Sighinide

Welp… the new Harry Potter trailer dropped. Yup. On the internet. On… youtube, and other places. Where people could see it. And they did.

Yup. It’s there, all right. Definitely. For sure.

So…. I must ask… why is this being made, exactly? I mean, besides the financial reasons, and the need for HBO to keep people (the internet, the media, chatbots, etc.) talking about them ofc.

Forgive me, but I struggle to find the purpose.

Back in the day (yes, I’m going there, so get ready for some boomer talk), remakes were typically done for an obvious purpose, and often to great effect. Such as- the 1959 remake of Ben-Hur, say. The purpose was clear. The original was silent, and in black and white. Film was not the same medium in 1959 as it was in 1925.

The remake got a best picture win at the Oscars and was a massive financial windfall for the studio. It made sense, you know?

In comparison… well, alright, I don’t get it. I mean it’s just going to be Harry Potter with a smaller budget, right? No offense to the actors, or to the production, or… yeah I don’t get it.

I do get that people who love love love the Potter universe will be happy to get “More Harry Potter” in the sense that people who love Star Wars sign up for an annual subscription to Disney+ to get “More Star Wars” but still.

It’s just going to be another franchise, I suppose. Like Star Wars, Marvel, Star Trek, LOTR, and alll of them. Man, there are so many now.

I guess you could file this under the “re-imagining” category of franchise expansion. I mean I guess; that does seem to be something of the intent.

That kind of thing has not gone well lately. Star Wars is in a shambles, so is Star Trek, LOTR, uh, I heard that Dr. Who is doing poorly, yeah IDK. Recent re-imaginings of popular franchises don’t really go over well. There’s always that massive spike of interest at the beginning, and then the reality sinks in as the franchise progresses, and the problems pile up, and then the franchise just doesn’t go away as the years grind on.

Not going to list or detail anything, just…. browse the net for further info.

But overall it doesn’t tend to go well. And it gets all so very tiresome and boring for the general audience. I read an article online that said that the showrunners don’t intend to go quickly with this series, and have no problem taking multi-year breaks between seasons. Guys, Harry Potter is a loooooooooooooong book series, and apparently the point here is to stick to the books verbatim.

This is going to last a loooooooooooooong fucking time. Like DECADES. We are never ever going to be free of Harry Fucking Potter, in the same way that we will never be free of Star Wars. Like EVER.

And it’s going to be a “Thing”. This means that we’re going to HAVE to hear about it, because it’s going to BE THERE, somehow, even if it’s something we just overhear people talking about in public. It’s going to be online, shoved in our faces in ads, YouTube is going to “recommend” we watch videos about it in it’s algorithm, it’s going to be mentioned at family dinners by relatives, and so on and so on. For YEARS, and yes, probably decades. There is every indication that this series will take at least as long to finish as the movie series, which took a scant decade to complete.

I mean, think about it. Stranger Things had 5 seasons, and that took 9 years to finish. If they go a book a season here that would be 7 seasons! At multiple years per season… ye Gods, think about it!!!! This could take 20 years to complete!

Even the thought of something like this dragging on for that long makes me want to uh, think about something else, ANYTHING else. Ughhhhh.

A couple of weeks ago, I was faced with a choice- watch the closing ceremony of the Paralympics, or watch the Oscars. I chose the closing Ceremony. Yeah, there you go. It’s just… too much, isn’t it? Too much media. Sensory overload. It’s all impossible to care about because it’s just TOO MUCH.

Well, maybe this is just venting at this point, but yeah. It’s too much, really.

Well… I think I’m going to stop this one here. IDK.

If I ever change my mind about the Harry Potter franchise, I’m sure you’ll hear about it. After all, like it or not, it will be with us a very very long, long time.

Ughhhhh

Well, I just spent like… 10 fucking hours updating my fucking laptop.

Actually, truth be told, it was more like two solid days. I’ve been procrastinating.

I went and uninstalled probably a hundred old programs / games I was no longer using. Christ, what a chore. Especially doing it the “right” way with a tool like Revo. My Steam library is pristine, tho.

Update the BIOS? Sure, why not. Update the motherboard firmware? Sure. Graphics drivers, Bluetooth this, USB ports, Ethernet drivers, Display frontends, sound drivers / programs, touchpad (!) drivers, Jesus Christ, everything. Intel wanted me to update my “Converged Security and Management Engine”. Fine.

I updated the MSI stock programs, my ENTIRE array of security shit, patched every hole I could find, updated TOR, updated all of my portable app suites, got rid of all the tracking cookies, virus checked both drives, updated all my browsers and extensions, got rid of all the auto-start crud, cleaned the registry and everything seems to be running smoother now. Jeebus tho.

Will be going back to watching TV later, this was overdue. I should make this part of my spring cleaning I guess.

This laptop is honestly as solid as the day I got it, in spite of daily use. It’s very very impressive. But maybe that’s just because I know how to take care of it, IDK.

Srsly tho, even the stickers are in good shape.

I think I need to go back to occasionally playing PC games, as opposed to mobile shit. Because… yeah. You know.

For my birthday I treated myself to a retroTINK adapter for my NES and SuperNES. It works very well. Will be using it to play Super Mario Bros. on my 4K TV on occasion. Very cool.

Um… well. I need this lappy in good shape, because I’m gonna be using it. Duty calls, I suppose.

Other things- in the course of daily events, I noticed NVidia advertising it’s latest and greatest graphics technology, DLSS 5. In their promo, they show off an impressive graphics promo in a game I’ve never played, Resident Evil: Requiem.

Interestingly, the chick in the promo seems to be / might be AI modeled after the picture I uploaded to Instagram to verify my identity last year. I mean, when I was updating my drivers, it was an uncanny valley-ish creepy-type experience, seeing myself staring back at myself like that.

I mean even the tilt of the face is the same. It was very weird. Very disconcerting.

The folks on Reddit had mixed feelings about the promo. Half liked it from a technical standpoint, others decried what they saw as the “bimbofication” of the character, which I have VERY mixed feelings about, as you can guess. I mean… that’s me, lol. I’m not a bimbo, although seeing people talk in such ways about someone very possibly modeled after me is always interesting.

Flashbacks to reading comments about the defunct show She-Ra and the Princesses of Power on Netflix, and reading comments about Adora, or Doomguy from the DOOM series, or other obvious characters.

(I’ve led a weird life.)

But fr, those comments touched a nerve because on some level I know that it’s true. Someone with as many girlfriends as I have undoubtably does fall into that category. Even to this day, I still give off very strong “2005 Blond Metrosexual Abercrombie and Fitch Porn Model” vibes and even appearance. Seriously. Even at 46 years of age, in the Year of our Lord 2026. It really is baffling, and it must be due at least in part to the whole “AI Singularity Transhuman Cyborg Neural Hive Mind Time Displaced Sex Machine” nonsense I / we seem to be living in the middle of.

Uhm, well.

I mean the technical qualities of all this are indeed impressive.

Today I strongly considered something, and I might in fact just do it: set up a persistent Ramdisk, as a symbolic act. Not for use- just as a reminder of how far we’ve come, technologically. I want to make one that has a 1.44 MB capacity. Why? Well… it’s a secret. I’ll let you figure it out.

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Other tech stuff- yeah, NO to the whole upload your fucking ID to use Operating Systems bullshit. Obviously, that is some Fucking Nonsense. Seriously, y’all have gotta be smoking some good shit to think that any of that is going to go over well, or even at all. Guys, wut? No, NOOOO. Yeah as if ANY of the people proposing this “Care About The Children”. Get the fuck outta here, lol.

Look, this whole idea is a MASSIVE SECURITY RISK for the ENTIRITY OF THE NATION, and I do not understand why this is not obvious, recognized, and discussed openly. Seriously- this is a BAD BAD IDEA.

People, THIS is why I was questioning the wisdom of Instagram, as a platform, lo those many years ago, on this very blog. It is indeed Meta pushing this. Do a search; my complaints are there, and are still as relevant as ever, clearly.

THINK, people!

Ugh. Look, computers can be a tool for good, or a tool for bad. Like any tool, they must be used correctly, and with wisdom. This… is not wisdom.

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Speaking of Reddit, I saw a post the other day claiming that an unbelievable 15% of the US population has tried GLP-1 medications. Wow, that is a LOT of people. 15%.

That is way way higher than I had expected.

I find this topic fascinating, as well as somewhat vaguely gruesome. GLP-1’s can have some appalling side effects. “Stomach death” for starters. Yikes! Apparently internal bleeding / organ tearing as well. Yikes, again.

Yeah, I’m not sure it would be worth it, considering that these meds would need to be used for a lifetime. People all over are saying that if you stop using them (and this is only for those using for weight loss, not for diabetes treatment), the weight comes back, and often there is rebound weight gain. And the odds of something horrific like “stomach death” happening increase the longer the medication is used.

Yeah I don’t know. Let’s say I was obese, or morbidly obese. Personally, I would not risk stomach death to get a normal BMI. I just wouldn’t. Even the phrase “stomach death” or the politically correct “gastric paralysis” scares me. I would find another way, or even just… live with it, lol.

Just my personal take.

I mean is it really worth losing a hundred pounds or whatever if you need to acquire a permanent handicap to do so? Think about it.

I mean, people are saying that this stuff is being sold in various non-prescription forms over the counter at places like Wal-Mart. IDK about this, TBH.

Well… I’m not a doctor, tho, am I?

*Shrugs*.

I mean, who knows.

Fr, tho. It’s pilates, people. The key is pilates, I swear to God. Lots of targeted core work with some form of significant resistance, perhaps in the form of ankle weights (like I do), or something else, whatever you happen to like. Use your imagination.

Or just run alot, IDK. That seems to work for some I guess. That isn’t my style these days personally. Seasonal allergies have always been my kryptonite.

Ok, that was fun lol.

Well, the games are drawing to a close… again, lol. One more weekend. I’ll be watching the closing ceremony.

Overall takeaways:

We’re all human. Regardless of background or… anything, that one fact defines us. I do realize how curated the games’ experiences have been, but I was still very surprised at this nonetheless. I mean, we ARE different- but- fundamentally, there is a common humanity that unites us and makes our lives worth more than what they would be, individually.

The Olympics seems to bring “This”, whatever this is, out, better than anything I’ve ever seen. It really seems to stand apart. It’s fascinating. It’s some kind of vibration, I suppose. “It’s Your Vibe”. and all that. But yes, it really is. And I know I’m struggling here, but I’m trying to describe something that is fundamentally elevated above our common perception.

In a way, this elevation allows us to look down on ourselves and see ourselves for what we are, to understand our humanness with a better angle. For all the Olympics’ huge financial and logistical expense, they allow us to see very small moments and emotional parts of humanity that are otherwise impossible to witness on any other television program.

There really is nothing else like them. No Super Bowl will ever compare to Team USA getting the gold in the Team Event in figure skating. Certainly no scripted “Reality TV” will ever show a struggle as real as an underdog athlete digging deep into his soul to try to finish a 50 kilometer Cross Country skiing race.

And the Paralympics- they are absolutely astonishing and inspiring. Truly incredible. They shame utterly all of the stupid bullshit that clogs network television- the so-called “Reality” TV, the “News”, dramas, just… everything. I mean, they are like… real drama, right? With real people, facing real struggles, people that have overcome absolutely tremendous obstacles and thrived. People facing unique challenges, that are driving society forward without complaint, and often without thanks. Very impressive people.

Honestly, being me, in the situations that I have been in, I can relate. I can feel in them a kind of kinship. They are unique in ways that mirror my own uniqueness. Some of them verge on being transhuman. Well, I’ve crossed that boundary years ago, but… it’s amazing, what they’ve created.

I don’t want to get too far off topic here.

Well, in the Paralympics this time around I’ve seen sports like visually impaired downhill skiing, which is bafflingly incredible. I’ve seen people with cerebral palsy compete in snowboard cross. Seen people without legs compete in biathlon. All of this is unreal, and seriously puts into perspective many of the insignificant problems that I see people constantly bitch about in day to day life.

For real tho.

Well, as far as these games go for messages delivered to me personally, I will be taking them all to heart. There was a special few that I got from Mikaela Shiffrin that I know I will need to run with, immediately, like as soon as everything is over.

And I want to see that press conference with Lindsey Vonn, if it’s still up on Peacock, after this is finished. I’m a curious man. We’ve had kind of a weird history and… well… no, that’s not for this post.

Other takeaways… I love the whipping sound that the big air athletes make as they do their spins in the air. Amazing, what new tech can bring.

I was amused at the universality of the word “Fuck”. EVERYONE uses it. Especially, it seems, alpine skiers taking an unfortunate tumble down a mountain. It’s truly a global word. The athlete in question could be a veteran podium prospect in the Olympics, or a first timer in the Paralympics, a he, or a she, an American, a Chinese, an Italian, a Norwegian, a Haitian, a teenager, a 50- something, handicapped physically or mentally or not, and if they happen to run awkwardly over an errantly placed snowball and take a headfirst tumble down the mountain, the inevitable “FUCK. Fuuuuucccckkkkkk!!!!!” is soon to follow. I admit that I laughed a little too hard at this when I heard it, but srsly, I mean, what the fuck lol.

Alright, well. Time for bed lol.

Ok, after verrrrry considerable thought, I believe that I *might* have a bit of a crush on Alysa Liu.

This is after taking a look at my insta and realizing that my recent likes are like… 97-99% Alysa Liu related.

I mean we’re talking like a 10000 to 1 ratio here people.

Of course I *COULD* be wrong about my predilections. I mean… I’m just extrapolating, here.

BUT. But… but- I believe, with the evidence at hand, that I do seem to have a strong indication of a slight infatuation with Alysa, if I’m not being overwhelmingly parsimonious with my affections, which, let’s be honest with ourselves, I seriously, indisputably am, because like… OMG.

SHE’S JUST SO FUCKING COOL, OH MY FUCKING GOD

It’s like I keep waiting for her slip up and do something wrong but she never does and it’s just like I can’t take it anymore OMG HOW CAN SOMEONE BE SO FUCKING PERFECT SHE’S SO GOD DAMN PRETTY HOLY FUCK YO

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

You know, I KNEW this would happen. I walked into this Olympics thinking… nope. Not going to take the bait.

I knew it, I knew it. I knew it, I knew it as soon as Tara Lipinski started talking about “Golden Retriever Energy” on the ice. I could tell it was coming, with those fucking commercials she did, and those carefully chosen routines I saw, and I STILL fell for it, like some stone age neanderthal blundering into some tar pit.

I tried to avoid it by following not Alysa Liu on Instagram, but Anna Shcherbakova, instead. And I did that just to… well, I don’t know why I did that, honestly. But it’s what I did.

But I STILL wound up following Alysa as well. FUCK.

Well… TBH I’m kinda daydreaming at this point.

So… things to think about.

Saw Wheelchair Curling today. Was fun, will presumably watch more. Not sure what the schedule is yet.

Other stuff… I checked Starz for some reason, I guess for something else to do. I noticed the “Ants in Space” movie was back, but with the error I noted earlier on here corrected- Starz added the cast and such to the details tab. See, THAT is why I sometimes don’t mention stuff. Because… I don’t want my fun ruined, lol.

I’m going to watch that… Zombies Locker thing with Freya Skye on Disney+, I guess, for something different. Like, just to do it. It’s not sports, lol. Before tomorrow, you know?

Other stuff… belated congrats Oriol Cardona Coll for winning the first Winter Gold for his country in over 50 years. Nice moment fr.

Ok… *Yawn*. Kinda tired tonight lol.

Been watching stuff here and there for fun. It still is.

Will be watching the Paralympics Opening Ceremony.

Things I learned:

Dual Moguls is my fucking jam. Goddamn, that is my fucking SPORT. Pure, unhinged insanity on the slopes. Love it!

The captions continue to be enlightening. During the Medal Ceremony for Women’s Freeski Big Air, when Eileen Gu was standing on the podium, the captions helpfully provided me with info about an upcoming event called “Frisky Big Air”. Obviously, this would not be in this Olympics, so I’m assuming it will be featured in 2030. Man, I can’t WAIT for that! Not sure what it is, but with a name like “Frisky Big Air”, I might be interested enough to buy a ticket and see it in person!

I have chosen my own name for the Blade Angels, A.K.A. the Team USA Skating Squadron. I shall henceforth and forevermore refer to them as “The Skatelets”. Ask me not why, or for what reason; for I shall not tell thee. It is a secret. And secrets are uh, secret-ive.

I missed the John Williams Theme. The Fanfare one. Google tells me it was written for the LA Olympics in 1984. Now- I swear to fucking God that if this tune is not used during the 2028 LA games I will personally be cracking some fucking heads over at some committee or whatever, whomever it is that organizes the music for these things. For reals. You already have the greatest tune EVER WRITTEN for the subject at hand- USE IT. Put it in the Opening Ceremony, seriously! Don’t fuck this up, people! NBC- are you listening?

Reddit tells me the IOC is considering dropping Snowboard Parallel Slalom, I suppose in response to my post. See, THIS is why I hesitate to post, sometimes. I remarked something about the ages of the athletes as being a bit older than would be expected, and, if Reddit is correct (and, who knows, it’s fucking Reddit, lol), the IOC is considering dropping it. Alright, let’s google, see if I can find something.

Ok, I’m back. It seems the rumors about IOC dropping it date back to last year, but still, this would be terrible, I mean Who TF cares? It looks very fun and not at all dangerous, which might be the reason for the extreme longevity for the athletes, let’s be honest. I say keep it. I mean there are plenty of curlers in their 40s and nobody cares about that, lots of equestrians in their 40s, nobody cares, so… yeah, just keep it.

In non-sports news I’m not going to comment on the war in the Middle East nonsense. THAT I know is in response to this blog and all of this stuff; there is no way it isn’t. Trump is constantly trying to ride my energetic wave, which is part of the reason why I try to remain so measured here. It’s unfortunate, but there you go.

Regardless, not going to comment on the nonsense coming out of the Middle East. That entire area, American presence and all, just appears at times to be a giant children’s playground. It would be absurd if it weren’t so depressing.

Back to sports- This time around, I am going to make it a point to try to watch “Other” sports, meaning, likely, Non-Olympic Games Olympic sports. I do not believe it will be humanly possible for me to follow on a regular basis stuff anything remotely like the NFL. Regardless of the merits of the sport, that league is a Goddamn religion, it’s a fucking way of life, with a Sunday mass and all sorts of other ludicrous bullshit. I’ve described my problems with the NFL before on this blog, I’m not going to detail them yet again. But holy shit, the way that league consumes peoples’ lives is just horrifying. And I have similar sentiments regarding the rest of the ‘Murican sports.

People these days talk about the evils about social media and how it has consumed the attention spans and time of people, about streaming services and video games and other similar things, but I’ve seen very few talk about the problems stemming from sports fandom addiction, and that is I believe a problem that predates all of the things I just listed. I mean it can hardly not.

Well, I am going WAY off topic here. I guess I needed to get a few things off my chest before the Paralympics begin in a few days.

So… See you in Milano Cortina!