Cult Icon

I tried doing the audiobooks for Tolkein's side stories and they really remind me of GRRM's side content for ASOIAF- the original/main story is still the best and the most of supporting stories are just history/lore notes- not fleshed out narratives.

very bony fresh fish seared in pan.

I ate a Stew Leonard BBQ rib sandwich on a grinder ($13) for the first time in 21 years. The last time I ate it was in a high school cafeteria. It was instantly somewhat disappointing. I was expecting them to put their leftover bbq rib meat in the sandwich and instead I got this processed pork sausage (coated in bbq sauce) shaped like a BBQ rib, just like high school lol. Overall, OK- won't buy it again.

what I learned (too late) from baking bread 25 times: DO NOT cut the bread right after you take it out. It causes the moisture to escape from the bread. Let the bread cool by itself and it'll come out great. Otherwise the bread gets really dry.

)

kristina's face is noticably getting older by a bit- like natalie no one is immune to father time.

tiktok is very finnicky compared to youtube. on occasion it shadowbans me for a couple of days for no discernable reason. some hot girls get massive results while some struggle like the rest of us

nice!

No, I forgot her name though. There are a bunch of these fake AI models (who are obviously fake) and what's insane is that there are people giving them money! (thinking they are real!)

Re-watching ALIENS in 4K/modernized after not seeing the film for ages (maybe 12+ years?). interesting and different experience. I found the characters caricature-like, but fun. It's the perfect sci-fi action film filled with cool props and sets. And it spawned an entire ecosystem and franchise. But I appreciate the original Alien a lot more than I do now. I like how many details of human interaction it packs on screen- just more authenticity than in Aliens. Also the iconic interior of the NOSTROMO. I'm starting to be more of the mind that making the Alien a space-bug really cheapened the sense of mystery and potential of the first Alien. The one Alien in Alien is as intimidating as a swarm of them in the second film- and it's more interesting as a space mystery rather than a space bug. In ALIENS, the Alien becomes something that a human being with a military-grade weapon can destroy with a short-burst while the crew of the Nostromo struggle with jerry-rigged equipment against one of them. I think survival horror is much better when the protagonists are badly equipped rather than at rambo-level. It is also notable that the alien at the end of Alien shows an entirely different temperament than before. It is deliberately kept vague and mysterious but that actually makes the Alien more interesting than just a relentless killing machine.

s

Interesting gifs... IMHO I believe that Tolkien's concept for Sauron is most likely Satan from Paradise Lost. Tolkein was a devout Christian and for British people, particularly the educated Paradise Lost was a definitive depiction of what their philosophical understanding of Satan or unrestrained evil was. Satan was meant to be charismatic demagogue and likeable person by his followers but unrestrained in his desires, and rejection of the concept of evil- in which he becomes more and more unrestrained until in the end he physically becomes more snakelike than the glorious archangel he was. The Christian idea is that Satan was originally a servant of God but found his lack of freedom oppressive and questions' God's authority & his rules. By doing so he questions the very concept of morality- and rejects it. Instead craves unlimited freedom to do whatever he wants. This is in the road to hell. IIRC from Simarillion Sauron is described by Tolkein a bit like that, but it's history/lore notes so we don't know for sure. I'm sure that Tolkein scholars already pinpointed where the character originated from. If they go this route with ROP S2 then Charlie has to play a challenging role- not everyone can be charismatic or even learn how to be. Come to think of it the idea of a gradual increase in evil is something that would work well in ROP.

.