Narry's recent activity
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Comment on Formatting USBs with live Linux... what's the right way? in ~comp
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Comment on What's your favorite action scene? in ~talk
Narry Link ParentI actually trimmed that post back, because the gun battle at the mini mart and the final fight with Grocer et al are right up there in my top 10 fights alongside the school hallway fight. I gotta...I actually trimmed that post back, because the gun battle at the mini mart and the final fight with Grocer et al are right up there in my top 10 fights alongside the school hallway fight.
I gotta watch the movie again this weekend. All of the asides with Dr. Oatman, his calls with his assistant Marcella, the random around the town encounters, it all just leads up to such a good movie. I just canot think of a movie I enjoy more. Snatch comes real close.
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Comment on What's your favorite action scene? in ~talk
Narry LinkEvery single action scene in Grosse Pointe Blank ranks in my top 20, but there's one in particular that stands out as probably my all-time favorite fight in any movie ever. GPB is mostly a...Every single action scene in Grosse Pointe Blank ranks in my top 20, but there's one in particular that stands out as probably my all-time favorite fight in any movie ever.
GPB is mostly a philosophical, slow-moving movie with a lot of long pauses between the action which really makes them stand out. Though the movie starts off with a graphic sniper shot into the chest of an assassin and a surprise second assassin dispatching a VIP Martin is supposed to be protecting, much of the movie's violence is doled out at a sedate clip. There's another scene shortly after of a botched assassination that pushes Martin on his way back home, to Grosse Pointe Michigan, where he's got an assassination mission he's doing for free as a mea culpa for screwing up at least twice, and while he's there he's got a high school reunion he can choose to attend even though he left before graduation and hasn't been home since, about 15 years.
There are three more big action scenes after this, and the next two are only a couple of minutes each, but very different in tone. The first one is kind of campy, a gun fight in a convenience store that ends explosively. The second one is still one of the most tense, claustrophobic, tightly choreographed, and gruesomely concluding fights in all of cinema that I've ever seen. It very much feels like the prototype of John Wick in that moment. It's a brief fight between Martin and an assassin (Felix), sent to kill him for a third, off-screen botched mission which resulted in the death of a dog.
The scene is a brutal, graphic, weaponless fight of two highly skilled evenly matched combatants doing their best to make short work of their foes that comes to an extremely graphic conclusion. Martin ultimately succeeds, but at the cost of showing his true colors to his friends. Or are they his true colors? I think not.
I feel like this scene is Martin realizing that while he has honed himself into this person, he hates himself and wants to change. Having a loved one from his past see him as he's become, without filter, without varnish, without him explaining how it's all better, gives him the push he needs to change himself. The very last fight at the end is just another madcap violence romp that's hilarious as hell, and a cathartic buildup to every stone tile laid to walk us to this violent ending.
Grosse Pointe Blank has sat with me since I saw it in the theater as a kid back in 1997. It was the first movie I ever went and saw by myself, and I spent years evangelizing it to anyone that would listen. To this day it's a movie I come back to every couple of years to watch. I have no particular day I watch it, however. I just get the urge and pop it into my BluRay and go.
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Comment on Real-life 'Truman Show' pulled from TV as it's branded 'psychological torture' in ~tv
Narry LinkThis reminds me of a smaller scale Invasion Iowa in quite a lot of ways. That one got an entire town in on the action of being duped and taking part in a "movie" starring William Shatner. It...This reminds me of a smaller scale Invasion Iowa in quite a lot of ways. That one got an entire town in on the action of being duped and taking part in a "movie" starring William Shatner. It was... yeah. Imagine this guy's feeling spread out over a whole town. It even involved a comedian thinking he was getting his big break.
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Comment on 2026 United States midterm elections megathread in ~society
Narry Link ParentThis has been truly momentous and I am beyond chuffed as my English friends would say. We even tipped the State House. Our 9-0 supermajority Supreme Court of Texas just went 5-4, though still in...This has been truly momentous and I am beyond chuffed as my English friends would say. We even tipped the State House. Our 9-0 supermajority Supreme Court of Texas just went 5-4, though still in the Republicans' favor. For now. We've made some incredible inroads, major progress, and I trust Gina and the Dems to understand why Texans picked them, and I'm hopeful we can keep this up for 4 years, and then 4 more, and more beyond, and that we never again forget that Texas is for Texans (born or transplanted), and not for giant corporations and fat cats from the Yacht Class.
There's a lot I'd like to see us reform at the state level, not the least of which is things like how we're treated as a good place for patent trolls to base themselves out of as we have (had?) sympathetic judges that let them sue anyone over anything, allowing corporations to pull the "Texas Two-Step" bankruptcy strategy where they lose a case and have tort liabilities, incorporate here, push all their class-action debt onto that new corporation, then that new corporation declares bankruptcy and settles for pennies on the dollar.
There's a lot to love about this state, but 30 years of political dominance leaves a lot of graft that needs to be dealt with. I can only hope the voters of Texas will grant us the time and grace to right the ship.
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Comment on 2026 United States midterm elections megathread in ~society
Narry Link ParentYeah this was... unthinkable when I moved here in 2010.Yeah this was... unthinkable when I moved here in 2010.
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Comment on 2026 United States midterm elections megathread in ~society
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Comment on Has anyone here experienced a tv show slump? in ~tv
Narry Link ParentThese days opening Netflix feels like an exercise in browsing the discount DVD bin filled with shitty knockoffs and shows you’ve never hear of before. For me it’s also a bad investment because...These days opening Netflix feels like an exercise in browsing the discount DVD bin filled with shitty knockoffs and shows you’ve never hear of before. For me it’s also a bad investment because they keep ending shows that I liked. I don’t care if season two of Altered Carbon wasn’t as good as season one, maybe season three would’ve redeemed it.
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Comment on Has anyone here experienced a tv show slump? in ~tv
Narry Link ParentJackson Lamb is probably one of the best written spies in the history of the genre. Honestly the punches they’re not afraid to pull. You genuinely don’t feel like any character has plot armor.Jackson Lamb is probably one of the best written spies in the history of the genre. Honestly the punches they’re not afraid to pull. You genuinely don’t feel like any character has plot armor.
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Comment on Manifestos, fear, and ‘loser thinking’: inside Proton’s AI reckoning in ~tech
Narry Link ParentThat's quitter talk, snake_case, you gotta pump it up and synergize the verticals with the KPI and ensure our go to market solution has integration with the zeitgeist. (I always start to lose my...That's quitter talk, snake_case, you gotta pump it up and synergize the verticals with the KPI and ensure our go to market solution has integration with the zeitgeist.
(I always start to lose my handle on corpospeak towards the end of the sentences.)
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Comment on Alphabet shares tumble in $500bn rout [as AI-mode search threatens advertising profits] in ~finance
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Comment on Reddit will require you to be logged in in ~tech
Narry Link ParentI use my iPhone as well but I use Opera because it blocks a loooooot of reddit's BS like "promoted" posts and what not. But also I'm logged in and I use new Reddit, so I'm probably a bad use case....I use my iPhone as well but I use Opera because it blocks a loooooot of reddit's BS like "promoted" posts and what not. But also I'm logged in and I use new Reddit, so I'm probably a bad use case. I actually do participate in a few niche subreddits that only have other communities on like... Instagram and the YouTube comments of my favorite podcast's episodes.
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Comment on Patrick Stewart dead: 'Star Trek' captain, 'X-Men' superhero was 86 in ~movies
Narry LinkUgh, this one hurts real bad. Walter Koenig's death was sad, this was heart-breaking because I wasn't just familiar with him for Star Trek.Ugh, this one hurts real bad. Walter Koenig's death was sad, this was heart-breaking because I wasn't just familiar with him for Star Trek.
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Comment on Walter Koenig dead at 90 in ~tv
Narry LinkI was thinking about him just last Friday, I went through and looked up his Memory Alpha and Wikipedia articles. I'd been thinking about Strange New Worlds and how it was bending towards joining...I was thinking about him just last Friday, I went through and looked up his Memory Alpha and Wikipedia articles. I'd been thinking about Strange New Worlds and how it was bending towards joining its story arc with Star Trek TOS, and I know that Chekov doesn't show up until Season 2 of TOS, but I was wondering if they were going to cast someone new to play him and hint at him in SNW Season 5. Sad day.
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Comment on late.sh - a cozy command-line clubhouse for computer people in ~tech
Narry Link ParentHonestly it seems like Docker's not that useful for me and what I do. Thanks for saving me a long time trying to learn a tech I'm never going to implement.Honestly it seems like Docker's not that useful for me and what I do. Thanks for saving me a long time trying to learn a tech I'm never going to implement.
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Comment on late.sh - a cozy command-line clubhouse for computer people in ~tech
Narry Link ParentHmm, I have profoundly misunderstood what Docker is for. It sounds almost like it's just Python's Venv but for other programs...Hmm, I have profoundly misunderstood what Docker is for. It sounds almost like it's just Python's Venv but for other programs...
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Comment on I neglected to make a timely post about Desert Bus for Hope 2026! in ~tech
Narry LinkEgads, it's hard to believe that they've been doing this for 20 years... and I've followed them for almost as long.Egads, it's hard to believe that they've been doing this for 20 years... and I've followed them for almost as long.
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Comment on late.sh - a cozy command-line clubhouse for computer people in ~tech
Narry (edited )Link ParentSee that’s the kind of stuff I need to learn. I’m familiar with spinning up full VMs like in Virtual Box, installing a full operating system and running apps and scripts within that image, but...See that’s the kind of stuff I need to learn. I’m familiar with spinning up full VMs like in Virtual Box, installing a full operating system and running apps and scripts within that image, but Docker seems like the same concept but… not?
(Edit: installinga -> installing a)
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Comment on late.sh - a cozy command-line clubhouse for computer people in ~tech
Narry Link ParentIt makes me think that the developers assume you’re going to sandbox their app in a Docker container, which I’d do if I had the time and patience to sit down and learn Docker… I guess maybe I...It makes me think that the developers assume you’re going to sandbox their app in a Docker container, which I’d do if I had the time and patience to sit down and learn Docker… I guess maybe I should, finally.
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Comment on What is your passion? And why? in ~life
Narry LinkADHD keeps me from being truly passionate about anything, but I have learned to roll with my daily special interests. Today my special interest was food and cooking, so I watched a ton of stuff...ADHD keeps me from being truly passionate about anything, but I have learned to roll with my daily special interests. Today my special interest was food and cooking, so I watched a ton of stuff from Chris Young, Adam Ragusea, Future Canoe, SauccEats, Vivaldi, Detroit 75 Kitchen, and the like.
Sometimes I'm into game design, so I dink around in whatever strikes my fancy. Sometimes that's a text-based game engine like Twine, sometimes that's a graphics engine like Godot, or Defold, sometimes that's a retro engine like GB Studio.
Sometimes I'm into drawing comics. I have probably a dozen or so that are sitting on my little iPad Mini that I don't really share anymore, since the comics are more for me than anyone else.
Sometimes I'm into novel-writing, and I plunk around with one of my cyberpunk or fantasy stories. I've got literally hundreds of false starts on novels, at least 50+ short stories, scenes, vignettes that are around. I'm an okay writer. Very rarely I'll write a script instead, since I started off with writing for visual mediums (hence the comic creation just before this; it's basically story boarding.)
Sometimes I want to play music. This one is harder. I'm best with piano but my space is limited so I mostly plunk around on my baritone ukulele, but it really fucks with my injured shoulder so I have to be careful. Sometimes I play around with Launchpad on my iPad. I used to dink around with FL Studio but since I'm doing it for fun, FL is too far away from just enjoying what I'm doing.
Sometimes I'm just brain-rotted so I'll spend days watching a comfort show like Archer, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Scrubs, The Simpsons, Futurama, 30 Rock, Community, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, My Name is Earl...
This is the best one right here. I tried it once and I'm not going back.