[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 1 points 22 hours ago
Strands #116
“Better together”
🔵🔵🟡🔵
🔵🔵🔵
[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 3 points 23 hours ago

FWIW, you can order a V6 regular cab F150 work truck with an 8-foot bed. Still costs $40k, but it exists.

Ranger and Maverick can both haul plywood sheets with a few 2x4 slats in the stamped slots on the side of the bed and some tiedowns.

[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 50 points 23 hours ago

This is very specifically how Oklahoma's AG sold their case against the religious charter school.

[Oklahoma AG Gentner Drummond] said allowing a school like St. Isidore would open the door for state-funded schools to teach other religious beliefs, such as Sharia law or Satanism.

“While I understand that the Governor and other politicians are disappointed with this outcome, I hope that the people of Oklahoma can rejoice that they will not be compelled to fund radical religious schools that violate their faith,” Drummond said.

[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

This poster is a bot or troll or something, operating from a tiny instance and mixing banal local "news" with low-effort right-wing garbage. Block 'em.

[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

I actually watched the trailer, and this one looks... okay? It is trying to mash up Fast & Furious with Elf, and it could work, I guess. I would likely smile at the high-concept nonsense while sitting in a Doctor's waiting room.

At $250M budget, though that's gonna be a tough one. The pre-COVID rule of thumb was double to the budget with ticket sales to break even in the sense of "powers that be will be content and no one's career gets derailed." I have my doubts this is a half-billion-dollar movie.

[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

I wish the Dems had felt more confident in 2020, or that Kamala Harris had proven to be a more vibrant personality able to take the reins in 2024. I wish the Overton window in the US were farther to the left. But that's not the fight in front of us; we are where we are.

I don't think anybody denies that Biden is in physical and a sort of general mental decline. He's old AF. I tend to think "turning it on" just takes a lot out of him and maybe requires a couple of days of R&R which you don't normally get as president, but I would hardly be surprised if they give him a little chemical helper sometimes. If taking a stimulant just makes you feisty and articulate and able to pop off a solid State of the Union speech then, again, that just speaks to your being old. Someone who literally doesn't know what they're doing will be the same idiot, but higher energy...

You know, like Trump.

[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago
Decipher #9
deciphered in ⏱️ 3m 7s
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
https://decipher.wtf

This game-type really benefits from being on a screen. I always hated them in newspapers.

[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 103 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

You need to read it in the context of the other strips. Normally, someone in the first panel defies Everett's sense of decorum and general decent behavior (e.g. describing a way they took advantage of another person, or being unecessarily), and in the second panel Everett cartoonishly attacks them in a fit of righteous rage. It's all meant to be a wish fulfillment for someone struggling with the stresses of "modern" urban living. I feel like Larry David would probably have been a fan if he were around during its run, if that helps; just imagine the Seinfeld gang if they looked and acted like Kingpin from the Marvel stuff. I think the audience is invited to sympathize with Everett's sensibilities and to laugh at the catharsis of someone actually indulging their rage.

This one subverts the trope. It invites the audience to suppose the beggar will be destroyed, especially with the foreshadowing. However, simply existing and hoping for a little generosity does not violate Everett's personal code, so going against the perceived rational choice, he listens to his better angels, leaves a coin, and moves on. I can almost imagine the cartoonist starting to become a little troubled at how sincerely people, possibly total assholes, professed to admire Everett and so wanted to turn things around a bit.

[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

So whether a charter school can be religious wasn’t really considered.

If it wasn't considered thoroughly, it was only because the court decided it was obvious. The school tried to say that they didn't count as a public school, because they're a private entity contracting with the state, but the court said, "No, you only exist as a school because you pursued a contract to use state funding. You are a charter school, and in OK charter schools are public schools, and public schools are not to be explicitly religious."

This case was so beyond the pale that it wasn't even enough to cite state caselaw saying it was okay for the state to pay a Baptist orphanage to house native American kids because the orphanage didn't make them go to church or convert. The case very clearly confirms that charter schools, as they are structured in Oklahoma, have to at least put on a pretense of nonsectarianism. Otherwise, they need to be private schools and try to leverage less direct ways to extract money from the state. This is harder because the funds are not guaranteed upon enrollment.

Now all THAT said, I assume the school will appeal and find out just how much Clarence Thomas hates reading other people's court decisions when he can simply skim a pocket copy and decide he knows best and his first instinct is always right.

[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

This show is going to benefit a lot from binge re-watching. Episode 5 was the most fun so far, and really dials up the stakes for most of the characters, but ultimately it's a long action set piece with a predictable reveal in the middle of it. Nothing much happens.

And while the reveal was predictable, it was also fine. If those motherfuckers had denied me DARTH BORTLES(!!!) I would have set the building on fire. Best acting and best character in the show so far, and really getting to chew the scenery with Sith philosophy that would be absolutely fanboy-friendly catnip if it were being delivered by a white male with a name they recognized.

I don't love everything about this show, not by a long shot, but beyond our villain, Sol is likeable, Jecki and Yord grew on me just enough I was mildly sad they killed them, and also surprised. There has also now been lightsaber combat that's better than anything in TV Star Wars. I actually want to find out what really happened and what the exact nature of the stain on the 4 Jedi souls is, so I guess that makes a show like this a success.

I do wish they'd offered a bit more of a lore dump to remind me about Cortosis, though. I really thought Jason Mendoza was permanently breaking lightsabers and was very confused when they started working again.

[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Looks like Cobb Vanth to me.

[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 28 points 1 day ago

"Facilitated open computing initiatives and exercised independent judgment and mastery of social engineering techniques and forum software."

7
Jumblie #266 (jumblie.com)
submitted 3 days ago by wjrii@lemmy.world to c/dailygames@lemmy.zip

Not my best work today.

Jumblie #266
🟠🟢🔵🔴
5 guesses in 2m 49s
https://jumblie.com
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submitted 2 weeks ago by wjrii@lemmy.world to c/cfb@fanaticus.social

This "good or bad" question will absolutely depend on the specifics of the deal, but the story certainly highlights what a weird place we're in these days.

59

Sometimes if I type “LOL”, but I didn’t laugh out loud, I’ll do a quiet little chuckle so I’m not technically a liar.

I can’t blow bubbles in bubblegum beyond a sad little pea sized thing.

I can’t snap my fingers either.

I think The Last Jedi is the fourth best Star Wars film, behind only the original trilogy.

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submitted 3 weeks ago by wjrii@lemmy.world to c/cfb@fanaticus.social

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16228461

Texas A&M bonfire will not return to campus

After a monthslong review, Texas A&M University decided not to bring back the student bonfire tradition it discontinued 25 years ago after a deadly accident, President Mark Welsh III said Tuesday.

For decades, students built a 60-foot bonfire every year ahead of football matches between A&M and the University of Texas at Austin. The tradition was suspended after tragedy struck in 1999, when a stack of logs collapsed in the middle of the night, killing 12 people and injuring dozens, some severely.

Welsh said reviving the tradition would not be in the best interest of the university.

“After careful consideration, I decided that Bonfire, both a wonderful and tragic part of Aggie history, should remain in our treasured past,” Welsh said.

50

Time+3D printer+laser engraver=keeb

I had these cheap clone keycaps lying around, and I've been wanting to try a southpaw, as well as a no-stabs board that can accommodate sculpted keycap profiles, so here we are. Had to make a few compromises on layout to fit the keycaps I had on hand, but it's feeling pretty usable so far. Outemu dustproof green for MOAR CLICKY.

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submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by wjrii@lemmy.world to c/sciencefiction@lemmy.world

...maybe a little too on the nose with channeling Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey, there's some truly problematic stuff with the native Medusans that goes all but uncommented upon, there's some reactionary politics that may just be de rigeur for 20th century military sci-fi (I don't know... would be happy to be educated), and the characterizations are almost beside the point, I guess.

On the plus side, the world-building is starting out pretty meticulous in a satisfying way (except for Manticoran dates, which is there for good in-universe reasons, but Weber seems to be using it to be the one ongoing reminder that this the distant future and not exactly England in Space), there's a nice hyper-competence problem-solving ship's crew vibe that will feel familiar to Star Trek fans, and the descriptions of actual shipboard action are very engrossing. Stylistically, there's nothing to write home about, but it's clear prose and allowing for the aforementioned weak characterizations, there's nothing egregious either.

I am cautiously optimistic going forward, and if you had the budget (or could get an animated series greenlit), it seems to me that the universe and Honor herself could be spruced up and modernized into a really compelling space opera franchise that would be well-paced for TV.

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submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by wjrii@lemmy.world to c/music@lemmy.world

So, let's close out this little arc before I head out on vacation, hopefully to be less online for a bit. Technically a little bit older but very much of the same Xennial bent as Justin Townes Earle, Jason Isbell has established himself as arguably the preeminent Americana singer/songwriter of his generation. Struggling with so many of the same demons, even at times with the conscious notion that it might be a right of passage, he and Earle became friends in Isbell's early days with the iconic roots rock band Drive By Truckers. If anything, DBT and early Isbell's sound hearken back to Steve Earle's early commercial albums, with a lot of hard charging electric guitar. In an arc that reminds outside observers of various "path not taken" alternate universe narratives, Isbell found what has seemed to be a fairly sustained sobriety and reoriented a phase of his career to unpacking what it has all meant, how to live with who he is, and has pulled remarkable creativity out of a type of stability that seems to frighten a certain type of young artist.

If We Were Vampires is a southern Gothic love song, though not really touching on the supernatural, more like what if an Anne Rice reader wrote a brilliant ballad. Listening to it was one of those "wow" moments, when I just perk up at a lyricist who absolutely nailed it on a song. I'm hardly alone in admiring his work, and a song or two only scratches the surface.

To stitch this thread back on itself, and close the loop, here's Isbell's rumination on his friend Justin Townes Earle, wistful but also with a decent amount of survivors' guilt and lingering resentment.

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submitted 1 month ago by wjrii@lemmy.world to c/music@lemmy.world

You want to talk about a legacy? Try being Steve Earle's kid, named after Townes Van Zandt, and inheriting every bit of talent and disfunction that implies. Always looking to push clear of their shadow, his voice (both as a singer and a writer) was decidedly less country, but still brilliant and deeply rooted in American roots music. Unfortunately, even if he found a place outside his father's legacy, he didn't escape his namesake's path, passing away from an accidental OD in 2020.

Bonus points for the willfully inane patter from Dave and Paul in the video, and especially on this one, pretending like they weren't listening to the lyrics (being suicidal in one and trying desperately not to be suicidal in the other) to keep the network suits at bay.

61

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15779428

If you use the right ink, the right plastic keycaps made for mechanical keyboards, and the right settings on your laser, you can effectively dye-sublimate any design you want.

https://pixelfed.social/i/web/post/699804325565108276

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submitted 1 month ago by wjrii@lemmy.world to c/imadethis@lemm.ee

If you use the right ink, the right plastic keycaps made for mechanical keyboards, and the right settings on your laser, you can effectively dye-sublimate any design you want.

https://pixelfed.social/i/web/post/699804325565108276

6
submitted 1 month ago by wjrii@lemmy.world to c/music@lemmy.world

Steve Earle's entire career posits the question: What if that slightly cringey try-hard kid that kept coming around were actually a world-class talent in his own right?

Earle idolized Townes Van Zandt and his cohort of Austin/Denver/Nashville singer songwriters, and sort of insinuated himself into their circle, but they put up with him because he was actually a good songwriter, and brought a harder rock sensibility that was unique and interesting. I can't say I find his output as consistent as Van Zandt or Guy Clark, but the highs are high, he's a grand and earnest storyteller (if not exactly a wry or subtle one) and there's a thumping beat and a unique energy to a lot of his stuff that can be really refreshing in between my endless playlist of murder ballads.

4
submitted 1 month ago by wjrii@lemmy.world to c/music@lemmy.world

If Townes Van Zandt is the Bob Dylan of highly literate country-adjacent songwriters, his buddy Guy Clark is the Springsteen. Maybe a little less transcendently brilliant, but more straightforward about the human condition, you might say "efficiently poetic" maybe, and with a better ear for what will sell and a less publicly dramatic personal story.

Dublin Blues is a personal favorite, just a brilliant example of communicating the universal by writing the specific.

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wjrii

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