I'm way too tired to blog, but here I am again... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...
• Memories Do Pass. It seems so strange that two more musicians from my youth have passed... namely Ozzy Osbourne and Chuck Mangione...
As if that weren't enough, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, most known for playing Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show also died in a tragic drowning accident. I prepared for getting to the point where all the people from my memories were going to start dying, but I wasn't prepared for how quickly they're passing. Every month a couple more seem to leave us, and I can't help but wonder how many more will go before I do.
• McMissing McPies! I don't give a shit how "unhealthy" McDonald's fried pies were... I want them back. Who eats at McDonald's to be healthy?
Of course McDonald's is so fucking expensive now that I can't really afford to eat there any more, so it's not like it matters. Though I might be willing to take out a second mortgage if it meant I could have a fried McPie again.
• Perfect 'Maters! When I had to transfer my tomato plants outside, I was certain that they would be pecked at by birds and spoiled by bugs. But no....
Am I just phenomenally lucky? Because the biggest problem I have is to wash off the water spots. They tomatoes themselves are beautiful.
• Ares! The original Tron is one of my favorite films of all time. The sequel was okay but hardly in the same league. About all I could say was that the special effects were darn good. And now another sequel has landed and... well... the special effects look darn good...
It looks far removed from the initial concept, though the idea of computer constructs from the digital world being able to make their way into our world was where the sequel ended up, so here we are. If nothing else, I hope it's at least entertaining.
• Mickey Kicked the Bucket? ZOMFG! WHEN DID MICKEY MOUSE DIE?!??
When I was at the Walt Disney World Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party last year, I saw that there are people lining up to buy dozens of the special event popcorn buckets and sipper cups. That's some big business on eBay, apparently.
• Leaving Las Vegas! Pre-pandemic, I had several work trips to Las Vegas for the charity I volunteered with. But over the years there were fewer, because we were finding the number of conventions wanting to hold events in Vegas were fewer. This video offers some interesting insight into the many problems which make Sin City a less-desirable vacation destination...
#1 on my list? Fucking "resort fees." I personally avoid Vegas for this one reason. I hate being lied to about the rate I'm paying. Hotels country-wide should be forced to list the TOTAL PRICE YOU WILL BE CHARGED at the time you book your lodging. And those absurd fucking "Restaurant Fees" and "CNF Fees" are #2 on my list.
• Republican Speaker of the House Just Loooooooves Pedophiles! Well this should shock absolutely nobody... "Speaker Mike Johnson said he would send lawmakers home early for their summer recess in order to head off Democratic demands for votes on calling for the release of files from the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein." Gotta protect pedophiles at all costs, I guess. There must be some huge donors and very important politicians on that list. Why else would you protect pedophiles?
And now we just wait for Ghislaine Maxwell to give an interview with the FBI where she says that no Republicans were on the list, names a few token Democrats, then gets mysteriously pardoned by the President of the United States for finally "telling the truth to the American people." Because keep in mind that only the President can pardon her crimes of supplying underage girls to Epstein Island.
And on that depressing note, off I go to try and get some sleep before facing the horrors on a new news day.
I swear my cats are getting worse with each passing day.
Jake and Jenny are now both wailing when something is upsetting them, knowing that I'll drop everything and come running. This past week Jenny wailed because Jake ate her food when she finally bothered to come downstairs for dinner... and Jake was wailing and wailing so strongly that I ran to find out if he was dying, but it turned out he wanted to be petted. Seriously. Just sauntered right up to me and started rubbing against my legs until I pet him.
Then today I heard wailing out in the catio. But when I looked it was just Jake saying hello to Fake Jake, who seems to be getting lighter and shrinking as Jake is expanding, which is to say there's no mistaking them for each other as I once had...
Of course Jenny experienced immediate FOMO and had to go rushing out to see what was up. At which point Fake Jake got bored and left...
Jenny hopped up on a shelf to see if she could could spot where he went. Jake, apparently blaming her for him losing his entertainment, was not thrilled with her...
Jenny, who is above such nonsense, just climbed up to the top shelf while Jake sat below sulking.
Until they heard the dinner alarm, at which point she ran inside while Jake sat in front of the cat door wailing again. I was going to go open the door to let him in, but only after I had put food out. Except that wasn't necessary. Since food is his biggest motivator, he ultimately decided that he'd let himself in.
I don't even want to think of the wailing which would ensue if he came in to find out that his sister had eaten his dinner.
Why can't anybody make a browser that doesn't fucking piss me off?
Apple's Safari is hot garbage and has been for years. Can't load Facebook or Instagram pages to save its life. Fails to display content properly all too often. And I'm not talking esoteric, fringe sites... I'm talking about major websites. Which is to say that either Apple doesn't use their own shitty fucking browser. Or they just don't give a crap. Or probably both.
Google's Chrome reminds you that Google Chrome is not your fucking default browser every fucking time you run it. And when you click out of it, then visit a Google service, it feels the need to fucking remind you again. On top of that, there are some sites which refuse to render properly on it or any of its variants.
The Brave browser (also built on Chrome) wants to sell you its VPN, and didn't turn out to be the bastion of privacy it claimed to be.
Microsoft's Edge is better than Chrome. At least was until they killed its code-base and also built it on Chrome. Now it's got their Copilot AI bullshit being built into it, which I have zero desire to be involved with.
And then there's Arc (also built on Chrome) which has some nice ideas, but keeps getting in its own way while trying to use it on top of inheriting Chrome's failings.
Opera is also built on Chrome.
Vivaldi is also built on Chrome.
Maxthon is also built on Chrome.
Mozilla's Firefox is not built on Chrome and was my former browser of choice until it also had problems loading Instagram and some other mainstream sites. Then they came out and said that their top priority for 2025 was AI. And they killed Pocket. I have zero interest investing in their bullshit again.
Tor is built on Firefox but, strangely enough, gave me even more problems with websites that Firefox can actual open properly.
Midori is also built on Firefox.
And so...
I mostly use Safari unless it's for Facebook, Instagram, or a handful of other sites which are unusable with it.
And that's pretty much all you can do because Apple and Google own every fucking thing. And since most browsers are actually Google Chrome in disguise, Google can basically do whatever the hell they want to break standards while Apple stubbornly refuses to be compatible with what they choose to break.
At this point I'm contemplating giving up on the web and moving to a cabin in the woods.
Picture it...
There I am, finishing up an email and pulling up my blog to write today's entry. I start blathering on about Apple's new iOS beta update that dropped today, when my YouTube video ends on the television and something very cool appears in my "up next" suggestions.
It's the only news that matters today...
Not saying that I'm going to head to the theater to see it... but I will be anxiously awaiting the home video release!
When I got home I went to put away my garbage cans, but the clover in my front yard was full of bees! So I guess I'll wait until tonight so I don't disturb them.
Ever since I put out the bee watering stations, the number of bees which inhabit my yard has at least doubled. They're everywhere!
I'm so happy that I begged the HOA to let me keep it instead of spraying herbicides all over it. The stuff has pretty much taken over my lawn and I'm 100% okay with that!
One of my favorite songs of all time is Only You by Yazoo (known as "Yaz" in the USA). It starts as a deceptively simple track which builds to something amazing as it plays out. Vince Clarke wrote it while he was still in Depeche Mode, but didn't record it until he formed a duo with vocal powerhouse Alison Moyet.
I was reminded of the song when I heard it over a commercial for something or other...
What I didn't know is that Moyet sang it with an orchestra at a fashion show for Burberry! And holy cats is she aging beautifully...
This lead me down quite a rabbit hole...
First of all, Kylie Minogue recorded a version. It's perfectly lovely. But here's the thing that blew my mind... she sang it as a duet. WITH JAMES CORDEN?!??...
Mr. Enrique Iglesias recorded the track en español. I don't like how his version starts, but once the cadence builds, it's quite beautiful and respectful to the original...
He also recorded it in English, but I don't think it's as good as the Spanish version...
Selena Gomez stripped away the pop trappings and recorded a haunting version for TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY...
This version by the Flying Pickets is a cappella, which is a style I don't like at all. What's remarkable is that this version was actually more successful than the original. Margaret Thatcher is reported to have loved this version, which is kind of damning praise given how awful she was...
The song is kinda hard to screw up. Which is to say that even if you didn't care for the cover, you can still respect what a great piece of music the original is.
I'm not saying that bland-looking food is bland-tasting food, but it seems as though that should be true.
I thought of this as I was putting some nachos into the oven last week. Chips and cheese? Monochromatic bland-looking. Boring. But with tomatoes, jalapeños, purple onion, and olives on top? Well...
Pretty.
Then last night I was going to have one of my favorite treats: toasted naan with hummus and feta. Something that's far from bland-tasting, but it looks incredibly bland. So I diced up some tomatoes and onions and mixed with some olive oil and Mediterranean herbs to make it look better...
Much better.
And tastier too.
Life is too short for boring-looking food.
I'm entirely too tired to blog because I'm working on four hours sleep, but that's no excuse for missing new bullets... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...
• Emmy! It is un-fucking-believable to me that Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, and Genevieve O'Reilly didn't get nominated for their roles in Andor. It's likewise unbelievable that Denise Gough and Kyle Soller didn't get nominated. The only actor getting a nod is Forest Whitaker (who absolutely deserved it)? I don't even know what the fuck to say here. At least Andor managed to get some writing love, directing love, and a drama series nom, which ain't nothing. But it's also not enough. — In other news, I really hope that Uzo Aduba wins for The Residence. No shade to the other talented actors, but she was next level. And it would be a nice cherry on top of the Netflix cancelation sundae.
• The Puppy List! I find it incredibly difficult to argue with this list...
@weratedogs Top 10 Cartoon Dogs! #weratedogs ♬ original sound - weratedogs
Except to say... my order would be different and I'd probably drop Scooby Doo and Courage in favor of Pluto, Zero (The Nightmare Before Christmas), Sam (Sam & Max: Freelance Police), Ren (Ren & Stimpy), Jake (Adventure Time), Seymour (Futurama), and Brain (Inspector Gadget)...
• Spite House! To explain how crazy the Seattle housing market is... this tiny house (in two stories!) just sold for $745,000. The first part of the video repeats, but it's worth watching to the end, because this is a truly remarkable house!
Perfectly livable. And very cool.
• imperson-AI-tion! People getting impersonated by shitty AI slop is not surprising. What's surprising is that people are falling for it. Now. But all too soon AI will likely be impossible to spot... even for a discerning eye...
@adamtots El Tortuga you will answer for your crimes
♬ original sound - Adam Ellis
One can only hope that AI detection tools get better at a faster rate.
• That Took a Turn! When it comes to up-and-coming comedy talent, there's quite a lot making the rounds in social media. One of my favorites at the moment is the crowd-work by Will Burkart...
How he was quick enough to roll with those punches is a mystery!
• Maladapted! Lord how I loathe Apple TV's Foundation... as an adaptation. As a TV show it's fine. I just wish they would have left Asimov's book out of it and done their own thing, since they're doing that anyway.
In the books, The Mule is an amazing plot device because Hari Seldon is dead. All that's left of him are recordings. So when The Mule comes along to throw a wrench in absolutely everything, both the First and Second Foundations were in a total panic. The Universe is falling and there seems that there's nothing they can do. They have to come up with a plan that will get the universe back on track.
But in the show Hari Seldon is kept alive. He's actively working on a way to stop The Mule. This completely defeats the entire premise of the book because the Foundations have lost their agency. But the book is ruined anyway, because they keep dragging the same fucking characters back again and again over hundreds of years... either through suspended animation or cloning. This sabotages the entire concept of a story which must pass through the generations to be told. What makes the story in the books unique is that they don't focus on a single set of characters. Humanity lives and dies and history marches on so that new characters can find their own way to deal with the crises at hand.
It drives me crazy what a missed opportunity this show was. They could have followed the book and had a series of guest stars come each season to play a character... then die. That would have been so cool. But, alas...
• Cancelation! This video is over an hour long. It's frickin' amazing. The more it went on, the more you see exactly how these disingenuous assholes manipulate a narrative to force their awful values on society... and kids. They're "Christians" and yet they outright lie because of a faux persecution complex to get people on their side....
Keep in mind that this is the same asshole who used the modern banana as definitive proof of God because it had angles to conform to the human hand, had an easy-open tab, and was curved towards the mouth. Except bananas have been cultivated by man and wild "bananas" have zero resemblance to his "proof." Not to mention the fact that the human hand conforms to four sides, not the five on a banana... bananas are actually easier to open from the bottom... and the magical curve disappears after two or three bites. It takes all of two minutes of rational thought to debunk this nonsense, but they don't give a shit because they have a series of videotapes to sell. This time it's children's books, but the idea is the exact same.
And now it's time for me to say an early good night.
For the longest time, Jake would be happy to take whatever attention he could get when I arrive home, then wander off when I have to leave him.
Not any more.
Now, if I leave before he's had enough pets, he follows me around the house squawking and crying until I pet him more.
Jenny, on the other hand, has the decency to wait until I get into bed before she starts crying for me to pet her...
Though she's not above crying if I don't feed her food she feels like eating, of course. Except I'm trying to not give in so easily now-a-days.
This evening I was going through some of the memorabilia I've got stashed in my garage, looking for an old photo.
Along the way I started looking through some of the stuff that my grandmother saved, including a box of things from my grandfather's old barber shop. Including a photo of my grandfather standing in his old barber shop that was taken long before I came along...
According to the calendars on the wall, this was taken in April of 1941.
Also in the box was an atlas. Specifically a war atlas which was printed sometime in 1942, complete with a scary General Douglas MacArthur portrait. It was put together soon after the USA entered the war after Pearl Harbor on December 8th in the previous year...
You can click to embiggen so you can read it.
Inside is some rather cool historical context for the day. Like when The United Nations was an important part of America's alliance with the free world...
You can click to embiggen so you can read it.
And there's a recap of how we got to where we were...
You can click to embiggen so you can read it.
You can click to embiggen so you can read it.
And then? BLAM! A summary of America's defensive capabilities and a history of using them in the war...
You can click to embiggen so you can read it.
In the middle is an atlas with maps of the world and commentary on their part in the war effort. And then there's a plan to smash the Nazis! Back when we actually fought Nazis...
You can click to embiggen so you can read it.
History fascinates me in a way that few things do.
Finds like this bring it to life.
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