My "just write something" daily game plan is working well so far for my academic writing. I need to start applying it to fiction as well.
Derek Kompare
@dkompare.bsky.social
Media scholar/eulogist, higher ed administrator, teacher, spouse, parent, child, procrastinator, physical media stan, music omnivore, flâneur. Disappointed with the internet since 1995. Posts do not reflect views of my employer.
ACADEMIC JOB POSTING: A great, tenure-track media industry studies position (Assistant Prof level) amongst a great program and super-cool people at UC Irvine. Details here: recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF10332
Assistant Professor of Film and Media Industry Studies
University of California, Irvine is hiring. Apply now!
recruit.ap.uci.edu
We had this LP of this story, read by Leonard Nimoy. archive.org/details/brad...
Ray Bradbury read by Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy reads two of Ray Bradbury's classic stories from THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES.1. THERE WILL COME SOFT RAINS2. USHER IIThese recordings were originally released on Caedmon Records (TC 1466).
archive.org
Adam Rawnsley@arawnsley.bsky.social · yesterdayToday, August 4, 2026, is the setting of Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” about a fully automated house continuing on after the family who lived there and the world around it died in a nuclear blast.
The mixed curse of the convenience of a digital car key on your phone is that it’s entirely possible to drive all the way to work without the rest of your keys. As I just did. 😣
Beat the rush and the looming August crush and got my #SCMS27 proposal in.
Thinking about what’s left in our octo- and nonagenarian parents’ homes and plotting out what to do with our own stuff down the line. Collections should be measured in cubic feet and weight per cubic foot: how much shit do you have, and, perhaps more importantly, how much does it weigh?
Deferred maintenance applies to university people as well as university buildings.
This! Netflix is out there quietly licensing loads of older films and shows, though it's too bad the studios still lack the leverage to force more transparency on the ratings, and are instead sticking to the failed 2020 in-house game plan for their crown jewels.
J.D. Connor@jdconnor.bsky.social · 5d agoNetflix paying $500m for the rights to AMC's Walking Dead highlights the value of longrunning series (which N has a hard time creating) and suggests that if there were enough openness is the streaming ecosystem we could create a backdoor to the old fin/syn model—or that we should
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is, as expected, a reliably solid and exquisitely produced “Christopher Nolan film,” but nothing more. More thoughts here: boxd.it/fvGRLn
A ★★★★ review of The Odyssey (2026)
This review may contain spoilers. Visit the page to bypass this warning and read the review.
boxd.it
This is the sort of cross-platform themed event that was SOP at cable nets but major streamers never do today*. At least Weigel knows there's still juice left in the linear model and evergreen titles. * shout-out to Criterion Channel for its monthly themed collections! thedesk.net/2026/07/metv...
MeTV reveals programming slate at San Diego Comic Con
July 27, 2026 - The network previously confirmed plans to bring "The Wizard of Oz" back to broadcast TV in October; the announcement this week adds more details on that programming initiative and oth...
thedesk.net
Putting this prediction out there: GTA VI will be the last-ever large-scale non-Nintendo AAA console game. Nothing that scale will be attempted again under the format and framework as we have known it. It bookends a 25-year era that started with GTA III in 2001 on the PS2.
Shout out to all the shiny new PhDs with shiny new faculty jobs moving themselves, partners, kids, and/or pets across the US to a new, unknown town in the brutal depths of summer. I see you, and we’ve all been there.
Great opportunity for Armando Ianucci to do a spiritual sequel to both Veep and The Death of Stalin.
Charlotte Clymer@charlotteclymer.bsky.social · 2w agoPretty crazy that in the most gossipy town in America, full of ravenously ambitious people always talking to other ravenously ambitious people, where influence is about knowing firsthand, no journalists know for sure what's going on with Mitch McConnell. What are the odds.
Granted, every single thing about Paxton is phony and disingenuous. But as a Texan I’m shocked that he can’t even make a group of reluctant cosplay cowboys look remotely genuine. They look like the alumni association for the guys that run through the end zone when the Cowboys score.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2w agoWow -- Ken Paxton and his team abruptly shut down a news conference and bail after journalists try to ask him about his various scandals
“If you’ve got straight trousers it’ll give you flares”
Secret Drug Addict@scrtdrugaddict.bsky.social · 2w ago
Finally saw Coup De Torchon last night and while Philippe Noiret was perfectly cast as the lead, I’m haunted by the even more subversive possibilities if Tavernier had cast Jacques Tati in that role.
Great thread on a noir classic, and a treatise on why noir hinges not only on characters’ motivations but more importantly on their delusions as their actions spiral. We viewers and readers clearly see the bad decisions that these characters won’t, and that gap is what drives the genre.
Matt Zoller Seitz@mattzollerseitz.bsky.social · 2w ago[THREAD] Watched the 1946 The Postman Always Rings Twice again. A perfect movie of a great book by James M. Cain. The illicit lovers deserve what happens to them not just bcz they're ruthless estate thieves but because they keep ignoring clear signs that the universe doesn't want them to do this.
If anyone is interested in a well-maintained, vintage 1990s Subaru, and loves/misses stick driving, have I got a car for you! Up for auction until 4 pm CT Wednesday! #Subaru #cars bringatrailer.com/listing/1999...
No Reserve: Original-Owner 1999 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport 5-Speed
Bid for the chance to own a No Reserve: Original-Owner 1999 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport 5-Speed at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #253,739.
bringatrailer.com
Pulled the Criterion sale trigger on a trio of films with beautifully complicated places and relationships.
The next chapter of the streaming saga looks to have more FAST channels and platforms from major streamers to bring in more of that sweet ad revenue that they're relentlessly losing to YouTube. www.pcworld.com/article/3192...
Netflix's plot to become cable hits a wall
Netflix is adding short-form videos, and it's reportedly exploring live channels and subscription add-ons. Here's what it means for you.
pcworld.com
"Verify your age" You can usually squeeze several more seconds on each side of the tape if you're judicious in your track timings.
Maggie Hennefeld@hennefem.bsky.social · 3w ago"Verify your age" I remember when actors had faces!
Just putting it out there that one reason Netflix won’t (yet) do weekly drops is that very few of their shows are currently engineered to sustain anything longer than binge interest. The talent certainly knows how to do it; they’ll just need to get the data-spinners out of the room.
This felt like it was over for ENG even before ARG’s first goal.
🧵 That long drive across three (and sometimes four) southwestern states is exhausting, but it’s always rewarding for the places and pilgrimages.