Pompeii. I believe that many of you are interested in historical Pompeii. You should not miss the latest archaeological news from there, which is that new DNA evidence is overturning imagined identifications of individual victims of the eruption, some dating back to the nineteenth-century rediscovery of the site. For example, one human cast long referred to as that of an elderly beggar is in fact that of a child; similarly, a famous pair always assumed to be two sisters or a mother and daughter is actually a man and a woman. Here's a subscriber gift link to the New York Times article (it should take you through the paywall): "With DNA, Pompeii Narratives Take a Twist: In 79 A.D., a volcanic eruption engulfed a town’s residents. They weren’t all who scientists thought, newly extracted genetic material suggests."

Shakespeare. Some months ago, my YouTube recommendations algorithm unusually struck gold when it started suggesting ShakespeareNetwork. You can read about their organization on their site, but what's specifically relevant for this recommendation is that their YouTube channel makes available amazing Shakespeare productions since almost the dawn of talkie cinema, filmed stage plays as well as movies, television, and indeed radio productions, many starring some of the best actors of the past century. (So much Judi Dench!) Much of it, especially the oldest productions, are available in full; recent productions tend to be represented by only a trailer or a few excerpted scenes. Those of you who love Stratford should definitely check out this channel; you'll find treasure.

Zelda as a TV show (not the '89 cartoon). Wondering what I'm up to with all these The Legend of Zelda references, but not interested in games or manga or, goodness forbid, let's-plays? ZeldaUniverseTV's got you. These fans have produced multi-episode "TV shows" of several of the games, thoughtfully edited, with full voiceover acting. For example, Twilight Princess is 13 episodes of about 30 minutes each (playlist). Breath of the Wild is available as either a single 7-hour movie or 4 episodes of about 100 minutes each (playlist).

The everywoman exchange is still looking for 4 pinch-hitters from the original matching. Check the pinch-hit list and claim. They're due with assignments, on Friday, 26 July, 11:59pm Pacific time. Minimum 500 words.

If you know someone active in any of these fandoms, pass it on?

Available pinch-hit fandoms: ( list of 17 )

Signal boost to switchbladeeyes's post:

Kristin H. has shared good quality copies of almost all the color Forever Knight press package promo photos, including two I hadn't seen before. See her archive on Facebook. I was able to download copies even though I don't have a Facebook account. (They raised memories of the very few Starlog issues with articles about FK, which I read at the public library.)

FK images, whether promo stills or episode screenshots, are much rarer online than they used to be. I imagine that this is mostly due to age, but partly also to the passing of DVD drives attached to computers. If there's a way to screenshot streaming, I don't know it.

Are you, or is anyone you know, a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K)? If so, you may be interested to learn that they're currently crowd-funding a new fourteenth season, completely independent of any studio or other corporate overlords (unlike the revival eleventh and twelfth season done in cooperation with Netflix, but very much like the revival thirteenth season in which they launched their "Gizmoplex" independent streaming, and of course also different from the old Comedy Central days, or Sci-Fi Channel days, or even the primordial local cable days).

Learn all about it at mst3k.com! Or on their YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter/X. This effort runs through this Thanksgiving Day (November 23, 2023), after which they will lock in the number of new episodes they'll produce for the season, so, to get more episodes, fund them before their deadline. And of course there will be their traditional "turkey day" marathon of "turkeys" (bad movies) being mocked in signature style.

I've personally backed each of the revival seasons so far, including this hoped-for fourteenth. I'd be happy to describe my experience with their "Gizmoplex" streaming and as a backer; please ask any questions.

(Never heard of MST3K? It's not like anything else, so it's kind of hard to explain, but don't worry -- as the theme song says, "it's just a show," so we can "just relax" about the backstory in which mad scientists trap a victim alone in space and force him or her to watch endless cheesy genre movies, but the victim fights back by creating sentient robots to watch the movies with, together endlessly mocking everything about the movies in a rain of jokes so dense that even if you catch only every fourth joke, you laugh all the way through. It's not for everyone! But it is very much for some. It's something I get to share with my sister, so I value it even more highly for that.)

Addendum: With 13 days left, they are currently at 33% of goal for a 6-episode season. Ouch. It really hurt that the studios didn't settle contracts earlier, so that the actors weren't able to do any promotion on social media or elsewhere. (They want to do a 12-episode season if they can get the money; they set the 6-episode season as the minimum goal.)

I just cast my ballot in the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) board election.

If you, too, are both an eligible voter (donor) and a chronic procrastinator, you have until Monday, August 14, at 11:59pm UTC. That's about 21 hours from when I'm posting this. See a countdown clock. You should have an email from "noreply@opavote.com" with the subject line "2023 Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) Election" with a personalized link for your online ballot.

It's true that there are now 5 candidates for 5 seats, as some dropped out. That doesn't mean it doesn't matter, as (1) some of those seats are for full and others for partial tenures, and (2) our civic interest and coming together for our common values shows the board, the volunteers, and each other who we are and want to be.

(If this is news to you, check out endotwracism.)

The everywoman exchange is still seeking a pinch hitter for a request that is apparently multiple flavors of Kamen Rider and nothing else (specifically, 仮面ライダーギーツ | Kamen Rider Geats, Shin Kamen Rider (2022), Kamen Rider Revice, Kamen Rider Decade). Visit the pinch-hit post. This exchange has a 500-word minimum.

If you happen to know a Kamen Rider fan (or, better yet, community), it would be lovely if you might help pass the word? Thanks!