Thursday, March 5, 2026

Love and Rockets Humble Bundle

57 books for $18 (or 8 for $10).

New Star Wars figures by Hasbro based on the upcoming Darth Maul series up for preorder

Maul and three other 6" figures.


Speaking of Star Wars (I see more misinfo on Bluesky than Twitter at this point):

There is an image of Rotta the Hutt circulating on social right now. It’s BS. It’s not from the film. Ignore it #TheMandalorian #StarWars

— Hal Hickel (@halhickel.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 9:31 AM

Today's news and jokes



"The Water Polo Scandal That Rocked LA’s Most Elite Private School"

Repugnant facts about Harvard-Westlake, but Vanity Fair starts the article by describing the villain as having "big alpha energy." The Post has already written about it twice.

I continue to love Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun

I've now read the first three books of the series. The narrator seems to be a prisoner trapped in a 1,001 Nights situation, relating tale after tale about his swashbuckling adventures across Urth (Earth rebuilt after a long-forgotten disaster? a Snowpiercer-like climate miscalculation? alien manipulation?) (throughout, it's unclear if he's dishonest, dumb, time-addled, or all of the above). When I finished the first book, I said I'd never read a novel where each chapter was so satisfying as a distinct adventure and deserving of its own lurid cover image. And after about 900 pages, he's still going strong. The stories feel like the Calvin and Hobbes strips where Calvin imagines himself the star of pulpy adventures. Available at Amazon, although I've been reading them in the Libby app.

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Brady's "wellness coordinator" allegedly "purports to possess significant organizational power" with the Raiders

NYT:

Like many players and coaches, [Maxx] Crosby was frustrated by the presence of Alex Guerrero, a staunch Brady ally whose official title is wellness coordinator.

Guerrero, who regularly attends practices and meetings, purports to possess significant organizational power, informing players of impending transactions and even indicating to staff members who don’t follow his instructions that their jobs may be at risk.

Guerrero is perceived to have a direct pipeline to Brady, who lives in Florida and serves as Fox’s lead NFL analyst, limiting his in-person presence. 

A 2015 article if you're not familiar, or have forgotten Supreme Greens and NeuroSafe.

When two vacationers accidentally ended up in the middle of 2011's revolutionary violence in Egypt

A few excerpts from the thread:

What it is Like to Accidentally be Trapped in a Country at War By Zack Davisson Hey! You seen on the news of evacuation orders for Americans whose vacation was suddenly disrupted by a little war as a treat? Well, it happened to me too. Gather round for story time! Destination, EGYPT!!! (1)

— Zack Davisson (@zackdavisson.com) March 3, 2026 at 12:08 PM


The staff, smiling, refuses to check us in. They try to convince us instead to take a lovely excursion to the White Desert. So much nicer! So fun! Confused, annoyed, and clearly not taking the hint. The clerk finally says with a SERIOUS face. "You must leave Cairo." We get the hint. We go. (4)

— Zack Davisson (@zackdavisson.com) March 3, 2026 at 12:14 PM


(This part is fun for my family, because the last communication they hear from me is "Change of plans! We aren't staying in Cairo! They are taking us to out to the desert!") They get to see what happens that weekend on the news. We do not. It was called the Night of Fire. (6)

— Zack Davisson (@zackdavisson.com) March 3, 2026 at 12:16 PM


I'll never forget what the person on the other end of the phone said to me: "This is what I have been authorized to offer. I do not expect you to accept it, and if you do, frankly, you will be an asshole. The United States government will evacuate you You will have to leave your wife behind" (14)

— Zack Davisson (@zackdavisson.com) March 3, 2026 at 12:30 PM