I hope David Rennie is on the 1A news roundup today to rip on the abomination that was Trump's visit with Mohammed bin Salman.

Know this: There's a universe where Arnold Schwarzenegger, at the height of his popularity, was tapped for a late 80s Willy Wonka reboot solely so he could say "Come wid me if you vant a wuld of pyure eemagination." VHS copies of that movie continue to exist there. Vangelis did the score.

@agentdana I love watching 90s movies with my kids. Recently they found The Fugitive both baffling and amazing.

Strong feedlot smells advecting from the SE is usually a harbinger of snow this time of year, but the forecast discussion says only a 15% chance of 1-2 cm. Not quite cold enough.

I've been halfway decaffeinated since September. Started before my race and stuck with it after. A 2-shot latte is a real jolt of pleasure now.

@jalefkowit Sunday, while on a bike ride, I saw three of these out for a drive together. Red, blue, and yellow.

I would just like to note how satisfying it is to see “adversarial poetry” as a term of art:
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1

@AtanasE That's right. Simply enjoy the toots of the elite without touching.

Hey you,

Take a short break... Sit with me for a minute here. Did you know many of the problems you are having right now this very second can be solved by RTFM?

Yes, I know you want to feed that immediate impulse for an answer but what if I told you that you'd have a more rich and full understanding of the question you are about to ask?

If after you've committed to RTFM and the answer still eludes you, of course, ask! However before jumping to that email or im/sms/etc I invite you to read the answer for yourself. Promise, our conversation after that will be much more fruitful, for both of us!

Love,
Chris

#RTFM

Beautiful article about Chinese cuisines and Fuschia Dunlop, their foremost Western advocate. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/nov/20/how-fuchsia-dunlop-became-a-sichuan-food-hero

I'd love a "business in front, party in back" throwback Nuggets jersey. Number 55 (Dikembe Mutumbo) on the front, number 1 (J.R. Smith) on the back.

It's so calm today. Check out the reflections in the reservoir. Much too nice to be sitting in front of a computer.

We are closer to the reference event half as old than the third reference event than the midpoint reference event is to a third reference event and that will be surprising as long as your memory of events is ordinal and time is cardinal. Isn't that astonishing and doesn't it make you feel old and incapable of judging the absolute passage of time?

@mvexel Yeah, that mountain can be a slog in the winter.

@Ashedryden How do you feel about alt-jazz? Anna Butterss is a great bass player and the new SML album has some nice grooves. https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/how-you-been

Dad Calling    Just To Say He Loves King Crimson - The Onion

https://theonion.com/dad-calling-just-to-say-he-loves-king-crimson/

#ProgRock #Music

The top story right now is somewhat triggering. From the NYT: Hosting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Trump brushed off the murder of a journalist by Saudi agents, saying, “Things happen.” Fighter jets and investment deals are on the leaders’ agenda today.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11/18/world/trump-saudi-crown-prince-visit

From WaPo: The president said he did not hold Mohammed bin Salman responsible for the 2018 murder of Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, despite a U.S. intelligence report assessing the opposite.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/11/18/saudi-prince-trump-visit-white-house/

@donutage Yes. On both mastodon.social/home and on Phanpy.

@donutage I'm tempted to make some right now!