Saturday, April 4, 2026

"Angels fans booed the home opener’s ceremonial first pitch"

LAT:

attendance has fallen 20% over the past 20 years, a span that includes one postseason series victory and the current streaks of 10 seasons with losing records and 11 seasons without a playoff appearance.

Friday’s home opener was sold out. However, as of Friday afternoon, resale markets listed tickets for as little as $7 for Saturday’s game and $4 for Sunday’s game.

Avatar TTRPG Humble Bundle

It's all physical items, including the game, dice and map.

Today's news and jokes

@espnw Someone check on Sarah Graves 😂 #wbb #espnw #marchmadness #handshake ♬ original sound - espnW


"Labubu doll maker Pop Mart’s shares sank nearly 23% on Wednesday"

NYT:

“Labubu’s popularity has been a huge success,” said [] a senior economist at French bank Natixis. “However, there is an emerging concern that there is no second growth driver.”

Related:



(I'm always stunned when I see the cost of a Nike clothing item) 

Quick cheap trick for making good looking trench walls for wargaming scenery

@lettersfromthelongline A quick guide for how to build tremch walls for tabletop wargaming like Warhammer 40k and Trench Crusade. This is a common method I can't take credit for but I get asked the questiom a lot and its quick, simple and cheap!! #warhammer40k #trenchcrusade #tabletopgames #gaming #scalemodels ♬ Ace of Spades - Motörhead

Friday, April 3, 2026

"Tactics and Tycoons" video game Humble Bundle

$8 for the collection, including "Homeworld Remastered Collection" and "Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak Deluxe Edition."

Today's news and jokes



Nightmarish Ronald McDonald statue (art roundup)



Thursday, April 2, 2026

Revoltech Hellbat and MGS 3 The Boss figures up for preorder

The Boss's accessories include a small nuclear warhead.

Official 3D-printable Rocky figurine



The link is at the bottom left. (Their SEO for the official movie site is horrendous.)

Entertainment Earth has an exclusive black and white version of the new Garfield figure (the teddy bear and lasagna are also black and white)

And an alternate expression for Garfield.

Today's news and jokes

A Little Owl was rescued after falling down a chimney. South Essex Wildlife Hospital reported he was "dirty and dehydrated but soon on his way back home". Want to donate to SEWH? southessexwildlife.org/donate Source: fb.com/555952912555... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

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— Owls in Towels (@owls-in-towels.bsky.social) March 21, 2026 at 4:27 AM


The theory is that the recent game "Baby Steps" is an absurdist, unauthorized sequel to the "Uncharted" series

Detailed here. (Haven't played it, didn't seem like an April Fool's joke)

Making a colorful alien environment scenic base for wargaming miniatures

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Two new video game Humble Bundles

First, "A collection of strategy games of all genres and levels of difficulty" (including Terminator Dark Fate Defiance) starts at three games for $10, and a collection of co-op shooters (including Warhammer Vermintide 2 Collector's Edition) starts at four for $7.

Today's news and jokes





Twin brother adventurers are comparing state of the art outdoor gear to 100-year-old heritage kit

Carryology:

One figure is a vision of modern mountaineering: clad in streamlined, synthetic insulation, waterproof membranes, and modern plastic boots. The other looks like he just stepped out of a sepia-toned photograph from 1914: wrapped in heavy wool, gabardine cotton, and cumbersome leather boots treated with dubbin.

...

Gone are the days of lugging heavy machinery up mountains. Today, their biometrics are tracked by ingestible sensor pills that monitor core temperature from the inside out, patches that analyze sweat composition, and smartphone-connected hygrometers taped to their skin to measure moisture buildup under layers.

(The verdict is, if you know how to use the antiquated stuff correctly, you're almost as warm as the cutting edge stuff)



3D-printable version of the classic box set plastic Mark VII Space Marine




Available here

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

"A suspected system failure froze Baidu’s robotaxis across Wuhan"

NEW: Dozens of robotaxis by Baidu stopped on the road in Wuhan, China, causing crashes on highways and trapping passengers in the cars—some for more than an hour. One passenger told me it took her 30 minutes to even connect to a customer representative. Here’s a dash cam video of one crash.

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— Zeyi Yang 杨泽毅 (@zeyiyang.bsky.social) March 31, 2026 at 6:33 PM


Wired's write-up

Artemis II-inspired sliding glove to go on sale, if the launch actually happens tomorrow

Countdown clock.

Funny detail about looking for free parking near Dodger stadium

LA Material:

there’s another option for fans who can handle a 15-minute uphill walk and a few menacing signs.

Find your way to McDuff Street just north of Little Joy. And as long as it’s not Opening Day or the playoffs and you get there at least an hour before first pitch, you will likely find a spot.

You’ll see “LOCAL TRAFFIC ONLY” sandwich boards, set out in the region to deter would-be-shortcutters from exiting the long lines on Sunset Blvd and Scott Ave. But it’s not illegal to park there. Per a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation: “Dodgers’ traffic contractors, not LADOT, install the “Local Traffic Only” signs.”

New video game Humble Bundle for those "tired of the same old beefy boy protagonists with cool guy attitudes and hypermasculine storylines"

Six games for $18, Steam scores displayed.

Supergirl and Lobo movie figures by McFarlane up for preorder

EE still has all the new figures (and space bike). BBTS sold out of some (but sometimes relists).

Today's news and jokes



Two excellent Daredevil headshots




DAREDEVIL New cover for friends Stephanie Phillips and @leegarbett.bsky.social 💥 #DaredevilVision #Marvel

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— Jock (@jockbsky.bsky.social) February 21, 2026 at 7:45 AM

"Saudi Arabia Halts Yearslong Effort to Bring Skiing to the Desert"

WSJ:

The canceled contracts are part of the $38 billion arid-mountain resort known as Trojena, which its managers once said would be the first outdoor ski resort in the Persian Gulf

...

Italy-based Webuild said Wednesday that Neom canceled its contract to build a $5 billion dam, which was meant to make a mountainside lake and was in the midst of construction. Malaysia-based Eversendai Corporation said Tuesday that Neom had ended its contract to supply the site with steel






Monday, March 30, 2026

Alleged Masonic lodge crime network on trial in France

Guardian:

At least four Freemasons from the lodge’s roughly 20 members are among those in the dock. Other defendants include four officers from France’s DGSE foreign intelligence service, three police officers

...

The case was triggered by a failed contract killing in July 2020, when two members of France’s parachute regiment were arrested in possession of weapons near the home of the business coach Marie-Hélène Dini. They told investigators they believed they had been asked to murder Dini on behalf of the French state, targeting Dini on the grounds that she worked for the Israeli spy agency the Mossad.

France 24:

They are accused of the murder of a racing driver, the attempted murders of a business coach and a trade unionist, aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy – all on behalf of a mafia network inside the former Athanor Masonic Lodge in the Paris suburb of Puteaux

Extremely strange coloring book: "What is a data center? A tale of the honey badger family"

Interesting choice to include so much evil imagery, including a devil hidden on each page (page 15/slide 17, for example).

Funny detail about that Clavicular tweet that went crazy viral

Garbage Day:

we are now inundated with completely unproduced livestream clips ... Most of these clips are being made in the global south, where the small payouts from the platforms are enough to fund a content farm. For instance, the account that famously clipped Clavicular being framemogged by an “ASU frat leader” is called @biggerboy111 and it’s based in Nigeria. Which is why, I assume, that user didn’t know that frats don’t have a “leader” position, it’s called a president, and also didn’t know/care that ... the guy mogging Clavicular in the video, isn’t in a frat at ASU.

"Tied Up Memories," "Cycle of Addiction," and "PG-16" by Telecide (featuring the guitarist from the Japanese anthem performance at Suzuka)





S.H.Figuarts One Piece x NBA figures up for preorders

Monkey D. Luffy in various NBA uniforms (Lakers, Celtics etc) plus a backboard.

Today's news and jokes





Crow Knight action figure designed by Yoshitaka Amano





Yoshitaka Amano x Underverse figure : "Raim - Crow Knight".

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— Catsuka (@catsuka.bsky.social) March 29, 2026 at 2:31 AM


(Here's the BBTS's stock of figures by Underverse.)

Stylish ABS challenges are better than bat flips (AI roundup)





Sunday, March 29, 2026

A new one for my collection of men eating in a manly way

First two paragraphs of a new profile by Politico:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — This is how Rahm Emanuel eats a salad: He rips open its clear, clamshell container with two hands. He grabs the ramekin of the dressing. He pours it across the salad. Then he picks up the salad container, shaking it with an intensity and ferocity that forces the balsamic throughout, giving no quarter to the greens and the grilled chicken.

This is material information, mind you, for his would-be 2028 Democratic presidential primary rivals. Because how Rahm eats a salad is how he does anything and everything: with intent and with verve and without mercy.

The Japanese anthem shredded (F1 roundup)







(I didn't see the name of the guitarist)

Today's news and jokes





Two posts at Reddit

Universities are trying to keep secret how much money is being spent on sports

NYT:

One of the most common questions among college sports fans is also one of the hardest to answer.

How much are players getting paid?

The answer is unverifiable because programs treat revenue-sharing documents as literal state secrets.

...

Public schools that receive public money generally make their budgets public. Online databases can show you the salary of a janitor at UMass ($44,000) or a surgery professor at Florida ($1.35 million). A records request can get you the recruiting budget for North Carolina football ($2.6 million), food expenses for Houston men’s basketball ($504,000) or Lane Kiffin’s contract at LSU.

But player compensation has been a black box.

One school in the news:

The University of Kansas said "times have changed" and the university will now help financially support KU Athletics, according to a statement Tuesday from the chancellor's office.

...

After years of KU Athletics transferring roughly $15 million annually to the university's general fund, KU said it will now help fund student-athlete tuition, housing and scholarships.

Getting attention now because:

University of Kansas Chancellor ... and Provost ... addressed Kansas Athletics funding, employee salaries and campus facilities in a statement released Tuesday. 

...

Results showed that a majority of the 2,012 respondents, about 80%, expressed “no confidence”