Michael Hopcroft

(As the protagonist of The Time Machine heads into the future, never to return.)
 
"There are three books missing."
"Which ones?"
"I don't know -- but which three books would you take?"

And it's funny, something he's hard a hard time with.
 
 
NASCAR goes 100% electric. 

Do you know where this was taken? I have forgotten the name of her congregation, but one of my sisters is a L:utheran pastor and this woman seems to resemble her. She had been fine with protecting herself and everyone else with the proper precautions of masking and handwashing. She also disagrees with some of her Church Council because she thinks resuming in-person services is probably a mistake right now. This could cost her her parish, and will put her in a horrible financial position. So she stands up for principle, despite the risks involved.

I got my second COVID vaccination yesterday afternoon. I'm tired (exacerbated, no doubt, by my daughter waking up at 5:45 this morning for no readily apparent reason) and achy, and my left arm is pretty sore. But I don't have any of the really worrying side effects: no fever, sore throat, shortness of breath, or anything like that. So I'm good.
 
I'm grateful today for everyone whose hard work and sacrifice made this vaccine possible. This virus stole a year from us. Now we have a way to fight back.

Oh, and never tell teenagers to tart. Jail is no fun. Unless you're teaching them how to bake tarts, in which case good luck!
 
I make typos like that all the time.

Again, there are plenty of mature themes and messages in a ton of these "rock-em sock-em giant monster movies", but in typical American arrogance, we ignore them. 
 
The H-man: The pacific bomb tests and the potential effects on humans.
The Mysterians: The role of science in political thinking and society.
Atragon: The inherent problems of Nationalism.
KK vs Godzilla: The growth of unchecked consumerism (even Kong is just a product).
Mothra/Mothra vs. Godzilla: The effects of late game capitalism. Japan and potentially the world put at risk for the sake of the 1%
 
 
I could go on(easily), but I hope you see the point. These films are meant to entertain so ''thematic depth" takes a back seat to spectacle and fun, but to say that these films lack such themes in general is grossly inaccurate. Director Ishiro Honda and writers Shinichi Sekizawa and Takeshi Kimura often tried to put relevant depth in these films to the degree that they could. The dictates of business take precedence, but I'd say more often than not the "depth" you're looking for is there (though in fairness often tied to issues important to the Japanese themselves).

Toto

my wayward son

There, out in the darkness
A fugitive running
Fallen from God
Fallen from grace
God be my witness
I never shall yield
'Til we come face to face
'Til we come face to face
 
He knows his way in the dark
Mine is the way of the Lord
Those who follow the path of the righteous
Shall have their reward
And if they fall as Lucifer fell
The flames
The sword!
 
Stars
In your multitudes
Scarce to be counted
Filling the darkness
With order and light
You are the sentinels
Silent and sure
Keeping watch in the night
Keeping watch in the night
 
You know your place in the sky
You hold your course and your aim
And each in your season
Returns and returns
And is always the same
And if you fall as Lucifer fell
You fall in flame!
 
And so it must be, for so it is written
On the doorway to paradise
That those who falter and those who fall
Must pay the price!
 
Lord, let me find him
That I may see him
Safe behind bars
I will never rest
'Til then
This I swear
This I swear by the stars!

I can't think of a more melancholy song than this right now..
 
 

Hemingway is alleged to have said, "Write drunk, edit sober."
 
While I doubt that this is exactly true, largely due to my inability to picture Hemingway sober, it does make a good point. Writing and editing need to be separate processes. In my case, I find that writing and editing need to be done by different people. I am largely too fond of my own work to apply the ruthless editing it so often desperately needs.

Q: You must like this Druidia import, then, and there's plenty more where that came from!
 
A: If you have tio ask what the cost of living is on Babylon Five, you can't afford it.

Boy, they must be hoping really hard the superhero bubble doesn't burst for the rest of the decade. Either that or they're convinced it can't burst and the current trends are forever.

Whatever you do, PUT DOWN THE DYNAMITE!

Whatever you do, PUT DOWN THE DYNAMITE!

Whatever you do, PUT DOWN THE DYNAMITE!

You mean Phil Spector, Convicted Murderer and all-around Rat.

You mean Phil Spector, Convicted Murderer and all-around Rat.

You mean Phil Spector, Convicted Murderer and all-around Rat.

You mean Phil Spector, Convicted Murderer and all-around Rat.

Daffy was banned for life from Disneyland. Donald Duck provoked him into a fistfight (ducks have fists?) and lost.
In case anyone objects to my last post, I must say that absurdist humor is one of my main coping strategies.

Who is this man?
What sort of devil is he?
To have me caught in a trap
And choose to let me go free?
It was his hour at last
To put a seal on my fate,
Wipe out the past,
And wash me clean off the slate.
All it would take was a flick of his knife.
Vengeance was his and he gave me back my life!

Damned if I'll live in the debt of a thief
Damned if I'll yield at the end of the chase
I am the Law and the Law is not mocked
I'll spit his pity right back in his face
There is nothing on earth that we share
It is either Valjean or Javert!
 
How can I now allow this man
To hold dominion over me?
This desperate man that I have hunted
He gave me my life. He gave me freedom.
I should have perished by his hand
It was his right.
I was my right to die as well.
Instead I live -- but live in hell.
 
And my thoughts fly apart.
Can this man be believed?
Shall his sins be forgiven?
Shall his crimes be reprieved?
 
And must I now begin to doubt,
Who never doubted all those years?
My heart is stone and still it trembles.
The world I have known is lost in shadow.
Is he from heaven or from hell?
And does he know
That, granting me my life today,
This man has killed me even so?
 
I am reaching but I fall
And the stars are black and cold
As I stare into the void
Of a world that cannot hold
I'll escape now from that world
From the world of Jean Valjean.
There is nowhere I can turn
There is now way to go on...

I know how you feel. There's a RATM track that fits the situation almost perfectly, but
 
A. I didn't remember the title.
B. The subject matter, like most RATM tracks, is disturbing and enraging -- but this one even more so due to recent events.
C . Like all RATM tracks, the language is coarse to almost laughable extremes
 
After all, this is the group who recorded a track about driving in Beverly Hills and randomly shooting people as a blow against oppression.
 
It would be painfully ironic were the far Right take cues and ideas form the Leftmost of all Leftist bands,