Kickstarter by an autistic writer/artist.
The Big Soup: Growing up Autistic
Autistic graphic memoir about compassion, as well as an educational testimony about understanding those who are different
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cloudscape/the-big-soup-growing-up-autistic
More photos of the Flying Saucer cactus in full bloom.
May the Fourth be with you!
A thunderstorm cell powered through last night before we went to bed, gracing us with thunder, lightning, and a pleasant downpour.
When I stepped onto the porch this morning, I saw someone walking what looked like three large Standard Poodles on short leashes. I blinked and looked again. It was three sheep. Sheep! The were pale caramel in color. I can’t imagine who has sheep in this neighborhood, but there they were, out for a morning stroll.
In honor of the Fourth, the Flying Saucer cacti have six flowers in full bloom and it’s a stunning sight. We’ve never had more than two flowers at a time. Plus, there are seven more buds that could potentially bloom after this. This is also a new thing to have flowers in full bloom and buds that haven’t grown yet, so we don’t quite know what will happen. It’s also the first time any of the baby cacti have had buds. What a treat.
1 of 2 posts with photos
It has begun! The Flying Saucer cacti flowers are in the process of opening for their one day of life.
The sequence of photos was taken at 5:30 pm, 6:30 pm, and 7:40 pm, to give an idea of how quickly this happens.
Morning delights:
A Canada Geese parade crossing a neighbor’s driveway. Mama goose proudly leading the way. Six or seven yellow gosling fluffballs in her wake. Papa goose protectively bringing up the rear. Obie unwisely showed interest in the goslings, so Randy made sure he didn’t try anything. Though I would think an outdoor cat like Obie would know better than to tangle with parental geese.
Our ice plants are putting out brilliant flowers, like little sunbursts.
The Flying Saucer cactus buds keep growing. This will be an amazing display.
Another day, another writer-scam email. This was a typical scam that’s making the rounds a lot – a film company is wildly interested in something I wrote and is simply dying to promote it.
I began my career in TV and film production before becoming a full-time writer in TV, film, animation and so on. I know the inside of this business very well.
In this instance, they didn’t imitate a real person (no such person shows up in a search), but they gave the URL of a genuine film company. It’s a UK company that makes small, low-budget movies for Netflix. They have a valid website and are listed on IMDB.com. The scammer probably hopes I would see the valid company and assume the email was valid as well.
The red flags are also typical, but worth mentioning:
• The body of the message is full of details about a comic book series I wrote for DC Comics, details that AI must have scraped off the net.
• The writing is way over-the-top flowery crap full of excessive praise and meaningless bullshit.
• The email address is yet another fake gmail address.
• Any real production company would contact my agent, not me.
• Any real production company would know that this series is owned by DC Comics, not me.
• They are just dying to make me a cinematic trailer script FOR FREE! No, no production company anywhere would offer something as absurd as this, especially for a non-existent project.
It’s odd that both major scams feature companies in the UK, even though I’m a USian writer.
I’ve had to fight the temptation to send them to my FUCK OFF page, but it’s better not to respond to these at all, dammit.
I came across this in the Cynosis newsletter:
“The FCC’s Media Bureau issued a public notice Wednesday requesting feedback on whether TV ratings should better alert parents when children’s programming includes transgender or non-binary themes. The agency is also seeking input on the transparency of the TV Oversight Management Board, which administers the ratings system, and on the accuracy of its current guidelines.”
In other words, it’s another attempt to censor gender-identity content.
That led me to the document that spells it out in detail. Link to the PDF in comments.
It says, in part: “Recently, parents have raised concerns that controversial gender identity issues are being included or promoted in children’s programs without providing any disclosure or transparency to parents. Specifically, the industry guidelines that parents rely on are rating shows with transgender and gender non-binary programming as appropriate for children and young children, and doing so without providing this information to parents, thereby undermining the ability of parents to make informed choices for their families. Consistent with Congress’s vision for the ratings system, we seek comment on whether the industry’s approach is continuing to provide the information that is relevant to parents today.”
In other words, bogus bullshit about supposedly concerned parents is being used as the excuse to censor this content.
It gives a way for comments to be filed electronically, but it’s a lot of work. I don’t like letting them get away with this, though.
https://www.fcc.gov/document/media-bureau-seeks-comment-tv-ratings-system-empower-parents
Tom Waits & Massive Attack in a powerful new protest music video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-57FrioeuE&list=RDL-57FrioeuE&start_radio=1
The Chaos Weather God woke up, looked around, and said “I’m bored.”
Which is why we had a pleasant sunny morning followed by potent thunderstorm.
Now all is quiet again and very wet.
Christy Marx Rambling Writer
