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.
I promised to resume my coverage of the Critics Choice Super Awards twice, so I'm quoting the relevant passage from the press release.
“The Boys” leads this year’s television nominees with five nominations overall including Best Superhero Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie. Antony Starr earned a nod for Best Actor in a Superhero Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie, in addition to Best Villain in a Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie, while Valorie Curry and Colby Minifie were both nominated for Best Actress in a Superhero Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie.
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“Fallout,” “House of the Dragon,” and “Paradise” each earned four nominations apiece in the television categories.
Now for the nominees.
Best Superhero Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie
The Boys
Daredevil: Born Again
Fallout
Gen V
Invincible
Peacemaker
Spider-Noir
Wonder Man
In 2027, the Artemis III mission will practice docking the Orion spacecraft with two lunar landers in low Earth orbit. On future Artemis missions, landers will bring astronauts to the lunar surface. While Artemis III will not land on the Moon, it will test the complex capabilities we need to return humanity there — this time to stay.
NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio, and Andre Douglas will join European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano on this historic mission.
Another step toward one of the most complex spaceflight missions in history, NASA provided updates on Artemis III and announced crew members for the test flight. Planned to launch in 2027, the mission will practice docking the Orion spacecraft with two lunar landers in low Earth orbit.
On future missions, including Artemis IV in 2028, landers will bring astronauts to the lunar surface. While Artemis III will not land on the Moon, it will test the complex capabilities we need to return humanity there — this time to stay.
Crew assignments are as follows:
• NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, commander
• ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Parmitano, pilot
• NASA astronaut Andre Douglas, mission specialist
• NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, mission specialist
• NASA astronaut Bob Hines, backup crew member
Both of those look good, as expected for successfull PR, but it's not all smooth flying. Artemis III depends on launches by SpaceX and Blue Origin and both are having their issues, as PBS NewHour explained in How a Blue Origin rocket explosion could impact NASA's moon mission.
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded on the launchpad during a test in Cape Canaveral on Thursday. The company, owned by Jeff Bezos, said no one was injured and all personnel were accounted for. But the rocket has a crucial role in NASA’s Artemis program to return American astronauts to the surface of the moon. Amna Nawaz discussed its significance with science correspondent Miles O’Brien.
Early this January, I wrote, "Starship is running behind schedule and holding up a lunar landing, so I'm rooting for Blue Origin to either win the contract or inspire SpaceX to get its act together in time." Looks like Blue Origin has to get its act together, too.
The last movie nominee with four nominations is Project Hail Mary, so I'm examining the science fiction and fantasy nominees today.
Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie
Bugonia
Disclosure Day
Frankenstein
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
I Love Boosters
Predator: Badlands
Project Hail Mary
Out of this field, I'm picking Project Hail Mary, and not just because it has the most nominations. My wife and I paid money to stream it, which we almost never do, and thought it was worth every penny. That the Astra Awards crowned it the best movie of the first half of the year just cements my choice.
As for the rest of the nominees, Bugonia has three nominations, while Disclosure Day, Frankenstein, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, I Love Boosters, and Predator: Badlands each have two, which confirms my intuition that Bugonia and Disclosure Day are the dark horses that could upset Project Hail Mary.
That written, the Critics Choice Association didn't completely shut out Avatar: Fire and Ash, as it earned two acting nominations. Follow over the jump for those.
I'm using the relevant sentence from the press release to determine which genre to examine next: "'Masters of the Universe,' 'Obsession,' 'Project Hail Mary,' 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps,' and 'Weapons' followed closely behind 'Superman' with four film category nominations each." I covered Superman, Masters of the Universe, and The Fantastic Four: First Stepsyesterday, leaving Obsession and Weapons in horror and Project Hail Mary in science fiction and fantasy, so I'm writing about horror today.
Best Horror Movie
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
Backrooms
The Long Walk
Obsession
Send Help
Weapons
Five of the six nominees also earned nominations for Best Wide-Release Movie at the 2026 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, Obsession and Weapons tied at four nominations, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple and Backrooms tied at three nominations, and Send Help with two nominations. The Long Walk has only one nomination at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards for Best Supporting Performance, but two nominations here. Although I voted for Weapons, I think Obsession is more likely to win Best Wide-Release Movie at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards. On the other hand, I think Weapons is more likely to win this category here. Once again, welcome to the critics vs. the fans.
Follow over the jump for the acting categories, where three more horror movies earned nominations.
“Superman” leads this year’s film nominees, having earned six nominations including Best Superhero Movie. David Corenswet, Edi Gathegi, and Nicholas Hoult all received nominations for Best Actor in a Superhero Movie, while Nicholas Hoult received an additional nod for Best Villain in a Movie. Rachel Brosnahan is also up for Best Actress in a Superhero Movie.
I'm repeating the nominees from the preview image.
Best Superhero Movie*
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
Exit 8
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Masters of the Universe
Mortal Kombat II
Supergirl
Superman
Masters of the Universe also has four nominations, but I doubt it is as strong as Fantastic Four: First Steps. It's followed by Exit 8, Mortal Kombat II, and Supergirl with two and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle with just this one.
What does this mean for the Saturn Awards? Not much. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and Superman were already recognized. Exit 8 would likely be nominated for International Film or Horror Film and Masters of the Universe would work better as a Fantasy Film, leaving Mortal Kombat II and Supergirl. I suspect the latter will earn at least one Razzie nomination for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel, but probably won't "win." Whew. Instead, I think the contest will be between two movies not yet released, Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday. Other films that could join them would be Resident Evil and Street Fighter. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and the upcoming The Angry Birds Movie 3 could be nominated, but they're more likely to be recognized under animation.
Donald Trump can’t stop talking about how he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, and no, the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize doesn’t count. Jordan Klepper travels to a JD Vance event, the “burning hellhole” city of Portland, and home of the peace prize, Norway, to find out if the president actually deserves to be given this prestigious award.
Like last year, this special earned two Emmy nominations. Follow over the jump for them, the nominations for its competition, and their Gold Derby odds.
2015 Phantom Regiment should look familiar, as I featured the corps in 'City of Light' for Bastille Day, although neither of the clips I embedded included "Clair de Lune," so this was new to this blog, just like last year's inclusion of An American in Paris. I probably now have the entire show scattered over ten years of this blog. Maybe one day I will find a video of the entire show.
As for who played it best, the commenters say 1994 Phantom Regiment, and I agree. G bugles still rule.
It's that time again, Fangoria Chainsaw Award nominees have been announced and the ballots are out! Join us as we go through the categories and pick our winners from a very strong 12 month span that featured films such as Obsession, Backrooms, Weapons, Frankenstein, and many more!
Vote for your favorites, Voting closes July 15 at 11:59 PM PT.
The scream of the crop has arrived!
The nominations for the 2026 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards are officially LIVE! @fangoria gathered 35 of the best new horror films across 14 categories to celebrate the very best in the genre.
Now it’s YOUR turn to decide the winners.
IMPORTANT: The voting window is open for a limited time!
Deadline: July 15th, 2026
Vote Now: Head to Fangoria.com and let your horror-loving voice be heard!
Smartphones and a marked change to our digital media environment are part of the reason for the demographic shift changing our world, including how low birth rates are shrinking the workforce. Chief data reporter John Burn-Murdoch presents his lastest findings on this challenge faced by most nations[.]
There's a lot to chew on here. I've been writing a lot about government policy and economics, but I don't think I've mentioned non-medical technologies in the context of falling birth and fertility rates before. That's certainly a "scifi is now" topic. I also haven't discussed lack of independent housing as a factor in demography, although I've certainly blogged about housing and real estate during the past 15+ years. I think I'll be adding those perspectives to my writing in the future.
By the way, I consider "Pennsylvania economist Jesús Fernandez-Villaverde call[ing] fertility decline the question of our time, with most other problems flowing downstream of it" to be the result of a perspective I criticized in Meditations on sustainability, part 1.
[E]conomy is dependent on society, which is in turn dependent on the environment. Without an environment, there is no society. Without a society, there is no economy. Those relationships put sustainability into perspective. They also show that the emphasis on economy above all is exactly backwards. No wonder we're in trouble.
That written, I'm not surprised the Financial Times would feature it. As I quoted from Yes, Prime Minister, "The Financial Times is read by people who own the country," in this case the U.K., so they would think it salient. As one of the commenters pointed out, "This video is for rich people. Everyone who's is struggling knows why we don't have kids." From my ecological perspective, resource use, if not outright depletion, and waste production, as exemplified by fossilfuels and climatechange are the primary problems and everything flows downhill from them. As a biologist, I think limited resources primarily define carrying capacity, the maximum sustainable size of a population, and we should be examining those, especially their connections to the issues the economists identify.
The world is having fewer children and the pace of decline is happening much faster than expected. The reasons are complex and varied, from a lack of affordable housing to a lack of suitable partners. But could smartphones and modern tech be part of the problem? DW speaks to AI researcher Connor Leahy about how digital life may be reshaping relationships.
I was wondering if someone would bring up dating apps, the obvious technological solution to people finding partners, and Connor Leahy pointed out that their incentive is to keep people on the app, not find a permanent partner. Now I'm wondering if government matchmaking services are in our future. I suspect that would not be an unadulterated good and other causes would have to be addressed for them to be effective.
For what it's worth, the commenters to the video were hostile to the question, but I think that's because DW News didn't present the data supporting the inference, not that it helped the Financial Times video that much. Their commenters weren't as mean, but they were certainly skeptical. I'm not one of them; I think the researchers are onto something, at least as a contributing factor for the last 20 years.
The U.S. fertility rate is at an all-time low, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers say this is part of a larger downward trend. Since 2007, the number of Americans having babies has dropped 23%, well below the replacement level, meaning not enough are being born to replace those who die. William Brangham discussed more with Brian Mann of NPR.
PBS NewsHour broadcast this segment and then uploaded it one month before the study on smartphones and birthrates came out, so it didn't include its findings. In that light, the decline in teen pregnancy might be less a result of good policy and more the effects of smartphones. That doesn't make it any less of an accomplishment, just an accidental one.
Reading this would be enough to make me drink if my diabetes hadn't made me lose interest in drinking, so it's time to celebrate with Michigan Public saying .
Inspired by Tracy Samilton's recent trip to Cuba, Tammy Coxen whipped up this stellar mojito - which we might claim is one of the tastiest in Michigan. Samilton explored the Michigan-Cuba connection during her time in Havana, so Coxen used white rum from the Ann Arbor Distilling Company to bring some Michigan flavor to this drink perfect for warmer weather. Cheers!
That's a wrap for today's double celebration. Stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature. I have an awards show my readers can vote in for free, as long as they are interested in horror and horror-adjacent science fictionmovies and television.
Puerto Rican superstar, who tallied three Grammys earlier this year, looks to add another statuette to his burgeoning collection.
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Bad Bunny conquered the Grammys. Now he's coming for the Emmy Awards.
As Gold Derby predicted in January, the Puerto Rican superstar — whose real name is Benito Antonio MartÃnez Ocasio — scored a nomination Wednesday for Best Variety Special (Live) for his sizzling, much-scrutinized halftime show at Sunday's Super Bowl LX between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots. The special was one of the most-nominated programs, receiving nine total bids, including Production Design for a Variety Special, Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming, Directing for a Variety Special, Hairstyling for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program, Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Special, Music Direction, Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special, and Technical Direction and Camerawork for a Special. That marks a record for a halftime show.
People listed Bad Bunny's competitors for Best Variety Special (Live).
The milestone comes after the performance drew a staggering 128.2 million viewers, making it the fourth-most-watched Super Bowl halftime show in history. The show is also nominated for Outstanding Variety Special (Live), where it will compete against four major awards ceremonies: the 83rd Annual Golden Globe Awards, the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, the Oscars and the 78th Annual Tony Awards.
I'm not going to handicap this category today; Gold Derby has its prediction page for the Creative Arts Emmy Awards up, but no one seems to have made a prediction in this category. When enough predictions have been tallied, I'll return to this category. On the other hand, the Super Bowl Halftime Show is leading the odds for Variety Special Directing and Music Direction; Gold Derby is not making predictions in the craft categories. I'll look at those when I examine Gold Derby's prediction for Variety Special (Live).
As I noted in February, Bad Bunny's performance elicited some controversy. Back to Gold Derby.
Going into the Super Bowl, there was much right-wing consternation over the NFL's selection of Bad Bunny for the coveted slot, given that he performs in Spanish — often wearing dresses — and is a vocal critic of Trump administration policies. The MAGA crowd went so far as to counterprogram in the form of a widely lampooned Kid Rock-led show for Turning Point USA.
America’s war on books is more than a war on words. THE LIBRARIANS, a new feature documentary from Academy Award® nominee and Peabody Award winner Kim A. Snyder.
In Texas, the Krause List targets 850 books focused on race and LGBTQIA+ stories – triggering sweeping book bans across the U.S. at an unprecedented rate. As tensions escalate, librarians connect the dots from heated school and library board meetings nationwide to lay bare the underpinnings of extremism fueling the censorship efforts. Despite facing harassment, threats, and laws aimed at criminalizing their work – the librarians’ rallying cry for freedom to read is a chilling cautionary tale.
That's powerful and an example of why I pay attention to awards shows; they bring films and shows to my attention that are worth watching for the subject matter.
A down-on-his luck farmer develops a unique bond with a wounded white stork as he nurses the bird back to health.
This is a film I can recommend to my environmental science students, as it's about both wildlife and farming, two topics in that class. Welcome to blogging as professional development.
Between the two, I think The Tale of Silyan is the favorite. First, it has a second Emmy nomination for Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program, which I'll examine over the jump, while The Librarians has only one. Second, it earned a nomination for Best Documentary at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards in addition to Best Cinematography. The Librarians also earned a nomination at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards for Best Political Documentary, but not Best Documentary. Third, The Tale of Silyan earned nominations at the Film Independent Spirit Awards and PGA Awards and wins at the Cinema Eye Honors Awards and Golden Trailer Awards. Yes, the trailer I embedded is a winner in its own right for Best Documentary Subject. Meanwhile, The Librarians earned nominations at the Satellite Awards and Cinema Eye Honors Awards. When the two films earned nominations at the same awards shows, The Tale of Silyan won awards and more and better nominations. Gold Derby hasn't created a predictions page for the Creative Arts Emmy Awards yet, but I don't have to wait until they do; I can tell which nominee is more likely to win, especially since this is a juried award. The experts will prefer the craft and storytelling of The Tale of Silyan over the subject matter of The Librarians.
Follow over the jump for The Tale of Silyan's other nomination.
Wishing a very happy #4thJuly to our many friends and supporters in the USA. To mark the 250th anniversary today, we've re-adapted the British popular 18th-century song "The Anacreontic Song" which became the US national anthem the #StarSpangledBanner after Francis Scott Key wrote powerful and moving words to describe the survival of a fort under bombardment during the War of 1812 (against the British).
We've taken as our topic for the re-adaptation the current state of the United States in 2026 as seen against its majestic history, using the metaphor of a ship sailing. Lyrics below, with nods to some of the great speeches and moments in American history, and with hopes that the current distortion of its values and direction will not endure, but be another storm to pass through.
I never thought I'd enjoy the national anthem in a minor key, but I did.
That's a wrap for today's musical post. This year's Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards nominees will be announced later today, so stay tuned as I begin my examination of them as early as tomorrow.
It's getting hot in here… can we survive it?
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I pushed my body to the edge in a climate & sports research lab to discover what extreme heat really does to us. Why humidity, not just temperature, can make heat deadly, and how climate change and city design are making dangerous heat more common.
I guessed...that the dark secret was the heat...[My] guess was dead on. That's no surprise, as I blogged about Phoenix being the hottest city in the U.S. in 2021 and mentioned its record heat in 2023twice. What is surprising is that heat waves don't count as federal natural disasters covered by FEMA. The commenters found the reason dismaying: "You don't get disaster declarations for mortality. You only do it for economics." Ecurewitz responded "That’s the most American statement ever." RandomAngle9 commented "The fact that heat doesn't 'qualify' as a disaster because it doesn't destroy buildings, only people, says everything about how we value human life in policy."
This part is something I can show to my environmental science students. The other part is the physiology of disposing of excess heat. That would be useful to Human Structure and Function students. Unfortunately, I don't plan on teaching that class ever again. So much for blogging as professional development, just personal development. Just the same, I hope my readers find it as interesting as I did.
That's a wrap for today's brief educational entry I can share in August. Stay tuned for another post I can share next month tomorrow.
Kohl's rose to its peak as a department store in the 2000s, with a focus on a strong in-store experience, coupons and rewards. Now, after years of stagnant sales and a rough patch on Wall Street, Kohl's is trying to get back to what made it a household name.
In 2022, Retail Archaeology asked Kohl's: Who Would Want To Buy This? In that same post, I embedded a CNBC video from 2020 asking "Can Kohl's survive?" Last year, Company Man asked Kohl's - The Rise and Fall? Now CNBC has answered that question in the affirmative. If nothing else, Kohl's stock price, which is what CNBC really cares about, has fallen. The chain is also shrinking, as evidenced by my wife going to the closest store and finding that it has closed, apparently one of 27 stores that closed last year. Kohl's also has no plans to expand.
In addition to the identity and management issues both CNBC and Company Man reported, The Street article I linked to above cited competition.
Like many traditional department stores, Kohl’s is navigating intensifying competition from both digital and value-focused retailers. E-commerce rivals such as Amazon, Temu, and Shein continue to capture online shopping demand, while off-price chains including Ross Stores and TJMaxx attract budget-conscious consumers with lower pricing.
At the same time, macroeconomic uncertainty has reshaped consumer behavior, with shoppers increasingly prioritizing value and limiting discretionary spending.
If private equity doesn't appear in the story, Amazon probably will.
We probably won't be Kohl's shoppers in the future, as the nearest store is now nearly seven miles away instead of two. We'll go that far for Costco, but not for a department store. If so, there are better stores that distance, like a Macy's, and a Target closer.
That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for a climate post tomorrow.
That's both a patriotic show and a completely modern one, so I'm happy with the concept. I'm not as confident this upload will last. As I wrote in 2012's Christmas in July, enjoy it while it lasts. On the other hand, I'm more confident that NOT the Colts 2026 “American Experiment” 07/02/26 will remain up; it's a rehearsal video shot by the uploader.
Looking for the perfect red, white and blue drink? This cocktail is festive and just the right amount of boozy and perfect for your Independence Day, 4th of July party!
Enjoy! Please drink responsibly and NEVER drink and drive!
John Oliver discusses how the Supreme Court has paved the way for the redrawing of congressional maps across the country, and what it means for the midterm elections. Plus, an urgent update on Gavin Newsom’s summer reading.
As for the Supreme Court's opinion on the Voting Rights Act, I wrote "the conservative majority of the Supreme Court shot multiracial democracy in America in the leg, if not an even more vital part of the body. The bullet is still traveling, injuring tissues and organs on its way." Oliver documents the damage, which isn't done yet.
I close by agreeing that all options should be on the table, especially Supreme Court reform. That might have to wait until 2029, when both houses of Congress and the White House are controlled by Democrats. To get there, "people in favor of multiracial democracy are going to have to vote in large enough numbers this fall and in 2028 to overwhelm the forces trying to send the U.S. back 60 years or more. May we succeed."
I will see a competent psychiatrist and get cured of all extremely unusual phobias and bizarre compulsive habits which could prove to be a disadvantage.
Randy added Pervert Hoover's mental and physical decline to the list. I've stayed away from those, as I've only used the word senile once on this blog, and that was quoting Seth Meyers in 2020: "Seth takes a closer look at Trump trying to paint Biden as drugged up and senile while attempting to steal the election by lying about voter fraud." In retrospect, that strikes me as projection on Pervert Hoover's part. I once wrote about him that "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," but that has never stopped him.
That written, it will take a lot for the age-related part of Pervert Hoover's condition to gain enough traction to make a difference. That's what Steve M. at No More Mister Nice Blog thinks, too. In May, he asked HOW BAD IS TRUMP'S HEALTH?
I'll believe he's really losing it when he launches into one of these attacks and freezes up, unable to summon up the next nasty word he wants to say. I look forward to that the day, the day he tries to slip the verbal shiv in but can't manage to do it. I hope it happens.
Maybe he's experiencing some form of dementia. But for now, his words, even when they're incoherent, have power. And that's primarily why he's not judged the way Biden was, even though he's probably in terrible physical health, and he knows it.
Pervert Hoover isn't there yet and I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen. Too bad.
Watching Randy promote Ground News reminds me that I should still compose a comparison and contrast between Ground News on the one hand and the Media Bias Chart and Allsides on the other. Not today. In the meantime, stay tuned for posts to celebrate the holiday weekend.
This video chronicles the Top 12-scoring percussion sections of junior drum & bugle corps hailing from CANADA under the “tick” system (1983 and prior).
Ranking is by average score of DCI Finals Week, in order to take into account all end-of-season performances.
The scope of this video covers only DCI competition, as access to Canadian contest recaps is limited.
I thanked the uploader.
Good work, Tumour! I'm planning on featuring this video for my Canada Day post next week, so thanks for putting it together. Are you going to make a top 12 Canadian corps under the build up system after you finish the top 12 most legendary drumlines series? If so, I'll feature in next year's Canada Day post!
He answered he would, so I expect to feature his second video about Canadian drumlines next year.
Follow over the jump for corps representing the pre-DCI era, and the decades from the 1980s to today.
