Charles reviews "KPop Demon Hunters," going more deeply than I did into the movie's folkloric elements, seeing more Christian influence on the mythology than I saw in my own review, and offering some criticisms that I hadn't thought of (as well as some criticisms that I had thought of) despite his generally liking the movie. Definitely worth a read.
Sunday, August 31, 2025
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| She's not a very good actress. Her boobs are about all she's got going for her. For now. Check back in 20 years. |
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| Rah, Raw, Rohr, and Screecho |
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| It's only faking. |
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| Politicians lack courage. Even Jimmy Swaggart publicly admitted wrong before being defrocked. |
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| A finger on the pulse of the people! |
the curated, superficial life
Don't get lost in the boobs. And remember that, with time, boobs all sag. That is the way of things. The way of the Force.
It occurs to me, at the beginning of this Substack adventure, that it's less about getting readers than it is about earning money—at least for those of us who don't have the luxury of having millions of fans when we first enter Substack. In a sense, then, my mission remains the same: it's not really about becoming an influencer or having an opinion that matters: it's more about gathering an audience so I can pay my bills. The size of the audience is just a side effect.
Aside: turning 56 means I've survived more than a year after last year's heart attack, which occurred earlier in August (the 10th). This is no guarantee that I'll survive much longer, but hey, it's still something. I recently watched a few Hollywood-related videos about stars from the past who died of this or that cause, and at what age. Some of these people died in their thirties and early fifties. By this point, I've outlived more than Jesus.
barfday
Well... it's my 56th birthday, and this is a scheduled post (from August 5). Did I survive this far? If yes, can I make it to the end of the year? Can I make it to my January cardiac appointment, which will include a scan? Can I make it to see my friends and relatives next year? Well, whatever's going on with me, I hope you're at least having a good day.
"KPop Demon Hunters": thoughts from all over
Much is made, in a couple of videos, of the blowjob references at the beginning of the movie.
why I almost never flirt
I suppose you could admire constantly flirty guys for their can-do spirit, but (1) they don't make themselves look like reliably faithful partners, and (2) they're not nearly as appetizing as they think they are. As the Buddhists know, though: ego is great for self-delusion. Humility: the cure for Dunning-Kruger.
Chris Barnett always gets me laughing
And some of his YouTube Shorts:
Karen vs. the Devil 2, 6/10/23
How Batman Actually Begins, 6/12/23
When People Discovered Eggs, 6/19/23
When You're Diagnosed with Rizz, 8/7/23
The Guy Naming Things, 12/11/23
The Guy Naming Things, 12/24/23
Meeting Your Friend's New Girlfriend, 5/31/24
When You Work for the Devil, 6/7/24
When You're the Single Friend, 6/24/24
Saturday, August 30, 2025
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| I think they still don't get it. |
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| So who's the ho? The smiling one or the frowning one? Or is it one of the ladies in back? |
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| Hard choice... two of my favorite planes. |
good form!
I should probably see this movie. I hear it's something of an audience classic despite being panned by critics, unlike its better-known predecessor. I had to wonder whether the guy playing Master Han was the same man who played the villain in "The Kentucky Fried Movie." He was, as it turns out, and he was none other than real-life Grandmaster Han Bong-soo, the "father of hapkido" in America.
US courts are retarded
Appeals Court Rules Most of Trump’s Tariffs Are Illegal
The judges let the import taxes stay in place while allowing the case to be sent back to a lower court.
The judges let the import taxes stay in place while allowing the case to be sent back to a lower court.
A U.S. appeals court ruled Aug. 29 that most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal, saying that he exceeded his authority, but the judges let the import taxes stay in place while allowing the case to be sent back to a lower court.
In a 7-4 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that Trump’s reciprocal tariffs unveiled in April are mostly illegal.
The appeals court upheld a ruling handed down by the Court of International Trade earlier this year, saying that the president incorrectly used his emergency powers to issue the tariffs.
A majority of judges on the federal appeals court found the president overstepped his authority under a 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
“The statute bestows significant authority on the President to undertake a number of actions in response to a declared national emergency, but none of these actions explicitly include the power to impose tariffs, duties, or the like, or the power to tax,” the court stated.
The court also said that it appears to be “unlikely that Congress intended, in enacting IEEPA, to depart from its past practice and grant the President unlimited authority to impose tariffs.”
“The statute neither mentions tariffs (or any of its synonyms) nor has procedural safeguards that contain clear limits on the President’s power to impose tariffs,” the judges added Friday.
Friday’s ruling will not take effect until Oct. 14, allowing the Trump administration to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trump has made tariffs a pillar of U.S. foreign policy in his second term, saying they are a way to correct what he said are unfair trade practices by countries that export goods to the United States and to reshore manufacturing. He also used tariffs to target issues of drug trafficking, border security, and illegal immigration.
The tariffs have given the Trump administration leverage to extract economic concessions from trading partners but have also increased volatility in financial markets.
The president responded to the news on Truth Social later that same day, saying that ending the tariffs “would literally destroy the United States of America,” but also expressing confidence that his fight for tariffs would be victorious before the Supreme Court.
Yes, let's just impede economic recovery, why don't we? Who's more conservative—the people wanting to go back to the lame, old ways or the people struggling toward relief?
And Trump "exceeded his authority"? Let that sink in for a sec.
it's about to happen
All the bots are going to flee my blog after tomorrow: my scheduled posts and memes and political writing will all come to a stop at the end of August 31. While it's going to suck not having over 20,000 unique visits per day, it'll be nice to write only when I have something to say, to devote my efforts to something more constructive and creative than ranting, and to have more accurate visitor stats (I hope). So expect more personal notes and essays. There might still be some unoriginal content in the form of embedded YouTube videos, but those videos will likely be educational in nature—more SAT math questions and humor and such. The Hairy Chasms are about to get quieter.
Corridor Crew: VFX guys react to "The Substance," "Mission: Impossible," and more!
I have "The Substance" in my queue.
can a YouTube chef go back to being a line cook?
I saw Bourdain do this once. It's painful to see how much you slow down.
the sugar diet?
The sugar diet sounds like something for people who don't even need to lose weight. I seriously doubt that such a diet would be safe for me, as tempting as it would be for my sweet tooth. Nope: it's low carb or nothing.
Friday, August 29, 2025
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| But the sign is... right. |
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| New Jersey gets what it deserves. |
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| I end up either smiling or crying at all the unforced errors in English. |
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| I guess that's one way to deal with family division. |
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| Why, it's enough to make you go vegetarian! |
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| David Who? |
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| Who's retarded now? The teacher's probably still insisting she's right. |
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| when race-swapping goes haywire |
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| Pretty much. |
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| So stop with the Polish jokes. The Poles are obviously smarter and wiser. |
examples of "fan service"
"Fan service" started off as a term from animé/manga, primarily referring to images meant to titillate and entice. It featured (and features) tits, ass, skimpy clothing, girls in compromising or alluring situations, etc. Sometimes, it can be more innocuous, like friends sharing a moment. Nowadays, the term has broadened in meaning to refer to pretty much anything in any audience-driven media that is meant to be a sop to fans, so this would include things like nostalgia bait, "memberberries," etc. "Star Trek: Picard," Season 3 was loaded with fan service if we use the term in its current sense. But when I wrote earlier about the juvenilization of sexuality in East Asian culture, the images below are more what I meant—something more along the lines of what, in the West, is referred to as the "Madonna-whore" dichotomy or complex—the male view of a woman as either pure and virginal or absolutely slutty:
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| an image that can be interpreted either way—happy virgin or cheerful slut |
There may be an either/or component to the complex, but I think a lot of guys want the same woman to fulfill both roles which is, as you can imagine, extremely unfair to the woman:
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| combat knickers |
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| All the guys are in lust. |
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| Hey, guys! Just little ol' me doing my innocent thang! |
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| Japanese scientists have spent years engineering these. |
Did the above do anything for you? None of it is real. It's like falling in lust with a RealDoll.
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| fan service for the ladies, too |
A more innocent version of fan service:
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| "KPop Demon Hunters" |
Huntr/x's clothing isn't that revealing by Western standards, but seriously... would you want your little daughter parading around in clothes like these, posing ass-first for someone's camera,* hips cocked saucily?
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| At least the animators were somewhat realistic about the chopstick-y Korean female figure. |
ADDENDUM: I should mention that juvenilized sexuality isn't uniquely an East Asian thing. Just think of all the lustful male energy in the West devoted to the cheerleader archetype: young, coltish, bright-eyed, muscularly tight girls who seem both innocent and ready to party.
__________*It occurs to me that, in these pics, it's always American-raised Zoey who's got her ass toward the camera. Subtle cultural messaging?
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