Favorites from Halloween Jack
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Movie: Hollywood Shuffle
[TRAILER] Bobby Taylor (Robert Townsend) a Black actor limited to stereotypical roles, dreams of making it big as a highly respected performer.
Movie: Battle Beyond the Stars
[TRAILER] A farm boy recruits a band of outlaws to save the planet Akir from forces that threaten to wipe them out from the face of the universe. A battle stretching beyond the stars begins here.
Istanbull not Coinstantinople
Being early investors in tech wasn’t something that had historically been available to the average person in Turkey. The instant millionaires and billionaires and unicorns pretty much lived elsewhere. Now, Faruk Özer saw a possibility. People in Turkey could shelter their money in what was clearly going to be the next big tech boom. But the biggest opportunity wasn’t in trading coins—it was in running a cryptocurrency exchange. Exchanges collect people’s money and, for a commission, invest it; that gives people who don’t have the time or skills to invest directly into the blockchain a pathway to crypto. from He Emptied an Entire Crypto Exchange Onto a Thumb Drive. Then He Disappeared [Wired; ungated]
We had the Sex Pistols play here and you’re worse!
“I was 25,” she says. “I’d go for my mouth and nothing would come out. It started when I was pregnant with my eldest daughter, and I just put it down to the pregnancy, but it wasn’t a happy time in my life. I think my then-husband wasn’t that keen on having a baby, blah blah blah, it was a difficult time, which we got through, but I think it impacted on me a bit.”Folk legend Linda Thompson has been suffering from dysphonia since the early seventies, making it harder and harder for her to record new albums. For her latest, she got other people to sing her songs, called it Proxy Music and recreated the album cover from Roxy Music's eponymous debut. Alexis Petridis interviews her for The Guardian on the album and her personal history in folk.
The comics legend lurking in a Sunderland basement
The BBC profiles comic artist and writer Bryan Talbot, following the recent announcement that he will be inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame.
Hierarchies of Fountain Pen Friendly Paper
“So as a baseline, what needs to happen before I will publicly recommend something as “fountain pen friendly paper”? My standard is fairly simple: No bleed-through or feathering with any fountain pen nib that can be reasonably used for everyday writing. (Because I mainly use my paper for drafting and notetaking, as opposed to drawing, wet ink samples, or flex-nib calligraphy, my standards may be more lenient than some.)”
"High school isn't a very important place."
For the 50th anniversary of Stephen King's debut novel Carrie (original review), the New York Times Book Review offers: an appreciation by Margaret Atwood; an essay by Amanda Jayatissa; a collection of reflections from various luminaries; a King reading guide; and a podcast with Grady Hendrix and Damon Lindelof about King's works and influence (NYT gift links throughout).
Star Trek: Discovery: Red Directive
The Adventure Begins! Burnham and team race to acquire "the greatest treasure in the known galaxy" from an 800-year old Romulan ship.
[Previous episode]
The Passing of Bette and Boo
Christopher Durang, TONY award-winning playwright, has died at the age of 75.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch: The Harbinger
As the Batch plans their next move, a mysterious stranger arrives.
Live Long And Syndicate
Rare Footage Of Leonard Nimoy Hosting 1975 Special Presentation Of Star Trek’s “The Menagerie”
In 1975, Paramount produced a special movie presentation for syndication of the two-part Star Trek episode “The Menagerie,” hosted by TOS star Leonard Nimoy. The original Spock recorded introductions for each part of the episode as well as closing remarks for the special presentation. In the special, Nimoy explains how “The Menagerie” uses footage from the original Star Trek pilot “The Cage” and more. Originally recorded February 6, 1983 from KAUT in Oklahoma City.
Karen Carpenter, the Drummer Who Sang
An eighteen-year-old Karen Carpenter going wild on the drums on Dancing in the Street
(and the same song again). This is from back when the Carpenter siblings were two-thirds of the Dick Carpenter Trio. At fifteen she was already a fantastic drummer, as can be heard on their cover of Caravan. Here she is in 1976 on stage doing a drum solo on multiple sets that turns into a drum duet and here's a similar routine from the 1976 Carpenters TV special except she's duetting with herself. By then she rarely drummed on their songs, though here she's drumming on Help in 1974. But in 1971 she still drummed on most tracks and that version of the band was recorded for the BBC in a 40 minute concert. Finally, here's a discussion thread by fans about her as a drummer.
Movie: Star Trek: Generations
A space anomaly appears to kill Captain James T. Kirk. But 78 years later, he emerges from the anomaly alongside Captain Jean-Luc Picard—onto his last battlefield.
Book: Unseen Academicals
Lord Vetinari, the tyrant Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, hates Football. Everyone knows this. It doesn't stop the mob-rules sides from battling it out in the back streets of the city, but the chaos and violence that inevitably results is at odds with his ability to impose order. When the Wizards at Unseen University discover that their beloved food budget is dependent on them fielding a team at least once every twenty years, though, it seems like it's time for the disc to finally organize the beautiful game. And four lowly employees at UU get swept along in all the furor, catching a whiff of dreams they never would have previously thought possible... (Industrial Revolution #6, Discworld #37) By Terry Pratchett.
Usenet Arcane Archive
Cat Yronwode is famous in the comic book world, but you might not know that she is also a practitioner and teacher of hoodoo, magic spells and herbs. In the bottom of her extensive website you will find the Arcane Archive, a plethora of Usenet posts from the 1990s (?) on Religion, Magick, Divination and other assorted stuff.
Old News Grey Of Whistle The Test World
An oddity that YouTube decided to share with me -- Queen, 1977, using Old Grey Whistle Test as a promotional tool for their upcoming album News Of The World. The Old Grey Whistle Test Presents Queen News Of The World [2h10m] is a lengthy look into rock and roll fame decades past.
And what if when someone said “This is not okay,” we believed them?
This is a long, complicated story. I want to take a moment, here in the middle, to remind you that as Champion harassed, stalked, and threatened various members of the literary community, he was, still, interviewing prominent writers, receiving advanced copies of new books (perhaps even from Graywolf), attending industry meeting and parties, writing for national publications. Champion continued the work that, while he loved, put him in contact with people he had already, or would later, hurt.The exile of Ed Champion: how one man could be both a celebrated member of the NY literary scene and a serial harasser and why he could get away with it. By Molly McArdle for Brooklyn Magazine.
A nipple and some jockstraps
This last weekend, Seattle's Joint Enforcement Team (JET), which is a coalition of Seattle Police, Fire, the state Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB), and others, raided four gay bars, among other nightlife venues, over "lewd conduct". They found a bartender’s exposed nipple and a few people wearing jockstraps.
Movie: The Predator
When a young boy accidentally triggers the universe's most lethal hunters' return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and a disgruntled scientist can prevent the end of the human race. This is the one you power through between Predators and Prey.
Predator Fan Film WTF?
Predator: Dark Ages
Regarding the mystic power of a ludicrous sci fi one off featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger on generations of wannabe monster movie auteurs. Excluding of course any reference to the execrable corporate mashups of all things Alien vs. Predator and their occasionally molecular acidic ilk for all the obvious they suck reasons.
Regarding the mystic power of a ludicrous sci fi one off featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger on generations of wannabe monster movie auteurs. Excluding of course any reference to the execrable corporate mashups of all things Alien vs. Predator and their occasionally molecular acidic ilk for all the obvious they suck reasons.
Happy 50th birthday, more or less, to Dungeons & Dragons!
Tom Van Winkle (01/10/2024), "Fifty Years of Dungeons & Dragons": "Fifty years ago this month, the first 1000 copies of the original Dungeons & Dragons were printed and then boxed up at Gary Gygax's house. It's supposed to have been late in January of 1974, but we don't have a specific date. January 1974 is good enough for me. And what counts as the specific origin date, anyway? The final draft? The actual printing? The availability for sale? We're close enough. I'm saying it's been fifty years right now."
How Not to Speak to Someone With ADHD
How Not to Speak to Someone With ADHD
If you, your child, or your spouse/partner has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), you may encounter naysayers who simply do not understand the condition and its impact on everyday life.
Bowiemas/Bowienalia January 8/10
Even as David Bowie gets a street named after him in Paris for his 77th birthday and the 8th anniversary of his ultimate persona transformation, we should perhaps observe the first Bowie death we all experienced: D. A. Pennebaker's film Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, the final rock and roll suicide , July 3, 1973. [Vimeo, 1h30m] New for this year, Louder Magazine writes about the making of an earlier album, The Man Who Sold The World. But, of course, 2024 is the 50th anniversary of Diamond Dogs [YT playlist], lauded recently in Far Out Magazine, so here is footage of Bowie playing in Hollywood in 1974 [Dailymotion, 40m].
What If...?: What If... Hela Found the Ten Rings?
In which Odin sends Hela to Midgard instead of her room own personal dimension.
What If...?: …The Watcher Broke His Oath?
The Uatcher gathers heroes all across the multiverse for one final battle against "Ultra-Vison"
What If...?: What if… Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster?
Here we have the 'missing' episode from season 1 that was the source of the Gamora we met in What If…The Watcher Broke His Oath?
Stamps Back
Wired called it the 'The Shadow Internet'. Inverse Phase (Previously) talked about 'How Software Piracy Birthed an Underground Art Scene' at HOPE 2018. A recently released full-length documentary (website) details how teenagers ignited a computing revolution in the 1980s with illegally copied video games.
GIVE ME STRONG JAZZ HANDS, EVERYONE.
"Hands Down" movement advent calendar
from Katy Bowman with some ideas on how to strengthen and take care of our fingers, wrists, hands, and forearms. Bowman previously on MeFi.
How bison are restoring US grasslands
How bison are restoring US grasslands.
Plains bison co-evolved with the short-grass prairie. In the 12,000 years since the end of the Pleistocene, they have proven themselves to be potent ecosystem engineers.
An adult bison eats about 25lb (11kg) of grass a day. The grasses adapted to their foraging. Vegetation across the plains uses the nutrients in their dung. Birds pluck their fur from bushes to insulate their nests.
Bison also shape the land literally. They roll in the dust and create indentations known as "wallows" that hold water after rainstorms. After the bison move on, insects flourish in these pools and become a feast for birds and small mammals. Pronghorn antelope survive by following their tracks through deep winter snows.
Clutter Block #4: Fantasy Stuff For My Fantasy Life
7 emotional blocks making it harder to declutter.
#1 My Stuff Keeps Me in the Past. Looking at these items may reinforce that your best days are behind you.
#2 My Stuff Tells Me Who I Am. Ask what am I looking to these things to tell me about myself?
#3 Stuff I'm Avoiding. (It me! It me!)
CBC interview with decluttering maven Tracy McCubbin (onTikTok).
#1 My Stuff Keeps Me in the Past. Looking at these items may reinforce that your best days are behind you.
#2 My Stuff Tells Me Who I Am. Ask what am I looking to these things to tell me about myself?
#3 Stuff I'm Avoiding. (It me! It me!)
CBC interview with decluttering maven Tracy McCubbin (onTikTok).
This is a memory, or perhaps many memories braided into one
In these years, you are never able to sleep, developing an addiction to Ambien that you’ll still be fighting twenty years later. Your thoughts circle around and around and around and around, taunting you with your deepest anxieties, turning your own mind against itself. In your early twenties, you’ll be diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. But now, at fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, you take the thoughts at their word, experience them only as evidence that something is irrevocably broken within you. from The Protagonist Is Never in Control [CW: abusive relationships, dysfunctional families, gaslighting]
The Thirstening
“Hey Chloe,” you say, “I would like both Four Weddings and the Funeral and my relationship with Doctor Who completely sullied while still nourishing my relationship with my vinyl fetish. You got anything for me?” - Ten flicks that'll make you thirsty... for blood!
Launches, landings, elements, and the fiery golden apples of the sun
NASA started work on this day in 1958.
So let's mark the occasion by checking on the past month of humanity's exploration of space.
A Tasty Long Con
As the year turns to fall, (it'll be a chilly 85°F for me tomorrow) it's time to think about preserving a larder for the long cold winter. And while you can think about your pickles, your preserves and canned goods for days, let's look instead at the French technique of "confit".
300 to 400 physicians a year in the US take their own lives...
US surgeons are killing themselves at an alarming rate. One decided to speak out
“I was the top junior tennis player in the United States,” she began. “I am an associate professor of surgery at Harvard.
“But I am also human. I am a person with lifelong depression, anxiety, and now a substance use disorder.”
The room fell silent.
“But I am also human. I am a person with lifelong depression, anxiety, and now a substance use disorder.”
The room fell silent.
Book: Hogfather
It's beginning to look a lot like Hogswatch! The Disc's midwinter celebration, held on the last day of the year, is a day of many traditions since time immemorial. You hang the mistletoe, you give the staff the day off, you exchange presents, and of course you await a visit from the Hogfather. But when Susan Sto Helit is visited on Hogswatch eve, the Jolly Fat Man is her grandfather in a fake beard and costume. And her grandfather is, of course, Death. Which means Susan has to fix reality again, while dodging the Assassins' Guild's most maladapted member... (Death #4, Discworld #20) By Terry Pratchett
Book: Soul Music
Who's ready for MUSIC WITH ROCKS IN?!?!? The Band with Rocks In has arrived in Ankh-Morpork and turned the disc upside-down. Now every teenager with a carriage house to play in has picked up a guitar, the Wizards of Unseen University are wearing denim and leather, and CMOT Dibbler has a way to merchandize all of it. But The Band have a tough road ahead of them, being chased by screaming fans, vengeful enforcers from the Musicians' Guild, and Death himself. Well, not himself himself, but his granddaughter Susan, anyway... (Death #3, Discworld # 16) By Terry Pratchett
Kansas man upset he can’t buy mini Toyotas ‘like the Taliban and ISIS.’
The Taliban has fresher trucks than us. The Honda Fit is dead. U can’t find a sauced-out 2-door to save your life. How did we get here??
If You Want To Be Friends, Then Why Aren’t You Friendly?
In a new essay, A. R. Moxon looks at calls for "civility" decrying how people are shunning others for holding hateful positions, and how the position dismisses the harm of such positions, as well as what friendship and acceptance actually mean. (SLSubstack)
Pick out a quiet town and tie it down
American Oligarchy
How Warren Buffett’s billionaire son took over a U.S. city and made it his personal playground.
On this day in 1977, Voyager 1 launched.
Space.com looks back on the historic launch
Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft to reach interstellar space in 2012. The spacecraft’s next big encounter will take place in about 40,000 years, when it will fly by another star system.
“My heart, my mind, is in England”
The Albanian town that TikTok emptied
Since the fall of communism in 1991, Kukes has lost roughly half of its population. In recent years, thousands of young people — mostly boys and men — have rolled the dice and journeyed to England, often on small boats and without proper paperwork.
Feeling lunar gravity
Had ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface.
Let's check in on humanity's exploration of space as autumn 2023 draws nigh, starting with the Sun and working outwards from there.
When Wizards and Orcs Came to Death Row
For men awaiting execution in Texas, illicit games of Dungeons & Dragons became a lifeline. CW: Discussion of violent crime and execution
Scout finds a forever home
"He’d had enough of being at the animal shelter, so Scout the dog climbed over one tall fence and then another, crossed a busy highway in the darkness, entered the automatic doors of a nursing home down the road, walked unnoticed into the lobby, hopped onto a couch, curled into a ball and quietly went to sleep for the night."
CW - sympathetic mention of animal abuse at the start (non-graphic).
CW - sympathetic mention of animal abuse at the start (non-graphic).