Qu'ils mangent de la brioche

You're the person in charge of (arguably) the greatest nation. By definition, the president is expected to be the representative of all American people.

And he's really not leading or representing any of us, except maybe those that are in on the grift.  Instead, we have rising prices. Dehumanization. People suffering. And on and on.  

And this is what he chose to rail about.  Essentially acting like an entitled arse. It is one of the "let them eat cake" moments…

"Let them eat cake" is a quote attributed to queen Marie Antoinette before the French Revolution. The story goes that the queen said this when told her starving peasants had no bread, highlighting her obliviousness to their plight.

It's unclear if she actually uttered the phrase, but the context is that she really didn't understand the people who she was supposed to be leading. 

  

Disneyland Handcrafted.

Disney has announced a potentially interesting documentary series called "Disneyland Handcrafted," about the design and construction of the original Disneyland, which is in the midst of its 70th anniversary.

The documentary is by Leslie Iwerks, who descends from Disney "royalty" - her father was Don Iwerks, inventor of the CircleVision 360 camera, and her grandfather was Ub Iwerks who was one of the original animators who worked for Walt, and he helped create Mickey Mouse.

But Leslie is no slouch.  She is an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated documentarian who created the "The Imagineering Story" series for Disney+.

The new documentary will run on Disney+ and YouTube this fall. 

Trailer here: https://youtu.be/7rP3FVnGtfg

Starship Update

Back at the end of August, Starship had a fairly successful launch, which achieved all of the objectives that were set forth by SpaceX.  

Its exciting to see a rocket of that scale lift off and return.  It may very well herald a new era for space exploration.

But can we talk for a minute about how the media simply said this is redemption for all Musk has done?  I mean...really?  After all the nonsense, having one successful flight absolves him?  He owns the company and invested heavily in the success and there's a lot to be said for essentially letting his smart rocket scientists do their thing. But its *their* accomplishment.  The guy is still a turd.

And even the shirt he was wearing during an interview should remind us of that.  

Can someone please tell me, other than ego, what the purpose of going to Mars actually is?  He has a whole timeline because he wants to.  And he's rich.  And it serves his ego.  But lets have a purpose.  Unless you want to send yourself and some of the other jackholes who are in power to the planet... then please have at it.

He Beached an Old Cruise Ship and Turned it into $18 Million Beachfront Hotel with Love

What a weird and oddly wonderful hotel he created … I recommend watching the video tour near the end of the page. 

 

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/he-beached-an-old-cruise-ship-and-turned-it-into-18-million-beachfront-hotel-with-love/

Collapse of critical Atlantic current is no longer low-likelihood, study finds

Not to be an alarmist … but this ain't good. 

Anyone care to actually do something? Or should we just say our goodbyes now so some can have some obscene wealth, with a short time to use it. 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/28/collapse-critical-atlantic-current-amoc-no-longer-low-likelihood-study

Disney caters to the wealthy

The New York Times wrote a piece about how Disney has changed, and I thought it was worth sharing.  

As a frequent visitor, I 100% agree with this assessment. I've watched them go from being a park for any and every one, at an affordable price, to being an expensive playground for the wealthy.  I had noted along the way, that the company was doing everything in its power to "tip the scales" toward the affluent.

Everything is an upcharge, and you can get more if you pay more. That's not to say its not fun, its just more expensive, and you really have to temper your expectations going in.

For reference, I took my daughter back in March, and over three days, we managed to see almost every attraction we wanted, without any upcharges.  Yes, it was complicated.  We had to criss cross the parks, start early, and stay late, and make some changes on the fly.  And yes, it seemed like it wouldn't be possible at times. But we had a ball and managed to squeeze a lot in.  But in this case, I was the advantage because of my own experiences....not everyone has that. And there was definitely some amount of luck involved.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/opinion/disney-world-economy-middle-class-rich.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

We Call It Imagineering Episode 3: How Rides Come to Life

This is an intermittent series and it feels a little "edited for the masses" (so they eschew some technical details), but it's still a little fun to hear about the development process imagineers use in their craft. 

https://disneyparksblog.com/disney-experiences/stories-in-motion-we-call-it-imagineering-episode-3-debuts/