Jason

Great post. Additionally, I've been very frustrated by the fact that many progressives (worldwide) keep pushing solar/wind and opposing nuclear, despite the fact that in many locations (that already have a lot of nuclear or hydroelectric on the grid), the net effect of solar/wind is to cause emissions to go up, because natural gas/coal are needed to deal with unstable the output is from wind/solar. Also, wind and solar are far too expensive to replace fossil fuels right now (in part because of lack of reliability), and that won't change in the foreseeable future. I'm not saying the technology won't ever be cheap enough, but we don't have time to wait. I can confirm we can't hold out hope for a carbon emission reversal process. The only carbon emission reversal process out there that is even remotely viable right now is called photosynthesis, and there are fundamental thermodynamic reasons why at best we might be able to match (but not exceed) its efficiency. All the bullshit out there about carbon capture is essentially fossil fuel companies funding research to make it appear like it might be possible. So far the proposed (long-term) capture schemes would essentially be even more expensive than just not emitting the carbon dioxide in the first place, and that's not likely to change.

Coco really resonated for me and my Chinese-Canadian friends. One of them turned to me and said "I'm sorry, I think this is my new favourite" [CGI animated film over Zootopia], and I was like "no apology needed" (through lots of tears). Obviously some the fine cultural details are different but the broad strokes about the importance of family really resonated with us. And it's a hard thing to explain, but I was really happy to see it explode in China. My mother's family left in the 1950s, and since then China has changed a lot too, with the Cultural Revolution and all of that. But somehow I felt like I could understand exactly why Coco did so well there. Coco is easily my favourite Pixar of the decade, and probably overall but I'd have to give WALL-E a rewatch because it's been a while.

@MinaTakla Those articles from AwardsWatch on the Best Animated Feature race - they have Erik Anderson listed as the author at the top, but the bio at the bottom is that of Mina Takla, which I presume is you. What's going on there? I've noticed this for a while but haven't asked, today my curiosity is getting the better of me.

On reflection I guess it's got some advantages other independent-studio animations haven't had, and it could be another Spirited Away in that it'll be strong in a year where the big-budget American animations are weak. Maybe I'm just too salty about the 2017 rule change the nomination process to think objectively about this category.

For better or for worse, there's essentially no way (edit: too strong) I think it unlikely Isle of Dogs is going to win, it's an Academy-wide vote. That's the same Academy that saw fit to nominate Boss Baby to the exclusion of at least half a dozen stronger contenders (from the standpoint of critical reception). That's also more-or-less the same Academy that gave the win to Big Hero 6 over Song of the Sea and The Tale of the Princess Kayuga. (As much as I liked BH6 myself - the gap on critical reception between BH6 and the other two is quite large.) I really don't think Isle of Dogs has enough in its favour to overcome the fact it's a not a blockbuster animation, which is clearly the only kind most Academy members can be bothered to watch.

I'm really looking forward to this. (My mother is Chinese.) Edit: These tweets at the bottom of the article, QFT.

No, he eats them a lot. But he doesn't usually read ingredient lists and stuff. His misfortune today was caused by me having a day off and therefore having the time to read the ingredient list for him. I am a little surprised too that it's taken this long for him to find out.

So my roomie this morning decides to have instant noodles for breakfast. He comes to tell me how vegans are ruining everything; because it's actually "advertising" that it has artificial beef flavour. I tell him that that's not the vegans, it's required by law that they have to state that the beef flavour is artificial. I tell him it's his fault for being cheap and expecting $1 instant noodles to actually contain real meat. He proceeds to eat his instant noodles, and then starts raving about how good they are, and how their actually were pieces of real beef. I'm like "no way, let me see the ingredient list". Yep, turns out there is definitely no beef, although it "may contain traces of fish or chicken". He's super traumatized now that he was tricked into thinking he was eating beef when it was really just "textured soy protein". cc: @Trolltastic Tele, feel like you might get a laugh out of this

My roomie initially thought this porg was sad because Chewie wasn't sharing. He was *very* upset once his gf explained what was actually happening. "OMG. Wtf. That's so dark. Fuck this movie!"

I've never thought "bugs" were completely mindless automatons, but still, a little surprised by this video of a spider getting dust stuck to its legs cleaned off. It's skittish at first but after a while stays still and offers its legs to the person doing the cleaning. Spoiler-tagged in case some of you are spider-phobic: On the subject of "bugs" being clever, bumblebees learning to move a ball into a hole for a reward:

First option sounds good aside from the tight deadline. I have no idea how uniquely good it is, it would take someone with knowledge of the local rental market. Second option I don't know the local market at all although a Google search pulled up some stuff. Median detached home in Victoria is $800k-$900k though, and if you're going to University of Victoria it's also around the same in Saanich. I strongly suspect you won't find a three-bedroom home for less than $500k-$600k anywhere near the university. But check the listings. Ultimately I think it depends on your parents being willing and able to absorb some of the costs in addition to what you and friends would be paying. Third option doesn't sound like that big of a deal to me, I lived with three other people when I went to to uni and others lived with four. Difference was that they were individual contracts for rent rather than a contract for a house, but I know people who went elsewhere (not U of T, homes in downtown Toronto with affordable rent, good joke) that did that. Think it was with people they already knew though. Ultimately depends on your comfort level.

Maybe this is the joke and everyone knows this already, but it's originally a British sauce. Wasn't registered as a trademark in the U.S. until 1895.

Dafuq? Ambulance here is $45. Like, I know the costs are being partially covered by the public health insurance ($45 is a co-pay), but still. I just never realized that it could be so expensive.

I always feel so left out of conversations where Americans talk about restaurant chains (that aren't McDonald's/KFC etc., those are everywhere). The only name I've recognized thus far is Cheesecake Factory and they just opened one here. I haven't been yet. Not in a hurry to try it either, from what I've heard from family and friends who have been while visiting the U.S., it's not even close to being worth the crazy lineup for it. People were lining up three hours for it when it first opened (last fall), I think the lineup now is still pretty long.

Snow White (1993 re-release). Possibly Beauty and the Beast but I definitely don't remember and my mom can't conclusively rule it in or out. Edit: I don't think this question was directed at me but I decided to answer it anyway.

This reminds me. Just last night I met someone from Brazil at a friend's birthday party. They wanted me to inform this forum that only people from Rio and one other part of Brazil (I forgot the name, my bad) like to put ketchup and/or mayo on their pizza. And that those from São Paulo, a part of Brazil will a large Italian population, know their pizza, and therefore also know that ketchup/mayo are completely unacceptable toppings on pizza.

I don't have time right now to re-post the charts and analysis I did last year. I did take a quick look though, and there's absolutely no chance Boss Baby would ever have gotten nominated based on the patterns during the previous set of rules (2005-2016). Long story short, in most of those years, no films that failed to be nominated were better to a statistically significant degree (based on critic ratings as compiled by RT) than the weakest successfully nominated film. In a few years, just one such film was passed over in favour of a significantly weaker candidate, and in only one year were two such films passed over. This year, there are at least EIGHT significantly stronger films that were passed over, and I haven't finished counting yet. What a joke.

I know a little something about being an administrator/moderator of an online community. @Just Tele, the combined level of dedication, reliability, and grace under fire that you've shown is one of a kind. I also know how time consuming it can be, so I understand why you now want to step away, and I agree that you're leaving behind a fantastic team. Thanks so much for your service to the BOT community, and all the best in your future pursuits.

It's really up to the Justice Department, not Trump, and in theory Justice Department officials should still have the independence to draw their own conclusions regardless of whatever Trump's opinion of the deal happens to be. Even if the Justice Department does move to block the deal (with or without Trump's interventions), Disney/Fox could fight that in court where I suspect they'd win based on mergers of this size generally being permitted in the past. In other words, someone like Iger who knows how they system works will be a lot more likely to lawyer up than worry about kissing Trump's feet. And yes, I know the optics of the whole AT&T/Time Warner merger are not good, but it's not completely clear that Trump's dislike of CNN is the reason for the objections of the Justice Department, and I think it even less likely the merger will ultimately be blocked.

There are some words with nebulous meaning. "Monopoly" is not one of them. This forum is the first place where I've ever seen the word used incorrectly so many times, and I do a lot of reading. When you call Disney a monopoly, what it suggests to anyone who is actually familiar with the term is that you have no idea what monopoly means, or you have no idea about what the Disney+Fox market share will actually be, or both. If you're okay with that, then by all means keep using the word according to your own personal definition.

Am I the only one who wonders what is so hard about taking politics to the politics thread? Look, I love discussing politics, I think I've had more posts in the politics thread than elsewhere in the past year (admittedly still not a lot). But I know a lot of people would really rather have a focused discussion on the topic at hand, myself included. There's no need to bring any of the political stuff up. You can rebut or refute someone else's arguments of the merits or faults of the Disney-Fox deal without making disparaging remarks about what you believe their general political opinions to be.

Spoiler-tagged in case anyone considers the Planet Express car to be a spoiler:

Unfortunately, we're really not because most of have the decency to not derail a Disney-Fox deal discussion thread with politics. If you post that stuff down in the politics thread I'll be willing to engage.

Welcome back!