• 13 Posts
  • 507 Comments
Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: February 15th, 2024

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    1. Chuckle at meme.
    2. Consider subject matter.
    3. If I know something interesting, skip to 7. Otherwise continue to 4.
    4. Briefly look up meme’s subject matter.
    5. (Optional) Spend enough time down a rabbit hole that my employer and/or loved ones would not be happy.
    6. Determine whether I’ve learned something interesting. If so, continue to 7. If not, skip to 8.
    7. Report it to the rest of you neurodivergent weirdos.
    8. Revisit meme and chuckle a final time.







  • This is pretty much it.

    The 2021 freeze still looms large in people’s minds, so while the grid actually has seemed to be hanging on better in Summer and Winter, things that threaten the still-isolated power supply draw attention. Then, Oracle/OpenAI set the precedent with Stargate in Abilene that you just stand these things up in the middle of nowhere because of cheap land and easy regulatory capture of the local politicians. The evolution of municipal governance in Texas also meant that the metro areas have fairly small core cities densely surrounded by independent municipalities, which often means that the tech companies can push that model into somewhat more densely packed areas, though it’s still often the exurbs (though not always… stupid Dallas city government). That means it’s the reddest parts of the state that are seeing them spring up and fuck the residents’ personal quality of life badly enough that they actually complain. There’s a big emphasis on the “M” part of NIMBY for them (because isn’t there always?) but the fact remains that no one else in the state has a big enough “BY.”

    Very few of these people are ready to bail on single-party state government because they still buy the line that everything is regulatory hell and woke BS anywhere but God’s Own Property Texas, but if they see the state completely ignore them the one time they politely ask the republicans to not fuck them quite so roughly, then it’s going to be easier to stay home during the midterms. This is particularly problematic in a year when the Dems found a candidate with a pulse but who likes the Bible and looks like a Republican, and the Republicans are stuck with their primary voters’ pick, an asshole who is as corrupt as Trump but lacks even that weird sheen of “I’m your asshole” that Trump gives off to his base. Also, and this is shallow, when you’re the party that tries to project strength and vitality, having a ticket that consists of a droopy-eyed slug and a paraplegic in a wheelchair is something you have to figure out how to downplay.

    Worst part of it is that they’re probably still gonna win. A little part of me hopes this is the year, but mostly I’m just hoping it’s close enough to drag out the spending and fuck the GOP’s budget in Maine and elsewhere.




  • wjrii@lemmy.worldtomemes@lemmy.worldJackpot
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    25 days ago

    I’d say The (US) Office’s highs might be a little higher than P&R’s, but P&R had an optimism that kept it better for longer, or at least for a longer percentage of its run. IMHO The Office already had the check-fuel light on by the time Jim and Pam got married, and by the end it was just some strangers physically pushing the thing a couple miles farther down the road. P&R for me didn’t start declining until they got back from London, and S6 still had a lot of good stuff. I’d have to look into it, but I really do feel like they thought that was the end, but somehow got renewed for S7 and had to do the entire weird coda of a season with a three year time skip that, I guess, made it technically Sci Fi, LOL


  • wjrii@lemmy.worldtomemes@lemmy.worldJackpot
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    26 days ago

    I’ll second the other commenter. With your preconceived notion being “terrible,” you might be pleasantly surprised and find that it’s merely “rushed.” GoT is partly a cultural artifact as the last genre project that truly captured the monoculture’s attention (it laughs at Severance’s or Stanger Things’ so-called impact) before the internet shattered it, so everything good and bad about it was dramatically amplified.


  • wjrii@lemmy.worldtomemes@lemmy.worldJackpot
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    26 days ago

    Yeah, it’s peak The Office cringe, but it’s not bad exactly, just that Carell was doing that bit much better. If one skips anything, it’s the last two seasons when everybody is flanderized all to hell, they’re out of things to do in Pawnee, and some of the new additions don’t work as well. I’d say skip any episode in S6 that feels off, and then just ignore s7. Feels like Babylon 5 where thy’re like, “We got another season, WTF do we do now?”