A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
Americans drive much more than in any other country – twice as much as the average German, for example. And the actual experience of driving isn’t quite as romantic as the image. Drivers are often stuck in traffic. Cars pump out pollution. Less walking means less exercise. Cars also can kill people. Some skeptics say, indeed–cars are awesome. But they got a lot of help from favorable policies and strong lobbies. CNBC spoke with some researchers and looked at numbers to get the full picture of why Americans became so dependent on cars.
I promised coverage of the television nominees at the Saturn Awards as this week's Sunday entertainment feature, but technology didn't cooperatetwice, then the router arrived today and my wife set it up while I was at work — thanks! — so I'm uploading it today.
I begin by returning to Deadline Hollywood, which reported "Among the TV nominees, Showtime/Paramount+’s Dexter: Resurrection led the way with six nominations, followed by Andor, It: Welcome to Derry and Stranger Things with five apiece." This list, which passed my accuracy check, sets my agenda for the first four posts examining the television nominees, so I begin with Dexter: Resurrection and the shows nominated against it.
Best Thriller Television Series:
Dark Winds
Dexter: Resurrection
The Lowdown
MobLand
The Rainmaker
Your Friends and Neighbors
As Deadline Hollywood reported, Dexter: Resurrection leads both all television nominees and the nominees in this category with six nominations, while the rest of the nominees in this field have only this one nomination, so it's the favorite. It helps that at least two accounts on Twitter are mounting an awards campaign for Dexter: Resurrection. I didn't vote for it. Instead, I voted for Dark Winds, which my wife and I are fans of. I won't be disappointed if it loses to Dexter: Resurrection. In fact, I expect it.
I won't complain about the quality of the field, but I'm making a note to myself to submit my own list of thriller and mystery TV series next December. If I had done so last year, it wouldn't have changed my vote or the likely winner, but I might at least know who the other nominees are.
Follow over the jump for the actors from Dexter: Resurrection nominated at the Saturn Awards.
My wife turned her phone into a mobile hot spot and I was able to connect my desktop to it and read my blog, but I could not upload my post. At least we tried. The router should arrive tomorrow and I have one entry ready to share and two more at least half-written. I'll be ready when I can do more than post from my phone. Stay tuned!
I have the post written, but my router failed last night, so I can't upload it from my desktop. I'm writing this on my phone. My wife and I have ordered a new router that will be shipped overnight. When it arrives and is installed, I will upload the entry. Stay tuned.
Since it's complete liquidation in 2018, the Toys R Us brand was seemingly dead. However, following its revival in 2019 with brand new stores, it appeared that the brand had a new lease on life. But, even that resurgence was plagued with issues and now with new owners, Toys R Us is back for a third time! Join me today for this updated look on what has happened with the iconic Toys R Us company.
While I'm happy to see Toys R Us return to the U.S., I'm sad to see what's happened to the brand in Canada and Australia. The Retail Apocalypse is not just an American phenomenon; just ask Hudson's Bay Company.
That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for coverage of the television nominees at the Saturn Awards as tomorrow's Sunday entertainment feature.
As I promisedtwice, I'm completing my coverage of the movie nominees at the Saturn Awards before moving on to television. I'm shuffling the order of categories a bit to feature Best Animated Film first.
Best Animated Film:
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
The Bad Guys 2
Elio
KPop Demon Hunters
The SpongeBob Movie: Search For Squarepants
Zootopia 2
The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films instituted a new award this year, Best International Animated Film, and here are its nominees.
Best International Animated Film (New Category)
Attack on Titan the Movie: The Last Attack
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
The Colors Within
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
Ne Zha 2
Stitch Head
The next logical category and the last one today is Best International Film.
Best International Film:
40 Acres
Bring Her Back
Dead of Winter
Night Call
The Ugly Stepsister
Sisu 2: Road to Revenge
I voted for Bring Her Back because it was the one I'd heard the most about and it has the highest IMDB rating of all the nominees in this category. That doesn't mean it will will win. The original Sisu won two years ago and I wouldn't be surprised if its sequel wins this year.
That's a wrap for today's installment. Stay tuned for the television nominations next, either tomorrow or Sunday.
In this video, Flux City takes viewers inside Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, Michigan—just days after Crain's Detroit Business reported that a court-appointed receiver was announced for the second time in less than a decade.
Once a regional shopping destination that opened in 1976, Fairlane now finds itself at the center of mounting financial distress: millions in unpaid property taxes, alleged missing tenant rent, deferred maintenance, and a history of ownership instability since the start of the COVID-19 era.
As the mall faces potential foreclosure and an uncertain future, this walking tour captures the real-time condition of the property and the broader implications for Dearborn, retail real estate, and legacy suburban malls across the country.
Watching the video open and close with Eddy being ejected for recording inside the mall reminds me of one of my earlier mall entries, Steampunk fans ejected from San Diego area mall. As I quoted KPBS four years later, "Malls are private property. They have the right to determine who shops there." This means you (and Eddy, too)!
Here's to receivership saving Fairlane Town Center.
Stay tuned for the final installment of my coverage of the movie nominees at the Saturn Awards tomorrow.
Adulthood
Eden
Dust Bunny
Good Boy
The Rule of Jenny Pen
The Plague
The Toxic Avenger
As the preview image shows, Dust Bunny leads with five nominations, while the rest of the field have just this one. On that basis, it's the favorite and I voted for it. As a "professional's choice," it's acceptable, as it had two nominations at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, including for Best First Feature. However, if I hadn't counted its total nominations at the Saturn Awards, I might have voted for The Plague, which earned three nominations at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, one of which resulted a win for Kayo Martin as Best Breakthrough Performance. It also earned a nomination at the Critics Choice Awards for Everett Blunck as Best Young Actor/Actress. That might have been a better "professional" choice, but it doesn't have the weird factor most of the other nominees, including Dust Bunny, have, which would make them more attractive to a group of genre film fans. For what it's worth, Good Boy also earned a nomination at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. It has the weird factor and a dog for a protagonist. Good boy, indeed — woof!
In visionary creator Bryan Fuller’s (“Hannibal,” “Pushing Daisies”) fantastical and wickedly inventive feature directorial debut Dust Bunny, a 10-year-old girl joins forces with her hit man neighbor to confront each other’s monsters.
Ten-year-old Aurora has a mysterious neighbor (Mads Mikkelsen) who kills real-life monsters. He’s a hit man for hire. So, when Aurora needs help killing the monster she believes ate her entire family, she procures his services. Suspecting that her parents may have fallen victim to assassins gunning for him, Aurora’s neighbor guiltily takes the job. Now, to protect her, he’ll need to battle an onslaught of assassins - and accept that some monsters are real.
My wife and I viewed this trailer and put Dust Bunny on our watch list.
I have one more post planned for the movie nominees before moving on to television. That's scheduled for Friday. In the meantime, stay tuned for another short evergreen educational entry tomorrow.
It's time to say goodbye to the Year of the Snake and hello to the Year of the Horse. What do you know about the Year of the Horse?
0:00 Kai Feng, reporter for ABC Chinese, explains the significance of the horse in Chinese culture and history, 0:49 why 2026 is a 'fire' year, 5:10 and how people across Asia celebrate Lunar New Year.
Not only did ABC News (Australia) explain Lunar New Year, it explained the importance of horses to humans. Bonus educational content!
Is this how civilizations end? As climate disasters intensify, some cities survive — and others collapse. So what makes the difference?
In this episode of Weathered, host Maiya May investigates what history reveals about system collapse, failed cities, and civilizations that didn’t survive climate shocks. Were they doomed? Or did they miss warning signs we’re seeing today?
With climate disasters and global warming accelerating, researchers Luke Kemp and strategic climate risk expert Laurie Laybourn break down the common patterns behind civilization collapse — and the 5 strategies that can help modern societies avoid the same fate.
If you’ve ever wondered:
Is it the end of the world?
When do systems collapse?
Can cities survive climate change?
How do we prevent total societal collapse?
This episode explores what history teaches us — and why it’s not too late to change course.
Because collapse isn’t inevitable. But survival isn’t automatic either.
When I created this blog, I called it "A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it." I've shifted away from that, making this more "A blog about sustainability with a science fiction slant and a Detroit perspective," as it says on the Crazy Eddie's Motie News Facebook page (if you're still on Facebook, please follow), but I've never changed the description here after 15 years. That's because, deep down, I still believe in the mission I set for myself in March 2011.
On that note, here are the five strategies Maiya May and her guests propose to avoid collapse: situational awareness, adaptation, speed, democracy, and storytelling. On this blog, I'm sharing and telling stories to make people more aware of the situation, get prepared for the future, and encourage speedy responses and democracy. The last two seem like contradictions, as democracy is not known for rapid decisions, but I agree with May and her guests that both are necessary, if not easy. I hope my readers and I are up for the task.
On the third Monday in February, the United States celebrates the federal holiday known as Presidents Day. The day takes place during the birth month of the country's two most prominent presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. While the day once only honored President George Washington on his birthday, February 22nd, the day now never lands on a single president's birthday.
Across the country, most Americans know the day as Presidents Day. More and more of the population celebrates the day to honor all of the past United States Presidents who have served the country. Throughout the country, organizations and communities celebrate the day with public ceremonies.
Marlo Anderson celebrated all the Presidents' pets, which reminded me that Hoover Harding Cleveland is in fairly sparse company. As Wikipedia notes, "Only James K. Polk, Andrew Johnson, and Donald Trump did not have any presidential pets while in office" — something else Hoover Harding Cleveland has in common with Andrew Johnson besides having a majority of Senators vote to convict him after being impeached!
