Pariah

Yeah but what can they do against real football teams?
 

Are you a God-fearing man, Senator? That is such a strange phrase. I've always thought of God as a teacher; a bringer of light, wisdom, and understanding. You see, I think what you really fear is me.

What Pariah said.

On the one hand, the Dodgers are out of it. That's always a good thing.
 
On the other hand, I'm left in the unfortunate circumstance of having to root for the Braves, because there's no way in any infernal realm that I'm rooting for the Asstros.

for those of us trying to read this on a white background

The problem with that whole dream is that it suggests the possibility of making a cat do something it doesn't want to. To me, this is proof positive that it was a dream and not reality.

I finally got around to watching Ant-Man and Ant-Man and The Wasp on Disney+. 
 
Scott Lang may be the best superhero dad ever. 

Dune (Villeneuve version, HBO Max)
 
Jesus Christ this movie is gorgeous.  Literally every frame is suitable for wall mounting.  Having seen Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, I expected the film to be visually appealing, but I did not stop being blown away until the credits were rolling.
 
Villeneuve sticks pretty closely to the Lynch script, to the point where the dialogue in certain scenes is identical.  It's a little weird but I was too busy being floored by the visuals to care.  Most of the plot tweaks are improvements, but not all.  You can tell that Villeneuve is struggling with total runtime.  Perhaps the biggest change is that this Paul is really uncomfortable with his role as messiah, which will pay off if they film the next book.
 
 
Anon (Clive Owen/Amanda Seyfried, Netflix)
 
If you like slow burn, high concept sf, this is the film for you.  In a reality where augmented reality and memory control are built directly into the brain, Clive Owen's police detective character pursues a hacker who can literally control what people see and remember.  And you thought Facebook was evil!  Understated and intimate, this film was a nice surprise.
 
 
Squid Game (Netflix)
 
I'm a big fan of this genre.  Despite the glaring plot holes, this series remains gripping as we watch some well realized characters work through some truly horrific scenarios.  Unlike the Hunger Games, which was a heavy handed allegory of our relationship with the media, Squid Game is a heavy handed allegory of late stage capitalism.
 
 
 
 
MCU dads are hit or miss.
 
Scott Lang: Awesome.
Clint Barton: Awesome, if less fun.
Hank Pym: Flawed.
Odin: Well...
Thanos: Okay wait
Ego: STAHP
 

Have any of you ever received those fire-and-brimstone religious fliers in your mailbox? I was sent this intricately Photoshopped depiction of an apocalyptic-looking background with fairly standard "the end is nigh" imagery overall...but what REALLY stood out to me was - and I kid you not - Jesus Christ armed with a bow-and-arrow while he sits astride a horse. If I'm able to locate this cartoonishly hilarious piece of fundamentalist garbage, I'll take a picture and upload it here for everyone's amusement.

Because the sign kept you out, obviously?

Judge Chutkan has presided over several insurrection cases so far and has been consistently harsh in all of them.  She observes that most of the perps are being convicted of trespassing when in fact they are guilty of sedition, so a slap on the wrist would be inappropriate.

At this point, why even use blanks? Why not just add the smoke, sound, etc. in post production?

Judge also a person of color. She's probably just p****d off.

I just replaced my cat's litter box with a FedEx box.  Now when it is full, I just tape it shut and leave it on my porch for someone to steal.

The Broncos were definitely the second best orange team on the field yesterday.
 
There are bright spots.  Let's start with the QB.  Teddy is playing, not really well, but solidly above average, at least by DVOA.  He's about Tannehill level and that's not nothing.  Playoff caliber in fact.
 
In the running game, MGIII is 8th in the league in DVOA.  He's playing at a high level.  Javonte, like, isn't.  Not sure what's up with him.
 
For receivers, Jeudy's been hurt.  Patrick and Sutton are 9th and 19th in DVOA.  They're not the problem.  Fant appears to be mostly a blocker.
 
The O-line is really average, a little better at pass pro than run blocking.
 
What about the defense?  The line is top-third... ah, but the secondary gives up a lot of deep plays.  That's a problem but hardly enough to explain the record.
 
Well, let's google the coaches... Oh, dear.  Why are there this many recent articles criticizing Fangio and Shurmur?  Skimming them, it appears Shurmur is far too predictable and refuses to go away from a pass-heavy approach even with his top WR on IR.  And Fangio seems to be struggling to manage both the game and the defense.
 
Anyway, this is a roundabout way to say "don't panic", at least not yet.  Admittedly I have little hope the coaching staff will get a clue this season, but a new regime next year with the current lineup could improve things drastically.
 
Alternatively, you could unearth a trove of deeply racist and offensive emails from the coaches and get them ejected midseason.  Worked for my team!
 
 
 
 
 
 

yetHereYouAreStillUsingTheSpacebar

“The theory of utilitarianism is nice, but I believe it fundamentally cannot explain why people continue to root for the Detroit Lions.”
Existential Comics

Maybe half of them got snapped.

I finally got around to watching Ant-Man and Ant-Man and The Wasp on Disney+. 
 
Scott Lang may be the best superhero dad ever. 

You didn't tell me you'd written a new book. Well done!

Sometimes Florida does something right. 

Murderer murders girlfriend, steals her van and credit card, runs home, hides in the Everglades, Swamp Thing finds him and metes out justice.  QED.