It’s Friday! It is the second Friday in December, but tomorrow is that third Saturday, and that’s important, because it means our annual Holiday Party along with the Ghost Story Challenge is this weekend! Woooo!

And as I’m assembling this post on Thursday night, after two very long work days, I barely have any of the Ghost Story finished! Eeek! On the other hand, most years this is exactly where I am at this point. As one of m

Enough of that. Welcome to the Friday Five. This week I bring you: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week, bottom five stories of AWFUL peole, my blog posts, and the top five videos.

Stories of the Week:

This religious right group forgot which side they’re on in the War on Christmas.

Jury Clears Man Who Blasted ‘F*ck Tha Police’ at Cop.

Canopy cameras shed new light on monkey business in Brazil.

A Gay Las Vegas Couple Was Beaten And Stabbed At Their Home In An Apparent Hate Crime And Bystanders Did Nothing .

The Queer Importance Of Dazzler, Marvel’s Disco-Inspired, Rollerskating Superheroine .

Awful People:

Michael Cohen Sentenced to 3 Years After Implicating Trump in Hush-Money Scandal. Something to keep in mind with this story. The federal judge, while passing sentence, stated as a matter of fact that the alleged President of the United States was complicit in the crimes Cohen is going to prison for.

‘This was a humiliation’: Report shows how Trump’s spiteful firing of John Kelly blew up in his face.

Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Did Trump shut down HIV cure study to appease religious right stance on fetal tissue? The answer is yes: Trump quietly shuts down HIV cure research to appease the religious right.

Speaker Paul Ryan retires: his legacy is debt and disappointment .

Washington Post Introduces ‘Bottomless Pinocchio’ Factcheck Level for Trump.

Things I wrote:

Doubling-down isn’t how you make sf/f for everyone… and being southern isn’t a license to condescend.

Weekend Update 12/8/2018: Guilty men sometimes face consequences.

So today is our wedding anniversary….

How do you make sweet potato pie. Only later did I realize I should have titled this one, “How do I make sweet potato pie”

Videos!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – The Danish National Symphony Orchestra (Live):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

United States Navy Band – Dueling Jingle Bells:

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AVENGERS 4 ENDGAME Trailer (2019):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

John Legend – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Official Video):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

The Minus 5 – “Christmas in Antarctica” (feat. Ben Gibbard) [Official Lyric Video]:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

It’s Friday! It is the first Friday in December!

It’s been an odd week. For instance, my bus commute is on one of the Rapid Ride lines. One of the things about the Rapid Ride buses is that all of the doors open at each stop, and most of the stops are equipped with a pay station so that passengers with a bus pass or pay card can pay before the bus arrive. Makes each stop faster, but also puts people on the honor system. So there are random teams of Fare Enforcement officers who board buses and check everyone’s passes while the bus continues. Normally I only see Fare Enforcement about once a week. This week, every single time I rode the bus, Fare Enforcement boards. And each time they found two people who hadn’t paid, who were then written up with a ticket. The best was coming home Monday night, though. A Fare Enforcement crew got on the bus just before we pulled out of downtown. They found two people, then they got off the bus at a later stop (where they wait for the next bus). Then, about 100 blocks later, a second crew got on the bus, and they also found and ticketed two people (and they were different people, because the others had left the bus by then). Fun, eh?

Enough of that. Welcome to the Friday Five. This week I bring you: five stories about one of the sweetest holiday specials Jim Hensen’s Muppets ever made, the top five (IMHO) stories of the week, five stories about writing and reading, five stories about awful people, and five videos (plus notable obituaries).

This week in Emmet the Otter:

For the First Time Ever This December, Two Jim Henson Holiday Favorites Hit the Big Screen: ‘Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas’ and ‘The Bells of Fraggle Rock’.

Paul Williams unearths lost ‘Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas’ Muppet soundtrack: ‘One of my favorite things I’ve ever done’.

Jim Henson’s Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas Soundtrack Gets First Ever Release.

Oscar Winner, Paul Williams, Talks Jim Henson, Muppets and Music on Tom Needham’s Sounds of Film.

‘Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas’ turns 40: An oral history of Jim Henson’s holiday Muppet musical.

Stories of the Week:

Exclusive: Sparkly, opal-filled fossils reveal new dinosaur species.

Osiris-Rex: Nasa probe arrives at Asteroid Bennu.

Latest House results confirm 2018 wasn’t a blue wave. It was a blue tsunami.

ACLU Files Suit Against School That Won’t Allow a Student Gay-Straight Alliance to Call Itself ‘Gay’.

Ocasio-Cortez shreds Mike Huckabee: ‘Leave the false statements’ to your daughter.

Writing and Reading:

“Don’t Lose Sight of the Big Picture” by Barbara Ashford .

“The Revision Machete” by Derrick Boden .

Hard Enough.

Through a Painted Door: An Ode to Children’s Science Fiction/Fantasy Art.

Better Worlds.

Awful People:

Milo Yiannopoulos’ debt crisis .

Republicans Brazenly Gut Voting Rights in Lame Duck Before They Lose Power.

FRAUD: North Carolina GOP Allegedly Destroyed Absentee Ballots.

Handgun reported stolen in 1990 found atop Seattle police officer’s locker.

Far-right terrorism in North America, Europe increased even as terrorism deaths declined: Report.

In Memoriam:

Buzzcocks singer Pete Shelley dies at 63.

Podcast: What It Felt Like to Live Through the George HW Bush Presidency.

Dead Poppy. “one thing that’s been left out in this rush to praise Bush as the Greatest Single-Term President in History or whatever other superlatives you wanna toss out there in the encomiums of doom is that he had no fuckin’ choice when it came to legislative goals except to do some rational shit. He had a Democratic House and Senate for his entire term.”

Videos!

The Danish National Symphony Orchestra – For A Few Dollars More (Live):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

‘Captain Marvel’ Official Trailer #2 (2019):

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Jingle Bells | The King’s Singers:

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Making Christmas (from ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’) – Pentatonix:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Tom Goss – Gay Christmas – This video is for those who have felt like an outsider on what is supposed to be the happiest time of the year. If you don’t feel at home this holiday season, I hope you can spend time with those that love you for all that you are:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

It’s Friday! It is the final (and fifth) Friday in November.

Today is the first of my string of Fridays off. For many years now, when I can, I have been taking the Friday between the Thanksgiving holiday and New Year’s Day off. Having a string of three-day weekends leading up to Christmas makes shopping and decorating and other holiday prep a whole lot easier.

Welcome to the Friday Five. This week I bring you: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week, five stories from the realm of science and sf/f, five stories of the blue wave, five stories about awful people, and five videos (plus notable obituaries and my blog posts).

Stories of the Week:

Rising from the ashes.

A Dutch church is holding non-stop services for a refugee family.

Why legal pot is forcing some drug dogs into retirement.

What is ‘Judeo-Christian,’ anyway?

Layoffs Begin At NRA’s Media Arm.

Science and Science Fiction stories:

Dog finds ancient woolly mammoth tooth in Whidbey Island backyard.

‘Siberian unicorn’ walked Earth with humans.

Humans ‘off the hook’ for African mammal extinction.

Twitter bans misgendering and deadnaming in pro-trans move.

A Note on Robert Silverberg.

This Week in the Blue Wave:

Black Voters Propelled Blue Wave, Study Finds.

Congress’s incoming class is younger, bluer, and more diverse than ever.

House Progressives Are Set To Wield A Lot Of Power In 2019.

Last undecided House race is in California; here’s the latest midterm tally.

The 2018 blue wave included quite a few LGBT wins – even though voters are still wary of gay, trans candidates.

Awful People:

He Says He Got Away With 90 Murders. Now He’s Confessing to Them All.

Salvation Army slaps ‘gag order’ on employees so they don’t talk about LGBTQ issues. Because when people find out their bigoted policies, they donate to other, more worthy causes.

GM Lays Off 14.7K North American Workers, Puts 5 Plants Up For Closure.

Trump gets ‘raging hot angry’ every time a staffer tells him something is ‘against the law’.

Alexander Acosta gave Jeffrey Epstein the deal of a lifetime.

In Memoriam:

Harry Leslie Smith was a gift. I’ll miss him.

“World’s oldest rebel”, wartime hero, author, activist and fierce defender of the NHS – RIP Harry Leslie Smith.

Harry Leslie Smith dead: ‘World’s oldest rebel’ dies aged 95 after long fight for the poor.

Harry Leslie Smith: War veteran who spoke out against austerity, the far right and Trump.

Andrew Burt (1945 – 2018). Appeared in classic Doctor Who, Blake’s Seven, and various other shows.

‘SpongeBob Squarepants’ Creator Stephen Hillenburg Dies at 57.

Things I wrote:

Weekend Update 11/25/2018: Pictures and headlines.

Don’t stop writing!

Stop digging, don’t you see how deep you already are?

Videos!

The Original Cinematic Universes (how certain unrelated historical films can be viewed like a franchise):

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MARVEL || Lions Inside (collab w/ djcprod):

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Once Upon A Deadpool | Official Trailer:

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“The Story Continues” Featurette | Mary Poppins Returns:

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Gwen Stefani – You Make It Feel Like Christmas ft. Blake Shelton:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

It’s Friday! It is the fourth Friday in November–the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving Holiday. This day has been called Black Friday for many years, though many retail chains have moved the beginning of the shopping day to Thanksgiving Afternoon, which ought to raise the ire of the same people who bitch about the so-called war on Christmas, yet somehow doesn’t. Regardless, while I used to avoid shopping on this day just to avoid the crowds, after the first time I read the story of some poor minimum-wage-earning retail employee being trampled to death in a Black Friday Sale, I have made it a priority to just stay home and not shop at all. Unfortunately, those of us doing that aren’t sufficient to bring an end to the insanity. I… I don’t know what else to say.

So, we find ourselves on the fourth Friday of November. Depending on where you live it is either the day after a major holiday or just another Friday. In either case, I guess it is time to get to my links. Before I get to that, though, I have a supplement to my irregular Sunday Funnies feature. Sheryl Schopfer is a long time friend who has multiple web comics. She recently suffered an accident that has interfered with the production of her comic. I am quite humbled that a very silly thing I wrote originally for her amusement a while back has been chosen to fill in part of the gap: Oh Deer, Oh Deer, Oh Deer.

Welcome to the Friday Five. This week I bring you: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week, five stories of the blue, and five videos (plus my blog posts).

Stories of the Week:

NCAA athlete disowned by family after coming out as queer ends fundraising after campaign surpasses $100,000.

An Atomwaffen Member Sketched a Map to Take the Neo-Nazis.

The Alt-Right is Killing People.

A dark matter hurricane is headed our way.

Former FBI agent: CIA leaked Khashoggi report because no one trusts Trump to ‘act on the truth’.

This Week in the Blue Wave:

How Big A Difference Does The House Speaker Really Make? Personally, while I want the Dem leadership go go in new directions, during this time when we only have HALF of one of the branches of government, I want the person who pushed through increases to social programs in the budget last year, thank you very much. We’re in the middle of a complex chess game against fascism, so we need someone who knows the system.

Nate Silver says media missed massive ‘blue wave’ while covering ‘stories about Trump voters in truck stops’.

View from the Left: Trump sunk Republicans in the midterms; we can help him do it again in 2020.

Architect of bin Laden raid: Trump ‘threatens the Constitution’ when he attacks the mediaThe Daily 202: Trump’s pattern of insulting war heroes continues with commander of bin Laden raid.

The Daily 202: Trump’s pattern of insulting war heroes continues with commander of bin Laden raid.

Things I wrote:

Word counts and other markings of the passing of time.

What are you serving, what are you talking about, and what are you avoiding during the holidays?

We are supposed to be giving thanks, after all.

Thanksgiving Links (ritual sacrifice, with pie edition).

Oh Deer, Oh Deer, Oh Deer.

Videos!

Christopher Sorensen – Afterglow (Official Music Video):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Build a prom Macys Thanksgiving performance:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Trump’s Weird Lie About Raking in Finland: A Closer Look:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Tearjerkingly Perfect John Lewis Christmas Ad Shows Rock Legend Elton John’s Life in Reverse: :

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MMXJ – Memories (ft. SIDNE) (Official Music Video):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

It’s Friday! It is the third Friday in November–nearly Thanksgiving in the U.S.! It is also National Novel Writing Month, which means I’m not spending as much time blogging or reading the news during the week.

This week’s links a real mix for me. One of the people in the obituary section is a person I have considered a friend for about 26 years. Another wrote or oversaw the writing of an amazing amount of the stuff I read during my childhood and teen years.

Anyway, welcome to the Friday Five. This week I bring you: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week, five stories of the resistance, five stories of awful things, and five videos (plus my blog posts and notable obituaries).

Stories of the Week:

Former Cowboys Linebacker Jeff Rohrer Is to Marry Partner.

Superior Responsibility: Spider-Man & the Thread of Identity .

The New Yorker Cover Story: Barry Blitt’s “Welcome to Congress”.

I Before E Except After C.

The NRA denies the reality of gun violence. Doctors like me know it all too well. “those who have been in a trauma room, soaked to the skin in the blood of a child … watching his eyes dilate to black and knowing all is lost — well, we have received a clear, strong directive”

This Week in the Resistance:

Trump, stung by midterms and nervous about Mueller, retreats from traditional presidential duties.

Here are the three main factors that drove the Democrats’ blue wave.

CNN’s John King Breaks Down Democratic Gains in House Races: ‘This Is a Blue Wave’.

A week later it’s clear the midterms did produce a blue wave – here are the three main factors that drove the Democrats’ triumph.

On election night, all anyone saw was a ripple. But the blue wave came and the Republicans wiped out

Awful News:

The Acting Attorney General Helped an Alleged Scam Company Hawk Bizarre Products.

Bin Salman ‘tried to persuade Netanyahu to go to war in Gaza’ say sources .

Trump’s Tax Cut Was Supposed to Change Corporate Behavior. Here’s What Happened.. “Since the tax cuts were passed, the 1,000 largest public companies have actually reduced employment, on balance. They have announced the elimination of nearly 140,000 jobs — which is almost double the 73,000 jobs they say they have created in that time”

FBI Reports Largest Spike in Hate Crimes Since 9/11.

Number of hate crimes in Seattle double from year to year.

In Memoriam:

https://www.advocate.com/crime/2018/11/15/unknown-victim-deadly-1973-arson-gay-bar-finally-identified.

Fred Patten:1940-2018. Fred was a friend, a contributor to the zine I used to edit, and an editor who purchased at least on of my stories for one of his anthologies… he was also the person who probably single-handedly introduced anime to North Anerica, among many, many, many other accomplishments.

‘An Unshakable Humanism’ — Michael Chabon on Stan Lee.

So Long, True Believers: Stan Lee, 1922-2018.

Stan Lee: Marvel Comics Legend Was 95.

STAN LEE DEAD AT 95.

Things I wrote:

Weekend Update 11/11/2018: The count goes on.

100 years ago today, World War I, aka The War to End All Wars ended….

I told you the blue wave didn’t fizzle!

That voice whispering that no one wants to read your story? It lies….

Videos!

Trump and His Fellow Grifters Lie About “Voter Fraud”: A Closer Look:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Matt Bloyd and Colton Haynes – A Million Dreams:

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Calum Scott – No Matter What:

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New film ‘Boy Erased’ explores the ‘self-hatred’ dealt by gay conversion programs:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

The Winning Trick at the World Championships of Magic Might Fry Your Brain Like an Egg:

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It’s Friday! It is the second Friday in November, which means that it is National Novel Writing Month? I am spending as much of my free time as possible writing, trying to finish one of my novels. I did not get as much writing done this week, not least because I couldn’t stop checking the news Tuesday night until I was satisfied that the not-Nazi party had taken back the House of Representatives, and how a couple of our local votes went before I could stop obsessively checking the news Tuesday night.

I keep reminding myself that I spent most of my life assuming that never, in my lifetime, would queers have true equal rights, including the right to marry. The fact that with the pro-Nazi party is appointing so many federal judges the last two years and the next makes it very likely that what rights I currently have will be taken away. So I had planned to fight the rest of my life, anyway; on one level not much has changed. But if you are a person reading this who thinks I should lighten up on the politics, clearly YOUR rights aren’t under threat, so either educate yourself and join the resistance, or go away. I don’t want you reading my stuff if you aren’t will to help me fight for equal rights. That doesn’t make me the bad guy.

Anyway, enough about that. We scored a bunch of victories this week. So, welcome to the Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) good news stories of the week, five stories of the resistance, and five videos (plus my blog post and notable obituaries).

Good News:

LGBTQ Candidates Record Historic Midterm Wins In Rainbow Wave.

How Did Immigrants and Immigration Fare in the 2018 Elections?

Unresolved high-profile U.S. elections could be headed to recounts.

Putting the GOP’s House losses in context does Trump no favors.

Three red states vote to expand Medicaid during an election where health care was the top issue.

This Week in the Resistance:

Voter ‘Fraud’ and Trump Pal Kris Kobach Goes Down.

Voting machine shortage contributed to lines in Georgia election.

Democrats Have a Long Way to Go to Defeat Trump .

2018 election results: how voter suppression played a role.

Big Money, Quiet Power: A Look at the National Christian Foundation and How They Fund Hate.

In Memoriam:

Thousand Oaks shooting: These are the victims.

Thousand Oaks shooting: What we know about the victims.

Kitty O’Neil: Wonder Woman stuntwoman dies at 72.

Thiel: A hard man, Jack Patera, original Seahawks coach, led the good times.

Things I wrote:

Some things to remember.

You know what to do!

No, the blue wave did not fizzle, we knew the deck was stacked against us.

Just because I need to know that, doesn’t mean the reader does — or, adventures in back stories.

Videos!

Troye Sivan – Somebody To Love:

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KJ Apa Gets a Passionate Kiss from Rob Raco in the New ‘Riverdale’ Preview (blink and you miss it, but…):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Troye Sivan Releases Lyric Video for Haunting ‘Boy Erased’ Track ‘Revelation’:

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Trump Mocks GOP Candidates Who Didn’t Embrace Him:

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Democrats Take Back the House, Trump Fires Jeff Sessions – Monologue:

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It’s Friday! The fourth (and final) Friday in October! Are you ready to get your spooky on? And by this time next week, will you be joining me in National Novel Writing Month?

Tomorrow will mark the one year anniversary of the first edition of Friday Five, which replaced my previous Friday Links. I have not, over the course of this last year, stuck strictly to my original redefinition of the post: only the five top stories of the week, plus notable obituaries, links to my own posts, and five videos. Some weeks I have two or three categories of links each of which contains five stories. But my goal of limiting how much time I was spending assembling a post which fewer people have been reading since the inauguration of that which has put many of us into compassion fatigue and so forth, has been obtained. So, since I find it impossible not to read the news and bookmark stories I find interesting, this is going to continue!

Which brings us to the Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week featuring good news, top five stories, top five stories of interest to queers and our allies, top five sci fi stories, the bottom five awful news stories, and five videos (plus my blog post and notable obituaries).

Good News:

Free rent in Seattle, no catch: Landlords’ faith inspired a gift for tenants.

What Would Jesus Pod? Episode 20: Politicon and Christians Against Trump.

Judge rejects conservative Christian group’s request to halt Drag Queen Story Hour.

This one needs explaining: usually Shapiro is the one making deranged attacks on queer people, women, racial minorities, and the left in general. So I have to acknowledge when he says something good: Shapiro criticizes conspiracy theories about bomb threats to Dems.

Wild bear trapped in a Chinese hydropower station is saved after a dramatic 14-hour operation.

Stories of the Week:

Did the Maya create the first ‘comics’?

Op-Ed: Cis People’s Feelings Must Not Take Precedence Over Trans Rights.

I Know the Salaries of Thousands of Tech Employees – Pay equity requires transparency, so I’m revealing what I know.

How I Accidentally Wound Up Running a Outlaw Biker Gang. Undercover ATF agent tells all.

New York City Cops Arrest Three More Proud Boys.

Queer stories of the Week:

Can Trump Actually Erase Transgender Rights? Two Legal Experts Weigh In.

Human Rights Won’t Be Erased, We Support You. We Fight With You.

Democrats double down on Equality Act ahead of midterm elections – The bill would use federal civil rights law to ban LGBTQ discrimination, but backers say it will also block the Trump administration’s leaked transgender proposal.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Calls Being Gay a Gift From God.

LGBTQ characters on television reach record high.

Science Fiction and Fantasy:

LEV GROSSMAN: WHY WE’VE ALWAYS NEEDED FANTASTIC MAPS.

My Genre Makes a Monster of Me.

Guest Post: Invisible Ink.

Can Science Fiction Save the World?

Aliette De Bodard: Cannibalizing A Draft (Or: The Art Of Rewriting).

Awful News:

Conspiracy theories about Soros aren’t just false. They’re anti-Semitic.

Older People Are Worse Than Young People at Telling Fact from Opinion .

Saudis admit killing of journalist was premeditated.

Suspicious packages: Who were the targets, when were they discovered, who intercepted them?

Trump’s anti-trans memo joins a long list of attacks against transgender people.

In Memoriam:

The Funeral Crashers of Seattle – A pair of uninvited party guests used to show up at Seattle events back in the day, steal slices of cake, and get into fights with each other. This story is weird and cool and have a very bizarre surprise midway through!

Dorcas Reilly, inventor of the green bean casserole, a Thanksgiving favorite, has died at 92.

A moment of silence, please, for the mother of green bean holiday goodness.

Gay Games co-founder Paul Mart dies.

Joachim Ronneberg: WWII hero who thwarted Nazi nuclear plant dies at 99. They parachuted into the mountains, skied to the base, blew it up, then eluded 3000 Nazi soldiers to escape to Sweden. In later years, Ronneberg liked to describe his team’s harrowing escape as “a good skiing weekend.”

Joachim Ronneberg: Norwegian who thwarted Nazi nuclear plan dies.

Things I wrote:

Transforming Otters and Traveling Trees.

Pure unbounded love thou art, or an ex-evangelical looks at trans hate in the church.

What’s spooky for me may not be spooky for you.

Videos!

Courthouse security footage shows Lewis County Judge R.W. Buzzard chase after two inmates who attempted to escape his courtroom in Chehalis, Wash., on Oct. 16, 2018:

https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/state/washington/article220552130.html/video-embed

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Man sets fire to parents’ home while trying to kill spider with a blowtorch:

https://abcnews.go.com/video/embed?id=58728855

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Ghostly Grimpoteuthis Octopus Glides By ROV Hercules:

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Panic! At The Disco: It’s Almost Halloween:

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Ty Herndon: “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” Official Music Video:

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It’s Friday! The third Friday in October. Halloween is coming fast, and I’m still nowhere near ready.

My immune system seems to have finally kicked the upper respiratory infection just in time that I didn’t have to skip another unrelated medical test that I have to undergo every few years. That was Thursday morning. Now that I’m on insulin, they insist that this procedure can’t be done in the afternoon (I have do it before taking any insulin that day), which meant that my husband and I were taking an Uber to the clinic at 6:00am (my husband doesn’t drive, and because general anesthesia is involved, I couldn’t drive for 12 hours after) and our friend Jeri Lynn picked us up when I was done. So Thursday started earlier and then I spent the majority of the day sleeping off the meds. Which all makes my usual work-from-home Friday quite convenient.

Which brings us to the Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week and five videos (plus my blog post).

Stories of the Week:

12 Authors Write About the Libraries They Love.

This gay couple got the perfect wedding picture & there’s an incredible story behind it.

Why ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ Remains A Queer Cinematic Milestone.

A $21,634 bill? How a homeless woman fought her way out of tow-company hell.

The New “Halloween” Pays Homage To History By Erasing It.

Things I wrote:

Getting ready for the coming spooks and books amid the rising dark.

Videos!

Saudi Arabia: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO):

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Freddie Atlas – Something About You (cw: self-loathing and gay bashing):

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Under Pressure Shawn Mendes feat. Teddy Geiger (Cover):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Donald Trump Owes Elizabeth Warren A Million Bucks:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Panic! At The Disco – Bohemian Rhapsody (Live from Sydney for the American Music Awards):

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

And we’re already to the second Friday in October. Halloween is coming fast, and I’m not quite ready.

This has not been a great week. A second, much shorter round of antibiotics does not seem to have taken care of my respiratory infection, but my next two schedule medical appointments are within the week yet have nothing to do with that, and I’m not sure I want to try to squeeze another one in there.

Which brings us to the Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week, top five sci fi/fantasy/science stories, and five videos (plus my blog posts).

Stories of the Week:

Hurricane Michael heads northeast, leaving devastation in Florida.

The Morality Wars: Should Art Be a Battleground for Social Justice? and a rebuttal which makes more sense to me: Morality Wars response: Criticism of representation creates vibrant conversation.

Amazon scraps secret AI recruiting tool that showed bias against women.

Finally, Someone Gets Montgomery Clift’s Biography Right.

Washington State Basically Just Abolished Its Death Penalty.

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Real Science:

Bicycles, disability and Doctor Who. An fascinating look at the latest episode by someone who shares the disability of one of the new companions.

‘First Man’ Considers Glory, Grief And A Famous Walk On The Moon.

Interstellar Comet ’Oumuamua Might Not Actually Be a Comet.

Mountain goats seen atop Rattlesnake Ledge after relocation.

Here’s what’s unusual about Hurricane Michael.

Things I wrote:

Indigenous People’s Day: Columbus didn’t discover America, he invaded it.

You don’t have to love what I love, but not all differences are merely opinions.

No one deserves the closet — #NationalComingOutDay.

Videos!

Seth’s Favorite Jokes of the Week: Trump Defends Kavanaugh, Presidential Emergency Alerts:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Astronauts escape malfunctioning Soyuz rocket:

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/embed/p06njyh3/45822845

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Good Omens – Official Teaser Trailer I:

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Years & Years – All For You:

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morgxn – home (official video) ft. WALK THE MOON:

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