AI narration has started to really really bother me. So many AI-narrated videos feature fake British accents – why? The tone is posh and often supercilious – why? There’s monotony. Many mispronunciations, like “desert” for “dessert” or vice versa. Or … Continue reading →
Now the news is out that Graham Platner’s replacement, Troy Jackson, has a significant other (they’re not married) who is his second cousin and the mother of his two children: Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson is in a long-term … Continue reading →
I noticed a couple of recent comments here by readers who have taken in the Nolan film The Odyssey and have remarked on the extreme loudness of the music and the almost-unintelligible dialogue – for example, see this. I’ve seen … Continue reading →
I have a short jacket of which I’m very fond. It’s not especially lovely, but it fits well and it nicely occupies a niche between heavy and light. It also packs very very well because it can be scrunched down … Continue reading →
Oh dear. Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned in the Open Thread that today is the Ides of July. When I was about to start writing, the blog went down. Nor was it the usual “too many requests” problem. This time … Continue reading →
I was shocked when I saw that Lindsey Graham had died. He wasn’t all that old, and he hadn’t been ill. But there was the headline, and it couldn’t be denied: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the most prominent and powerful … Continue reading →
This book by Buck Sexton sounds worth reading: Manufacturing Delusion: How the Left Uses Brainwashing, Indoctrination, and Propaganda Against You. From the Amazon blurb: Some of history’s greatest empires have devolved into genocidal lunacy—often with shocking compliance from their own … Continue reading →
Young Washington sounds like a good movie. I might even go see it: They used to make a lot of patriotic movies, and I think it’s high time the genre got a revival. The title of the new film about … Continue reading →
I’m having a quiet day, just a couple of people over for dinner. I plan to make hot dogs – something I don’t eat all that often but that I love – barbecued chicken, potato salad, and plum cake with … Continue reading →
I had noticed that a number of those YouTube paeans to the wonders of the USA mention the fabulous air conditioning that seems to be ubiquitous here. This puzzled me a bit, but article such as this go a long … Continue reading →
That’s big, and it is feared that the damage and loss of life is great. What’s even worse is that it wasn’t just one earthquake; it was two about a minute apart, the first at 7.1 and the second at … Continue reading →
First, a bit of background (if you’re unfamiliar with the story of the Andes crash, there may be a few spoilers here). I first read the definitive book on the subject, Alive, when it came out in 1974. I was … Continue reading →