Extra Evil

Extra Evil - Alignment Test

Today's Fortune: You'll always have Pompeii.

Dennard Dayle

23 Apr 2025 — 4 min read

Newsreel

The pope's still slacking after three days.

You're on a flight to El Salvador.

We'll be out of Hegseth leak jokes by June.

The market looks great upside-down.

The IMF raised projections for global riots.

Katy drew pop culture's short straw.

You Need This

Sometimes, the dumber jokes call me.

Spotify | Apple | Home Site

A Photo

From the Batu Caves in Malaysia.

War Journal

Three decades in, I learn that bathrobes are an excuse to walk around in a blanket. For once, I get hiding something from children. I'd never have worn anything else.

WrestleMania weekend! I watched other suplexes since they seemed more fun. And TKO likes throwing fascist tea parties. And I haven't enjoyed WWE presentation since Harambe. And Lucha Underground is the only perfect TV show in any genre (until season four).

But there was more chokeslam-chatter last week, and I always indulge that. Smaller companies put in extra effort, making half of April a festival for people that own lucha masks. Like me. The smell isn't always perfect, but there's still a little joy to debating nothing.

Naturally, various face and heel turns came up. That's changing from baiting cheers to baiting boos, and vice-versa. Wrestling competes with religion in terms of Manichean dualism--ask Barthes. At a dork-targeted bar, I overheard one question that gave me pause.

"What would your heel turn look like?"

A stock question in arenas and high school gyms worldwide. Borderline filler, just like "What would your theme song be?" or "What would you call your finisher?" But not "What would your face turn look like?" I haven't heard that once in a lifetime of forum abuse. We sort ourselves into the "hero" column by default.

Bad sign. It's a simple format. Half of us use chairs.

"The Newsreel must be hard now."

I still love that nonsense. The Newsreel doesn't make the world suck any more than Animal Planet causes shark attacks. If I was a DNC strategist or RNC anything, I'd quit. I'd shave what's left of my hair and move to the Marianas Trench. The reel lets me ape The Onion without being Borowitz. Quality deal.

"The Future" section spin-kicks me. A weekly reminder of forthcoming labor feels like shock therapy.

Two months until How to Dodge a Cannonball makes landfall. Time to push a little harder. Type until a hand falls off. And then there's always voice-to-text...

I have an experiment in the nascent stages. This winter, I watched someone I admire make good material in a format I'd written off. So I'm going to give it a go.

If someone takes more than they give, balance the budget.

A Screenshot

The Present

The Past

Man, escalation's put a lot of pressure on these.

The Future

There's an odd VHS and an odd vinyl record in my queue. I have to borrow the gear to use either one. Proximity might be the deciding factor.

Not Brought to You By

Cigarette ads overlap with an old favorite.

It's 1917, and we're fighting to defend...something. I think we just like fighting.

Per wartime tradition, every brand pushes itself as an absolute military need. The secret to pacifying Germany forever. Soldiers need ammo. Food. Fuel. Lung cancer.