They're not really that strange, but I'm infuriated by questions phrased like "Have you ever thought about stealing anything?"

Even if I'd never in my life before that moment thought about stealing anything, because you have asked me that question, now I have. You may as well ask me whether not I've ever imagined a pink elephant.

Hey, it's not just an Italian symbol!

It allows one to play 45 rpm records, which have a big hole in the middle, on the turntable most people had at home which was designed for 33 ⅓ rpm records, which have a small hole. The shape forms a gentle spring to create tension inside the 45.

I went to a Nerf tournament and humans vs. zombies game at a college campus a while back. The Nerf hobby has some interesting intersections. On the one hand, there are some legitimately competitive teams who drill and practice and have standardized uniforms and blasters and everything, so there's some organized sports types in there. On the other hand, it overlaps with the gun hobby, seeing as it's playing at being a gun fight, and it uses a lot of the same accessories. On the other other hand, it seems to be a very queer-friendly hobby; definitely a lot of flags being represented that weekend.

All of these disparate groups had a great time with each other. Huge range of demographics, all having good wholesome fun, making new friends, using their bodies and their minds, expressing themselves while also respecting the rules and structures of the game and the college campus. It was beautiful.

At the end of the weekend, the college Nerf club, which had been running these events on campus for years, came out and tearfully announced that this would be the last such event, because the college administration had announced there would be no further blaster events permitted on campus. Nobody got hurt that weekend, but presumably the administration was afraid of getting sued if someone did.

And just like that, a beautiful mechanism for bringing together lots of strangers and making them into friends and comrades disappeared in a whiff of imaginary liability for a theoretical accident that hadn't actually happened.

And we wonder why young people are addicted to social media and video games.

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Relevant as ever:

I recall hearing a similar system being used to chase geese away from airport runways. The dog has a great time and the geese don't get sucked into jet engines. It's win-win.

Ask Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema if Democrats were really "in power." Republicans have been willing to shred the Constitution in order to get what they want, but it works primarily because they operate virtually in lock step with one another, even if they sometimes allow one member or another to vote No on some horrifying bill or another, so long as that No vote won't change the end result.

Democrats have the opposite problem: in recent memory they've only ever had the narrowest of majorities in Congress, and they're a bunch of cats on a good day, so there's always a few Democrats in vulnerable seats that will break with the party in order to maintain their "outsider" image with their purple district voters. Add on that Democrats for the most part don't want to shred the Constitution, and it's very difficult for them to achieve their goals.

And add on that most media in this country is owned and operated by billionaires and it constantly pushes the narrative that anything to the left of Ronald Reagan is basically Karl Marx, and you've got an electorate that is on balance very suspicious of things that, to a reasonable person, would obviously make the world a better place, like universal healthcare, free pre-K education, police reform, immigration reform, and so on.

The Democrats that do want to make the world a better place are essentially trying to play honest baseball with unreliable teammates, shitty coaches and managers, opponents who are 'roided out of their minds, and umpires who won't call objective balls and strikes. Even for the ones who are trying to improve things (and they do exist!) it's an appalling situation.

Try to live your life in such a way that you don't create a human being with a large portion of their personality shaped by how much they don't like you.

Auralnauts are geniuses. Jedi Party is basically the only way I can bring myself to watch the prequels ever again.

Five-card stud suddenly takes on a new meaning.

"The enemy's gate is down."

Q: Why don't you ever hear a pterodactyl go to the bathroom?

A: Because the P is silent.

It's a simple folk tradition! All you need is a dedicated mentor to teach you the techniques that took generations to develop, excellent eyesight, and perfect wrist and hand muscle control!

Unironically, I love the Ukrainian tradition of maximalist holiday designs. See also: Ukrainian Easter eggs.

Isn't this basically what Archive of Our Own was founded for? They may focus on fan fiction, but it seems like one could start a conversation with the Organization for Transformative Works to add another wing for this sort of content.

I listened to an NPR story around Halloween about a young married couple in the early 1900s who moved into an old house.

Right away, the place is clearly haunted. Weird cold spots. Doors that are open that they know they had closed earlier. They hear footsteps sometimes in rooms they know are empty. They awake at night and are aware of malevolent human-shaped dark figures in their bedroom. It's basically a laundry list of classic haunted house tropes.

They call in a priest, he says some prayers. Weird phenomena continue. House is still haunted.

They call in a gas guy. He fixes a leaky gas pipe. Symptoms go away. House is no longer haunted.

Or live-action Mega Man after he's absorbed the powers of Construction Man.

"What does this 400-room hotel need to employ a full-time plumber for? The pipes are all fine, and no one ever complains about a clogged toilet. Fire that lazy bum!"

He's so decrepit that that's as high as he can raise his hand to give a thumbs up to the camera.

Edit: Also, am I crazy or is his suit even looser and more ill-fitted than usual. I'd guess that he's wasting away but they don't want to tailor his suits any better so he's just swimming in all the extra fabric.