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@benmsmith.com

770 followers 280 following 3.3K posts

Nerd-About-Town. Co-Host of The Eurowhat? Podcast. he/him. goodatinter.net @eurowhat.bsky.social

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B-Side @benmsmith.com · 1d

this week on the podcast: Choose! Your! ̶P̶o̶k̶é̶m̶o̶n̶ Weird Little Dude!

presenting my initial dissertation in Weird Little Dude Studies, a field I think holds a rich well of future research.

The EuroWhat? Podcast @eurowhat.bsky.social · 1d

🥸 NEW EPISODE 🥸

Käärijä, Joost, Baby Lasagana, Tommy Cash... we've used the term "Weird Little Dudes" to describe these contestants from the last few editions of #Eurovision. We attempt to define the term and identify what other contestants may fall into this category: www.eurowhat.com/280

Cover art for Eurowhat 280: Weird Little Dudes. A triptych featuring Käärijä peering out of his crate, Joost Klein walking downstage, and Miriana Conte bouncing on an exercise ball

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da share z0ne @dasharez0ne.bsky.social · 4h

GET SHIRT AT dashare.zone - DASHARE.ZONE ADMIN

A BLACK SHIRT FROM dashare.zone WEB SITE :
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING ? I WASNT
ITS CALLED wuxin
EVER HEARD OF BUDDHISM ?
AND ALSO I WASNT PAYING ATTENTION
get at https://dashare.zone - DASHARE.ZONE ADMIN

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Lux Alptraum @luxalptraum.com · 4h

TFW you paid $1400 to see Beckett’s most famous work without knowing anything about it

One Star Review of Waiting for Godot on Broadway
I recently attended Waiting for Godot on Broadway and spent over $1,400 for two Row C seats (103 and 104). I'm a longtime admirer of Broadway productions and even hold a season pass for Shea's Performing Arts Theatre, so I came in with genuine enthusiasm and high expectations. Unfortunately, this show was unlike anything ! have ever experienced —and not in a good way.
What I encountered was not the artistry, music, or emotional storytelling I usually associate with Broadway, but instead what felt like an endless cycle of nonsensical conversation between characters who seemed trapped in their own madness. I tried-truly tried-to find meaning, symbolism, or even a thread of emotional resonance. I stayed through the first half hoping the second would offer clarity. But by intermission, it was clear: this was a waste of both time and money.
Keanu Reeves is an actor I respect greatly, but I cannot fathom why he would agree to participate in such a disjointed, inaccessible production. His talent was lost in a performance that defied reason rather than provoked insight.
To anyone considering attending: unless you are drawn to highly abstract, nearly incomprehensible theater, I strongly caution you against this show. For the average, educated, thoughtful theatergoer, it is far more frustrating than fulfilling. In my opinion, this was the single most disappointing Broadway experience I've ever had - an unfortunate waste of money and, more importantly, of time.

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Nick (derogatory) ✨ @slothropsmap.bsky.social · 2h

The frog suit completely neuters the lie the admin wants to tell of violent resistance. Want to see so much more of it.

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B-Side @benmsmith.com · 2h

excellent choice of response image.

B-Side @benmsmith.com · 2h

the recent NYT Books "Essential" list and a thread on here also tipped me over into understanding how to approach this so I don't just bounce off _Gravity's Rainbow_ again.

I wasn't ready in 2008. I can do it now.

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ouinne @ouinne.bsky.social · 3h

The only correct take on a fundamentally anti-human technology.

Screenshot of David Simon interview
SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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B-Side @benmsmith.com · 2h

between hearing his new book was set in Milwaukee and deeply enjoying ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, I am toying around with getting into Pynchon again after reading Lot 49 in college

a FRESH library copy of Thomas Pynchon’s Shadow Ticket

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B-Side @benmsmith.com · 3h

trusted the process on this baked pasta by ali slagle that has you build the sauce in a sheet pan and was rewarded with oops! all edge pieces

2 cans of crushed tomatoes in a sheet pan with a stick of butter and sliced onion.

the sauce from before, after roasting for 40 minutes, tossed wya pound of cooked pasta and topped with ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan cheeses

the baked pasta after 5 minutes of broiler time

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jam @socialistboat.dad · 7h

"This website is free" No. This website comes at a terrible cost

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Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 8h

BREAKING

In a new video, Dolly Parton, the Queen of America, says she’s going to be ok.

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drewtoothpaste @drewtoothpaste.bsky.social · 8h

"decentralized" means that you no longer have to rely on a large, complex system run by a few unreachable elites! instead, you get to rely on one guy who has to leave his computer on all day, and will never abuse his tiny amount of power

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Brian Merchant @bcmerchant.bsky.social · 9h

I'll bet he does

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Jared Pechaček @vandroidhelsing.bsky.social · 10h

free shipping on bookshop! the perfect time to get a book! and do I have one for you! weird medieval guys, gender™️, cannibalism, living beehives, illustrations, and big monster ladies

The West Passage

Check out The West Passage - THE LADIES REIGN. THE PALACE ROTS. THE BEAST RISES. Five starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, BookPage, Library Journal, and...

bookshop.org

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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 12h

twice a year the entire U.S. press becomes a marketing extension of a single billionaire-owned retailer, and nobody in any position of editorial power thinks it's weird or gross

photo of Google News search results for Amazon Prime Day (the second this year)

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B-Side @benmsmith.com · 12h

would ABSOLUTELY include Croatia in the list of good environments for WLDs to come from, and probably Iceland as well, they just didn't immediately come to mind when I drafted that part of my notes for this show.

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Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Podcast @gonebabygone.bsky.social · 12h

I say this with love, some of you are going to lose your life savings to a man who says you have parking tickets that can only be paid in Target gift cards

Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 12h

👀👀👀👀

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B-Side @benmsmith.com · 1d

I've been thinking about this video/poem by Hayley DeRoche for 4 days and I'm going to keep thinking about it a LOT

www.tiktok.com/@sadbeige/vi...

get it now #taylorswift #target #poetry

TikTok video by SadBeige

www.tiktok.com

B-Side @benmsmith.com · 1d

YES! FINALLY!

Natalie Zed 🍁 @nataliezed.bsky.social · 1d

Getting to show you all this cover and announce that VILLAIN is officially coming out in May of next year is such a joy and a relief i don't even know how to express it.
www.harpercollins.com/products/vil...

the cover for a book entitled Villain by Natalie Zina Walschots. the cover is a bright magenta with dark blue and teal lettering for the title, and the author's name is in yellow. there is an image of the silhouette of a woman carrying a cane, surrounded by the silhouettes of five superheroes.

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rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 1d

listen. when dolly parton’s sister says it’s time for us all to be prayer warriors for dolly. you fucking pray for dolly

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B-Side @benmsmith.com · 1d

this was a balm for what’s been a slightly frustrating week. deeply energizing, can’t wait to dig in to the book based on the conversation

the cover of Cory Doctorow’s _Enshittification_

Randall Munroe and Cory Doctorow at Harvard Book Store’s event for Cory’s new book, Enshittification

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B-Side @benmsmith.com · 1d

lol bsky.app/profile/benm...

B-Side @benmsmith.com · 1d

we already have this gameshow! it's called LINGO! A version hosted by RUPAUL AIRED FROM 2023 to 2024 ON CBS

David Mack @davidmackau.bsky.social · 1d

30 rock-ass game show www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/w...

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B-Side @benmsmith.com · 1d

oh! oh! here's the crucial bit that'll really sell it: TEAMS

stick them in the most convoluted tournament format imaginable. never show the chart.

B-Side @benmsmith.com · 1d

hear me out: what if instead of this, we turned NYT _Connections_ into a US gameshow.

you could even make it so that a few of the rounds expanded the way things could be connected - what comes fourth in a sequence, that sort of thing. Add a buzzer round at the end to keep things exciting.

David Mack @davidmackau.bsky.social · 1d

30 rock-ass game show www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/w...