Michael Hopcroft

You know, the thought of two nations who have been on the brink of war for forty damn years facing off on a soccer pitch is the one hopeful thing to come out of this dumpster fire of an event.

I'm more curious about the finances than the football. I am even angrier about this Cup than most of the posters here. Qatar was a terrible choice for host nation, money in FIFA voters' pockets not withstanding. But what has that meant for the ad revenue in markets like the United States. A sport without interruptions of play simply to accommodate TV commercials sounds like a tough enough sell. Of course, there are fans who might not care at all -- which I find distasteful. And what will this do to Qatar's stability when the new arenas lose money and end up with no local occupants. Does Qatar even have a top-flight leaguer? Seriously -- is there a league in Qatar that can use these arenas?

Ah, Paul Atreides! Welcome to our Thanksgiving feast! And you brought spice cake and hot spiced cider! Thank you!

Q: What went so horribly wrong with Omar Khayyam's drive-thru order? A: When watching this film, just remember that I did not write the screenplay.

Anheuser-Busch is forced to write off their endorsement investment and sues FIFA within an inch of its life for compensation. NT: In deference to the host nation, Disney has decided to pull all alcohol advertising sports from the World Cup. Whatever will they replace them with, given that the elections are mostly over?

Pakistan declares war,

Q: I commanded you, in the name of the Padashaw Emperor, to turn in all your weapons. So why are you resisting, Fremen scum? A: My name is a word that gives my enimes brain-freeze headaches. The Emperor doesn't stand a chance!

Absolutely terrible film. Some of the music was bad, some so-so, but some of the music was fantastic. Aerosmith's cover of "Come Together" is superb.

Kevin Conroy was Batman the way Jeremy Brett was Sherlock Holmes and Devid Suchetg was Hercule Poirot. They became so definitive that when I think of their roles, these are the images I see and the voices I hear. And I can't help but imagine Kevin having the afterlife version of a cuip of tea with Mako and Tony Jay.

Paul Simon has had a very good solo career on his songwriting. Art Garfunkel has a great voice but can't write his way out of a Slinky.

I can see simplified versions of that in the boardgame Championship Formula Racing (CFR), which is itself a modernization of the Avalon Holl/3M classic Speed Circuit. This involves assigning the abilities of your cars and racing them around simulated Formula 1 tracks. It's quite fun, but I have an uncanny knack for finding new ways to finish last. When I don't finish last, I don't finish at all. The chance that a player can be knocked out of the game before the end was considered a flaw by the people, I taught the game to recently.

I rarely miss an opportunity to watch that. The grace and athleticism, combined with a brilliant artistic concept, make this a really special clip. It's like listening to Louis Armstrong in his early prime, with his unbelievable purity and clarity of tone, combined with a singing style that defied and overcame previous expectations of what recording artists can/should do.

THE DALEKS WILL HAVE THEIR SPRINKLES! COMPLY OR BE EXTERMINATED! NT: Subtle signs that the CEO of the corporation you work for has sold out to the Daleks.

I find it refreshing that, when told they need to tank to improve their draf/rebuild process, the players and coaches of teams like Utah, Denver, and Portland are saying "Forget that! We didn't become NBAs players/coaches to lose. So we're going to fight, claw, and will ourselves ot the playoffs in spite of them!" NBA players are members of one of the most exclusive athletic fraternities on the planet; there are only 450 of them in the league at any given time. Tenacity and desire to win, along with exceptional talent, bloom in even the "worst" NBA player. Do you think they enjoy losing? Of course they don't. They want to see their pride and determination rewarded. They want to show the people who counted them out the fire that got them into this fraternity, by winning as many games as they can. We'll see what the teams look like after about 30 games, which is how long it takes for NBA teams to figure out who they really are. but for now, watching these "hopeless" teams has been gratifying.

In what turned out to be a pretty good race, even if the only thing left to be decided was the "Constructor's Championship", which was cliched by Red Bull. Apparently once you have signed up a driver in F1, you keep him around for the entire season even if he doesn't quite work out. And the younger drivers not under contract past the end of the season are competing for spots on next year's rosters with top teams -- or any team for that matter. On the top of the table, we have Verstappen as a star in the ascendant on a team that really knows marketing, Lewis Hamilton beginning his twilight, and question marks at many of the top teams.

Steve Martin has made a habit of making tributes to the comics that inspired him growing up and mastering his art. They are usually box office poison, yet they get green-lit anyway. So we have Martin playing Clouseau in a movie nobody was really expected to see. Evidently enough people saw it anyway that a sequel was made. There have also been similar responses to his Phil Silvers tribute Sgt. Bilko. He's not the only one. Dan Ackroyd's Blues Brothers 2000 was an open, heartfelt "Thanks you" for the music he loves so much (to the point that he has a second career as a music scholar). It was a flop, but the soundtrack must have been incredible. And both of Nathan Lane's greatest Broadway hits were new takes on characters played and owned by Zero Mostel.

"You're nothing -- just a punk who think's he's Batman." "I am Batman!" "How fast does this thing go?" "Mach 3" "Is it faster than a speeding bullet?"

Those two men Have held such burning, unquenchable hatred between them it's a wonder they could record a note, or that they didn't have backstage fisticuffs after each show.

If you thought that was darkly poignant, take an ear to this. The same legendary artist. I

Amazons. NT: Subtle signs this is not the best day to try and broker an alliance with the Klingons.

Not to minimize what Max Verstappen accomplished, but why were they racing in what looked like a typhoon? Why wasn't it postponed until Monday when the weather would be better? It is really fortunate nobody got themselves killed in those conditions. Any other competition would not even have let the race begin under those conditions. Are, they waiting for someone to get killed?

The Gourmet, Consumer of Food. Which has nothing to do with powers at all, because he doesn't have or need them -- he's an old-fashioned Batman villain type with a superb intellect which he hones with fine food and drink. He's the villain Vincent Price would have played if he hadn't already done Eggman. Oh, and he is frighteningly, alarmingly sane, which makes his evil plans even more effective.

Pretty close to them. After all, there are many boardgames designed specifically for children, including games centered on dexterity and plastic equipment like Hungry Hungry Hippos. These can be surprisingly difficult, even for adults (although the target audience doesn't know it), as many adults lose the required skills as they age. Plus adults tend to rely on plausible deniability about such things. And games like Jenga are played more by adults than children. I know from experience that Jenga is maddeningly difficult at any age. These are often a gateway to a lifetime of game-playing, and so are a phenomenal thing for us.

Q: Wher5e do you want t0o send us? Because I really need to turn left somewhere. A: Your movies are now labeled as being made for adult collectors. Good to see you're already naked.

They come for warmups outdressed exactly like The Duck, including helmets. Don't worry, they change into their real outfits for the actual game. This was The Duck's idea. NT: Colors for Oregon uniforms that failed even the muster of Nike.