually explains a lot, because they have groups of riders stacked up at each door at all times. Not because they're just being "ready to go," but because they are constantly loading new groups as the turntable rotates into position. I don't have the words for how smart this is. They can keep a steady stream of guests riding and yet the guests really have no idea what's happening unless they Google it like I did! Kudos to Disney Imagineering!

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

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

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

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

Absolutely worth your valuable time to watch.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Books. Like. This. Saves. Lives.

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

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

   
Hoping the last Sunday of July finds you well.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just the treat for a Star Wars fan!

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

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

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

Yes. Yes I would.

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

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

   
Now for a much-deserved couple hours doing nothing.