This is so true. I used to research crime stats for the Ky DOJ. I can’t tell you how incredibly high the percentage of gun owners whose weapons was grabbed by an unarmed assailant and turned on them. When you pull a weapon, you escalate the situation. I think I’ll go check the current stats on this.

I do have to say I make the best chocolate chip cookies - they are not the usual recipe from the back of the Nestlé bag either. I just felt like bragging, everyone go about your business now! and thank you!

It’s not the only person I’ve met who is revulsed by flour. I once baked homemade scones for my stepchildren who were over for the weekend. They refused to eat them because a little flour stuck to the outside from the pastry board. And it had been baked so was a golden brown. All three of ‘em said “Ewww flour”. Evil…

Here in Southern Illinois, we are all covered in smokescreen. It gives a nice apocalyptic red tinge to the sun and moon, though.

The great state of Illinois says no thanks to these anti-vaxx nutjobs moving here either. We have Rahm Emanuel, we’ve suffered enough

This movie is free?

The house tour at Taliesin is 50 bucks for adults, so yes it is expensive. And I stayed at the Don Q Inn once in the “mid evil” room. It had a giant copper jetted tub and some interesting iron additions to the bed.

I could use a recommendation for a fun late September midwestern road tour - anything around Lake Superior?

If you go to Spring Green, be sure to add a tour of Taliesin to your itinerary. The place is sublime.

I find Spiderman boring.

Well I have been a leftie prof for 20 years and I have failed to indoctrinate a whole generation. I needed these tips years ago.

An early 20th Century copy of 1001 Arabian Nights, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish.

When I get over this hangover, I will raise a glass to you, Ms. Quangel. All joking aside, uncovering this piece of evidence can help argue against the desperate denial of racism that is being promoted by some media and politicians. I am sending the link to all my acquaintances who are on the “mentally ill” or “war…

Brava! This is some of the best writing I’ve seen in ages. Of course most of the writing I see is done by bored, distracted 19 year olds who fail to understand why a history of cinema course requires them to write.

Grew up in Kentucky where it was BBQ. Many different types, but in western Ky, we often used mutton, which I don’t find as a BBQ meat where I live now (IL). Also Ky has a regional BBQ sauce made with a local soft drink, Ale81. Also typical Southern foods that derive from African cooking. And some Cajun tossed in,…

I bought the late lamented Louie one of those water fountain things that had a constantly recirculating flow of water dripping off a tower in the middle of the bowl (39.00) His reaction: cautious exploration accomplished by creeping close to it on his belly, then fear and avoidance of the entire laundry room which was…

Question: do the white walkers raise the previously dead who were killed in battle as well asthe newly dead wildlings? And if you kill all the white walkers, do all the wights collapse into a final death, or does that just mean you now face an army that you cankill off without them beibg replenished? I checked the…

I haven’t read the whole thread but I will now to find the romanticization you mention. It’s so common but I find it interesting. Folks in Chicago where I lived for many years romanticized a department store, Marshall Fields. When it was sold to Macy I read lots of public comments about how the identity of the city…

Ancillary revenues like merchandise are huge revenue streams so this will hurt Fox and influence negotiations. I don’t know that a film has ever tanked because no one could buy an action figure from it, but the lack of merch will hurt overall profits. And action figures are a powerful “gateway drug” for very young…

Holy cow, can I get that sweet deal? Tenured profs usually end up doing more service, not less! Of course, I don’t know math.