Welp.

I've stated repeatedly that mRNA vaccines are a gift from God via science.

It's a stunning technology which gives your body instructions on how to do something... like fight off COVID more efficiently.

And now, apparently, fight off cancer.

Moderna and Merck created a personalized mRNA treatment which can prevent skin cancer from recurring or spreading, as proven by a late-stage clinical trial.

The current method of fighting off cancer involves trying to kill off all the cancer cells without killing too many other cells... or the patient. Whether by radiation or chemotherapy, it's a seriously invasive and destructive way to cure somebody. But now, thanks to mRNA technology, they are able to create a specific instruction set to teach your body how to attack the mutated cancer cells directly and specifically.

They're working on all kinds of mRNA cancer treatments, but this one happens to be skin cancer. Treating melanomas which kill between 8,000 and 9,000 people a year is a small start, but a good one. And means the world to the people it helps.

I'm hoping that soon they can design mRNA to help fight heinous diseases like Ebola, which is exploding again.

It may be the only thing that can.

At least it sure seems that way given the miracles that mRNA are performing.

I finally got around to watching Lanterns (HBO)... for the second time. Something I wanted to do ten seconds after the first time. The show is that good.

Despite the fact that it's got Kyle Chandler in it, I held my expectations in check. I pretty much had to, because it was made very clear that this was more of a slow-burn mystery series instead of an action-based show with super-hero battle after super-hero battle. All the previews show the characters mostly in plain clothes, not costumes...

From the above teaser, it looks like some cosmic action is forthcoming. I can't wait to see it.

The problem with having smoke allergies during wildfire season is that you're sick all the time. It never stops. All the classic allergy symptoms plus a constant headache plague your every waking moment. And while you'd like nothing better than to sequester yourself in a room with multiple air purifiers, it doesn't work like that because life must go on.

You dope up with antihistamines and Advil and go to work.

Or you try to.

This morning I left the house without my backpack containing my weekend work and my laptop. Turned around and went back for it. Then I got all the way to work and realized that I left my MagSafe wallet at home. Turned around and went back for it. And then I walked into my office and remembered I wanted to bring some toast with me. At which point I said "screw it" and found some stale crackers in my filing cabinet that were close enough.

And the week is just starting.

   
• D23! The most unexpected news was that the Yeti Audio-Animatronic Coming Back to Life Inside Expedition Everest...

When the ride debuted, the yeti took a swipe at you when you went by. It was kinda terrifying. But then it turned out the animatronic was so heavy that it was cracking the support structure. So they turned it off and added a strobe light... leaving us with "disco yeti" that was more annoying than scary. And it sounded like it was going to stay that way forever because genius imagineer (and notorious earring abuser) Joe Rhode said they'd have to rip open the mountain to fix the structure. So I guess they found a way to fix the structure and lighten the animatronic with servos or something so they don't have to dismantle the mountain to fix it. Very cool indeed, because the ride wasn't the same once they turned him off.

   
• A Vision in White! The first trailer from the new Visionquest series was released...

I'm in the minority that I didn't much care for Vision & Scarlet Witch and Agatha All Along, but I'm hopeful that the final entry into the trilogy goes back to being a comic book movie. I will say that I am thrilled that James Spader is returning as Ultron. He's one of my favorite actors, and I like what they're doing here.

   
• DON'T PULL THE LEVER, KRONK! There was a very strong rumor that the new Villains Land in Walt Disney World had been completely retooled after the artwork that was released. Primary of which was that the Maleficent coaster had been toned down to become a Yzma and Kronk coaster. Which, to be honest, is genius. It's such an epic scene from The Emperor's New Groove that was more funny than scary. It made sense because Magic Kingdom is more of a family-friendly affair than the other lands. But then it was confirmed at D23 that this wasn't the case at all. Still very much a Maleficent coaster that's looking scary indeed...

I really hope that it's a more intense coaster for adult guests. There's loads of rides for kids at Magic Kingdom, so it would be nice to have something more grown up. Like the very popular Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind coaster from Epcot. Here's hoping. And, oh yeah, they also showed this from the Magic Mirror dark ride they're building...

Looks like Pirates of the Caribbean but with villains instead of pirates. I hope that they at least pack it with plenty of animatronics instead of skimping like they did in the Splash Mountain re-theme.

   
• Branding! Branding! Branding! I was so impressed with the gorgeous logo they made for Villains Land that it deserves it's own bullet. Because look at this!

Love it. Somebody at Disney really knew what they were doing when they designed that!

   
• Tomorrow! Another big piece of news to come out of D23 was that they are reimagining Tomorrowland at Disneyland. Apparently they are bringing it back to be something closer to what Walt Disney intended for it. The problem with Tomorrowland has always been that no matter what you do to update it, the area is always outdated. Tomorrow is just a day away, after all. Which is why I far, far prefer how they approached Tomorrowland in Disneyland Paris. Instead of trying to imagine what the future will be like, they ran with what people from yesteryear thought the future would be like. For example, their Space Mountain was a Jules Verne From Earth to the Moon kind of affair where you get shot out of a cannon and get blasted to the moon. It was a genius idea...

And now they've announced that they're going back to this idea and restoring the Paris Space Mountain to what it originally was. Which makes me very, very happy. I wish they'd use that aesthetic for Disneyland California as well.

   
• Monstrous! The new Monsters Land at Disney World will be opening next year in 2027. Except the brilliant "Door Coaster" won't open with it. That comes later. Apparently the only attraction set for opening day is the re-theme of MuppetVision 3D. Which, fine... but the coaster is what everybody is actually wanting to experience. Though the 3D movie does look interesting...

And would probably be even more interesting if they didn't already re-theme the 3D theater in Animal Kingdom from It's Tough to Be a Bug to Zootopia.

   
• New Splash! As a massive, massive fan of The Princess and the Frog, I was cautiously optimistic about the re-theming of Splash Mountain in Disneyland and Walt Disney World to become Tiana's Bayou Adventure. But it ended up being a massive disappointment. The ride is sparse and breaks down all the time. But now they're building a new "splash mountain" ride from scratch in Paris, this time based on The Lion King...

And I am once again cautiously optimistic. I hope that they learned their lesson from the Tiana fiasco. I hope they pack it with animatronics and make them more reliable. I hope they come up with a ride story that actually makes sense. I hope they put some actual thought into how it should work. But who knows? We have two very good examples of Disney dropping the ball on this.

   
And that's a wrap for your Disney-based bullets.

Nothing makes my cats want to go outside in the catio more than when I don't let them go outside in the catio because there's too much smoke in the air for little kitty lungs.

Seriously. Jake acts like he's being tortured. Jenny walks around the house meowing at full volume to let her frustration be known. And it doesn't end there. They are both constantly hanging around me. The minute I head to bed, they are there. And they stay there until morning.

Most times they just want to lay there...

Other times they demand belly rubs...

But sometimes they manage to entertain themselves without my involvement...

At least until something like this happens. At which time I will say "JAKE! COME BACK HERE AND FIX YOUR SISTER'S EAR!" Except he won't, so I have to get involved...

I really hope that the smoke dies down enough that I can open up the catio again.

I woke up in a coughing fit. At first I thought I was dying because I had my 11th COVID vaccination, but it turns out I had just spent too much time outside yesterday.

The coughing was bad enough, but it turned out I disturbed my cats, which got me death stares. They may sleep for 20 hours a day, but losing even the five minutes they were awakened before they fall asleep again is infuriating to them.

Oh well. They don't have to sleep on my bed. They choose to.

I have an industrial washer and dryer that was left by the previous owner. To save water I've been waiting until I completely run out of something before I was a load. Because the size of my appliances means I can. For example, I don't wash T-shirts until I've worn all my T-shirts. Today I just put on my last pair of clean underwear. Which means I have to wash underwear when I get home from work.

Any bets on whether or not I'll forget?

Just checking in to let everybody know that I'm still alive during my 11th COVID vaccination and the 7.3-second full gravity reversal that happened yesterday! Sure I woke up with a bit of a sore arm, but I'm totally not dead. At least not yet.

OR AM I ?!?

For all you know I could totally be dead and typing this from beyond the grave.

Given that the air was new levels of toxic thanks to the wildfire smoke everywhere, I certainly feel like I'm dead...

You can just make out the nearby hills on the left-hand side there. Which is to say it's not a good day to have smoke allergies like me. I end up taking all kinds of pills and inhaler shots to keep my lungs from itching and driving me insane... and aspirin to help push through the headaches.

There ain't enough medicine on earth to take care of the watery eyes and runny nose though. Those I just have to live with.

OR DIE WITH, if you're paying attention.

Though it's entirely possible that I've been AI all this time. Which would be cool because it means the trillions of dollars spent on the crap was worthwhile for something.

Happy Gravity Reversal Day, everybody!

Since 40-60 million casualties are projected worldwide, I considered canceling my doctor's appointment and reading a book. But it's just my luck I'd be one of the people who actually survives this heinous gravity abnormality, and then I'd end up getting charged for a doctor's appointment that I didn't show up for. And so I hopped in the car and off I went.

The sun was looking very, very angry this morning, thanks to the wildfire smoke returning with a vengeance...

Speaking of angry, my eyeball isn't in the best shape. Some of my blood vessels in there are encased and not filled with blood like they should be (which you can see when my surgeon zoomed in on the right-hand side here...

And so I get to come back in December to have some dye injected so he can get a better picture of what's going on with the vessels in there. Sounds like fun!

The good news is that my optic nerve looks to be in great shape and the laser surgeries to contain my retina falling apart seem to have done the job...

And then... after all that fun... I went to get my 11th COVID shot! Which is to say I've had one COVID shot plus ten boosters, I suppose. My doctor suggested that somebody with my lung problems should get doped up every six months, so I follow the advice of my doctor and scientists who actually study this stuff so I don't end up on a ventilator or something equally terrible. LIKE DEAD! Though if you ask all the wacky conspiracy nuts, I'll be dying from the COVID vaccinations any minute now. Something I've been hearing since my very first vaccination years ago. And yet here I am.

And... oh... would you look at that.

Gravity didn't reverse itself after all!

Yet another thing that scientists said wouldn't happen. But we live in the stupidest timeline where people actually believe the stupid shit they read on the internet, which is why I've been seeing an escalation of idiotic crap like this...

What amazes me is that no matter how many times we hear about the end of the world or anti-science idiocy like gravity reversing or CERN ripping open a hole in space-time or whatever... people continue to believe the dumbasses who just move on to even more asinine predictions when their current prediction fails. There's people lining up to believe some of the stupidest shit imaginable for reasons I can't even begin to guess.

Maybe conspiracies are so much fun to believe that it doesn't matter if they're right or wrong?

Which would explain a lot.

The smoke has been clearing quite a lot, making the air quality bad instead of outright toxic. This is not expected to last, however, and the forecast says that the doom smoke will return this evening. Thought I have no clue how they actually forecast any of this. Probably something to do with wind conditions, I'd imagine.

I am attempting to enjoy the respite from constant headache, itchy lungs, watery eyes, and a running nose while I can but, in all honesty, the problem never goes away completely. It's just a matter of degrees. This morning, for example, my headache was still there... it just wasn't so bad that I felt like slamming my head into a wall.

At least not because of wildfire smoke.

There's still plenty of other reasons to slam my head into a wall.