Dan Cray

@fandompulse Tolkien would have finished the books.

George R.R. Martin explains how his Game of Thrones characters wielding power badly is his answer to Tolkien: "Ruling is hard. This was maybe my answer to Tolkien, whom, as much as I admire him, I do quibble with. Lord of the Rings had a very medieval philosophy: that if the king was a good man, the land would prosper. We look at real history and it’s not that simple. Tolkien can say that Aragorn became king and reigned for a hundred years, and he was wise and good. But Tolkien doesn’t ask the question: What was Aragorn’s tax policy? Did he maintain a standing army? What did he do in times of flood and famine? And what about all these orcs? By the end of the war, Sauron is gone but all of the orcs aren’t gone – they’re in the mountains. Did Aragorn pursue a policy of systematic genocide and kill them? Even the little baby orcs, in their little orc cradles? Real-life kings had real-life problems to deal with. Just being a good guy was not the answer. You had to make hard, hard decisions. Sometimes what seemed to be a good decision turned around and bit you in the ass; it was the law of unintended consequences. I’ve tried to get at some of these in my books. My people who are trying to rule don’t have an easy time of it. Just having good intentions doesn’t make you a wise king." What do you think Tolkien would have thought about such comments?

@samhaselby The famous musicians are never around or don’t even live here anymore. When I lived in the “Jazz Dorm” in Lefferts, there were many great Israeli musicians in the building or in the neighborhood. This is the NY scene…teaching, playing shitty gigs, going to jam sessions, etc.

@dancrayjazz Really? I live in NY and used to go to a lot of shows and heard of maybe one or two and they were 3rd tier but you would know better than me

lol they were not lol this is absurd

What are you talking about? We Swallows fans are the ones who have enjoyed the cultural heritage of "Murakami hits home runs even when the team can't win" even before White Sox fans... Let's join hands and share this joy!

@slhamlet @jaycaspiankang Because she cracked a bunch of notes?

@jaycaspiankang How is the live trumpet lady not the most badass quintessentially LA intro ever?

come on this is not as good.

Got to JFK Terminal 5 at 6:10 and got through in 30 minutes with TSA precheck. Line started outside door 4 but moved quickly with many employees helping. #tsa #jfk #jetblue

@xmcj Where did the precheck line start? Leaving Sunday morning and dreading it!

JFK Term 5 Thurs 3/26 2hr TSA precheck line. Arrived at 5am, bags dropped and in line by 5:30. Made 7:40am boarding. TSA pre check was moving slower at first but worth waiting in.

@chrismartenson @JohnCleese Entered? Ship has long sailed.

If nobody goes to jail for this, we've entered the 'every man for himself' stage of empire decline.

@samhaselby There are plenty of people who would give anything to come to The Great Satan and "cure cancer" that don't have fathers hanging teenagers from cranes after torture and show trials.

Leila Khatami is a mathematician. Fatemah Larijani is an oncologist and herself a cancer survivor. Ehsan Haghini is a kidney doctor. Zahra Damad is an engineer in Illinois. Eisha Hashemi is a Jungian psychologist. What exactly do Yair Netanyahu and Eric and Don Jr Tr*mp do?

In 1993, a local Chicago reporter covering the St. Patrick's Day parade spotted Tommy Lee Jones filming a movie amidst the festivities and stopped him for a quick interview. The movie was THE FUGITIVE 🔥

@Noahpinion Please don't use my name in vain.

This is just cray

@Variety No one needs a 5 million dollar ranch, fuck all the way off.

James Van Der Beek's friend, actor Mehcad Brooks, slams a critic for saying the GoFundMe that raised $2.6 million for the late actor's family "doesn’t sit right with me." “I am one of the Van Der Beek’s closet friends and the headlines are fake AF you have no idea wtf you’re talking about. You have no idea the pain they went through. It’s ok to stfu when you can’t know what the f*ck you’re talking about. It’s ok not to try to seek attention off of other people’s suffering or the generosity in response to it. Because James touched them for decades. It’s ok for you to stay quiet in the face of blind stupidity, meanness and lack of empathy. But maybe you’re not okay.” variety.com/2026/tv/news/j…

Still one of the best postseason dunks ever. Michael Jordan beats a double team then dunks on Patrick Ewing. 1991 1R Game 3

Shout out to all the dummies who contributed to the GoFundMe.

I love America because it's the only country in the world where people "driven to crimes of poverty and desperation," such as assault and robbery, drive away in a fancy car.

@whitesox Why is this still up?

In celebration of Black History Month, we reflect upon momentous firsts for the White Sox organization.

No mention of Frank Thomas, the best player in franchise history No mention of Jermaine Dye, the only World Series MVP in team history No mention of Tim Anderson, one of only 3 men to win a batting title in franchise history (Appling, Thomas) These missteps are so White Sox

@JoyceCarolOates From the article you posted: "But teachers, students and parents who expressed discomfort with his conduct were “shamed” for being “racist or not progressive,” according to a 2024 law firm report commissioned by the school. (Mr. Nguyen is a son of Vietnamese immigrants.)"

nothing makes less sense than that a reputable prep school charging an enormous tuition would deliberately, knowingly, & with evident consent of their board of trustees hire an individual with no outstanding credentials or publications who'd spent years in prison for embezzlement and defrauding an elderly couple in his care. hire him to teach at a girls' school? no training, so hire him to teach math? let's estimate there are easily thousands of young teachers in the vicinity better qualified than this who were not already declared criminals & exploiters.

@KatieMiller You're really kinda dumb, huh?