Late to commenting, but I just have to say how much I love this film. I was juuuust a little too old for "The Goonies" to resonate with me. I was, however, EXACTLY the right age for "Labyrinth". As a preteen just hitting puberty, it's hard to overstate how obsessed I was.
‘Melania’ Arrives With Strong Box Office Showing for a Documentary
Amazon backed up the Brink’s trucks to promote the vanity film, resulting in opening-weekend ticket sales of roughly $8 million, or 60 percent more than expected.
STEPHANOPOULOS: A foreign government official taking a major ownership stake in an incoming president's company -- how do you respond to those who say this is a serious conflict of interest?
BLANCHE (lying): The Biden family did the same thing
He's such a masterful defense attorney. "Your honor, my client did murder the victim in cold blood, but we think you should consider that the previous tenant of his apartment also committed a murder."
Of course, the true purpose here is not defense of the president, it is to force people not to trust any aspect of government, because that way they become apathetic and disengaged, throwing open the doors to rampant looting - underway as we speak.
One of my biggest pet peeves is how the media asked republicans, “how do you respond to those who say”.
This is both-siderism bullshit and frames the question in terms of partisan politics instead of what’s morally right and wrong, unconstitutional, or unlawful.
They do it with both sides, except with Democrats, the allegations are treated as true without evidence and there's actual pushback instead of stenography. But they treat both sides the same, in both cases, Republicans are treated as truthful without evidence.
You know things are becoming bad when American Jews are claiming German citizenship to avoid rising antisemitism and fascism in the U.S.
Eric Podietz, whose mother escaped Germany as a child in the late 1930s, said the past feels increasingly relevant.
"This rise of authoritarianism just parallels the rise of Hitler," said Podietz, a retired I.T. consultant in Philadelphia. "The squelching of speech and the academic institutions being compromised. The signs are there. It's happening. It is scary."
I've lived in Germany for 30+ years with my German wife. Neither of us has have read/heard of this. Sounds like a very small sample size...
OTOH, I am a retired USAF jet jockey (flew F-111 As, Ds, and Es in the USA and Germany, the middle east, etc.) and neither of us will so much as vacation in the states while while fuckstick is president.
Miller said he got a hairpiece after he lost his hair two days ago, when he said he mistakenly used "ammonia bleach" instead of shampoo to wash his hair.
After a week of Dad being snowed into the driveway and me parking on the lawn, I finally got someone to come and plow/shovel. He has been working very hard and I don't care what he charges me. I've had nightmares about being stuck inside the house with no way out, Dad is going stir crazy, and my daughter needs to get to work. We tried and tried to clear it ourselves, but the mountains were too much for us. We are almost free!
We don't have those kind neighbors you all have, but it's OK, because I don't mind paying for someone's labor.
ETA: This guy was awesome. He cleared everything, even the trash barrels, and I tipped him like $40 on top of the ridiculously small amount he was charging me. He said he'd come back next snow and now I can relax.
If he doesn't like you getting snow on his yard, imagine how upset he will be next summer when you use the snowblower to spray his yard with a giant pile of dog poop.
Excellent piece in The Guardian about all the ways Minnesotans are turning out to help their neighbors. I sent some monies to the Second Harvest food bank referenced in the article.
So, DOJ released last week another 3 million or so pages of Epstein documents. After, of course, the deadline for releasing all of them. No human can read 3 million pages. It could take a long time to find any real signal in the noise. Also, reports are that redactions were poorly done, leaving some victims' names in the dump (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/01/jeffrey-epstein-files-sex-trafficking-survivors).
A little late, but here we go--my friend and I LOVED Labyrinth. We watched it a bunch of times and then saw that Bowie was coming to town on tour and we got tickets (with my parents, who were driving us).
It's funny because I knew "David Bowie" was a musician and singer but wasn't all that familiar with him. I was too young? My parents weren't really in a group that were naturally fans?
Anyway, we went (and I still have the t-shirt!) and we liked it. By the end of the concert my parents were making a LOT of comments about the amount of pot smoke in our area, but we still stayed put.
Let's all take a moment to appreciate parents who went to concerts they didn't want to go to so that they could take their kids (though now my parents will try to convince you it was their idea, but they are lying).
Our daughter's first concert was Green Day when she was 11. Our son's was Wolfmother when he was 11. We tried to take our youngest to Dropkick Murphy's when she was 11 but the show was cancelled due to weather. We still owe her a concert
Late to commenting, but I just have to say how much I love this film. I was juuuust a little too old for "The Goonies" to resonate with me. I was, however, EXACTLY the right age for "Labyrinth". As a preteen just hitting puberty, it's hard to overstate how obsessed I was.
Oh man, Labyrinth! Where do you even begin?
Although I missed it (as usual), thanks, Ziggy! :D
The NYT
‘Melania’ Arrives With Strong Box Office Showing for a Documentary
Amazon backed up the Brink’s trucks to promote the vanity film, resulting in opening-weekend ticket sales of roughly $8 million, or 60 percent more than expected.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/31/business/melania-documentary-box-office.html
So now I see that it was meant as snark? Or at least fairly realistic criticism.
Poe's Law. Congratulations, The NYT, you have once more become a parody of yourself.
@IlhanMN
·
50m
Liam is home now and we are grateful to @JoaquinCastrotx
for traveling to Minneapolis with him and his dad.
Welcome home Liam ❤️❤️
STEPHANOPOULOS: A foreign government official taking a major ownership stake in an incoming president's company -- how do you respond to those who say this is a serious conflict of interest?
BLANCHE (lying): The Biden family did the same thing
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mdsqoobv5v2u
He's such a masterful defense attorney. "Your honor, my client did murder the victim in cold blood, but we think you should consider that the previous tenant of his apartment also committed a murder."
Of course, the true purpose here is not defense of the president, it is to force people not to trust any aspect of government, because that way they become apathetic and disengaged, throwing open the doors to rampant looting - underway as we speak.
One of my biggest pet peeves is how the media asked republicans, “how do you respond to those who say”.
This is both-siderism bullshit and frames the question in terms of partisan politics instead of what’s morally right and wrong, unconstitutional, or unlawful.
They do it with both sides, except with Democrats, the allegations are treated as true without evidence and there's actual pushback instead of stenography. But they treat both sides the same, in both cases, Republicans are treated as truthful without evidence.
Horse races get clicks.
Superb Owls get clicks.
World Series get clicks.
Feeding children in Asia don't.
Quietly and efficiently plugging away doing the job doesn't get clicks.
Phew, Liam and his dad were actually released -- I didn't trust the goons to not appeal the judge's ruling -- and are back in Minnesota.
You know things are becoming bad when American Jews are claiming German citizenship to avoid rising antisemitism and fascism in the U.S.
Eric Podietz, whose mother escaped Germany as a child in the late 1930s, said the past feels increasingly relevant.
"This rise of authoritarianism just parallels the rise of Hitler," said Podietz, a retired I.T. consultant in Philadelphia. "The squelching of speech and the academic institutions being compromised. The signs are there. It's happening. It is scary."
https://www.npr.org/2025/07/29/nx-s1-5366186/american-jews-are-reclaiming-german-citizenship-amid-political-concerns
I've lived in Germany for 30+ years with my German wife. Neither of us has have read/heard of this. Sounds like a very small sample size...
OTOH, I am a retired USAF jet jockey (flew F-111 As, Ds, and Es in the USA and Germany, the middle east, etc.) and neither of us will so much as vacation in the states while while fuckstick is president.
Lol!
SNL skewers MAGA.
In case you missed it...
https://x.com/nbcsnl/status/2017827463896670298?s=46&t=8AXGNcFnBAkyyhttPpKSvA
That was hilarious. I keep hoping to hear this from my sister's family and I will try VERY hard not to react.
For the non-Xers:
https://xcancel.com/nbcsnl/status/2017827463896670298?s=46&t=8AXGNcFnBAkyyhttPpKSvA
Still no
Thanks!
(I was worried about that!)
𝗝𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗶𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗯𝗲𝗵
Miller said he got a hairpiece after he lost his hair two days ago, when he said he mistakenly used "ammonia bleach" instead of shampoo to wash his hair.
https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/47793343/boxer-jarrell-miller-toupee-gets-knocked-victory-kingsley-ibeh
Root Boy Slim: "My Wig Fell Off"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RyKgvq5Kro
Ammonia + bleach = bomb
And I got some ocean view property to sell.
In Nevada. Cheep.
he mistakenly used "ammonia bleach" instead of shampoo to wash his hair.
An easy mistake since most shampoos are ammonia scented. Ammonia has such a pleasant aroma.
Like flowers.
After a week of Dad being snowed into the driveway and me parking on the lawn, I finally got someone to come and plow/shovel. He has been working very hard and I don't care what he charges me. I've had nightmares about being stuck inside the house with no way out, Dad is going stir crazy, and my daughter needs to get to work. We tried and tried to clear it ourselves, but the mountains were too much for us. We are almost free!
We don't have those kind neighbors you all have, but it's OK, because I don't mind paying for someone's labor.
ETA: This guy was awesome. He cleared everything, even the trash barrels, and I tipped him like $40 on top of the ridiculously small amount he was charging me. He said he'd come back next snow and now I can relax.
Living in a mountain cabin, over 1,000 feet to the dirt town road, I literally keep a pair of emergency snow shoes by the door.
Do they work or do they sink in the snow?
They work fine, unless you fall over... then it gets tricky. Always walk with a long stick in hand. A little practice is recommended.
Bought them decades ago, pretty cheap back then. Haven't needed them for escape yet, finger's X'd.
I have a MAGA neighbor with a snowblower. He did our sidewalk and driveway. He's a nice guy except for the political reactionary thing.
He's a neighbor. Go ahead and be his neighbor. He might need you someday.
We need to stop limiting ourselves and others.
My MAGA neighbor doesn't help anyone and yelled at me when my snow blower blew snow into his yard. I was digging out to Mrs. LS to work.
Yeah well, those too. Some are neighbors, some aren't. God help the child who has his own.
If he doesn't like you getting snow on his yard, imagine how upset he will be next summer when you use the snowblower to spray his yard with a giant pile of dog poop.
Excellent piece in The Guardian about all the ways Minnesotans are turning out to help their neighbors. I sent some monies to the Second Harvest food bank referenced in the article.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/01/minnesota-twin-cities-ice-protests
So, DOJ released last week another 3 million or so pages of Epstein documents. After, of course, the deadline for releasing all of them. No human can read 3 million pages. It could take a long time to find any real signal in the noise. Also, reports are that redactions were poorly done, leaving some victims' names in the dump (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/01/jeffrey-epstein-files-sex-trafficking-survivors).
Love how it coincides with Mellie's movie!
In case anyone needs a wookiee smile.
https://substack.com/profile/232248225-helen-van-patterson-patton/note/c-208389084?r=3u9vvl
OhmygoodnessohmygoodnessOHMYGOODNESS!!!!!!
SO CUTE!!!!!
<3
A little late, but here we go--my friend and I LOVED Labyrinth. We watched it a bunch of times and then saw that Bowie was coming to town on tour and we got tickets (with my parents, who were driving us).
It's funny because I knew "David Bowie" was a musician and singer but wasn't all that familiar with him. I was too young? My parents weren't really in a group that were naturally fans?
Anyway, we went (and I still have the t-shirt!) and we liked it. By the end of the concert my parents were making a LOT of comments about the amount of pot smoke in our area, but we still stayed put.
Let's all take a moment to appreciate parents who went to concerts they didn't want to go to so that they could take their kids (though now my parents will try to convince you it was their idea, but they are lying).
Our daughter's first concert was Green Day when she was 11. Our son's was Wolfmother when he was 11. We tried to take our youngest to Dropkick Murphy's when she was 11 but the show was cancelled due to weather. We still owe her a concert
My first concert was Bruce in LA in 1984.
Before that I was supporting wife and chillens.
Why I dunno.
My first concert was Billy Joel in the '70s and my friend's mom took us. :)
My first concert was Iron Butterfly, my second one was the Doors
Awesome! Do I get better cred if my second was AC/DC?
I'd have loved to see AC/DC. You have excellent cred!
love it!
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/02/at-nih-a-power-struggle-over-institute-directorships-deepens/
Government run as an unholy combination of a klavern and a frat house
Melania:
Triumph of the Swill
I dunno nuttin bout the movie, but talk about it I learned what a '304' girl was.
I read a review that called it “Triumph of the Shill”
'Citizen Vain'
Bad News Bares
Petty Woman
Working Girl