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.
NBC News National Political Correspondent Steve Kornacki joins Meet the Press NOW to discuss the early state of play in California's gubernatorial race as former Vice President Kamala Harris weighs a run for governor.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris would have a wide lead over the rest of the field if she were to enter the 2026 race for California governor, according to an Inside California Politics/Emerson College poll released Thursday. April 17, 2025.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris is the runaway front-runner in the California governor’s race – but voters are split on whether the failed 2024 Democratic presidential candidate should even enter the fray.
Harris has the support of 31% of Californians who plan to vote in the Golden State’s June 2026 gubernatorial primary election, according to an Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics/The Hill survey released Thursday,
But half of likely voters, 50%, believe that the former vice president, California senator and state attorney general should not run for the governorship.
Harris’s closest competitors are former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), who only mustered 8% support, and Republican Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco, who garnered a 4% backing.
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a recent entrant into the race, received 2% support.
That's a really good preview image, but I'm suspicious of the channel itself. I wonder who's behind it.
Follow over the jump for a retrospective of the relevant top post plus the most commented posts between March 21, 2024 and March 20, 2025 for today.
The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards has been postponed due to the ongoing strikes by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA. The Emmys broadcast was scheduled to take place on Sept. 18, and a new date has not been announced.
Check out more of Elaine's work at TheAnkler.com.
She also has a daily newsletter and blog at StrikeGeist.com.
This segment aired on the KTLA 5 Weekend Morning News on July 29, 2023.
Since there are no new dates for the awards broadcasts, I think I can slow the pace of my Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy posts. The earliest I expect they could take place would be November. On the other hand, the News & Documentary Emmy Awards are not affected by either strike, so they should happen on schedule with the news awards being presented on Wednesday, September 27, 2023 and the documentary awards on Thursday, September 28, 2023. I'm shifting my focus to them for at least the next couple of posts. Stay tuned.
Previous posts about the 2023 Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards
After weeks of negotiations, for the first time in 15 years, the Writers Guild of America has officially gone on strike. Dan Casey breaks down everything you need to know about why this strike happened, how long it might last, and what it means for you, the viewers at home, on today’s episode of Nerdist News!
Dan Casey called the writers strike "the most important thing happening in the world of entertainment right now." I agree, which is why I'm blogging about it today. Besides, who am I to argue with Nerdist, let alone MSNBC, CNN, and KTLA, who also reported on the strike? Follow over the jump for their segments on the work stoppage.
From Norfolk, Virginia
The NSU Spartan Legion performing their musical selections at the 42nd Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Friday, December 30, 2022.
The NSU Spartan Legion Marching Band from Norfolk, Virginia at the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA.
Video footage - courtesy of KTLA 5 news. All rights of this footage belong to KTLA 5.
ZymbalistiK remarked how unusual this was in his comment.
NSU is the first band I’ve seen stop and do a full routine/performance at the Rose Parade. I think that was a great idea to fully showcase the band. I wonder if this was planned or spur of the moment thing? Good job regardless Legion!
I agree, it was unusual. In a comment, Ebony Johnson responded "They were chosen to do the grandstand performance while the live performer was televised around the corner." I watched the live performance for the television audience and think the Spartan Legion put on the better show.
It seems like there are major wildfires in Southern California every year and a new report from UCLA predicts things will only get worse. The study shows the number of days with a high risk of fires could double by the end of the century.
It's Glen MacDonald, not Park Williams, explaining the findings, but he's also a professor in the UCLA Geography Department. On the one hand, go Bruins! On the other hand, yikes! I thought California'syear-roundfire season was bad enough already, but it's going to get worse.
I hope Californians respond by making their developed environment more able to survive the increased fire risk and by joining the rest of the world in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. I'm doing my part by reducing my driving because of the pandemic. I don't expect that will last past May, when I will probably return to in-person teaching and commuting, but we'll see.
That should conclude my climatechange blogging for the month unless another study comes out that makes the news. Stay tuned.
No bands from Michigan are performing tomorrow, but one from California is, Trabuco Hills High School from Mission Viejo. Watch KTLA's THHS off to Macy's to see a preview of their TV area routine.
The Orange County Register confirms what I heard; the band is playing "Pure Imagination" from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which I think is an excellent choice for the parade. So does the band's director, Brad Pollock.
Pollock felt “Pure Imagination” was fitting, not just because he believed the band could perform it with the entertainment value the Macy’s parade is known for, but also because it speaks to the feelings many likely experienced during the pandemic.
“What we just went through last year, you know, everybody’s imagination was running wild,” Pollock said. “And, you know, no matter what was going on, you can’t stop us from dreaming.”
The newspaper also reported that the band delayed its trip from last year because of the pandemic. It's the first of at least three with the same story.
Follow over the jump as I look at bands from west to east.
The 132nd Rose Parade has been canceled because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, marking the first time in 75 years that the beloved and eagerly anticipated New Year’s Day tradition won’t be held. Courtney Friel reports for KTLA 5 News on July 15, 2020.
The 2021 Tournament of Roses Parade has been officially canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I wish I could say I was surprised, but I could see this coming. So could Luis of Music213, who made the announcement on his YouTube channel.
For the first time since World War II, the 2021 Rose Parade has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. This was highly expected. It is unfortunate, but the Rose Parade Committee made the right decision. Stay safe everyone and take care of yourselves and your loved ones.
I really don't have anything to add to that other than I agree with everything Luis wrote.
Follow over the jump for news about the Rose Bowl and the rest of college football.
Another Variety article listed the nominees. It showed that speculative fiction had at least one nominee in every acting category for movies, again demonstating both the high quality of this year's best speculative fiction films and the respect actors have for genre works. The same two movies that have been recognized in every awards program I have reported on so far, "Get Out" and "The Shape of Water," earned two nominations each.
"Get Out" has a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and Daniel Kaluuya garnered one for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role. I still think neither will win, with Gary Oldman winning the acting award and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” winning the cast award, but it deserved both nominations. I'm hoping Kaluuya earns a nomination for Best Actor in a Film at the Saturn Awards. I'm pretty sure "Get Out" will be nominated for Best Thiller Film (nothing supernatural about it, so it won't be nominated as horror).
"The Shape of Water" earned nominations for Sally Hawkins as Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role and Richard Jenkins as Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role. I'm not optimistic about either winning, as the competition is very stiff in both categories. That reminds me that I thought the actresses were better than the actors last year, both in film and on television. This year, I think the men are as good as the women.
This segment aired on the KTLA 5 Morning News, Wednesday, December 13, 2017.
Congratulations to Chau, as she is obviously the best thing about "Downsizing." That won't be enough for her to win, as her competition is too stiff. Holly Hunter, Allison Janney, and Laurie Metcalf are all established actresses and all delivered outstanding performances, so I think one of them will win. Just the same, that she has been a consensus pick so far bodes well for her being nominated for an Oscar.
Speaking of nominations, I think she should be nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Film at the Saturn Awards. However, I don't think she'll win, even if the professionals think she's the best supporting actress in a speculative fiction film (Olivia Spencer could just as easily have been nominated instead of Mary J. Blige for her role in "The Shape of Water," but wasn't). I suspect the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films will also nominate Spencer as well as Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, and possibly Carrie Fisher for a seventh nominee if she isn't nominated for a leading role from "The Last Jedi." They might also nominate Blige, as they could consider "Mudbound" an independent film, which would qualify her for the nomination. For a sixth nominee, they could honor last year's winner Tilda Swinton for her role in "Okja." That would make for a talented and diverse field, but I'd give the advantage to one of Dern, Fisher, or Tran, none of whom will get a nomination for their parts elsewhere. Remember, the Saturn Awards are about entertainment not art, they don't care for subtle, and they love to stick it to the experts.
One final movie category recognized genre films for all of its nominations, Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture. I'll let a picture say its 1000 words for me.
Oh, look, two superhero films, a science fiction movie, and two action flicks, making this the strongest category for speculative fiction in movies.
This segment aired on the KTLA 5 Morning News, Wednesday, December 06, 2017.
Unlike the movie nominations, no one series dominated the nominations for television series, as six drama series earned three nominations each. Four of them are speculative fiction series, "American Gods," "Game of Thrones," "The Handmaid's Tale," and "Stranger Things 2," all of which are nominated for Best Drama Series. The other two are "This is Us," also nominated for Best Drama Series, and "The Good Fight," which has three acting nominations. Two other speculative fiction shows, "Outlander" and "Orphan Black," both have their female leads nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series. Two shows that are speculative-fiction-adjacent thrillers, "Bates Motel" (horror) and "Mr. Robot" (science fiction), also have one nomination each, "Bates Motel" for Actor in a Drama Series and "Mr. Robot" for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. That's 16 out of 30 possible nominations in the drama categories for speculative fiction, a very good showing for genre television.
Speculative fiction didn't fare as well in comedy, as there is only one nominated comedy series that qualifies as speculative fiction, "The Good Place," a fantasy. It has two nominations for acting, Ted Danson for Best Actor in a Comedy and Kristen Bell for Best Actress in a Comedy. Otherwise, the shows that are adjacent are comedies about scientists and engineers, "The Big Bang Theory" and "Silicon Valley," which have two nominations each. None of them are the most nominated comedy series. That honor goes to Netflix's wrestling show "GLOW" with four, including Best Comedy Series, where its competition includes "The Big Bang Theory" but not "The Good Place" or "Silicon Valley."
Deadline has the rest of the nominations for miniseries, movies, and animated shows. There, one show did stand out, "Feud: Bette and Joan" with six nominations, the most of any show at these awards. Fortunately, the sole nominated speculative fiction miniseries, "American Horror Story: Cult," is not competing against it in any category, having been nominated for Best Actor in a Movie Made for TV or Limited Series. Neither is one of the two nominations about science and scientists, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," which is nominated for Best Movie Made for TV. On the other hand, "Genius," is competing against "Feud: Bette and Joan," having been nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie Made for TV or Limited Series.
The final category consists of almost nothing but speculative fiction. Best Animated Series has "Archer," "Bob’s Burgers," "BoJack Horseman," "Danger & Eggs," "Rick and Morty," and "The Simpsons" as nominees. The middle three, "BoJack Horseman," "Danger & Eggs," "Rick and Morty," probably have the strongest fantastic and science fictional elements, while "The Simpsons" has aliens as guest stars and an annual horror show on Halloween.
Follow over the jump for all the categories that include speculative fiction nominees along with my thoughts about their chances.
I've posted the trailers for "Star Trek: Discovery" twice, first in May and again in July. True to the every other month pattern, I'm posting something about it in September. The difference is that the show is premiering tonight on CBS before it moves to CBS All Access.* Therefore, I'm posting news stories instead of trailers. I'm all in favor of corporate PR once removed as information.
'Star Trek: Discovery' is plotting a game-changing new course. In addition to running on a digital platform, Discovery marks the first time a Star Trek series has been led by a woman of color as well as someone who isn't captain of the ship with The Walking Dead grad Sonequa Martin-Green having that distinction in her role as First Officer Michael Burnham. What's more, Discovery picks up at a time of rising tensions between Starfleet and the Klingon race.
The captain of Discovery is the most messed up Star Fleet commanding officer? That I'll have to see; I can think of a couple from the original series that had serious issues and Chris Pine's Kirk is pretty damaged. Also, Spock has a foster sister? That makes me want to watch the series even more.
When it comes to Star Trek, a dynamic main title theme is key. In this behind-the-scenes video for Star Trek: Discovery, composer Jeff Russo leads a 60-piece orchestra in recording the new series' theme. Star Trek: Discovery premieres in the U.S. on CBS All Access Sunday, Sept. 24, following a broadcast premiere on the CBS Television Network.
Here's to hoping this gets nominated for Outstanding Main Title Music at next year's Emmy Awards. May it have a title sequence worthy of the franchise to accompany it.
*Here's to hoping it isn't delayed by football. As for the show being on CBS All Access, I hope it doesn't interfere with growing the show's audience the way it seemed to with "The Good Fight." That show was just as good as the last season of the "The Good Wife" but earned only one Emmy nomination in contrast to the four nominations the last season of "The Good Wife" earned. I have a suspicion that the members of the Television Academy just weren't watching. May that not happen to "Star Trek: Discovery."
The leading comedy, political or otherwise, is "Veep" with 17 nominations. It's won Outstanding Comedy Series the past two years in a row and its star Julia Louis-Dreyfus has won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series every year the show has aired, which makes for five consecutive wins. Impressive.
What's also impressive is the number of Washington insiders who say that it is the most realistic portrayal of political life on American television, more so than "House of Cards," the subject of tomorrow's entry. I'll begin with WYNC's quote.
According to Jess Mcintosh, a democratic operative who works in communications, “Our lives are not like 'House of Cards.' There is really nothing that 'House of Cards' presents other than the names of certain Washington locations that bear any relation to reality.”
“'VEEP' is sometimes so painful to watch because it is so close to things that have happened in my world. I’m aware that it is funny, but I can’t possibly laugh at it,” she continues.
The Wrap elaborates on what "Veep" captures that "House of Cards" does not.
“The funny thing about ‘Veep’ is, we as people who worked in the White House always get asked, okay, what’s the most real? Is it ‘House of Cards? Is it ‘West Wing’? And the answer is, it’s ‘Veep.’ Because you guys nail the fragility of the egos, and the, like, day-to-day idiocy of the decision-making,” [Tommy] Vietor said.
I finish the comparison with this passage from The Atlantic.
House of Cards does get some things right. Its set design is impressive, down to the decor of the congressional offices and the style of the nameplates on the doors. And it correctly captures a new media landscape influenced by Politico and Buzzfeed (er, Slugline) while only somewhat exaggerating the corrosive impact of money on modern politics.
But Veep gets much more of the total picture, and it does so more enjoyably by presenting the capital as folly, not awash in soul-crushing darkness.
It may not make Congress's approval ratings rebound from the gutter, but the truth that Veep captures is that the worst of the worst in Washington are more likely to be buffoons than monsters: Politicians and their aides are probably not killing people in D.C., but they often are shooting themselves in the foot.
There you have it. To paraphrase what a Canadian politician said about the Canadian left, our politicians are more likely to be gauche than sinister.
There are two other comedies with a political slant, "Black-ish" with four nominations and "South Park" with one. Follow over the jump for all the nominations of scripted comedies with political themes at the Primetime Emmy Awards.
While this is a Detroit-based blog (I brand it as a sustainability blog with a science-fiction slant and a Detroit perspective) and I have adopted Detroit as my home town, it's no secret to anyone who knows me that I'm originally from Los Angeles, which I left 23 years ago to move to Michigan. So, I'll occasionally stray from my Midwestern focus to look back at the places and events where I grew up. One of those is the Rose Parade, which I went to just about every year from the late 1960s (I can't even remember the first one I watched in person) until 1983. It turns out that the Rose Parade is back in the news in two ways that I can't resist blogging about.
PASADENA (KTLA) -- Bystanders hoping to catch a glimpse of the brightly decorated floats at Monday's Tournament of Roses Parade might notice something a bit unusual if they stick around to the end.
Occupy activists this weekend are putting the finishing touches on Occupy Octopus, a 70-foot squid puppet that will be paraded alongside thousands of protesters.
The so-called "Octupy Rose Parade" float is made entirely of recycled plastic bags and powered by 36 humans, with tens of people carrying the arms and a smaller group of people holding up the central body.
"We're calling it 'The People's Parade' to contrast against the corporate parade that the Rose Parade has become," an organizer said.
"It will represent Wall Street, the financial sectors [as] vampires, [with a] squidlike stranglehold," one organizer said.
If you were wondering when Matt Taibbi's "vampire squid" would make an appearance in an Occupy protest, wait no longer. It will make its debut in a few hours.
Demonstrators, flanked by a 250-foot recreation of the U.S. Constitution, will be gathering at 7 a.m. at Singer Park and are set to begin marching near the parades end at 9:30 a.m.
Those times are Pacific, thus three hours behind the time zone here in Detroit. You have time to watch the end of the parade and catch the Occupy Octopus.
Protesters will march the parade route after the floats and marching bands have passed. The group has been working with Pasadena police and Tournament of Roses officials on how not to disrupt the parade.
"Our goal is to put Occupy's best foot forward," Thottam said, adding that activists expect more than 1,000 participants. "We recognize that this is a historic, iconic event geared toward middle America and the family."
The group says the protest will be "G-rated" and will stick to nonviolence in expressing Occupy's messages against income inequality and corporate power.
The organizers expect there will be no trouble with police and that thousands will show up. I believe the first, but am sceptical about the second.
KTLA has two videos showing Occupy the Rose Parade's efforts as part of the preparation for the Rose Parade. Unfortunately, neither is allowing its embed code to be shared. The first one is at the L.A. Times site and the second is hosted at KTLA.
Now, something a little more conventional--an astronaut riding on a float courtesy of MSNBC.
One of the last astronauts to ride on a space shuttle will be riding a totally different vehicle on Monday: a flower-bedecked float in the 2012 Rose Parade.
Say what?
The 5.5-mile journey down the parade route in Pasadena, Calif., doesn't hold a candle in distance or danger to the 5.3 million-mile journey that NASA astronaut Rex Walheim made in July during STS-135, Atlantis' program-ending mission. But it's a perfect follow-up for several reasons:
Walheim will be riding on the "Garden of Imagination" float with his brother, Lance, a horticulturist who wrote the book "Roses for Dummies." Lance is the go-to garden guy for Bayer Advanced, an arm of the chemical conglomerate that makes lawn and garden prducts.
With Lance's encouragement, Rex carried up a dried rose as one of his personal items during a 2008 mission on Atlantis. That rose was featured on Bayer Advanced's trophy-winning Rose Parade float in 2009.
This Rose Parade appearance gives Rex a chance to smell the roses, literally, after a high-pressure spaceflight. It also gives him an opportunity to reflect on how a little gardening could come in handy for future generations of space explorers.
"If you think about it, that's one of the things we need to develop on our long-term vehicles," he told me this week. "We need to have a self-supporting ecosystem, environmental control systems for recycling air and water, and you have to grow your own food. We're doing that in space. ... These skills that any astronaut has as a young child when they work in the garden and help their parents, well, those turn out to be important on the most advanced vehicles ever made, and on the most complex exploration missions."
I told you this blog was about sustainability with a science-fiction slant!
