Tag: movies

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Daily Pook-Emu Bee links ceased being daily for the last week and change, but perhaps it is back with two straight editions to start the new week.

1 | Calibre 9.15 E-Book Manager Introduces “Create Your Own Adventure” Writing Game (Marcus Nestor for 9 To 5 Linux. Sep. 28, 2026.)
While I disable (or don’t enable) AI functionality in Calibre, I opined last year that some of the integrations were relatively inoffensive and in line with Calibre’s purpose. I’d say I fear Calibre is losing the plot (get it!?) with this one. However, it is not enabled by default and the new release includes some interesting normal features, so as long as the plot is lost on the side…

2 | NYC refuses to remove massive hornets’ nest from Queens tree, tells terrified residents to foot the bill (Rich Calder for the New York Post. Sep. 19, 2026.)
If (heaven forbid) this situation goes sideways after the NYC Parks Department both refused to step in and warned that it would block any efforts by the residents to remedy, NYC (i.e., taxpayers) will most certainly foot the bill.

3 | Ancient bronze bracelets found in Uzbekistan (The History Blog. Sep. 16, 2026.)
You never know what you’ll dig up in your yard in Uzbekistan.

4 | Three Patrons, Three Clients: The Mecca Alliance No One Owns (Ahmed Saber Abbas for War on the Rocks. Sep. 15, 2026.)
If only Saudi Arabia had some alternative proposal in front of it.

5 | Nearly one third of college-age ‘BORG’ drinkers report blacking out: New study (W.B. Kagan for EurekAlert! Sep. 15, 2026.)
This ends with a suggestion for parents to discuss with their college-age students “whether to attend a BORG event, and if one does attend, whether to bring a BORG beverage and how much (if any alcohol to put in the beverage.” That’s great but let’s try cutting this off at “event” and making the answer “no.”

6 | Holdout Lindsay Clancy Juror Breaks Silence, Says “Activists” Wanted “Not Guilty” on Day 1 (Steven Ertelt for Life Site. Sep. 16, 2026.)
He shouldn’t have had to break silence, but now that he has been left with no choice, I tip my hat to Mr. Michael P. Desronvil for having the courage to do the right thing.

7 | Scientists Create a New Form of Ice at More Than 2,000 °C (Michelle Starr for Science Alert. Sep. 9, 2026.)
I don’t know. Our current ice works well enough. The scientists should focus on something more practical.

8 | The Rise, Fall, and Rise of Rawdawg (Lauren Peck for Austin Chronicle. Nov. 27, 2024.)
That this running club was obnoxious enough to be cracked down on in Austin sounds like an accomplishment (and well-deserved as someone who finds our less noisy running clubs here in New York City annoying enough as is).

9 | I saw the movie that Warner tried to delete: ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ (Bryan Preston for Fox Business. Sep. 12, 2026.)
While my 16+ year streak of not being in a movie theater continues, this does sound like a fun movie and one that was well-worth saving.

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I failed to post daily Pook-Emu Bee links on Sunday (out) and yesterday (work). But I return to you on this fair morning of April 28, 2026, with nine links from around the world wide web.

1. Hipster NYC straphangers fear third straight summer of hell on G train: ‘Here we are again’ (Nicole Rosenthal, Sofia Pozansky, and Haley Brown for the New York Post).

I remembered having published a short post about G train upgrades and assumed that I had published it here on ECS. It turns out I published it as a “Leaf Bud” short post on NLJ all the way back in August 2023, before this site existed. We can track MTA time through my link posts.

2. Obama-Biden Iran Negotiator Says Trump Doesn’t Have Enough Experts, Bemoans ‘Genocide’ in Gaza (Ira Stoll for The Washington Free Beacon. April 28, 2026.)

How do you write an article about Wendy Sherman without noting the leading role she played in prevening North Korea from obtaining nuclear weapons!? Wait. I’m getting an update…

3. “Pathetic. Keyboard Courage. Can’t Stand It” – Call Of Duty Movie Director Has A Dim View Of The Video Game Series (Damien McFerran for Time Extension. April 28, 2026.)

I never played Call of Duty and will not see the Call of Duty movie. But as an outside observer, it seems odd to choose as the director of a Call of Duty movie someone who is on record as holding the audience for said movie in contempt. For example, you would probably be unwise to hire me to direct a movie celebrating a game which makes heavy use of generative AI, right? But what do I know? I’m not a Hollywood executive.

4. Valve Confirms Steam Controller Release Date, $99 Price (Michael Larabel for Poronix. April 27, 2026.)

It looks tempting…

5. U.S. companies back Sam Altman’s World ID even as much of the world pushes back (Ananya Battacharya for Rest of World. April 27, 2026.)

The article notes three U.S. companies, at least one of which has engaged in censorship on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, and a few countries from around the world. Oversell, under-deliver. With that being said, I too will pass on the Sam Altman eye-scan thing.

6. I Stumbled Across My Boyfriend’s ChatGPT and It Ended Our Relationship (Lindsey Hall. March 31, 2026.)

This article gives you a TMI feeling when you read it. I will link it less as a recommendation and more because it gives me an opportunity to dispense life advice: Don’t ask chatbots for relationship advice.

7. A telltale AI phrase is taking over corporate comms (Molly Liebergall for Morning Brew. April 24, 2026.)

It’s not AI, but… wait… yeah it’s probably AI.

8. Ralph Sampson: Why He Can’t Be a Winner in Houston, 1986 (Bob Kuska from Way Downtown, reprinting article by Fran Blinebury froom March 1986 issue of Basketball Digest. April 24, 2026.)

Looking back at the NBA’s first, and perhaps only, 7’4″ forward.

9. Fernando Mendoza, System QB (Mike Tanner for Too Deep Zone. April 20, 2026.)

No one with any credibility ranks Mendoza in the Trevor Lawrence S-tier of recent quarterback prospects. No one but the dedicated naysayers foresee an epic bust.

This line struck me as interesting since my understanding as a distant follower of today’s NFL is that Trevor Lawrence has not yet turned into an S-tier NFL quarterback (albeit I understand he had a very nice season in 2025.)

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I have seen the famous 1939 The Wizard of Oz movie. But was that the first theatrical adaptation of L. Frank Braum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz? Had you asked me before November 17, 2025, I may have tentatively guessed it was. But I now know better thanks to Sterling Dudley writing for Internet Archive Blogs:

Rightly remembered for its masterful execution and translation of the fairytale Oz to the big screen, MGM’s The Wizard of Oz (1939) remains the primary association with Oz for most audiences. However, despite its iconic status, that version was preceded by multiple filmed adaptations. Between 1908 and 1925, at least six silent adaptations brought Oz to life, some now lost, others surviving in fragments that reveal inventive visual interpretations often drawn from the stage musicals of the era.

Sterling Dudley (“The Wonderful Public Domain of Oz“)

The famous Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland as Dorothy was the seventh (that we know of)Wizard of Oz movie. According to Mr. Dudley, there were six silent adaptations of The Wizard of Oz “between 1908 and 1925.” However, he goes on to note that the first was released in 1910 (see video on Internet Archive), so I am unsure what the 1908 date refers to. The original article is well-worth reading and comes with plenty of links to public domain Wizard of Oz resources.