Lots of talk about the deleterious effects of social media on relationships and public discourse, but I think we overlook how it's seemingly robbed many people of the time-honored skill of silently rolling your eyes and moving on when you witness somebody saying something stupid or annoying

I can’t believe I’m watching interviews of city mayors talking about how they are coordinating with other mayors to discuss how to protect their residents FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES I know we are “used to it” but it is absolutely insane

These fascist dorks got all dolled up in their tough-guy fatigues and white cowboy hats just to strut through the most touristy part of the city looking for somebody whose life they could ruin, and they immediately got outfoxed by a single DoorDash guy. A feel-good story in the midst of horror.

I promise that spending 5 minutes reading this is a better use of your time than 5 minutes of doomscrolling. We have to listen to those reporting on the things large media isn’t. We have to share and be loud about it. We have to learn from and take courage from each other.

Joining the chorus: One Battle After Another is a banger

I do not love picking my kid up from school and having to wonder whether the nearby muscly white guy in shades and T-shirt whom I've never seen before is a member of the president's secret police

Current mood: heard about the TheologyTok (EschaToklogy?) prediction about the Rapture today, and my initial response was a relieved "okay cool, that time works for me"

Protesters yell at one agent with an American flag mask and sleeves “Nazi” as they push demonstrators off the sidewalk in front of the driveway. “Proud of it,” the agent replied.

What movie do you consider "perfect"? (I love answering this question.)

Sauron Was Practicing Metallurgy The Right Way by Ezra Klein

It is wild that Charlie Kirk of all things is becoming *the* litmus test. Even just talking about the event publicly without a sufficient supply of sackcloth and ashes is cast as "promoting political violence." I haven't seen this kind of mandatory performance of allegiance and piety since 9/11.

Some phrases are so well-known, you don't need to say the whole thing to be understood. E.g., you can say "birds of a feather" without saying "flock together." -“When life hands you lemons…” -“Great minds…” -“When in Rome…” Such partial phrases are called 'anapodotons.'

Nice reporting here from @404media.co. And thanks to the @waybackmachine.bsky.social you can still see the study that the Trump Admin tried to remove. Link below.

If you see this, quote with the energy you bring to BlueSky

For the Monday-morning crowd: @dodgyboffin.com represented Seeing & Believing at #TIFF25 last week. Here's her recap of the films she saw. I'm most intrigued by the pair of First Nations films she writes about: seeingandbelieving.substack.com/p/the-toront...

Excited to share the first official Seeing & Believing festival writeup for TIFF! @dodgyboffin.com reviews the buzzy films, of course, but ever the conscientious critic, she made sure to make time for the smaller stuff, too. Check it out and update your award-season watchlist accordingly.

Coming this weekend!

Watched a movie with the family the other day

Bleak. There's not much else to say at this point. Even if Trump doesn't follow through on the threats, the fact that he can post this and suffer no meaningful political consequences is evidence that something in this country is broken and can't be fixed.

The times are evil, so spend a few moments hanging out with the elf owl, the smallest owl in the world. Elf owls are known for nesting in holes that other animals have made (and then vacated) in the sides of saguaros, the largest cacti in the world.

Gotta say, pretty surreal to sit here waiting for your city to be invaded by your own stupid fucking country.

The Word of the Day is "quisling"

I am organizing multiple workshops this week for Chicago activists and organizers as we prepare for a possible military occupation of our city. I am tired but moving fast.

Happy Labor Day

the Meow Wolf folks should sue these people for copyright infringement just because they obviously have a lot of disposable income that could be better allocated toward weird public art installations

It's become a pattern lately for me to contemplate ridiculous subjects at length after the kids have gone to bed and I'm trying not to think about *gestures at everything* Tonight: when are we getting a documentary about dril?

my wife just got back from her book club of mostly offline people and i can report that the rumor has broken containment

excuse me what do you mean “we”

i really did not care for today. i was not a fan.

Current mood - playing Alien: Isolation and seeing how many different ways I can get my character slaughtered by the xenomorph

Dear User: The National Dread Service regrets to announce that our services are unavailable as of 8/22/2025. Our dread scientists have found it impractical to adapt their models to today's rapidly changing landscape of anxiety and general foreboding. Thank you for using the National Dread Service.

It's pretty cute how my one-year-old daughter gives me the Kubrick glower whenever she's trying to bend me to her will, but I imagine it will be less cute in a few years when her shining actually kicks in for real

the woke mind virus has infected children's books about birds - quick, get elon musk on the horn

The city that gave the world Siskel & Ebert no longer has a full-time print film critic.

Post one of the most haunting shots in movie history from a film made before the year 2000

Now playing (03:50 PM PST): "Certified Copy" (2010) By Abbas Kiarostami Runtime: 106 min.

my new AI powered lamp is trained on millions of lamp interactions so it understands that 50% of chain pulls are to turn it on and the other 50% are to turn it off. and honestly, it's a little spooky how it knows exactly what i want almost half of the time

using the power of AI, you can now step into and even talk with your favorite paintings, like the mona lisa! she won't stop screaming. her mind cannot comprehend the third dimension we placed her in. every moment of her existence is like being smashed through a plate glass window in every direction

My goto is to ask LLMs how many states have R in their name. They always fail. GPT 5 included Indiana, Illinois, and Texas in its list. It then asked me if I wanted an alphabetical highlighted map. Sure, why not.

Now playing (12:05 PM PST): "Late Spring" (1949) By Yasujirō Ozu Runtime: 108 min.

As end-of-empire scenarios go it is so much more dignified to get your capital city sacked by the Visigoths than to have a bunch of illiterate rich people in their 70s doing it through a series of incomprehensible tantrums because their brains were defeated by their phones.

sprinting, not walking, directly into the sea

Not now, widening gyre

Counterpoint: AI is here and we do *not* have to accept that

THIS NIGHTMARE WILL BE IN FULL COLOR

"It's ok, honey. The Sears Tower experiencing a blackout won't hurt you!" The Sears Tower experiencing a blackout:

posted this as a joke, but now I want to write a spec script for WILD ROBOT 2. DreamWorks, hit me up