Pulling together the “author’s cut” of my interactive novel is harder than I anticipated. I wrote *so* much material that only exists in one story track or another (meaning I have to go all over the file to see what I can possibly add), and a *lot* of text varies based upon reader choices. It’s one long personality test of a book, so…it’s a mess!
Also, the chapters read differently without the page breaks/questions/illustrations. Once it’s just text, I see so many things I want to smooth and fill out. It’s a bigger editing job than anticipated!
Fun project, though. Anything with dragons is fun.
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Quentin Tarantino has long claimed he would only make a certain number of films, and one called “The Movie Critic” was due to be his last. He’s changed his mind. (The Film Stage)
Honestly, I don’t think he should fuss about it. I’m old enough to have seen a lot of people retire, unretire, retire, unretire… I’m not sure anyone believes Tarantino will hold himself to a particular number of movies. He might be enduring more self-doubt than necessary. Just go make your movies, my dude. Whatever you want. However many you feel like.
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Someone has been pursuing copyright for AI-generated books on the grounds that she’s disabled and couldn’t otherwise make them. (Ars Technica) The disability community is largely not on her side, I think, although I can’t cite anything besides the vibes I’ve gotten from disability activist spaces.
Exploitation wears many faces. I’m too tired to write up a rebuttal, but I think she’s wrong, and this is a bad choice.
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We aren’t necessarily growing the best available crops for our changing climate. Some folks are trying to change that by getting farmers to cultivate so-called “orphan crops.” (NPR)
“He said, ‘Everything you see out there that’s green, is grass pea. Everything else has died.’ And he was right. We walked out into the field, and the field was cracked, it was so dry. You could put your arm down in the soil for about a foot or so. And there was this little grass pea plant, green and flowering. And I thought to myself, ‘What a generous plant this is!”
Fowler acquired some grass pea seeds and brought them to his New York farm, where he’s growing and eating them. “It’s like a sugar snap pea,” he says. It’s delicious.”
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I’ve been hearing for years that disease is the most immediate, wide-ranging impact of climate change. I’m especially interested in zoonotic diseases.
So it is with no joy I report that chronic wasting disease may have made the jump from deer to humans. (Neurology)
In 2022, a 72-year-old man with a history of consuming meat from a CWD-infected deer population presented with rapid-onset confusion and aggression. His friend, who had also eaten venison from the same deer population, recently died of CJD, raising concerns about a potential link between CWD and human prion disease. Despite aggressive symptomatic treatment of seizures and agitation, the patient’s condition deteriorated and he died within a month of initial presentation.
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In funnier animal news, a young elephant seal wants to hang out in Victoria, darnit. Emerson is back. (The Guardian)
The plan was to move the young seal far from British Columbia’s capital city, where over the last year, he has developed a reputation for ending up in “unusual locations”, including flower beds, city parks and busy roads.
Emerson, as he is known to locals, had other plans.
Less than a week after he was removed from Victoria, he made an “epic” 126-mile trek along the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island back to the city, a return that has left conservation officers in disbelief.
This is cute and impressive. I hope they can figure it out before something terrible must be done to Emerson for safety, though.
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Archaeologists found the victims of a ritualistic murder in a Neolithic pit. (Ars Technica) Humans are intense, man.
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Hibernating bumblebee queens can survive underwater for up to a week. (Smithsonian Mag) This was a scientific discovery made by total accident, as hibernating queens were drowned by condensation. The scientist was devastated by her accident. But once they dried off and returned to hibernation, they seemed totally fine, and woke up normally.
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Some people have much cooler homes than I do. This guy’s home was basically a weird art installation (WaPo), and it’s cool enough that the British government has decided to keep it that way.
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Did you know that Japan has typically not allowed joint custody of children after divorce? I did not. I’m learning about it just as they pass laws to change that. (The Guardian)
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I am delighted to announce that Dwarf Fortress on Steam has released Adventure Mode in beta! (Ars Technica) I’ve been waiting for this. I’ve got the beta on my computer right now, but I haven’t tried it just yet.
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Brian Cox continues to say whatever the hell he’s thinking. In this case, he says Joaquin Phoenix was terrible in Napoleon. (Variety) I haven’t watched it yet so I have no opinion. But I love when Brian Cox says stuff grumpily. He’s adorable.
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Anaheim Disneyland is working on a two billion dollar expansion that will include space for Avatar stuff. (Gizmodo via Quartz) All right.
Meanwhile, Disney costume performers are trying to unionize. (CNN)
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Prince Harry now lists himself as an American resident. (WaPo) We’re happy to have him. Far be it from me to be too welcoming of any Random Rich Dude, but he escaped an abusive family (mostly) so he could simp for a really hot woman until death do they part, and that’s sweet.
