An old martial arts instructor of mine used to phrase the idea as “invest in failure”

Saw Rob Zombie in concert in 2002 - it was like a real-life EC Comic. Awesome spectacle, mucho fun.

It’s been a while since I read any Arthur C. Clarke but my memory of his writings is that they were surprisingly chaste? That said, I was pretty young when I read him and may well have been fairly oblivious.

JD Vance - from shitty books turned into shitty movies, to failed diplomatic endeavors: is there anything he can't fail at?

The Absolute Hell of Watching a Movie at the Alamo Drafthouse in 2026 Once America's most promising movie theater chain, the Alamo Drafthouse has become a QR-coded symbol of corporate enshittification.

Why am I 100% convinced that Sony's response to this will be to shut the whole chain down instead of trying to fix what they broke?

www.indiewire.com/features/com...

How long before Trump claims that the Fake News doesn’t give him enough credit for piloting Artemis?

I think the most terrifying concept put forth by this administration, and followed by its white nationalist supporters, is the idea of the "inherent greatness" of the United States. I feel like a great deal of evil results from this notion.

It was okay in 2016. He's a malignant narcissistic POS but nobody in what used to be the Republican Party has the balls to stand up to him - even though his base is a frothing, demented minority.

Is it weird that I read the first part of this as if it were being sung by David Gilmour doing "Good by blue sky" from The Wall?

Cherry blossoms that are just on the verge of blooming

Not...quite...there over here in Virginia

Makes me think of Andy Weir's comments about how he doesn't want any social commentary in his Star Trek, he just wants to see "Romulans and the Federation shooting at each other". I worry that the people who own the franchises these days have no awareness of, or care about, the soul of the thing.

I've been trying to think of a good analogy - it's like Tolkien's creation is a massive, completely interconnected puzzle. Presuming to "add" to that world - particularly without many of the underlying themes of sacrifice and grace - to me just breaks the whole thing.

Virginia voter here - I'm getting spammed with texts and mailers purporting to be from Obama saying to vote "No" on redistricting. Apparently they're coming from a Republican-led Democracy and Justice PAC".

I saw it at the Alamo last Friday - how many times did you or someone else laugh while muttering “oh my GOD!”?

I share your worries. Unfortunately Tolkien’s works are now in the hands of people with too much money who don’t give a damn about the material, just turning a buck.

I love how United Airlines asks you if you want to check a bag - which you have to pay for - BEFORE informing you that the flight is full and you can check your bag for free. Tricky, tricky.

I feel like I have some good candidates for guesses...

I heard absolutely nothing whatsoever remotely close to him saying they wouldn't be there anyway.

Age verification? I remember the milkman delivering milk and butter to the door (to be fair, it was my grandparents' door...)

I had TikTok for a couple of months until I realized that it was devouring my hours the same way that MTV did when it first started.

How TikTok 2.0 Became a Weapon for ICE In just one week, the company has gone from being Gen Z’s preferred social media platform to a tool for spying on Americans and the suppression of information.

"TikTok’s Terms of Service now explicitly include tracking of location and citizenship status (among other identity markers, such as sex)." newrepublic.com/article/2059...

I love the movies for what they are, but their treatment of Eowyn's tragic story is almost unforgivable. Her confrontation with the Witch-king in the Rankin-Bass animated version of RotK is a million times better than what Jackson barfed onto the screen.

Siege of Gondor – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry Posts about Siege of Gondor written by Bret Devereaux

For the SUPER Lord of the Rings nerds:

I came across this interesting deep-dive about the Siege of Gondor from the LotR movies, with comparisons and contrasts to the book, written by a military historian.

acoup.blog/category/col...

Love that song and the album.

Just got word that ICE is raiding clubs and bars in downtown Austin.

Most folks don’t realize that Elvis Costello’s “What’s So Funny (’Bout Peace Love and Understanding)” is a cover.

"Comply or die" - how very American.

(And before anyone jumps on me, I am very aware that this has been the reality of life in this country for a large number of people all along)

To ICE that's a feature not a bug. They WANT journalists to be afraid to cover them.

I had to be mindful of that phenomenon the first time I watched Citizen Kane