Bartimaeus

Trying to upload my avatar keeps screwing up its colors. It should look like this: ...but instead looks like this: A strong color tone shift, and I'm not certain why, since the end image is still a .png (and a legitimate one at that from examining it closely in Photoshop, even if it is downscaled). Not a huge deal, but seems/looks weird. Latest version of Firefox.

Liked that and Psych a lot, they were both on/came out around the same time on USA (the network). Ultimately, they are just silly detective shows of which there are about a billion of, but having good humor and non-totally contemptible characters and writing goes a long way, . Sailor Moon update: I'm halfway through the first season, it's unbelievably dumb, and I'm officially in love with it, . I didn't think the first anime show I loved would be...this, of all things. It's an absolutely hilarious and adorable show.

Used to get free pan pizzas from Dominoes years back whenever a no-hitter was...uh, hit. Hm, that doesn't sound right. Always thought Dominoes' tomato sauce tasted like trash, so I always got them with no sauce...ended up converting me to sauceless pizzas in general, actually, though as of the past few years I can't really eat much pizza at all for dietary reasons. I think Papa Johns then became their main pizza sponsor, and didn't do anything fun like that, .

Yeah, and I'm also pretty sure the cow in the field that I saw get obliterated was uncomfortably real, too.

Come and See (1985). I don't remember who recommended this a while back, it might've been @Gorth or someone else. Thought the first half was a bit of a...bizarre slough, some good parts but also some parts I didn't really think worked all that well. Second half was just an endless nightmare of scenes from hell, and made for a much more compelling watch. If I had to hazard a guess, I don't think where and what they filmed towards the end would constitute as "safe working conditions" for American and European film-making these days! Really helped make me feel like I was actually in an invasion. Liked it a lot overall. Wait Until Dark (1967). Decent old-fashioned thriller, but not really my cup of tea. Someone else who loved The Children's Hour, which I loved, recommended it, but besides having Audrey Hepburn star, I didn't really see much of a connection between the two in really any meaningful way. The Truman Show (1998). Pretty good, but a bit too ham-fisted and on the nose. I wish the setup had been less obvious (and in fact, wished they waited until much later to reveal what was going on - it was so, so early when it happened and I didn't really understand why) and that it was written a little more subtly. Jim Carrey is a lot of fun. Pretty in Pink (1986). One I've avoided for a long time because it's always seemed...too 80s, but it was pretty fun and enjoyable. The lead lady, I forget her name, has always been fun in whatever I've seen of her. The ending was a bit...dissatisfying.

That makes sense, and what a coinkydink, I also have almost absolutely zero interest in general superhero stuff either, . I have Paranoia Agent already queued up, actually! Looks a bit different from the rest of Satoshi Kon's stuff, but I'm very interested in trying it out.

Hey, I actually read up on the definition of shonen, and that's not literally the definition of shonen from what I saw...but uh, it may very well functionally be, haha. Definitely a genre I won't be revisiting in the future.

Thanks for the recommendations. I'd heard of Your Name and had it bookmarked, but I've always had the feeling I may not care for it based on what I know and have seen of it. Still plan on giving it a try eventually, though. Perfect Blue and Tokyo Godfathers are probably my favorite non-Ghibli anime movies that I've seen so far (and I've watched the rest of Satoshi Kon's films, but was super not into Paprika, and just thought Millennium Actress and Memories were decent). Also planned on trying out Cowboy Bebop and Neon Genesis Evangelion, but...also cases where I feel like, yes, they're beloved, but I still have the feeling that they probably won't be for me. I usually have a good intuitive feeling for these things, although anime has been harder for me to gauge than most other things so far. We'll see...eventually. @KaineParker Good to know. The entire style of the show seemed like it was made for...like, autistic male children/young teens? That's not trying to be an insult, either - that's really what it feels like the target audience is, which, okay, fine, that's not me, I guess. Why is the main character having minute-long monologues in the middle of every action scene and conversation to explain how he's feeling every few minutes? Dear lord, not even literal children's cartoons usually resort to this much hand-holding - most humans have the ability to read expressions and have normal empathetic responses when you actually have a compelling story/character. Why does everything have to be screamed, yelled, or cried? Why do the characters themselves come across as low-functioning autistic, on top of having seemingly paper-thin characterization? Man, it was bad. Will also eventually check out Jojo's.

I've grown to rather like Dak since after his rookie season, was horrible to see his injury and him crying. Hope better days are to come for and from him. Cowboys have had two very likable QBs in a row now. @Keyrock How has Mike McCarthy seemed as head coach so far? I have never been gladder than these past few weeks that the Packers separated from him when they did, but mainly on the back of Matt LaFleur's playcalling (which I have been reading analysis comparing him to Mike McCarthy when he was still here basically on a weekly basis and it seems pretty much everyone agrees that LaFleur has been brilliant in making things as easy as possible for Rodgers, whereas McCarthy was doing the opposite the for a number of years), and not based on how he's doing with the Cowboys.

On the recommendation of a (younger) friend, I tried out an anime show called My Hero Academia some weeks back. I had looked at some of the character designs (and read about their personalities) in advance and thought, "hey, even though I pretty much universally hate anime shows, maybe this could actually be okay, these characters seem like they could be cool". I have since learned what the genre label "shonen" means and that it is unlikely that I would ever like anything in it, because that was one of the worst shows I've ever made myself watch a few hours of in a futile attempt to like it. It was despicably awful. On the other hand, a different friend also coincidentally sent me a funny clip from some other, much older anime called Sailor Moon, and I thought it seemed hilariously stupid a la Dragon Ball (which, while I don't love, I at least can enjoy to a degree because of how silly but sort of likably dumb it is). I've watched a few episodes now, and I'm not going to lie: it not only delivered on how stupid I expected it to be, but actually vastly exceeded it. Big thumbs up from me, I'll almost definitely finish at least the first season.

I've been both busy as well as sick for the past few weeks, and I had unrelatedly been planning on cutting down on any kind of social communication with the outside world as we approached the election anyways. I really only popped on to post about a couple of the movies I'd seen recently. To be honest, I've also recently come to the realization that a number of the people I used to share interests with and enjoy conversing things about on here have unfortunately either departed or at very least seemingly become less active as I have, which has made me less eager to get back on here again even after the election is over. These forums are supposed to be an enjoyable meeting of minds, a diversion from real life, and I guess I just haven't been finding them to be a positive one for a while now. And so, an iconic quote from War Games comes to mind..: @Malcador It's not an actress, but rather a high school photo of Ruth Bader Ginsburg that I saw and started using from when she passed last month.

The Children's Hour (1961). Wow. That was amazing. Not sure if I've ever seen anything with Shirley McLaine before, but Audrey Hepburn and her especially made this one of my favorite movies. That was so messed up and great. The children were a little weird and stilted at times, but it's totally forgivable and workable, and I think they were still pretty darned good for the time. Tokyo Story (1953). Not going to lie, kind of made me want to die, but in a good way. Incredibly depressing and very true and heartfelt messages. Had some interesting/different filming techniques that worked rather well for the most part, too. Love getting hit with back to back great movies.

McConnell has already announced there will be a vote for the next SCJ. Not even a day, .

RIP to her, as beyond being one of nine critically important Supreme Court Justices, she was a person who had lived a long life, had friends and family, and lived through a great wealth of experiences. But also, for the rest of us that have to deal with the consequences:

I'd like to take this moment to suggest that we re-define patriotism to mean wanting the best from and for your country and its people. When I criticize my country, it's not because I hate it or its inhabitants or want all of us to forever be stuck on some kind of hundred year old-plus guilt over something that occurred before even my parents or their parents were born - it's because I, a citizen that is also a human being with some measure of self-awareness, empathy, and the ability to take criticism without needing to always be 100% defensive about it, can reflect and honestly say that we (like literally every other nation that's ever existed past and present) didn't do or handle something right, and hope that we will not make the same kind of decisions in the future - especially in situations where there is no pressing need to do so. It's also possible to help those who have been disproportionately negatively affected by our nation's historical decisions without having to cop up to some kind of personal guilt, just as it's possible to make the decision to generously help other people even when they aren't strictly in dire need of it. Believe it or not, some people are capable of being empathetic and unselfish without necessarily needing to be driven by guilt. I would not necessarily count myself among those people most of the time, but the nasty assumption that everyone who acts seemingly unselfishly is doing it just out of guilt is just that - a nasty assumption that says more about the person making it than the people it's being lobbed against. (e): You'll also note that this "definition" of patriotism (that will never be mainstream) isn't necessarily (and really shouldn't be) at the complete expense of all other non-citizens, because I'm personally at least taking into more account than simply material worth. Genuine ethical and moral failings can be just as dangerous to a nation's worth and well-being (if not more so) than simply minor or even moderate economic or power shortfalls.

Definitely need more fascism in our education.

Didn't the writers of Back to the Future literally say Biff Tannen was designed off of Trump?

Reddit: And I quote myself from the beginning of this month:

My friend is playing through the BG games for the first time, and he just finished BG1 with a party of Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Dynaheir, and...Ajantis? Yeah. He just started BG2 yesterday and sent me this: ...So that's coincidentally very topical. Baldur's Gate Reloaded: Doing anything in NWN/2 is so much slower, clunkier, and needlessly complicated than it was in the BG series. There are certainly other types of improvements to be had, but if the general user control experience is significantly worse, then it'll always be a pretty tough sell.

Trump claims his coronavirus containment efforts saved two, maybe two and a half lives. Well...he might not be wrong there, but not exactly setting the bar very high, . Also blamed Biden and the Democrats for not creating a national mask mandate. Biden, who is not president, and to my knowledge, who currently holds no federal position at all. Interesting stuff from the president.

lmao, the Lakers better watch out if they go up 3-1 also: "Denver is the first team in NBA history to come back from multiple 3-1 deficits in a single postseason" also also: this will somewhat make people forget about the Bucks' horrible collapse, so that's great, too also also also: I guess I'm cheering for Denver and Miami now, can't really see Denver making it after the absolute bone-grinding gauntlet they've been through, but I didn't see them making it out of this round either, so

At least the Packers kicked the Vikings' butt while losing our right guard (for the year), left guard (apparently short term), and elite nose tackle (likely a few weeks), .

I think SCS made it so enemies are *aware* rage makes one immune to imprisonment, but doesn't actually remove the feature entirely, IIRC.

Don't know much about the site in question, nor the veracity of the report, but the linked OIG report mentions "hyster" 15 times, including in the scribd page you just linked. e.g. page 18:

Whistleblower Complaint Alleges Mass Hysterectomies at ICE Detention Center