Oakfairy

Marvel dropped a lot of news about the Marvel Cinematic Universe during San Diego Comic-Con last weekend, including the titles of the two next Avengers films—Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, both set to come out in 2025.

While 2025 is still a little bit away, we found out today that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director, Destin Daniel Cretton, will be helming The Kang Dynasty as well.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Cretton will only direct the first of the dual Avengers movies, with The Kang Dynasty set to premiere on May 2, 2025. The news isn’t super surprising given that Cretton has an overall deal with Marvel and is also directing the Shang-Chi sequel as well as developing the live-action Wonder Man series for Disney+.

We don’t know much about the plot of The Kang Dynasty, but given the title, it’s more than likely that Jonathan Major’s Kang the Conqueror—a version of which we first saw in Disney+’s first season of Loki—will be the Big Bad that the superheroes must face. We will also see Kang before then, of course, specifically in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which comes out on February 17, 2023.

Other than that, however, we’re pretty much in the dark as of now about The Kang Dynasty, with no known writer attached to the project and no other plot details or stars officially attached. In the meantime, there’s still A LOT of other Marvel projects that will come out before then to keep us suitably entertained.

Recorded here for posterity, which will question why I bothered.

I have been left unsupervised.

They say we have strayed from the sight of God. I say, God sees all… And chooses inaction.

It is time to move humanity out of its comfort zone, beyond its antiquated ideas of what should and should not be. A new age is dawning. You are all witnesses.

NO GODS
NO RULERS
BECOME UNGOVERNABLE

They say genius is not understood in its time

Finally I know the infinite awe of Robert Oppenheimer as he beheld his terrible creation

We pause to let the flavors steep for a bit. Here's a dog whilst we wait.

Back to it

First, split the banana lengthwise and set it on the tortilla.

Step two: add the mayoreo to the center of the split banana.

Step three: time to add the gherkins!

Step four: lightly nestle macaroni salad to the side of the mayoreo-and-gherkin-filled banana.

Step five: gummy chicken feet at both ends of the banana, because, I mean, OBVIOUSLY

Step six: wrapped and rolled and into the microwave

Step seven: garnished with whipped cream and crushed Oreos. Charlie silently bears witness to history.

The all-important cross-section.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for and/or fearing was inevitable: the taste test.

Epilogue: To atone for my sins, I have made a donation to a local food panty serving my county. If you have somehow made it to the end of this thread, I encourage you to do likewise in your own community.

Also: Don't make Mayoreo. It's not good. Thank you.

/end

(Food pantry, not food panty. LOOK I HAVE A STOMACHACHE OKAY)

Originally tweeted by John Scalzi (@scalzi) on July 23, 2022.

— JS

House of the Dragon wowed us earlier in the week with its new trailer setting the stage for a Game of Thrones prequel so full of dragons, civil war, and political intrigue that, well, you’d be convinced it’s a Game of Thrones prequel. But while we had to wait compared to folks who were at Comic-Con yesterday, we’ve…

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With House of the Dragon’s premiere date just over a month away, HBO’s media onslaught is in full effect. Cover stories! A featurette! A two-part deep dive into House with a look at the other Game of Thrones spinoffs that didn’t make it to the air! (Bloodmoon sounds way more interesting than anything still in development.)

Amidst all that are a passel of actors, some in uncomfortable-looking wigs. One of those is our former Doctor, Matt Smith, who plays the arrogant Prince Daemon Targaryen. He’s probably going to succeed at war. First, he just has to remember the names of all those pesky dragons.

The first part of The Hollywood Reporter’s House of the Dragon story is very much about the show’s development and not so much about its filming, but Smith makes an appearance right at at the start.

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“I want patrols along the island’s perimeter,” declares the glowering Daemon, clad in all black with long, silver-blond hair. “Conscript the dragon riders, they’re capable fighters … we have Syrax, Caraxes and Tyraxes and …”

Smith, pauses. What’s the name of the fourth dragon again?

“Ah, for fuck’s sake!” Smith yells. “No fucking fuck! I want … ah fuck it!”

What is the name of the fourth dragon? I certainly don’t know. And no one wants to tell us, though Smith’s co-star, Emma D’arcy, understands his plight: “All the dragons have weird names with Xes in them!”

Clearly, this dragon-naming convention is long lost by the time Daenerys Targaryen names her dragon children Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion. But there are likely to be a lot more dragons in House of the Dragon, as it’s set hundreds of years earlier, when dragonriders were a bit more common. So common, in fact, that Smith says “I literally got to the point where I thought I was naming Santa’s reindeer.”

Can we take the dragons seriously if even the actors can’t? We’ll find out when House of the Dragon premieres on HBO on August 21st.

Torrential rains poured over New York City yesterday, flooding streets, highways, and subway stations.

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You are welcome. I’m glad me being alive made you happy. It cheered me up this morning as well.

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two has begun filming today, and we’ve also gotten official sign-off on the cast as well as a synopsis of what Part Two will focus on.

According to Variety, Villeneuve and his cast and crew will film on location in Budapest, Abu Dhabi, Jordan and Italy.

Warner Bros. and Legendary also confirmed the casting news we’ve already reported on: Austin Butler (Elvis) will be Feyd Rautha Harkonnen, Christopher Walken will play the Emperor, Florence Pugh will be Princess Irulan, and Léa Seydoux will play Lady Margot.

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Part Two will also see the return of actors Timothée Chalamet (Paul Atreides), Zendaya (Chani), Rebecca Ferguson (Lady Jessica), Javier Bardem (Stilgar), Josh Brolin (Gurney Halleck), Stellan Skarsgård (Baron Harkonnen), Dave Bautista (Beast Harkonnen), Charlotte Rampling (Mother Mohiam), and Stephen McKinley Henderson (Thufir Hawat).

Here’s Dune: Part Two’s official synopsis:

This follow-up film will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.

This synopsis is pretty vague, but if you’ve read Frank Herbert’s book you already have a pretty good idea about what Part Two will cover, assuming Villeneuve doesn’t stray too far from the source material. Villeneuve has also said in the past that he expects to focus on a lot of “Harkonnen stuff,” in Part Two, which is confirmed with the news of Austin Butler taking on the role of Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen.

Dune: Part Two is set to premiere in theaters on November 17, 2023.

A novel nasal spray treatment appears to show promise in quickly clearing the coronavirus that causes covid-19 from our nostrils. In a recent Phase III trial in India, the spray was found to significantly reduce people’s nasal viral load within days and at a faster rate than those who received a placebo. Treated…

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Jane Foster stands at the gates of Valhalla, having earned a warrior’s rest after making a sacrifice so worthy that even she, a mortal, had gained the respect of Asgard’s fallen heroes. But she waits a moment, turning from the gates of eternal paradise. All she can say is “I wasn’t ready to die.”

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Sprawling vistas, snowcovered mountains, epic battles on horseback, villains made of deadly fire, creatures with large feet taking a leisurely stroll across the field. Yup, this is Lord of the Rings all right.

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Standarden Bluetooth LE Audio har färdigställts och kommer föra med sig betydande förbättringar av ljud över Bluetooth. LE Audio är en samlingsterm för flera olika uppgraderingar.

Enkelt uttryckt kan LE Audio erbjuda mer energieffektiva hörlurar som låter bättre, samt nyheter likt möjligheten att ansluta flera hörlurar till samma ljudkälla. En väsentlig del av LE Audio är nya kodeken LC3 som kan sända ljud mer effektivt jämfört med dagens kodeks, vilket förbättrar ljudkvaliteten och minskar energiförbrukningen.

Betaversionen av Android 13 stödjer redan Bluetooth LE Audio, men i många fall kommer det behövas ny hårdvara för att dra fördel av tekniken. De första produkterna som är kompatibla med LE Audio förväntas landa innan årets slut.

The leaked and much-hyped Nothing Phone (1) has finally launched, and as expected, it’s not officially available in the states. It’s a bit of a bummer if you were looking for another Android phone option for the nearly $600 (£400) price range, especially since the Phone (1) has an impressive range of specifications.…

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It may not have overtaken Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” as the anthem of Stranger Things season four, but Eddie “Not a Hero” Munson’s decidedly heroic guitar solo—a tactic to distract those pesky bats in the Upside Down—has made Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” a close second.

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Yes. Do not, repeat not, do what I did, after having had a wisdom tooth out, and decide upon getting home in a very stoned-on-anesthetics kind of way that it would make an immense amount of sense for you to take an enormous knife and try to cut open a green coconut with it, with one mighty swipe.

It was about 12 years ago. I pretty much have sensation back in that finger now, and it only hurts when it rains.

myjetpack:

My cartoon for this week’s @Guardian

p.s. There is a new collection of my literary cartoons coming out soon: tomgauld.com

I normally Google pictures of me on my phone just before I get a haircut and then point to the pictures and say “Can you do one like that?” (This is normally because by the time I get a haircut it looks like a mop.)

So yes. Absolutely okay especially if you have the sort of hair that isn’t straight and isn’t curly and is sort of wavy.

A Georgia roadside attraction that became such a beacon for online conspiracy theorists it got The History Channel to take crackpot shots at it, is now devastated after an unknown person or persons reportedly blew up part of the structure Wednesday morning.

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Doctors in the UK say a man’s intense supplement regimen landed him in the hospital with vitamin D poisoning. In a new case report, they detail how their patient became sick soon after he started to take large doses of vitamins and minerals. Though vitamin D overdose is uncommon, the study authors say, cases seem to…

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Guests aboard Disney Cruise’s newest ship The Wish will be the first to experience Avengers: Quantum Encounter, a Marvel Studios dinner theater show. In it, actors from the films virtually reprise their roles for an in-universe dining experience where cruisers get a curated, themed meal—and some banter over a key…

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Amazons tyska webbutik visade tillfälligt priser för Nothing Phone 1, något som snappades upp av Reddit. Om priserna stämmer kostar modellen med 8GB RAM och 128GB lagring 470 euro.

De som vill ha 12GB arbetsminne och dubblera lagringsutrymmet till 256GB får betala 550 euro. Priserna är i linje med tidigare rykten om prissättningen, även om de förstås kan vara felaktiga. Att återförsäljare lägger upp produktsidor för telefoner i förtid är inte ovanligt.

Ett frågetecken i just det här fallet är dock att Nothing kommer använda ett inbjudningssystem. En kod behövs för att ens kunna beställa Phone 1, så vad gör enheten på Amazon? Kommer inbjudningssystemet att användas parallellt med traditionell återförsäljning i handeln?

Svaren kommer säkert 12 juli då telefonen presenteras.

They/them pronouns were not yet in use in 1996 to refer to a specific singular entity whose identity was known but didn’t exist within the context of gender.

We were still fighting the battle to use “they” as a singular ungendered pronoun at the time to refer to people whose identities were not known, rather than the grammatically obligatory “he”, regardless of gender. (“Everyone should use a tampon when he gets his period” was not a gender-expanding sentence but, more weirdly, a grammatically correct one back then.)

As to your question, I don’t know. I haven’t written Islington since 1996. I’ll find out if ever I write Islington again. Several Angels and Demons on Good Omens have collected “they” pronouns, which seem to work for them, while Desire in Sandman on TV has a they pronoun, because it’s more reflective of the multiplicity of Desire’s gender than the he/she/it pronoun they had in 1989.

Maybe I’ve been living in a subterranean bunker waiting for the radiation to go away but I somehow missed that the long-awaited Fallout TV adaptation was moving ahead. Earlier this year, both Walton Goggins (Justified) and Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets) were cast on the show and now Twin Peaks, Dune, and Blue Velvet …

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