'Strange Darling' leads Best Thriller Film nominees with seven nominations

I told my readers to "stay tuned for more Saturn Awards coverage" today, but I didn't say which category. That's because the leading nominees for Best Horror Film and Best Thriller Film each have seven nominations and I wasn't sure if I would save the horror nominees for Friday the 13th. I probably will, so thriller films it is.

Best Thriller Film:
Blink Twice
Civil War
Saltburn
Speak No Evil
Strange Darling
Wolfs

As the subject line states, Strange Darling, which is ironically the one film in this field I hadn't heard of before the Saturn Awards were announced, leads with seven nominations. Civil War has two, and the rest each only have one. Normally, I'd vote for the most mainstream choice and the political thriller, Civil War, but I'll see if Strange Darling Exclusive Trailer (2024) can persuade me.

Check out the Official Trailer for Strange Darling starring Kyle Gallner and Willa Fitzgerald!

O.K., I'm persuaded. It looks more fun and more scary than Civil War, so I'm voting for it, especially after I renewed my Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Film Academy membership this morning.

Stay tuned for more Saturn Awards coverage, although tomorrow is Gingerbread House Day and I have a driving update to write, since Pearl's odometer rolled over another 1,000 miles yesterday. Decisions, decisions.

Previous posts about the 2024-2025 Saturn Awards

• 'Dune: Part Two' leads movie nominations at the Saturn Awards
• 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' leads fantasy films at the Saturn Awards with 13 nominations
• 'Deadpool & Wolverine,' 'Agatha All Along,' 'The Penguin,' and 'X-Men '97' — superheroes at the Saturn Awards

AI researchers among those recognized on Nobel Prize Day

Happy Nobel Prize Day! Take it away, National Day Calendar!


More from the website.

On December 10th, Nobel Prize Day recognizes the annual award established by Alfred Nobel. Alfred Nobel signed his third and last will at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris on November 27, 1895. When it was opened and read after his death, the will caused a lot of controversy both in Sweden and internationally, as Nobel had left much of his wealth to establish a prize. His family opposed creating the Nobel Prize, and the prize awarders he named refused to do what he had requested in his will. It was five years before the first Nobel Prize could be awarded in 1901.
...
At the age of 17, Swedish Alfred Nobel spoke five languages fluently and became an inventor and businessman. At the time of his death on 10 December 1896, he had 355 patents worldwide – one of them was the patent on dynamite. Furthermore, he had started 87 companies all over the world. In his will, Nobel directed his enormous fortune to be used to establish prizes to award those who had done their best to benefit humankind. Each prize would recognize the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. In 1901, the Nobel Prize committee awarded the first prizes five years after Nobel's death. The committee added another prize in 1969: "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel."
...
Each year on 10 December, a ceremony is held in Stockholm, Sweden on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death. In 1901, the committee kept the first winners secret until the 10 December ceremony. Since then, the committee announces the Nobel Laureates in October each year. In December, they gather in Stockholm for the ceremony and receive their prizes from the Swedish King. The winners receive a Nobel diploma, a medal, and 10 million Swedish crowns per prize. All Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, with the exception of the Peace Prize. The recipient of the Peace Prize receives the award in Oslo, Norway. (When Alfred Nobel was alive, Norway and Sweden were united under one monarch. In 1905, Norway became an independent kingdom with its own king.)

Now for this year's Nobel Prize winners from India's Down to Earth.

The prestigious Nobel Awards for the year 2024, were announced last week. As Artificial Intelligence takes the centre stage across the globe, the 2024 Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to two AI & ANN researchers/experts.
Along with that, the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to an organisation of survivors of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombings, highlighting the need for disarmament.
The duo — John Hopfield from Princeton University, United States and Geoffrey Hinton from the University of Toronto, Canada — have been awarded for the “foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.”
Machine learning is a type of artificial intelligence and artificial neural network (ANN) — a machine learning programme designed to mimic the brain. The duo were awarded for laying the groundwork for machine learning in the 1980s which served as a prototype for the present-day advancements in artificial intelligence.

Hopfield and Hinton weren't the only winners recognized for using AI in their research.

Three scientists share the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on proteins, the molecules that drive chemical reactions and perform essential functions.
Demis Hassabis and John M Jumper from Google DeepMind have been awarded the prize for using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict the three-dimensional (3D) structure of almost all known proteins. Meanwhile, David Baker from the University of Washington has been honoured for designing a new protein that does not exist in nature.

Time declared Sam Altman 2023's CEO of the Year for leading OpenAI, so this has been quite the year for AI.

I remain with an Indian source, The Hindu, to examine the Nobel prize science winners 2024 | All you need to know.

The 2024 Nobel Prizes in the sciences have recognised groundbreaking research spanning artificial intelligence, gene regulation, and protein structures.

In this video, we will look at the recipients and their contributions.

That's it for this year's winners. I plan on examining the IgNobel Prize winners on April Fools Day. In the meantime, stay tuned for more Saturn Awards coverage tomorrow.

'Deadpool & Wolverine,' 'Agatha All Along,' 'The Penguin,' and 'X-Men '97' — superheroes at the Saturn Awards

I told my readers "I'm planning on covering the Best Action Film nominees Monday" as part of my conclusion to 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' leads fantasy films at the Saturn Awards with 13 nominations. Here are the nominees for Best Action/Adventure Film.

Best Action / Adventure Film:
Argylle
Deadpool & Wolverine
Fall Guy The
Fly Me to the Moon
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Twisters

As Deadline reported and the Saturn Awards excerpted, "Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine had 10 nominations." Twisters has two, and the rest have only this one category nomination. Based on those criteria, I expect Deadpool & Wolverine will win and I'm voting for it, although I'm not entirely happy to vote for it in this category over Twisters. I was hoping to vote for each movie in separate categories. Time to revisit my predictions, beginning with one from Jason Momoa's message for World Oceans Day.

I predicted that "I'm looking for Aquaman 2 to earn a nomination at the next EMA Awards" in The 2023-2024 Environmental Media Association Awards nominees. I'm also looking forward to seeing the movie on the next Saturn Awards ballot. Too bad it's almost certain to get crushed by Deadpool & Wolverine. The Marvel streak will continue.

I griped about the change in categories in 'Dune: Part Two' leads movie nominations at the Saturn Awards.

This year, there is no Best Superhero Film category. If it still existed, it would probably have had a full field of six nominees, Deadpool & Wolverine, Venom: The Last Dance, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Joker: Folie à Deux, Madame Web, and The Marvels, so lack of superhero films is not the issue; lack of quality superhero films is. In addition to the two Saturn Awards nominees, two were good or at least O.K. films with so-so box office numbers, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Marvels, and two are likely Razzie nominees, Joker: Folie à Deux and Madame Web. I'm pretty sure both of them will be nominated for Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel and one of them will almost certainly win. I suspect the Saturn Awards didn't want to recognize such mediocrity during a down year for superhero films. That didn't stop them from nominating other potential Razzie nominees, such as Megalopolis, but the absence of a superhero movie category stands out.

That foiled my prediction of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom being on the ballot. On the other hand, my prediction from Bill Maher's 'New Rule: The Great Garbage Election' plus the EMA Awards winners came true.

I also expect to see Twisters nominated for Best Action/Adventure Film at the upcoming Saturn Awards. So far, it has my vote.

Not any more, not against Deadpool & Wolverine.

While they didn't recognize Superhero Films this year, the Saturn Awards are still recognizing Superhero Television Series, so I'm doing something I haven't done since 'Birds of Prey' and 'The Flash' lead comic-book and superhero movies and television nominees — DCEU and Arrowverse at the Saturn Awards three years ago, examine superhero nominees on both the big and medium screen. Follow over the jump.

Matt Gaetz, Hunter Biden, and Juan Soto visit the Church Lady on 'SNL'

Happy Sunday! It's time for highlights of last night's Saturday Night Live beginning with Church Chat 2024 Cold Open.

Church Lady (Dana Carvey) interviews Matt Gaetz (Sarah Sherman), Hunter Biden (David Spade) and Juan Soto (Marcello Hernández).

Yes, Satan had a good year, and it's not over yet.

I haven't featured Weekend Update since 'SNL' reacts to the election and Weekend Update: Manhunt for CEO Assassin, President Biden Pardons Son Hunter shows what a busy news week it's been.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like the ongoing manhunt for the man who assassinated the CEO of United Healthcare.

I don't recall ever seeing so little sympathy for a murder victim, which SNL still managed to make light of successfully. Even so, it looks like the writers couldn't make a joke out of "deny, delay, depose," which echoes Delay, Deny, Defend, the title of a book outlining how insurance companies refuse to play claims. The killer couldn't have made his motive any clearer.

Sean "Diddy" Combs earned mentions both here and the cold open, qualifying this as the Sunday entertainment feature, and there will be more about movies over the jump, but I'm moving on to sports in the next segment, A Mom Whose Son Just Got Famous.

A mom (Heidi Gardner) whose son (Marcello Hernández) just got famous stops by Weekend Update to discuss navigating her son’s overnight success.

In case you think Heidi Gardner isn't realistic as Marcello Hernández's mother, you should see his real mom; Heidi isn't far off. Also, Marcello does a good parodic impression of an athlete, both here and in the cold open.

Follow over the jump for the rest of last night's highlights.

'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' leads fantasy films at the Saturn Awards with 13 nominations

I ended 'Dune: Part Two' leads movie nominations at the Saturn Awards with today's topic.

Stay tuned for Best Fantasy Film and Best International Film nominees tomorrow. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice vs. Godzilla!

Here are the nominees for Best Fantasy Film.

Best Fantasy Film:
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
My Old Ass
Poor Things
Wonka

As Deadline reported and the Saturn Awards excerpted, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice earned 13 nominations, followed by Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire with four, Wonka with three, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire with two, and one each for My Old Ass and Poor Things. Seeing Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire with only two nominations makes me re-evaluate what I wrote about the movie in 'Godzilla Minus One' wins two Critics Choice Super Awards plus an entertainment retrospective.

As for Godzilla Minus One, I'm looking forward to seeing it on my Saturn Awards ballot later this year, where I have it penciled in as my vote for Best International Film, along with Poor Things and The Boy and the Heron, which are my current choices for Best Fantasy Film and Best Animated Film, respectively. That written, I already think Poor Things will lose to the kaiju movie currently in theaters, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire for Best Fantasy Film. In addition Godzilla will face friendly fire, as I would not be surprised if both Godzilla Minus One and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire both earn nominations for Best Fantasy Film. Only if the kaiju fans split their votes in this category does Poor Things stand a chance of winning at the Saturn Awards, given that "the Saturn Awards are about entertainment not art, they don't care for subtle, and they love to stick it to the experts."

I can brag about all of the films I predicted would be on the Saturn Awards ballot making it there: Godzilla Minus One is nominated for Best International Film, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and Poor Things are nominated for Best Fantasy Film, and The Boy and the Heron earned a nomination for Best Animated Film. I think I'm also still right about Poor Things, but for the wrong reasons. It may lose to Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire for Best Fantasy Film, but no one except the tabulators will know this; instead, I'm sure that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will win this award. I didn't consider it in my calculations because I wasn't sure about the eligibility period, which I figured would extend until about October 1, 2024, but didn't know Beetlejuice Beetlejuice's release date. Had I known, I might have adjusted my prediction. Speaking of release dates, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is available for streaming on Max today and my wife and I are planning on watching it. If it lives up to my expectations, I'm voting for it in this category and Jenna Ortega as Best Younger Performer in a Film.

On the other hand, I was wrong about some other predictions, but I'm not whining; I'm relieved. The movie committee did not nominate Godzilla Minus One for Best Fantasy Film, so it and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire are not competing with each other in that category. Also, they could have nominated The Boy and the Heron for Best International Film as well. They didn't, so the two Oscar winners aren't competing against each other. I think the selection committee made the right decisions, so I'm not complaining.

Since I mentioned both Best International Film and Best Animated Film, follow over the jump for the nominees in those categories and my opinions of them.

'Dune: Part Two' leads movie nominations at the Saturn Awards

I expected to be busy with the Saturn Awards later this month. Later turned out to be now.

Tentpoles Dune: Part Two, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Deadpool & Wolverine and TV series including Fallout and Agatha All Along lead nominations for the 52nd Saturn Awards, which recognize the year’s best genre movies and series.

Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two topped the overall noms list with 14 including Best Science Fiction Film and acting noms for Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya among others, followed by studio stablemate Beetlejuice 2 with 13 noms including Best Fantasy Film; Warner Bros topped all studios with 35 noms.

Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine had 10 nominations.

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films published that excerpt from Deadline yesterday after announcing the nominations on their main website Wednesday, where they also declared voting had opened and would close December 15th. Time to get cracking on covering these awards, beginning with Best Science Fiction Film!

Best Science Fiction Film:
Dune: Part Two
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Megalopolis
Venom: The Last Dance

As the Deadline excerpt above stated and I double-checked, Dune: Part Two earned 14 nominations to lead not only science fiction films, but all movie nominees. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ranked second with eight nominations, followed by The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes with five, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga with three, and Megalopolis and Venom: The Last Dance with one each. Those totals alone make Dune: Part Two the favorite to win this category. I already penciled this movie in as my vote in this category and its lead in nominations just made me ink it in.

Speaking of double-checking, I wanted to see if Deadline not including 20th Century Studios and Searchlight productions in Disney's total nominations would have had an effect. It didn't; all Disney properties together have 28 movie nominations. Warner Brothers still leads with 35 film nominations. That's one less error than usual.

Before I go on to the rest of Dune: Part Two's nominations, I'm making an observation about the inclusion of Venom: The Last Dance among science fiction film nominees. It's a comic-book/superhero movie, and would usually have been in that category. This year, there is no Best Superhero Film category. If it still existed, it would probably have had a full field of six nominees, Deadpool & Wolverine, Venom: The Last Dance, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Joker: Folie à Deux, Madame Web, and The Marvels, so lack of superhero films is not the issue; lack of quality superhero films is. In addition to the two Saturn Awards nominees, two were good or at least O.K. films with so-so box office numbers, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Marvels, and two are likely Razzie nominees, Joker: Folie à Deux and Madame Web. I'm pretty sure both of them will be nominated for Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel and one of them will almost certainly win. I suspect the Saturn Awards didn't want to recognize such mediocrity during a down year for superhero films. That didn't stop them from nominating other potential Razzie nominees, such as Megalopolis, but the absence of a superhero movie category stands out.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominations for Dune: Part Two and the other science fiction films.

Colbert on Ron DeSantis possibly replacing Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary nominee

Yesterday, I covered Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow reacting to the Hunter Biden pardon. Today, it's Stephen Colbert's monologue, Trump Considers DeSantis Over Hegseth | Zuckerberg Dines At Mar-A-Lago | South Korea’s Six Hour Coup.

President-elect Trump's support for his Defense Secretary nominee may be teetering as Pete Hegseth's colleagues at Fox News say he frequently showed up drunk at work, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is working to gain influence in Trump's incoming administration, and Stephen looks into the wild details of an attempted coup by South Korea's president.

I think that Ron DeSantis becoming Secretary of Defense, like the nominations of Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr., to be a case of failing upwards. To be fair, it would also be like Pam Bondi replacing Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, an improvement, someone terrible but at least competent replacing someone terrible who also has no qualifications beyond loyalty. I'm sure I'll have more to say about all of them in the future.

In the meantime, I want to riff off of Stephen's final topic, which didn't make either the title or description, airline travel. I know what Delta One is like, as the final flight I took before the pandemic was first class flying Delta to the final in-person board meeting of the Coffee Party. That happened because I waited too long to book a flight, during which time the cost of a coach ticket rose to within $100 of a first-class seat. For $100 more, I flew first class. I have to admit, it spoiled me, although I got a blood clot in my leg, which wasn't diagnosed until I was hospitalized for diabetes, but that's a story for another day. ETA: I got confused yesterday because of having to rush out the door; the blood clot happened two years earlier. Flying first class was part of the solution to that problem.

Speaking of fanciful airline safety videos, I'm surprised Stephen, who is a Lord of the Rings fan, didn't mention Air New Zealand's. Watch The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made #AirNZSafetyVideo to see what I mean.

As the official airline of Middle-earth, Air New Zealand has gone all out to celebrate the third and final film in The Hobbit Trilogy - The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Starring Elijah Wood and Sir Peter Jackson; we're thrilled to unveil The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made. #airnzhobbit

Special cameos by Sylvester McCoy, Dean O’Gorman and Weta Workshop co-founder Sir Richard Taylor. Directed by Taika Waititi.

Check out the Air New Zealand Facebook page to see behind the scenes pics from ‘The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made’ and see firsthand Hollywood stars on the set of Middle-earth including Elijah Wood, Sylvester McCoy, Dean O’Gorman, John Rhys-Davies (as Gimli) and New Zealand’s own Sir Peter Jackson.

As Sir Peter said, "That's a wrap. I hope you enjoyed it."

Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow react to the Hunter Biden pardon

I told my readers to "Stay tuned for topical non-holiday programming..." I'm following through with Jon Stewart's monologue from Monday, Trump Nominates Kash Patel for Head of FBI & Hunter Biden’s Last Minute Pardon, on The Daily Show.

Jon Stewart on Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Biden’s last-minute pardon for his son Hunter, and how Democrats can't seem to hold the high ground no matter how low Republicans sink.

While Stewart succeeded in finding the comedy in this news, I don't completely agree with him about the hypocrisy in it. I also think that the announcement of Kash Patel's nomination for a position that isn't open yet — Christopher Wray's term doesn't expire for another three years — and Joe Biden's pardon of his son Hunter are more closely connected than he lets on. Patel might just have gone after Hunter even after he had gone to prison just to please convicted criminal Donald Trump. I have more to say, but Rachel Maddow said it better in Trump's shameless abuse of pardons, nepotism disqualifies him from criticizing Biden pardon on MSNBC.

Rachel Maddow looks at Donald Trump's shameless abuse of the presidential pardon power and the disgraceful level of nepotism in the early staffing of his second administration, in comparison to President Biden's pardoning of his son, Hunter, to spare him further politically motivated prosecution by Trump's acolytes.

Looking at the list of people Trump has pardoned reminds me of what I first wrote in MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 1: "Jailbirds of a feather flock together."

Giving Tuesday in Michigan 2024

Happy Giving Tuesday! Since this is a Michigan-based blog and I believe in shopping local, I also believe in giving local. To that end, I'm sharing three local news reports from the Great Lakes State about the day, beginning with WILX News 10's Giving Tuesday tips to avoid scammers.

Giving Tuesday donations can mean a lot for local charities.

Not only do I believe in giving locally, I believe in giving safely and effectively.

Moving to the west side of the state, I'm sharing Fox 17 WXMI asking and answering Giving Tuesday? One movement is opening doors to impact Grand Rapids nonprofits.


That was fun and informative, but let's see how long it remains here, as WXMI disabled embedding on the video I used for Cyber Monday. Enough of that and I'll stop using their YouTube uploads, just like I did WXYZ's. Instead, I use WDIV's clips, like Tips to avoid holiday-season scams in Metro Detroit.

[Here] are some tips to avoid holiday-season scams in Metro Detroit.

Good advice from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

If my readers want to give nationally instead of locally to affect the political environment, I can vouch for the organizations that belong to Bridge Alliance, since I'm a volunteer for them. One of them, the 92nd Street Y, created Giving Tuesday!

This concludes the long holiday weekend. Stay tuned for topical non-holiday programming tomorrow.

Shop safely online for Cyber Monday plus Black Friday sales figures

Happy Cyber Monday! I'm kicking off today's celebration of online shopping by sharing WUSA9 warning its viewers to Shield Yourself: 'Cyber Monday' Cybersecurity Protection Tips.

WUSA9 interviewed Lance Hoffman, founder of GWU's Cyber Security Institute, about protecting personal identities during online shopping.

All good advice. FOX 17 WXMI had more, along with some consumer horror stories, in HOW TO SHOP SAFELY online ahead of Cyber Monday.

According to the National Retail Federation, 57% of people are heading to the web to buy gifts. Norton created a cyber safety checklist ahead of Cyber Monday, which shoppers should look over it before Monday.

Don't be like Caroline Richards before she fell victim to a scam; be like her now, as she's much more vigilant about who she buys from online.

10 Tampa Bay had the number one result when I searched for this topic, Cyber security expert urges caution amid rise in holiday shopping scams.

The busy holiday shopping season is upon us as Black Friday, the busiest day of the year for in-person shopping, gives way to Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and the on-going "retail rush" before the holidays.

On Friday, crowds flooded the International Plaza in Tampa to try to score deals.

Again, more good advice, plus some person on the street (well, in the mall) interviews that added more action. They also provided a segue to checking the Black Friday sales figures I promised on Small Business Saturday as WCNC reported Black Friday results in record-setting shopping numbers with Cyber Monday still ahead.

Estimates show around $11 billion was spent online during Black Friday.

One trillion dollars in holiday sales for the U.S. might just happen. I might check the total holiday sales figures at the end of the month, but I think I will be busy with my end of year retrospectives and probably the Saturn Awards nominees then. May you stay tuned for those, but first return to read about Giving Tuesday as I complete the extra-long holiday weekend.

WatchMojo recounts 'The Heartbreaking Life of Freddie Mercury' for World AIDS Day

I promised "a special observance of World AIDS Day as the Sunday entertainment feature," and I'm following through with WatchMojo recounting The Heartbreaking Life of Freddie Mercury.

The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long. Come along as we take a closer look at the story of this legendary singer, musician and performer, including the many challenges and hardships he weathered before being taken too soon. Our video includes Freddie’s struggle to be taken seriously as an artist, his issues with substance abuse, his battle with AIDS, and more! What do YOU think is the most heartbreaking thing about Freddie Mercury’s life? Let us know in the comments!

I've called WatchMojo's videos "high-quality, well-researched clickbait that is worth sharing" and this video exceeded even that standard. I learned a lot about Mercury from this video, including his being born in Zanzibar and his having extra teeth in his mouth. As I'm fond of writing, "it's always a good day when I learn something new, which makes today a good day."

WatchMojo's Top 10 Facts You Never Knew About Freddie Mercury is more the channel's style.

He’s one of the all-time greats, but how much do you really know about this ‘80s musical icon? Did you know that Freddie Mercury wasn't his real name? Or that he actually had more teeth than most people? WatchMojo is counting down the things you never knew about Freddie Mercury.

I learned even more from this video, as light-hearted and trivial as it is. One of the facts was Mercury being David Bowie's roadie. While the Wikipedia entry for "Under Pressure" makes no mention of this connection, it makes for an irresistible transition to Under Pressure - Annie Lennox & David Bowie from Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992.


What chemistry!

That concludes today's tribute to an entertainer taken away too early by AIDS. Stay tuned for Cyber Monday followed by Giving Tuesday to complete the extra-long holiday weekend.

Local news covers shopping small and local for Small Business Saturday

Happy Small Business Saturday! I begin today's celebration with WPIX11 News in New York, which interviewed Marlene Cintron, the regional director of the U.S. Small Business Administration, who explained Small Business Saturday: Impact of shopping local.

Nearly 200,000 small businesses are based in New York City.

Marlene Cintron, the regional director of the U.S. Small Business Administration, talks about how Small Business Saturday impacts vital mom-and-pop shops on PIX11 Morning News.

Cintron provided a good overview. WESH 2 News in Orlando added some numbers in Small Business Saturday: Shoppers favor local stores over big retailers.


Here are the numbers, which show that more people are planning on shopping small and local this year than ten years ago.


The campaign is working, so good job to the people and organizations promoting Small Business Saturday and to the consumers, who are doing something sustainable at the intersection of society and economy!

I return to the Big Apple for more numbers from CBS New York reporting Black Friday, Small Business Saturday kick off holiday shopping season.

The National Retail Federation predicts sales this holiday shopping season could hit nearly $1 trillion. As CBS News New York's Alecia Reid reports, a record number of people are expected to shop online and in stores over the next couple days.

One trillion dollars — wow! I won't know if that happens until after Christmas, but I plan on checking sales figures on Cyber Monday.

I would usually stop here and tell my readers to stay tuned, but this is a Metro-Detroit-based blog, so I'm sharing CBS Detroit telling its viewers to Shop in Wyandotte for Small Business Saturday as an encore.

Kick off your holiday shopping in Wyandotte for Small Business Saturday.

I'm not going to drive down to Wyandotte today, but I will be shopping at a nearly small business, which is holding a sale on pet supplies today for Small Business Saturday. I am literally putting my money where my mouth (or my fingers typing on my keyboard) is!

That concludes November's blogging. Stay tuned for three more holidays, a special observance of World AIDS Day as the Sunday entertainment feature, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday to kick off December. I love holidays!

Company Man explains 'Walmart - Why They're Hated' for Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day

I promised a tale of the Retail Apocalypse for Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day and I'm sort of delivering by sharing Company Man explaining Walmart - Why They're Hated.

Walmart has received a lot of criticism and hatred over the years. This video attempts to explain some of the biggest reasons behind it.

Here's Company Man Mike's list.


Walmart was the subject of the first and second Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day posts on this blog as well as probably the first Earth Day post here, so it was about time I return to this old but evergreen topic.

While Company Man Mike didn't include low customer satisfaction in his list, he certainly did mention it, implicating unhappy employees as the cause. He also showed the following graph, which ranked Walmart last.



Costco treats its employees well while offering a great shopping experience, so I'm not surprised it's in first. My wife and I would shop there more often if it had a closer location and we ever needed to buy in bulk. On the other hand, the last time I shopped at a Walmart was with my ex-girlfriend in Canada and that was because Target hadn't expanded north of the border yet.* Before that, I shopped at a U.S. Walmart once and didn't like it. I returned to Target.

I'm one of those who call Target "Tar-zhay" and shop there regularly, helping contribute the demise of both Sears and KMart. As I wrote once on my Facebook page, "between Walmart and KMart, I shop at Target."

Too bad my informal boycott hasn't hurt Walmart.

Finally, I'm planning on addressing Walmart's effect on small businesses indirectly tomorrow, when I celebrate Small Business Saturday tomorrow to continue the long holiday weekend. Stay tuned.

*When it did, it failed. That's a story for another Retail Apocalypse post and I have a Bright Sun Films video about it for a Wayback Wednesday/Throwback Thursday/Flashback Friday post next year.

Lost in the Pond explains 'How US Thanksgiving Wasn't What I Expected'

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm taking advantage of today to follow up on an idea I had last month — "I should probably share a video from Lost in the Pond here" — to share Lawrence of Lost in the Pond explaining How US Thanksgiving Wasn't What I Expected.


Hah, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, which I've only referenced once in Meyers' and Colbert's guests on strikes and labor issues and messed up the order even then. It's about time I got it right, thanks to Lawrence.

That's it for Thanksgiving, except for the leftovers. Stay tuned for a tale of the Retail Apocalypse for Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day as I remain in full holiday mode through Tuesday.

Local news coverage of marching bands in the 2024 Macy's Parade for Thanksgiving

A early happy Thanksgiving to my readers! I begin my celebration of the long holiday weekend, which extends until Giving Tuesday with this year's version of Local news coverage of marching bands in the Macy's Parade for Thanksgiving, one of the most popular posts during the past three years.

Since there are no Michigan or California bands performing tomorrow, I'm presenting the bands in alphabetical order according to Macy's website, beginning with WTHR reporting Avon High School marching band prepares to perform on one of nation's biggest stages.

From Avon to New York City, the Avon High School Marching Band is set to represent Indiana on one of the nation's largest stages.

Since being selected to be featured in this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the band has been hard at work to fine-tune every step of their performance set for the morning of Thanksgiving.

Students had one of their final rehearsals Thursday, Nov. 21 before traveling to New York City next week.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade is the second major event Avon has performed at this month. WTHR also reported Avon High School wins Bands of America Grand National Championships

One of the country's biggest marching band competitions returned to the heart of the Circle City.

The Bands of America Grand National Championships brought over 110 bands to Lucas Oil Stadium for three days of performances, an expo and more events.

The preliminary round of the competition kicked off Thursday morning, Nov. 14, at 7 a.m. and ran through 10:45 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17.

This year, Avon High School was crowned the winner! They won by just over a point against Carmel High School.

Congratulations, Avon! It's hard enough for a band to perform at either BOA Grand Nationals or the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in a year and Avon will do both in a couple of weeks!

Follow over the jump for the rest of the marching bands in tomorrow's parades as covered by their local TV stations.

'Weathered' on PBS Terra asks 'Has Earth Already Crossed MAJOR Tipping Points?'

I examined the AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation), one of Earth's tipping points yesterday. I concluded that examination by telling my readers "I have one more climate change video to share. Stay tuned to see if I use it tomorrow before I go full holiday for Thanksgiving." I'm sharing it, so watch as Weathered: Earth's Extremes on PBS Terra asks Has Earth Already Crossed MAJOR Tipping Points?

The Weathered crew traveled all over the US and abroad to answer pressing questions about our changing climate in our new series, Weathered, Earth's Extremes. Maiya and the team worked so hard on this show -- we can't wait for you to watch it!

Maiya May is on a mission to understand the impacts of climate change and how to stop it. She brings viewers along to learn where we are and where we’re going as greenhouse gasses reach record levels. Have we crossed major climate tipping points? And are there positive tipping points that will help slow global warming faster than expected?

Can coral survive record ocean temperatures? Will thawing permafrost trigger runaway warming? How do we cool our cities and replenish groundwater? Watch to find out!

The first tipping point is the loss of coral reefs through coral bleaching, the subject of Emmy winner Chasing Coral. I haven't examined the subject during the six years since, so thanks to Maiya May and the Weathered crew for getting me to blog about it again.

The second tipping point is the permafrost thawing, which is predicted to release enough methane to speed up climate change. I've written more about this topic than coral bleaching, although my most read entry about it, Vox explains how thawing permafrost is already releasing dangerous diseases, focused on one of the secondary effects, a possible pandemic released from the ice. Considering that I wrote that in November 2019, it was accidentally prophetic, even though COVID-19 didn't come from the Arctic.

The description mentioned groundwater, but the video itself didn't include anything about the subject. Just the same, reading it reminded me that I show a Wall Street Journal video about groundwater depletion to my students and I should embed it here. I should also embed the next episode, which PBS Terra uploaded yesterday. That won't happen until next month. Stay tuned.

'Weathered' on PBS asks 'Is This Crucial Ocean Current About to COLLAPSE?'

Thanks to Infidel753 linking to them, last week's most popular posts all featured videos from Weathered on PBS or PBS Terra, so I'm returning to the well for Weathered: Earth's Extremes on PBS asking Is This Crucial Ocean Current About to COLLAPSE?

The AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation) plays a crucial role in regulating global climate by transferring heat from the warm tropics to the North Atlantic, helping to stabilize temperatures worldwide. However, scientists have raised concerns that it may be slowing down—or even on the verge of shutting down—which could lead to severe consequences, such as more extreme weather patterns and rising sea levels.

The answer is that the AMOC has already weakened, making the prediction of its collapse more credible. That leads to the rest of my response, which I'm recycling from Susan Lozier at TED asks 'Is Climate Change Slowing Down the Ocean?' and PBS Terra asks 'Is Earth's Largest Heat Transfer Really Shutting Down?'

This is not a new concern, as Al Gore described it in "An Inconvenient Truth." I asked about it specifically in the worksheet I used in one of my classes, which I reproduced in Hot (not): a cold blast from the past along with an answer.

What is the likely effect of the melting of the Greenland ice cap on ocean circulation and global climate?

In the movie, the idea is that the release of meltwater from a large glacial lake diluted the Gulf Stream, causing the water to become less dense and unable to sink to the bottom of the ocean off Greenland, jamming up the global thermohaline circulation and sending the planet back into an ice age for another thousand years. An analogous melt of water from the Greenland icecap, which is beginning to happen, would do much the same thing, slowing ocean circulation and cooling Europe. Both of those are indeed taking place.

The movie came out seventeen years ago and I wrote the above more than ten years ago. It's not as if we weren't warned.

Speaking of which, PBS Terra listed the Greenland ice sheet and the AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation) last September in PBS Terra asks 'What Will Earth Look Like When These 6 Tipping Points Hit?' I'm reusing my reaction from that post as well.

Watching all that reminds me that none of these threats are new, so my reaction isn't either.

First, welcome to the 400 ppm world. Second, are you scared enough by climate change? My readers should be.

Hey, I'm an environmentalist; I recycle.

I have one more climate change video to share. Stay tuned to see if I use it tomorrow before I go full holiday for Thanksgiving.

'Super/Man' wins 6 Critics Choice Documentary Awards, including Best Documentary

This week's Sunday entertainment feature examines the winners of the Ninth Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards.

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story and Will & Harper tied for the top award of the evening, Best Documentary Feature. With a sweep of all six of its nominated categories, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story also scored wins for Best Director for Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, Best Editing for Otto Burnham, Best Score for Ilan Eshkeri, Best Archival Documentary, and Best Biographical Documentary.

I'm sharing Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story | Official Trailer before I comment.

The man you knew, the story you didn’t.
...
The story of Christopher Reeve is an astonishing rise from unknown actor to iconic movie star, and his definitive portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman set the benchmark for the superhero cinematic universes that dominate cinema today. Reeve portrayed the Man of Steel in four Superman films and played dozens of other roles that displayed his talent and range as an actor, before being injured in a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down.

After becoming a quadriplegic, he became a charismatic leader and activist in the quest to find a cure for spinal cord injuries, as well as a passionate advocate for disability rights and care - all while continuing his career in cinema in front of and behind the camera and dedicating himself to his beloved family.

From the directors of McQueen, Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, this film includes never-before-seen intimate home movies and an extraordinary trove of personal archive material, as well as the first extended interviews ever filmed with Reeve’s three children about their father, and interviews with the A-list Hollywood actors who were Reeve’s colleagues and friends. The film is a moving and vivid cinematic telling of Reeve’s remarkable story.

I teared up while watching the trailer, and so did several of the commenters on the video. If that's what the trailer can do, imagine what the entire film would do. That's why I think it would win Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards if it were nominated. On the one hand, actors compose the largest branch of the Motion Picture Academy and they'll vote for Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story if it's on the ballot; as the trailer shows, Reeve was beloved and probably still is. On the other, getting on the ballot is up to the Documentary Branch and, as I've written before, they have issues.

[T]he Documentary Branch of the Motion Picture Academy...deliberately do[es] not nominate documentaries that will earn votes from the entire academy as a whole that they don't agree [are] the very best. They also don't like documentaries made with archive footage. They also have political axes to grind.

The Documentary Branch may think the other Best Documentary winner, Will & Harper, or one of the other category winners, such as Sugarcane, which won Best Political Documentary and Best True Crime Documentary, is a better nominee and leave Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story off the ballot entirely. Then again, none of these issues prevented them from nominating Summer of Soul, which won. My readers and I will see if Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story makes the shortlist next month, the next step in the nomination process.

If it doesn't make the short list, or does but fails to be nominated, this looks like exactly the kind of work that would be nominated for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special at the Emmy Awards. If so, it would have a good chance of winning, as Jim Henson Idea Man won this category this fall and 'Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie won it this past winter for the previous TV season. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story would fit right in.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the winners.

Espresso's GRAMMY nominations for Espresso Day

For today's holiday entry, I wish my readers a happy National Espresso Day!

Get the pure coffee essence on National Espresso Day! Whether you sip one cup or keep buzzing all day long, November 23rd is the day.

As a coffee lover and former officer and director of Coffee Party USA, I couldn't resist.

I also can't resist connecting today to entertainment, especially since Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso (Official Video) is a GRAMMY-nominated hit song.

Music video by Sabrina Carpenter performing Espresso.

I hadn't watched this video until this morning, after I heard a Twitch streamer I follow sing a karaoke version and decided to look for the original. I'm glad I did. It's fun and well-crafted. It also has four GRAMMY nominations for Record of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, and Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical and is one of three Sabrina Carpenter songs listed for Amy Allen along with "Please, Please, Please" and "Taste" for Songwriter of the Year. Follow over the jump more about those categories and Gold Derby's odds.

'The "dirty side" of a hurricane, explained' by Vox

Today's evergreen post may not be all that fresh next month because the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season will officially end on November 30. The key word is officially; storms have formed during December, such as Zeta in 2005, which persisted into January 2006, so it could still be topical in December. Besides, the 2025 season will begin on June 1st and this post will definitely be topical then.

With that out of the way, watch The "dirty side" of a hurricane, explained by Vox.

Why the right side of a tropical cyclone is the most dangerous.
...
The “dirty side” of a hurricane refers to the part of the storm that usually brings the highest impacts: the greatest winds, greatest tornado risk, and greatest storm surge and flooding. In the case of Atlantic hurricanes, which rotate counterclockwise, the “dirty side” is on the right — where the winds are moving in the same direction as the storm, combining their speeds. This is why the greatest risk of storm surge during a hurricane is at the center of the storm, in the “eyewall,” and to the right of it, where the forward-moving winds push water onto shore.

Because the center of the storm is the strongest, forecasters tend to focus on tracking it, using a popular tool called the “forecast cone,” which shows the potential path of the center of a storm, but leaves out the wider impact areas. So many viewers of hurricane forecasts don’t realize a storm’s impacts reach far beyond the cone, and in particular on the right-hand side of the storm.

Vox did a good job of explaining how and why Helene and Milton caused the most damage on the right side of the eye and particularly how Helene hit western North Carolina as hard as it did; the Appalachians wrung even more moisture as the storm moved up the mountains. That's not usually a consideration for hurricanes in the U.S. because they hit low-lying areas.

So far, this season's 18 named storms, including 11 hurricanes and 5 major hurricanes, have borne out NOAA's 'Most Aggressive Hurricane Season Forecast On Record' for 2024, which predicted 17–25 named storms, 8–13 hurricanes, and 4–7 major hurricanes. I might revisit this and other forecasts next month. Stay tuned.

The History Guy remembers 'TV: A Forgotten History' for World Television Day

Happy World Television Day! I'm celebrating today by sharing The History Guy remembering TV: A Forgotten History.

The invention of television was a dynamic process that represented the convergence of many technological innovations and inventors. The medium has been both affected by, and affected, history. The History Guy remembers the forgotten history of the small screen.

In case Philo Farnsworth sounds familiar, he's the namesake and ancestor of Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth from Futurama, whose catch phrase "Good news, everyone" I use here occasionally, but not today. There's little good news to celebrate.

Television has continued to evolve since The History Guy uploaded this video in 2019, in particular the rise of new streaming services like Disney+, Apple TV+, and Peacock during and after the pandemic and continued cord-cutting. That deserves another video, but I have to go to work. In the meantime, stay tuned for another evergreen post worth sharing next month tomorrow.

'Weathered' on PBS explains 'Why Heat Domes Are SO Deadly'

Today's evergreen video is Weathered: Earth's Extremes explaining Why Heat Domes Are SO Deadly.

In 2021, the Pacific Northwest experienced one of the most extreme and anomalous weather events in history: a devastating heat dome that shattered temperature records across the region. Lytton, BC, reached 121°F, and Portland, OR, hit 116°F. Tragically, more than 1,400 people lost their lives during this event.

Maiya May is revisiting the weather and climate events that formed the background to PBS Terra shows how past redlining leads to heat wave deaths in the present and future and Detroit floods while the Pacific Northwest bakes in record temperatures. Those concentrated on a possible solution to the problem and pointing out how an unhealthy planet is running chills and fever. This video is the mirror image to The connections among climate change, the wobbling jet stream, and the polar vortex explained by PBS Terra and CBS News and PBS Terra's 'Weathered' examines how the wandering jet stream is making extreme weather worse, which concentrated on the wandering jet stream contributing to the polar vortex in the winter. Again, chills and fever.

Tomorrow is World Television Day. Stay tuned to see how I celebrate it.

PBS Terra asks 'Why Are Some Cities ATTRACTING Storms While Others REPEL Them?'

I told my readers "I have another PBS Terra video to share, so stay tuned for it" to close PBS Terra asks 'Is This Type of Fire IMPOSSIBLE to Stop?' Watch as Maiya May asks Why Are Some Cities ATTRACTING Storms While Others REPEL Them?

We know that the Urban Heat Island Effect can make cities particularly vulnerable to extreme heat, but a new study uncovered something even more surprising: cities might actually be able to attract, and even CREATE, storms. In this episode, we explore what scientists know about this phenomenon, and what it might mean for where we live in the future.

Not only have I blogged about urban heat islands, I've shown the videos from those posts to my students. I might just show this one, too, if I have the time. I lecture about climate change last and sometimes I run out of time, having to rely on Treasures of the Earth: Power and Chasing Ice, which I show in lab, to do the heavy lifting for me.

Speaking of running out of time, I'm going to pass on this opportunity to share my Hurricane Harvey stories. Darn. It's also World Toilet Day but I think I've written all I want to write about it already. See you all tomorrow with another evergreen entry.

PBS Terra asks 'Is This Type of Fire IMPOSSIBLE to Stop?'

For today's evergreen post, I'm sharing PBS Terra asking Is This Type of Fire IMPOSSIBLE to Stop?

Fires are getting bigger and more homes are burning each year. Firefighters are having to change tactics when it comes to the most destructive fires, but why? Jennifer Blach, Ph.D., just released a new study in the journal, Science, and her findings point to a new type of fire that is the culprit for all this destruction.

In this episode, we dive into this groundbreaking new study to learn why fires are getting more dangerous to humans and what we can do about it. Plus we have never-before-seen animations from NASA that show us exactly how these new fires behave. So tune in to learn about the future of fires and how to protect yourself and your home as fires change.

Having grown up in Southern California and observed lots of fires, I knew the answer was wind before Maiya May mentioned it. Fires with high winds were always the most dangerous. They've become even more so since I moved to Michigan 35 years ago, as I wrote in California's Camp and Woolsey fires air pollution seen from space and felt on ground.

I found out last week that the home where I grew up was in a mandatory evacuation zone. In the 25 years I lived there, that never happened. In addition, I don't recall my family ever telling me that had happened during the three decades I've lived in Michigan until this past week.*
...
*I case anyone is wondering, the house is O.K. It was more than a mile from the edge of the fire at its greatest extent.

I followed up in Massive California fires and two tropical storms in the Gulf of Mexico, two climate-fueled weather disasters.

I saw the damage up close in January 2019, when my mom and I drove from her California house to the sea and back. Once we hit the burnt area, we didn't leave it until we got to Malibu; the fire burned all the way to the coast. I was astounded. It's one thing to watch the news reports; it's another to see it up close and in person.

PBS Terra mentioned the Camp Fire being driven by wind. Strong winds also blew the Woolsey Fire all the way to the sea.

I have another PBS Terra video to share, so stay tuned for it tomorrow.

Music and science winners at the 45th News & Doc Emmy Awards

For today's Sunday entertainment feature, I'm catching up with the winners of the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, beginning with Grammy nominee 'Little Richard: I Am Everything' among Emmy nominees for Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary, where I wrote "I'm declaring Little Richard: I Am Everything the favorite." It won.

The #DocEmmys Award for Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary goes to Little Richard: I Am Everything (@CNNFilms @StreamOnMax). pic.twitter.com/Yn98c7dDAC

— News & Documentary Emmys (@newsemmys) September 27, 2024

Congratulations!

Follow over the jump for the winners I covered in 'Human Footprint' and other Emmy-nominated science and technology documentaries for Earth Overshoot Day and 'Incredible Animal Journeys' leads Outstanding Nature Documentaries at the News & Doc Emmy Awards for International Tiger Day.

Amy Shira Teitel of The Vintage Space explains 'When Republicans Were Democrats: The Party Flip'

I told my readers to "stay tuned for evergreen and holiday posts through the rest of November." I'm following through by sharing Amy Shira Teitel of The Vintage Space explaining When Republicans Were Democrats: The Party Flip, which is about as evergreen as it gets.



Those who have been reading this blog since 2012 may be surprised at Amy using The Vintage Space to examine history that isn't about space, science, and technology, so I'll let her explain in the introduction to the Medium post that accompanies and features this video.

The Republican party today is unrecognizable from when it was established in 1854. The party that abolished slavery and extolled the virtues of individual liberties for all Americans doesn’t quite feel like the same one that celebrated overturning Roe v. Wade. The same is true of the Democrats; the party of slave-owning secessionists and segregationists is hardly the party that today stands for minority, women’s, and trans rights, to name a few. Both parties have evolved, but the significant change came in the mid-20th century with the Party Flip. And it’s not a myth like I’ve seen some people claim.

As a mid-century historian, I work almost exclusively in this politically strange era where nothing aligns with what we know today, and the lines aren’t quite as black and white as readers expect. It confuses people, and frankly, I sometimes need to get it reframed in my head. Especially as a born and raised Canadian; this isn’t anything I ever learned in school. It’s a fascinating history, and like so many big topics, it needs a lot of context. To start unpacking the Flip, we’re going to look at how the two party system came to be, how their ideologies developed, and how those two major parties flipped in the 20th century. And we’re going to start right at the beginning.

Both the video and blog post compose a comprehensive summary of the evolution of party systems in the U.S. so far. It's a good place to start, especially since it looks like the U.S. looks like it's undergoing another realignment as a result of the re-election of convicted criminal Donald Trump. That's a topic I plan on returning to, but only after the Sunday entertainment feature, which will not be highlights of tonight's Saturday Night Live; that would be topical other than the Thanksgiving sketches and I'm not writing topical posts until the end of the month.