Michael Hopcroft

An internet comediuan claims to have posted fake animal fact signs at the Los Angeles Zoo, but the zoo has not confirmed his story. Shared because the cited signs seem to be actually funny (and surprisingly SFW unless you are offended by pokes at American history). No animals were harmed in the production of these signs (though your feeling about zoos may dispute that).

An internet comediuan claims to have posted fake animal fact signs at the Los Angeles Zoo, but the zoo has not confirmed his story. Shared because the cited signs seem to be actually funny (and surprisingly SFW unless you are offended by pokes at American history). No animals were harmed in the production of these signs (though your feeling about zoos may dispute that).

A couple brought some to the PDX Game Night at Guardian Games tonight. I didn't inquire.
 
Whoever came up with it deserves a big raise -- and then to be tied to a chair and force-fed the things until he passes out.

A couple brought some to the PDX Game Night at Guardian Games tonight. I didn't inquire.
 
Whoever came up with it deserves a big raise -- and then to be tied to a chair and force-fed the things until he passes out.

The Metropolis Supers. Roger Goodell is not one to let a city's non-existence stand it the way of The Brand.

The people who claimed Obama was ineligible for the Presidency are suddenly very, very quiet.
 
NT: Subtle signs you should consider giving up rabbit hunting.

"These alien coconuts are amazing! There's nothing I can't build with these things!"
 
"But they taste so bad, Professor!"
 
"Not now, little buddy -- he's on a roll!"

"Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na -- FOXBAT!"
 
(Someone had to get that out of the way....)

In less teeth-gnashing news...
 
http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/theatre/colin-mochrie-and-brad-sherwood-from-whose-line-is-it-anyway-a3265926.html

"Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na -- FOXBAT!"
 
(Someone had to get that out of the way....)

The guy your having-trouble-with-his-command pitcher just walked.
 
(The sketch used the terms wrong in modern baseball commentary. "On" refers to baserunners. Fielders are "at" their positions, so Who is at first. It may have been different in the 1930's, and "on" must have sounded better anyway.)
 
NT: Subtle signs your high school Chemistry teacher is out of his mind.

Massive medieval army vs. modern weaponry? Is that much of a contest?
 
See for yourself.
 

The bass line for Something, by the Beatles. This is, in my opinion, Paul McCartney's masterpiece on bass, and I have put off learning it for years because I knew it would be time consuming. Now I have to learn it, and it's easier than I thought. The trick, it turns out, was avoiding the regular mix of the song and just listening to the bass by itself until everyone else in the house is ready to kill me. By 2 in the afternoon on Saturday I predict my wife will be asking me if I'm done practicing, and pointing out that I've been playing the same half a song for almost 4 hours.
 
And that's what I do for fun...
 

Cats and dogs live together in millions of households in the United States alone, so the end times have been upon us for decades. In a way, the end times have always been upon us -- the climactic battle just keeps getting delayed again and again.

George Ezra is nineteen years old and British. Then how are sounds like this coming out of his mouth?
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rViS4V-AjV0

Please oh please let that be a statue and not an actual cheeseburger, because nobody who isn't Godzilla could eat that and live. And even Godzilla would need some Rolaids.

And now for something completely different: the South Sea Bubble. Extra History is a web series done as a side project by the video-gaming video podcast Extra Credits that tackles various historical topics. While the chicanery that let to the South Sea Bubble isn't exactly glamorous, it's amazingly relevant today.
 


 
(This is just the first episode. But it's well worth continuing the rest of the story.)

Yancey Street in Brooklyn, by way of Outer Space.

Even their King?
 

Even their King?
 

I don't speak French, so I have to share this in English.
 

Foxbat will hack into networks, and show his musical challenge!
 
"The Snow glows white on the city tonight
not a hero, to be seen
Gone is my trepedation
because it looks like I get away clean!"
 
 
 
"The wind is howling and I should stay inside
but can't stop scheming, heaven knows I've tried."
 
"I want to win, I want them to see
that I'm no villain of mediocrity
Steal a mil but they must know
Yes they'll know!"
 
"It's my show, it's my show
Can't hide my genius anymore
It's a show, it's a show
That's what I'm stealing for!"
 
"I don't care
about the pay
let's have some fun!
My Master Plan is making the news today!"
 
"Its sad how the cold sends all the folks away
To get to their warm houses while they can
but I'll never let the weather
thwart my Master Plan!"
 
"It's time to show the world exactly what I can do
Foxbat has no limits, heck I even flew
No right, no wrong, no rules for me... I'll be....
on News 3!!!!"
 
 
"It's my show, it's my show!
I'm the one with the dreams so high!
It's my show, it's my show!
You heroes will never see me cry!"
 
"Here I scheme, come let's play
Forget the storm!
Winter scenes are more climatic anyway!"

I once had a fanfic idea where Conan/Shinichi discovers that he's supernaturally led to imminent homicides because Loki granted his wish to become the world's greatest detective.  Now Loki wants him to return the favour by proving that Loki didn't really kill Baldur.  

Just saw Joy in the theater with my mother Christmas Day. Mom was incredibly impressed with Jennifer Lawrence (best know for the Hunger Games films) as a young woman with a horrible family situation who invents a new and better mop -- and what happens to her when she tries to sell it.
 
Lawrence is very impressive, and her struggle is gut-wrenching as disaster after disaster piles on to her. That horrible family is the cause of much of it; her father is a bull-headed man with no sense of tact or place, while her mother lives entirely in her favorite soap opera. Nobody really believes in Joy, and there are times when you doubt whether they should. Even when you want her to succeed, you must admit that she makes some pretty bad decisions.
 
The main thing I'm glad about? That David O. Russell is a better writer than Ayn Rand and has a much more nuanced view of the world.