Well, this day was awful. Which you can read about tomorrow. Suffice to say that I am wondering exactly how much longer I have before I collapse in a pile of anxiety and have a heart attack. There is no corner of my life that is consistently stress-free except one, and then even that went off like a (temporary) bomb.

But hey, maybe I'll die of the mother-fucking plague and won't have to worry about it. Fingers crossed. Though with dipshit anti-science fuckhead RFK Jr. in charge of America's health, I probably don't need to cross my fingers. It almost seems inevitable that I'll die of the plague. Or whatever major health crisis drops on us which could have been addressed by science, but RFK Jr. killed mRNA research... or what-the-fuck-ever miracle that scientists were working on... so we're all hopelessly fucked.

If only I could just stick my head in the sand and pretend that the world isn't a toxic pile of shit, I could have a stable baseline from which I could deal with all the other anxiety-inducing shit assaulting me.... but no. This is our normal now.

I'm choosing to embrace the horror.

What else is there?

But anyway...

Today when I got home from work (and was preparing to do more work) I happened across an article "debunking" the infamous Jenny Nicholson video: The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel. It had me laughing out loud because it clearly... clearly... failed badly to "debunk" shit. Jenny, who is the absolute dream guest for a themed hotel because she lives for this stuff, nailed it. She fucking nailed it. She manages to clearly explain why her trip sucked, make comparisons to alternatives, use her vast knowledge of immersive experiences to critique what was offered, brutally dissect Disney's endless greed and incompetence, all while presenting it in a way only she can.

It's glorious.

So tonight I've had it playing while I work... for the sixth time. Which is insane considering the video is four hours long. But I can't help it. Every minute of those four hours is gold. If you haven't watched it, I can't possibly recommend it more...

And, on that note, back to work I guess. Good night. Don't let the plague doctor bite.

I'm not saying that I rushed home from work to catch Taylor Swift on the New Heights podcast. But I totally rushed home from work to catch Taylor Swift on the New Heights podcast.

I have never understood the hatred that some people have for this woman. If you hate her music, then fine. I can wrap my head around that. But to hate her for being... talented... popular... successful? When she's done absolutely nothing to them except exist? It boggles the mind.

I guess it comes with the territory of being famous.

But should it? To this extent? There are people who have absolutely relished the fact that her attempts to find love have failed. They take joy every time she goes through a breakup. They lay in wait every time she starts seeing somebody new just for the opportunity to laugh at her when she gets her heart broken.

Which is why I was happy to see her and Travis looking so happy together. And I can't help but hope their relationship lasts.

Regardless of how you feel about either of them, the interview is worth a watch. They're hilarious. And charming. And interesting.

"This podcast has done a lot for me. I owe a lot to this podcast. This podcast got me a boyfriend, ever since Travis decided to use it as his personal dating app two years ago."

"This kind of felt more like I was in an 80s John Hughes movie and he was standing outside my window with a boombox like 'I WANNA DATE YOU! DO YOU WANNA GO ON A DATE WITH ME? I MADE YOU A FRIENDSHIP BRACELET!' And I was like, if this guy's not crazy, this is sort of what I've been writing songs about wanting to happen to me since I was a teenager."

They're also... weirdly normal. A huge chunk of the interview is Taylor Swift being obsessed with baking sourdough bread.

But anyway...

Watch the interview. If, for no other reason, than to have fun watching one of the most famous people on earth in an interview where she seems more herself than you've seen before...

I sure hope that The Life of a Showgirl is more "1989" and "Reputation" and "Lover" than "Folklore" and "Evermore" and "The Tortured Poets Department." It would be fun to love her music again.

This video is something so powerful, so informational, and so needed, that everybody should watch it. Everybody. I love that it doesn't talk down to you... it just gives you the information you need. And a warning that could save your life...

It does, however, make me want to try heroin... but just once.

The older I get, the more I find myself appreciating the little things that make life worth living.

The other day I was taking a break from the horrors of existence and scrolling through Instagram. Their algorithm is crap (repeating stuff way, way too often that I've already seen many times), but every once in a while something new pops up that makes a visit worthwhile.

Yesterday it was this...

I want a snow duck mold! Can you imagine running across something like this on a snowy day?

There will be no crying that I don't know where my weekend went... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Well Hello Hello! If you want to escape from the horrors of the world, I love the Black Hammer Artisan YouTube channel. The two guys behind it were giving up because nobody found their videos. Then their goodbye video blew up, so now they're back! They make things with medieval blacksmithing methods and it's so zen to watch...

I hope they get a lot of support from YouTube so they can keep going.

   
• Cursives! Things like this bring a smile to my face even as the world burns to the fucking ground...

I am one of those people who thinks that cursive writing is antiquated and unnecessary. Schools need to teach more modern, relevant subjects that will actually get used. Leave cursive to art and history electives. Though this is a highly entertaining use of a dead writing style, so there's that.

   
• Evaporation Blankets! I always keep a heavy blanket in the car in case I have to help somebody or rescue an animal or something. I ordered a new blanket because the one I had was 20 years old or more and was getting a little brittle. The blanket was not cheap because I wanted something heavy enough to insulate from the ground in the cold. I finally got around to opening it and washing it... and what a disaster. The washing machine was filled with fuzz. And now I've run it through the dryer three times in an effort to get all the fuzz stuck to it to come off... and it still needs to be run again. I swear the blanket has lost half of its volume. This is stupid. Why make a blanket that can't stay together through even one washing?

   
• DOON Fumble! Of all the videos dishing on why Dune: Prophecy was a disappointment, this one is right on target...

I too hope that they recover with the second season because I want to love this series. I think they were so hot to make it be Game of Thrones that they forgot to make Dune. That needs to change.

And while we're at it...

If show runners don't want to be "shackled" to an Intellectual Property and feel the need to "do their own thing"... THEN GO DO YOUR OWN FUCKING THING AND STOP FUCKING UP BELOVED IPs!! NETWORKS NEED TO HIRE SHOW RUNNERS WHO **WANT** TO BE "SHACKLED" TO THE IP! THAT'S THE ENTIRE POINT OF CREATING A SHOW BASED ON IP!

   
• Fare Thee Well, Dream! Welp. The Sandman is done at Netflix. I mean, I'm glad that Netflix is giving the show one more season... but it being the "conclusion" of Sandman when there are loads of stories left to adapt is incredibly sad. I really, really, really wanted a Death: The High Cost of Living mini series. But nope. Neil Gaiman had to end up being a piece of shit, so now this is all there is...

Very sad to all the actors who don't deserve to have their work cut short because the creator of the source material ended up being garbage.

   
• Old is New! It's not all bad news out of Netflix. Here's a returning show that I'm really looking forward to...

Oh man do I hope it's as good an adaptation as the first season.

   
• Fresh Young! Emily left Linus Tech Tips and started her own channel... her intro is pretty great...

Young is very good at what she does, and her being trans has absolutely zero effect on her ability to do it. If people just get the fuck over themselves and just let trans persons exist, then she likely wouldn't have needed to even address it. She shouldn't have to address it. But... here we are. So many people clutching pearls over something that has no effect on them whatsoever. I wish her the best of luck.

   
And that's it for another Sunday. Time to prepare myself for a return to Real Life.

I'm just a boy. Standing in front of the blogosphere. Asking it to love him... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Well Hello Hello! YouTube's algorithm has found me some really cool content over the years. But sometimes it comes too late. This small channel of blacksmithing videos was being shut down. The two guys who created it could never seem to get any traction, as they were continuously buried by the algorithm. But then? YouTube promoted their final video. And it finally took off. They ballooned to 15,000 subscribers, and a lot of people who would have watched had they only known about it, commented as such. And so here they are... coming back...

Kinda a happy ending for everybody. I hope they can keep growing their channel. If you want to take a look, it's pretty cool.

   
• Future Dutch! So there I was taking a phone call after putting my television on pause. Eventually the Google screensaver engaged, and I came very close to saying WHAT THE BLADE RUNNER ALTERNATE FUTURE IS THIS SHIT?! And noted that the title of the photo included "Vinkeveen" from the Netherlands. So I looked it up and Google Maps and, sure enough...

© Google Maps

© Google Maps

© Google Maps

That is very cool, isn't it?

   
• Oh, Grand! Just a reminder to everybody who hasn't already used a VPN to watch the new Wallace & Gromit movie on the BBC (they've had it since Christmas)... Netflix finally got off their asses and has it available for streaming in the USA. I'll be watching it again just to show Netflix that this is the kind of awesome content I want to see... not another pile of shit that Zack Snyder crapped out his ass...

The movie is just amazingly well-done and well worth your valuable time.

   
• The Prologue and the Promise! I recently watched a video on the history of Walt Disney World's Epcot. That lead me to a video on one of the earliest pavilions in Future World called Horizons. I always thought it was a bit shit to two times I visited before they closed, but there was a giant mural inside that I loved. Never really knew who painted it until I watched this video. Apparently some genius at Disney thought to hire renowned futurist painter and celebrated "space" artist Robert McCall to create it. And it is stunning...

© Disney and McCall Studios

© Disney and McCall Studios

You can read more about this amazing work (plus see many others) on the artist's website here.

   
• Mixbox! WELP! Looks like somebody finally solved the thing I hate most about painting digitally... pigments never work as they should. Programs like Photoshop and Procreate use an additive model which turns everything into a muddy mess. But now a company has come up with a model which simulates actual pigments. This is incredible...

I hope that the Mixbox technology is added to mainstream apps very soon now... it's amazing to me that it's taken this long to get here.

   
• IT'S THE FOG! The Mystery Government Fog is out to get us! DEFEAT THE FOG 2025! (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick).

FINALLY! The threat of alien spores is being taken seriously by the health care community! Thanks, Dr. Eric!

   
• Unsurprised! My grievances against PayPal are well documented. They stole money from me. They said that a customer didn't get merchandise I sold to them and reversed the money. I provided USPS tracking showing the delivery. I provided an email from the customer saying that they received their order and that they didn't receive a refund. PayPal didn't give a single fucking shit. They kept the money. And since they are not governed by banking regulations, there's NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT IT. After pestering them for months, they simply stopped responding. So I closed down the Artificial Duck store and was done. I never made a single dollar profit on the shop, sold everything at cost and exact shipping, and did it for the fun of it all. There's no way I could continue and take a loss because payments are revoked over a total lie.

And now it comes out that these heinous fucking assholes at PayPal are just as bad as we knew they were. They've been fucking over their advertisers and their customers with their "Honey" service. Get a load of this...

Nothing would make me happier than PayPal being sued out of existence and shut down. But that will never happen. They get protection from shitty fucking laws that our government creates because our government is too busy sucking Big Business dicks to give a shit about protecting the citizens that elect them. Welcome to the hellscape that it The United States of America.

   
Alrighty then. Until next Sunday then!

I keep a running list of cool things I find on these here internets so I can share them on Bullet Sunday.

But sometimes... sometimes... something is so cool that I can't bring myself to wait. Today's YouTube video is one of those times. Except I actually found it on the 23rd, so I guess I did end up having some restraint in waiting three whole days.

This video is 35 minutes of absolute joy. It's got it all... old tech... random strangers helping across international borders... entertaining history... and something so hilarious at the 32-minute mark that I nearly choked to death. This right here is why I love the internet...

Earlier this year I posted this epic video along the same lines where a guy tracked down a McDonalds DS cartridge, which is equally fantastic...

If anybody has any recommendations for more videos like these, be sure to comment. The YouTube algorithm is pretty good, but it can't know everything.

I hope.

Well then. Didn't have a new Defunctland video on my Bingo card.

The channel used to get new episodes fairly regularly. Then the videos started getting more complex and in-depth, which meant that they started taking longer and longer for Kevin to produce. But quality takes time (I'm still amazed by the Disney Channel Theme video from a couple years ago)...

Spoiler Alert: This is only Part One! No idea how long we'll have to wait for Part Two (or how many parts there will be), but animatronics is a fascinating topic, and I'll take as many parts as we can get.

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...

There's something that grinds my gears so bad... and that's somebody "reacting" or "reviewing" or "outright stealing" content for their posts. If you're going to build off of somebody else's work, then you give credit where credit is due. Anything less than that makes you a shitty fucking person.

I ran across this earlier in the week where YouTube recommended a "reacts" video where somebody played a different creator's video in its entirety, halting to inject a comment from time to time. Which is bad enough because they never really added to the conversation, BUT THEY DIDN'T CREDIT THE ORIGINAL CREATOR! Instead I had to track them down.

Turns out it's a British guy named Lawrence who moved to the USA and has a channel called Lost in the Pond. He makes videos which contrast the USA with the UK and it's pretty interesting. Take this one, for example...

That one is more factual, but most of them are more observational...

Many videos feel like they took some research to pull off, like this one which explores American things that are actually British...

But don't worry, he went the other way in his very next video where he explored British things that are actually American...

Now, for me at least, the content "creator" who took one of Lawrence's videos without crediting him has been blocked, whereas Lawrence has a new subscriber. I would have probably subscribed to both if not for the fact the original guy DIDN'T GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT WAS DUE!