Morning Coffee (3/3/16)

Me elsewhere: I guested on The Ark 100 FM podcast again last night, talking about last week's episode of The 100. Actually, I talked a lot about software testing, but I swear it was plot relevant.

Let's start with something not completely terrible today! "It felt as if, for the first time in history, the gender playing field at the high court was finally leveled, and as a consequence the court’s female justices were emboldened to just ignore the rules."

Donald Trump released a policy proposal! No, that seriously makes me happy: he's a real candidate so we should treat him like a real candidate and look at this stuff. "For better or worse the plan does reveal Trump to be a fairly conventional contemporary Republican on health care issues." Though: "This part strays in a nuanced (but important) way from recent Obamacare repeal plans to make Trump's proposal much less favorable to low-income people than even more Republican alternative's [sic] to the Affordable Care Act." (I also enjoy the way this piece points out a certain similarity between Trump's and Sanders's "plans.")

Here's A Running List Of Racist Things That Have Happened At Trump Rallies

Bernie Sanders’s path to the nomination is getting very narrow

I love the extent to which the White House is trolling Republicans regarding the Supreme Court nomination, but also from everything I've read Jane Kelly would be a fine choice, so really it's win/win.

I can't figure out what part of this piece about a new Texas county GOP chair to quote and you should really just read it, but: "The newly elected chair of the Republican Party in the county that includes the Texas Capitol spent most of election night tweeting about former Gov. Rick Perry’s sexual orientation and former President Bill Clinton’s penis, and insisting that members of the Bush family should be in jail. He also found time to call Hillary Clinton an 'angry bull dyke.'" And: "'Tell them they can go fuck themselves,' Morrow told the Tribune." (Covering politics in Texas must be amazing.)

This is just a great piece of writing: Chris Christie’s wordless screaming

How Trump’s ‘Off the Record’ Remarks Crept Out

Ha: Proof Disney Is Actually Marketing “Zootopia” To Furries

How To Tell If You’re In a Flannery O’Connor Story

Morning Coffee (2/22/16)

Happy Monday and welcome to Oscar week! Just to warn you, we're in for LOTS OF MOVIE POSTS this week, and then as early as possible on Sunday (Oscar day), I'll post a final list of what I saw and my picks for each category. As of right now I've seen everything nominated in 17 of the 24 categories; I'm hoping to get that to at least 20. Sometime next week I'll post a little retrospective with some statistics and thoughts on what I got out of the project.

Me elsewhere! TV news for the week.

And! If you like The 100 - I guest co-hosted the awesome podcast The Ark 100 FM yesterday, so take a listen! I think I said at least 15 things that may alienate swathes of their audience. You're welcome, guys!

Why Michael Bloomberg Could Run for President and Win (Not that I necessarily want this to happen - though I'd certainly take him over any of the Republicans - but I started talking about this possibility a few days before every pundit in the world started talking about it, so if it happened I'd feel very smug.)

Republicans might end up wishing they had compromised with Obama over Scalia’s replacement

Taylor Swift gave Kesha $250,000 to help out, and while I get the "she should have spoken up publicly" thing it's also neat that she just... did that. I don't know. Since she didn't try to hide it or anything, it feels like it counts as publicly allying with Kesha while also helping in a practical sense. But sure, it would be great if she tweeted something, too.

Donald Trump reminds Republicans he can sink their party even if he loses the nomination

Scalia-Ginsburg friendship bridged opposing ideologies

Marcia Clark Is Redeemed (I finally started watching The People v. O.J. Simpson last night and it is so good and it was all I could do to go to bed before watching the car chase episode.)

Here is the trailer for the new Pete's Dragon movie. I have concerns.

"[Trees] can count, learn and remember; nurse sick neighbors; warn each other of danger by sending electrical signals across a fungal network known as the “Wood Wide Web”; and, for reasons unknown, keep the ancient stumps of long-felled companions alive for centuries by feeding them a sugar solution through their roots."

Todd VanDerWerff's review makes me really want to see The Witch, but I'm not sure I can handle it.

Related: Reasons I Would Not Have Been Burned As A Witch In The Early Modern Era No Matter What I Would Like To Believe About Myself And Would Have In Fact Been Among The Witch-Burners

Morning Coffee (1/29/16)

Tomorrow! I'm going to go to an independent theater in Boston and do a mini-marathon of some of the more obscure Oscar nominees - four features. I'll post normal movie posts about the titles next week, but I'm also going to write up a little diary of the day as a Patreon exclusive. (Are the audiences driving me nuts? Can I stay awake/focused for four movies? How much caffeine will I need?) You can get it with any pledge (starting at $1/month) if you sign up by Saturday night. Right this way! (If you're already a patron I LOVE YOU and of course you will be getting this post as well.)

ICYMI: TWO Oscar Project posts yesterday, on Star Wars and Ex Machina.

Okay, Friday! Happy links!

Since Friday is for happy links the only one I will give you about the primary is Gail Collins, as she is hilarious in addition to being very smart. (And, I think gets at the basic Sanders/Clinton divide: "Vote for Bernie: Send a message. Vote for Hillary: She knows how to make things work.")

Barbie has new body types! Here's Time's very interesting cover story. (Touching on something they get into there: even when Barbies all looked more similar, as a child, the thing that most confused me about them was that almost all the dolls were supposed to be the same character. So why did they exist in the same world [i.e. my bedroom]??? I found this highly disturbing.)

Fox is showing Grease! Live on Sunday and Vanity Fair has a fascinating story about the making of the 1978 movie that will probably make you want to go rewatch it immediately. (They liken Newton-John's casting to if someone cast Taylor Swift in the role today and now I WANT THAT MORE THAN ANYTHING.)

Today in Things You Should Be Watching: The 100’s Clarke Is Sci-fi’s Best Teen Heroine

And if you ARE watching, you should check out new podcast The Ark 100 FM from my friends Holly and Bailey. (Rumor has it I may fill in for an episode next month when Bailey's on vacation. I'll keep you posted.)

Ben Whishaw Is Even Better Than You Think is both the truest headline ever written and a very interesting interview with the creator of London Spy.

I cannot handle this even a little bit: Chris Pine sings school closings to the tune of 'Let It Snow' (I know it's an unpopular opinion but you can keep Hemsworth and Evans and Pratt; Pine is my favorite of The Chrises and I am greatly looking forward to that Coast Guard movie that seems to consist of him speaking in a terrible Boston accent while people throw buckets of water at him for two hours.)

My friend Chris - ACTUALLY my favorite Chris, obvs - tweeted this link and I may never forgive him: 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' As An Anime Opening Works Way Too Well

Honest Wedding Website Admits There Jack Shit For Guests To Do While In Town

"ZEUS: look, I have produced a daughter from mine own head
this is Athena
HERA: like fuck you did"

Morning Coffee (11/3/14)

Me elsewhere: Thoughts on last week's Bones, pilot posts on The McCarthys and Benched, the week's TV news.

A few belated Halloween links that I found on Halloween:

7 charts that explain Halloween

When Did N.H. Towns Start Calling The Shots On Trick-Or-Treating?

This Halloween history video featuring Kate Hackett of Classic Alice is cute.

Whoa: Starbucks delivery is coming. Probably not coming here, but still.

#GamerGate's scary plan to wipe Gawker Media from the face of the Earth

They're publishing the first bilingual Goodnight, Moon. Awesome!

Sarah Rees Brennan is parodying The 100 and it's as funny as you might expect.

Amazing: Dirtbag Mrs. Whatsit