Salutant te omnes ioculatores! Some days, you discover something and must share it with the world. You know that piece of rousing music you probably most associate with the circus? It often heralds the entrance of the clowns. I'll let Marty the Zebra refresh your memory: Well, as it turns out,…

Hmm...

A Viewing Guide for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Bottoms up! After all the viewing guides to date, we finally arrive at Deep Space Nine (DS9). While I love several other Star Trek series a whole lot (as you probably picked up on), this one remains my favorite for a multitude of reasons, not just for…

Believe it or not.

A Very Short Viewing Guide for Star Trek, The Animated Series (TAS) Okay. Perhaps you read the viewing guides for TOS yesterday. Maybe you've been watching Lower Decks, which references the O.G. animated series enough that you feel like you need to see this oft forgotten Trek series for yourself.…

Well played. #Shakespeare

Viewing Guides for Star Trek The Original Series (TOS) My post ranking every episode of the original Star Trek series remains one of the most popular on the site which means we're well overdue to have a viewing guide. This year will mark the 60th anniversary of adventures of the starship…

Sighs...

To thine own self...

Robert Waldinger and the Happy Life Reviewing works about motivation and fulfillment around the new year and it was easy to come across videos featuring Robert Waldinger, the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has been going on for 87 years now. As you might imagine, just…

Kickstarting Your 2026 It's the new year and if you haven't already locked in your resolutions and resolution-related plans, have I got a post for you: a 26-minute breakdown of 20 tactics to make for a better 2026 from Daniel Pink. I first read Pink's work with Free Agent Nation and then later…

Public Domain Day 2026 Since the return of thousands of works entering the public domain again in 2019, I've been posting about it -- and given site traffic and feedback, y'all want me to, so here goes this year's edition (previous entries should all be tagged). Note that I'm specifically talking…

Contemplating the Tail End It's the end of the year, so it's a good time to be contemplative. And you know those novels or TV shows, usually fantasy, where some character opines that they have "fewer winters ahead than behind?" It's in that contemplative mood that I looked through my stack o'…

You, yes You, Should Be Making Art It's definitely time people start thinking about making New Year's resolutions or otherwise mapping out things they want to get done for the year ahead. And I'm suggesting that, whatever those plans are, it should include some art. This should not come as a…

Your Online Bullsh*t Detector Look, apparently the theme for this week is dealing with online crap (well, that and working through cinematic loss by adding to our "films to watch/rewatch" list). However, if you want to help figuring out things, you could do worse than physicist and science…

TCM Remembers 2025 Turner Classic Movies (TCM) continues its tradition of an elegant montage of the film industry folks we lost this year, both in front of and behind the camera. It's a good reminder to check out a film or six... and don't be surprised if you don't get wistful with many movie…

#WelcomeYule!

Margarete Steiff and the Rise of Stuffed Animals I did a post the other day about Girl Scout cookies because the holidays count as overall cookie season and perhaps some people might cry foul. True, those people might not be much fun at holiday parties, but they have a point. Stuffed animals,…

A reminder that, back in 2020, some people found some truly inventive ways to occupy their time... and we all benefited. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss-P...

Girl Scout Cookies’ Origin Story Look, I know it's not "Girl Scout Cookie season" yet, but a) I always forget when exactly it starts, b) I know it's sooner than later, and c) we're in the midst of cookie baking season for sure with the holidays, so... maybe you'll try and bake a recreation?…

Y2RAY: A Partial Veil Holiday Special So remember that post last month about the Partial Veil crowdfunding? Well, I’m happy to say that it succeeded — and, in fact, we’ll find out this Sunday who falls victim to the Cruel Hand of Fate (scroll down to the "Cruel Hand of Fate" part of the…

Whomever created this image deserves a major award from INS. #IYKYK

Okay, NOW it’s time for Christmas music My kids independently confirmed they did not want Christmas music to play nor Christmas decorations to go up until after Thanksgiving. Indeed, they voiced their displeasure at local radio stations switching to Christmas music and lights going up on…

A Thought for your Pennies After decades of debating whether or not to stop minting the penny, the United States has finally stopping minting them. Just last month, in fact. Maryclaire Dale has a good overview article for the Associated Press that came out right around the time the last pennies…

The song of my people.

I'll take you there.

Have you seen this chicken?

That little-known Judy Blume book set in the Hyborian Age. #WhatIsBestInLife?

Let your day have some good nonsense. (You're probably full up on the other kind)

What if the Film’s Gone Wrong? No, not if the play's gone wrong. That's its own thing. And I don't mean the Shaun of the Dead has gone wrong. That's as brilliant as Shaun's plan to get to the Winchester is daft. I just needed a good image of befuddlement. But we have all watched films where we're…

-HBO Max doesn't renew Sesame Street -Netflix picks up Sesame Street -Netflix buys HBO max

Once Upon Many Times: Folklore Insights All seven or nine regular readers may realize I like folklore, probably more due to two fiction podcasts (one more fairy tales, one more spooky tales) Jabberwocky Audio Theater makes versus posts here. Basically, you combine the fact that my siblings and I…

Guilty as charged.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: live every day as if it's a slow news day. #NotTheOnion www.nbcnews.com/news/world/a...

Milwaukee has your layover plans covered I knew Milwaukee's Mitchell Airport had the added appeal of a Usinger's store (which I no longer see listed, so maybe it doesn't?), but I did not know it had a wonderful used book store, Renaissance Books, which you can learn about in this short piece: As…

“Happiness is equilibrium. Shift your weight.” – Tom Stoppard I thought of that quote this weekend and what it means to me. And boy, it takes some shifting of weigt for this kind of creative loss. You see, British playwright Tom Stoppard has died at the age of 88. You can read obituaries and…

The Black Friday Games Along with "Alice's Restaurant" and WKRP in Cincinnati's "Turkeys Away," I feel this should be in seasonal rotation: Stay safe out there, people!

The Future of Retail is, if not Bright, Using Those Vintage-style Light Bulbs Well, maybe. Retail is the era of omnipresent online shopping needs to have some extra experiential spice of its own. And it's no secret that retail's "biggest season" is upon us. Much digital ink is being spent on…

Mythologically approved.

Was that a kawoosh? Stargate is coming back to TV! You heard it right, someone is dialing the gate and a new Stargate TV show is coming through the wormhole. And no, as fans will patiently explain, they're not talking about the 1994 movie, they're talking about the multiple shows that started in…

We're gonna need a montage! A #timey-wimey montage! youtu.be/VKhJrA9cSpc?...

For those who celebrate #DoctorWho

The Muppets Remember Jim Henson On May 16th, 1990, Jim Henson a writer, director, puppeteer, and all-around friend of imagination, died suddenly. There was a public memorial less than a week later and another one in July. Then, 35 years ago this night, November 21, 1990, the Muppets did their own…

‘Tis the Season for Cyber Security If you're in a workplace like mine, you probably get a lot of seasonal online safety tips... but what if you aren't? So in the spirit of remembering some handy tips as all the holiday deals start dominating our inboxes and site next week, check out some of CISA's…

Still a classic. #Dune #LongLiveTheFighters

Partial Veil: Kickstarter with a Deadly Twist You all may recall last year got an opportunity to play the good-natured Deputy Ray Lester in the freaky-natured horror podcast Partial Veil. Well, besides picking up some darn fine awards and acclaim, Partial Veil has continued with season two and now…

Winners know when to quit. Quitters often win.

It's more fun to be a tour guide than a gatekeeper. #Fandom

Remembering In a more philosophical mood today, which is not unsurprising on Veterans Day (probably known better as Armistice Day and Remembrance Day for some readers). For most of the organizations I've worked for over the years, I have worked with a lot of veterans. In our current times where…

Do You Even Sci-Fi, Tech Bro? This year's sci-fi offerings on screen have included some truly dickish tech bros from Nicholas Hoult's self-assured Lex Luthor in the latest film version of Superman to Samuel Blenkin's infuriating Boy Kavalier in Alien: Earth. Even if you haven't seen interviews…