So this week I was reading That Wicked Apple, the second in a long series of short books by Rob E. Boley in which the characters from classic fairy tales such as Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, etc., have to deal with a zombie apocalypse. Because of course they do.
Continue reading “Teaser Tuesday: “That Wicked Apple””
Your Independence Day Guide To Picking A Noisy Movie
So last week, as everyone in the United States is no doubt aware, we celebrated Independence Day. This involves fireworks. Lots and lots of fireworks. These fireworks may be shot off by your town or municipality, your local businesses, and, of course, your neighbors, and many pets find the noise stressful, including our dog Lulu (the rest of our animals, including former street dog Bean, don’t care that much). We planned ahead for this by getting her a quick-acting prescription medication for her nerves that can be applied half an hour before fireworks are expected to start, and also by lining up a noisy movie for us to watch during festivities. But which one to choose?
Continue reading “Your Independence Day Guide To Picking A Noisy Movie”AI Yai Yai
So if you use WordPress (which I of course do), you may have noticed a new “AI Assistant” section when creating a post. At the time of this writing (June 29th, 2024), the options available in this feature are as shown below:
Continue reading “AI Yai Yai”Spelling Bee Minus
This week, it’s time for another set of words that weren’t in various Spelling Bee puzzles, but should have been. Or that obviously wouldn’t be, but hey, they’re still funny, right? Right? 🦗🦗🦗*
Continue reading “Spelling Bee Minus”Not A Review Of “Godzilla Minus One”
So not long ago, the Academy Award-winning* kaiju film Godzilla Minus One made a surprise appearance on Netflix**. The astute reader will not be surprised to learn that we (meaning I) watched it as soon as possible.
Pardon Me, Your Fantasy Background Is Showing
Surely any random person, presented with this set of correct and/or misplaced letters:
would go straight to the word “HENGE“, right? Right … ?
Continue reading “Pardon Me, Your Fantasy Background Is Showing”Spamcommentology: Your Moments of Zen
So at first, we were getting all kinds of random spam at the blogs; then for a while we were getting AI spam, where something that seemed very much like an LLM would leave comments that were clearly spam, yet also were clearly in response to the post to which they were attached. After that, for some reason, we entered a joyful period of very little spam, a Pax Spamana if you will. And what have we got now? Well, now we have dozens of spam comments that are clearly being assembled out of random constituents, making them mostly gibberish, yet also, weirdly poetic, almost haiku-ish. Let’s take a look:
Continue reading “Spamcommentology: Your Moments of Zen”That’s California For You
Spam text received:
The house at 4006 Arey Drive:
Continue reading “That’s California For You”Teaser Tuesday: “Vita Nostra”
So this week I was reading Vita Nostra, by the Ukrainian authors Marina Dyachenko & Sergey Dyachenko, with a translation by Julia Meitov Hersey. The premise of this book is, basically, that a seemingly ordinary girl, Sasha Samokhina, meets a mysterious figure named Farit who informs her (more or less; more less than more) that:
- Magic is real; and
- She has to go to a remote college to learn it. Like, literally has to. They won’t let her not.*
If you are thinking, Oh, I’ve read this story before … Trust me, you haven’t.
Spelling Be Like …
Since last week I posted about Wordle, I figured this week I would post about another word game I play, Spelling Bee. For those who are unfamiliar with it, Spelling Bee gives you seven letters, and you have to make as many words as you can out of them. Oh, and the words always have to include the letter in the middle. However, there are a few quirks:
Continue reading “Spelling Be Like …”
Viscosity 