hollowmines

is woke back?

the first is the better known of the two but still pretty obscure - six piece from atlanta that makes a chaotic, sassy and funny blend of alt-metal, metalcore, and fall out boy-ish emo along with a few other unexpected genre experiments and sonic gags I will leave you to discover. I have listened to this an absurd number of times over the last 48hrs.

https://thecallousdaoboys.bandcamp.com/album/i-don-t-want-to-see-you-in-heaven

the second ambushed me outta nowhere, a quartet from south korea that churns out a spicy blend of space-rock, post-hardcore and doom metal that lands somewhere between hum, and so I watch you from afar, torche, and city of caterpillar among other bands I thought of. this one can be purchased from bandcamp for only a buck - totally worth it.

https://baan1.bandcamp.com/album/neumann

side question: are there actually any good ones?

question was prompted by seeing a "trumplestiltskin" variant that actually crammed a second pun in there and caused psychic damage. my brain has oublietted the specific phrase but maybe you've seen it too

Majority vs minority still TBD at the moment.

a daily challenge with a leaderboard a la Slay the Spire with randomized run parameters would be so fun. that would become my subway crossword.

I guess it would have to be "unlockable" so as not to spoil any of the unlocked cards etc? that's the only bit of friction I can think of - StS has "rare" cards but nothing the player needs to unlock.

I'm seeing some people taking the threats posed by the Trump admin to make Canada the "51st state" both literally and seriously, to the extent they're starting to game out the likelihood of some kind of military action.

Personally I don't take the threat of outright American subversion/invasion/etc seriously yet because I don't see the sort of coordinated propaganda effort I would expect from a country preparing for a military operation this controversial. Nor is there any real constituency of Americans I'm aware of with personal or material animus against Canada - right now I'm only aware of Trump mouthing off and Musk salivating over fake nerd maps.

Let's say I'm wrong though and he really is dumb enough to go full boots on the ground North of the 49th parallleeeeelllllll - what happens? What will the hot zones be? Which premiers will be first on the kill list? and of course.....What Will Quebec Do?

*with the likely exception of a certain movie getting 13 noms (haven't seen it but is seems pretty insulting if well-intentioned)

it wasn't a very good year for The Movies but a lot of good ones in the mix for best picture for a change, and some actual suspense as to who'll win. I hear great things about Nickel Boys from trusted sources and I loved Anora. gonna watch The Substance today but I liked her first movie and it's wild to see a hardcore genre movie in the mix.

as someone with no interest in tennis, threesomes, zendaya, or luca guadaguido (still in movie jail for what he did to suspiria sorry) I am pleased with it getting snubbed

No Other Land making it in for feature length doc also a nice surprise.

(quick EDIT to say I finally watched The Substance and it rocked, some of the best effects work I've seen in years and wonderfully, hilariously unsubtle)

Lighters up. Rest in power etc

About ten years ago following a consultation with a doctor, I got diagnosed as having "treatment resistant depression." I gather this is maybe not the most broadly accepted terminology out there, but having tried out a few SSRIs and an SNRI (and multiple therapists) to absolutely no results or worse, I've come to respect it as the only diagnosis that makes any sense to me, and accurately describes the situation.

Anyway, I'm still here and still not on any kind of meds. I get a lot of exercise and have a physically active job that keeps me off the computer/phone for long stretches of time, get lots of sleep (always been great at sleeping), try to eat decently, cut back on drinking, do wholesome activities with others, see friends when I can, etc. I'm sure I would be doing a lot worse if I wasn't doing all those things, but I'm always looking for ways to make life more bearable.

So I guess I'm wondering: chronic depression havers of hexbear whomst are not on meds for whatever reason, what are your strategies for gettin' by? (Or if you are on meds but don't find them sufficient as a sole strategy I guess.) Much love to you all and here's to getting through a lot more years.

very funny that this roughly coincided with the victims of communism memorial finally opening

very funny that this roughly coincided with the victims of communism memorial finally opening

Thesis seems sound and the reviews I've read are promising. If anyone's got an ebook HMU

This book argues that American democracy is in crisis. The economic system is slowly subjecting Americans of nearly all income levels and backgrounds to enormous amounts of stress. The United States lacks the state capacity required to alleviate this stress, and politicians increasingly find that if they promise to solve economic problems, they are likely to disappoint voters. Instead, they encourage voters to blame each other. The crisis cannot be solved, the economy cannot be set right, and democracy cannot be saved. But American democracy cannot be killed, either. Americans can’t imagine any compelling alternative political systems. And so, American democracy continues on, in a deeply unsatisfying way. Americans invent ever-more elaborate coping mechanisms in a desperate bid to go on. But it becomes increasingly clear that the way is shut. The American political system was made by those who are dead, and the dead keep it.