Michael Hopcroft

One immediately comes to mind, but I can't answer my own scene. But it has been a while, so bump.

Tom Coughlin has been fired in Jacksonville after the NFLPA released a damning report on the culture of the Jaguars. His management style was so toxic that the union actually sent out a warning to players saying "if you sign for the Jags, this is what you have to look forward to". Among other things, it came out that almost 25% of the grievances filed by the union this season have been against the Jaguars, and many of the grievances were upheld. One of the problems was that Coughlin was fine-happy. He tried to micromanage players' time to absurd degrees and fined players for being only a few minutes late to meetings. Heck, even NFL players with big paychecks get stuck in traffic every so often! Apparently new owner Shad Khan (no, not Jungle Book and Talespin character Shere Khan) has been planning to fire him at the end of the season, but the union report forced his hand.

"Will be?" Based on the current definition, almost everybody I know is obese.

The whole thing is sad. Oakland loved the Raiders, and the Raiders never loved them back. Now the team goes to the glamour of Las Vegas and the faithful are left with bad memories and an unsanitary eyesore of a stadium overdue for the imploder.

Q: All we have to is plug this perpetual motion machine into the power grid, and Voila! Free electricity for all! Isn't PG&E just gonna go green? A; Electricity too expensive to meter!

There was a moment in the first season of DS9 where Odo had found the effort to find the Changeling world he had been brought into had failed. (it was in the episode "Vortex" if you want to look it up). At the end of the episode, Rene looked into the camera, though the prosthetics that hid virtually his entire face, and uttered four words that broke my heart. "Home. Where is it?" Deprived of his ability to use facial expressions and the language cues that went with them, he was still able to powerfully move me (and probably many other viewers) with Odo's sense of longing and loss. That is the mark of a great craftsman.

Q: How did Michael Hopcroft suddenly find himself with a negative approval count? A: Yes, I always refer to myself in the third person. Saves time that way.

The DVD of the film How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. NT: Subtle signs Santa Claus exists after all and is ticked off with you for thinking he didn't.

Q: Are you saying that every high school student in New York has Atlas Shrugged as mandatory reading? A: Your right to live is less important than my right to a nice, fat dividend in the third quarter.

They never said why she was wicked That was just taken on Faith She'd a face to fill you with fear No teeth, and a wart sprouting hair Along with a welcoming leer But a Good Witch Really likes people Good Witches really do care For even, the mean stupid, hapless ones The feckless and foolish and silly ones The Hopeless, Mothers and little ones The Roots and Heart of Witchcraft Is so hard to control It's everyday caring, loving and sharing That's a Witch's center and soul And a Good Witch Looks to the ages Betwixt this world and the next More edges than people can know Night and the Day, or the Fast and the Slow Right and Wrong, don't always show The Roots and Heart of Witchcraft Is so hard to control It's everyday caring, loving and sharing That's a Witch's center and soul "A Good Witch Never Cackles Cackling is not just A 'Nasty' laughter It means your mind Drifting away from its anchor It means, loneliness and hard work Driving you crazy, a little bit at a time Until you thought it was normal to stop washing And wear a kettle on your head It means thinking Right and Wrong, are Negotiable In the end... It means going to the Dark A BAD road! At the end of that road With, Poison Spinning Wheels And Gingerbread Cottages..."

The guy standing at the public square with the placard that reads "You will be Darned to Heck!"

I can tell we won't get a game like last year's Armed Forces Bowl. That game was fun to watch simply to see a team run the entire offense rarely passing the ball at all against a modern defense and still put up ten touchdowns. We won;t be seeing that again anytime soon.

"I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold." "Bounty hunting is a complicated profession. Proof of termination will be accepted for a lower fee." "I have spoken."

Coming to Japanese theaters -- the first 3D/CGI Lupin III film. Any resemblance to Castle of Cagliostro appears somewhat more than coincidental.

Q: Here's the Mona Lisa. Merry Christmas, Fujiko. A: The cute thing is that he really thinks turning back time seven hours is going to help.

OK!

Oscar was the ultimate hoarder, enjoying keeping what other people threw away and keeping them in what is, for most intents and purposes, a pocket dimension (many have compared it to the TARDIS, though Snoopy's Doghouse may be an equally accurate approximation). He also kept a pet caterpillar, showing affection to one of the lowliest of creatures. He too had a big heart like Big Bird, but you could never get him to admit it.

Napoleon III wasn't mad -- probably -- and was good at domestic politics (even with his dictatorial leanings), but he also fancied himself a soldier and that was his downfall. He did help unify Italy and secure its independence (and took more credit for it than he probably deserved) But the Mexico adventure was a disaster and the war with Prussia/Germany a catastrophe that resulted in abdication, exile, and enormous suffering in France. It was especially bad in his beloved Paris which was besieged and starved out for more than a year. But he did last twice as long as Napoleon I did (he antagonized many, but didn't antagonize the entirety of Europe or go on conquering sprees), rebuilt Paris into a modern metropolis, and encouraged the arts and sciences. Art, music, and literature flourished during his regime, even if a lot of it was satirizing it. The hilarious and biting operettas of Jacques Offenbach are as beloved in France as those of Gilbert and Sullivan are in the English-Speaking world. Still, the disasters in Mexico and at Metz almost completely overwhelm the memory of his accomplishments. Since then, the Bonaparte family has been completely locked out of French politics. There will be no more Napoleons.

Champions

Aside from the usual complaints about men wanting the women in their lives to exercise so they can have better sex and/or meet an unrealistic image of physical attractiveness, Ruiz looked much as she did in the gin ad -- traumatized and trapped, and somewhat terrified. Peloton's share prices have fallen about fifteen percent since the ad was first released.

And I'm listening to what everyone else on the planet is listening to, too...

This is the actress who appeared in that ad for an exercise bike that went viral... Yes, it is an ad for gin -- a gin whose maker is partially owned by Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool). The actress (Monica Ruiz) is taking the controversy surrounding "Peloton Woman" in stride as best she can.

A Chinese-Canadian animator has been accused of plagiarizing work from numerous animated films and shows in a spot for the PlayStation, and his career is ruined. Kevin Bao was commissioned to do the ad for Sony. He is accused of using and tracing over entire sequences, frame for frame, from numerous recent films including FLCL and Steven Universe: the Movie. After complaints, Sony pulled the ad from Youtube, Bao's former studio cut all ties with him, and even his agent has dropped him. Animation is grueling, lengthy, and often unappreciated work. Shortcuts such as reusing shots and music have always been a part of the form. But no artistic community likes an open plagiarist. Bao may well find he's going to have to do something else for a living from now on.

Q: Pepe is defending himself from the "Me Too"-motivated sexual harassment lawsuits in a particularly asinine way, isn't he? A: Obviously whoever that is has mastered the Cute Side of the Force.