Categories
Funny Stuff

Extremely Fine Works Of Art II: More Extremely Fine Works Of Art

1 min read

More Extremely Fine Works Of ArtIt’s back, and boy, does it look pissed!

Because there’s nothing quite like flying an idea nose-first into the ground at unsurvivable speeds, it’s time for More Extremely Fine Works Of Art. As with the original volume, this is an attempt to break the brains of artificial intelligence “abstract art generator” sites such as Hypnogram. These attempts concentrate on feeding the site concepts that are fundamentally non-visual. What words will the AI latch onto as important, and how will it try to illustrate these concepts? What hilarity will result?

It’s a mere 4 megs, 70 pages of full color insanity, and you can print your favorites if you like (or the whole thing!). I take no responsibility for the contents of the file breaking your (presumably non-artificial) intelligence. No one does, really. That’s the price tag for waking up in the morning.

Download it here.… Read more

Categories
Funny Stuff Television & Movies

The unchanging playbook of the fandom menace

So I was looking for something and stumbled upon a directory of scans of a certain influential (and rather infamous) Doctor Who fanzine; I don’t remember when or where I got these. But… I wanted to show y’all something.

I chuckle (and sigh heavily) at “news sources” like Nerdrotic, Doomcock, Wegotthiscovered, etc. etc., all claiming to have inside scoops that a given show’s showrunner and/or star is being shown to the door, usually with some added insinuation that the reason no one else is reporting this is because it’s being done under a veil of secrecy, and (insert clickbait YouTuber of your choice) somehow has the inside scoop. And then they have to backpedal and cough up some B.S. story about how Alex Kurtzman or Kathleen Kennedy is being kept on board to “reassure shareholders” or some other such unlikely codswallop. The same claims are repeatedly made of Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker too, which is why this discovery of ’80s ‘zine scans was all the more delicious.

Behold as “DWB” – a.k.a. Doctor Who Bulletin – self-pwns in the space of two years, waging a campaign against Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner, and then reporting his ouster, and then having to admit that he’s not going anywhere. It’s kind of delicious. You can click on it to zoom in.

DWB montage

Now the same cycle repeats itself, except it happens at the speed of the internet.

Remember when fandom was about liking something instead of hating it? Sigh.… Read more

Categories
Serious Stuff Television & Movies

Courting the vote of the midichlorian demographic

2 min read

All art is inherently political. If that statement makes you start to break out in a cold sweat, you should probably stop reading now.

I binge-watched the second season of The Mandalorian yesterday, because I was an episode behind even before the finale dropped, and because…well…I’ve got the time. I’m about half a week into the recommended two-week self-quarantine period because someone at my day job – to which I’m expected to report in person since the management is of the opinion that “if you’re not in the office, you’re not working” despite the fact that graphic design is an example of a job that could be done 100% remotely – started “feeling like crap” somewhere around Tuesday the 8th, kept coming to work (including an all-hands company Christmas dinner on the 11th, which was attended not only by employees but some of their family members as well, including one infant), and then notified us that they had tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday the 15th. In short: everyone’s been exposed. Including family members. Including that infant. Merry Christmas!

So I’ve got all kinds of time to binge-watch stuff now. Thanks? Anyway, rewatching the whole second season of The Mandalorian in one concentrated burst, and bearing in mind the sequel trilogy, I have thoughts. … Read more

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Serious Stuff Television & Movies

Not exactly the Federation news service, are you?

2 min read

“Am I getting the sense that you guys didn’t enjoy this episode?” – Amal
“Enjoyment…is a multi-level thing.” – Scott
“Like a car park!” – Liz
– from Down & Safe Podcast #24*

 
This is both related to the current political reality of tending toward unreality, and also unrelated. Let’s start with the latter.
 
The news today that The Orville is picking up production after Thanksgiving not only made me happy because I freakin’ love The Orville, but because it repudiates a lot of rumor-mongering that spring up in the spring and early summer months that the third season was never going to be finished, the show would never return, it had already been cancelled by [Disney/Hulu/20th Century Fox], blah blah blah. It’s kind of sad that it’ll be nearly a year before we see the fruits of this labor, but I’m just happy to have the rumors refuted definitively.
 
Now…where most of these rumors came from is this whole corner of YouTube that has sprung up since 2016 and early 2017, and has just grown louder and louder with each passing year – very Fox-News-styled “here’s the real news of what’s going on with [sci-fi or superhero property that has a sizeable following] with no spin!” And invariably, the “news” is just dead wrong. It’s baseless rumor or it’s just stuff someone wishes would happen. … Read more

Categories
Critters Home Base

The Ballad of Oberon

1 min read

I’ve lost the sweetest cat I’ve ever known in my life.

Oberon literally showed up unannounced in my yard one on of the worst days in my life – a December day on which I saw my horse drown.  It was almost like he was someone cluelessly showing up at the worst possible time asking “Hey, I heard you have a vacancy?”  But there was something very different about this cat: not only was he immediately friendly, coming up to me awkwardly for pets and scritchies, but…my dog, Xena, hadn’t chased him away.  She normally chased away any cats that weren’t “hers” (at that time, my cat Othello still ruled the roost, and Olivia had just been adopted a few months earlier and was still a kitten.) … Read more

Categories
Home Base Podcasting Serious Stuff

Voices from the machine

1 min read

I don’t think it’s any secret that I’m a podcast fan.  Being an every-day podcast listener is a big part of what led me to become an every-day podcaster.  I listen to lots of stuff, I find the gaps that no one seems to be covering in either subject matter or format, and off I go, so excited about starting on a new show that I momentarily forget that it’s been nearly 30 years since I worked in radio, and somewhere in the vicinity of 15 years since my last TV voice-over.  Still…I know how to Put Shows Together, either by myself or for someone else, so I get behind my battered microphone and keep trying.… Read more

Categories
Serious Stuff Television & Movies

Memo to Russell T. Davies: when did you actually acquire the ability to time travel?

1 min read

I rewatched Torchwood: Children of Earth recently…kinda wished I hadn’t.  Not that it’s not good, but I liked these conversations better as a science fiction show and not when it’s Uncle Bubba on social media demanding that kids be sent back into crowded schools in the middle of a pandemic. … Read more