🍿 🎥 “The Substance” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ …aka The Fountain of Youth

A green vial labeled "Activator" is featured prominently against a white background, surrounded by quotes and details about the film "The Substance," including its release date and main actors.

Also, as a side note: between Coralie Fargeat and Titane’s Julia Ducournau, the future of French filmmaking is bright, original, and female!

🤤 🏀 Inside the NBA’s growing talks to add a new league in Europe | The Athletic

The NBA asked the EuroLeague to partner together on a European basketball league

…(and as expected the Euroleague refused)

Diet Coke will kill you a lot faster than regular Coke will.

“The great majority of Americans are suspended between these opposing attitudes. They are uneasy with injustice but unwilling yet to pay a significant price to eradicate it.”

[≠]

Man, Balatro is such a blast! Glad the ad-free version is available on  Arcade 🕹️🤩

Who’s the Mac Miller/Kendrick of female rappers? Little Simz?

Anyone else with substance that doesn’t rap about Channel bags and cars?

🍿 🎥 Nosferatu: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In the end it was all about love!

A dark, eerie poster featuring a silhouette of a Nosferatu-like figure with the names Bill Skarsgård and Lily-Rose Depp, along with director Robert Eggers.

Per my usual habit of watching shows one season at a time after all episodes are available, I can finally join the happy viewers of The Penguin.

What a great production, storyline, cast and execution!

📺 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A dark promotional poster with bold red text displaying "The Penguin" along with the DC and Max Original logos.

Biden is like the protagonist in a horror movie who defeats the villain but doesn’t finish him off, congratulates himself, and turns his back on his foe and starts walking off into the sunset. All the while, with the audience screaming, “Finish him off! He’s getting back up! Turn around! Oh god, I can’t watch…”

[≠]

Been telling y’all to stay away from “zero” and “diet” soda. This shit does more harm than good:

Some of the artificial sweeteners in zero-calorie sodas (…) appear to shift the microbiome in ways that impair the body’s handling of sugar. (There has been) striking declines in microbial diversity. Some of our gut bacteria have disappeared altogether.

[≠]

This man is my hero:

“The food here is different,” he said in a heavy French accent. “Bigger portions. Too much salt. Too much sugar.” He decided to enroll in a paid study at his wife’s new workplace. It was exploring why the American diet, compared with almost any other, causes people to gain weight and develop chronic diseases”

Silver Linings:

So while I’m recoveringing at home, this is …for the better in my part

‘Tis the season 🤧

A jar of Tiger Balm is placed on top of a box of Doliprane medication.

My first attended game of 2025 and we’re back to winning ways! @ACMomento @ParisBasketball #Basketball

🍿 🎥 🎦: The Count of Monte Cristo ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was the best French movie I’ve seen in years! Great story, great execution, delightful set designs & costumes!

Alright, time for some Super Bowl predictions: 🏈 #RavensFlock #BaltimoreRavens

An NFL playoff bracket with teams advancing toward Super Bowl LIV at the center, featuring matchups and logos.

Finished reading: Batman/Catwoman by Tom King 📚

What an interesting storyline: didn’t think we’d get to see that perspective of past/present/future but it worked really well!

A few years after the facts I’m continuing to watch The Boys on Prime.

The fact that an actor who has no ties with France/French culture is playing a Frenchman (wrong accent and all) is rubbing me the wrong way… 📺

I started noticing more nitrous oxide packaging around the neighborhood and wanted to read up on it…

This article from New York Mag came at the right point and details the effect of this dangerous new drug that teens have been gravitating towards…

Heavy users report seizures, mouth lesions, paralysis, brain damage, psychosis, and spinal-cord degeneration.

Three young people are sitting side by side, each with a balloon in front of their face, while holding whipped cream canisters.

A quick visual recap of this past holiday season :) (full post on the blog)

A child is playing with a stuffed animal dressed in a colorful outfit on a patterned carpet.A person wearing a hat stands in front of a café counter with a menu board and coffee equipment.A busy street with several cars parked along a row of historic brick buildings adorned with festive decorations.A winding road curves through a leafless forest under a partly cloudy sky.A colorful sunset casts a warm orange and purple glow as silhouettes of bare trees and telephone wires create a striking contrast against the sky.A decorated Christmas tree stands beside a fireplace with stockings and a child admiring the tree.A person is standing in front of a Dunkin' store near a parking area.A table is set with a variety of breakfast foods, including French toast, berries, bacon, cinnamon sticks, and pastries.A stroller is parked on a sidewalk in front of a yard with inflatable Christmas decorations, including a tree, gingerbread figures, and a snowman.A suburban street features leafless trees lining the sidewalk, with houses and a fire hydrant visible under a partly cloudy sky.A wide, futuristic-looking metro station features an arched ceiling with geometric patterns, escalators, and tracks flanked by platforms with a few people walking.A trendy bar features a long counter with yellow tufted seating, stylish hanging lights, and a variety of drinks displayed on shelves behind it.A plate with fried chicken on biscuits, hash browns, and a small bowl of gravy is on a counter next to hot sauce bottles and utensils.A historic multi-story building stands at a street corner with a street sign and lampposts under a cloudy sky.A person wearing glasses and a Batman hoodie takes a selfie in a blue-lit environment with an escalator in the background.Several vintage airplanes are displayed inside a museum with signage indicating different airlines.A stylish living room features a green curved sofa, yellow armchairs, a geometric black-and-white rug, and a glass coffee table, with artwork and an elegant dining area visible in the background.A cozy living room scene shows two children playing with toys on a colorful rug alongside a fluffy dog, with board games and books visible on a nearby shelf.A restaurant entrance featuring the signage for The Cheesecake Factory.A serene river flows through a peaceful landscape with leafless trees under a clear blue sky.A person holds a clear plastic cup of beer in focus, with plates of food like mac and cheese and possibly coleslaw blurred in the background.