"Win a [Ted] Cruz engraved shotgun"

"One (1) winner will receive the following prize: (a) Remington 11-87 12 Gauge Shotgun with an engraved Ted Cruz Logo on the stock"

Lego Han and Leia

By Luc Byard.

Alternate Sherlock The Abominable Bride review (spoiler?)

just watched sherlock mansplain feminism to a room full of annoyed women in witch outfits

— Leigh Alexander (@leighalexander) January 2, 2016

"Here's why every football player is celebrating touchdowns by running in place"

"Dabbing is dead. This is the next celebration that every sports figure will have done two months from now."

The start of all this is the music video for "Ritz Carlton" by Plies, a rapper who REALLY LIKES YELLING and, once upon a time, played wide receiver for Miami (Ohio) under his government name, Algernod Washington.

George Martin on the status of the next Game of Thrones book

"Nor is it likely to be finished tomorrow, or next week. Yes, there's a lot written. Hundreds of pages. Dozens of chapters. (Those 'no pages done' reports were insane, the usual garbage internet journalism that I have learned to despise). But there's also a lot still left to write. I am months away still... and that's if the writing goes well."

Link roundup

1. "Carly Fiorina just took political pandering to a whole new level"

when Carly Fiorina declared Friday afternoon that she was rooting for Iowa in college football's Rose Bowl, despite being from California, that's not even why it was bad.

It was bad because Iowa is playing her alma mater, Stanford University.

2. "Apparent Leader Of Dirt Bike Group Pulling Stunts On SF Streets May Be Marin County Sheriff’s Deputy"

3. "UMBC’s once-mighty chess team fails to qualify for the Final Four"

Besides handing out more than a dozen scholarships, Webster allocates $635,000 a year for coaching salaries, expenses and other enticements — outspending UMBC by 4 to 1

Good podcast: "What was your favorite game of 2015?"

"We asked 22 of the smartest people we know–designers, critics, academics, political journalists, an actor, a playwright–and got 18 different answers."