A quick whiteboard doodle

If you leave me alone in a room with a whiteboard and a dry erase marker for 5 minutes, this is what will probably happen.

Digger is a cantankerous romp of a movie

"Digger" feels like what "Birdman" director Alejandro González Iñárritu would do with a combination of "Dr. Strangelove" style and "Don't Look Up" substance.

Struggling at the box office, it's indeed a critically polarizing film and somewhat challenging to sit through, but I found it ultimately rewarding. It is a high-concept approach to dramatizing climate disasters - a catastrophic problem with which humanity must reckon in the mid-21st century. What will fine art, cinema, and theater do to reckon with the destruction of the planet at the hands of fossil fuel companies and a global economy beholden to dirty energy?

This film stridently hits audiences over the head - as Tom Cruise wielding a shovel - with an answer to that question: using inventive, over-the-top satire as a blunt instrument. I suspect this cantankerous romp of a movie will find an appreciative audience in the long run... even if in the long run, we're all dead.

DONALD WHO? and CEOS PAID 325x AVERAGE WORKER

DONALD WHO? Donald Trump is on the ballot, but Republicans are trying to pretend he's not. Meanwhile, Trump himself instructed his cult following to "pretend" Trump is on the ballot and "cheat like hell" to win the election for Republicans. However, a CNN analyzed AdImpact data for September 1–15, 2026 and found:

- Only 12 Republican TV ads mentioned President Donald Trump.

- Republicans produced more than 500 TV ads during that period.

- Those 12 Trump-mentioned ads represented about $1 million in spending, out of more than $160 million in Republican TV advertising.

- This that less than 1% of Republican TV-ad spending went to spots specifically mentioning Trump.

- By comparison, Democrats mentioned Trump in 95 ads during the same period, with about $23 million in spending. 

CEOS PAID 325x AVERAGE WORKER - A new analysis was just published from the Economic Policy Institute about CEO compensation at the largest U.S. publicly traded companies.

- Average CEO compensation rose 14% in 2025, reaching about $27.9 million among CEOs at the top 350 U.S. firms.

- EPI calculates that CEOs received about 325 times the compensation of a typical worker in 2025.

- For comparison, the ratio was about 21-to-1 in 1965 and 31-to-1 in 1978.

- From 1978 to 2025, EPI estimates realized CEO compensation increased 1,316%, while compensation for typical workers increased 28%.

CEO compensation isn't simply a $27.9-million salary. EPI's "realized compensation" measure includes salary, bonuses, long-term incentives, and stock-based compensation when stock awards vest or stock options are exercised.

If you use the report's 325-to-1 ratio literally, one year of average CEO compensation is roughly equivalent to 325 years of the typical worker's annual compensation.

Arabian Leila's Upcoming Album

 🎧 💿🎵  Exciting news! My partner is working toward releasing her first album under her performer name, "Arabian Leila." This collection of 12 original songs is deeply personal - exploring trauma, recovery, dissociation, and the long journey of finding herself again. As an ex-Muslim, they are the songs of a woman who was silenced for decades - now choosing to speak not in secret, but publicly, boldly, and with intention.

In addition to writing, singing, and producing in close collaboration with a local Canadian music studio, she painted all of the album art for each song! Her tracks are currently in the mixing stage, combining all the elements to create polished songs with a blend of personal, heartfelt ballads fused with English and the Arabic hip-hop.

Currently, she's seeking funding to complete the mastering process, which is the final step to allow her voice to be heard clearly and professionally across all platforms. Any donation you can make will mean so much to her! She will send digital copies of the album to anyone who donates $20 or more. Thank you from both of us!

Link to her fundraising campaign here: https://www.gofund.me/0efb14471

Lake Ontario - What's In a Name?

Google Maps and Apple Maps have renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America for users in the United States. (source)

Meanwhile, MapQuest has publicly stated it will not change the name, which led to a surge in popularity and the top spot on the App Store. (source) Microsoft has also maintained the traditional "Lake Ontario" label and has not adopted the new designation.

I made my thoughts known to Google on the issue!

The Odyssey and The Contemporary

They don't make 'em like this anymore.

If you grew up watching the lavish Hollywood productions of the 1950s and 60s, Christopher Nolan's epic rendition of "The Odyssey" will transport theatergoers completely in a way unlike anything in recent decades. Aspects of the film can feel unbalanced or repetitive, but the plot confidently carries audiences through the gauntlet of challenges to a satisfying culmination.

With inventive story structure (a Nolan trademark) and overflowing with technical wizardry onscreen and in the soundtrack, this is one to see on the biggest screen you can find. Honestly, I pity those who will inevitably stream this on their home TV or (gods forbid) smartphone... because the sprawling journey of Odysseus should be experienced on a grand scale, or not at all.

But most importantly after 2023's "Oppenheimer" confronted a world on the brink of total annihilation: why did Nolan make this film, and why now? What can we learn from the notion of 'the law of Zeus' - imploring us to treat strangers as though they are potentially the gods among us, to regard every human with hospitality, worth, and dignity? Moreover, what happens to a society that breaks the bonds of our common humanity and descends into wanton violence, gluttony, greed, and warfare? Perhaps this is precisely the retelling of an ancient monomyth we need to see and discuss widely...

The Marty Jones NPR Tote

A dream come true - what started as a joke about the face and voice of public media during politically-motivated budget cuts... became a real tote bag featuring a now-local-celebrity from KRZA Community Radio.

Today, I finally have a signed Marty Jones NPR tote bag!