Fanum Tax

Speed round of cool facts I've learned since recently my posts have been pretty critical and makes it seem I'm perpetually in a bad mood, which is partially true as I am turning into a grumpy old man. MJ charges a "Fanum tax" every time I make food for myself, which is eating something from what your roommate made, a phrase from a Youtube influencer named "Fanum" but now just means stealing food. I can never tell how hungry MJ is because she's either very "tempted" by what I have made or actually hungry and just not saying so and when food is presented to her, she suddenly gets hungry even though she isn't. I learned there is something called the "Olympic Peninusla" across Puget Sound from Seattle that is one of the coolest-looking places with cities like "Forks" and "Port Angeles." Really loved a trip in college to Orcas Island, everything around there is just awesome. It also makes me think of the Last of Us Season 2, whose story currently takes place in Seattle, except it's a post-apocalyptic world with fungus zombies, warring factions called the Wolves and the Scars, and competing revenge plot lines. It's this decade's Game of Thrones, and just like GoT introduced us to great locations in Europe (Dubrovnik, Northern Ireland, various desert locations) Last of Us takes place in various cities that are NOT L.A., Washington D.C., or New York, the main settings for any TV show. Habemus Papus- is Latin for "We have a pope!" The whole transition of popes just played out in film via Conclave and then a few months later, in real life with Pope Francis passing away, and the masses have learned all about the phrases like camerlengo (acting head of the Vatican), the papal conclave, white smoke, and all the politics behind becoming the next pope. All in all, this college of cardinals got off relatively drama-free, I guess popes unlike politicans have a reputation to uphold and have to act morally and maintain the high ground, no matter how badly they want the top job. Paul McCartney's real first name was James. It's a big surprise how many famous people you've known since a young age actually had a different birth name, and we know them by their stage names, another layer of the mask that they portray to the world while hiding their true identity. It's also better in some cases to use stage names, it just rolls off the tongue better, like Whoopi Goldberg instead of Elaine Johnson.....I think Whoopi probably got more fans just because of the name change. Good thing to know if I ever become famous, as Robert Yan just doesn't sound like a household name. Bob Dylan was originally Robert Zimmeran, Bono was Paul Hewson; The Rock was Dwayne Johnson. Feels like singers more than actors need a stage name, just because they're their own brand and face of the music, whereas the actor can at least be associated with the movie name. "I'm going to a Dua Lipa concert" as opposed to "I'm going to see Captain Phillips starring Tom Hanks. La Nina, unlike el Nino, brings colder conditions to the southeast Pacific Ocean. I had always thought it was a cousin or related idea as El Nino, turns out El Nino is the warm phase of ENSO, or El Nino- Southern Oscillation and occurs around Christmas, and La Nina is the cool phase, like summer vs. winter. Feels like that type of cold/warm contrast in the oceans will become a more important concept as we move along. I really at some point have to understand what this Minecraft thing is all about. There's even a movie I apparently missed out on! Starring who else, the king of kid-young adult movies, Jack Black. And also Jennifer Coolidge, who's late-career breakout has made her one of the world's most influential people, according to Time magazine. There's hope for people turning 40 soon like me to get better! We may not have peaked yet! Apparently Greta Gerwig has directed 4 movies total, and 3 of them have been nominated for Best Picture. That's a pretty high rate, although not as exceptional a feat since the Oscars changed from 5 Best Picture nominees to 10 each year. I propose we go back down to 5........it's a nice round number and fits nicely for best actor and best actress when they put the split screen up of the anxious nominees and their reactions as to who won. I really, really, try to watch all Best Picture nominees every year and it's just hard to get to all 10, even if they're interspersed among the streaming companies and on various airlines' feature movies list during Oscar season. I'm just not into Dune: Part Two, for instance, or the Substance, or Emilia Perez. And the Brutalist is 3 hours 35 minutes long. Adrien Brody might still be acting in that movie, and Adrien Brody might still be giving his acceptance speech (he rejected the fade-out music asking him to stop his speech at the Oscars this year).