Pages Tagged “Category: Entertainment”
Blog Posts
- Fun With Copper! (And System Clocks)
Last night the whole family got into a multiplayer Minecraft game for the first time in a while. Weirdly enough, *one* system was showing way to many materials as copper. Even stuff like snow. WTF? Well, we realized it was after 7 PM local time, which meant on UTC time it was already April 1, […]
- We Have Met The Ferengi, And They Are US
We finished re-watching Deep Space Nine a few days ago. Quark’s rants in the second-to-last episode about rolling back the reforms regarding gender and worker protections, complaining that Ferengi society has been infected by a disease, and declaring that if he becomes Nagus he’ll bring back what made Ferenginar great again sound eerily familiar. There’s […]
- Avatar and Manta’s Gift
This is kind of funny. When I watched the movie Avatar way back in 2009, I was struck by the similarity of the premise to Timothy Zahn’s 2002 novel Manta’s Gift: The main character, a human who’s suffered a severely disabling injury, is offered the chance to place his consciousness into an alien body and […]
- Eclipses and World Building
I can go with your scifi/fantasy story’s super-impossible thing being associated with an eclipse. It’s activating or deactivating people’s super-powers? Sure! Certain magic spells can only be cast during an eclipse? Sure! The moon transforms into cheese? OK, whatever. (pun not intended) But please, please get the basic mechanics right!
- The Omega Block
I should’ve realized Darkseid was back. It would explain so much.
- Frogging Things Up
Reptiles! Reptiles! Reptiles! Okay, okay, we’ll let some amphibians in too. As a treat. (Billboard spotted while walking around last week.)
- Ursula K. Le Guin eBook Bundle (Ended)
Humble Bundle is offering 30 books* by Ursula K. Le Guin supporting the Literary Arts charity, including all of Earthsea, several Hainish novels, Catwings, short stories, Gifts/Voices/Powers, nonfiction writing… I’ve read the Earthsea series (good-to-great) and most of the Hainish novels (some great, some good, some OK), plus Lathe of Heaven (great), and I’ve got […]
- Upper Limit
Okay, okay, I won’t toss this speck of neutron star material here! I guess I’ll just have to pack it out. (Spotted at the Hermosa Beach Pier over the weekend.)
- Striking the Crowd
Today I found myself thinking of Terminator 3, specifically the plotline in which all kinds of random computer crashes are spreading across the internet. For obvious reasons. In today’s real world incident, it’s a bug in an auto-pushed update for widely-used security software by CrowdStrike, ironically used to protect mission-critical systems. In the two-decade-old movie […]
- Rent!
It’s (still) too damn high. Spotted on a bus stop bench a few weeks ago.
- It’s a Dream World
I recently found myself in Culver City and spotted a familiar-looking wall. Not because I’d been there often, but because I remember seeing it from the passenger seat of a co-worker’s car over a decade ago as we drove past on the way to…lunch? A bakery? I can’t quite remember. But I do remember Spider-Man […]
- The Essentials
When I took this photo back in 2016, it was a combination coffee/Chinese food restaurant: they sold coffee in the mornings and Chinese food for lunch and dinner. The owner had previously run a separate coffee shop (The Bean Counter, IIRC) in the same shopping center, then combined the two businesses to save on rent. […]
- Made it to First Place!
While driving around Hermosa Beach, I finally made it to 1st Place! Unfortunately, once you get there, there’s only one way you can go.
- Caught the Superb Owl
Props to Niantic for both the timing on the raid day and for letting the players connect the dots themselves.
- Saucer Country is finally complete!
I really enjoyed the original run (Saucer Country) at Vertigo and the second run at IDW (Saucer State)…that ended on a cliffhanger, and I’m really looking forward to being able to read the conclusion! Saucer Country is a dark thriller that blends UFO lore and alien abduction with political intrigue, all set in the hauntingly […]
- Googly Eyes! Googly Eyes Everywhere!
- Do Not Taunt the Native Plants
Sign in front of some scraggly bushes: Endangered butterfly Habitat. Please do not bebother, bend, break, bulldose, collect, cross, crumple…
- Lost Control
Pulled it out of my backpack and saw that it had lost control. Not entirely. It still had some left. Or right, as the case may be. (Yes, I did eventually find the *ahem* key to restore it.)
- TJs Branching Out
Rumor has it that Trader Joe’s urgent care is actually provided by the name brand, just with different packaging.
- Lan Security
Not what they usually mean by LAN security, but certainly effective.
- Now, With Evening Hours!
Saw this while out on an errand the other day. Maybe it’s just that I’m reading the latest October Daye book, but anything permanent involving the Winter Rose sounds like a bad idea!
- Our Trail is Better With Our Free Ap!
Found a place to hike this morning that was only in the 80s instead of hotter, and was greeted by this sign at the trailhead.
- Possibly TMI
The power company is prepping for maintenance work, and these guys are out with the temporary no parking signs and barriers. It’s still a better company name than the “Performance Utility Supply” I’ve driven past with a sign that’s mostly its initials.
- Location, Location, Location
Two storefronts in a mall. One is MAC Cosmetics. Right next to it is the Apple Store.
- Missing 🕶️
This has got to be intentional, right? A reference to all those cake wrecks where someone wrote out the directions on the cake?
- Notice of…What?
Spotted in front of an empty lot on a walk around the neighborhood.
- Tired of Eventbrite Spam
Eventbrite has worked well for buying tickets to events I’ve attended… But over the last few months I keep getting spam for events that are not only not remotely interesting, they aren’t anywhere NEAR me. Sorry, but I’m not hopping on a plane for a pub crawl on the other side of the continent or […]
- Oh, that’s NOT a Hammer!
From an ad Google sent out today for their new Pixel Tablet, where they’re plugging it as a hub for controlling “smart home” devices. At first glance, it looked like she was about to smash it with a hammer. I suppose that says something about my attitude toward IOT? (At second glance, it looked like […]
- Shelfie
Spotted at the library over the weekend.
- Nyan!
I love that the walking path indicator on StreetComplete turned into Nyan Cat for April 1 this year! Update 2024: They did it again. And not just the path indicator!
- Free…Coffee?
Um, no thanks, I’d rather pay for coffee across the street than take my chances here.
- Hearts Among Us
Spotted at a park last week. Amusingly, my phone autocorrected “crewmate” to “cremate” while I was adding the alt text. Considering this is Among Us, it’s not that far off…
- Faded Guidelines
Some of the signs are still up, almost three years later. Some people still wear masks, sometimes. And some people still get covid, sometimes. And memory of the 2020-2021 lockdown continues to fade.
- Oh No! They’ve Escaped!
Cage-free eggs, egg-free cage, what’s the difference?
- Must be Tuesday
“Update all the things!” the stick figure from Hyperbole and a Half shouts enthusiastically.
- DS…What?
Amusing truncation of the day: “Daylight Savings Tin” I like the idea of a tin box you can keep daylight in!
- The 2022 Social Media Experience
The 2022 update: What it’s like to use Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Mastodon, Pixelfed and Instagram now.
- Forgotten, But Not Gone
Remember standing six feet apart?
- The Latest COVID?
Overheard at pharmacy: “Do you give out the latest COVID-19, uh, omicron?” Gee, I hope not… (Yeah, i know what he meant, and so did the pharmacist.)
- The Phantom Clones
Let’s just say the kid was not impressed with Attack of the Clones. To be honest, I think it’s the weakest of the prequels and of the six that George Lucas was actually involved in. The Phantom Menace is better than I remember. It’s well constructed, and there are incredible subtleties and thematic elements hidden […]
- Catching up on Recent Trek
We ended up not watching Star Trek: Discovery when it launched because we didn’t want to add another streaming service at the time. Same with Picard. Sometime during the last two years we ended up adding Paramount+ (or whatever it was called at the time) for some reason, and earlier this year we decided to […]
- Eye See You
Spotted on a sidewalk in Santa Monica.
- Waking Up is Hard to Do (PC Edition)
Always nice to be greeted by this unlock screen: Ever since upgrading to the latest NVIDIA driver, my Linux system has had a weird quirk with resuming from suspend/hibernate. All the applications and services that were running pick up right where I left them, but anything drawn by Gnome shell — including the unlock screen, […]
- Atomic Junk Shop IRL
I occasionally follow a blog called Atomic Junk Shop that covers comics, sci fi and related pop culture. Never thought I’d stumble on an actual “Atomic Junk” shop!
- The Adventures of Bus Ryder and the Busonic Woman!
Apparently this was a 1976 comic book to promote the then-new county bus system with campy knock-off superheroes (and really wonky perspective). I mean, Bus Ryder looks suspiciously like Superman, and there’s no question where the Busonic Woman got her name. Photo courtesy Orange County Archives.
- Been Waiting a While?
Saw this while out walking this morning. I guess holiday decorations can last as long as you want them to!
- Have You Confused Your iNat Lately?
I confused the iNaturalist identification AI with some random snapshots from a trip up into the mountains a few years back. Normally it’s pretty good at narrowing things down to a family or genus. In this case, I was aiming for scenery and family snapshots at the time, so they weren’t exactly ideal for plant […]
- Why I’m not ready to go back to cons yet
Of the two Omicron-variant cases found in the US so far, one of them is a breakthrough case in a patient who hadn’t traveled internationally, but had just been to an anime convention in New York. With 53,000 people. That only required attendees to have gotten their first dose of the vaccine. And struggled with […]
- Pokemon Pumpkin Parade
We went with a Pokemon theme again for this year’s Jack-O’Lanterns.
- Reindeers are better than Covid…
Look, I get it, we all want to return to normal, but can we at least wait until after Halloween to put up the Christmas decorations? Spotted today during a store pickup at the mall.
- Esen-tial Workout
So, this would be where Mystique and Odo exercise, right? (In case you’re wondering about the title: Esen)
- Meloetta is Ready for Rehearsal
All set!
- Returning to Outer Wilds
I picked up Outer Wilds again and finally finished the endgame. It’s a perfect, bittersweet coda to the story you uncover over the course of the game.
- Cello Goodbye
The kid’s gotten interested in playing music and has been trying out various instruments over the last few months. (Yay for rentals!) The latest is cello. As soon as he heard Bach’s cello suites, he was convinced. We lined up lessons with the same teacher he’d had for violin earlier this year. Then we went […]
- Healthy Savings on…Liquid Death????
I mean, the idea of marketing canned water as “Liquid Death! (murder your thirst)” is weird enough (IIRC they wanted to make water “cool” like energy drinks), but the “healthy savings” label just kind of makes it!
- Good Advice
A few Covid-19 rules are still in place at this botanical garden, though it’s a lot more relaxed than it was last spring when they managed to stay open even through the early-pandemic lockdowns.
- Overload the Cores
I finally got around to trying out No Man’s Sky a few weeks ago. I started on a super-hot planet, where you need to find shelter and/or resources to recharge your suit’s hazard protection system to keep cool. Got killed a few times trying to figure out what I was doing. And after about 20 […]
- X Marks the Spot
I do appreciate the bandage motif for the distancing markers at this urgent care.
- But it’s OFFICIAL!
I got an email about a class action settlement over alleged price fixing of CD/DVD drives in the early 2000s. Went to the website for more info, and found… this. Really inspires confidence, I tell ya.
- Two Years Without a Con
Surprising no-one, WonderCon will be online-only again this year. Last year’s event was canceled just as we all started to realize that Covid-19 was spreading in California. And while the winter surge in cases is finally slowing down, the coronavirus is still more prevalent out there now than it was last March. They’re still hoping […]
- The Sun Sets Over Minecraft Earth
I like Minecraft Earth, but it didn’t quite hit its stride before the pandemic, and didn’t adapt as well as Pokémon Go has to the pandemic. I’ve mostly stopped playing since hitting the level cap because gameplay is still too awkward, and while it is fun, it’s not enough fun to overcome that when I […]
- New Year’s Eve: 2019 vs 2020
Stay safe tonight.
- 2020: Overachiever (The Monoliths)
November 23: Helicopter pilot finds “strange” monolith in remote part of Utah. November 25: Using Google Earth to look for the Utah monolith site. One candidate that matches the landscape seems to have something vertical that appeared between the 2015 and 2016 images. No coordinates in the article. Attempt no landings there. December 7: After […]
- An Expression
Overheard during Zoom Mad Libs: Teacher: “I need an expression.” Student: (unintelligible) Teacher: “An appropriate expression.”
- Whale Call
We watched Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home last night. It holds up better than I thought it would. At the end, I found myself trying to imagine the conversation between the whales and the probe. Probably something like this: — Hey! We’re still here! Or, we’re back, anyway! — Oh, good! What happened to […]
- Eevee for Vendetta
Yeah, I’m sure it’s been done before.
- Target’s ready for…Halloween?
- Impostmates
So if your fellow crewmembers are crewmates, does that make your fellow impostors impostmates? (They can deliver anywhere.)
- Be sure to wear a face covering when out in public
- Stuck in the Middle
Overheard: “Alexa, tell ____ I’m not talking to her!”
- Too Soon, Comic-Con
Earlier this week we were talking about cosplay ideas for when we can finally go back to comic conventions. Literally the next day, I read that LA Comic-Con is planning an in-person convention in December. OH HELL NO! I don’t care that they’re limiting attendance, requiring masks and distancing, and keeping it at the cavernous […]
- Wearing is Caring
Every city around here has its own publicity and enforcement schemes for Covid-19 safety, though the criteria and general requirements are mostly decided at the county or state level. I haven’t gotten out to El Segundo much since the pandemic hit, so I hadn’t seen their “Wearing is Caring” slogan until this weekend.
- Jedi Blocks
Apparently Mojang hired Anakin Skywalker to write the captions for block descriptions in Minecraft Earth.
- Street (TIE) Fighters
I always think these markings look like TIE Fighters.
- Not a “Brand New Invention”
Now that Pumpkin Spice Season is back, I finally remembered to post this photo from last winter of — of all places — Wienerschnitzel, best known for its focus on hot dogs — plugging its pumpkin spice offerings. Or rather, “Pumpkin spice, spice, baby.” 🙄 Oddly enough, what I find most weird about the picture […]
- Boxed Up
I’m sure it’s just a delivery, but it looks like they’ve wrapped the entire store in bubble wrap to ship it somewhere.
- Be Like Spark
Spark is considerate enough to wear a face mask per pandemic recommendations. Unlike Jessie and James. You know they’ll only wear masks for disguises.
- Could You Be a Bit More Specific?
I found this photo on my phone from sometime last year, back when you could still go to self-serve frozen yogurt/ice cream places. The label is…well…TBH it’s accurate, if a bit vague…
- When the birds hit the street looking for food to eat…
Of course my 2000th observation posted to iNaturalist would be the Goodfeathers!
- Devovid
Bizarre story (how could it not be?) in the LA Times on Devo co-founder Mark Mothersbaugh’s experience with Covid-19 and the delusions he experienced at the height of the illness during two weeks in the ICU. Among other things, he became convinced he’d written an entire new Devo album and hallucinated the band performing it […]
- Bicycles. Uh-huh.
Ever feel like recaptcha is just trolling you?
- Mount Doomscrolling
The way the Palantir network compromises Saruman and Denethor shows the danger in who controls the algorithm that manages your newsfeed.
- Richard the Thread
Found this photo that’s been sitting around on my phone for a year of a fabric store with a great pun in its name.
- What DAY is it???
Finally got around to updating this meme for 2020:
- New Kind of SCSI
I mean, I’m familiar with SCSI buses, but a SCSI truck is new to me. Do they have greater capacity? (spotted on a walk yesterday)
- Pokemon in the Restaurant Business
I’ve been meaning to post this Kangaskhan at Gengis Khan Mongolian barbecue since… September? I forget exactly. Yeah, it’s a mall food court, so it’s definitely the Before Times. And it looks like the older Pokemon Go camera mode. As for the Wynaut at ‘Y’ Not, that was a little more recent, on the way […]
- Pokemon at the Park
Sneasel is disappointed that the museum is closed. Turtwig has found a new friend. (I had such a hard time trying to get it to face the right direction, which is why it’s still a little bit off. At least I didn’t need to worry about the real turtle wandering away while I set up […]
- The Masked Guitarist
- Cocktails to Go 😵
Still not used to that being a thing.
- How to Order Coffee During a Pandemic
Hmm, hope they didn’t leave anything out!
- Social Distancing Piplup
Sorry, there’s no exception in the rules for Pokemon.
- Bicycle Barricades are Down
…and replaced with these warning signs to maintain distance. I think this particular path could have been left open with these warnings to begin with, because there’s so much room to go around people even if it did draw a crowd. It’s not like the paths along the base or top of the bluffs near […]
- Pillage Safely!
Even Minions are wearing face masks when they’re out pillaging.
- Murder Hornets? Really?
Remember the opening from the 1980s Flash Gordon, where the villain has a dashboard with buttons labeled with various disasters? He used it like a sound effects board: Press the Earthquake button and it would trigger an earthquake. Press the Hurricane button and trigger a hurricane. Press the freaking Hot Hail button and it would […]
- Sorta Open. Maaaybe. If You’re Careful.
I mentioned last week that Manhattan Beach had closed all their parks outright, rather than just closing equipment and facilities. Over the weekend heat wave, they reopened at least Polliwog Park, taking down the caution tape from the perimeter and instead wrapping individual playgrounds, gazebos, sculptures and even picnic tables with metal fencing. And signs. […]
- American Gothic: Social Distancing Edition
2026 update: The building, and several around it including an entire bowling alley, have been demolished to build a giant blocky monstrosity that, according to the banners on it, will soon be “luxury apartments.” The camera shop has been operating out of a warehouse unit, doing online and phone orders, ever since.
- Wait, What Hands?
Kiddo found this image somewhere and wanted to put up a few signs.
- Chalk it up to Social Distancing
Spotted on a walk around the neighborhood yesterday. Actually I’ve been seeing a lot of sidewalk chalk messages lately, some written by adults, others clearly written by kids. Starting about a week into the shutdown, when I went out for a walk and found a note from one of the kiddo’s former classmates saying hello. […]
- No Wonder
WonderCon has been our main fan convention for the past decade or so. We’ve been every year since it moved to Anaheim in 2012, and several years back when it was in San Francisco. But this year it’s not happening. By February we were already looking at what was going on with the new coronavirus […]
- Welcome to the Park. Now Stay Away (From Each Other)
There’s a difference between “going out” to a destination or event, and “going outside” for fresh air or exercise. The first is more likely to land you in the kind of crowds that can help spread the pandemic. The second can usually be done while still keeping your distance from people. Depending on how easy […]
- Small Markets
Most people panic-buying supplies went to the supermarkets, not to smaller local groceries.
- Bike Path Closed on Account of Virus
This bike path was closed in response to too many people going outdoors to the same places, creating the crowds that the closures of bars, restaurants and retail stores were trying to avoid in an effort to slow the virus spread. I’m kind of surprised at this one. Unlike the paths near the beach, it […]
- I Assure You We’re Open!
More scenes from a pandemic shutdown: Panera really wants you to know they’re open! (California is currently limiting all restaurants to take-out/delivery only as part of the attempt to limit coronavirus spread.) They also had a sign propped up in their delivery van window pointing out that they’re selling bread, eggs and dairy — all […]
- Goodwill: Stay Healthy
Scenes from pandemic shutdown: Shuttered Goodwill. To be fair, I seem to remember they were already planning to remodel, so the plywood all over the windows could just be a case of bad timing. Update: Here’s a better picture of the sign from the near side of the street.
- Poor Substitute
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to find isopropyl alcohol in stock, but the “related” results are…questionable.
- What do you think’s in the pizzas?
This place often posts movie and TV quotes on its marquee, but sometimes their choices are a little…odd. #ToServeMan
- Wandering Off…
- Burner…Truck?
I’ve heard of burner phones, but burner trucks…? (seen on the way to work one morning a few weeks ago)
- It came from the 90s!
Not just the design…but they’re off-brand *POGs*.
- Time Gate
When did they install the Guardian of Forever at this park?
- No Pho King Way
I regret to report that as of last summer, there is just NO PHO KING WAY.
- That’s One Really Coordinated Baby
Found this on a restroom changing table.
- The Rise of Skywalker vs. the Other Star Wars Sequels (spoilers)
I saw The Rise of Skywalker last week, and I’ve had some thoughts bouncing around in my head for a while. I think it’s been long enough. So, to start with, let’s look at the major themes of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. The Force Awakens: There will always be a new generation of fascists, […]
- Pizza Boba
Found this great combination in Santa Barbara last week. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to stop there. I didn’t even have time to get out the camera with an actual zoom, and had to make do with the phone.
- LAX “Snow,” Evening Edition
Snow has arrived at LAX for the season. Well, the only kind of snow it gets, anyway.
- Ghost Pokéstops
I need to start collecting screenshots of ghost Pokéstops in Pokémon Go. Not ghost-type nests, but the stops that highlight something that isn’t there anymore. In my area there are several murals that have been painted over, fountains that have been converted to planters, a park pond that’s become a splash pad, a sculpture in […]
- I Guess
I’ve got to appreciate this network error UI from Minecraft Earth. Especially the button text.
- 15 Minutes with Minecraft Earth
Took Minecraft Earth for a spin around the block. Most of the demos I’d seen showed either the build-on-a-plate mode or the AR adventure mode, so I wasn’t sure how the map mode was going to work. You see a Minecraft-ified version of your local area. Real-world buildings appear as raised ground instead of buildings, […]
- Artoo Has Been In Low Power Mode
Sign spotted near LAX. Update: Replaced with a clearer photo. The original one was backlit during late afternoon.
- This Sign is F’ed
It’s like someone started to take down the sign, got almost to the end, and said, “F this, I’m going home.”
- SnorLAX
The kid watched the Snorlax episode of the original Pokémon cartoon around the same time I managed to catch one in Pokémon Go, and we had a conversation about text-to-speech on GPS navigation getting tripped up and telling me to take an exit “toward Lax Airport.” Oh, and something I didn’t mention when I posted […]
- Um, I’ll be sure to keep that in mind…
- Reindeer in a Rush
Christmas already? Spotted at the mall last night, a full week before Halloween.
- Holiday Creep? Yeah, We’ve Got That
Oh, come on. It’s still September. Holiday Creep is getting ridiculous. Sorry, I mean more ridiculous.
- iNaturalist is like Pokemon Go for real animals
I’ve joked about how iNaturalist is like Pokemon Go for real animals. Well, since I started playing the game, I’ve been combining walks for both. And on yesterday’s hike in the local botanical gardens, I took some photos with a few Pokemon in their, um, natural habitats? (Still not sure why I found so many […]
- Doom and Gloom are Not Enough
Doom and gloom alone aren’t enough to help us deal with climate change, or any of the other problems we face. Fear sustained turns to despair, and to inaction – because why bother? We have to celebrate successes to keep hope alive so we can keep going. We do need to know what we’re up […]
- LOLWATCH
It’s like it’s taunting me over not charging properly. (Pebble Watch)
- Arm Water?
Another weird photo from my old phone. I have no memory of where this was, but I was apparently there in 2013.
- I Shihtzu Not
Sign spotted in front of a veterinarian’s office: Your pets will love us. I shihtzu not.
- What the fork?
Trash can with sign: “Please Don’t Throw the Utensils.” So…did they have trouble with that one guy from Mystery Men or something?
- Priorities
- Beer is a dish best served cold….
Freebirds sign: Beer as cold as your ex’s heart – and bacon. You’re welcome.
- Radio Flyer (Grown-Up Edition)
Spotted way back in 2011.
- In retrospect, the stick figures look more like they’re dancing than falling.
(Another photo from the unsorted 2010-2013 folder I found last night.)
- Not Even in Emergencies?
I shudder to imagine what prompted them to post this sign…. (Another photo from the unsorted 2010-2013 folder I found last night.)
- Zombie Bakers Use Whole Brain Flour
I found a folder of unsorted photos from my 2010-2013 phone last night and started going through them. I found several gems, like this one!
- *@*@@*!
Not sure if this sign is in Qbert-ese or represents a store that’s named for a swear word…
- Disco Mickey
Found this yesterday at a used book/media store. I think I may have heard it back in the day, though the only thing that comes to mind is “Macho Duck.” No, I didn’t buy it.
- Critical Infrastructure
Sign on a pillar next to a cafe, proclaiming “Internet WWW Access.” I also found (a) gopher nearby.
- Those redactions have gone too far….
Relax. It’s all going to get [redacted].
- That time I had to rebuild a Minecraft Village’s economy
The latest Minecraft update, “Village and Pillage,” has completely revamped villager professions and trading, and made major changes to the village structures as well. Each profession now has a work site defined by a block like a stone cutter, or a loom, or a composter, etc. and unemployed villagers will try to fill jobs based […]
- Death Wish Coffee
Found this at the grocery store. I, um, guess that answers the question of what coffee to serve with Death By Chocolate cake. 🤷♂️
- Cloud City Princess Leia Hairstyle
May the Fourth Be With You! @CasualCosplayKatie: Easiest #princessleiahair by a long shot. Now with full ‘bound outfit (even if I’m not bound anywhere today)!
- Cosplaying WonderCon 2019: Paper, Spider, Trelawney
For this year’s WonderCon, Katie refined her Professor Trelawney costume from Long Beach. The biggest change: extending the skirt instead of using actual layers, because it was warm in Anaheim. Just for the weekend – it jumped about 10°F just before and was expected to drop 10°F afterward. She remarked, only half-jokingly, that if she’d […]
- Going Mirrorless: WonderCon 2019 Cosplay Photography
Last fall, I conceded that phones have caught up to casual cameras and I’d have to get a nicer one to get better image quality. Well, I finally bought a mirrorless camera. The kiddo found my old SLR, and we’ve split a few rolls of film (re)discovering how to shoot with it. Then he started […]
- I made my final post on Google+ yesterday
“Babylon 5 was the last of the Babylon stations. There would never be another. It changed the future … and it changed us. It taught us that we have to create the future … or others will do it for us. It showed us that we have to care for one another, because if we […]
- A Gallery of Harry Potter Cosplay at WonderCon
There was a lot of Harry Potter cosplay at WonderCon this past weekend! Here are some of my photos, featuring Bellatrix Lestrange, Hagrid, You-Know-Who, Professor Sybill Trelawney (who should look familiar to regular readers!), Hogwarts Professors Dolores Umbridge, Gilderoy Lockhart and Albus Dumbledore; Arthur Weasley, and Rita Skeeter. There are a lot more that I […]
- Coffee Helps
Spotted at a local coffee/tea/boba place. I like the quote.
- They’ve Got the Moves!
(Spotted a few weeks ago at Target. I’m going to have to check whether they’ve fixed the sign the next time I’m there.)
- A joke that will only make sense if you’ve played Minecraft: Story Mode
This wine could be made…useful.
- You mean they don’t use a giant wooden horse?
Airport shuttle with a sign: How the Trojans sneak into LAX
- Supercameratelephotolensisoutoffocus
Super camera telephoto lens is out of focus. Even though the tripod’s set, the blur is really bogus…
- Wait, why does the smoke detector need orange juice?
I wanted to know why my smoke detector said not to use a specific brand…but I found that auto-complete has some odd ideas of what smoke detectors need.
- Melon Mania…or Merely Monochrome?
I don’t think they really need the guide to all those different types of melons right now.
- Boom Today
Downloaded MCEdit so the 8YO can edit Minecraft worlds. He used it to fill ten entire chunks with TNT…then lit one of the edges. The chain reaction has been going for at least ten minutes, punctuated by periods of major lag.
- At the grocery store. TODAY.
- The 2018 Social Network Experience
What it’s like to use Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Mastodon and Instagram in 2018.
- This space intentionally left…
- Recursive Crap
Not sure if I’m more appalled by the idea of smiling plastic poop that poops smiling candy poop, or amused by the shelf placement.
- This is the most snow LAX ever sees!
Seriously, it hasn’t snowed in the Los Angeles basin since 1962. We get snow in the mountains most years. And the San Fernando Valley apparently got a snowstorm in 1989. But the coast? Basically never.
- A Dynamite Approach
Working through a book on modding Minecraft with the kiddo. It knows its target audience: the first few lessons are all about explosions! It’s written for 1.8, which is a problem because a lot of the structure has changed between then and 1.12, but a decent IDE with auto complete and a sense of common […]
- Location-Themed Advertising
A few blocks from the airport. I have no interest in the movie, but I do appreciate when advertisers make an effort to make use of a location instead of just being generic.
- Yes, THAT One!
They really want to make sure you know which door to use. The funny thing is: I still reached for this one (even if momentarily) right after taking the photo! (Every time I go back to this restaurant I remember that I still haven’t posted this photo, and by the time I have a chance […]
- Now I’m confused. I thought zombies *liked* hot sauce!
Spotted at World Market over the weekend.
- Upgrade Frustration
A few years back, we replaced our aging Windows PC with a newer system, figuring on using it mainly for office-type applications, casual games, and kids’ games. (Both of us had drifted out of playing the sort of game that really pushes a system’s specs, largely because there was a small person in the house […]
- 10 Years of Long Beach Comic Con! (2018)
Back in 2009, I attended the first-ever Long Beach Comic-Con, an event that filled the void left when Wizard World cancelled WWLA at the last minute. I had a good time, and it had a lot of support from the industry, but I wondered how long it would last. Ten years on, LBCC is still […]
- Professor Trelawney Cosplay at Long Beach Comic Con
Katie’s been talking about dressing up as Professor Trelawney for a while now. She put together the pieces for a costume over the last couple of weeks, and wore them on Saturday at Long Beach Comic Con. It was a huge success! Lots of people recognized the character and wanted photos. We even ran into […]
- Need to Find a Safe Point
Interesting vocab mixup with the 7YO last night: He agreed to stop a game at “the first save point” and get ready for bed. When he didn’t, he said he hadn’t gotten to a “safe point” yet. It turned out he didn’t understand what a save point was, because all the games he’s played up […]
- Modular Wetlands?
So this is where you plug in the wetlands? Just open the hatch and connect them? #confused 😕
- What I Miss About CDs
You know what I miss about CDs and other physical music media? Liner notes. Art, lyrics, sometimes stories… …and credits. Who is that familiar-sounding background singer? Who wrote the song? Is it a cover? This one really reminds me of a certain composer, lyricist, or arranger’s style – can I confirm that? The performer and […]
- By Grabthar’s Hammer, what a savings
Gee, serious discount there…🙄
- GIF? Gee….
I need to generate a GIF of Gillian and George the Giant Giraffes gingerly eating ginseng gelato on a gyroscope while drinking gin.
- Finally starting to miss SDCC
I’m half-following the build up to San Diego Comic-Con. I haven’t been there since 2014, though I’ve been to WonderCon and Long Beach every year. The first year I couldn’t get tickets I shrugged. It’s exhausting, and there are other cons. I didn’t even try this year or last. But now I find I’ve started […]
- Dementors on the Train
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, when the Dementors search the Hogwarts Express, Professor Lupin derisively says that none of them in the compartment are hiding Sirius Black in their robes. But Ron has Scabbers in his robes, not knowing his “pet rat” is the actual murderer who committed the crime Black was […]
- Going Somewhere, Solo?
Another building under (severe) renovation near LAX. The Solo movie posters are still up on this side of the construction wall, more than a month later, though the posters around the corner were replaced with ads for Mamma Mia today. Update (Monday): The posters on this site were replaced over the weekend. Still, it was […]
- Cloudy with a Chance of…
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (movie): New tech leads to an economic boom, but politics and greed conspire to ignore warnings from a scientist about the long-term dangers of this man-made climate change until disaster strikes. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2: A tech company without ethics is run by a nerd who […]
- I’m afraid to ask
- LOST, but Not in Purgatory
People are still arguing over whether the Lost castaways were “in purgatory the whole time?” The finale was very clear on that: everything on the island happened. The afterlife didn’t come into play until the final season. That last season featured glimpses of what looked at first like an alternate timeline in which the plane […]
- Mobile Minecraft
The first time I played mobile Minecraft, I ended up stuck in a tree all night, trying not to move so the skeletons wouldn’t shoot me down. Every time I ventured down to try to finish my shelter, I got killed and re spawned in that tree, so I finally just set the phone down […]
- WonderCon 2018
It’s been ten years since we first went to WonderCon, back when it was still in San Francisco. At the time I thought it would be fun to come back, but maybe not every year. As it turns out, we’ve kept going back yearly, only missing one! It’s effectively replaced SDCC for us, between the […]
- Minecraft’s Hierarchy of Needs
Minecraft’s hierarchy of needs: Tools Shelter Light Food Once all those are taken care of, you can start exploring and building.
- Voit! (Egad!)
I’ve never understood the tendency to write in all-caps except for the letter L, the one letter whose lower case looks exactly like another letter’s upper-case. But it’s surprisingly common. Fortunately I don’t think anyone’s going to pull a “Cancel that, it says HELF” on this warning sign!
- But does it have electrolytes?
Found on a case of bottled water whose marketers really hope you don’t understand how pH works.* I bet when you heat it up, it goes beyond hot, and actually speeds up its molecular motion! *You make water alkaline by adding OH– ions.
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi Thoughts – It’s Complicated.
I’ve seen The Last Jedi twice now. I’m still not sure how I’d rank it, but the performances are way better than most of the prequel trilogy, and the story is the first theatrical Star Wars to break new ground in ages. I’ll admit there’s a lot of stuff that happened that I didn’t like, […]
- Some dudes just really like potatoes, you know?
Some dudes just really like potatoes, you know?
- Comic-Con Economy: What a Difference a Decade Makes
SDCC Blog reports that Comic-Con International is expected to be the San Diego Convention Center’s top economic generator of 2018, “with 130,000 attendees and an estimated $147.1 million in regional impact.” That’s a far cry from 2008, when the con was derided as “decidedly low-rent” and generated “only” $41.5 million, half the impact of the […]
- Groot, Guardian of the Internet
Groot reminds us that Net Neutrality is critical to internet freedom, and we should call Congress TODAY, before Thursday’s FCC vote to eliminate it.
- Convention Inflation
Next year’s WonderCon tickets are available now, and SDCC goes on sale next week. I noticed something interesting about the WonderCon price, because ten years ago, I compared a lot of convention prices. How do they stack up a decade later? WonderCon 2018 costs the same as Comic-Con 2008 did: $75. (WonderCon in 2008 was […]
- Free Brick!
- Gondor Calls For Aid!
Actually it’s just the last light of the setting sun reflecting off of a structure (the observatory?) atop Mt. Wilson. Also, you can see the sign on the Wilshire Grand tower is seriously bright, even from this far away.
- Chess in Concert: Post-Cold War Edition
The cold-war musical Chess works surprisingly well set in the present day. UCI Drama’s production is a concert staging of the show, with the orchestra and choir onstage, and the actors carrying handheld microphones with minimal props. It works well, especially for the more 80s-pop numbers like “Nobody’s Side” and the big ensemble songs like […]
- The Color out of Cyberspace
The Verge ponders: Has the internet been overtaken by the eldritch horror of Yog-Sothoth? We’ve got this dimension right next to ours, that extends across the entire planet, and it is just brimming with nightmares. We have spambots, viruses, ransomware, this endless legion of malevolent entities that are blindly probing us for weaknesses, seeking only […]
- A Minecraft Halloween
Homemade spider jockey costume (a composite Minecraft monster consisting of a skeleton archer riding a giant spider). Kid-sized, built by Katie (I assisted, mainly with painting, but the design, planning, and most of the construction was her). Mostly cardboard, covered with paper to smooth it out and provide a painting surface. Heavy fabric and dowels […]
- Halloween shopping at Costco 🙄
I didn’t even see a Halloween aisle this time, but Christmas was on full display. You know, I’ve been posting examples of holiday creep for over a decade now, and what’s changed the most is the quality of the camera I have with me when shopping. I mean, what the heck was I even carrying […]
- Flashing help?
Is that help with flashing? Help responding to flashing? Help that flashes? Wait, maybe I don’t want flashing help. (Pick your line breaks better!)
- What’s This Regulated Garbage?
I’m sure “regulated garbage” is a technical term, but it sounds more like a creative insult.
- All Pumpkin, all the Time
Now you can have pumpkin spice milk on your pumpkin cereal! Also interesting: “almond beverage” rather than “almond milk.”
- Offline Edit War
Edit war, carved into a Starbucks table.
- A Short Visit to Long Beach Comic-Con 2017
We finally got the whole family out to this year’s Long Beach Comic Con on Saturday! That was the plan last year, but Katie and J. both got sick. Katie brought her Whitney Frost cosplay and managed to find not only an Agent Carter, but another Whitney Frost! At 6½, J. wanted to spend the […]
- Catching Up on Two Years of Comics
Last night, I did something I haven’t done in ages: I read a bunch of this week’s new comics. Over the last two years I’ve gotten behind on just about every comic book I read, and the further behind I get, the harder it is for me to catch up. (Making things worse: I stopped […]