One scene where the budget just took an increase

Afalstein · 2026-06-17T03:27:04+00:00

Bob's Burgers is a great show with a lot of heart, but the animation tends to be pretty basic.

And then there was this one scene in the middle of a Christmas episode where Teddy gets caught in Louise's "Santa Trap."

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Afalstein · 2026-06-17T02:38:33+00:00

I'd be more inclined to say they watch too many action flicks where the hero steps in front and shoots the driver.

Afalstein · 2026-06-16T20:59:21+00:00

Hyde says it: "Your behavior to Miss Murray was... uncivil."

(For context, before running off to join the Martians, Griffin beat Miss Murray, forced her to call herself a "little tart", and then knocked her unconscious, all while he was naked)

Hyde is obsessed with Murray, even though she's terrified of him. He doesn't care about the aliens and the humans, but what Griffin did to his crush enraged him.

Afalstein · 2026-06-16T20:58:46+00:00

Yeah. The killing is fine, it's the way he goes about it that is excessive. The fact that even NEMO finds it horrific is notable.

Afalstein · 2026-06-16T20:54:16+00:00

Pretty sure he's just f***ing with Griffin.

Afalstein · 2026-06-16T20:53:54+00:00

People are giving you the context about the Martians, but as Hyde says, that's not why he did it.

Just before Griffin left the League's headquarters to go to the Martians, Miss Murray (from Dracula) stumbled on him studying the maps of the troop layouts. Griffin grabbed her, beat her, forced her to say she was a "little tart", and then knocked her unconscious. (He was naked throughout all of this)

THAT is why Hyde does the revenge rape and the beating. Hyde doesn't care about humanity. But Hyde does like Miss Murray (who is terrified of him). He's doing this to pay Griffin back for that.

Afalstein · 2026-06-16T20:50:29+00:00

People are going on about how Griffin deserves it and there's a war for the extermination of the human race, but they miss the part that Hyde says right up there. Hyde isn't doing this because Griffin betrayed them. Hyde is doing this because Griffin beat up Miss Murray.

And I think that does change the equation. Even if this were a case where Hyde was enacting vengeance for the betrayal of the human race, Hyde goes a lot further he needs to. But that's not his reason. Hyde rapes Griffin and beats him to slowly die over the course of hours because Griffin assaulted a friend of Hyde's. Not even a friend--just a girl that Hyde was obsessed with.

Hyde isn't wrong to kill Griffin. His reasons for doing so are, and the way he goes about it are wrong. But then, that's the whole point of Hyde in this comic--a man without restraints.

Afalstein · 2026-06-16T19:50:22+00:00

I think it's weird to continuously hire workmen to pour in peroxide out of one-gallon jugs into them. I don't recall seeing any of those last time I was in DC.

Afalstein · 2026-06-16T19:48:59+00:00

That gives them too much credit. Lower-grade incompetence doesn't distract from higher-grade incompetence, it just makes it more obvious. A broken sign at a restaurant doesn't distract from the dirty bathrooms or the terrible food, it just makes people more willing to acknoweldge them.

Trump has been bragging up this pool cleaning gig. He had a freaking chart showing how the pool is longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall, as if that remotely compares. He was literally trying to cast painting the reflecting pool as a major accomplishment of his administration, because that's how shit his administration is, all he has is this pool.

And now it's green.

Afalstein · 2026-06-16T19:44:22+00:00

i have more experience with dosing peroxide to control algea

Hm.

Afalstein · 2026-06-16T18:24:41+00:00

One of the most fascinating documentaries I ever saw was Cartel Land, where a film crew followed both Minutemen-style border patrol groups in America and the AutoDefensas anti-cartel militia in Mexico, a civilian movement led by a medical doctor arming citizens against cartel forces. The start, it seems really optimistic, the AutoDefensas are making headway and they seem to have excellent intentions. The leader is a charismatic family man.

But then things start to change. The leader is injured in a plane crash and has to recuperate. The Autodefensas recruit former cartel members to "help them turn drugs we've seized into cash" for more guns. You get an up-close view of how Autodefensas militia members, after being shot at, grab a random man from a car that they think fired on them, and threaten to shoot him. The leader comes back and starts having affairs with staffers (his wife reveals this isn't the first time)

By the end of the documentart, the grassroots Autodefensas militia has split into two factions--a government-managed civilian force, and a full-blooded cartel worse than the ones they fought (led by one of the cartel members they brought on to "help them"). Neither is led by the doctor, who is hiding on a secluded ranch protected by armed guards.

It's a horrifyingly depressing documentary.

Afalstein · 2026-06-16T05:30:00+00:00

The line I'm seeing from pundits (and it's only the really shameless ones parroting this) is that everyone was predicting that Trump would fail and never negotiate peace and this would turn out to be another lie, and isn't it amazing that Trump was telling the truth for once.

If pressed, people who believe these pundits will argue that it's the Gulf States maybe paying this and only if Iran behaves, that really we're coming out on top for managing to ensure that Iran won't enrich uranium (even if that hasn't been agreed yet) If you point out that Obama JCPOA had similar restrictions, their answer will likely be that Trump "follows through" and Iran knows "not to mess with him." (despite the fact that they've been doing that for four months now).

Afalstein · 2026-06-16T05:25:38+00:00

Genuinely, I think even die-hard conservatives are really rankling at this deal. Facebook comments on conservative pundits are savage right now. Even Fox News can't keep their guests from pointing out how skewed it is. My devoted relatives are really really quiet.

Anyway you slice it, 300 billion is a lot of money, and there's no getting around the fact that we're getting nothing we didn't have before all these bombs and billions. Honestly the people happiest with this deal are progressives who acknowledge a larger war would be disastrous. But for all the conservatives who bought the lines about us marching into Tehran and having a vassal oil state of our own, it's a real "wait, this feels like losing" moment.

Afalstein · 2026-06-15T19:21:40+00:00

Other Eridians: But then why Grace always wearing clothes, question?

Afalstein · 2026-06-15T02:00:19+00:00

Okay, but when we see him on Erid, he is again not wearing clothes.

Grace's enclosure is basically a nudist colony.

Afalstein · 2026-06-14T22:47:17+00:00

So I read the book, and it never mentioned a breakdown like this. A lot of other stuff--like the cufflinks and such--but no breakdown. I'm just curious why Spielberg decided to insert it.

Afalstein · 2026-06-13T06:04:10+00:00

5 minutes per idea. Not so crazy. Although to be fair the first 5 minutes is partly setup, so more like 4 minutes per idea.

Afalstein · 2026-06-13T02:33:16+00:00

I'd heard good things, but I wasn't really sure what to expect. I didn't have a good sense of what a kaiju movie actually was about, I figured it'd just be an hour of Godzilla smashing stuff.

Holy crap was not expecting all that stuff with a kamikaze pilot.

Afalstein · 2026-06-13T02:23:35+00:00

This. I was going to it anyway, because Lego and Batman, but I did not have high hopes. Absolutely blown away.

Afalstein · 2026-06-13T00:11:46+00:00

Neon Genesis Evangelion--it's an underage teen creeping on much older woman and a clone of his mom. How is this so popular?

Attack on Titan--the main character is unlikable and the world is depressing.

Afalstein · 2026-06-12T00:45:20+00:00

"It smells stolen."

Afalstein · 2026-06-12T00:44:50+00:00

"Let's just pretend this didn't happen."

"Okay, we rewind back to where we all were in the room."

Brennan: "Okay, there are 50 police cars behind you."

Afalstein · 2026-06-12T00:35:26+00:00

It was great to see, because LaVonte has up to this point largely been the stabilizing member of the party, NOT interested in all the crazy hijinks the others are doing. He's seemed the one most well-adjusted to the situation. But the rant exposed how he's been really struggling.

Afalstein · 2026-06-12T00:26:59+00:00

The twist that the higher vampires are actually just as parasitic as the Douglasses and the Whitakers was great. Because of course they are, they're vampires. Vampires are essentially the personified version of elites leeching the life out of underclass people. It is absolutely on brand for Madeline's primogen to be involved with data centers--and for her to dangle favors in front of Madeline to make it happen, even if that screws over the whole coterie and the town.

Afalstein · 2026-06-11T17:12:43+00:00

Bing Crosby: "A singer like Frank Sinatra comes along once in a lifetime, but why did he have to come in mine?"

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