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Why is this?

Alternative Math, and Satire Failing

And the ridiculous thing is, the comment section on YouTube is full of clueless regressives and transphobes thinking the blatant stand-ins for the Bush and Trump administrations (the actual phrase “alternative facts” originates with Kellyanne Conway), creationists, and Fox News are supposed to represent “liberals”.

The Transformers with the Most Unfortunate Transformations

Being a Transformer must be kind of awesome. I mean, you’ve got at least two options for what you be at any time, one being a (typically big) alien robot and the other often being less conspicuous but still known for speed, power, or general awesomeness.

But not every Transformer can be be a Ferrari, fighter jet, Tyrannosaurus Rex, or space battleship. Or even a Volkswagen Beetle, biplane, giraffe, or flying laser pistol. No, some have to be cassette tapes, watches (that killed Hitler), lampposts, or unidentifiable flying objects.

And then there are these guys…

I hate political ads

I think one of the main reasons why people get more annoyed by ads when watching videos online than when watching broadcast/cable television (and certainly my reason) is because the former has no real filter against repeating the same ad too close together.

Watching just one episode on Crunchyroll, I just saw the same ad seven times; three times in one break; and yes, literally twice in a row. Which is worse than usual but not unprecedented.

Except this time the ad being repeated so many times was the worst kind of ad; a political ad funded by a superPAC.

(I started to dissect the horrible content of the ad itself, but it’s not worth the amount of time it would take to finish. It was simply a particularly extreme example of how ads for horrible candidates are often full of euphemisms and dysphemisms so inaccurate that they should be considered false advertising and slander respectively. And it told me exactly what I need to know to vote against the jackass it was for.)

Authors Answer 131 – Grammatically Difficult

Then there’s the fact that nouns which refer to multiple individuals as a single unit are mostly singular in American English, mostly plural in British English, and not entirely consistent in either.

I Read Encyclopedias for Fun

English is not an easy language. It’s said to be one of the more difficult languages because of inconsistent spelling/pronunciation rules, irregular verbs, articles, and so on. But do authors find English grammar difficult? Let’s find out!

Question 131 – Which rule(s) of English grammar do you find most difficult?

H. Anthe Davis

I had a rather substandard English grammar education — I never diagrammed sentences and I didn’t know what a gerund was until I learned about it in Spanish class.  I think it was because I went to a weird little private middle school…  But anyway, since I never got rigid training in English grammar, I really just do whatever I want, and damn the rules.  Sure, I tried reading Strunk & White and other such writing advisories back when I was still honing my craft and uncertain of my voice, but adhering to strictures just got in…

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Authors Answer 66 – The Urge to Quit Writing

From my perspective, “too busy to do it” doesn’t seem like the same thing as “wanting to quit”.

I Read Encyclopedias for Fun

I quit.

No, just kidding. Some authors may feel like quitting from time to time. Writing can be difficult. The rejections from publishers can become too much. The lack of sales can discourage an author. And if someone gets overwhelmingly negative reviews, that could cause an author to quit. But have we thought about it?

Question 66 – Have you ever wanted to quit writing?

Allen Tiffany

I did quit for about 15 years. It was not so much that I wanted to so much as life got in the way. There was a lot of good stuff going on in those 15 years that kept me excited and engaged (and busy), so writing just faded way, way back. Two years ago, while I was grossly under challenged by a job that only kept me busy 6 hours a day, I started writing again. There has just been an explosion…

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Song Challenge Day 29: Stuck in my head

“A song currently stuck in your head”

I have something to say about ear worms. And I don’t mean the kind from Star Trek II.

A song’s ability to get into your head and just stay there isn’t necessarily proportional to how much you like it, even though that’s generally the way you wish it would work.

Right now, it’s “PonPonPon” by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. This song is really cute and generally feel-good, so it’s not a bad thing at all to keep hearing it…unless I’m trying to concentrate on something important.

And no, I don’t know what kind of drugs were involved in the production of the video.

Song Challenge Day 24: Anger

“A song that makes you angry”

There are songs that are about things that make me angry, but there isn’t one that’s standing out. Instead, let’s go with a particular cover that made me angry: Cee Lo Green’s version of John Lennon’s “Imagine”.

First, here is the song as it should be:

(uploaded by Rasty Adem)

Science of Anime: Capsules and Poke Balls

Some anime, especially certain shounen series, seem to have a “throw it in” mentality. They have all kinds of individual elements whose presence in the series seems unrelated to anything else in the series. This results in some really unique worldbuilding.

Dragon Ball is a great example. At it’s core, the central premise of the early parts of the series was “loosely based on Journey to the West and has magic balls that summon a wish-granting dragon”. But just look at everything we see within just the early episodes. Dinosaurs! Hovercars! Animal people! Whatever the heck Puar is! Transforming at the full moon! Then we get robots (including Arale from Dr. Slump), a manwolf (which is not the same thing as a wolfman), someone whose personality and hair color change when she sneezes, and Krillin being able to smell at first but then not after he’s reminded that he doesn’t have a nose. (Okay, that last one falls under Looney Tunes territory.)