“Age reduction” has been used in some big-budget films in recent years, such as in “Ant Man” where Michael Douglas was digitally de-aged to look like he did in the 1980’s. But it can also be pretty effectively carried out on a budget, if this is anything to go by:
One of the excuses given for the invasion and appropriation of eastern Ukraine and Crimea was that there are neo-Nazis in Ukraine. Sure, there are. It’s bizarre, but there are. But “you’ve got Nazis” is an odd excuse from Russia, given this…
The Nazis wanted to exterminate the bulk of the Russians, and turn a few survivors into serfs and “museum Fremen.” Why Russians would want to join the Hitler fan club… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
An agricultural ditch up the road makes for some interesting photos from time to time.
I saw this in a store a few days ago. It made me laugh and go “ugh” simultaneously.
If you were offended by the Confederate Losers Flag, what would be the chances you’d be interested in buying any “Dukes” merchandise in the first place? If you weren’t offended, would this censorship increase you interest in the product?
It appears that this isn’t just an issue of the box art; a flag decal isn’t included with the kit.
Buttons continues to tear chunks of his fur out. So a new approach is being tried.
… with Microsoft Paint.
This got lost in all the excitement over New Horizons/Pluto a week ago. But July 15 was the 50th anniversary of the Mariner 4 probe’s flyby of the planet Mars. Not only was this the first flyby of Mars, this was the *end* of “Mars.” prior to Mariner 4, people could at least imagine that the atmosphere, while thin, could support life, that there would be some amount of liquid water on Mars, perhaps even vegetation and canals. But Mariner 4 showed that Mars had an atmosphere not 1/4 as thick as Earth’s, but more like 1/150th as thick, that there was no possibility of liquid water (and little enough frozen water), and no vegetation or canals. More than a few science fiction authors of the day were a bit disappointed.
I have finished the next Pax Orionis story (to the first draft level, at any rate).”Deadliest Catch” – which will almost certainly be re-titled, for legal reasons if nothing else – is a bit shorter than “The Cuban War,” and tells a far smaller story. One incident from the Great War of 1984. It is written in the form of a magazine article interviewing one of the participants 10 years later, and probably needs to be tightened up a *lot.* But I think it’s potentially entertaining.
As previously mentioned, I’ll send a PDF of this to the first three commenters who want to read it, with the understanding that:
The only requirements will be that the readers do *not* share it further, but *do* share via email any critiques or suggestions they have… and that they post comments on the blog giving their general impressions. “This sucks” or “this is great” are both fine, so long as they are the honest assessment. No spoilers!
So… if you’d like to read “Deadliest Catch” and give me your honest feedback, leave a comment below.
UPDATE: Three commenters spoke up and have been emailed a copy of “Deadliest Catch.” So now we wait…
Oh, boy! We’re doooooomed!
A quadrotor equipped with a handgun, apparently built by an 18-year-old Connecticutter for a college class. It has the expected groups all in a tizzy.
—
A whole lot of the recent kerfuffle over the Confederate Losers Flag has been disappointing to me… because so much of the protest and commentary has been just absolutely devoid of wit. It’s refreshing to see someone taking on, in this case, the KKK in a way that *actually* works. NOTE: the following video contains both ends of the spectrum. The person with the video camera has occasional commentary insulting the Klan. The commentary is… well, it’s just sad. Not witty at all. And there’s the human rights violation that is “vertical video.” But he guy with the sousaphone, stealing a bit from an old episode of “Family Guy?” Now *THIS* is comedy.