Epstein data, obtained

yesterday was the winter solstice

The real cold is yet to come, but the solar cycle is already swinging back toward spring: yesterday was what Koreans call dongji/동지, the winter solstice, i.e., the shortest daylight of the year. To me, dongji sounds as if it could be a finger name:

a thumb = eomji/엄지 (somewhere between "um-jee" and "awm-jee")
a pointer finger = geomji/검지 (somewhere between "gum-jee" and "gawm-jee")
a middle finger = joongji/중지
a ring finger = yakji/약지
a pinky = soji/소지

Anyway, have hope! The darkness now shortens, good lads!

Jim Breuer, conservative comedian

I'm always surprised to discover a celebrity is a rightie.

how staged is this, really?

I'm not sure I trust that these were liberals exposed to gun-control facts. No pushback at all?

what Leslye Headland should've done

Leslye Headland, showrunner of the disastrous Star Wars spinoff series "The Acolyte," made a whole series of mistakes, all rooted in the irrational desire to push a woke agenda. One after another, these Disney idiots appear, fuck up a venerable franchise, and never learn. If only Leslye had listened to Paul Chato. Better call Paul.

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This is a good one. All you parents with fucked-up kids: take note.

so uncanny

Despite being betesticled myself, my own answer would have to be fat rolls.

Punctuate correctly.

clash of decades

lake-cow bacon? hippoburgers?

a review of "Heretic" from a psycho-cinematic perspective

I might have to see this movie.

Saturday work

Since I was out sick this past Wednesday, I'm going in to work on Saturday for a full day. Not sure what I'll do since I'm all caught up, but I can busy myself by captioning and commenting on photos for the walk blog. All the photo essays are up, but I've only begun working on the text-related parts. Thus far, 11/29-ish,* 11/30, and 12/1 are done. 

Go visit the blog and see for yourself.

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*The 11/29 link ended up being published on 11/30, but it was written on 11/29.

what it means to be a royal food-taster

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Punctuate the above correctly.

I thought there might be a grammar problem at first, then I paused. Can you guess why I thought this?

Are my non-rightie readers aware that "Democratic Party" is an expression rejected by many on the right? The term Democrat Party is used to distinguish the party from the adjective democratic given how undemocratic the Democrats have shown themselves to be, especially lately.

"My worst nightmare"—come on, son! But yeah, Korean moms can be insufferable about their Ivy League kids.

I'm in the minority, I guess

I guess I'm in the minority when it comes to James Gunn's upcoming take on Superman.

Dave Cullen has high hopes:

Dan Murrell is optimistic, but with a few small reservations:

Jeremy Jahns is all smiles:

And Chris Stuckmann is ready to go:

I dunno. Maybe I'm totally wrong about this. I think a lot of us are butthurt that poor Henry Cavill—who was a fine Superman despite his being part of the wave of British actors in American roles—got booted in his prime and never really had the chance to be in a great Superman movie. I also remain annoyed by the new Clark Kent's moppy hairdo, the overstuffed cast, and by the presence of the dog Krypto, who is apparently also from Krypton (the character dates back to the 1950s), and whose presence on Earth brings up all sorts of scientific and philosophical questions that I'm sure the movie will provide no answers to.*

I'm still not sold on the new movie. But feel free to try to convince me otherwise.

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*For example: while we might use parallel evolution as the go-to explanation for why Superman is so human (to the point where he can have sex with Earthlings and, in some storylines, have children with them, implying tight genetic compatibility), can we use parallel evolution to explain how and why Krypton also had dogs? Dogs that behaved for the most part like Terran dogs? Then there's the question of Superman's and Krypto's brains. For these beings to have the speed and reflexes they do, their brains have to operate at the same, incredibly fast level. This would make Superman orders of magnitude smarter than the smartest Earthlings—far smarter than Lex Luthor, far smarter than Bruce Wayne, etc. But he's never shown as being orders of magnitude smarter. (Obviously, this is mostly because a character is only as smart as the person writing him.) And what does this mean about Krypto's brain? You could say, "Well, it's just a dog's brain," but he's a Kryptonian dog blessed with a brain far faster than any human's. You'd think the dog would have at least human-level intelligence that would allow Krypto to master his canine emotions and make him super-rational, thus changing his behavior from anything recognizably doglike to something truly alien. His only limits would be from his canine anatomy.

And these questions are only the tip of the iceberg.

Dave Cullen reviews "Star Trek: Generations" decades later

beautiful lady explains deep holes

Judge Judy solves the Middle East's problems

not sure how much I like this

We now have our first look at James Gunn's version of Superman. Gunn was a titan at Marvel Studios (the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, but also DC's "The Suicide Squad"), then he went over to DC to help the struggling brand out as studio head. This resulted in a lot of firings of actors who had probably thought they'd be around for several more films: Henry Cavill (as Superman; Cavill's been getting raw deals wherever he turns), Gal Gadot (as Wonder Woman), probably Jason Momoa (as Aquaman) and others. David Corenswet—finally, an American actor in an American role!—will be taking over the iconic character of the Man of Steel, and Superman will once again sport the red underwear of his original costume. Below is Charlie's analysis of the newest Superman teaser trailer; I must say, I'm not all that impressed. The movie looks as if it's going to be overstuffed with characters; I also don't like Corenswet's look as Clark Kent, nor am I a big fan of the new Lois Lane. But your mileage may vary. Watch the video below (at 2X speed if you're impatient) and tell me what you think.

And, really: Corenswet?

fight-scene choreography: what makes a fight scene good?

I'm a fight-scene junkie, so this was entertaining and educational.

Fani takes one to the fanny

Fani Willis has been disqualified and removed from the Trump case. The case is still there, but she's no longer a part of it. Why hasn't this creature been disbarred already?

(And I mean "fanny" in the British sense.)

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If you know the rules for when to capitalize "president," don't click this.

What's the glaring error?

what am I working on?

I'm most of the way through making a guide for a friend who received a bunch of Buddhism-related gifts. This might take another day or two, then I'll print it all up as a PDF and email it to my buddy on Christmas Day. Once I finish that guide, I'll race to finish the walk-blog captioning and commentary. There's a chance I won't make Christmas, but I'll definitely be done before the New Year. That would still be a first for me.

feeling a little better, but...

We're not out of the woods yet with this cold, whatever it is. I'm better than I was yesterday; I came into work today and will make up my missed Wednesday this coming Saturday.

We've heard nothing from the CEO about our team's continued existence, and the boss appears to be prepping for the worst. If it comes down to our being booted out of the Golden Goose, I'll pay my apartment's W10,000,000 deposit (which I get back upon moving out) and W700,000 rent for several months, but preferably for no more than four or five months of joblessness, after which I'll need to be either gainfully employed elsewhere, or involved in something more drastic like moving back to the States. I mean, I have the money to be a bum for a whole year or two before I really need to start worrying about my job situation, but I'm confident I'll have something within the 4-5-month window.

Getting university work shouldn't be too hard, but it would definitely be a drastic step backward in terms of pay. Whatever work I get while I wait for our boss to start his own company (I don't know how far he's progressed with that up to now), I may have to supplement the main job with a bunch of side jobs. Of course, what I'd rather do is use my 4-5 months of "free time" constructively, learning new skills like Adobe InDesign (publishing software) and going on to SkillShare to learn other skills more relevant to my becoming more of an online presence, whether as a YouTuber, a designer, or as a creator of lessons and tests, etc. I should probably also get off my mental ass and become a coder; it's a superpower I've been needing to acquire for some time. I also have a drawing pad, a few years old now, that I still haven't learned how to use; I need to find the right software for it and get busy with graphic design. I did try the drawing pad with Adobe Photoshop Elements; the pad and the program weren't a very good fit. Maybe I need Illustrator.

Or I could see about becoming the world's first stand-up comedian with heart failure. That might be a hoot. Bring on the infarction jokes!

remember logarithms?

Disney transmogrified into horror

You know you've been wanting this.

Dr. Suneel Dhand takes on leftie outrage at RFK's appointment

impossible roller coaster

Just watch and enjoy. It doesn't have to make engineering sense. I've watched quite a few of these coasters on this channel, now, and I'm really starting to like them. They're all preposterous, but that's what makes them fun.

Visit the channel here.

ugh

I was sick and in bed for most of Wednesday. Up and at 'em again Thursday, all day. No, it's not COVID. I tested negative.

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Ah, yes, mass shootings. They're having a spate of mass stabbings and car-crowd crashes in China right now.

There are lefties who insist there's scientific evidence that men have gotten pregnant and given birth.

I laughed and laughed when I saw this one.

Nice try, assholes.

Where do the comma and hyphen go? Also: "astronomic"?

Beauty ain't forever, and a guy that superficial will eventually trade up.

when you spend your life simply being against the right

blew its lungs out, I bet

her being plump just makes her cuter... but she's a crazy bitch

So turkeys are basically just unevolved dinosaurs.

What's the missing punctuation, and where does it (or more than one "it") go?

Pelosi needs to just die already.

Tulsi talks with Jocko Willink

will the butthurt actors really leave the US this time?

selective outrage is the best outrage

Amazing none of the “green movement” is up in arms over this… https://t.co/LyBSijfXFR

— Lara Logan (@laralogan) December 17, 2024

MSNBC on the auction block

more stupid criminals

Dragging a police officer while there's a kid in your car.

With all the idiots in my country, maybe we do all deserve to burn.

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My understanding is that only two of these people are Xers.

Well, I'm definitely rent cattle here in South Korea.

Some of my married friends are like this. And I'm an introvert, so yeah, I usually stay home.

That's a picture of rightie talking head Patrick Bet-David, probably laughing his ass off.

Fuck this specific person. With a splintery broomstick.

The countdown has begun, buddy.

Roche is afraid of Maus; Maus is afraid of Katz; Katz is afraid of Doge; Doge is afraid of Mann; Mann is afraid of Lareine; Lareine is afraid of Roche.