OMWC had some perfidious thing to do. Swapping out the hot chocolate dispenser for an ice cream freezer in the back of the âfree candyâ van or something. In the meanwhile, Iâll try to entertain you guys. My youngest – now 3 – finally got his first haircut. He went from hippie surfer to Prince Valiant. My wife didnât get the reference.
Iâm not quite sure how reintroducing motor vehicle traffic to a place where people go to get shit-faced is a safety initiative, but I applaud Austinâs out of the box thinking. I guess if your problem is gangs of drunks having fistfights in the streets, cars are the answer.
Seatbelts save sober peopleâs lives. Alcohol induced muscle relaxation saves drunks.
not much call for this in libertarian circles. You have to have a heart to get heart disease. No, donât make the joke about the orphanâs heart in a jar on your desk.
Today is May the Fourth and I used to be a huge Star Wars nerd. I give you this mashup. At least the music is fun.
“A new gene therapy has been shown to reverse the effects of heart failure and restore heart function in a large animal model.”
Like Tess Holiday?
Lena Dunham.
Prolonged visits to wineries with Prime, I expect. More power to him.
Top of the morning, Brett — morning all.
That’ll keep him from wanting to rob banks and jump out of airplanes in favor of being in long, monotonous boring storylines, I suppose.
When he gets grumpy Iâm going to call him Lord Farqwad.
I can’t imagine what his older brothers might do with that later in life… nope… no ideas at all…
Certainly — and quite the tease as to what sort of things fans actually wanted (before The Mandalorian went to crap, from what I understand. I think I linked it recently — so I’ll spare you Anakin’s thesis on the dichotomy inherent in the tale of Darth Plageius the Wise… but that’s honestly the only Star Wars content I’ve cared about in the last few years.
Oh what the hell — haven’t linked it in a while here, I don’t think — and this one is always topical around here with the political theory and citing of philosophers. I think JI could have written it, honestly.
That’s disgusting. I keep the testicles of my eunuch slaves on a jar in my desk. What good would they be to me with a missing heart?
Juggling?
âused to be a huge Star Wars nerdâ
Seems like the vast majority of Star Wars nerds are used to bes. Disney really did a number on that franchise among others.
They send us “fun” work emails for fake holidays such as this. I was just telling a friend of mine that as much as I loved the first 3 movies when I was a child, if I never saw another star wars reference as long as I live, it’d be too soon. Lucas had already ruined the legacy of the first 3 movies, which were fun, but extremely overrated to begin with, by the time he finished the prequels, let alone after Disney got done having its way with the corpse.
I have fond memories of the first three too but maybe the idea of space wizards only goes just so far. The terrible writing after the first three didnât help either.
Dittoes.
I’ve only seen snippets of the prequels – usually via an old roommate watching them – but every snippet was cringeworthy. I haven’t seen even snippets of anything that came after that because why would I do that to myself.
I was lucky enough to have missed the Star Wars business by virtue of age. At one point my adult son promised me that I would like it. He was wrong, as usual.
I too have fond memories of the first trio, but they were great only in relation to the movies that were coming out of Hollywood at the time. We were in a period of downer films, with depressing endings like Chinatown, and having a movie that was just pure positive all the way down was a winner.
That and, as Lucas himself has pointed out, it’s a story for kids and adolescents. You’re meant to outgrow it. But modern folx are nostalgic retards who keep consuming the same media franchises from childhood to grave now.
Raises hand without any shame whatsoever….
Those who want yesterday’s cake?
That and, as Lucas himself has pointed out, itâs a story for kids and adolescents.
His inspiration being pre-TV, weekly cowboy movies from his own childhood.
His problem being he suggested he would do more than that (and was utterly unable to do so, to the point he was willing to cash out).
Don’t fail to give Lucas the credit he is due. He got the hero journey down, but he couldn’t emulate Shakespeare.
I think Lucas was best as an idea guy — Empire was the best of the originals and it was mostly written by other people. Jedi was half a good movie (might have worked better with the Wookies as originally intended before Yogurt’s merchanising! hit… the Jabba’s palace scenes are kind of clunky until the Sarlacc Pit fight)… I actually like parts of the prequels — but 1) I’m crazy enough to find the political machinations of Palpatine duping the moronic Senate and Jedi Council interesting and 2) Don’t watch it often so the “In comparison Nostalgia Goggles” likely kick in.
What bugs me the most about Disney is that they threw away the Expanded Universe instead of pulling the best from it (I do think the EU went off the rails in the quest for Perpetual Galactic Threats with the stupid Yuuzang Vong (or however you spell it)) — but they could have either pulled elements from the Thrawn trilogy / later stuff or better yet — if they wanted to do their own story, jump forward a thousand years instead of crapping on known characters. They could have kept the money coming in from the EU (just set the “It isn’t canon if we decide it isn’t” rule like Star Trek / Paramount books) while still doing their own thing. But Kennedy wanted to skinsuit it thoroughly… so c’est la vie.
I will be contrarian to the rest of the world and submit that the first movie was the best. It is a complete movie, all tied up with a bow at the end. The rest of the world’s choice is the middle movie of a trilogy and suffers hugely from that the way all middle stories do.
Yep he had the opportunity to emulate Shakespeare with Anakin and instead wrote somehow a more whinny and sappy teenager.
“You’re so… beautiful.”
“It’s only because I’m so in love.”
“No, it’s because I’m so in love with you.”
rhywun, you aint wrong.
It told the story.
I agree. The first (fourth?) one is the best.
I like Empire best, and I do think it told the complete tale, just on a down beat note. Which I prefer.
Yeah, I am the weirdo.
rhywun‘s got it right.
The first Star Wars (1977) was the best.
It was a Saturday afternoon popcorn movie. And the trilogy should have stayed that way. The story should have ended with Luke getting the girl. Han Solo would have been devastated . . . right up until an attractive blonde walked across the screen.
Lucas fucked up when he tried to make this story more than it was.
Obligatory music link for today
[1000 yard stare in the direction of SDF-7]
I mean seriously, the Jedi were the guardians of the Republic, right? But it was the Sith that were obsessed with order? Riddle me that Batman.
The Sith weren’t obsessed with order, really. Just power. Palpatine’s power manifested through political control, Anakin’s path to the Dark Side was similarly through wanting to control life and death — hence their Empire was fanatic about control. Order is a subsequent manifestation.
Classically, Sith could just as well be hermits or ronin-style wandering “Seek out strongest warriors to prove myself / improve myself”, etc.
The prequels established well that the Jedi were so obsessed with order (in their own way) that they stifled any change to the point that they blinded themselves to the strengthening Dark Side (and I’d argue also detached themselves from their own emotions / beings that they made their downfall inevitable — love may lead to fear leading to anger — but if you don’t care about anyone around you, you’re not really much better than the Sith). That’s part of the reason I like the EU — I’ve always viewed Luke bringing the Chosen One bringing balance to the Force by being Light Side / Jedi — but still caring and being human and finding a way to teach that and all.
Hopefully that made some sense — I wasn’t prepared to defend philosophical interpretations of the Star Wars universe before my second cup of coffee this morning. At least you didn’t ask me to defend my thesis.
Luke was the chosen one but they needed more movies so he was made not to be the chosen one and instead his dad was the chosen one but really, it was Jar-Jar
This is the problem with the “franchise’ concept in media. Very few movies or books have any serious world building behind them, and when one gets popular enough that it becomes a franchise, flaws which don’t bother the viewer in a single stand alone story start magnifying until they become barriers to immersion. Take for example Earth, I am sure the first simulation had just ordinary flaws that no one really got upset about. But at this point it just breaks my immersion in the game when every single person or institution with any status at all turns out to be both evil and mentally retarded. I mean pick one or the other at least!
The Sith werenât obsessed with order, really. Just power.
I seem to recall the dialog between Yoda and Luke and it was exactly “order” that Yoda said drove the Sith. Which didn’t make sense when you thought about it.
I don’t remember that particular conversation at all — but will grant you the point because there’s no way I’m watching the original 6 to find it. (And if you tell me it is from the Mouse Shit… I won’t regard it as valid anyway… those writers were idiots.)
As I recall, the conversation was in the Empire Strikes Back, on Dagobah before Yoda checked out. Maybe I’ve had it wrong all these years, but that’s why it stuck out.
More of a Mussolini than⌠you know.
Stalin ?
“New York Attorney General Letitia James said Saturday she plans to team up with other lefty AGs nationwide to sue the Trump administrationâs Department of Health and Human Services over healthcare funding cuts.
âThe White House is threatening our way of life in so many ways, and I just want you to know that in the coming days we will be filing a lawsuit against [HHS],â revealed James at a National Action Network rally in Harlem….
âAll of these funds and more!â barked James, who is currently fighting off mortgage fraud allegations raised by the Trump administration.”
https://nypost.com/2025/05/03/us-news/ny-ag-letitia-james-planning-to-sue-trumps-hhs-over-healthcare-cuts/
Squirrel!
LOL nice safe wording there. We already know she is guilty, it’s in the records.
I will drink myself stupid in celebration if that spiteful bitch goes down. Or… I want her next opponent to vow that he will take her down, the same way she won by vowing to “take down Donald”.
Nah, she isn’t a big enough fish to get someone making that kind of promise to catch her.
In the world of NY politics there must be someone that petty and venal.
Are there any NY pols who are NOT that petty and venal?
To be fair, Tish has done an enormous amount of damage & IMHO taking her out is not at all petty.
She seems to be caught pretty dead to rights on the mortgage fraud stuff. Itâs probably all stuff thatâs done all the time but not pursued but she was stupid/reckless/crazy to engage in it in a political environment.
Much like biased and singled-minded lawfare directed at a political enemy is a behavior that should result in disbarment but is also “not pursued”.
OFFS! Head Start has been known to be a complete failure at even its stated goals for decades. I have more confidence that DOGE picked these targets because they are probably useless slush funds just like Head Start.
Cry harder, lefty AG’s.
Meals on Wheels does good work, but why does it need federal funding? If it’s so vital for New Yorkers, surely they will open up their wallets with taxes or charitable contributions to make up the difference.
Timely that you did the links, Brett — speaking of Florida and all… didn’t realize y’all did a HSR link, had to look up the distance between Orlando and Miami to compare.
lol Holy shit.
Yeah, in Europe they get that shit done. I saw one under construction near where I lived in Germany and it was finished a couple years later – with long tunnels through mountains and shit.
This guy is going to witness first hand how unbelievably more corrupt the public sector is in the US than even in Europe. Godspeed you crazy bureaucrat.
—“not a single track has been laid”—
I remember when this was on the ballot (I voted no). I also remember telling HSR supporters that after 15 years, not a single bit of track will have been laid. I have lived in California for 73 years, and could see that it would be nothing but a giant slush fund to reward connected engineers and builders. I wish I had been wrong, but California.
Not a single track, but I am sure lots of pipe have been laid over this.
Mostly in the bootyhole of the taxpayer.
âI guess if your problem is gangs of drunks having fistfights in the streets, cars are the answer.â
Those barriers are just butt-ugly. I would have gone with setting up bleachers and selling tickets. Iâm sure Austin needs the money, anyway.
“A North Carolina teacher allegedly kissed a 5-year-old autistic student in a school bathroom â but police dropped the case because the nonverbal victim canât point a finger at her abuser, The Post has learned.
The unnamed pervert was caught cornering little Journey on March 28 by another staff member, who reported the disturbing incident to administrators at Blythe Elementary School, the girlâs mother claimed.”
https://nypost.com/2025/05/03/us-news/north-carolina-teacher-allegedly-kissed-kindergartener-in-bathroom/
WTF?
So if the kid cant finger the accused, why not use the witness?
Fingering the accused would only reward them.
Wouldnât having the kid finger the accused just compound the offense?
An eye for an eye, a finger for a finger?
Obligatory.
“The two New Jersey teenagers accused of setting the devastating Jones Road Wildfire that has scorched more than 15,000 acres initially blamed the blaze on Mexicans, according to authorities.
Joseph Kling, 19, and his 17-year-old co-defendant both allegedly lied to cops when they were interviewed about the Ocean Count conflagration, and their potential connection to it.
Ultimately, investigators were able to determine Kling and his unnamed teen accomplice allegedly deliberately set wooden pallets ablaze April 22, then walking away….
As off Saturday, the Jones Road Wildfire was almost 80% contained.
An attorney for Kling told a judge Friday his client did not intend to set off a massive forest fire.”
https://nypost.com/2025/05/03/us-news/nj-arsonist-told-cops-jones-road-wildfire-started-by-mexicans/
So they meant to set a small fire?
I wonder what the punishment for arson is – I hope significant jail time is involved.
Well, thatâs the thing about setting a fire . . . .
As one of the cowboys Pater Dean used to work with said when they were doing controlled burns in Texas: âItâs a controlled burn until someone strikes a match.â
Theyâre like, the Mike Tysons of fires.
Tits ahoy!
https://archive.is/cIPG6
Slutty Sunday.
26 really should consider wearing a seat belt.
“A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from enforcing an executive order that revoked security clearances from the law firm Perkins Coie and barred it from government work, ruling the order unconstitutional.
US District Judge Beryl Howell issued a 102-page opinion siding with the firm, finding that President Donald Trumpâs order was an attempt to punish Perkins Coie for its political views. In her ruling, Howell said the directive violated the First, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments.
“Using the powers of the federal government to target lawyers for their representation of clients and avowed progressive employment policies in an overt attempt to suppress and punish certain viewpoints, however, is contrary to the Constitution, which requires that the government respond to dissenting or unpopular speech or ideas with ‘tolerance, not coercion,'” Howell wrote.”
https://thepostmillennial.com/federal-judge-blocks-trump-admin-from-revoking-perkins-coies-security-clearances-barring-law-firm-from-gov-work
102 pages? Not seeing how any of those Amendments mention a law firm’s right to security clearances.
Emanations! Penumbras!!
Every time I see the name Perkins Coie, I remember they were my ebook client once upon a time.
Welcome news to the Trump lawyers were sued into bankruptcy and disbarred for presenting their client’s claims in court.
Nothibg about Romanian elections, the most significan event of the year. Sad.
It’s as significant as the NBA playoffs.
Who cares? If the “wrong” guy wins they’ll just cancel it again and do another one. It’s how the Eurotrash Leadership do “democracy”.
And when that fails, outlaw the party entirely!
Brett L on May 4, 2025 at 7:27 am
When he gets grumpy Iâm going to call him Lord Farqwad.
Reply
SDF-7 on May 4, 2025 at 7:32 am
I canât imagine what his older brothers might do with that later in life⌠nope⌠no ideas at allâŚ
From when the Onion was funny:
Gaywads, Dorkwads Sign Historic Wad Accord
The end of art
The Trump Administration has started canceling National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants.
Hundreds of arts groups of various sizes across the U.S. received emails notifying them of the withdrawal and termination of their grants late on Friday. The updates, which came from a generic “arts.gov” email address, appeared in grantees’ inboxes just hours after President Trump proposed eliminating the agency entirely from the federal budget.
Among those affected are the Berkeley Repertory Theater, Central Park Summer Stage in New York City, and the Chicago-area arts education nonprofit Open Studio Project.
“The NEA is updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President,” the email, several copies of which have been shared with NPR, stated in part. “Consequently, we are terminating awards that fall outside these new priorities.” The email includes a line saying the recipient can appeal the decision within seven days.
Trump will round up all the poets next.
Say it with me: “it’s not about whether it should be done, but whether the FedGov should pay for it” (like everything else Trump is cancelling).
Without government support, artists will starve!
[insert shopworn Bastiat quote here]
And I said nothing because I wasn’t a poet.
Neither are most of the ‘poets’ bitching about this
And raiseth mine voice I did not dare,
For neither the sculptor nor the poet did I care.
Oh shit, they’re coming for me.
“B4U-ACT, however, advances a different model. The group believes that attempts to alter pedophilic desires are not just ineffective but unethical, and it insists that efforts to reduce patientsâ attraction to children through âreconditioning methodsâ or sex-drive-reducing drugs are harmfulâdrawing direct comparisons to conversion therapy for homosexuality. The organization discourages clinicians from diagnosing clients with Pedophilic Disorder and instead claims that pedophilia is a âsexual age orientation.â
Founded by social worker Russell Dick and convicted child sex offender Michael Melsheimer, B4U-ACT includes pedophiles in its working group and invokes the activist slogan ânothing about us without us,â arguing that pedophiles should help shape therapeutic models. Though the group states on its website that it does not endorse sexual contact between adults and minors, individuals familiar with B4U-ACT note that its language around consent is worryingly ambiguous, allegedly referring to so-called âwillingâ children.”
https://www.city-journal.org/article/b4u-act-maryland-pedophiles-map-therapy
“Prostasia is a US-based non-profit group that seeks to destigmatize sexual attraction toward minors and those who have this attraction. They say that they do not advocate for pedophilia or pedophiles and make a distinction between those who have the attraction and those who act on it.”
https://thepostmillennial.com/maryland-based-non-profit-hosts-ohio-conference-to-affirm-pedophiles
If that weren’t creepy enough, their office is across the street from a school.
– “Founded by social worker Russell Dick”
Seriously?
His friends know him as Rusty Dick.
How often were people saying that “destigmatizing” pedophilia was next on the list?
Looks like getting rid of shame wasn’t such a good idea after all.
And comparing it to homosexuality is not at all problematic nor has that comparison been practiced by other unsavory types for many years.
Why not put the recovered alcoholic in charge of the bar ?
Just like Cheers. Did Sam ever relapse?
I’m reminded of that bit from The Godfather (the book) where Vito explains to Michael that there are men in this world that just want someone to kill them. This whole group would qualify for that.
It’s damn shame that Epstein is dead – this is a cause he was made for!
“a poll found”
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/men-who-wear-red-socks-35118126
How was this poll conducted?
“The dating site for married couples Illicit Encounters asked 1,000 female members what colour socks their best ever lovers preferred to wear to come up with the findings.”
Did they line up a bunch of guys nude except for socks and the women had to go assembly-line style from dick to dick?
I remember that concert.
This kinda works too.
Or this.
Just imagine, for a moment, if this were true.
Bunch of ugly losers pulling more hotties than they can handle because they wore red socks. Like they’re some sort of kryptonite.
There was a similar study 40 years ago claiming that black hi-tops had a similar effect on the ladies. By the way, it doesn’t work. As me how I know.
The NEA did not respond to requests for comment. But arts groups have been vocal about the cuts on social media, in online newsletters and in emails to NPR.
“The work will go on, but right now I’m pretty discouraged,” wrote Rob Lentz, executive director at Open Studio Project, on LinkedIn. Lentz said his organization’s two-year grant supporting art for elementary school students has been canceled. “The nonprofit sector is under siege by our own government, and arts organizations are especially vulnerable. When chaos and cruelty are the order of the day, all I can ask for is solidarity and resistance.”
“We shall art on the beaches, we shall art on the landing grounds, we shall art in the fields and in the streets, we shall art in the hills; we shall never surrender.”
“The nonprofit sector is under siege by our own government…”
Not giving us tax dollars is an attack.
Not giving is taking. /this is what they really believe
Do they even hear themselves?
I can’t print my response to these leeches, not in any sort of family-friendly way.
Apparently that is one of the great advantages of being that far up your own ass – you can’t hear what you sound like.
California has spent $13,000,000,000 and has made no progress on building a speedy choo-choo. Do the politicians ever get asked to explain, or account for what the money has been spent on?
I would be ready to start swinging some people from lampposts.
Not a problem to the voters that voted for it, since they know what is OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY.
Bonds don’t need to be repaid, do they?
Behold the wonders of a one-Party state.
“States, cities and anti-fossil fuel nonprofits like Our Childrenâs Trust have filed dozens of climate lawsuits against a plethora of oil companies and industry groups, demanding billions in damages for what the plaintiffs claim is âextreme weatherâ the companiesâ emissions have caused….
In May 2024, Vermont passed its âsuperfundâ law, which will charge oil companies potentially billions of dollars based on an assessment by the state treasurer of the alleged financial impact of emissions from oil companies as far back as 1995 and 2024. New York is hoping to get $75 billion for its âsuperfundâ law.”
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/trumps-doj-sues-states-trying-extract-billions-big-oil-retroactive-fines
OK, run your State government without using any fossil fuel.
We really need a disincentive for lawyers to bring these kind of suits, maybe something like a woodchipper under the plaintiffs bench with a trapdoor all that is keeping them alive?
The most well-known of those cases has just been shot down by SCOTUS. (Scroll down about two-thirds.)
None of that shit is going anywhere.
For the F1 fans
I wouldn’t call it wealth destruction, exactly…
Queued up for later, thanks.
Welp, I’m officially an old fuck now, I guess. The love bug virus is 25 years old today.
Youngster. This was the first big outbreak I recall.
Star Wars: The first movie was Star Wars. It was not overrated. It blew everyone away. You would have had to live in the world of pre-SW movie effects to understand. It felt like we had suddenly been ambushed by a whole new era of moviemaking (and we were right).
Everything SW after that was just…basically crap. Ok we get it. The effects are good, really good. Let’s see you use them in other stories. There is zero need to develop a whole universe full of nerdy make-believe bullshit. The original plot and characters were just the vehicle to show the effects. You were supposed to take them seriously.
Also, with that kind of technology the people are still just monkeys killing each other and enslaving each other to take their shit? How tiresome.
I remember seeing it in the theater in â77 and it was quite an experience, like 2001 for kids and not boring. First time Iâd ever seen something like that. I recall my parents being impressed by the effects but they found the story to be the cornball dreck that it mostly was.
Your parents were right. I think I heard an interview with George Lucas where he said the same thing. They developed the effects and needed a story so they made up a ‘unlikely hero saves the world’ story on the fly with all of the bog standard characters.
“If Sergio Leone can steal from Kurosawa and have a hit — why can’t I?”
“Any attempt to dismantle the National Endowment for the Arts â by eliminating funding, reducing staff, or canceling grants â is deeply concerning, shortsighted, and detrimental to our nation,” said Erin Harkey, CEO of the national arts advocacy organization Americans for the Arts, in a statement shared with NPR. “The NEA plays a vital role in the lives of millions of Americans and the thousands of nonprofit and governmental arts and cultural organizations that bring America’s story to life.”
Al Vincent, Jr., executive director of Actors’ Equity Association, said: “Federal arts funding survived the last Trump Administration with bipartisan support because Congress understands that the live arts are a huge economic job creator across the country.”
“We will fight to protect this critical funding that generates a huge return on investment in local communities,” he added.
We don’t need big filthy factories. We have puppet shows and crossdresser story time.
“You cant cut off the money!” says the guy getting the money.
âWe will fight to protect this critical funding that generates a huge return on investment in local communities,â he added.
Word games are fun!
Rule of thumb: If you have to subsidize it it is a bad idea.
Everybody’s an artist until they can’t pay their rent.
Speaking of, I figured out how to get out of the corner I wrote myself into. w00t!!!!
I need a new pen name for a change in genre, and, clearly, from the unfortunate pen name I chose for myself last time, I cannot be trusted to do this myself. The suggestion box is open.
What genre?
What genre are you writing?
What genre?
Rapier Witt?
Magic (maybe a vampire, dunno yet, kinda doesn’t fit) is involved, but I hesitate to call it paranormal. They’re more like reworked, modernized fairy-tale mashups.
* Cinderella (as told from the stepmother’s point of view, who used to be a fairy godmother)
* Krampus (who’s also Perchta, an Alpine goddess, who THINKS she has to rescue her counterpart so Christmas can happen)
* Rhys (a mortal, but long-lived, sorcerer, who is also a lawyer catering to legendary, fairy tale, and mythical peoples)
Romance maybe? If so, fade to black (shocking, I know).
Re the vampire, a middle-aged hausfrau who shouldn’t have survived the attack. She would fit only insofar as the stepmother and Krampus can befriend her. I have no point to her story.
In the middle of all this, I need to philosophically try to square Christianity (Christmas, duh) with pagan gods and human myths.
Rhys is a dude. No, I cannot resist lawyers.
Sounds like what Mercedes Lackey has been churning out post-Valdemar in some respects. (That’s not meant as “You’re being derivative!” — I fully expect “Reworking myth / fairy tales in a modern concept” has a natural appeal… combining mythology with “write what you know / draw the reader in”. Same reason Big Hero Goes on Bug Hunt / Military SF has lots of retelling.. it works as a starting concept…) She has the advantage of being an acolyte of Piers Xanthony iirc… so turning the crank on formula novels was in her wheelhouse.
Urban Fantasy. That was what it was called 20+ years ago.
Try Maura X. Jannity. If only to keep the initials constant.
I was thinking more, M.J. ______.
Better not be Watson — you don’t need those lawyers.
M.J. Scribner? (or are we again evoking the legal carrion eaters?)
SDF, I forgot about those, and I even have them! I should probably read some to make sure it hasnât been done.
Urban Fantasy is a bit different. Gritty, dark. Not the vibe I’m going for.
Stepmother as a mortal (she married a mortal and thus got her powers stripped) is an interior designer and teams up with a house flipper. Cinderella is lost, troubled, and angry. Stepmother does her best, but she doesn’t know how to help her.
Krampus has a year-round holiday (mostly Christmas) store in a high-end mall, just to have something to do and connect with magical mortals.
So, they do do “normal” stuff.
Before you do so, you might consider checking out Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire (yeah, the guy that wrote Wicked,) as reworked fairy tales are his stock-in-trade. Confessions isn’t a great book, but I actually finished reading it, unlike Wicked, from which I bailed quite early.
Toss in some libertarian stuff, and you can call yourself Ayn Round.
Gods and devils, demons and angels, all of the classical myth characters are just personifications of different aspects of human nature and experience thus religions and myths all pretty much have thee same characters. Different names, different clothes, same bunch of blockheads.
that should be easy enough to square up.
Names: The only greek muses that work are Calliope and Clio. The rest of them are not common enough to not sound weird. Moira would work too, kinda.
Last name? I am at a loss for something clever.
M.J. Kruger-Rand. Hits all the boxes.
@GT, I went and looked at the summary.
The “ugly” (not) half-sisters (Scarlett’s children by her late husband, Isabella’s dad) are still in single digits. Scarlett’s so caught up in dealing with Isabella she’s neglecting her two girls and she doesn’t know how to fix any of it. Now, this hits close to home because it’s what happened with my daughter and son. She just got left in the dust. Anyway, the girls are getting resentful and are going to start acting out.
So really it’s more like a family drama than anything else.
The house flipper kinda starts mentoring her, which puts me in another sticky wicket since having a romance between the house flipper and Scarlett would be difficult if Isabella comes to see the house flipper as “hers.”
Anyway, I just figured out how to write myself out of that corner.
Ayn Round and Kruger-Rand are hilarious! đđđ
Suthen, thank you. That strikes me as a very valuable insight for my purposes.
Have you read any of the Dresden Files?
Jim Butcher created a fantasy stew world for his protagonist to live in. Fairies and Santa Claus and Vampires and ghosts.
One of Harry Dresdenâs good friends in the later books is a devout Christian who wields Excalibur.
As for a writerâs name, you could always use Heidi Shakespeare.
How about Elaine Clossier if you are writing about traffic conditions?
Pseudonyms chosen by ChatGPT:
Elira Thorne
Sylwen Duskmere
Avelyn Shade
Lyra Fenwyn
Mirael Storme
Melina Dunham?
/fits with the pirate story
Dunham is actually not a bad idea.
I asked it too and they were just ridiculous.
Sounds like an emo 13yo writing Wattpad fan fiction.
If Mike Hunt and Lou Sassole aren’t on that list, I question their model and dataset.
George Lucas was the executive producer of the most perfect heroâs journey/quest ever made, but he didn’t write or direct it.
You’re just a heroine junky Mojeaux…
That is true. The 80s bodice rippers are underappreciated for their kick-ass heroines, so I have a warped feminist philosophy.
No heroines existed in any form before Jennifer Lawrence.
(/sarc)
[Still can’t believe anyone can think something that nonsensical and vapid… even an actress!]
I actually saved that Jennifer Lawrence meme because I found it so hilariously awful.
The first person that came to mind the first time I saw that? Pam Grier. Weird.
Interesting take.
Iâve never seen the movie, but I should. Two years ago, I backed a Kickstarter for a D&D-like rule set called âDolmenwoodâ, and it lists Labyrinth as one of the inspirations for the setting.
SDF-7 @ 07:38:
if they wanted to do their own story, jump forward a thousand years
And they could have still used Luke Skywalker.
Yoda said âwhen 900 years you reach, look as good, you will notâ.
Consider it a prophecy.
Itâs 900 years later. Folklorists barely remember those events. Historians dismiss them out of hand as cultural legends.
But Luke Skywalker still exists, not as a hermit on a hidden planet, but as a mysterious man who always seems to show up to save the day.
He doesnât do it himself, though; heâs too old. He just has to find the right person on this themed planet that he can coach into taking action.
That way, you have a series of adventures, where he is a mentor character, but not the main character.
Mightâve worked better as a tv show.
Throw in a 90 pound ass-kicking Mary Sue girlboss and a genderfluid pilot/mechanical wizard/love interest and I’m SSOOOOO IN!
The MODERN AUDIENCE has spoken.
Bob Suttmann, president of AFM Local 802, the musicians union in New York, said, “This is a dark day for the independence of the arts and musicians across the country â and it is an attack on American excellence and creativity.”
Yup.
This shit is so old. They complained about Reagan cutting the NEA during the early Jurassic period.
We never would have gotten “Piss-Christ” without NEA funding. Think on that for a moment.
+ Robert Maplethorpe
Nothing says independence like being hopelessly dependent on the coercive taxation of the government for your livelihood.
And don’t think for a second that the government isn’t telling them exactly what sort of “art” is acceptable and not acceptable.
This….both of you.
Govt money is stolen money and poison.
Well, to be fair, the government doesn’t really have to since they all march to the same ideological beat anyway. But yeah, I somehow doubt liturgical compositions and southern bluegrass music are exactly what AFM Local 802 has in mind in terms of grand funding.
Funny that it wasn’t Frank Zappa and the Mothers of the Sinecure.
Ad hoc justice
A man who struck and killed a county deputy with his car Friday is the father of a teen who was shot and killed by a Cincinnati police officer a day earlier as officers were responding to a call about a stolen car, police said. Authorities said the crash appeared to be intentional.
The driver of the car, 38-year-old Rodney Hinton Jr., was charged with aggravated murder in the deputyâs death, police said.
Hinton appeared in court Saturday, with a wall of deputies standing at the back of the room. A prosecutor said evidence and witnesses will show that Hinton drove directly at the deputy in an attempt to kill him. A judge ordered that Hinton be held until another hearing on Tuesday.
——-
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement that he was âsickened by what appears to be an intentional act of violence.â
Just a few hours before the crash, Hinton and other family members met at the police chiefâs office Friday morning and watched a police body camera video showing an officer shoot the teen, said Michael Wright, an attorney hired by the family of 18-year-old Ryan Hinton.
Of course this will in no way induce cops to think carefully before they shoot.
I don’t know all the details, but in this area attorney Michael Wright shows up at a lot of these things.
He’s almost an Al Sharpton or Jessie Jackson light.
GT? Whatever happened to Clayton Luckey? Or Raleigh Trammel ?
Clayton Luckie? Who cares? Rev. Trammell, he dead.
I don’t remember coming across any negative press about Wright. AFAIK, he just advertises a lot.
Oops! SFed the first link, which I’d actually found second.
https://tinyurl.com/28j56bm7
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-14531277/inside-reasons-sex-healthy-life-experts.html
Four dead in Ohio.
“Eight of the shooters were charged with depriving the students of their civil rights, but were acquitted in a bench trial. The trial judge stated, “It is vital that state and National Guard officials not regard this decision as authorizing or approving the use of force against demonstrators, whatever the occasion of the issue involved. Such use of force is, and was, deplorable.”
/wink wink
Tales of heroism and justice
The damage done to the press in the last decade would have been unimaginable when I started. The most chilling fact is that it is almost entirely self-inflicted.
The state of American media was captured recently when the president of the White House Correspondentsâ Association (and MSNBC correspondent) Eugene Daniels declared, âWe are not the opposition.â Given the controversy that had occurred over the association originally booking a vehemently anti-Trump comedian for the dinner, it seemed more like a punchline than a plausible claim.
As if to bring that comedic point home the next day, the New York Times published its collection of essays titled, âA Road Map of Trumpâs Lawless Presidency.â A recent study showed that media coverage of the Trump Administration has been 92 percent negative.
The undoing of American journalism began in âJ-schools,â where young reporters were taught that the touchstones of neutrality and objectivity were no longer viable. At schools like the University of Texas, students are told that it is time to âleave neutrality behind.â Stanford journalism professor, Ted Glasser, has insisted that âjournalists need to be overt and candid advocates for social justice, and itâs hard to do that under the constraints of objectivity.â
They have a story to tell. You don’t give the villain in your morality play equal time. He’s out there tying innocent young girls to the railroad tracks.
No, you don’t understand. Their coverage is 92% negative because Trump really *is* worse than Hitler!
Heâs probably worse than Hitler at painting. Iâll give the media that point.
Fair cop, but what about Bush?
Bush is definitely worse than Hitler at painting. Bushâs paintings look like lowbrow hobo stuff. I had forgotten how bad those were.
I’ll say it again… I don’t give a fuck how not neutral you are. Just stop pretending to be neutral.
“A cautionary tale for the media”
That is a waste of time. They are just outright pinko propagandists and from what I read there completely brainwashed in school. Their behavior bears that out.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1053224530194152
Victor Davis Hanson on point.
Fake news
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tried something new on Monday.
Instead of just addressing credentialed journalists in the storied White House briefing room, she held a separate âinfluencer briefingâ for 10 people.
âTens of millions of Americans are now turning to social media and independent media outlets to consume their news, and we are embracing that change, not ignoring it,â she said during her seven-minute introductory remarks. âAll journalists, outlets and voices have a seat at the table now, and you being here today for this briefing proves that.â
But as the new briefings continued through the week, it became clear that a very specific group was being given the special access.
These are not authentic voices of the American people!
Of the 25 influencers identified by NBC News who attended the briefings, all but one have a history of explicit support for President Donald Trumpâs administration, and some had direct connections to Trump â through either previously working in his administration, or maintaining a personal connection with his family or members of his Cabinet.
Those people are not journalists. They are sycophants and ideological buttlickers.
Not at all like the fastidiously nonpartisan seekers of truth at the New York Times and the Washington poste and National Public Radio.
LOL ok then. Men are men is divisive and controversial, fine. đ
But she has more balls than any of weak-willed rEsIsTaNcE signing that pathetic letter in a misguided attempt to be on the “right side”.
Particularly regarding this subject Theodore Dalrymple hits the nail on the head. The point Is not to convince thus it is pointless to argue or reason with them. The point is to get people to be silent or repeat a ridiculous lie and the more absurd it is the better. The point is to demoralize and humiliate.
Never argue with them on their terms. Call them out on their evil lie. That is one thing I respect Trump for. His recent ABC interview being a perfect example. He said unabashedly to the guy’s face he is fake news and gave reasons. That is the only way to deal with these shitbirds.