The Cult of Lincoln

Tuesday, June 27, 2006



I've watched three discs of Season 1 of Battlestar Galactica, and while I absolutely love it, the cameraman seriously needs to lay off the juice. I love the handheld feel, which is reminiscent of Firefly, but it's taken way too far. Firefly found a happy medium, but with BSG, I feel like we're getting a half-dozen of those "emphasis zooms" in every scene. Emphasis zooms are like a delicate spice; they are not to be abused or overused! Rather than bringing me in deeper, every emphasis zoom on BSG rips me out of the action. If I were watching these episodes on a larger screen, I'd probably begin to feel slightly seasick.

Hopefully, now that I have expressed this opinion, all remaining episodes of BSG will retroactively correct this minor annoyance.

I have no idea which characters are most popular in fandom, so it will be interesting to see how popular or unpopular my opinions are, but I have to say my favourite character at the moment is Gaius. I don't like him at all, but I love watching him. He's such an opportunistic little slimeball! His "morality" struggles are far more interesting to me than the live-or-die military decisions Donnie Darko's mom and the big brass are confronting.

No matter what Starbuck or Adama Jr or Daddy Adama or Madam President decide or do, we the audience are going to empathize and love them regardless. It's just the nature of the show, as I understand it so far. But Gaius is different. It's like he wants to do the right thing, but then he's so easily convinced to do what Number Six tells him to do, because bad things happen to him when he doesn't.

His utter cowardice represents something you rarely get on TV. Time after time, he's given a choice between what is easy and what is right, and HE PICKS EASY. He picks easy, and he's not immediately killed off or transformed into a cackling supervillain. It's refreshing.

Also Starbuck is treading the lines of Suehood and Adama Jr is duller than a box of used crayons. :D

Priscilla said at 2:34 PM

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Sunday, June 25, 2006



Quote of the Day: "Necromancy doesn't kill people. People kill people." --Tepick, on McAnally's

A Bunch of Links:

Spider-Man 3 Teaser Online!

Kevin Smith to release Audio Commentary for Clerks II in conjunction with the film's release in theatres, downloadable for free from iTunes.

An awesome bit of Flash: Animator vs. Animation

Words from Joss, in the wake of the screenings. It sounds like he finished a draft of the Wonder Woman script!

2 missing episodes from Doctor Who to be animated! More artistic and technical info here.

A Future For Futurama! Comedy Central has picked up the rights to air at least 13 additional, soon-to-be-produced episodes, which will air in 2008.

Priscilla said at 9:32 PM

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BWEE! I just found out about Sci-Fi Expo in Plano, July 8-9. Among others, they're hosting David Prowse, Peter Mayhew, Ray Park, and Alan Tudyk. Oh, the nerdglee!

Priscilla said at 4:13 PM

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Who's the moron that put the Battlestar Galactica Season 2 DVD with the Season 1 box at the video rental? I just saw "Disc 1" and didn't look at the season number. I wondered why they were showing a "Previously on Battlestar Galactica" for the first episode.

Priscilla said at 3:31 PM

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Zounds. At the Dallas Serenity screening, $3,216 was raised for Equality Now. The global total, with slighly more than half the screens reporting, is approx $41,047.81. I believe a "W00t w00t!" is deserved at this juncture.

Priscilla said at 10:33 AM

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Saturday, June 24, 2006



I no longer occupy the same topological space as yesterday: I got my ears pierced this afternoon. Hey, no more awkward moments when I'm given earrings for my birthday or other special occasions!

Priscilla said at 11:02 PM

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Well, looks like I didn't need to worry about fifty Kaylees showing up to last night's Serenity Now/Equality Now event, as I was almost the only one in costume! There were two girls that had dressed in general Browncoat fashion (I look slightly manic in this picture, which unsettles), a handful of "Blue Sun" shirt-wearers, and a couple folks in Hawaiian shirts, but mine was pretty much the only distinct costume of the bunch. I felt like a great, floundering goob and King of the Nerd Patrol, especially as Chungy couldn't make it, and I didn't know anybody there.

I took pictures with whoever wanted them, feeling vuagely like a person dressed as Mickey Mouse at Disneyworld, and gradually started feeling more comfortable in my surroundings as I struck up conversations with fellow Browncoats. Then Emily H., fellow JETS member and little sister of one of my best friends in High School, showed up, and life was grand.

It was so great to see the Big Damn Movie again on the big screen.


Replies to blog comments:

Xio: I was at the Dallas screening, not Philly.

Rebecca: Well, if you ever come across and roses or sacks of money, you know what to do with them!

Aaron: My bad. I assumed everyone knew who Alan Menken is, and that my overjoyed squeefulness at his being involved would go without saying. Whereas fewer people know about Stephen Schwartz, so I needed some compensatory "EEEEEE!!!" to show my happiness. So ALAN MENKEN GLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! and Stephen Schwartz SQUEEEEEE!!!!! more accurately reflects my feelings on the matter. :D

Jimmy: Great! I'll get your print out to you early next week. Jeff asked for Death, as well, and Court and Ryan asked for Destruction (why they would want to hang "Destruction" in their Money Pit of a new home is beyond me. :D) Methinks I need to get inspired and do more work in the style of my Sandman project. Anyway, Astonishing X-Men is crafted of pure awesome. I devoured both TPBs that afternoon. Now it's just a matter of getting my hands on Season 1 of BSG!

Priscilla said at 1:17 PM

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Friday, June 23, 2006



Equality Now Serenity tribute screening tonight! Should I wear Safe!River, ObjectsInSpace!River, Serenity!Kaylee, or Zoe? Vote in the comments.

Kaylee is probably my favourite, as it's flattering, comfortable, and quite screen-accurate, but it's also probably the most common costume among cosplayers. You can't throw a rock without hitting a Kaylee at a Firefly event. Zoe is fun, and it won me a costume contest at the first Serenity preview screening last summer, but it's not as flattering as Kaylee, and the boots can get tiresome after a while. Safe!River requires a lot of fidgeting to keep the red sweater in shape, but is otherwise comfortable, and comes with awesome boots. It used to be really unflattering, but for some reason, it looks pretty good on me now. OiS!River is least flattering, but comfy. And I found my Objects in Space stick!

Thoughts?

Priscilla said at 3:40 PM

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I rented the Battlestar Galactica miniseries the other day, and now I can't wait to get my hands on the first season. (I wonder if Lasciel of The Dresden Files was at all influenced by Number Six?) Alas, the first two discs were already checked out at my local independent video rental! So I went to the comics shop a few doors down and bought the two Astonishing X-Men trade paperbacks. It's time I caught up on all the fan glee I've been missing out on!

Priscilla said at 2:32 PM

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Thursday, June 22, 2006



Bush sings "Sunday Bloody Sunday", in the same style as "Imagine"

We all know the adage that as soon as you compare someone to a Nazi, you lose all credibility, but this Ann Coulter vs. Hitler quiz is kind of fantastic. As is this clip of Stephen Colbert wiping the floor with Georgia congressman Lynn Westmoreland, who co-sponsored a bill which would require the House of Representatives and the Senate to display the Ten Commandments. And make sure you check out Republicans Against Snake Marriage, because it's hilarious.

Priscilla said at 6:12 PM

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Vox is here, and it's hideous. If LiveJournal goes the way of MySpace, there will be words.

Priscilla said at 5:46 PM

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Joss Whedon's Equality Now speech: Why Do You Create Strong Female Characters?

Priscilla said at 2:21 PM

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Does anyone know how this works? I'm freaking out.

Priscilla said at 8:58 AM

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Wednesday, June 21, 2006



W00T! Philly is smoke-free! Starting this January, we won't have to deal with the smoke in restaurants anymore! *shakes her groove thing*

Priscilla said at 2:45 PM

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Back from the shindig! I aten't dead!

Much of the craziness happened in the travelling. As I may have mentioned before, I went through an exceptional amount of angst even getting tickets. Because I was applying for several out-of-state jobs earlier in the summer, I didn't know if I was going to be in Dallas or elsewhere around shindig time, so I couldn't book tickets early. By the time I realized I was going to be here, all the Advantage seats were taken up, and all the normal seats were in the $400 range, which was out of the question. I resigned to the knowledge that I wasn't going to be attending the shindig this year, but nevertheless kept checking American Airlines' website, just in case. As luck would have it, at midnight on 6-6-06, a slew of Advantage flights opened up! I got my tickets, and the world was beautiful.

Friday afternoon, I printed out my boarding pass online and was off to the airport! Then when I tried to get through security, the first screener stared at my boarding pass for a full three minutes before she let me through. Then the second screener told me that what I had wasn't a boarding pass, it was another itinerary. I mentally cursed AA.com. He delayed me another few minutes, then he finally let me through, because the first screener had. Apparently, if the first screener doesn't stop a terrorist, the subsequent screeners have no obligation to stop them. Go figure. Anyway, the flight attendant at the gate gave me my boarding pass, and all was hunky-dory. Aside from the 50 minutes we were delayed on the tarmac, of course.

After landing safely at LaGuardia, I took a cab to Kathleen's apartment. Her neighbor was out of town, and she had graciously let me stay in her apartment. Of course, when I got out of the cab, the cabbie immediately drove off with my bag still in the trunk. I sprinted after it, banging on the trunk and yelling at the driver to stop, which he did, very suddenly. My poor shins!

The neighbor had three cats: Sushi the Angelic, the only cat in history ever to not try to claw my eyes out, Cat #2, which was somewhat fairweather in its opinion of me, and Cat #3 AKA SATAN, which would let me pet it for a few seconds, then immediately turn around and sink its fangs into my tender thumbflesh, and also start yowling nonstop for no apparent reason at 2AM.

I love cats. They taste like chicken.

In the morning, I headed to Jimmy's place, which was just 15 blocks away, where all the New York shindiggers congregated. His living quarters were far less debautched than one would imagine. Almost disappointing. :D Kathleen had a potential family emergency at the last moment and decided not to come. I rode over with Jimmy and Big Jason (we just called both Jasons "Jason," but for the clarity of my blog entry, I will differentiate between the two) and learned "You're The Boss" from Smokey Joe's Cafe on the way, for Serenifly: The Musical. Jimmy and I each filked three songs, which I will upload later. One of the shindiggers recorded it. :D

We spent much of Saturday just chilling and trying to beat the excessive heat. A geeky time was had by all! Shauna made burgers and hot dogs, and Suze steamed the Bao, which was delicious. Then we rounded up all those that wanted to participate in the musical and rehearsed a bit, then performed before we watched the movies.

In my "Where Do We Go From Here," I was River, Courtney was Kaylee, Big Jason was Simon, Little Jason was Mal, Matt was Zoe, Sami was Inara, and Ryan was Jayne. For Jimmy's "River," Suze rocked out as Simon, and Sami and I provided backup dancing. Bonnet Bob made a hilarious Joss in my "If Ever I Would Kill You," and he was joined by Jimmy as Dead Book, Sami as Dead Wash, Little Jason as Dead Mr. Universe, and me as the Bride Bot. For Jimmy's "I'll Watch Over You," Jimmy was Book and Sami was Mal. We were treated to another Courtney/Big Jason duet as Kaylee and Simon in my "An Axe to Grind." Jimmy and I closed off as Nathan Fillion and Sarah Michelle Gellar in his "Joss is Boss." A splendid time was had by all!

We watched the first X-Men movie, then a short film fellow shindigger Rob directed and starred in. Very cool. Then Little Jason showed a few MST3K shorts. Then we launched into the ever-hilarious "Wizard People, Dear Reader." The DVD player started spazzing out on us right before we met Hagrid, but as I had the audio on my iPod, all was not lost! Little Jason suggested we just act everything out, so we did. Sami started as Hagar (then became Ronnie the Bear) and I acted the role of the great HP. Little Jason joined us as Ed Vanders (and subsequently EVERY OTHER CHARACTER not in the trio) and Jessica joined us as Harmony the Wretch. Hilarity ensued. All present declared that our version was a lot more fun than watching it with the movie. After the Sorting, we decided to go to bed and finish it in the morning, when half the shindiggers weren't asleep.

We started the morning with Shauna's phenomenal Living Legend Eggs and toast, whereupon I expounded on the merits of being the mutant Toastito. We decided that the Bagel would be my ally and obligatory Jewish friend, and that it would be compulsory for me to make bad condiment puns whenever possible. ("Wow, Doctor Soggy! You've certainly got yourself in a... jam! Looks like your resources are spread pretty thin!")

Then we did more of "Wizard People, Dear Reader," only this time under the blazing sun. We all got quite a workout! I also got quite a nasty bruise on my backside, probably playing Quidditch or attempting to stop the troll.

Next, Charades! We opened the floor up to all Jossverse, plus events from past Shindigs, then including events from this Shindig as well. Crazy madcap fun was had by all!

Then we played Firefly Jeopardy, led by Courtney. I'm fairly sure that in the three-year history of PA Shindig Firefly Jeopardy, the Blue Bells have always won first place, the Purple Bell-ies won second, and the Red Bells from Hell came in last. I held the cursed Red Bell (as I had won the last two years in a row), and I was partnered with a guy that may not have even seen the series and a guy that only contributed half of an answer to one question. Naturally, I was at a disadvantage. The Blue-Purple-Red tradition held another year.

Then it was time for the Auction, orchestrated by Jimmy to benefit Ryan's childhood friend, Brighid Moret, who was recently diagnosed with Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum, a connective tissue disorder. PXE International is trying to raise $50,000 for clinical trials, and we ended up raising a bit over a grand. A lot less than we'd hoped, but hey, it's a grand they didn't have before.

I bought back the Serenity Visual Companion (autographed by Loni Peristere) that I had donated, then I got a Sandman: Death action figure for Renata, a Bruce Campbell in "Evil Dead" action figure for Becky, a variant cover Astonishing X-Men (autographed by John Cassaday), issue 1 of Batman Year 100 (autographed by Paul Pope), and the Cowboy Bebop OST box set. All fairly cheap. I also sold two photo prints!

Because I wasn't sure if I would be working the Monday after the Shindig when I bought my ticket, I got a 6AM flight, as there were no flights late enough on Sunday night. As it's now apparent that I'm not going to work for another week, I called Mom and we worked out a list of flights I could fly standby on, rather than waking up at 4. Then it was back to NY! Jason and Jimmy dropped me off at the Cornell Club, and I was out like a light.

I woke up at 6:30, achieved hygiene, grabbed breakfast, and was off by 8. And here's where the second half of the travel angst comes into play. As I had deliberately missed the 6AM flight, I couldn't use the self-check in. I approached one of the frazzled-looking desk attendants, and she told me she could only help me when the self-check line was processed. Note that there were at least 30 people in the self-check line. I sat down to read for a few minutes, but it quickly became evident that the line was only getting longer, so I went to the International and Florida line, which was much shorter, to see if someone there could help me. A man told me to talk to another woman who told me to wait in another line (thankfully, only five people long). Then the woman I ended up talking to informed me that the 8:00 flight to Dallas had been cancelled, and that all the people on that flight were going to be listed on the Standby List ahead of me. Joy.

Fortunately, it seems most of them found other methods of transportation, as by the time I arrived at the gate, I was only 27th in the Standby List. Only 27th. I began to wonder if I was getting home any time that week. After the 9:30 flight, I was 22nd in line. Then some bizarre and beautiful miracle must have occurred, because after the 10:30 flight, I was suddenly 9th in line. But then when I checked the list five minutes later, I wasn't anywhere to be found. I asked a flight attendant what was going on, and she told me that the list was more or less irrelevant, and that I was actually 11th in line. Go figure. Then another miracle must have occurred, as when the 11:45 flight was boarding, they called only three standby passengers, and I was one of them. SCORE!

I finished Academ's Fury in the first few minutes of the plane ride, and it was awesome. It's the second book in the Codex Alera series, written by Jim Butcher, who also wrote The Dresden Files. The first book was enjoyable, but it didn't begin to compare with The Dresden Files in my mind. I didn't think I was going to read the rest of the series, but I happened upon Academ's Fury at Half-Price Books and figured what the heck. I'm so glad I did, because it was fabulous, and it made me realize that there was a lot more going on in the first book that I had been totally unaware of. The third book comes out in December, whee!

And I'm spent. I took a surprisingly low number of pictures at the Shindig, so I'm going to rely mostly on other people's cameras. When I get more stuff uploaded at my flickr gallery, I'll let you guys know.

Priscilla said at 9:10 AM

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Friday, June 16, 2006



Off to the Shindig! Might fine. :D

Priscilla said at 3:25 PM

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I have an internship at ReelFX! You may commence throwing roses and sacks of money and kowtowing to my enormous talent and genius at any time.

Priscilla said at 2:49 PM

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ATTN ALL: Here is the list of items that will be auctioned off at the Shindig this weekend. If there's anything you're interested in bidding for, contact Jimmy. He might be able to set up some proxy bidding or a guaranteed maximum amount that you would want to bid on a certain item.

Priscilla said at 9:31 AM

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YES.
Is the next big thing in superheroes a masked man who leaps from skyscraper to skyscraper, saves the world and suddenly breaks into song? Audiences will find out on June 23, when "Krrish" — a film that showcases Bollywood's first fully realized Superman-style hero — reaches screens.
I think I'm going to have to make the first American 3D animated musical (the Hungarians already beat me to it with their phenomenal "Nyócker!") Everything is so much more awesome when the lead characters burst into song and dance. I hope "Krrish" is released in America!


And SQUEEEEEEE!!!! Why did no one tell me that Enchanted, Disney's upcoming live action/2D animated hybrid, was going to be a musical, too? With music by Alan Menken (yay!) and STEPHEN SCHWARTZ (EEEEE!!!), who did the music for Wicked! And it will feature Patrick "McDreamy" Demspey (mom would say "yay!"), Idina Menzel (bwee!) and... James Marsden? Wow, first we had Hugh Jackman and Alan Cumming, and now Marsden. Who's up for X-Men: The Musical?

Speaking of Hugh Jackman, last year he signed a non-exclusive deal with Disney to star in three movie musicals for the big screen. Two were to be classics (Guys and Dolls and probably Pippin or Damn Yankees) and one was to be original ('If You Could See Me Now,' based on the novel by Cecelia Ahern). Shiny.

And then there's Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's Sweeney Todd to look forward to.

*adds MovieMusicals.net to list of blogs to keep track of*

Priscilla said at 8:43 AM

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Thursday, June 15, 2006



Veronica Mars' dad wins MSNBC's "Best TV Dad." Priscilla Spencer's dad wins "Best Dad in Real Life."

Priscilla said at 9:16 AM

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You know what's worse than having an exercise class at six freaking AM?

Knowing you have an exercise class at six freaking AM, but writhing in bed for forty minutes, trying to get to sleep, tormented by a peppering of mosquito bites on and around your knees, the most dire being THE SIZE OF A QUARTER. And that's not an exaggeration. If I were exaggerating, I would say it was THE SIZE OF OLYMPUS MONS, because that's how it feels right now. Oh Benadryl and Cortizone, grant me respite!

Priscilla said at 12:05 AM

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Wednesday, June 14, 2006



I wasn't going to post until I'd written an entry on Industry Giants and the Animation Masterclass on Friday, but I have to break my vow of silence for this. They released a few teensy cliplets from the TV movie of The Dresden Files! Click the first link, "Upfront 2006." Oh tall Cuban bombshell playing a five-foot-nothing Irish Catholic blonde, I take back everything negative I might have insinuated about you! YOU ARE MURPHY.

My one complaint about the clip show: Not enough Dresden (there were what, four clips?), and too much stuff I don't care about! And boo to the people that look enough like Paul Blackthorne to get me excited for a second, only to disappoint!

For those that care, clips at:
0:07, "VO: ...that sci-fi is..." -- Harry in the snow with his hockey stick/staff. I love how the book this is based on takes place in April. :D
0:42, "VO: ...undeniable human emotion" -- Harry and Murphy. Dear gravy, I ship them like FED-EX.
0:52, "VO: new, original shows" -- Harry's 'flickum bicus' spell? So much funnier than any spellword in the Potter books, I tell you. Or perhaps Bob flaring up? Bob being represented by flame rather than animating a skull in the TV series, of course.
0:54, Harry, Murphy, and Kirmani (Carmichael).

Though from the clips, I realize I really need to start watching Battlestar Galactica.

While I'm posting:

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, this week on BBC7. With David Tennant as Dangerous Beans! Also be sure to catch the last part of Mort. Next week is Guards! Guards!

"Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders will voice eccentric neighbours Miss Forcible and Miss Spink in the stop-motion feature [Coraline]." YES.

200 liters of Diet Coke + 500 Mentos mints = BRILLIANCE!

Windows Vista: a lot like OS X. Related: Three new Mac ads with John Hodgman! Oh, how the Hodgmania abounds at Cult of Lincoln...

Mathematically-Generated Porn

Han Solo: The Movie!

For fans of TV-on-DVD, news of some major sales!

Weird Al has a new song, available for free download from his website. Thanks to Becky for the link!

Faith's comic Ice is no longer subscription-only and now readable for free!

And now, bed.

Priscilla said at 9:17 PM

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Wednesday, June 07, 2006



I saw An Inconvenient Truth last night, and it was a major eye-opener. Check this listing to find when it comes out near you, and see it the first chance you get. Just go. You'll be glad you did.

Priscilla said at 12:52 PM

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Tuesday, June 06, 2006



I'm going to the SHIIIIIIIIIINDIG!

Two days ago, all the Advantage seats were gone and the cheapest fares were in the 500+ range. Then two hours ago, a ridiculous number of Advantage flights suddenly became available! I had given up! I also put on hold my plane ticket for Siggraph and for going to and from Philly next semester. Behold my tremendous industry!

Also making my day: Tony Snow, comparing the banning of same-sex marriage with civil rights legislation. Whaaaaa? Oh, Tony Snow! I'm going to like you, aren't I? Seriously, where does Bush find these people? (Oh yeah! Fox News!)

I hope everyone has a lovely Day of the Beast, with minimal demonic possession, rivers of blood, plagues of locusts, or non-alcoholic lager. Reread Good Omens.

Priscilla said at 12:32 AM

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Thursday, June 01, 2006



I made a skull! And then I animated it! Go see my LJ for details!

!!!!!!!!!!!!

Priscilla said at 9:09 PM

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I recently saw Over the Hedge, and I loved it. Hammie, the hyperactive squirrel, is my new hero. But hark, see the dangerous political undertones of the film! Stephen Colbert's "Movies Destroying America: Summer Blockbuster Edition".

Also: Sex Sells! (Worksafe)

Priscilla said at 2:12 PM

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Title cartoon by Bruce Eric Kaplan, used without permission.

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