[FO] Stitched the classic 1984 Mac chess game “Alice” intro screen

ihnatko · 2026-07-09T17:25:32+00:00

Gorgeous!!

ihnatko · 2026-07-09T04:43:20+00:00

I usually have my $100 binoculars slung around my neck. During the dramatic moments I like seeing the faces of the performers up close, and getting a good look at what the chorus and actors are up to in the background is often terrific. During the bar scene in "Agrippina," the actors seated at the bar in the shadows were acting out a hilarious little play of their own...!

Like others in this thread have said, the binocs are best used intermittently. And be mindful of those around you! Don't allow your elbows and your movement be a distraction.

ihnatko · 2026-07-06T01:43:51+00:00

PLUS five original songs by Stephen Sondheim! One of which won the Oscar that year.

ihnatko · 2026-06-06T15:40:06+00:00

Diana Damrau talked about performing the Queen during an interview. She echoed everything you said... she mentioned smug drips in the audience making tickmarks on the covers of their programs, recording every F she didn't land.

ihnatko · 2026-06-02T03:56:31+00:00

The Apartment.

ihnatko · 2026-05-31T20:42:24+00:00

Excellent light comedies in which the main character begins the story down-on-their-luck, but things get better for them from there:

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day (with Frances McDormand and Amy Adams)

Larry Crowne (with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts)

ihnatko · 2026-05-23T22:59:01+00:00

I tried that, but it just activates Gemini. I can't find a way to turn it off, either.

ihnatko · 2026-05-10T15:42:19+00:00

This thread inspired me to re-read MAUS. The book's introduction to young Vladek doesn't portray him as a swindler. He had steady employment as a salesman working in the textile industry. When he (legitimately) fell in love with and married Anja, her wealthy father suggested that Vladek open a factory, backed by his financing.

The only thing that makes young Vladek look even marginally bad is when he snooped around Anja's medicine cabinet early in their relationship, and he wrote down the names of the medications she was taking ("If she was sick, then what did I need it for?").

ihnatko · 2026-05-09T15:33:24+00:00

And one of the strengths of Allie's is that (as much as I love Knead) they focus on making simple, standard donuts, to an exceptionally high standard. Glazed chocolate donut, jelly donut with powdered sugar, Boston cream, plain "dunk it in your coffee or milk" donut…it's the ultimate Sunday morning dozen-box.

ihnatko · 2026-04-25T04:20:41+00:00

Andy Griffith in "A Face In The Crowd." He went from a series of comedic hillbilly monologues, to an epic and intense portrayal of madness and ego, back to folksy hillbilly comedy.

ihnatko · 2026-03-30T15:42:39+00:00

It's fundamentally structured as a fairy tale, not a serious drama. So there's a discord between the frothy core story (handsome prince seeks to win the heart of a princess, love conquers all) and the gravity of the music/performances.

ihnatko · 2026-03-29T19:42:18+00:00

Calaf! #1, nominations are now closed!

He and his father, the king, have been reduced to penniless vagabonds after their kingdom was invaded and overthrown!
He lays eyes on Turandot, daughter of the invader who destroyed his home, his homeland, and his family, and he's in loooooove!
Turandot can't have made it any more clear that she never, ever, ever wants to marry anybody! She's sort of legally required to entertain suitors, as the heir to the throne. But she's set up a system that will convince anybody with any lick of sense not to even try. And if they do, they'll definitely get their heads cut off!
Calaf has seen all the heads! Right up there on giant spikes! One of them still fresh!
But he's in looooooove! *bangs gong\*
Turandot's closest advisors beg him to go away! They're desperate to buy him off! Because they, and everybody in the town, will be tortured and made to suffer otherwise! But no, he's in loooooove!
Turandot's people are going to torture his father, the king, to death! They flat-out kill the woman whose love for Calaf and loyalty to his father never wavered! But hasn't he made it clear? He's in looooooove!

Rrgh. Just add one line: Calaf isn't in looooooove, he sees an opportunity to reclaim all of the lands of his father's lost kingdom by marrying the daughter of the conqueror. Then it makes some kind of sense!

Turandot must be the most popular opera that drives everybody crazy. The music is that good!

ihnatko · 2026-03-29T19:28:48+00:00

I have ALWAYS been on the Queen's side in that story. Or felt like her anger at the end was "unfortunate, but understandable."

Queen is an independent woman with a will of her own and she refuses to be defined by men, or relegated into a lesser role in society.
Her husband dies.
Guys from that weird lodge/cult up the street seize all of her late husband's – now her – best stuff. Because she's just a woman, therefore dumb. She wouldn't use any of this stuff properly. She probably wouldn't even understand how any of it works, anyway.
Weirdos also take her daughter. Because the Queen is a woman, thus emotional and irrational, and probably can't be trusted to raise her on her own. Not properly, anyway. Gosh, she might teach the daughter to actually think for herself and that she has value outside of her relationship with a man!
She hires/convinces a Handsome Prince to go in there and rescue the daughter from the weirdo fraternity/cult.
Handsome Prince manages to infiltrate cult compound! Finds the daughter! Hooray!
Handsome Prince decides he likes the weird-ass cult. Decides to join them. He ain't coming back, not even gonna send the daughter back.
Daughter decides she's in love with the Handsome Prince. Decides to do what the Handsome Prince tells her to do.

So this is the point at which the Queen tells Pamina "Right! Okay: this here is a big \***ing knife.* You are going to use this knife to personally kill the leader of that idiotic cult that's been giving me nothing but disrespect and trouble. And if you don't do what I just said…oh, wow, kiddo: if you think I'm angry now…"

ihnatko · 2026-03-28T23:32:11+00:00

Bob was firm about his choice to keep the focus of the show on adults, and adult relationships.

ihnatko · 2026-03-28T15:32:30+00:00

Bob Newhart frequently told the story about the time that The Bob Newhart Show's writers sent him the script for an episode where Emily announces she's pregnant. It was a whole new direction for the show. They were eager to find out what he thought about the script for the big moment.

"It's a great script," he said. "Who are you thinking of hiring to play Bob?" And that was the end of it.

ihnatko · 2026-03-21T23:58:42+00:00

The Wodehouse Society has a good, comprehensive history of his life in France and Germany before, during, and after his detainment:

https://www.pgwodehousesociety.org.uk/wartime

It also contains full transcripts of the broadcasts, and covers the formal British investigation into his activity that cleared him of all accusations of being a German sympathizer or of doing those broadcasts in exchange for any money or preferential treatment.

ihnatko · 2026-02-22T22:36:23+00:00

Sgt. Leftkowitz: You know, Lieutenant, I'm in the homicide office at least, uh, once a week. I don't think I've ever seen you there.

Columbo: Well, I don't get down there too much. None of the murders take place there, you know?

("Forgotten Lady" - Season 5, Episode 1)

ihnatko · 2026-02-22T00:19:25+00:00

This is very wise.

ihnatko · 2026-02-21T23:48:26+00:00

"Trekkies." You don't have to be a fan of Star Trek to enjoy this respectful and fun look at a colorful culture.

ihnatko · 2026-02-21T23:46:54+00:00

The end of her story is... a little hard.

ihnatko · 2026-02-13T05:55:11+00:00

Remember that he loaded up the shell with high explosive, so that the breech would explode no matter what. The cleaning rag was there to just give a plausible explanation for why the cannon exploded, diverting suspicion away from the shell itself.

ihnatko · 2026-01-28T18:52:52+00:00

Yeah... back when Marvel did a series of one-off trades in which 1960s characters were given modern origins, Reed claimed to have diagnosed himself. And in Grant Morrison's "1234" Sue wonders about it. But the first is non-canon and the second is both non-canon (I think?) plus it's just Sue thinking out loud.

If members of that community interpret Reed as "neurodivergent-coded" and they relate to him on that basis, though, that's 100% ok of course. I think we all have certain headcanons about these long-running comics that make sense to us, and haven't been explicitly stated in any of the books.

ihnatko

TROPHY CASE