distractedcactus

Actually learn to act. While he was a passable action "star" with a few solid movies under his belt, he has the dramatic range of a kumquat. "Squinty-eyed macho man" hasn't been a real theater draw for a while now and the only way he could even get near actual film success would be to sign up with a franchise like The Expendables or the Fast and the Furious where he could lean fully into the physical action and leave the acting to someone else. Those series are both more meme than movie at this point, and he would fit right in.

I've been listening to a lot of instrumental metal lately (all the awesome sound, none of the incoherent screaming or terrible rapping) and found the 2018 album Controlled Chaos by Nita Strauss. Her playing is fantastic - I especially love the second track from that album Alegria.

Dangerous in what way? According to the article:

The panel cited the long history of safety and efficacy of Opill, which was approved for prescription use 50 years ago. The over-the-counter pill will be identical to the prescription version, which is 93 percent effective at preventing pregnancy with typical use.

"Mallyhacked" - meaning something that is broken or destroyed. I heard this phrase a lot from older folks during my childhood, but never by anyone who wasn't from my area. My SO didn't believe it was a real word so I did some digging and I think that it is likely a very regionally accented version of "malahack".

Urban Dictionary says that malahack comes from the Lumbee-English slang of southern North Carolina. I don't think that's quite accurate because I'm not from anywhere close to North Carolina. My preferred reference is from The Vocabulary of East-Anglia: An Attempt to Record the Vulgar Tongue of the Twin Sister Counties Norfolk and Suffolk, as it Existed in the Last Twenty Years of the Eighteenth Century, and Still Exists: with Proof of Its Antiquity from Etymology and Authority; in Two Volumes · Volume 2 by Robert Forby, 1830:

Malahack, v. A word ludicrously fabricated, which means to cut or carve in an awkward and slovenly manner.

According to gaming conventions, that armor provides +20AC and (when combined with a full-body cloak thrown open dramatically as I enter the tavern) can make a barman swoon at 30 feet.

Is a heat wave literally burning the giant piles of lobbyist money that they get to pretend climate change isn't happening, along with their children? No.

Here's what politicians do, because it's what they've been paid to do:

But the government quickly began to back down after a meeting in June with officials in the oil-rich province of Alberta...

The task for the government is to make it appear that as much progress as possible is being made (to appease the fifth of Canadians too worried to have children) while causing as few political problems as possible with the industry.

...politicians want to be seen doing a lot about climate change, but not so much that it lands them in any kind of real trouble with the industry.

Finally, this:

But this moment feels as if it calls for something larger—comparable to the Earth Day demonstrations of a half century ago, which brought ten per cent of the American population into the streets. It’s eruptions on that scale that change the political reality.

The only way to get them to do something meaningful is to have enough constituents screaming in their faces to do something or get replaced by someone who will. If you're not screaming at the people who represent you in government to make real change (including restricting fossil fuel companies), then you're wasting your time doing anything else to "fight" climate change.

Also, because I have more to complain about, I see we're still doing headlines that comply with Betteridge's law.

Who wouldn't trust that (obviously-not-a-robot-in-disguise) smiling face? 😅

That is completely accurate and logical representation of the article after it's had the heart ripped out KALIMAAA-style and been lowered into a pit.

Grave of the Fireflies is the only anime movie that I have to hide in my house. I have a whole family that loves anime and Studio Ghibli, but we have to keep that DVD hidden because we don't want kids to watch it by mistake if there's not an adult around to talk about the themes and story. I watched it as a teen myself and was devastated; I've watched it a few more times over the years with other people and I still can't get through it without crying.

I've heard it described as "Eurovision in space"

Ok I'm sold, that's going to the top of the list.

Thank you for the recommendation!

Aww that's adorable! I had to usher this little one off of the hot sidewalk this afternoon. It was about two inches long and hard to see in the sun. It's rare to actually see them away from the bushes in my area.