Dread Pirate Zed
@dreadpiratezed.bsky.social
Just trying to get through it all with my soul intact. Badlife and proud of it. He/him
DPZ Karaoke: https://www.youtube.com/@DreadPirateZed
DPZ Karaoke: https://www.youtube.com/@DreadPirateZed
Built in the 70s as a sleepy little liquor store; over time, has grown to perhaps 10x its designed traffic.
Just off a popular exit from a VERY busy freeway; between about 4PM and 7PM there are massive tailbacks due to customers trying to get in or out. The lot itself is a demolition derby.
Just off a popular exit from a VERY busy freeway; between about 4PM and 7PM there are massive tailbacks due to customers trying to get in or out. The lot itself is a demolition derby.
December 13, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Built in the 70s as a sleepy little liquor store; over time, has grown to perhaps 10x its designed traffic.
Just off a popular exit from a VERY busy freeway; between about 4PM and 7PM there are massive tailbacks due to customers trying to get in or out. The lot itself is a demolition derby.
Just off a popular exit from a VERY busy freeway; between about 4PM and 7PM there are massive tailbacks due to customers trying to get in or out. The lot itself is a demolition derby.
🎶Once I was afraid -
I was petrified🎶
I was petrified🎶
December 12, 2025 at 6:46 PM
🎶Once I was afraid -
I was petrified🎶
I was petrified🎶
"Winter Sleepers". I'd been blown away by "Run Lola Run" and was excited to see Tom Tykwer's other work; this movie was fascinating, but (for me at the time) deeply unsatisfying. (Though when "Memento" came out, it felt oddly familiar!)
Tom Tykwer returned to form with "Babylon Berlin" - so good!
Tom Tykwer returned to form with "Babylon Berlin" - so good!
December 2, 2025 at 5:19 PM
"Winter Sleepers". I'd been blown away by "Run Lola Run" and was excited to see Tom Tykwer's other work; this movie was fascinating, but (for me at the time) deeply unsatisfying. (Though when "Memento" came out, it felt oddly familiar!)
Tom Tykwer returned to form with "Babylon Berlin" - so good!
Tom Tykwer returned to form with "Babylon Berlin" - so good!
I flatter myself that they're pretty damn good, actually.
(Please note that these are NOT ginger snaps: they're chewy, not crisp.)
(Please note that these are NOT ginger snaps: they're chewy, not crisp.)
November 28, 2025 at 5:07 AM
I flatter myself that they're pretty damn good, actually.
(Please note that these are NOT ginger snaps: they're chewy, not crisp.)
(Please note that these are NOT ginger snaps: they're chewy, not crisp.)
Cole's has cocktails, and also mysteriously sticky tables. Swings and roundabouts.
November 28, 2025 at 4:44 AM
Cole's has cocktails, and also mysteriously sticky tables. Swings and roundabouts.
Un Coeur en Hiver - a French movie loosely based on a passage from a Russian novel (Lermontov's _A Hero of Our Time_). Beautifully shot and acted, and if you weren't a fan of Ravel's music going in, you will be by the end.
November 20, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Un Coeur en Hiver - a French movie loosely based on a passage from a Russian novel (Lermontov's _A Hero of Our Time_). Beautifully shot and acted, and if you weren't a fan of Ravel's music going in, you will be by the end.
![Screenshot from Genius of the lyrics to "Norwegian Wood"
(https://genius.com/The-beatles-norwegian-wood-this-bird-has-flown-lyrics)
[Verse 1: John Lennon]
I once had a girl
Or should I say, she once had me?
She showed me her room
"Isn't it good, Norwegian wood?"
[Bridge: John Lennon & Paul McCartney]
She asked me to stay
And she told me to sit anywhere
So I looked around
And I noticed there wasn't a chair
[Verse 2: John Lennon]
I sat on the rug
Biding my time, drinking her wine
We talked until two
And then she said, "It's time for bed"
[Sitar/Guitar Solo]
[Bridge: John Lennon & Paul McCartney]
She told me she worked in the morning
And started to laugh
I told her I didn't
And crawled off to sleep in the bath
[Verse 3: John Lennon]
And when I awoke
I was alone, this bird had flown
So I lit a fire
Isn't it good, Norwegian wood?](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:pqsuwnikbdv7h32rhv4ds4nx/bafkreifipdh7st56pl6mh7sipcnmtgglladtn4d72n2fxvgbt5q3heunty@jpeg)
November 6, 2025 at 4:05 AM
These Irish cheddars of various ages at Aldi are quite nice and fairly cheap. I always forget which one I prefer and end up getting both.
November 3, 2025 at 10:35 PM
These Irish cheddars of various ages at Aldi are quite nice and fairly cheap. I always forget which one I prefer and end up getting both.
Fire near SoFi Stadium
October 24, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Fire near SoFi Stadium
Too good not to steal...
October 21, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Too good not to steal...
I made this as a joke a few years ago; thought I'd resurface it now.
(The joke is pretty simple: "ours" is French for "bear".)
(The joke is pretty simple: "ours" is French for "bear".)
October 19, 2025 at 5:43 PM
I made this as a joke a few years ago; thought I'd resurface it now.
(The joke is pretty simple: "ours" is French for "bear".)
(The joke is pretty simple: "ours" is French for "bear".)
The Redlands event was originally planned for the Redlands Bowl, which is next to the Lincoln Shrine; I went over there and took a couple of pictures:
October 19, 2025 at 8:39 AM
The Redlands event was originally planned for the Redlands Bowl, which is next to the Lincoln Shrine; I went over there and took a couple of pictures:
He was possibly not the healthiest role model for a young geek, but hey.
October 17, 2025 at 5:47 AM
He was possibly not the healthiest role model for a young geek, but hey.
I'm actually pretty damn impressed; I picked Bush instead of Hornblower to try to make it harder, but Akinator got there in 15 questions.
October 17, 2025 at 5:01 AM
I'm actually pretty damn impressed; I picked Bush instead of Hornblower to try to make it harder, but Akinator got there in 15 questions.
The IT guy impulse to benchmark absolutely everything
October 12, 2025 at 4:50 AM
The IT guy impulse to benchmark absolutely everything
Stanislaw Lem wrote "Non Serviam" (a short story in the form of an imagined book review) on just this topic 54 years ago; nothing I've read about it recently comes close to his depth of insight. Read the classics, folks! You don't have to accept their conclusions, but don't reinvent the wheel.
![Screenshot from Wikipedia summary of Stanislaw Lem's "Non Serviam", from the collection "A Perfect Vacuum" (1971)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Perfect_Vacuum#Contents
Non Serviam: Is an elaborate satire of the idea of artificial intelligence that gets to the heart of the moral dilemma that true success would create. It is written in the dry style of a book review that might appear in a broad scientific journal sometime in the near future. It discusses the book, Non Serviam, by Professor James Dobb, and through this the field of "personetics", the simulated creation of truly intelligent beings ("personoids") inside a computer. It starts with a quote that "[personetics is] the cruelest science man ever created." Lem has the erudite reviewer describe the general theory of personetics, the history and state of the art, and some of the consequences, liberally quoting the work of experts in the field. Later the reviewer quotes from the book a discussion that Dobb recorded in which a personoid philosopher, ADAN. considers what he might owe his (unknown) creator. It is clear that this personoid believes he has free will (and so can say, "non serviam", i.e. I choose not to serve). It closes by quoting Dobb's expressed dilemma in having to eventually bring this world to an end. This pseudreview also appeared, in a slightly different form, under the title The Experiment, in 1978 in The New Yorker.
The translation of the faux review of Non Serviam was included into the 1981 collection of essays The Mind's I.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:pqsuwnikbdv7h32rhv4ds4nx/bafkreiavjswf2ygx2a3j6kubxwf2dgsk5nm2fzbr4wbhq6bnedtvesgcfu@jpeg)
October 5, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Stanislaw Lem wrote "Non Serviam" (a short story in the form of an imagined book review) on just this topic 54 years ago; nothing I've read about it recently comes close to his depth of insight. Read the classics, folks! You don't have to accept their conclusions, but don't reinvent the wheel.
For demonstration purposes, a spare switch from my shelf:
October 4, 2025 at 3:48 AM
For demonstration purposes, a spare switch from my shelf:
Also: "WSD" is evil. It connects automatically and instantly, and lulls you into a false sense of security - but one day soon, it will forget how to see your printer, and troubleshooting it is a nightmare.
It takes a couple minutes' setup, but using a "Standard TCP/IP Port" is MUCH more stable.
It takes a couple minutes' setup, but using a "Standard TCP/IP Port" is MUCH more stable.
October 3, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Also: "WSD" is evil. It connects automatically and instantly, and lulls you into a false sense of security - but one day soon, it will forget how to see your printer, and troubleshooting it is a nightmare.
It takes a couple minutes' setup, but using a "Standard TCP/IP Port" is MUCH more stable.
It takes a couple minutes' setup, but using a "Standard TCP/IP Port" is MUCH more stable.
Age yourself with a film you saw in a cinema as a kid
September 28, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Age yourself with a film you saw in a cinema as a kid
My favorite was always midday lighter-than-air transportation
September 28, 2025 at 4:55 PM
My favorite was always midday lighter-than-air transportation