I liked a lot of Dark Tower but then it got dumb, and then it ended as a self congratulatory session rather than having a satisfying conclusion. I liked the movie version. Yeah I said it. They Disney'd the heck out of that movie and while it only had passing resemblance to the books it wasn't a bad little movie. King isn't Tolkien, Shakespeare, or even freaking JK Rowling. Like Dickens he meanders around and can't get to the point, unlike Dickens he can barely write a memorable phrase. His best book is The Stand. His best short story is Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. I struggle to remember a quotable quote from the Stand other than "M-O-O-N spells moon" and I don't remember what dialogue from Shawshank is from the short story or the movie.
Dickens wanders because he was paid by the word and it shows. I have always thought I would reread Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations a great deal more often than I do if a good editor got in there and trimmed the fat.
Very few things in this world are "as grand" as King's ego. Michael Moore's ego. Hillary's self-delusion. Biden's lies (in total, as a group, not as in 'art'). A few other things.
See above. I found the basic premises of The Stand to be silly at best and incredibly stupid at worst, but the main objection was that the premises could be discarded at whim to move what little plot there was.
The truth is always somewhere in the middle, and from what I can tell your theory seems to be the closest to the answer. There are too many holes and questions about the "official" explanation, but there also isn't enough evidence on the other side to suggest that it was a massive conspiracy (aka hoax) meant to distract people from the election, etc., which I've also heard. They either knew each other or it was a random event/hookup that went wrong (which happens when you invite random crazy into a situation). The police in SF, unlike Chicago, decide to then protect the victim because the Pelosis are rich, politically connected and white (yes, sadly); unlike the police in Chicago who probably didn't know or care who Jussie Smollett was, and his story unraveled quickly. Sadly, any attempt by media members actually looking for the truth will get buried, and the real situation will be resolved after the midterms (or buried, etc.). The damage has already been done, so the prevailing theory is to just "look away, nothing to see here, we've already blamed Trump for this so let's go look for the next thing we can blame on him".
I doubt "The truth is always somewhere in the middle" in any case that protects The Narrative and harms the GOP. It's always a big distance from the "reports".
About the only bad dreams I ever have involve not being able to find my car/truck. I have no idea what causes the dreams. I am normally a lucid dreamer, so I generally just shut off that dream and move to something else.
At my ex-wife's suggestion/demand, I tried to read 'Salem's Lot and quit very early. I normally finish any book I start. Then I did read Carrie and it was . . . interesting but not great. I tried a couple of other s and didn't like them at all, and never finished them. I finally got so fed up with The Stand I just gave up on him. I don't see the allure. Pedestrian prose, formulaic plotting, best seller. Go figure.
King himself seems to be a Michael Moore type of d-bag. Just enough smarter than average to think he's smarter than everyone.
Didn't care for Salem's Lot or Carrie. Misery was good, I liked most of Bag of Bones and Hearts in Atlantis. I think he just can't get out of his own way. His book On Writing was interesting. If you take his books as what they are: interesting ideas (or occasionally characters) wrapped in shlock then he's okay. He has always seemed to me someone who wants to write Big Meaningful Ideas and is disappointed that he writes pulp. I always get the feeling he wants the bad guys to win and is never happy that good guys do.
When in doubt, when something that happens and it sounds sorta far fetched, I rely on good ole Occam to come to my aid, pull out his razor and slice off some clarity: There is more evidence here for an illicit encounter gone wrong. That is the most likely answer. Paul knew the guy, said on the 911 call that he was a friend and he knew his name, etc. Police get there and that is when Maxwell swings his Silver Hammer? Hmmm, OK.
As I was sitting in the SFO terminal, the word was that there were three people there and I was saying it was a "threesome gone wrong." That still might be the case. I think the popo's are backing away from the "third person in the room" thing. And, as today goes along, I really think that the actual truth will never come out and that it will quickly get buried in the "local news story" catergoy since The Very Online couldn't pin this one on the real enemy, MAGA.
Why was I in SFO? Well, I went to Berkeley for a sporting contest twix some Ducks and some Bears. Generally speaking, any sort of matchup involving Bears and Ducks does not end will for the Ducks. But, the Ducks have a guy named Bo, and they got the better of these Berkeley based Bears, so that was nice.
Traveling from SFO to Berkeley, I was able to take in some of the local color that one can ascertain from the window of a train. SFO is god damn dump in most places, IMO. There is no way I could live here, no way at all. No, no and no.
And it took the cops only 2 minutes to get there. Just like any other 911 call in SF, right? And did the cops notify any security personnel at the Pelosi manse? I meant, they could have been there even quicker. 2 Minutes is plenty of time to kill someone.
Yes. It's never really an emergency when you're alone in the house at 2AM with a semi-stranger and you call 911, amirite? Just letting them know how things are going. The people who believe the story being pushed are no different that the ones who furiously WANT Tinkerbelle to live.
My very first response to the Paul Pelosi thing over the weekend continues to be the way everyone should respond: "Let's wait till we have the police report, and all the evidence comes out."
But, no. Twitter is all about The Very Online among us racing to have the hottest of hot takes out as soon as possible, and worry about being correct later. The most important thing is to make sure you are first and that it matches your ideological template, even if you have to smash and contort the known facts into your template. The tribe is counting on you!
The reason why we can't just let the investigation finish before we comment is because both sides want to make this the October Surprise of '22, thinking it will turn the tide in the midterms. Every election cycle, this gets worse.
My brother ran a robot company in The Valley. He lived in a very nice suburb. He had lived in the Bay area back in the late 80s, too. He loved the area in the 80s, moved back for a job in 2000 or so, and couldn't wait to leave back around 2016. Moved most of the manufacturing out, too.
He said SF went from a great place to visit, although he wouldn't want to live there, to a festering pestilent toilet that he couldn't stand to enter to do business.
Saw a meme over the weekend that said something like, "So you picked *in Dave Chappelle French accent voice* Juicy Smulyay as your campaign manager? Bold move."
I hate to say it, but Halloween is another "chore" of a holiday like all the other ones that require me to work. Halloween - gotta buy a bunch of costumes me or my family will wear once for work/school, gotta hand out candy for trick-or-treaters or take kids trick-or-treating. Thanksgiving - got cook a big meal, host family, clean up and eat the damn leftover for a month. Christmas - don't get me started. This time of the year is the worst.
He's reached the Clint Eastwood phase of his career where he doesn't really have to act any longer, he can just be himself."
Way ahead of ya, Dirty Harry.
I liked a lot of Dark Tower but then it got dumb, and then it ended as a self congratulatory session rather than having a satisfying conclusion. I liked the movie version. Yeah I said it. They Disney'd the heck out of that movie and while it only had passing resemblance to the books it wasn't a bad little movie. King isn't Tolkien, Shakespeare, or even freaking JK Rowling. Like Dickens he meanders around and can't get to the point, unlike Dickens he can barely write a memorable phrase. His best book is The Stand. His best short story is Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. I struggle to remember a quotable quote from the Stand other than "M-O-O-N spells moon" and I don't remember what dialogue from Shawshank is from the short story or the movie.
Dickens wanders because he was paid by the word and it shows. I have always thought I would reread Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations a great deal more often than I do if a good editor got in there and trimmed the fat.
You need a Classic Comics version. Which I will bet existed.
And he was paid by the word, more-or-less. Mo' words, mo' money.
Very few things in this world are "as grand" as King's ego. Michael Moore's ego. Hillary's self-delusion. Biden's lies (in total, as a group, not as in 'art'). A few other things.
Shawshank Redemption is a really good movie. I had no idea that was a Stephen King joint.
Great movie. Even though the story was written by Stephen, and it starred Tim Robbins. I can usually separate the politics from the craft.
I read that. Taibbi continues to rise in my estimation. Especially after he left Rolling Stone.
And we should separate the artist from the art.
My favorite Tim Robbins role, though, was as Nuke Laroosh [edit: was trying to write too much, didn't clean up as hoped] in Bull Durham.
"Nuke is scared because his eyelids are jammed and his old man is here."
Candlesticks. is the answer.
My favorite bit is: "She's weary. Not wooly." also "You gotta work on your cliches."
See above. I found the basic premises of The Stand to be silly at best and incredibly stupid at worst, but the main objection was that the premises could be discarded at whim to move what little plot there was.
"If we're going to be so stringent about "hate crimes," we should be more stringent about people faking hate crimes."
I'd like to see punishments for the fake ones at least equal to the sentences for committing a Hate Crime.
"The demand for Hate Crimes far exceeds the supply of Hate Crimes" - Glenn Reynolds (I think)
The truth is always somewhere in the middle, and from what I can tell your theory seems to be the closest to the answer. There are too many holes and questions about the "official" explanation, but there also isn't enough evidence on the other side to suggest that it was a massive conspiracy (aka hoax) meant to distract people from the election, etc., which I've also heard. They either knew each other or it was a random event/hookup that went wrong (which happens when you invite random crazy into a situation). The police in SF, unlike Chicago, decide to then protect the victim because the Pelosis are rich, politically connected and white (yes, sadly); unlike the police in Chicago who probably didn't know or care who Jussie Smollett was, and his story unraveled quickly. Sadly, any attempt by media members actually looking for the truth will get buried, and the real situation will be resolved after the midterms (or buried, etc.). The damage has already been done, so the prevailing theory is to just "look away, nothing to see here, we've already blamed Trump for this so let's go look for the next thing we can blame on him".
I doubt "The truth is always somewhere in the middle" in any case that protects The Narrative and harms the GOP. It's always a big distance from the "reports".
"like driving drunk or hooking up with a homeless addict to have a good time"
I mean, who amongst us?
About the only bad dreams I ever have involve not being able to find my car/truck. I have no idea what causes the dreams. I am normally a lucid dreamer, so I generally just shut off that dream and move to something else.
At my ex-wife's suggestion/demand, I tried to read 'Salem's Lot and quit very early. I normally finish any book I start. Then I did read Carrie and it was . . . interesting but not great. I tried a couple of other s and didn't like them at all, and never finished them. I finally got so fed up with The Stand I just gave up on him. I don't see the allure. Pedestrian prose, formulaic plotting, best seller. Go figure.
King himself seems to be a Michael Moore type of d-bag. Just enough smarter than average to think he's smarter than everyone.
Didn't care for Salem's Lot or Carrie. Misery was good, I liked most of Bag of Bones and Hearts in Atlantis. I think he just can't get out of his own way. His book On Writing was interesting. If you take his books as what they are: interesting ideas (or occasionally characters) wrapped in shlock then he's okay. He has always seemed to me someone who wants to write Big Meaningful Ideas and is disappointed that he writes pulp. I always get the feeling he wants the bad guys to win and is never happy that good guys do.
And apparently "his" social media might be faked:
https://twitter.com/CobraKel/status/1586420364564828160
https://twitter.com/DanFriedman81/status/1586124548105461760
https://twitter.com/esau7/status/1586131317074595841
The whole thing reeks in more ways than one, and if it's up to the Pelosis, the SFPD, and the MSM we'll never get the full details.
When in doubt, when something that happens and it sounds sorta far fetched, I rely on good ole Occam to come to my aid, pull out his razor and slice off some clarity: There is more evidence here for an illicit encounter gone wrong. That is the most likely answer. Paul knew the guy, said on the 911 call that he was a friend and he knew his name, etc. Police get there and that is when Maxwell swings his Silver Hammer? Hmmm, OK.
As I was sitting in the SFO terminal, the word was that there were three people there and I was saying it was a "threesome gone wrong." That still might be the case. I think the popo's are backing away from the "third person in the room" thing. And, as today goes along, I really think that the actual truth will never come out and that it will quickly get buried in the "local news story" catergoy since The Very Online couldn't pin this one on the real enemy, MAGA.
Why was I in SFO? Well, I went to Berkeley for a sporting contest twix some Ducks and some Bears. Generally speaking, any sort of matchup involving Bears and Ducks does not end will for the Ducks. But, the Ducks have a guy named Bo, and they got the better of these Berkeley based Bears, so that was nice.
Traveling from SFO to Berkeley, I was able to take in some of the local color that one can ascertain from the window of a train. SFO is god damn dump in most places, IMO. There is no way I could live here, no way at all. No, no and no.
I love the phrase "Dueling Hammers"
"Paddle faster!"
And it took the cops only 2 minutes to get there. Just like any other 911 call in SF, right? And did the cops notify any security personnel at the Pelosi manse? I meant, they could have been there even quicker. 2 Minutes is plenty of time to kill someone.
Yes. It's never really an emergency when you're alone in the house at 2AM with a semi-stranger and you call 911, amirite? Just letting them know how things are going. The people who believe the story being pushed are no different that the ones who furiously WANT Tinkerbelle to live.
Wow…
Close to brilliant.
Occam definitely had it going on.
There is a simple answer and everyone talking about it knows what it is but no one can talk about it because you're either:
(1) respectful of the old guy's situation, have some true sympathy, and don't wish to get out ahead of the evidence with assertions,
OR
(2) a Democrat.
My very first response to the Paul Pelosi thing over the weekend continues to be the way everyone should respond: "Let's wait till we have the police report, and all the evidence comes out."
But, no. Twitter is all about The Very Online among us racing to have the hottest of hot takes out as soon as possible, and worry about being correct later. The most important thing is to make sure you are first and that it matches your ideological template, even if you have to smash and contort the known facts into your template. The tribe is counting on you!
The reason why we can't just let the investigation finish before we comment is because both sides want to make this the October Surprise of '22, thinking it will turn the tide in the midterms. Every election cycle, this gets worse.
100% True
There are always the body cams. Unless, of course, they were unexpectedly scheduled for periodic smashing for maintenance.
Those pesky things.
That's what the hammers are for
"Twitter is all about The Very Online among us racing to have the hottest of hot takes out as soon as possible, and worry about being correct later."
That's because there's no penalty for getting wrong but there is a cost for not getting all those clicks.
HaHaHa!
And I'm sorry you had to be in SF.
Not as sorry as I was.
My brother ran a robot company in The Valley. He lived in a very nice suburb. He had lived in the Bay area back in the late 80s, too. He loved the area in the 80s, moved back for a job in 2000 or so, and couldn't wait to leave back around 2016. Moved most of the manufacturing out, too.
He said SF went from a great place to visit, although he wouldn't want to live there, to a festering pestilent toilet that he couldn't stand to enter to do business.
There are not only police body cams, but the Pelosi mansion has a lot of surveillance cameras. We'll NEVER see anything from either.
Q: "Does anybody in the whole entire world actually buy this obvious [Fetterman] hoax?"
A: Jussie Smollett.
Saw a meme over the weekend that said something like, "So you picked *in Dave Chappelle French accent voice* Juicy Smulyay as your campaign manager? Bold move."
"Does anybody in the whole entire world actually buy this obvious hoax?"
Nope. But Team Blue has to pretend.
Won't keep the Dems and the MSM (BIRM) from pushing it as hard as possible.
Jim, you've lost the Hallowe'en spirit. You need to have a magical encounter with Garfield the cat and learn that it was inside you all along.
Unless is bursts out of your chest and morphs into a giant, corrosive-blooded Democrat that kills us all.
Am I the only one who heard, "Nuke it from orbit just to be sure" in my head?
I hate to say it, but Halloween is another "chore" of a holiday like all the other ones that require me to work. Halloween - gotta buy a bunch of costumes me or my family will wear once for work/school, gotta hand out candy for trick-or-treaters or take kids trick-or-treating. Thanksgiving - got cook a big meal, host family, clean up and eat the damn leftover for a month. Christmas - don't get me started. This time of the year is the worst.
We're one day away from the Christmas music beginning, Mariah Carey is almost thawed out...
I have come to dread Halloween the way I've come to dread Prom Night. They both have gone from fun to overblown extravagances.
Great column! Even in far-off Japan! First time I’ve been able to log in! 11:00 am Central is 1:00am Japan time!