For years Iʻve referred to Republicans as “sore winners.”

As a bit of an odd kid at a Christian school, I gravitated toward other odd kids, some of whom had behavioral issues (winding up in my school because their parentʻs thought it might reform them or whatever). So one of my closest friends in high school happened to be a prolific shoplifter and all around neʻer-do-well. I never condoned his behavior, but I enjoyed him as a person. I was too much of a church kid to do anything like what he did.

Almost fired? Twice (sort of). Most recently (about seven years ago) the school I worked at as a chaplain hired a new head of school who told me at my first meeting that he had lawyers look at my contract. It was complicated, but I was actually employed by a parish (Iʻm an Episcopal priest) that shared the schoolʻs chapel, contracted to serve as chaplain to the school. New guy basically wanted to clean house and also didnʻt like that he had someone as senior administration that he couldnʻt fire. I wound up being called to a parish in Hawaiʻi not too long after, so it didnʻt really matter.

My other close call came just out of high school. I had been working at a pet store for about two years and helped two classmates get jobs. Turned out they began running a multi-store scam involving stealing from one store, getting a receipt printed for their items at a second store, and then returning those items to a third store for cash. Managment thought I was in on it because I had got them jobs (and had a habit in those days of hanging out with criminals though never really committing crimes myself). I was able to convince management that I had no idea what they were doing.

Oh, wait. There was the other time, when working at EB Games, that I accidentally forgot to ring up a guyʻs Voodoo video card. Basically my remorse and my yearslong friendship with the staff saved my ass that day.

I was actually fired from being an RA in college, but thatʻs a whole other story…

Thatʻs right! But at the time of Endgame, weʻd only seen Hela. I could definitely see someone snapping half the universe away for either of them lol.

I hold to Affleck being the best all around portrayal of the character, just saddled in relatively mediocre films. That said, I really liked Pattinsonʻs take and the film overall (and I do sympathize with your take on the second half; it feels a bit bloated for the kind of “street-level” Batman they had going).

The thing about Thanos though is that he is also a good example of what happens when a powerful figure is only surrounded by “yes” folks. Because his idea is, ultimately, stupid. Killing half of all life in the universe doesnʻt really change anything substantial because you wind up with the same problems: If you have 100 people and 50 cows or fruit trees or whatever, and you snap half of those, you still wind up with the same ratio. Now itʻs 50 people fighting for 25 cows or fruit trees or whatever.

The Infinity Stones basically make Thanos close to God. He could do anything. He could have doubled the resources of the universe, he could have created an entirely new form of resource.

In some ways this is in keeping with his characterization in the comics, where he has a habit of getting in his own way. But I kinda wish that Endgame, like in the Infinity Gauntlet series, would have revealed that he was actually trying to woo Death (which could have been represented by Hela) and so his supposed altruism is actually self-serving. Regardless, he does stand as a good representative of charismatic villains that garner sympathy while also being singularly focused on a really bad idea rooted in the villainʻs own self-assurance and ability to gather acolytes through a kind of “reality distortion field” effect.

This guy Floridas!

I actually did not know that! A friend of mine used to own an independent roaster and kinda ruined me on coffee lol. Learned a lot from him, but somehow missed this tidbit. Makes sense.

Two things: First, coffee became an “American” beverage after the Boston Tea Party (though, iirc beer remained a significant breakfast beverage for awhile). Coffee houses were also places for patriotic discussions and where the revolutionary zeal was fostered. So you have some MAGA types wanting to tap into that.

Second, dark roasting coffee is an old trick to cover the flavor of inconsistent and shitty coffee. Some people really like to taste the “roast.” But what’s happening is that a burnt flavor is masking the actual taste of a coffee bean. You want a light roast to actually taste the coffee.

Also, if I’m not mistaken, it was the French who first came up with dark roasting coffee (likely for preservation reasons). I’m sure MAGA would love to know that their “dark, hard-hitting” coffee has its flavor profile originating in France.

No order:

•Chrono Trigger •FFVII •Panzer Dragoon Saga •GTA3 •EverQuest •(Street Fighter Alpha 2 is up there too)

Haha, I switched to Firefox years ago and recently to Linux and I’m quite fine with the gender I was born with lol. I’m a(n Episcopal) priest. It’s not like I wear a black dress or lacey white garments to work…

oh no.

Yeah. I’ve lived in DC in June. I’m originally from Florida and the most oppressive heat and humidity I’ve experienced in the US was during summer in DC. And given that it’s only like two months of such heat (compared to the like 7 months where it’s cold), they don’t prioritize infrastructure for it. It is not going to be a good time for anyone.

I’m in Hawai’i and I basically assume all Hellcats and Corvettes are military. So when they cut me off in traffic or whatever, instead of getting angry I just say a little “easy there recruit” or “settle down Private” to myself. It makes me chuckle and keeps me from sin.

Had an Android tablet that sat in a lost and found for like three years with no claims. Finally decided to mess around with it. After charging it up there was a password screen. Tried 1234. No dice. 2580 and it opened right up.

Agreed. Big Scott Bakula fan. Plus I hold that the show remains under-appreciated for the Star Trek fandom and— oh. THAT Archer. Nevermind. Please continue.

I have young kids. They often say things like “if I were president, I would—“ and then say some borderline totalitarian nonsense like “make it illegal to put pickles on burgers” or some other thing that is self-focused and completely misunderstands the nature of the presidency.

Which is all to say that Trump holds the same view of the presidency that a five-year-old does. And he occupies the office. Awesome.

All these news reports saying that Luigi killed a guy or used a 3D printed gun. As far as I know, Luigi did none of those things and that that is for the courts to decide. Further, I’ve seen plenty of posts online of people saying that he was at the bar with them when the whole thing happened.

Since this is a WWE presidency, does this play like a classic heel-turn storyline?

Eh. Should’ve got menthols.

Correct. As a father of four and who moved across an ocean when one of them was six months in utero it has more to do with concerns that changes in air pressure might induce early labor.

Edit: I realize this post reads like I abandoned my family when one of my kids was six months away from being born. I didn’t. But it’s a funny enough mistake that I’m not changing it.