As opposed to the invasion of Ukraine, of course, which I'm sure Owen considers to be a quarrel in a faraway country, between people of whom we know nothing

This also makes the leftist defense of Russia even stupider because Putin explicitly referred to Lenin creating the ethnic republics within the USSR as his great mistake in the speech announcing the full scale invasion

AI thrives on processing gigantic datasets to look for layers of patterns and connections. It's capable of fantastic things for drug discovery and cancer research, and yet the whole field is being bamboozled over "make pictures naked" slop

Look, I'm an Ellison fan, or I was at an impressionable time of my life, but not only was Agatha Christie a better writer, she was even better at Ellison's two greatest skills: arrogance and being a petty bitch.

my christmas present to myself has been sorted.

I think one of the funniest and strangest things about being a Canadian going overseas is encountering people who think liberals are, categorically, weak and soft-willed and likely to back down on things. And then the most famous one in Canada is still Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

I think it's actually down to the way in the 1960s Britain caught on to American culture at a bit of a time-lag, plus the breakup of the Beatles. I shall explain in a thread.

Air fryer scalloped potatoes that are actually pretty healthy! Slice 500g of yellow potatoes as thin as you can. Place them in greased 7-inch air fryer bucket pan, cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes While they cook, make sauce

The heist, "caught on film", had texture and warmth and an indescribable aura of authenticity that it would have lacked had it been shot with digital cameras.

Do you need gen AI to do literally anything? No. But is it going to save you time and money? When you factor in the resources needed to fix its mistakes, also no. But at least the end product will be better and make you more money, right? Buster, you're not gonna believe this,

Oh, I hear “Madame Web” is on Netflix at the moment. I had a lovely conversation exploring how it connected us all with the great @nemesis4909.bsky.social and Chris on @kneelbeforeblog.co.uk. A good listen, I think! www.podbean.com/ep/pb-ppwp9-...

Abstract sketchbook explorations in neocolor ii from 2024 #abstractart #art #sketchbook #neocolor

if you were to make a gender-swapped version of James Bond, and needed to come up with a bawdy euphemism name for a glamorous and sexy Bond Boy, ironically you could do a lot worse than Roger Moore.

Several teams of female gamers have dropped out of the Dead by Daylight Women's World Cup after trans women were banned.

i strongly, strongly believe that good writing is downstream of clear thinking and a strong understanding of the subject matter at hand. without fail, tortured writing comes from writers who don’t know and can’t think clearly about anything.

My experience as well. So far we're 2-for-2 on kids having a largely bullying/abuse-free middle school experience. Not without bumpy spots of course, but light years away from what I endured. My hot take: the anti-bullying stuff has really worked, which is why conservatives are pushing back at it.

the christmas canon in my house growing up

Cruelty is anhedonic. It rarely delivers the euphoria promised because, in the abstract, what feels righteous and joyful inevitably reveals itself to be sordid and small. Then it's "No not like that". "No not enough". "No the real battle, the forever war to make this feel good starts now". Forever.

I am listening to the version by John Legend and Kelly Clarkson that earnestly tries to rework the lyrics to not seem creepy and effectively makes my point about retiring the song: there's just no reason for a back-and-forth if someone isn't trying to persuade the other person to stay. 1/2

anyway here's one of my favorite current Cuban singers covering my all-time favorite classic salsa song: youtu.be/ey3DSihbp9E?...

Completely skipped by me that the sadly on-permanent-hiatus @quitstartrekpod.bsky.social turned five last month. Wonderfully silly little show that introduced me to an incredibly diverse set of guests, friends and colleagues in the most unsuspecting ways possible

If I had to diagnose the cause of the "Bluesky malaise" as @kleinman.bsky.social calls it, I would describe it as a lot of people without the skills or resources or interest in journalism or activism mistakenly believing that being performatively miserable all the time will net the same results.

Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" should have included a line about cats immediately shitting in the litter box just after you've cleaned it.

Forever confused by people like this. You can't be 8 forever. You can't be 12 forever. You can't be 18 forever.

"What do you hear, Starbuck? "Nothing but the rain, sir." Re-watching 2004 BSG after @darrenmooney.bsky.social talked about it on his DS9 chat. The context that it's Ron Moore's... response to Voyager not living up to its premise makes it a very interesting watch.

"Baby, It's Cold Outside" is an excellent example of why we should allow pop culture staples to die off, particularly since the song relies on a bunch of extinct social codes. Though if you must have a version of it to listen to, may I recommend the best version: youtu.be/90FC6BEzqII?...

Section 28 had such an impact not because of what it banned, but because of what people thought it banned, and anticipatory compliance. #GirlGuiding is a charity and a club. It could change its constitution to avoid constraint. Instead it has published a statement worthy of Herod. #AllGirlsAreGirls

Netflix's 'Jingle Jangle' is a modern holiday classic that holds a deeper meaning for those enduring the pain of grief. #Heistmas

Today I learned that as much as my tolerance for kitsch and the utterly embarrassing jumps up around Christmas music, this has limits. And those limits are "Do They Know It's Christmas?" whose lyrics make me angry...and Cliff Richard.

Obviously this is impossible because Alan Moore looks like he's genetically a wizard, it's simply impossible to imagine what he would look like as a schoolboy oh there he is.

a decade ago i made a 24-hour mix of music from 1977 (the year i was born). i've been casually browsing in the filmmaking of 1977, and aside from the usual notables it's been a reminder of why i don't fuck with film the way i do with music: the highs are high, but the lows are unbearably tedious

I named my fists George and Michael because this is going to be your last Christmas.

Young Boris Pasternak's face not only knew about iPhones, it had several poems published in your college literary journal and became microfamous for some truly insufferable opinions on Twitter while everyone said behind its back that its parents were paying the rent for its apartment in Greenpoint

There are 10 – 15 million trans women worldwide, 81,500 Olympians since trans women have been openly allowed to compete as women, and yet not a single Olympic medal of any colour has been won by a trans woman in 11 Olympic Games. youtu.be/B8CzqxhZk7I?...

The text on this screen is like an unreleased Fall song. I'm enjoying reading it in Mark E Smith's voice. What can it all mean??

I named my fists Brian and Wilson because you'll be spending a lot of time lying in bed

This should read by all health care providers. Assumptions around autism,* especially autism in women are often outdated, wrong, shaming and harmful. *as this applies to other conditions (ie mental health issues) it’s a good reminder to always try to centre a patient and their experiences (1/2)

Help us support the cause. share.nwmd.social/s/8uwn8lE6

Now this gets my attention. I do love the idea of #bookstores as "third spaces", on par with religious centres of all faiths, pubs/taverns, and so on.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Now wondering if there's a third example of "the bass player wasn't in the country so we just used a model for the video" to go along with this and the puppet version of Alan Lancaster in Status Quo's "Rockin' All Over The World" video...

Douglas has opinions

Watercolor marathon continues

Woah! Ontario passed a law starting Jan 2026 that it is illegal for companies to ghost you. If you have interviewed for a job they are legally required to inform you if they hire someone else or close the position. The law also requires salary transparency on listings and disclosing use of AI

AND it axed countless research, library, and museum grants! THOUSANDS of student jobs lost and children prevented from learning ~humanities~

Lady Jane. Jagger was born to play a sociopathic eighteenth century lothario instead of the sharecropper cosplay Richards (and the rockwrite press) preferred

It’s like Plain Awful, he just emulates the last person to make an impression.

Brooks is emblematic of the American intelligentsia; his entire career is built on indicting "the elites" (by which he means middle-class liberals) for being smug, self-indulgent, and insular, but he is deeply outraged by attempt to hold the actual commanding heights of power accountable.