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Fred Coppersmith

@unrealfred.bsky.social

1.4K followers 660 following 11K posts

Writer, editor, just this guy. Occasional stories: https://www.unreality.net/writings. I also publish the quarterly zine Kaleidotrope. (He/him.) 😷

www.unreality.net

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Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · Nov 15

Hello, new followers! Presumably you know this, or else why would you be following me, but I'm Fred. I natter on about this and that. I work in academic publishing, have edited and published @kaleidotrope.bsky.social for almost 20 years, and very occasionally write short fiction, most recently this:

Fred Coppersmith > Where the Prayers Run Like Weeds Along the Road > Bourbon Penn

You find the dead man waiting for you right where you left him, leaning against the old wooden fence at the side of the road. He looks like he’s smiling, a lopsided grin of too many teeth, but you’re ...

www.bourbonpenn.com

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Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 8h

I mean, as far as 1950s' things from another world movies go, The Thing from Another World is pretty good. #HorrorWatch

Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 8h

"An ark of electricity"? #HorrorWatch

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Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 8h

The moral of the story: science is dumb. #HorrorWatch

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Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 8h

#HorrorWatch

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Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 8h

#HorrorWatch

Carrot Juice is Murder

YouTube video by Arrogant Worms - Topic

youtu.be

Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 9h

They just have uranium ore lying around, huh? #HorrorWatch

Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 9h

#HorrorWatch

a carrot with a face on it is standing in the dark and smiling .

Alt: a carrot with a face on it is standing in the dark and smiling .

media.tenor.com

Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 9h

That's Crew Chief Bob. You know, Thing-a-ma-Bob. #HorrorWatch

Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 9h

I first watched The Thing from Another World only a few years ago, and I believe I've read the original Campbell short story, but I don't remember either half as well as the Carpenter version. #HorrorWatch

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Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 9h

So here's the Thing... #HorrorWatch

👻 The Phantasmic Paul Jessup 👻 @pauljessup.com · 17h

Tonight! Tonight! The greatest night of the week! #HorrorWatch! Join us at 9PM EST tonight as we watch the original Howard Hawks classic, The Thing from Another World! You probably know it for it's remake, The Thing by Carpenter. Both based on the classic weird horror story, Who Goes There?

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Reposted by Fred Coppersmith

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 12h

Never forget this: The forces rigging our economy, undermining our democracy, polluting our planet, and stoking hatred are counting on you to give up. Cynicism is how they win. Stay clear-eyed and ready for the fight ahead.

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Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 11h

“If the mummy didn’t make those prints, I’ll eat ‘em!”

Reposted by Fred Coppersmith

Patrick Monahan @pattymo.com · 11h

Okay but they should probably keep making TRON movies as vehicles for cool auteur soundtracks

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Dorina @dorina.bsky.social · 15h

Chappell Roan said Fuck ICE

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Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 11h

Now watching

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Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 11h

It’s when they’re all telling themselves they’re worthless, should just stop fighting. It’s strongly implied, from what Jinu says earlier, that the whispering voice in their heads is Gwi-Ma, but each of them hears their own voice. It seemed to me like a powerful metaphor for depression and despair.

Reposted by Fred Coppersmith

Mike Ingram @mikeingram.bsky.social · 14h

There’s a guy in my neighborhood who has this sticker on his truck. In the past year my reaction has gone from “what an asshole” to “actually that’s maybe the saddest thing I’ve ever seen” to “at least men are starting to talk about their crippling loneliness?”

Car decal featuring guns of several sizes. Caption reads MEET MY FAMILY

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Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 14h

And I say that as somebody who thinks Tron: Legacy is actually pretty good.

Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 14h

The weird thing is, we already *had* a late-to-the-party, underperforming Tron sequel nobody wanted fifteen years ago.

Charlie Jane "Lessons in Magic and Disaster" Anders 🏳️‍⚧ @charliejane.bsky.social · 14h

I'm perplexed at watching pundits in the trades struggling to explain Tron Ares' disappointing opening.

Was it covid? Do people just not like science fiction? etc. etc.

The main reason is pretty obvious: Tron isn't a popular franchise. Nobody's interested in nostalgia for a failed 1980s project.

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Reposted by Fred Coppersmith

Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · Aug 6

Call me old-fashioned, but I would prefer not having a eugenicist as the head of health and human services.

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Fred Coppersmith @unrealfred.bsky.social · 14h

I haven’t rewatched Annie Hall in decades, the same way I no longer rewatch any Woody Allen movies, but yes, Diane Keaton was terrific in that and so many other movies. RIP.

Reposted by Fred Coppersmith

Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 17h

We will need Nuremberg-like trials

LongTime🤓FirstTime👨‍💻 @longtimehistory.bsky.social · 19h

ICE secretly kidnap autistic boy during bathroom break—never notify parents.

Mother reported him missing a week ago—turns out ICE had him detained the whole time.

He was helping sell fruit and asked to go to the restroom—by the time she was done helping a customer he was gone.

Houston, Texas

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Reposted by Fred Coppersmith

Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 17h

What you're getting from an LLM is a statistical approximation of what the answer would be to a statistical approximation of the question.

This is why prompt engineering is fake. The prompt (and any input data) is just a suggestion - and helps fool you into thinking that your question was answered.

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Reposted by Fred Coppersmith

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 15h

Texas is preparing emergency resources for wildfires and floods. The Texas National Guard should be THERE — not in Illinois.

We stand ready to support their return home so they are best positioned for helping Texans respond to any natural disasters.

Abbott activates emergency resources ahead of growing wildfire threat, flood risk in Texas

With expected growing wildfire danger across Texas and the potential for a flood risk this weekend, Gov. Greg Abbott is activating more state emergency response resources Friday.

trib.al

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Reposted by Fred Coppersmith

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 1d

Trump said he deserved a cut for brokering the TikTok deal, and at once there was agreement that his son Baron would have a top executive slot... though he hasn't asked for it, and has no apparent qualifications to hold it. This is how Trump 2.0 works. www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025...

Barron Trump tipped for top TikTok job

US president’s 19-year-old son could be appointed to the app’s board

www.telegraph.co.uk

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