It's worth noting that even in my state of SC 40% voted Dem. No state is a monolith and there are many of us fighting the good fight while under the tyranny of the majority.

A Christopher Guest night....Best in Show, Mighty Wind, and Waiting for Guffman.

A Tim Curry night....Clue, Legend and Annie.

God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars by Michael Braddick

Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series by Tad Williams
The Riftwar Cycle by Raymond E Feist

The Rankin/Bass "The Hobbit" (1977) would have to be on my list.

What people who push this line really mean is if you want WHITE MALE voters, you have to turn your back on women, PoC, and LGBTQ+ voters. If you want voters who are bigots, you need to validate bigotry.

I will never understand the constant use of YMCA. It's a great song, but do they realize what it's about? I mean, no self-respecting gay guy is gonna hook up with these weirdoes in the sauna no matter how hard they try.

This is one of my favorite movies. As you say, it does have some problematic elements but it is grandly dramatic. Loose on historical accuracy in places, then quite good in others. The fighting tactics on both sides are particularly good. BTW-Gladiator(2000) uses the Zulu war chants for the Celts.

They'll be eating their own before long.

That legacy Betrayal is awesome! If you like Legacy type games and have a consistent group to play with, I recommend King's Dilemma. It plays in sessions of a couple of hours but has a good many of these sessions (12 or so). Plenty of little envelopes to open and changes to rules as you go along.

Cool list. What boardgames are you into at the moment? Ark Nova and the Terraforming Mars dice game have been been favs at our house recently.

Great list! I'm an old, queer gamer nerd (especially TTRPG's) and a big reader/watcher of Scifi/Fantasy. Nice to meet you.

You really favor your Mom. She was lovely.