The Witcher: Season 3 | Official Trailer | Netflix

We watched Season 2 a year or so ago, and everything I said then still applies, though there don't seem to be as many monsters.

Fantasy

SWEET

I suspect this is an AI generated image. I'm generally opposed to AI art, but Riders is right, this is a pretty sweet image.

Royal Saudi Air Force British Aerospace Hawk 65A

Royal Saudi Air Force British Aerospace Hawk 65A

Part of the Saudi Hawks display team. Photo taken Chalons-Vatry, France, which is about 80 miles east of Paris. The Paris airshow which ended a couple of weeks ago, which could explain their presence here.

Frying Pan Story

MINERAL B Carbon Steel Fry Pan

Uniberp reports:

Back from Germany. Visited several cities, Nazi sites and Gothic cathedrals. Germans are really good at what they do and have built extremely well-functioning transportation, housing and food. Of course they've had 2000 years to get there, with not a few missteps along the way. They are also quite quiet and unsmiling. I think they are up to something.

 

Years ago I found a frypan at a WIlliams Sonoma store as a closeout. It was basic steel (not cast iron), heavy, and cheap and the reason it was a closeout is because at that time companies were just coming out with designer stainless clad cookware in shiny modern designs. Turns out all that stuff failed after a few years and the ugly little too heavy frypan soldiered on. It was the best thing for making real omelettes. It even works great camping.

So for the second house I wanted another one but could never find another in stores. In a housewares store in Koblenz I spied this and knew I had found the piece I sought:

MINERAL B Carbon Steel Fry Pan 

Never saw one before. I had seen them online but I have been fooled before. Until I held it I was not going to risk disappointment again. I was tempted to buy it on the spot but customs would have charged me and like I said, it is heavy to travel with.

So I bought one when I got back. Highly recommended for anybody who enjoys cooking their own food. Steel is the difference. Not iron. And it has a longer handle.

Disaster Looming?

Is the Biden Administration the new Hindenburg? With with all the noise that's been coming out about  Biden and his gang, are we witnessing the beginning of the Hindenburg in slow motion?

If the Biden gang collapses, that would really foul things up. Talk about graft and corruption, what better time to be raking it in than when things are in flux and there is no telling who's coming out on top?

I'm not betting on it, in any case, and even if I were to place an actual wager on the outcome, where would I place it? I'm not talking about a gambling house, where everyone knows what the odds are, and whatever gets bet, gets paid out, minus a commission for the house, of course. I'm looking at an actual real investment, where should I put my money? I guess I'd put it on stuff that I know is real, solid businesses producing solid products year after year, and making a profit every year as well. Which is probably where most of my money is right now.

The Entertainment Industry will probably benefit the most. With the proliferation of distribution channels, there's going be an ever growing demand for content, which means more work for more production people. A disaster the size of the Hindenburg, but rendered in slow motion over a period of months, that would  give a big boost to employment.

Revolution Books

Revolution Books

I order a used copy of We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, a Russian. I ordered it cause it was banned by the Soviet government back in the 1920's and I'm thinking anything banned by the Soviets might be worth reading. Anyway it shows up a couple of days ago and it included a little note thanking me for supporting 'a small, independent bookseller'. Really? I thought all these used book dealers who list their stuff on Amazon were like giant warehouse kind of operations. They sell their books for next to nothing, often less that a dollar, but the standard Amazon shipping fee is four bucks. You're not going to make any money selling a handful of books a day at those prices, but if you can sell a thousand books a day, you might be able to make a living. However, to sell a thousand books a day you are going to need a warehouse with a zillion volumes and a well trained staff who can snatch that book off the shelf, wrap it and have it out the door in under two minutes.

So, 'a small, independent bookseller'? Let's take a look, shall we. There is a return address on the shipping label: 437 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York NY. Feed that to Google Maps and, lo and behold: Revolution Books. Wow, this place is like a visit to the 1960's when Revolution filled the air.

BLOOD & GOLD Trailer (2023) Alexander Scheer, Robert Maaser, Action

Blood & Gold | Official Trailer | Netflix
Netflix

In the closing days of WW2 in Germany, a squad of German soldiers under the command of a demented Nazi SS Officer are searching for a stockpile of gold in a small town. The gold came from a Jewish family that had sold a factory in the early days of the war and were preparing to leave. Those plans collapsed and now everyone is looking for the gold. The Netflix blurb called it Tarantino-esque, and they're spot on. Horrible, vile, bad guys, glorious, heart-of-gold good guys. The bad guys get their just deserts, but only after they have repeatedly demonstrated just how rotten they are, and the good guys get a happy ending.

Update October 2025 replaced missing video.