Today's Mighty Oak

“Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines/And often is his gold complexion dimmed;”

Yesterday's nut February 15, 2020

Alright, catching up on a bit of a backlog in addition to some current items, but let’s see what we have today. First up, a favorite web comic/series, Surviving the World is returning with classic reposts! Here’s where he ended it. Class Dismissed.

Science news you can use: don’t drink your whiskey ‘neat’:

The United Methodist Church is splitting over gay issues. As someone who has come out of that on the other side, hey welcome, it’s a bumpy ride. Sorry you have to do this, it’s painful.

This fight (is still going on all across the country) happened in September in Arizona. Their GOP governor said they don’t need to extend non-discrimination protections to gay people, and their supreme court said businesses can deny service to gay people. The fight continues, and is seemingly never ending.

In other disturbing news, the Interior Department cut sexual orientation from their internal discrimination policies as well.

I wrote earlier about my displeasure at Marvel (and Star Wars) for LGBT erasure. The upcoming film, The Eternals, will, for the first time, feature a gay superhero (and kiss). Yes, it’s progress. Should it have taken 11 years? No.

In other movie news, the trailer for the new Wes Anderson film looks amazing:

If you haven’t, check out Eastsiders on Netflix. It was an amazing series, and here’s an interview with the creator.

Stranger Things 4 gives us a present from Russia (with love).

In good news, a New York state park will be named for Marsha P. Johnson!

The Church of England said sex is only for straight, married people. Then they apologized for offending people, not actually changing their minds.

Firefighters who got angry comments when they showed their support for the queer community hit back in an awesome video.

NASA is adding a luxury hotel to the ISS. Spoiler, if you’re reading this, you will not be able to afford visiting.

An awesome video from a favorite creator that I’ve been mulling over: death and minimialism:

The Utah Governor pulled the campaign that put AMAZING art on condoms to prevent STIs. They’re all great, and it’s a shame he pulled them.

Speaking of, the UK has seen a massive decline in HIV infections due to PrEP. No surprise there.

The Catholic bishops in Texas have blasted their governor (who is Catholic)over his rule to not accept refugees. I’m highly, highly critical of the Catholic Church, so I have to give them points when it’s appropriate. Good for them.

Disney is announcing more details of their immersive Star Wars hotel for their resorts, and it looks amazing and I can’t wait to go!

Google pretty much hit it out of the park with their Superbowl ad:

And another great ad, this time from Microsoft:

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face”

Yesterday's nut September 29, 2018

Alright, let’s see what we have today, it’s a fairly short update.

First up, what we witnessed on Friday, while showing the absolute strength, resolution and power of women and sexual abuse survivors, was, all-in-all, one of the most heinous things concocted by the Republicans in the 242 year history of this country, and that is saying something.  Don’t forget to take some time for yourself and self-care, and if you need help, reach out.

A priest in Chicago defied the Archdiocese and performed an ‘exorcism’ of a Pride flag, burning it.  A reminder, the Catholic Church is a hate group, full stop.

There’s a new trailer for the next Fantastic Beasts movie:

Google celebrated Mister Rogers this week with a wonderful Doodle!

That’s it for today, have a great one!

Guys, if you’re out tonight, drink responsibly. A lot.

Yesterday's nut September 10, 2017

Alright, let’s see what we have today.  First up, a beautiful look at Pluto!

Hyperloop One had it’s first test run, and it looks really cool!

Eli Lieb’s new song:

There is a new AR Star Wars resort coming to Disney, and I really want to go!  In other Star Wars news, a fake study about midichlorians made it into four scientific journals.

Would you like to dance like David Bowie?  From Labyrinth?  Of course you do!

In a huge blow, the new administration is arguing that federal protections do not apply to LGBT workers.  This was an absolutely huge win during the Obama administration, so this is a tough loss.

The Catholic Church: still a hate group.  Now a bishop has said that gay men won’t get last rights or funerals.

And finally, an awesome behind the scenes peak at Star Wars: The Last Jedi:

That’s it for today, have a great one!

“It’s bleach, Kelly, not Napalm!”

Yesterday's nut March 10, 2013

Alright, let’s see what we have today.

First up, the best Taxi ads.  I love the Milky Way one:

It’s kind of sweet, but still funny.  Oh the Internet, will you ever cease amazing me?

Some big news from the BSA: Both Train and Carly Rae Jepsen have cancelled their concerts at the National Jamboree because of the membership ban.  Jepsen has been welcomed by the Canadian Scouts (she’s Canadian, by the way), and the world jamboree is a joint effort by the scouts of the USA, Canada and Mexico (but hosted here in WV), but here’s the bigger question: Did anyone at national even watch the “Call Me, Maybe” video to the end?  The guy Carly is drooling over is gay.  You’d think that would have tipped them off that she’s interested in equality.

Also in BSA news, petitions were delivered to the National Geographic channel, asking them to cut “Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout,” or at least put a disclaimer before it.  Personally, I don’t really care either way, I can’t imagine it’s going to get great ratings, only based on the fact that I don’t think Nat Geo is included in many cable packages (but I may be wrong).

As Conclave approaches, I have a new candidate I want to support:

In other equality news, President Clinton is calling for the end of DOMA, the law he signed.

The hatred and bigotry of the Catholic Church leaders, further and further moves away from the Catholic laity.  In fact, 54% of Catholics support marriage equality (civil marriage I believe, but that’s kind of the point, religions can do what they want).

I can’t wait for Joss’s new movie to come out:

That’s it for now, have a great one!

“Ever notice that “what the hell” is always the right decision?”

Yesterday's nut January 26, 2013

First up, I’m at a bit of a loss for words.  Remember how the Catholic Church is strangely concerned with all of our private bits and the sex that we have?  You know, with the “pro-life” stance and the marches and the protests and whatnot?  Well, they can change that position as soon as it’s financially beneficial to them (you know, after basically killing the two children in this sad, sad story).

And just a reminder, open, legal, safe access to comprehensive health care (which includes abortion and family planning services), as well as marriage equality, results in more stable families.

People being awesome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6XUVjK9W4o

So now we can 3D print houses for use on the moon!  And of course, it’s a Mobius strip, which is totally cool!

The Good Men Project is launching the Hacker Scouts.  Building rockets, small electronics, sounds like fun.  If you’re in NYC, check it out.

The good Men Project also looks at the unthinkable: What if my son doesn’t like Star Wars?

Too nerdy not to pass up:

 The original Batmobile sold for 4.2 million.

So, in Utah you can be fired for what your boss thinks your political affiliation is.  Crazy.

That’s it for now, have a great one!

“Listen, I will sleep wherever there is flat.”

Yesterday's nut March 10, 2012

Just a real short update, two things really.  First up, the discussion has died down for now, but here’s an awesome (and short) article over at Slog about the Catholic Church’s “outrage” at the birth control mandate.

And this picture is just too adorable not to share:

You’re upset becasue you lost someone you don’t even like. You’re a crazy person.

Yesterday's nut February 15, 2012

Quick second update for everyone, let’s see what we have.

First up, two quick updates to my first valentine’s post.  If you really love someone give them roses.  Made of bacon:

Or of course, there is this Zombie valentine.  I love it!

This is floating around, and I love it. There are a couple things I would have added, and a bit of the editing is weird towards the end, but I love it:

The ongoing debate over women’s reproductive health is abhorrent.  A snipped I found from Maddow:

The Bishops’ position, which the Republicans have now adopted as their own, is that religious leaders have the right to override that decision, even though it will affect employees who have no moral or religious qualms about birth control. Writing in Newsweek, Andrew Sullivan captured the Bishops’ thinking perfectly: “Catholic doctrine should, according to the bishops’ spokesman, also apply to non-Catholics.” […]

[T]he principle seems pretty clear to me. The Bishops want a veto over public policy. And the Republicans want to give it to them.

Go read the whole thing here, and check out a cool post at Slog about the crazies that are ruining the Republican Party (and yes, I do wish that there was actually a rational conservative party.  In order to find the best solutions to our problems, we need to have good, actual debate, and we need ideas from all parts of the spectrum.  However, the reactionary Republicans that have taken over the conservative side of the spectrum are preventing that rational discussion).

And to cleanse the palate, the trailer for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPxdjECyPmw

She deserves credit for immediately going on Larry King in a manner that was dull and not newsworthy

Yesterday's nut February 12, 2012

Couple update for you guys, let’s see what we have:

First up, did you know that Bradley Manning was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize?  Pretty awesome, especially the write up.

Since we finally have some snow (I’ve been singing Christmas Carols for a few days now), check out Snow Henge (via Copyranter):

Also from Copyranter, the village of Hobbiton in New Zealand is no inhabited by sheep, and the “best” ad campaigns of all time.  No real way to to judge “best,” although they are all iconic and important in their own ways.

The Ottawa library system is starting a “Human library” feature, where you can interview people of interest for 20 minute blocks.  This is an awesome idea, I really need to get a passport and head to Ottawa, this is just remarkable!

CPAC is an annual conservative conference, and sadly, one of the most hate-filled events of the year.  Speaking of, this year, they invited (and later refused to renounce) a white supremacy speaker.  Maddow covers it here and Slog covers it here.  Disgusting.

I’ve been following the birth control debate, although not as close as I probably should have.  Reproductive health coverage is a part of health coverage, and I think it should be included (and maybe we’ll get some advances in men’s reproductive health while we’re at it).  It’s about setting a basic standard of health, which the government is saying employers are saying they must provide.  That being said, I was upset that he backed down from the Catholic Church, but will still get the same result anyway, by instead putting the onus on the insurance companies, not the employers.  So I guess in the end, it worked out, I Just hate setting the precedent that one religious denomination can dictate government health coverage decisions.

That’s it for now, have a great one!

Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways it can change someone else’s life forever.

Yesterday's nut January 5, 2012

Quick update for everyone, let’s see what I’ve rounded up this time:

First up, if you’ve seen the many parodies of “Shit Girls Say,” this is probably one of the more clever ones.  Although not accurate (unless it’s a silent order of course):

Following yesterdays political news in Iowa, BuzzFeed has 25 people google’ing “Santorum” for the first time.  Hilarity ensues.

One of the blogs I follow is UpADownA.  And they posted this very beautiful image of an oatmeal stout (my favorite kind of beer):

 

Makes me want to to drink a New Holland Poet.

George Michael (the singer, not the Arrested Development character) is rightfully pissed…after Christian groups were praying for his death while he had pneumonia.  Note to those groups: Jesus told us to love one another.  I don’t remember anything about hate.  You’re doing it wrong.

Today’s whoops from the Catholic Church.  I feel sorry for the kids though, but at least they got financial assistance.

I know it’s after Christmas, but here’s a really well-done animation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsuWPQ5ZGX4

That’s it for now, be back soon, have a great one!

“We have no right to ask when sorrow comes, “Why did this happen to me?” unless we ask the same question for every moment of happiness that comes our way”

Yesterday's nut December 31, 2011

Couple quick items for you today, check it out:

I’ve seen this before, but never with this much of a demo.  We knew it was only a matter of time:

This is an NYT article about a cool service connecting kids to useful accurate sex ed (text messaging, of course).  However, here’s the really scary sentence:

Sex education is a thorny subject for most school systems; only 13 states specify that the medical components of the programs must be accurate.

I don’t ever know how to react to that.  Rage?  Disbelief?  Do I cry or laugh, I just freaking don’t know.

And speaking of craziness and sex, did you know that Louie Vuitton (I remember in my advertising class, being one of two guys, and we both had to ask who that was), makes condoms.  And they cost $68 each.

Banksy has done a sculpture, this time, to remember the victims of the abuse of the Catholic church.  It’s an awesome piece, entitled Cardinal Sin.

Also across the pond, the Louvre is going to be offering a program where people can use their 3DS’s to take tours.  Pretty awesome!

Graph time:

And just for fun, forgot to add this graphic:

 

Remember, voting is every American’s right.  There shouldn’t be roadblocks to it (take for instance, the Iowa Republican caucuses, which have no ID requirements like those proposed around the country, although apparently in Virginia, you have to sign an oath saying you’ll vote Republican in the general election).

That’s it for this update, but I’ll be back with more soon!

Social Links

Archives

How I’m Resisting

What I’m fighting for

What I’m running from

What I’m reading

What I’m drinking

What we’re writing

What I’m running

© 2022, Michael Crane

Powered by Switty WordPress Theme.