Extra Evil - Alien vs. Predator Drone

Today's Fortune: That looks good on you.

Newsreel

You like drone strikes now.

Pelosi showed backbone absent in our domestic policy.

The Match Group announced changes to better compete with itself.

Alex Jones circled back around to funny again.

We lost one two three endangered species.

Kansas voted against Phyllis Schlafly’s ghost.

War Journal

For the first time in thirty odd years, I’ve been thinking about my “right” to a joke. I’ve been completely submerged in both The History of China podcast and the historical fiction manga Kingdom. Like everything else in my head, they’ve spawned ideas for jokes. But they’re jokes about our main/only real geopolitical rival’s history, and I can’t help but wonder how much Uncle Sam tints my lens.

I’m too diseased to worry about backlash. But popping out bad work…that’s a disturbing notion. I’ll move slowly.

Just when I’ve started to get Twitter, I find myself drifting from it. The Thunderdome element endures, and I lose a bit of the joy that should come with shitposting about books or pro-wrestling when I see otherwise fun people incentivized to be their least entertaining selves. I might switch to a more assembly line, George Wallce (the comedian, not the politician) style of posting there. A punchline assembly line, essentially.

I’m getting dumber. That’s excellent news for my style of content.

Most writers spent the summer sharpening their minds, which is a sucker’s game. I’ve been tending to vanity. I’ve leapfrogged my original target weight, learned a basket of new spinny tricks, and bought clothes that belong to this decade. The competition might have better ideas, but I can describe a backflip and pop shuvit with authentic precision.

This might kill my image, but I’m enjoying wedding season. It’s the opposite of how I spend time left to my own devices, so it has bottomless novelty value. I’ve also turned thirty, so the couples in my orbit have much better odds.

The Present

Rumor has it I wrote a book or something.

I wrote a very deferential piece about respecting our forebears.

My attempt at a Modern Love riff? Much better than I expected.

My monthly 1-900-HOTDOG column marches on.

The Past

I know how to save democracy.

The Future

New Weeaboo Hell as soon as Sam sorts out the riddle of the Sphinx.

Still waiting for results on the A/V submissions.

The gods of fortune have given me two more New Yorker bits on the horizon.

There’s another 1-900-HOTDOG column coming, but you probably guessed that from it being monthly.

One Sentence Reviews

Gettysburg (Comic): Big on hero worship, short on content. (2.5/5)

Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World: A near perfect mental breakdown soundtrack. (4.5/5)

Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor: There it is. (5/5)

Whitney Cummings - Jokes: Exists. (3/5)

The Onion: Our Dumb Century: One of my childhood textbooks. (4.5/5)

The Thirty-Six Stratagems: Neat. (4/5)

Open Question

Signing off

Thanks for reading Extra Evil, the newsletter beyond time. Tell the world.

-DD