Ace: aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
CBD: cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
Doof: doof2112 at proton.me
joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info: maildrop62 at proton dot me
[Because I am otherwise engaged, I have dipped into the archives and come up with my 13-year-old comments about martinis, and because I am nothing if not a creature of habit, they haven't changed much!]
Any classic cocktail book will have a martini recipe that is bizarre for the typical modern drinker. A 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of gin to dry vermouth yields an unpleasant drink. The vermouth overwhelms the gin's botanicals, and you are left with the flavor of cheap, fortified wine with some herbs tossed in for flavor.
It's just not pleasant, so we back off on the vermouth, and drink 5:1 or 10:1 or plain gin. And that's probably one big reason for the explosion in boutique gins. If the typical martini is essentially pure gin, why not make it interesting?
But [13 years and] three nights ago I had a 3:1 martini that was spectacular. Rich and flavorful, but without the sere and bitter notes that typical vermouth brings to the table.
Yet....it was made with vermouth! Carpano Bianco, from an old Italian firm that makes some well known fortified wines such as Punt E Mes and Fernet Branca. The production of their white vermouth is so small that it doesn't even make the cut for their web site, unless I missed it (a distinct possibility). [They have it now]
This vermouth is flavorful, intense, smooth and complex. Nothing like the typical vermouth that is used in seemingly every bar in the world.
Obviously the standard that most vermouth makers follow has changed, and thank God these folks ignored the modernization of this drink. My guess is that the base wine has become more expensive, so most makers started using cheaper stuff. And the botanicals that are used to flavor vermouth may have gone the same route.
Admittedly a modern martini is a different experience. The crisp, cold feeling of good gin, a dash of vermouth, and a twist of lemon* is hard to beat.
But for a another experience, something akin to what your great aunt Millie drank in her flapper days, give this a shot.
*Sorry, olives don't belong in a martini. If I want vegetables, I'll order a salad (stolen from Robert Bork).
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And....just because it is great:
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The great garlic experiment of 2025-2026 was a resounding...meh. Send all of your excellent home-grown garlic to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.
About the Bourbon Bubble...I think it has burst, but the category is also suffering from the inflation that affected everything else (Thanks Biden!). I think the sweet spot is still $40-$60 for excellent and interesting bottles, and bumping that to $100 gets you an incremental improvement in quality, but nothing mind-blowing. More than that and I think you are paying for hype and rarity, which may look good in your liquor cabinet, but doesn't translate to more quality in the bottle.
The problem...or the solution...is to buy lots of bourbon, take tasting notes, and eventually arrive at your favorites! It should take forty or fifty years, but it is worth it!
The Cognitive Dissonance Of The Pro-Ukraine/Anti-Russia Commentariat
—CBD
There is a default assumption among the vast majority of the media, both the mass-market variety and the supposedly high-minded elites who comment on everything, no matter their expertise.
Ukraine GOOD! Russia BAD!
That sums it up nicely.
And they are half correct! What they seem to miss is that Ukraine is a kleptocratic cesspool of corruption, and their only saving grace is that they were attacked by Putin's Russia, and not by Poland or Belarus, which would have elicited a giant yawn in western capitals. And they also miss the provocation from the West that probably began with Bush senior, when Russia was still the Soviet Union. They were promised that NATO had no plans to expand east, so the buffer between western Europe and mother Russia that the Soviet Union had created wasn't necessary.
Of course that was a lie, and the NATO pressure on Russia's borders, whether real or imagined by a paranoid Putin, increased. George Kennan, who was one of the creators of the West's policy of containment during the Cold War, said:
I think it is the beginning of a new cold war. I think the Russians will gradually react quite adversely and it will affect their policies. I think it is a tragic mistake.
And it obviously was. For better or for worse, a sober foreign policy with Russia must grant some degree of autonomy on its own borders. But there is no rational analysis anymore. Russia is the ultimate evil, and everything it does is tarred by the behavior of Putin, who is absolutely a horrible man and a murderous dictator.
By extension, everything done to combat Russia is just wonderful! That includes whatever Ukraine wants to do, like firing missiles and drones at cities in Russia. Sure, Russia does that too, but let us judge both sides with the same moral compass.
Here is an essay that begins with a discussion of America's coming sanctions against Russia. The website is staffed by seemingly intelligent people who are conventionally well educated...The Ivy League!
The Senate passed the Russia sanctions bill earlier this month, and now it is expected to pass the House fairly easily. The bill should be passed, as it will increase pressure on Russia's leadership, economy, defense industrial base, and top foreign enablers.
The bill is not only about Ukraine, but will help deter Russia from attacking NATO countries. Russia has already used sabotage, influence campaigns, espionage, GPS interference, hacking, and assassination on NATO soil. On July 20 and July 21, the Lithuanian and Polish governments warned that Russia is considering new attacks on NATO allies. These could include the use of captured Ukrainian drones in a false flag or hybrid attack. In addition to Poland and Lithuania, all of the Baltic states and Romania are at particularly high risk.
Notice the assumption that Russia is just itching to expand the war? No discussion of why, but it is going to happen..."Because We Said So!"
Of course they must also discuss Russia's failures!
The war has for a long time not been going well for Putin, with over 1.4 million Russian casualties and as many as 625,000 Ukrainian casualties. Given that Putin's goal was to conquer Ukraine as a prize, he fails as he destroys the object of his goal, and his goal destroys Russia. The front is moving at a snail's pace, and the increasing range, sophistication, and lethality of indigenously-produced Ukrainian weapons are wreaking havoc on Russia's energy infrastructure and its strategic military assets, including attack submarines and nuclear-capable bombers.
From purely national security considerations, the Russian military should therefore consider changing tack, whether or not Putin agrees. The Russian army, navy, and air force are being severely degraded when they are needed to defend Russia's east against China. Military exhaustion in Russia, as in Afghanistan in 1989 with a short-lived democratization following two years later, could be the fertile soil from which a new and more stable Russian democracy emerges. With democracy would come trade openings to the West and major gains in GDP growth and general economic prosperity.
So which is it? Russia is expansionist and wants more territory, or Russia is failing and must change their strategy. Oh, and by the way, this writer seems to be calling for Russia's armed forces to stage a coup, because that is what it is called when they disobey their civilian leader. No mention of how that might shake out, or how much uncertainty that would inject into an already chaotic region.
The reality is somewhere in the middle. Yes, Russia and Putin began this border dispute without sufficient provocation, and are absolutely the aggressors. But Ukraine and the West are not blameless. As for Russia's attacks on its neighbors? They are meant as warnings to stay out of the fray, and probably not as precursors of invasions of Poland or Hungary. It is not clear that Russia has the capacity to open another front, particularly against Poland, with its large, well-trained armed forces and natural antipathy for Russia.
If Europe were truly serious about combating Russian expansionism, why have they spent more money on Russian natural gas than they have spent to assist the Ukrainian armed forces?
Sunday Morning Book Thread - 10-04-2026 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
—Open Blogger
Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading (now with 3x the recommended daily allowance of pumpkin spice). Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...
So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, finish off the bag of pre-Halloween candy, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?
Today's pic is the mostly complete Secret History of the World by F. Paul Wilson. My hallway is about the only space large enough in my house to lay it all out in all its glory. It's a cosmic horror story that is comprised of multiple series, stand alone novels, and short stories, all culminating in Nightworld, which wraps up all the loose threads into a terrifying finale. The entire world is on the brink of being sucked into a hell dimension ruled over by the "Otherness," an inimical eldritch abomination that seeks to dominate our universe, one bite at a time. It's only stopped by the "Ally," another eldritch abomination that's only slightly less malevolent than the Otherness. It simply wants to stop the Otherness, but doesn't care what tools it uses among humanity to accomplish its goal. Anyway, I thought it would be kind of neat to see it all laid out in chronological order here.
"DIVERSITY" IN LITERATURE--WHY IS IT ALL THE SAME?
Although the BookTuber above is describing the state of modern fantasy, I suspect that his comments can be applied across genres in modern publishing. His main point is that some books are so similar to previous books that they blur the line with respect to plagiarism. However, this isn't a new problem, as he points out. Terry Brooks' The Sword of Shannara is widely acknowledged by most fantasy readers--including Brooks himself--that it's a cut-and-paste version of Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. This was a deliberate choice by Brooks' publisher Lester Del Rey to capture the fantasy market by providing readers with a book that's similar to--but not quite exactly--the most popular fantasy book up until that point. Several other publishers such as Bantam Spectra, Tor Books, and DAW Books took a similar approach to launch a flagship author under their brand.
Readers of genre fiction read books within their preferred genres because the *like* the tropes and plotlines within those genres, even when they may feel very similar to one another. We are creatures of habit. We *like* familiar things. Suddenly turning to an unfamiliar genre of fiction feels strange and unnatural. Now, tastes DO change and expand over time, so just because we start out liking one or two genres when we are young doesn't mean we are locked into only reading books within that genre. In fact, by consuming a large number of books within a genre, we can discover that we hunger for something different, so we'll stray outside our comfort zone to find books that may provide a similar reading experience but within a different context. For example, readers of grimdark fantasy might decide to read horror novels because they get a similar emotional experience. Or science fiction readers who enjoy exploration might turn to mysteries because they enjoy the feeling of discovering the unknown.
Another point Library of a Viking makes is that the marketing and promotion of books has become very algorithmic in its application. Publishers and content creators have detailed analytical tools at their fingertips that show where they can maximize their revenue by promoting content that fits within certain niches. They are incentivized to stay within certain lanes based on what sells to their audience. LoaV even admits that he's as guilty of this as any content creator. Even though he might prefer to discuss nonfiction books or less familiar fantasy books, he knows from experience that he'll be rewarded by focusing on the most popular books within his genre. But there's also a feedback loop in this. The more books like Fourth Wing are talked about by popular BookTubers, the more likely it is that smaller channels will also go along with the crowd to maximize their own revenue streams, thus expanding the exposure of these popular books.
Some channels of marketing and promotion don't allow for much in the way of descriptions, either. BookTok is for 30-second snippets of content. How can anyone describe a massive series of books in that amount of time? Monty Python did a sketch about a conteat to describe Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time--one of the longest and most complex novels in French literature--in a mere 15 seconds. It's simply not possible to convey the nuance of a story as rich and detailed as Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy within 30 seconds without trying to compare it to something the reader might be familiar with, such as George R.R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice. The two storylines could not be more different despite the surface level similarities, i.e., a kingdom falling into disarray through chaos and neglect due to outside threats, characters who can speak to animals, and who experience morally complicated situations that don't always lead to a happy outcome, etc.
Even here at AoSHQ, the comment boxes don't allow for lengthy descriptions of your favorite books unless you split them up into multiple comments. If you want a post a detailed review of a book you love, you'll either have to go that route--splitting up your review into multiple comments--or send your review to a COB and see if one of us will post your review. So you may be forced by circumstance to give us Morons a very brief summary and compare the book to something else with which we might be familiar.
Regardless of genre, I think it's OK to have books that provide similar structures, themes, characters, plots, etc., though we do have to watch out for the more blatant forms of plagiarism that are running rampant nowadays thanks to the proliferation of AI-generated writing. AI is only going to make the problem worse. For the most part, I don't find myself attracted to much in the way of modern fantasy or science fiction UNLESS it's a new publication from an author I already know. Tad Williams just published a new book in the world of Osten Ard (The Splintered Sun). I didn't even bother reading the blurb before ordering it because I love Tad Williams and I know I'll enjoy the story. Larry Correia is another author I'm happy to support whenever a new book comes out because he's a very entertaining author. But I don't think I'll be reading any Joe Abercrombie (The First Law Trilogy) or R. F. Kuang (The Poppy War) because they simply don't interest me, no matter how popular they are on BookTube.
What say you, Horde? Do you like books that are similar to previous books? Or are you always on the hunt for something different?
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WHAT I'VE ACQUIRED RECENTLY
I've picked up a few more books recently, because apparently I'm a book addict or something...Try not to judge me too harshly. Maybe I need to join a support group. On the plus side, this should keep me busy and out of trouble for some time. If only I didn't have to work or teach class...
The Third Book of Witness - Legacies of Betrayal by Steven Erikson -- This is a short novel by Erikson standards--only 300 pages.
The Splintered Sun by Tad Williams -- This appears to be a stand-alone novel set in his world of Osten Ard.
Generations Book 1 - Timeless by R. A. Salvatore
Generations Book 2 - Boundless by R. A. Salvatore
Generations Book 3 - Relentless by R. A. Salvatore
Way of the Drow Book 1 - Starlight Enclave by R. A. Salvatore
Way of the Drow Book 2 - Glacier's Edge by R. A. Salvatore
Way of the Drow Book 3 - Lolth's Warrior by R. A. Salvatore
Liveship Traders Book 3 - Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb
Tawny Man Trilogy Book 1 - Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb
Tawny Man Trilogy Book 2 - The Golden Fool by Robin Hobb
Tawny Man Trilogy Book 3 - Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb
The Rain Wild Chronicles Book 1 - Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb
The Rain Wild Chronicles Book 2 - Dragon Haven by Robin Hobb
The Rain Wild Chronicles Book 3 - City of Dragons by Robin Hobb
The Rain Wild Chronicles Book 4 - Blood of Dragons by Robin Hobb
Fitz and the Fool Book 1 - Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb
Fitz and the Fool Book 2 - Fool's Quest by Robin Hobb
Fitz and the Fool Book 3 - Assassin's Fate by Robin Hobb
The Soldier Son Trilogy Book 1 - Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb
The Soldier Son Trilogy Book 2 - Forest Mage by Robin Hobb
The Soldier Son Trilogy Book 3 - Renegade's Magic by Robin Hobb
WHAT I'VE BEEN READING RECENTLY
The Shadow of the Avatar Book 2 - Cloak of Shadows by Ed Greenwood
In this book we continue to follow Sharantyr's adventures as she battles the Malaugrym, a.k.a. the "Shadowmasters" as they once again seek to enter the Realms to pillage and destroy it for their own purposes. They've never had much luck against the archmage Elminster in the past, but now they have the brilliant plan of weaving a magical cloak that shields them from detection against Mystra's Chosen (foremost of whom is Elminster). However, things do go exactly according to plan and the Malaugrym experience a number of setbacks thanks to the meddling of Sharantyr and other Knights of Myth Drannor. Now Sharantyr and her two ranger companions storm the citadel of the Malaugrym to send a message once and for all: DON'T F*CK WITH THE REALMS!
The Shadow of the Avatar Book 3 - All Shadows Fled by Ed Greenwood
During the Time of Troubles, the gods walk the Realms in physical form, denied the cosmic powers they once commanded because two of the gods were foolish enough to steal from the Overgod AO. The chaos caused by their banishment from the outer planes keeps Elminster very busy as he tamps down numerous hot spots in the Realms. Eventually he is caught up in a magical blast as the avatars of the god of strife, Bane, and the goddess of magic, Mystra, annihilate each other, leading to the rumor that Elminster has been killed once and for all. Not the first time this has happened, but it does mean that numerous evil factions, including the Shadowmasters, the Malaugrym, once again seek to infiltrate the Realms and pillage them. Once again, the Knights of Myth Drannor and the remaining Chosen of Mystra must defend the Realms against cataclysmic forces seeking their destruction.
Part of the fun of reading these books (IMHO), is that because they are based on characters created for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, it's possible to look up the statistics of the characters in these stories. Sharantyr, for instance, is canonically a 2nd-level ranger in 2nd Edition AD&D, though she's certainly leveled up a few times by the end of these novels. Endless waves of mooks are slaughtered by her and her companions. These books read a lot like a group of characters going on a grand campaign, which is no doubt Ed Greenwood's intent. Entertaining if you like that sort of story and have experience in role-playing games.
The Farseer Trilogy Book 1 - Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
This is one of those books that's endlessly pimped on BookTube videoes. Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings series is often touted as one of the best fantasy series of all time.
I'll give credit where credit is due. Hobb does a very good job of presenting a character study of a young man who is trained to be an assassin for the royal court. He wrestles with the moral dilemmas that comes with the territory of obeying his King and performing his duties while seeking to find alternatives if he feels that his King is asking him to perform a task that may be dishonorable. Fitz is caught up in the intrigue of the royal court as well, thanks to his heritage of being the bastard son of the King's first son, Chivalry. Most of the characters are presented as morally complex individuals with their own agendas. Fitz may be an assassin, but he is not an evil man, nor are those who have trained him. We do see evil in the form of the King's youngest son, Regal, who clearly seeks the throne for himself and attempts to use Fitz towards his own ends.
Is this the best fantasy ever written? No, not even remotely. I'd rate it as upper mid-tier fantasy, but well below the likes of Tad Williams or P.C. Hodgell, who can tell similar stories far better than Hobb. Her world-building in the first novel is somewhat rudimentary at best. It's a fairly generic medieval fantasy kingdom with traditional English-style medieval civilization. The magic system is only moderately interesting, but for now it's definitely a low-magic setting.
The first book is good enough that I immediately started reading the second book (see below), which continues the story of Fitz after his first real mission as the King's assassin.
The Farseer Trilogy Book 2 - Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
In Royal Assassin, Fitz is bitter and broken after being betrayed by Prince Regal, vowing to stay away from Buckkeep. However, he's pulled back into the intrigue of the court if only to verify that the young woman he fancies, Molly, is OK. Fitz has a vision of her being attacked by the Red-Ship Raiders, who kidnap the folk of the Six Duchies, then return them without souls, for reasons only they understand. Fitz will do anything to protect the people he cares about. He also learns to harness the powers he's been blessed/cursed with as a result of his Farseer heritage. Prince Regal is still scheming to claim the throne from his aging father and his weakened brother...
The Farseer Trilogy Book 3 - Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
King Shrewd is dead, killed by his own son Prince Regal. FitzChivalry also died (temporarily) but was able to escape permanent death through a minor miracle and his own unique gifts. Now he's revived, leaving his former life behind as the King's royal assassin. He has one mission--avenge his former king by claiming the life of his murderer. He's accompanied by Nighteyes, the young wolf whose life he rescued and with whom he shares a mystical bond. Will he succeed in his quest? Or will he finally be broken once and for all by the challenges and choices he now faces?
Tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc., can all be directed to perfessor -dot- squirrel -at- gmail -dot- com.
(One down, many more to go...)
Disclaimer: When Elminster comes a-knockin', the Forgotten Realms start a-rockin'!
Anything to avoid using the metric system releasing the voter rolls.
I found what I was looking for: Green bottlebrushes. Callistemon citrinus, to be exact. I planted a couple of white trees last year and four of the classic red ones, but I couldn't find the green ones except as seeds. Now I have a couple more in white and two in green. Just small seedlings so I'll need to take care of them, but easier than trying to grow them from seeds.
Also three new kangaroo paws to replace the ones lost to the cannibal onslaught, three aca-cias, two more boronias to replace the one that didn't make it through the winter, a tea tree, and... Oh, two more westringias. That one didn't die over winter - in fact it's thriving, with masses of flowers - so I bought a couple more to keep it company.
Saturday Night Club ONT - October 17, 2026 [Disco & Dino]
—Open Blogger
Welcome to Club ONT - a whelming collaboration of The Disco and The Dino.
Open thread - bar is open, too. Come in in, grab a drink or 2. Or 3. Keep it light and friendly. The Moose out front has been very busy today welcoming all of his MoMe friends.
A frustrated karate student walks up to his teacher and tells him, "Master, it has been years now and my technique is not improving. What must I do to be as good as you, Master?"
The older man looks at him with kind eyes and says, "My child, have you ever observed the ants - how they work tirelessly day and night to build something that can be swept away with a single wave of the hand?"
"Yes Master, many times," the young one says.
"Have you watched how, in the fiercest storm, bamboo always bends, but never breaks?"
"Yes Master."
"And have you paused to contemplate the reflection of the full moon in still water?"
"Of course Master, many times."
"Now I see your problem, young one. You keep looking at stupid shit instead of practicing."
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Drink of the Night
Help yourself!
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Club ONT Department of Idaho Democracy
An Idaho ballot measure in the upcoming midterm election will ask voters to identify an official state gun, The advisory question is non-binding and instead will only advise the state legislature on voter preferences. Voters can pick from the following options:
Winchester Model 1894 (.30-30)
Winchester Model 1873 (.44-40)
1873 Colt Single Action Army Revolver (.45 Colt)
M1 Garand rifle (.30-06)
Colt M1911 .45 automatic Colt pistol (.45 ACP)
Remington Model 700 bolt-action rifle (.30-06)
In order to make a specific firearm the official state gun, the state legislature would need to approve a separate law after the election.
The Steagles, officially known as the Phil-Pitt Combine, was the team created by the temporary merger of Pennsylvania's two National Football League (NFL) teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles, during the 1943 season. The two franchises, due to both having many players leave for military service during World War II, were compelled to field a single combined team. The league's official record book refers to the team as the "Phil-Pitt Combine," but the unofficial and portmanteau variation of the "Steagles," despite never being registered by the NFL, has become the enduring moniker.
What's a "portmanteau" anyway?
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Club ONT Department of Amphibious Entertainment
When driving your vehicle into the water is authorized and encouraged:
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Club ONT Jukebox
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Top 10ish Comments of the Week
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Club ONT is brought to you by Randy
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Please don't be like Randy. The restrooms are not far away. Don't take any chances!
Saturday Evening Movie Post [moviegique]: The Howling (1981)
—Open Blogger
The year of our Lord, 1981, saw no less than three major werewolf films: The disappointing Wolfen, based on the very good Whitley Streiber book; the John Landis classic, An American Werewolf in London; and the low-budget Avco Embassy feature, The Howling. Based on the book by Gary Brandner, but not really. (I read Brandner's book decades after seeing the movie and thought: "Well, this isn't great.")
Having three werewolf movies of three different budgetary levels is informative, I think: Wolfen, starring a hot-on-a-comeback Albert Finney and Gregory Hines cost $17M and made $10M. American made $30M domestically on a $6M budget. Howling made $17M on about $1.7M budget. The two cheaper movies are so much more fun, it's not even close.
"OK, now you sing 'Scaramouche, Scaramouch, can you do the Fandango?'!"
The Howling is the sensitive story of a newscaster Karen (Dee Wallace, E.T., The Hills Have Eyes) who is terrorized by serial killer Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo, "Star Trek: Voyager") in an intense prologue where she's walking the streets to meet him while under the watchful eye of—well, I'm not 100% sure. Her boss (Kevin McCarthy, Invasion of the Body Snatchers) is ready to cut from a boring talk show to her for footage, though there's actually no cameraman around. Her cameraman/producer (Dennis Dugan, "Richie Brockelman, P.I.", director of many Adam Sandler movies) is back at the station listening, until her wire is taken out by the "neon", according to the wire expert.
Meanwhile, Dr. Waggner (Patrick MacNee, The Avengers, A View To A Kill) is on the talk show they're preparing to cut away from, droning on about "embracing the inner animal".
This is a great opening. It's suspenseful, as Karen finds a pay phone with a "Have A Nice Day" sticker on it—well before The Watchmen—and waits for Eddie to call. He does and she moves from the phone booth to a sex shop nearby.
This is on Western Ave, theoretically, but they did this thing in movies where they just took every adult shop from Koreatown to Santa Monica and edited them all together to make it look like Los Angeles was just one big, uninterrupted series of sleazy entertainment venues. When I lived there, there was one adult store on that street—used in every decadence montage—with some kind of smaller, venue across from it. Even Hollywood Blvd. was never that densely packed.
In the booth in the back of the store, Eddie has her watch violent pornography while explaining how she's different from all the shallow people in Los Angeles. And if the happy-face stickers weren't enough to tip you off, this little speech should. It's the exact sort of piquant mixture of Phoebe Cates telling Zach Galligan why they don't celebrate Christmas in Gremlins.
"Now, when you say 'You're next!', what exactly do you mean?"
It ends with a twitchy rookie firing bullets into Eddie, and the traumatized Karen gets sent away to Dr. Waggner's The Colony with her husband Bill (real-life future husband Christopher Stone), where they meet the various residents who don't seem to have any particular issues beyond being slightly annoying. Well, John Carradine (The Grapes of Wrath, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) is old and possibly suicidal.
Karen thinks something's off in The Colony, but Bill's getting seduced by the local witch, played by the gorgeous Elizabeth Brooks. Her acting was better than I remembered it, too. She has to do most of it with looks and gestures, and a sex scene which was unlike any other I've seen before or since.
Anyway, Karen starts to suspect some of The Colony residents, and calls up her producer, who sends his girlfriend (Belinda Balaski, Gremlins, Explorers), and this ultimately leads to the Big Reveal.
"Soylent Werewolf is made out of people!"
The pacing on this movie is terrific. Dante talked about the editing, which is mostly quite good. When we finally get a werewolf transformation, it's (like American Werewolf) unlike anything we've seen in cinema. No dissolves on a static photo, oh, no: Pulsing skin and stretching bones, the works, within the limitations of the budget, which were severe.
Amusingly, I found the transition both less and more impressive than I did 45 years ago. I was swept up at the time, and astounded. The whole thing takes about three minutes and feels a little long now, and the mechanics a little more obvious. But it's still very effective. And it's "real"! Not a computer in sight!
Rick Baker left the production to work on American Werewolf, but he left behind his assistant, 21-year-old Rob Bottin, who of course would immortalize himself the next year doing the effects on The Thing.
Pino Donaggio did the score, which—well, in places, it's outstanding. In others, it's more like a guy banging on his DX-7. This may well have been budgetary. The real place the low-budget shows, I think, is that the music doesn't really transition well between scenes. You have a musical bit over the action, then it'll just stop for a few beats until the next shot starts. Sometimes it'll go to the end of the shot and switch, sort of jarringly, to the next theme, which might be a different style entirely.
I might have been the only one who noticed, of course.
Full of what we now call Easter Eggs, of several varieties. The characters watch TV, but what is on? Well, The Wolf Man. An old cartoon about the Three Little Pigs. Or they read, but what do they read? Well, Howl, of course. Or, after one of the character's has been turned but hasn't transformed, You Can't Go Home Again.
There used to be a lot of smoking in movies.
Beyond that, there are just a zillion small roles and cameos: Roger Corman waits outside the phone book while Karen is talking to Eddie. Forrest Ackerman is in the occult bookshop—run, of course, by Dick Miller, credited, of course, with the character name of "Walter Paisely", which was something of a running gag. Future horror director Mick Garris (the TV movies for "The Stand" and "The Shining") has a cameo and was in attendance at this showing. Johnathan Kaplan (probably best known for producing and directing "E.R."), art director Bob Burns (who also did the art direction for the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Re-Animator), and future 2-times Oscar nominee Michael Chapman (for his cinematograpy on Raging Bull and The Fugitive).
Screenwriter John Sayles has a small role as a morgue attendant who places his lunch sloppy joe in-between the internal organs of his newest guest. And he has a massive role in turning a so-so horror into a biting commentary on both society and werewolves. (It's about time someone took them down!)
Early small role for Meschach Taylor. Slim Pickens in a relatively late role as the sheriff. Old John Carradine would only rack up another 30+ credits before he passed way in the late '80s. (And at least on credit in the mid-'90s!)
It's very 1981—adult stores and early serial killer vibes, though not much gore and little nudity—which I understand "modern audiences" might find problematic, but The Boy enjoyed it. Definitely a gem.
Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. For this week, the Wheel of Hobbies (TM) is feeling random and decided on a hobby scrapple theme for this Hobby Thread.
[Top photo: Location unknown, but gold star for clever use of a dump truck for home landscaping design]
While some among the Horde are busy doing the thing at the place, the Hobby Thread remains on duty to serve the on-line community of Morons. Instead of a single theme, think of tonight's content as hobby scrapple. It is a random mix of hobbying odds and ends.
The content may not be your favorite but give it a chance before you judge and bail out. More importantly, what are you hobbying? Jump in with your hobbying, interests, stories and questions.
Anything (legal) you are hobbying is welcome. If nothing resonates, offer something else relating to hobbying or just check in and say hello.
As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. Leave politics and religion to threads elsewhere (unless your hobby is building or restoring churches). Pants? Nope. As always, puns are welcome and encouraged.
Play nice and do not be rude. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls.
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Is skateboarding quickly in the Austrian Alps a hobby?
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Learn how to spin yarn from the Irish Linen Centre:
Textile arts history nugget...Singer stopped making household sewing machines in the US in 1980. Link here. The company went through financial troubles and a bankruptcy. The Singer brand was purchased in 2004 and combined with Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff in 2006.
Singer, Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff are now part of one company. All three belong to SVP Worldwide. An American brand, a Swedish one and a German one are sold as three separate heritages but as far as I can tell, no manufacturing occurs in America, Sweden or Germany. The three compete at different price points.
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Lesson: if you find an old comic book when cleaning out old boxes, don't automatically throw it away,
The Merrimack Valley Collection is a legendary comic book collection in which someone bought comics off the rack and stored them in a cardboard box for almost 80 years. Heritage Auctions sold many of these comics in a couple of auctions in Dallas last week. The top selling comic was Captain America No. 1 from 1941 in very good condition, and it sold for $716,750.
Another standout was original art from Gary Larson's 1985 Far Side comic about socially insecure clowns. It sold for $112,500, more than double the previous Far Side record of $51,600.
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Amazing. This is one of those videos that you click with little expectation of watching the whole thing and...you end up watching the whole thing.
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The world is a little more fun with eccentrics in it.
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Stop-motion model building? Great concept well executed:
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Restoring a Stanley No. 1 handplane (I knew old some old handplanes were rare, but didn't appreciate the story of this one):
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Fundamentals of filing:
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Impressive:
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Halloween hobbying:
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Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did a furniture theme. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.
Notable comments from last week:
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Words of wisdom:
"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).
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Reminder: if you put links in the comments, use a URL shortener and describe what you're linking to. Failing to do either or both makes you barrel-eligible. Don't make people click to find out what you're linking.
Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Or just email to say hello. Do mighty things.
This is Coco, our new 5 month old. She was just adopted from the rescue shelter on Sunday. We’ve gradually introduced her to new things: first puppy chow, then walks. Today was her introduction to baths…..
The information on this adorable puppy was sent in from a mysterious member of The Horde to Misanthropic Humanitarian. Maybe we'll learn who owns Coco sometime today.
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Oblio has appeared in the pet thread previously. I found bloody urine next to her litter box Thursday morning. Not good. Trip to the vet. In addition to the chronic kidney disease she has suffered for about a decade and the thyroid problems with which she was diagnosed earlier this year, it looked like she had a carcinoma in her GI tract. Time to let her go. She was 19 years old, remarkable for a cat, never mind one with kidney disease.
She went to sleep in my lap, tail lazily swishing, just as she spent many an afternoon. I miss the fuzz face so much. I don't think I can go through this again.
Butch
So sorry that you have lost wonderful Oblio. I found an older photo that you had sent in of her relaxing on a blanket. Please stay in touch.
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Thank you for sharing your pets and animal photos and stories with us today.
If you would like to send pet and/or animal stories, links, etc. for the Ace of Spades Pet Thread, the address is:
petmorons at protonmail dot com
Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known when you comment at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.
I closed the comments on that post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.
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Question: When is this a positive and when is it a negative?
A 2023 cognitive study conducted by researchers at the University of Helsinki using the "smartDOG" testing methodology evaluated over 1,000 dogs across 13 different breeds.
The Belgian Malinois scored the highest overall, achieving 35 out of 39 possible points. https://t.co/q4gd663O4b
On a scale of “Trump conspired with Russia to steal the 2016 election” to “Respected nominee to Supreme Court is secretly a serial gang rape cartel leader roaming the streets of suburban Maryland,” where would “it’s weird that this guy in the middle of a hot Senate race hasn’t been on the trail for weeks” rank?
You know who is braver than a college president? Wynton Marsalis speaking out against rap and hip-hop in black culture. Not that I agree on all his positions.
Wynton Marsalis covered all the bases. Race. His role in New Orleans’s removal of Confederate statues last year. His deep antipathy to rap and hip-hop. And the damage he believes the genres inflict on African Americans. “I feel that that’s much more of a racial issue than taking Robert E. Lee’s statue down,” Marsalis told me in the latest episode of “Cape Up.” “There’s more niggers in that than there is in Robert E. Lee’s statue.”
I am also disturbed by young non-black kids imitating black gang culture. And I was horrified to hear a non-black neighbor, a fairly regular guy, casually listening to gangsta rap with his friend in the presence of their eight year old daughters. Worse language about women than anything at Cornell. I said something.
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This really is - even vs Trump and Biden's antics - zany third world bullshite.
This woman married her own (gay?) brother as part of an immigration fraud scam, which has been low-key known about since decade-old revelations on Somali Spot (sue me if you deny this). She now denies exactly knowing her birth-date.
This American used to be a liberal and was shocked by what she was told in college about Muslims
“I went to college where a social work professor asked our class, what are you doing on an everyday basis to combat racism and prejudice and bigotry? So I raised my hand as a really proud, liberal, naive young woman. I raised my hand so proud and I said, well, when I go to the airport, I always go out of my way to be really nice and smile at Middle Eastern men. because I assume that people have been really mean to them at the airport, so I always go out of my way to smile at them.
And she looked at me in front of the entire class and said, never do that again, because in their culture, smiling at a man means that you're a prostitute, so never do that again”
“I was stunned into silence. And I don't know who needs to hear this today, but sympathy toward an ideology that is openly hostile, brutally oppressive and objectifying to women is not empathy. It's actually what I would call Western privilege. You have the privilege of extending sympathy to men who buy into this radical ideology because you have never been a Middle Eastern woman subject to being under it. How you look at them will never change how they look at you”
For those that didn’t know this, it’s real. In Muslim culture a woman smiling at a man that is not her husband is considered haram (forbidden) and strongly prohibited
Muslims say a woman uncovering her face and smiling at a man can lead to evil, here’s the actual reasoning
“It is haraam for a woman to uncover her face or to smile at a non-mahram man, because of the evil to which that may lead.”
Our cultures are not equal. Islam is not compatible with Western Civilization
Defeated at the Battle of Bemis Heights, surrounded, and greatly outnumbered, British general John Burgoyne surrendered his 6,300-man army on this day in 1777. The campaign that he had so confidently begun four months earlier, had ended disastrously for him. For the victorious Patriots, it was a desperately needed success, crushing the British attempt to isolate New England and leading directly to the crucial American alliance with France.
As provided in the terms of capitulation, at 11 a.m. Burgoyne’s army laid down (grounded) their arms, overseen by two of General Gates’s aides. The surrendered army then marched out in a column passing through lines of American troops drawn up on either side of them, both sides behaving with solemnity and decorum. Burgoyne and his staff proceeded to Gates’s headquarters, where Burgoyne presented his sword to Gates. “The Fortune of war, General Gates, has made me your prisoner,” he said. Gates answered, “I shall always be ready to testify that it has not been through any fault of your excellency,” as he returned the sword to Burgoyne.
The terms of the surrender provided that Burgoyne’s disarmed army would march to Boston, where it would be allowed to board ships and return to Great Britain, on the condition that none of the surrendered men were to participate further in the war. Congress objected strenuously, however, when the terms became known, protesting that there could be no assurance the British would honor them and that even if they did the surrendered men could simply take the place of other British garrisons which could then be sent to America. So before allowing the British soldiers to leave, Congress required that Parliament explicitly ratify the agreement. But because Great Britain did not recognize the validity of the U.S. government, it would not formally enter into any official agreement with it. That being exactly what Congress had expected, Burgoyne’s men (who came to be called "the Convention Army" ) were treated as prisoners of war, kept initially in Massachusetts and ultimately in barracks in Albemarle County, Virginia. The fascinating story of the “Convention Army” will be a Dose for another day.
The painting is “The Surrender of General Burgoyne” by John Trumbull. Completed in 1821, it hangs in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol.
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WEEKEND
I have been skimming some little AI stories in my social media feed. Man, are some of the story lines complex, yet stupidly incomplete. One featured multiple hidden identities and two misidentified deaths. Plus a hidden prison and a child held ransom for a future trust payout.
These old Colombo stories, on the other hand, take a simple story and pay attention to detail. Some politicians might want to pay attention.
Another busy week in the news: the midterms approached a climax, there were riots in France, Katie Zacharia came and went in record time, Elon Musk unveiled a flying (sort of) automobile. But from a meme point of view, the number one story was Homeland Security's raid on Ilhan Omar's D.C. house. Speculation as to what crime is being investigated is rampant, and Omar's statement in response sounded like a farewell address. But that is too much to hope for. Meanwhile, no word on whether they searched her underwear drawer.
The Classical Saturday Coffee Break & Prayer Revival
—Misanthropic Humanitarian
Good morning boys and girls and everything in between. Before we enter the Prayer Revival just a few housekeeping matters to go over. (Rulz for those of you in the Greater Corsicana Metroplex)
1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate. Praying isn't a bad idea either.
2) Be kind. Be nice. Or ........
3) No running with sharp objects, scissors included.(H/T Hrothgar)
4) Have a great weekend!
Please submit any prayer requests to me, “Annie’s Stew” at apaslo at-sign hotmail dot com. Prayer requests are generally removed after four weeks unless we receive an update.
Prayer Requests:
9/18 – Random Dave posted an update to his job progress. He is still looking for FT work, but has accepted a substitute teacher position (more flexibility for interviews, some income to slow the bleeding). He asks for prayers that the interview results he is waiting on will get back to him soon, especially if one is the “right job”. If any are “not the right job”, they would fall away soon and get back to him, and that if all of them are “not the right job”, the ‘right job” would show itself aggressively, so he doesn’t miss it! He also thanks the Horde and the folks at church for their prayers and support.
8/14 Update – Random Dave needs continued prayers for his job situation, that God would guide him to the right one soon, and also for prayers for M’s grandmother, who fell the other day and tore a ligament.
10/1 Update – M’s grandma is healing. They are still praying for complete healing and mobility.
9/18 – Tonypete asked for prayers for #1 son. He has something going on which is, as yet, undiagnosed. He is under care now, so that is a positive step. Prayers also for his wife and daughter #2. Mom is a spoiled princess who consistently chooses the worst path of action regarding #2.
9/18 – Brother Tim posted that he has been overnight in his car more than indoors. He is convinced that his retirement/resignation was a severe error, a result of fatigue and depression. He asks for prayers.
10/8 – D asks for blessings on the Texas MoMe participants, as they travel and as they enjoy the event – and especially blessings on the organizers.
10/10 – Just Some Guy asked for prayers for his former work colleague, who had a heart attack and stroke.
10/10 – Mile, okravangelist, requested prayers for Mama Publius, for grace and fortitude, and that she passes in her sleep. Mama Publius is in home hospice care.
For submission guidelines and other relevant info, please contact Annie's Stew, who is managing the prayer list. You can contact her at apaslo at-sign hotmail dot com. If you see a prayer request posted in a thread comment, feel free to copy and paste it and e-mail it to Annie's Stew. She tries to keep up with the requests in the threads, but she's not here all of the time, so she may not see it unless you e-mail it to her. Please note: Prayer requests are generally removed after four weeks or so unless we receive an update.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.
Leap seconds were introduced by astronomers to make sure that UTC time that normal people use never drifted more than a second from UT1 time that abnormal people astronomers use.
UT1 measures what time it really is based on the rotation of the Earth. The problem is that while this measure is definitive, it is not consistent: The Earth wobbles.
So after fifty years of faffing about, astronomers decided it was all more trouble than it was worth, and dropped it in favour of a leap hour, which is not expected to arise for a very long time.
Musical Interlude
It's the same song as this day last year. YouTube is playing up for me right now, so I can't easily search for a new one.
Bonus Jdon My Soul Video of the Day
Hololive's very Australian Hakos Baelz playing a game of telephone with her American, Japanese, and Indonesian colleagues.
Men who have opinions about how women dress, need to all the way go fuck themselves. This toxic masculinity trend needs to end. These fragile men need to get out of the way of women in totality.
We do not answer to you.
We do not dress for you.
We do not need your useless opinions.
Men, get it together, do better.
Women, be mindful of the men you choose to elect into office during this election cycle. Listen to the words...
By the way, here's how the Child Murderess describes herself:
Casey Anthony
@therealcaseyanthony
Researcher. Consultant. Author. Advocate. Activist. LGBTQIA+ Ally🏳️🌈. - Protect the dolls. Stand with women. - We are Jane Doe.
Are you joking. Are you joking.
Lisa Elizabeth
@Lisaelizabeth
I just don't get why women are so dishonest. Like -- just admit that you dress like that because you want people, especially men, to think that you're hot. And by hot I mean sexually attractive. That's why the shorts are short and tight and scrunch up around your butt to make your butt look bigger and rounder. Why? Because you think men like big round juicy butts. You wear low-cut tops because men find breasts attractive. Cut the bullshit that you do it just for you or that it's more comfortable because you don't and it's not. Just freaking own it.
And if you are going to dress like that, don't expect people not to look because that's specifically why you chose the outfit you did. Furthermore, don't get mad when people you don't think are hot hit on you. You can't have it both ways.
Aside from it being problematic for society and relationships between men and women, thing that frustrates me the most is the dishonesty in all of it. You know why you do it, we know why you do it. I am so tired of people expecting others not to be honest about things that are blatantly/obviously/objectively true.
woodsplitter
@woodsplittergpy
are they in denial that they are sooo desperate for male attention; or are they upset and embarrassed that they have to use their fat shiny poopers (as opposed to their superior intellects, and healthier psyches) to get it??
I had Fat Shiny Poopers' debut EP. It was an import from the UK on Stiff Records.
During a recent high school cross-country meet in Washington, in which female athletes walked off the course instead of running against a trans-identified male runner who had switched to the female division earlier in the season, it has been revealed that the male athlete shared a hotel room with a female member of the team.
This took place during Camas High School's trip to the Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational in Arlington, which took place on October 10. Per Clark County Today, members of the cross-country team were lodged in a hotel at the expense of the school district. The biological male running of the girls' team, Logan Mihailoff, shared a hotel room with a female member of the Camas team.
Camas School District Communications and Media Manager Doreen McKercher told the outlet, "Coaching staff coordinate room assignments for overnight athletic trips and may consider student-athletes' preferences. We can confirm that no student was required to share a room with someone they were uncomfortable rooming with. To protect student privacy, we will not discuss individual room assignments or accommodations."
And when I say "woman," I mean it in the Canadian sense: I mean a man who dresses as a woman and who helps another transgender kill children.
The lawyer for a Washington resident accused of conspiring with the Tumbler Ridge shooter told a judge Tuesday his client has co-operated fully with police since the February shooting and does not pose a threat to the public.
The accused, James Cody Bryant, 30, of Bellingham, Wash., appeared in U.S. District Court in Seattle for a pretrial detention hearing Thursday. Ms. Bryant goes by Melody and uses she/her pronouns, according to her lawyers.
She wore glasses, and a beige button-down jumpsuit over her slight frame. Her long hair reached past her shoulders.
Her?
Ms. Bryant's lawyer, public defender Gregory Murphy, argued his client could be safely released before trial under conditions, including potential house detention, a mental health assessment and strict monitoring of her online activities.
He noted Ms. Bryant, who was arrested last week, was shocked by the shooting and has co-operated with police since the days after it occurred.
Tumbler Ridge shooter was aided by conspirator in Washington State, authorities allege
"Words fail when we talk about the horror of what Van Rootselaar did ... Ms. Bryant, I think, feels that also," Mr. Murphy said, referring to shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar. He noted his client has sobbed during interviews with the FBI.
But the judge rejected the defence's request and opted to keep Ms. Bryant in custody.
Ms. Bryant faces charges of aiding Ms. Van Rootselaar, 18, in planning and executing the mass shooting at a school in the northern B.C. mining town in February.
Ms. Van Rootselaar killed her mother and half-brother at their family home on Feb. 10 before proceeding to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where she killed five students and an educational assistant. She then turned a gun on herself. It was the deadliest school shooting in Canadian history.
It's almost as if these native citizens believe they have rights in their own country.
Over the past couple of decades, more than a few British people have accused immigrants of stealing their jobs, by under-cutting them on pay. At last, though, it seems that things may be starting to change. Because these days, apparently, it's the other way round.
Or so I gather from a fascinating quote in our report, published on Sunday, about places in Britain where a majority of adults are claiming out-of-work benefits. In Birmingham, our reporter interviewed a local man named Mohammad Khan. And he said: "Here it is hard to get a job. A lot of students come and pick up part-time jobs. They take over the housing. They work for a lower rate and they can speak English."
If the ability to speak English is giving these students a decisive advantage in the Birmingham jobs market, that means the people they're under-cutting must be immigrants who can't speak English. In which case, I hope Birmingham isn't going to see mass protests by unemployed immigrants, muttering: "Bloody British. Coming over here, stealing our jobs." Then again, if they can only say this in another language, I suppose we won't know what they're protesting about.
Her lawyers need to spend some time reviewing the case law on how lowly Nazi prison camp guards, some of whom were forced into service, immigrated to the U.S. under the Displaced Persons Act after WWII, later became U.S. citizens, but were denaturalized and deported when their military histories were proven.
This new paper is hilarious. It warns about political and cultural biases influencing science, and aims to expose the biased "co-option of research" by...
..."Using the lens of queer monster theory" to reveal the "power dynamics" that have resulted in "binary definitions and proscriptions of cis-heterosexism" the "purported 'biological truth' of immutable binary sex."
Oh yes, the sex binary rooted in observable sperm and ova discovered over a century ago is totally a result of cultural and political bias, but "queer monster theory" and "cis-heterosexism" is rooted in pure reason and derivable from first principles. 🙄
These people have zero self-awareness.
Liberals in New York City gather to sing a song about abolishing the New York Police Department
Take a look at how diverse this group is…. The entire group is privileged white liberals
This is a choir that’s part of the Democratic Socialists of America New York Chapter. The DSA literally setup a choir to sing songs “For a Revolution”
Imagine being so privileged and living in an area so safe you think we don’t need police anymore and then wanting to force that belief on everyone else who actually needs the protection
The Millionaire Tech Weirdo Who Says His Biohacking Will Grant Him Immortality Finds a New Way to Weird You Out
—Disinformation Expert Ace
A couple of weeks ago I spoke casually about supplementing potassium. A commenter chided me for speaking about taking a supplement that could lead to hyperkalemia, which at high enough levels can be fatal. Or just cause you neurological damage.
I also have been watching Elementary and noticed someone was murdered by an injections of potassium chloride, which caused a heart attack.
So... don't take much potassium as a supplement. There's a reason the pills you can buy only have 3% of the USRDA of potassium.
On to the story:
This is the guy with a full scientific/medical lab in his house who does multiple analyses of his blood and biological fluids every single day.
His theory is that science is approaching the point where it could reverse aging, so if he can just extend his life to, say, 120, he will become immortal. He's said something to the effect of "these will be the last generations to know death." Or something like that, less poetical.
Among his tests: He wears some kind of a genital cuff around his dong at night because nighttime erections have been linked to longevity.
His "girlfriend," who seems nearly as weird as he is, wants in on this too.
A device that measures nighttime female "erections" to gauge longevity? Now that's a biohacker's wet dream.
Every night, Kate Tolo inserts a $15,700 "research grade erection device" into what her boyfriend and business partner, biohacker Bryan Johnson, famously called her "top 1%" vagina.
In fact, both of them wear an erection tracker nightly. Johnson says he's looking to maintain healthy erections, which some experts agree is a predictor of longevity for men.
And Tolo -- despite not having a penis -- wants in on the action.
Atoms Family Values
Tolo says women get "erections" too -- and it's possible that tracking them could give ladies similar longevity insights.
I'll spare you the details but the science says the Little Man in the Prow of the Boat stands up a couple of times per night.
"The light sensor inside my probe is the same kind smartwatches use to read your heart rate," she explained.
...
Tolo's vaginal "erection" data is not easy to get. Her device costs $15,723.68 and is like "lab equipment in my bedroom," she said.
"I insert the 5cm probe [and] tape a wire to my leg that is plugged into a machine and a laptop. The laptop can't fall asleep or we lose the data. I sadly learned that through experience."
Meanwhile, Johnson's can be bought online for $275 and connects to a smartphone.
"I've tracked my nighttime erections for years ... It's one of the best signals I have for vascular health, and it costs $275," Johnson said. "The gap in our devices sums up the current status of female health.
...
Tolo has been outspoken about the disparity in research on women's health.
This year, she created "the female protocol" to measure 1,900 biomarkers across blood, urine, stool and vaginal microbiome, while holding diet, sleep and exercise constant.
The happy couple is all smiles as they show off their genital probes:
You don't have to be a pioneer on the Oregon Trail to catch the bug that causes dysentery.
Nowadays, the infection is spreading more through sex -- and evolving into something that's "close to untreatable," one expert said.
Shigella bacteria infect nearly half a million people in the US every year -- causing diarrhea with blood or mucus (the hallmark of a dysentery infection), stomach pain, cramps, fever and vomiting.
Scientists are learning more about why the disturbing disease is spreading so quickly, and why it's developing a resistance to treatment.
Shigella is a nasty illness that causes more than uncomfortable doo-doos. It can become life-threatening by dehydrating and depleting bodily fluids including blood, causing bacterial and septic shock, neurological complications, and internal bleeding and infection.
The bacteria spreads through infected poop that gets into the mouth because of ill-washed hands, or swallowing tainted food or water. A minuscule amount -- as few as 10 organisms -- is enough to get you sick.
The population most likely to get infected are children under 5, who catch it at day care and schools from other kids who are just starting to learn about keeping themselves clean. Travelers to places where sanitation standards are lower, and people experiencing homelessness are also at higher risk.
The swap from incandescent to LED bulbs became mandatory, thanks to a 2007 energy bill signed by George W. Bush. With a simple pitch that left little room for argument, the efficiency rules in the bill quietly dimmed the incandescent bulb out of existence, clearing the way to replace it with LED bulbs....
Indeed, the concern over LED light is mainstream and growing. Dr. Glen Jeffery at UCL's Institute of Ophthalmology has found that the blue-heavy light from typical LEDs lowers the membrane potential in our mitochondria, thus impacting the electrical charge that lets our mitochondria produce ATP, the energy currency of the cell. Along with that, blue light in the evening suppresses melatonin and disrupts circadian rhythms, which in turn affects sleep, hormone balance, and overnight cellular repair. And studies on animals reveal that blue light causes retinal damage. Eye damage is significant because half of the human brain is wired, either directly or indirectly, to process what it receives through the eyes. Stare too long at a device and, yes, your eyes are wrecked. Think about it. The notion that it was safe to rewire the light--swap out the bulb--in every home, school, office, street, and so on, and see absolutely no biological cost is absurd.
Dr. Jack Kruse and others in the holistic world have been warning us about this for years. Kruse maintains that light, not food, is the master signal for human health.
🚨 The government pushed incandescent bulbs out. Now the Department of Energy is backing their return.
Why? The science around artificial light, blue-light exposure, and what it may mean for our eyes and health is becoming impossible to ignore.
Four states are already issuing guidance for schools. But what are they recommending, and why isn’t everyone being told? Watch the clip 👇
Watch The Download every Monday at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET, right here on X or at https://t.co/Z12xa0teO7!
But according to a recent Lancet Public Health study, which analyzed data from more than 110,000 people, taking 7,000 steps offered the same health benefits as 10,000 steps, including a lower risk of all-cause mortality, reduced cardiovascular risk, and even a decreased risk of developing dementia.
This made me question everything. Was I overdoing it for no reason? And where did the 10,000-step rule even come from?
As it turns out, the 10,000-step benchmark wasn't based on science. It originated in Japan in the 1960s, when a pedometer company called Yamasa created a product named "manpo-kei," which translates to "10,000-step meter." The catchy number stuck -- and so did the idea that 10,000 was the gold standard.
...
I didn't realize how obsessed I'd become with the number on my watch until I started skipping the gym on days when I hit my 10,000 steps early. I'd feel like I'd done enough just because my step count was high -- even if I hadn't lifted weights in weeks or eaten a proper meal.
This kind of tunnel vision is what Ogden cautions against.
"Fitness isn't one-dimensional," she says. "Just because you're active doesn't mean you're well-rounded in your routine. Are you working on your strength? Your mobility? Your cardiovascular health?"
She often sees clients who walk 10,000 steps a day but can't carry groceries or struggle to get off the floor. "That tells me there's a gap in functional fitness," she says. "Movement needs to support your life, not just your metrics."
Strength-based exercises like planks are a key part of long-term fitness and longevity.
...
In other words, if swimming, yoga, or pilates fits more easily into your lifestyle, and are more enjoyable, those activities may provide greater benefits than forcing extra steps just to hit 10,000.
The study, published in the journal Life Sciences, isolated the biological impacts of exercise from the secondary changes triggered by dropping pounds. Researchers fed male mice a high-fat diet to induce obesity, then divided them into a sedentary group and an exercising group. Both groups continued eating the high-fat diet to ensure physical activity was the only difference between them.
...
The experiment also included a group of mice fed a standard diet. To simulate strength training, the exercising animals climbed a staircase 70 centimeters, or about 28 inches, high with weights attached to their tails. They trained at 70% of their maximum carrying capacity, completing 20 climbs per session with rest intervals of 60 to 90 seconds. In total, they completed seven sessions over seven days.
....
The researchers focused on mesenteric adipose tissue, the fat surrounding the intestines, which Moura describes as a primary counterpart to human visceral fat. The exercised mice had less of this tissue and smaller fat-storing cells, called adipocytes, than the sedentary obese mice.
In obesity, adipocytes can become so enlarged that they experience chronic stress and release inflammatory substances into the bloodstream. These substances can disrupt metabolism throughout the body, helping explain why excess visceral fat is more harmful than subcutaneous fat beneath the skin. The team interpreted the smaller cells as a sign that the tissue was becoming less inflamed and metabolically healthier.
...
Exercise affected fat production as well. The trained mice showed lower activity of Scd1, a gene involved in making fat molecules. The researchers interpret that decrease as a sign that the body may become less likely to store calories from food as fat.
Researchers at Adelaide University analyzed 157 systematic reviews covering 2,736 randomized controlled trials and 221,279 participants. Across that evidence, exercise was associated with reductions in both acute and chronic pain, making the study the most comprehensive synthesis to date of exercise as a pain treatment.
The results challenge the assumption that harder or longer workouts are necessary for pain relief. Lower intensity and shorter duration programs produced greater reductions in pain, while meaningful benefits were also seen in programs totaling less than two hours of exercise per week.
Netflix (NFLX.O), opens new tab is laying off 6% of its workforce, or roughly 1,000 employees, in its biggest cuts since 2022, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters, as the streaming pioneer faces tough competition for viewers from legacy rivals and YouTube.
The bulk of the job cuts would be in Netflix's product, tech, legal and human-resources teams, the email Co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos sent to employees on Wednesday showed.
They're getting no criticism for this. Leftists play life on its easy settings.
But when the company he demanded be allowed to purchase Warner Bros. cuts 1000 jobs, he says NOTHING. Because he's a taqiyya communist and lies are like breaths to him.
They also point out that the other super-left media company, the Disney Groomer Corporation, just cut 600 jobs. No objections from Ruffalo.
AG
@AGHamilton29
The entire continued freakout over @bariweiss and CBS News is simply because the left believes they are entitled to controlling the media narrative and feel threatened that even one major news organization might present the other side.
If you follow the news closely, you will see that they act like a herd and always cover the same stories from the same perspectives. Far more important is what they choose not to cover. The factual stories and perspectives that they simply ignore because they don't fit the narratives that the so many of the activists in their news and editorial rooms prefer.
They don't even want people exposed to those stories/views if it's not coming from outlets they can dismiss like FNC or the NY Post because it might allow people who aren't openly partisan choose how they understand these issues for themselves. That's the entire threat.
It's not that CBS News might become ideologically right-wing. There is zero evidence Weiss is pushing for them to only report things from that perspective and plenty of evidence that's not true. It's simply that it could expose people to the other side, and that can't be allowed.
Actor Ben Affleck went on the attack against those who support the deportation of criminal illegal aliens -- support that has long been bipartisan -- and insisted that supporters off President Donald Trump's immigration policies are rooted in "xenophobia."
He also claimed that it is "totally false" that Democrats have been refusing to prosecute illegal migrant murderers and rapists.
Ben Affleck says deportations are driven by "xenophobia" & scapegoating
The idea that criminals & rapists were being ignored [before Trump] is totally false. It's simply a veneer to one of our more ugly tendencies, to seek our own protection at the expense of someone else. https://t.co/TrOF1XmcGY
Speaking of aging: Captain Kirk is now 95 years old. He doesn't look 95. He looks 65. This guy was living out of his station wagon for years when he couldn't get work after Star Trek.
Metallica's James Hetfiled told an audience he wasn't going to share his political opinions because that's not his job. His job is to rock.
Metallica's James Hetfield BLASTS other celebrities who push their political opinions on fans
“Metallica is not here like some other entertainers to influence you with their bullshit” 🔥 https://t.co/iSAtVLQXtX
Unfortunately, as you know, you're not allowed to say you want to stay out of Current Day Politics. You are required to pledge yourself to the One True Faith of the Communist-Islamist Alliance.
Jew-hating, Hamas loving ex-rocker Roger Waters attacked him, claiming Hetfield is a "nobody" (seriously?) and has "an IQ of 3."
Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx also said he didn't want to talk about politics:
Metal heads are nice people dressing up and pretending to be mean people.
Hippies are mean people dressing up and pretending to be nice people.
The trailer for the C.S. Lewis' adaptation of The Magician's Nephew debuted.
This is the "modernized" version by Barbie director Greta Gerwig. She gender-flipped the character standing in for God/Jesus, Aslan, who will be played by Meryl Streep. Because eff you, Hollywood makes like four Christian themed movies and that's too many. Any Christian themed movie must be subverted, deconstructed, and "modernized" to not offed TikTok harridans. A Christian story has to be made for atheist efminists.
The trailer's getting a lot of praise for featuring an altered version Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."
Greta Gerwig claims this is the very first time that Led Zeppelin has allowed anyone to use their music in a movie trailer.
Using a remixed version of a Led Zeppelin classic in the trailer for a fantasy film? What a great, creative, never-been-done-before new idea.
Here's the trailer.
I think it suffers from the "Two People Standing in a Room Made Entirely of Greenscreen and Computer Pixels" problem. People are tired of this. We've seen it and seen it and seen it and seen it. And then when Ant Man: Quantumania came out, we decided not to bother seeing it at all.
Another fantasy flop, A Wrinkle in Time, also featured "Two Kids Standing in a Room Made of Greenscreen and Computer Pixels" and flopped hard.
No one is impressed by this, and no one thinks it looks real.
The best part of the trailer, to me, is the beginning, when they're filming in an actual crumbling building in England.
The movie cost $280 million. With some saying it cost even more than that.
The InSneider is now further reporting on friction between Netflix film chief Dan Lin and Greta Gerwig over 'Narnia,' the fantasy epic that's reportedly carrying a $280M budget, with some saying it's much higher than that.
One source tells Sneider the tension is very real, and that people at Netflix think the movie is "awful," calling it "a genuine problem.” A second source, who attended a test screening over the summer, compared it to Ava DuVernay's "A Wrinkle in Time," the 2018 Disney adaptation that reportedly lost the studio close to $100M. According to that source, the mood in the room was deflated once the lights came up.
That screening reportedly led Netflix to order reshoots. The same source flagged a structural issue that may still be fixed in post: the characters apparently don't reach Narnia until the third act. For a movie called 'Narnia,' that's a curious choice.
...
[W]hen multiple sources are describing what seems to be a problematic movie, Netflix has reason to worry. I have no idea what the final result will be, but I had also heard about the mixed test screening reactions, but that was also a cut with barely half-finished VFX.
NYC First Lady Painted Portrait of Her 'Inspiration': A Jew-Hating Artist Who Said 'Anne Frank' Is a Hoax, Posted Hitler's Paintings, and Celebrated Oct 7
Rama Duwaji's obsession with the Palestinian cause is shown in her reverence for the violence-tinged painter Sliman Mansour
New York City first lady Rama Duwaji's self-declared artistic "inspiration," whose portrait she's painted in tribute, is a radical Hamas propagandist who praised the terror group's leaders as "great heroes," openly celebrated the Oct. 7 attack against Israel, and has claimed that The Diary of Anne Frank is a Jewish forgery.
Sliman Mansour, a Palestinian artist, was also pleased when a warlike reinterpretation of one of his paintings was used as a backdrop for an angry press conference by future Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar, where he thanked Iran for funding Hamas.
Mansour died in August after spending decades propping up violent "resistance" movements against the State of Israel. Before that, Duwaji had animated a portrait of the painter and indicated he "inspired the work that I do."
"Hi, I'm Rama, a Syrian illustrator and animator based in Brooklyn, and today I'm going to be animating a portrait of Sliman Mansour, who is a painter and sculptor that's inspired the work that I do. Sliman is an artist of the Intifada," said Houston-born Duwaji, the wife of Zohran Mamdani, in a video first posted online in April 2024.
The second intifada, in the early 2000s, involved thousands of terror attacks against Israelis, including deadly suicide bombings on buses. It left more than a thousand Israelis dead, mostly civilians.
Mansour's work "is about the Palestinian experience under occupation, and growing up seeing his paintings, I was always really inspired by the emotion behind his portraits," Duwaji continued.
The video shows her working in a Palestinian-themed studio under a large banner reading "Artists Against Apartheid: Palestine Will Be Free"--a reference widely considered an antisemitic trope. She wears a keffiyeh-patterned headband and even lights a candle using matches from a Brooklyn Palestinian restaurant.
"Sliman has been jailed twice since the start of his career," Duwaji says proudly. "And since then, he's inspired many artists after him, including myself."
Elon Musk unveiled Tesla's long-awaited Roadster on Thursday, claiming the electric sports car can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in less than a second, reach speeds of 230 mph and even fly. The vehicle reportedly uses thrusters to achieve its extreme acceleration, though details about its flight capabilities remain unclear. Tesla says production is expected to begin in 2028, with no price announced.
Channel 4 News
@Channel4News
3h
Tesla has unveiled its new and redesigned Roadster - a 'flying car' that can turn in the air and land.
Developed in collaboration with CEO Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX, it's claimed the Roadster can accelerate from zero to 60mph in less than one second and can hit a top speed of over 230 mph.
Tesla demonstrated the two-seater vehicle at a livestreamed event in Texas, showing it driving upside down on a ramp and performing a mid-air flip.
Musk told the crowd, "It can basically fly like a rocket", but admitted it's "not necessarily a safety-optimised car."
It remains unclear how the proposed flying features would work on public roads, or whether they would be legal. Production is set to start in 2028.
I saw this last night and immediately thought, of course, "AI."
ELON MUSK: “It's going to be pretty wild that you can have a rocket car. The car has attitude control thrusters and main thrusters in the rear, so it can basically fly like a rocket. It could do rolls. It could do crazy gymnastics. Whatever you want, really.
This is not necessarily a safety-optimized car, but it takes the fun meter to 11 out of 10.
This will be an actual car that’s on the roads. I’m not sure it’s necessarily legal in all jurisdictions.
The car can recharge its air tank, so it’s not like you need special propellant or anything like that. It literally is just going to pop itself up and be able to do these maneuvers whenever you’d like.”
🚨 AOC gets roasted in a brutal new meme as Tesla's flying Roadster soars right past her. The internet showed no mercy on this one. Somewhere, the Green New Deal just got lapped. https://t.co/qE5bkNFKrW
Elon Musk says this car really sucks. It has a suction-fan system to keep it stuck to the ground, which is important, because when a car moves at rocket-like speeds it tends to take off like a rocket.
Hillary Clinton says she is "very popular" -- until she's no longer "in service to a man" and wants to run for president.
She's so bitter:
"My approval rating is always sky high when I'm not running for something...as long as I am in service to either a man like my husband or President Obama..."
"And then once I say, well, you know what? I think I could do a really good job. Like, I don't know, being president. Then oh my goodness, that's very scary."
Hillary's never getting over her rejection in 2016.
MSNOW Of All Outlets Challenges Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed's Lie About Having No Familial Connections to the Muslim Brotherhood
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Over the weekend, extreme partisan Kristin Welker asked Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed if he or his family had any connections to the Egyptian terrorist group which begat Al Qaeda and Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood. He said "No," flatly, and Welker did not ask any follow-up questions nor confront him with tweets from his half-sister bragging about his mother's "activism" in the Muslim Brotherhood while in college.
As usual, when a Democrat media operative "asks questions" of a Democrat about a scandal, they do not challenge the Democrat -- instead, they helpfully offer the Democrat an opportunity to deny the allegation without any pushback or interrogation.
However, a male reporter at MSNOW confronted Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed in an on-the-street interview, and did ask him about his half-sister's praise of his mother for being a member of the terrorist group.
El-Sayed sputtered out various defenses, including the bizarre assertion that it's just not a "serious" matter whether or not he comes from a family of terrorists, and also objected to the very idea that he should be questioned about his terrorist ties. In the end, he seemed to suggest that it's just not important whether or not he belongs to a family of terrorists and we should just all MoveOn.org.
The new story he seems to have settled on is that he has never spoken with his mother about being a Muslim terrorist so it's not fair to charge him with knowledge of it or call him a liar for denying it.
Note that when he denied his mother's membership in the Muslim Brotherhood, he did not say "I never spoke to her about it." He just insisted she was not a member of the terrorist group.
Oh, and he claims his sister' reportage of his mother's membership in the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood is just "hearsay" that no one should bother themselves about.
Just some "hearsay" from people in the family who are the greatest authorities on the histories of members of the family.
Left-wing Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed dismissed his sister's claims that their Egyptian relatives are members of the Muslim Brotherhood as "hearsay" in a heated exchange with Tom Llamas of NBC News. El-Sayed denied any personal knowledge of his family's deep ties to the Islamist organization.
Llamas pressed El-Sayed about social media posts from El-Sayed's sister, Eman Abdelhadi, in which she said her family has "long been" in the Muslim Brotherhood. Abdelhadi said her relatives in Egypt have been "jailed" over their ties to the group, according to the posts, which were first reported by the Washington Free Beacon. She also said that her and El-Sayed's mother, Fatten Elkomy, was active in the Brotherhood as a college student in Egypt in the 1970s.
The posts came to light after El-Sayed told Meet the Press on Sunday that neither he nor his family have ties to the Brotherhood. El-Sayed bristled when Llamas asked him to "just explain" them.
"You want to ask me about what was happening in Egypt in 1970? Are you serious?" El-Sayed said.
Let's not bicker and argue about 'oo's a terrorist or not.
What a frivolous line of questioning! Ask about serious matters like what Trump's plan for reducing the price of arugla is.
"I get it, but you were asked a question," Llamas responded. "Yeah, I'm telling you, like, we--I have no ties. We have no ties," El-Sayed said. "So your mother had no ties?" asked Llamas. "I have never had these conversations with my mother," said El-Sayed. "Like, you're using hearsay evidence from a tweet. This is not serious."
When Llamas noted that El-Sayed has "gone after the president for truthfulness," El-Sayed responded, "Are you insinuating that somehow I was lying?" "I don't know. That's why I'm asking," Llamas responded.
No ties to the Muslim Brotherhood here, no siree!
It's not the first time El-Sayed claims to have been kept out of the loop of his Egyptian family's doings. He said as recently as 2016 that he had "dual citizenship" in Egypt and the United States. His campaign now says that statement was an "error" and based on inaccurate information from an unnamed relative.
In 2012, he signed an open letter calling on the newly elected Brotherhood to "purge" the press and police in Egypt, the Free Beacon reported. In a since-deleted 2021 Substack post, El-Sayed defended a "friend" of his who was jailed for funding the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, considered to be one of the most violent chapters of the group. El-Sayed's father in law, Tayeb Jukaku, is a longtime board member of the Islamic Society of North America, which federal prosecutors identified as a Muslim Brotherhood front group.
Abdelhadi, who was arrested last year for assaulting a cop in Chicago during an anti-ICE protest, did not respond to questions about her brother's remarks.
🚨 OMG THIS IS BRUTAL. MI Senate candidate Abdul Mohamed El Sayed has LOST NBC NEWS after they found out he lied to Kristen Welker about being linked to the Muslim Brotherhood
When confronted, he's visibly shaken:
NBC: "You've gone after the president for 'truthfulness.' When people ask YOU a question, they expect the truth." 🤯
ABDUL: "Do you think, do you think, are you, are you insinuating somehow I was lying?!"
And yet the receipts of his own family stating ties to the Muslim Brotherhood are RIGHT THERE: "My family has long been MB"
Not what Abdul wants in October!
MIKE ROGERS HAS THE MOMENTUM.
Those posts came from his own sister, Eman Abdelhadi. She also said relatives in Egypt were jailed over their ties to the group
She wrote that their mother was active in the Brotherhood in college in the 1970s
He dismissed his own sister's words as "hearsay evidence from a tweet." IT'S HIS FAMILY'S OWN WORDS
If even MSNOW is reporting on El-Sayed's half-sister's admission that his mother is a terrorist, what kind of leftwing communist Third-Worldist hack would still deny it?
Enter CNN's Abby Philip:
If @abbydphillip followed the news she'd know @AbdulElSayed himself has claimed dual citizenship with Egypt and called himself "an immigrant from North Africa" and talked about how he spent every summer as a kid in Egypt. That's a little different than he "grew up in Michigan."
Forgotten 80s Mystery Click: Garrett's Sus iPod Edition Everybody wants you
Everybody wants your love
I'd just like to make you mine, all mine Just imagine he's singing that to a dude. BTW I thought this was a completely different band from Garrett's Sus iPod, the Bay City Rollers.
Podcast: The Nobel Peace Prize farce, Ilhan Omar in hot water, Talarico's disappearance, Guilfoyle is a crook, Should Nidal's execution be streamed, Bugs Bunny, and more!
Our very own "Weasel" has won the Nobel Prize For Physics:
A Rigorous Investigation into the Quasi-Static Equilibration of Shoulder-Fired Ballistic Platforms: Rear-Bag-Mediated Suppression of Angular Perturbations and Its Implications for Sub-MOA Precision.
[CBD]
Podcast: A sea change in Israel? France might fall before the UK! Trump's Iran rhetoric is manipulated by the commie media (film at 11!), Brazil looks good, and Rubio looks even better (maybe)!
Christian Toto Roasts Digger: "We have an A-list star (Tom Cruise) stretching his talents in ways we haven't seen in some time. The story has something to say about the world (Climate Change) and human nature in all its complexities." Sounds...boring! [CBD]
Nearly one thousand Roman silver denari found in woods near Cologne, Germany, probably deliberately buried in 125 AD It's about seven pounds of ancient silver. Alas, it's not an artifact of the massacre of the XIXth Legion at Teutonburg Forest, which is about a hundred and fifthy miles away.
Podcast: Vote Early...Vote Often! Oil exports are returning to normal, Trump relaxes CAFE standards, ChiComs fund AI backlash, the descendants of our business titans are anti-American, Boston is nuts, and more!
Podcast: CBD is solo and just checking in! Trump's UN speech is a success, the Last Ditch Bar in Western MA keeps their lunacy in the spotlight, and the White House plays hardball with the media and the judiciary...as it should!
Somebody should write a book about the greatest drinking stories of O'Toole, Burton, Harris, and Caine. One of my faves was Richard Harris went on a six week bender in the South of France without telling wifey. Upon return, she's screaming, and he simply replied "why didn't you pay the ransom"?
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