Wednesday Afternoon SugarLinks – White on White

by | Aug 9, 2023 | Daily Links | 211 comments

Senator Dianne Feinstein Taken To Hospital After Tripping, Falling In San Francisco

Senator Dianne Feinstein was at the hospital, TMZ has learned, after tripping and falling Tuesday in her home city of San Francisco.

We do not know how serious her injuries are … only that she was taken to a nearby hospital. We’re told she returned home Tuesday night.

The 90-year-old Senator has struggled with health issues over the last year. She was absent from the Senate for nearly 3 months earlier this year dealing with shingles, Ramsay Hunt syndrome and encephalitis.

How do you trip and fall in a wheelchair? Oh, that’s right.

The prevailing theory is that Pelosi is keeping Feinstein in office because she fears that Newsom will put Barbara Lee in the Senator slot, which will make it harder for Innsmouth Schiff to be elected to the Senate. The entertainment value of a Lee/Schiff Senate race is appealing, moron vs. corrupt snake might be a fun mudpie-eating contest, but the results are the same: another shitty Californian in the Senate.


 

I know it is just a Gizmodo paid promotion for The Last Voyage of the Demeter, but these aren’t uniformly horrible lists.

[Trigger warning: Slideshows]

The 25 best vampire films of all time, ranked

24. Bit is a completely waste of time, one of the very few movies I didn’t finish. A transwoman joins a group of feminist vampires who only kill toxic men. Hackwork.

23. Love the inclusion of Blade II.

21. Big shout-out for including Daughters of Darkness. One of the first and best of the early 70s lesbian vampire movie cycle.

16. I highly recommend Shadow of the Vampire. Malkovich and DeFoe are fantastic.

7. The Hunger. If you’ve never seen the movie where David Bowie is a vampire, you are missing out. Also, a really interesting book by Whitney Steiber before all his alien abduction mania. (Added bonus: Bauhaus performs in the opening scene.)

1. Bram Stoker’s Dracula should not be number one. The terrible casting choices of Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder drags the movie down to almost camp. It’s a beautiful film and Oldman’s performance makes it worth watching, but Reeves and Ryder–two actors I normally enjoy–just awful.

 

The 16 worst vampire films of all time, ranked

Such a rich field to till. So many terrible vampire films to choose from.

15. John Carpenter’s Vampire$. Hold up. This isn’t a cinematic masterpiece, but it is nowhere near pne of the 16 worse. I suspect James Woods coming out of conservative led to this.

14. Sleepwalkers. No, no, no. Bad AV Club. This is an amazing romp of a bad movie. Mädchen Amick is gorgeous (Shelly the waitress from Twin Peaks) and Alice Krige’s performance is delightfully unhinged. And it contains one of the best kills in all of horror cinema.

11. Underworld? You fuckers.

1-9. These all deserve derision of the highest order.


 

In honor of the Worst Vampire Films, I present you the worst cover of a song about a vampire. Just terrible. They might as well have taken a shit on a 12″ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” album single and flung it at your ears. (The movie is was recorded for sucks ass and balls as well.)


 

Horrible vampire fish


 

 

About The Author

SugarFree

SugarFree

Your Resident Narcissistic Misogynist Rape-Culture Apologist

211 Comments

  1. Yusef drives a Kia

    First because HEYYOOOO!!!!

    • MikeS

      👌🏻🍻

  2. juris imprudent

    another shitty Californian in the Senate

    This is no other option, save eliminating California as a state.

    • Don escaped Texas

      there is another option: undoing Union with millions of random idiots*

      the Constitution was bait and switch: good things were taken away, and bad things are now excused

      *my folk tried it once: not so hot results

  3. Stinky Wizzleteats

    No Fright Night? No Dracula: Dead and Loving It? These lists suck!

    • Nephilium

      But Suck wasn’t on either of the lists!

      h/t: RJ for pointing this gem out to me.

      Although I have issue with saying that Blade 2 is best vampire film on a list that doesn’t include the first Blade movie. I did have to check and make sure that Sugarfree’s hatred didn’t extend to Once Bitten which is a perfectly cromulant early comedy horror film.

      • SugarFree

        Yeah, Once Bitten is too camp to be a bad movie.

      • Sean

        Fright Night

        I even liked the remake.

        Imogen Poots…mmmm

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        In her place I would have got a stage name.

    • SDF-7

      I couldn’t see a list (maybe avclub hates Firefox or one of my adblocking extensions, don’t know… don’t care).

      Just tell me Lifeforce made it — or they’re completely idiotic bastards.

      • SugarFree

        Nope.

      • Common Tater

        *burns down internet*

      • rhywun

        Make it so.

      • John Nerfherder

        That is a crime against French boobies.

      • Common Tater

        *assembles guillotine*

    • SugarFree

      Fright Night is #12 on the greats list.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        The last vampire I bumped into drained me of reading comprehension.

    • Rat on a train

      Where is Buffy?

      • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

        Hopefully on the bad vampire list, where that trash belongs.

  4. Mojeaux

    I will die on the hill of Coppola’s Dracula being fantastic.

    *fans self*

  5. Lackadaisical

    “11. Underworld? You fuckers”

    No movie that primarily features Kate Beckinsale in leather outfits can be worst anything.

    • Sean

      Truth.

    • Lackadaisical

      I recently rewatched John carpenter’s vampires, it’s not great, but it’s kind of fun.

      “I suspect James Woods coming out [as] conservative led to this.”
      Hmm. Could be. I wonder if you can tell who is conservative just by looking at them.

    • Ownbestenemy

      32D…huh never thought of her as busty

      • DEG

        Boobpedia claims 32E in her entry.

    • SDF-7

      She really stole your heart, hmm?

    • Fatty Bolger

      She’s like a 9 on the crazy/hot index.

      • robc

        You need two numbers. Unless you are saying a 9 on both, right along the Mendoza diagonal.

    • Common Tater

      Pretty sure it was the late 90’s when I met Winona Ryder. I was promoting a club event, and she just came up and started talking to me.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        👍

        About what? Do tell. Were you personable?

      • Common Tater

        I’m sure I was personable, but I don’t remember what we talked about. I think it she might have seen all these people come up to say hi or whatever, so she wondered who I was.

      • John Nerfherder

        Did she steal your…

        wallet?

  6. KK, Non-Man

    All vampire movies are awful.

    • Nephilium

      Suck (linked upthread) and Bordello of Blood beg to differ.

      I am mildly surprised Bordello of Blood didn’t make the list with Dennis Miller being in it.

      • KK, Non-Man

        Those movies are awful, too, even though I’ve never seen them 😉

      • R.J.

        At some point in the future, this can be rectified.

      • Nephilium

        Have you watched the TV show What We Do in the Shadows? I think that may be at least entertaining to you.

      • Common Tater

        Never seen the TV show, but the movie is good.

      • Nephilium

        The movie wasn’t bad, I just don’t think there was really a story in it. The show is much better about that. One running joke that I appreciate is them bringing in actors who have played vampires in other properties to represent the leaders and higher ups of the vampire world.

    • Grummun

      I like my vampires the way Stoker wrote them, bloodthirsty monsters with an animal cunning, and zero redeeming human traits. This horseshit genre of vampires as romantic figures can fuck right off. I blame Anne Rice.

      • KK, Non-Man

        Don’t care for either type. Boooooooring 😴

    • Gender Traitor

      The original, silent Nosferatu is wonderfully creepy!

      • Common Tater

        Shadow of the Vampire is great. It’s a fictitious story about the making of the original silent Nosferatu.

    • Fatty Bolger

      Vampires and zombies are so overdone, I have almost zero interest any more.

      • rhywun

        This.

      • John Nerfherder

        Sparkly vampires or GTFO

      • robc

        We need a sparkly zombie movie, with the zombie as the love interest.

      • SDF-7

        I think this was close enough to that… adding in being a Romeo & Juliet remake.

      • Shirley Knott

        Just want I was thinking; I’d have been disappointed by any other link.

      • Shirley Knott

        *what I was thinking.
        I really can’t type or proofread today ;-(
        I go to the box and feel shame

    • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

      Almost all vampire things are aweful.

      And that truly is an awful cover of a great song.

    • Homple

      The Fearless Vampire Killers was funny, but turned out pretty dark in retrospect.

  7. Shpip

    Senator Dianne Feinstein was at the hospital, TMZ has learned, after tripping and falling Tuesday in her home city of San Francisco.

    We do not know how serious her injuries are … only that she was taken to a nearby hospital. We’re told she returned home Tuesday night.

    I understand that it’s a good gig and all, but what makes senators stay in office long past any pretense of usefulness, until God Himself finally kicks them out of office?

    McCain, Kennedy, Byrd, Inouye, Lautenberg… all should have quietly passed away in retirement, not while still “serving” their constituents.

    • SDF-7

      Their parasitic aides / inner circle doesn’t want to yield power, at a guess. Those who can transfer it to a next generation (like Beau Biden was queued up for as a comment/reply here stated not long back) are presumably an exception since the leeches can follow that path as well.

      But Schiff-show or Lee are going to bring their own pack of syphilitic scavengers — they don’t need DiFi’s.

      • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

        Ladi Di’s AIDS are the ones keeping her in place, they don’t wan’t to lose power or look for a new job.

    • The Other Kevin

      Even Popes don’t hold on to the job that tight.

    • SugarFree

      It’s pure ego. Preening narcissism that the country couldn’t survive without them.

    • rhywun

      How do you trip and fall in a wheelchair? Oh, that’s right.

      Heh I did an image search on that and Ted’S’s blog was one of the top results. Third, to be exact.

  8. The Late P Brooks

    How do you trip and fall in a wheelchair? Oh, that’s right.

    The throttle stuck.

      • SDF-7

        That’s more fitting — but my brain is always going to jump here.

  9. Rebel Scum

    Let me know how the hybrid tanks work out.

    BIDEN: “We’re preparing the military by trying to deal with the climate stuff”

    “We have to change the way we generate energy” because the “climate stuff” flooded some military bases. JFC…

    • SDF-7

      I’d actually have some respect for the Pentagon if they went full Bolo for the armored corps. Nukes aren’t just for the Navy!

      • Drake

        Don’t give them ideas. They’d gladly raise the debt by another $trillion and give it to General Dynamics and Raytheon to build them – then cancel the program when the money runs out.

  10. The Gunslinger

    What are the odds that a Trump RICO indictment happens tomorrow after the Biden bank record stuff was released today?

    • SDF-7

      I just hope it wasn’t one of us who talked to a glowie.

      • R.J.

        Where’s Bro today?

  11. Rebel Scum

    So we are not going to get Americans out?

    Security alert!@USEmbassyNiamey advises Americans to shelter in place and avoid transiting the downtown & Presidential Palace area. There may be an increase in security force presence in the downtown area. A curfew is in effect during evening hours for US personnel.#NigerCoup

  12. The Other Kevin

    Anyone else remember when Trump walking slowly down a ramp proved he was unfit for office?

    • Sean

      *raises hand*

  13. KK, Non-Man

    Creepy Joe got a boobie touch in his Weather Channel interview, I see.

    • The Gunslinger

      Pics or it didn’t happen.

      • The Gunslinger

        “spotting a bug”. That’s a good move. Like the old Frank Castanza “stopping short”.

      • The Gunslinger

        “The patient’s son, now an adult, filed a complaint against Dr. Amin”

        “the revocation of Dr. Amin’s medical license reflects the commitment to safeguarding the public from exploitation by medical professionals.”

        Way to get right on that safeguarding thing there folks.

      • Ted S.

        He should have fondled Stacey Abrams instead.

  14. The Late P Brooks

    I’m serenading the neighbors with air grinders. It’s so nice to have my big air compressor up and running again. I had to pull my custom exhaust to fix the broken flex joint. It’s pretty rusty, so I’m de-scaling it with a wire brush in the 90 degree die grinder so I can hose it down with “rust converter” and paint it before I put it back on. That tight pie-cut bend was a pain in the ass to make, and I’d just as soon put off reproducing it as long as I can.

    Speaking of which- I ran down to Home Depot to get the Rustoleum spray bombs and the guy there carded me. For spray paint. He was apologetic about it, but I said, “This country has gone completely insane.” He just looked at me.

    • Mojeaux

      BTW, you get carded for spray paint now.

      • Nephilium

        At least locally, for the cans of compressed air/duster for computers and the like as well.

      • rhywun

        I was just going to look on Amazon for those.

        What on earth? You can’t get high off that, can you?

      • Nephilium

        Apparently you can, and there’s reports on Erowid (for what it’s worth) of people using it successfully.

      • John Nerfherder

        Hey! Stop posting my selfies!

      • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

        Stay silver, pony boy.

      • John Nerfherder

        Always

      • Seguin

        WITNESS ME!

    • Ted S.

      How do you grind air?

      • The Other Kevin

        Providing a link to a video of that would jeopardize our Family Friendly rating.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        It’s a skateboarding thing,

    • Fourscore

      What was he checking for? Age, Race, marital status, Height?

      You can vote, buy smokes, a gun, if you’re 18. I’m guessing you’re 18 and may even look older, Brooksie, but what do I know?

      • Mojeaux

        Age. Trying to deter huffing in adolescents.

        People card everyone now because they got stung too often. “If you look over X…” leads to a lot of clerks not being able to guess age.

      • Common Tater

        I think it’s more for graffiti.

      • rhywun

        buy smokes

        Not here.

    • Common Tater

      “90 degree die grinder”

      So an angle grinder?

      • Common Tater

        That link isn’t working for me.

      • Common Tater

        I never post search links because they rarely work. That one is no exception.

      • MikeS

        I never do either but for some reason you couldn’t open the picture image I posted.

        I have an idea; how about you enter “angle die grinder” into a search engine yourself. Or don’t. Whatever.

  15. KK, Non-Man

    Since you all asked, my brother is in medical detox. Our dad is going to put his (brother’s) condo up for sale. They’ll meet with a social worker to figure out a situation for him going forward. I told my dad I was adamantly opposed to my brother spending even a single night at dad’s house.

    • Fourscore

      Good advice, KK.

      • Fourscore

        I’m trying to decide between Joe or Hunter, at least now Hunter has free rend and Sugarfree bennies.

      • Shirley Knott

        Seconded.
        And I echo others’ best wishes. This can’t be an easy or happy situation for any of you. Hang in there, this too shall pass.

    • DEG

      Best wishes.

    • Nephilium

      Hope it all works out for all involved.

    • R.J.

      That’s tough. Best wishes to you and your dad.

    • Mojeaux

      Best wishes for a decent turn out.

    • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

      I hope it all works out, KK.

    • milo

      I suppose that means you are at the end of your rope with your brother. Nothing wrong with that.
      Addicts apparently have to hit bottom.
      Don’t know if you care, but I will pray for you both.
      I hope he is able to learn to like himself again.

      • Fourscore

        That’s the tough part, liking oneself. I was close to 50 before I figured that out. Turned out it was a mistake…

        Al Franken used to do a little skit on SNL, kind of sappy but still good advice

      • milo

        What was the mistake? I’m still struggling to be in the same room as me.

  16. The Late P Brooks

    What was he checking for? Age, Race, marital status, Height?

    Who knows? Age, presumably. Because huffing? is it okay to huff paint if you’re over 21?

  17. The Late P Brooks

    When I get carded buying beer I want to go find some high school kids and give them a case of beer. Just because.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Nevada went to scanning ID (but voting with ID is racist) for booze and cigarettes. They don’t even look at it..just present the barcode. I could give my two 18s my ID and probably can go buy beer if they don’t act like idiots while buying it.

  18. rhywun

    Just terrible.

    You are right. Holy shit, that was terrible.

  19. DEG

    Innsmouth Schiff

    Makes sense.

    • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

      Innsmouth Schiff, or Inslee’s Shit.

  20. Mojeaux

    My crafts order didn’t come today. I’m like, Santa, why don’t you just put coal in my stocking and make it clear? Make me wait another day for my stamps and stickers???

    • Mojeaux

      So HE was at Royal WOMEN’S Hospital.

      Well, she’s not wrong. They should have done a pregnancy test at the preop appointment.

      • sloopyinca

        Bring back the asylums.

      • Mojeaux

        I’m sayin’.

  21. Sensei

    Spun as only the NYP can.

    While his wife, 5-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son live out of a family migrant hotel in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where he said he was kicked out of for an undisclosed reason, the asylum-seeker has been enjoying taxpayer-funded amenities such as specially prepared Venezuelan cuisine and free WiFi and international calls at the center.

    Migrant raves about McCarren Park shelter — including hot food, snacks and pool: ‘There’s nothing they stop us from doing’

  22. Shpip

    We’ve all read the stories of normies being frustrated with woke District Attorneys who won’t prosecute violent offenders because equity, or something.

    Don’t try that shit in Florida.

    The usual suspects are screeching that suspending an ELECTED official for negligence / incompetence is fascism, because she was ELECTED! Hey, Orlando area, quit electing assclowns who won’t do their jobs, and the Governor won’t have to step in.

    • Sensei

      He’s likely not wrong, but she’s not wrong for why he is doing either.

    • The Other Kevin

      Looking forward to residents of California and New York telling people to move out of Florida because it’s a hell hole.

  23. The Late P Brooks

    That Rustoleum “rust fixer” looks suspiciously like flat black primer. Surprise. I’ll let it bake in the sun and stick it back on. It probably can’t be worse than doing nothing.

    My closest Oreilly’s didn’t have any of the Duplicolor stuff Vice Grip flogs, and I didn’t feel like reversing course to try the other store.

  24. John Nerfherder

    The infighting among Republicans on Twitter over the primary contestants is grating at best.

    “Your guy is a snake oil salesman!”

    “No yours is!”

    The level of debate is at about third grade.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    I highly recommend Shadow of the Vampire. Malkovich and DeFoe are fantastic.

    *uptwinkles*

    • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

      Indeed, it is a great film.

  26. Common Tater

    ” I suspect James Woods coming out of conservative led to this.”

    It’s because it’s a documentary.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    Tell me a story, Joe

    Americans increasingly turned to their credit cards to make ends meet heading into the summer, sending aggregate balances over $1 trillion for the first time ever, the New York Federal Reserve reported Tuesday.

    Total credit card indebtedness rose by $45 billion in the April-through-June period, an increase of more than 4%. That took the total amount owed to $1.03 trillion, the highest gross value in Fed data going back to 2003.

    The increase in the category was the most notable area as total household debt edged higher by about $16 billion to $17.06 trillion, also a fresh record.

    “Household budgets have benefitted from excess savings and pandemic-related debt forbearances over the past three years, but the remnants of those benefits are coming to an end,” said Elizabeth Renter, data analyst at personal finance site NerdWallet. “Credit card delinquencies continue an upward trend, a growing sign that consumers are feeling the pinch of high prices and lower savings balances than they had just a few years ago.”

    Bidenomics is working. Best economy ever!

    • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

      It’s not a lie if you really belive it.

      -George Costanza.

  28. KSuellington

    The Klaus Kinski/Herzog Nosferstu is absolutely fantastic. Those two made some seriously awesome films. Also a huge fan of Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre: Der Zorn Gottes. Kinski was probably the most intense actor of all time.

    • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

      Don’t forget Cobra Verde!

      • KSuellington

        Pretty awesome as well.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      Kinski was probably the most intense actor of all time.

      The hunchback in For a Few Dollars More.

    • The Hyperbole

      So they wont be getting the band back together?

      • Raven Nation

        *golf clap*

      • Don escaped Texas

        enjoyed your article this week

        I’d like more thoughtful rambles

  29. The Late P Brooks

    On the inflation issue, household income adjusted for inflation and taxes is running some 9.1% below where it was in April 2020, putting additional pressure on consumers, according to SMB Nikko Securities.

    “This is an issue because the sustainability of consumers’ pandemic debt-binge was partially predicated upon their incomes steadily rising,” Troy Ludtka, senior U.S. economist at SMBC Nikko, said in a client note. “Instead, the opposite occurred, and now the rate at which borrowers are running late on their debt payments is back to pre-Covid levels. This could be the newest challenge facing embattled commercial banks.”

    The central bank also said demand for card issuance has eased, which has come in conjunction with banks saying that credit standards are tightening.

    Who could have foreseen this?

    • rhywun

      Have no fear, cheap green tech is here to save the day.

    • Ted S.

      No.

    • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

      Sounds like Lil Tay is now Lil T’aint.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Kid cashed in on by her vulgarity loving attention whore parents is all you need to know.

  30. Sensei

    Doug Demo, his review style and voice are very polarizing. That said this new $100k mid size Mercedes electric SUV does not bode well for where the automotive industry is going.

    It starts with the six or so sound effects that you will hear before you start off to the asinine number of useless tech feature. This includes projecting lights directly aimed at concerns on the road.

    I thought I hated what BMW has become, but MB may now be worse.

    https://youtu.be/iN8qmNi7aTY

    • Sean

      I had to stop at the fragrance dispenser. 🙄

      • Sensei

        That’s been on the S Class for a few years.

      • DEG

        I tapped out when he called the iPads strapped to the dash “beautiful”.

    • SDF-7

      I’m going to go with “doesn’t care”.

      And reiterate that the IC shold be disbanded and the earth salted. No threat to our national security has equaled the threat they’ve come to pose — and anything less would just be delaying a return to form.

    • Sensei

      The FBI is so broken.

      But yes, nothing will be done.

    • Don escaped Texas

      I will never vote for any other party than the one that eliminates the FBI

    • The Gunslinger

      I’m going to go with “is giving direct orders”.

  31. Rebel Scum

    Are the Japs acting up again?

    At least six people were killed on the Hawaiian island of Maui as wind-fueled wildfires tore through the area, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen announced.

    “We are still in a search and rescue mode, and so I don’t know what will happen to that number,” Bissen said.

    The mayor didn’t provide details about the circumstances surrounding the deaths, saying the death toll was confirmed just before a news conference with officials. He said several other people were unaccounted for but may be people who are in vehicles who haven’t gone into a shelter.

  32. milo

    John Carpenter’s Vampire$ was a goddam abomination. It was based on John Steakley’s book of the same title. The big difference is, the book was actually great.
    Steakley only wrote two novels before his death. This and Armor. I consider both to be at the top of science fiction.
    Before you opine on this…please read either one. I am a huge sci-fi nut and consider these to be two of the best.

    • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

      Vampire’s Kiss should never beforgotten.

  33. Grumbletarian

    The 90-year-old Senator has struggled with health issues over the last year. She was absent from the Senate for nearly 3 months earlier this year dealing with shingles, Ramsay Hunt syndrome and encephalitis.

    FAKE NEWS! The good Senator was hard at work in Washington the entire time. She told us so herself.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Dorothy Parker upon being told of the death of Calvin Coolidge: “How could they tell?”

  34. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Michael Malice has a new interview of QAnon Shaman and it’s pretty interesting:
    https://youtu.be/bpnQas0yS4s

    Guy’s mildly flaky but less crazy and more intelligent than I suspected he’d be.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Hmm, sounds interesting.

      That was a damned stylish costume.

  35. milo

    John Steakley. Hello?
    Two published novels not enough?
    I have a personal interest here. I read “Armor” and looked him up. Found an email address. Emailed him to let him know how much I liked his book.
    And he answered. This was back in the mid-90’s. That affected me quite a bit.
    I will always champion him.
    Read the books. Armor is digital but Vampire$ is still paperback.

    • rhywun

      Never heard of him, TBH.

      I have such an enormous backlog of SF on my plate it’s ridiculous.

      I can’t handle another author right now.

      • milo

        I promise you. Skip the others. If you like fantasy-sci-fi, you will enjoy these books.

      • rhywun

        Oof. I’m really over fantasy.

      • milo

        I said fantasy in case you liked it.
        Armor is sci-if. Vampire$ is vampires and the Vaticans team to take care of them.
        That is fantasy I guess. Still enjoyable.

      • rhywun

        I have a handful of fantasy/scifi blends I like, plus a couple rare pure fantasies.

        Otherwise I’m strictly scifi these days. Pure fantasy just all bleeds together to me plus there are no rules so it’s hard to muster interest.

      • milo

        Try Armor. It’s on Amazon.
        I swear. It’s really good.
        And I get a cut of the sale!
        Just kidding. I read what I had written and cringed.
        No kidding. It’s good.

      • Shirley Knott

        Patricia McKillip:
        Riddle Master of He’d, Heir to Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind, aka The Riddle Master trilogy. Arguably my very favorite fantast
        Od Magic
        Notable for having no actual ‘bad guys’ or villains. Just… people
        The Bards of Bone Plain
        Notable for me, at least, in having steam powered autos and not. One. Trace. Of. SteamPunk. (Which I loathe)
        Kingfisher
        Alphabet of Thorn
        And a vast host of others, but the first 3 (counting the trilogy as 1) are must reads.

  36. Fourscore

    Picked 2 big buckets of crab apples today, now trying to figure out who to give them to that will reward me at Xmas time with some preserves. Ain’t no free lunch.

    • KK, Non-Man

      My dearly departed pug Franklin would take those off your hands – he loved them, especially the rotted ones. But he would have only been able to reward you with a pile of poo.

  37. KK, Non-Man

    There’s usually about a half dozen hummingbirds hanging around my feeder, bitching and squabbling with each other. I dub hummingbirds the New Hate Birds.

    • whiz

      Hey Derp, I think my proof of your conjecture works. I could post it here but I want to make sure you see it. Or some other way.

  38. The Late P Brooks

    Doug Demo, his review style and voice are very polarizing.

    Spelling? If that’s who I think it is, I can’t stand that guy.

    As for Mercedes, I think I can honestly say the only Mercedes Benz I would even consider owning is a 190 Cosworth from the greatest days of the DTM

    • Sensei

      Demuro. Thanks iPad autocorrect!

    • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

      I would accept that Cosworth benz, with the 2.3 16 valve, a plain jane W114/5, or a W123 diesel wagon.

  39. Ownbestenemy

    Dressed like that ya, FBI had all they need to

    Court documents say the FBI described Robertson as a white man “approximately 70-75 years old” who was surveilled “wearing a dark suit (later observed as having an AR-15 style rifle lapel pin attached), a white shirt, a red tie, and a multi-colored (possibly camouflage) hat bearing the word “TRUMP” on the front.”

    The FBI is broken.

    • Derpetologist

      Famous But Incompetent also came all the way to my apartment a few weeks ago because someone was worried my oil-cooled computer was a bomb.

      • SDF-7

        Of course they did!

        You know who else used mineral oil to cool their computers? SGI.

        What was SGI’s famous brand? Octane.

        What else has Octane? Gasoline.

        What does gasoline do in all the TV shows and movies? Explodes!

        QED, man….

      • Don escaped Texas

        FWIW, I’m pretty octane is far from the highest-energy constituent in gasoline; if anything, it reduces overall vapor pressure and joule heat

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Derp, do you ever feel like Yossarian?

      • Don escaped Texas

        if his roommate starts taking apart the oil pump and reassembling it over and over whilst giggling, he should go see Doc Daneeka right away

      • Derpetologist

        In my better moments, I see myself as The Most Interesting Man in the World.

        Sharks have a week dedicated to me.

  40. The Late P Brooks

    That said this new $100k mid size Mercedes electric SUV does not bode well for where the automotive industry is going.

    I would say the vast majority of people have viewed the automobile as an appliance from the beginning, but things are really going sideways. It’s as if actual mobility is an afterthought.

    • Sensei

      Entertainment device on wheels. No need to pay attention to the road or others on it.

    • Don escaped Texas

      where the automotive industry is going

      regulation will trump everything

      because, once supplied level of EV exceeds demand point at the price levels available, sales will stagnate

      and that can’t be tolerated, so the screw will be turned to minimize choice and default us all to the desired outcome

      • kinnath

        Our only hope is that Europe implodes first and the US population takes notice.

      • Don escaped Texas

        your problem is you’re logical

        Europe has provided us with every data point we have ever needed, and yet their worst outcomes are still widely worshiped here

      • Sensei

        Agreed on both points.

      • rhywun

        Several European countries are backing off trans madness while the US doubles down. I don’t think we can look to Europe for what-not-to-do anymore. We’re so much worse in many ways.

      • Don escaped Texas

        oofda: how low we have been brought

        did you ever think you’d write such a thing

  41. The Late P Brooks

    Demuro. Thanks iPad autocorrect!

    That’s the guy. I might watch if he crashed the car into a concrete barrier flat out at the end.

    Speaking of which, have you ever seen the Fifth Gear crash test of the Smart Car? There aren’t any meaningful crush zones, so the thing ricochets off the barrier like a hockey puck.

    • Sensei

      No… Physics is physics.

  42. Animal

    No Love At First Bite?

      • Tres Cool

        He did a decent Evel Knievel tho.