Neil Polowin

@neilpolowin

Product of Canada. Carleton University and Bentley University alum. He/him. May contain nuts.

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Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· 24d

I picked up one of these book holders a few years for exactly this reason. www.shopbrodart.com/59930ace-1e0...

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· 25d

How to spot a rental scam (from the r/Scams wiki on Reddit):

Rental scammers usually list apartments at lower than market rate, and will ask for some money up front, or will offer you the keys for money up front. The scammer has no property to rent, and any money you send to the scammer will be lost. These scammers are often located overseas, but employ local people that post listings on their behalf, not really knowing they're helping a scammer.

When rental scammers employ local people, they may even offer to tour the place with you. Try to check with neighbors to see if the person you're dealing with is legit, or if there's a story behind it. You may learn that this is actually an Airbnb and that a scammer got an access code for it. You may find out the real owner/renter is away on vacation. And if it's a sublet, be informed about it and check with the original landlord to see if it's allowed.

In other variation of this scheme, the scammers will have you pay for some background check or credit score report, and they get a referral bonus for directing you to a legitimate credit score website. Once you pay for the report, they get the referral money from the credit score company and vanish. Something similar happens with VIN checks on car sales scams.

There are a few things you can do to avoid rental scams:

- Never ever send a photo ID or anything not considered public information before meeting the landlord.
- Always tour the place in person with the landlord, property manager or realtor. Never alone, never with an access code, never virtually.
- If you tour the place with someone, verify who they are. Make sure this isn't an Airbnb.
- Only send deposits and application fees after touring the place, and get a proper receipt for it. You can check the owner of the property in your local government website before paying anything.
- Remember: anyone trying to collect money from you without meeting you is a scammer or a shit landlord. Nobody should ask you to pay to reserve your spot without meeting face to face.

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· 27d

Meanwhile, the original titles of what could be the Infocom Cinematic Universe are just sitting there, neglected and unadapted. Probably not even optioned.

Array of 32 text adventure games published by Infocom.

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· Jul 20

It is absolutely a very, very bad idea to attempt to saddle and ride a polar bear. It will not go well.

A man wearing a sleeveless tunic and hood is riding what looks like a saddled polar bear through snowy terrain, against a star-filled night sky. (From Jim Starlin's Metamorphosis Odyssey.)

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· Jul 1

It's better than bad, it's good!

Ersatz screenshot from Hardball (from an episode of 30 Rock) featuring Chris Matthews and Tucker Carlson being utterly schooled by their clear intellectual superior Log from Blammo!™.

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· Jun 26

I'm pretty sure that seven of them are somehow related to misogyny.

Screen capture of a Facebook post with a pic of actor Milly Alcock as Supergirl with the clickbait (and poorly capitalized) headline, "8 Reasons Why The Supergirl Movie Reviews Are So Negative" (sic).

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· Jun 24

Two multiversal noir novels, both excellent.

'The 22 Murders of Madison May' by Max Barry

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· Jun 23

"Can I be of... assistance? What can I do... for you?"

A still from the first episode of The Starlost in which Devon (played by actor Keir Dullea) encounters the automated information system for the first time after leaving his biodome.

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· Jun 23

Good morning! Please, have a context-free comic book panel.

Superman, his mind having been exchanged with that of Jimmy Olsen, laments no longer having his powers and being just an ordinary person. From Superman #111, on sale December 1956, scripted by Otto Binder and illustrated by Ruben Moreira and Al Plastino.

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· Jun 21

I had to dig a little to find the source for that Rubén Pellejero page; it's from a story that ran originally in Cimoc #42, from August 1984 and scripted by Jorge Zenter. bsky.app/profile/lavi...

Cimoc #42 published by Norma Editorial in Spain.

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· Jun 17

New book day

Good Movies as Old Books: Films Reimagined as Vintage Book Covers by Matt Stevens

Maybe This Will Help: How to Feel Better When Things Stay the Same by Michelle Rial

The Color of Toy Story: a 30th Anniversary Celebration of Colorscripts and Creativity

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· Jun 16

Well, there was that one time we had both at once. :)

Two-page spread from Uncanny X-Men #107 in which the X-Men face off against an ersatz Legion of Super-Heroes, by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum.

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· Jun 10

Fond memories of this one.

Cover for World's Finest #259, with Batman and Superman attempting to block a horde of Gotham City residents from crossing the suspension bridge that separates Gotham from Metropolis.

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· Jun 10

Sometimes, they're down the road from each other, or separated just by a suspension bridge over the bay, or larger distances. It's generally advisable not to obsess too much about geography and maps in the DCU.

Metropolis is frequently depicted as being within driving distance of Gotham City, home of Batman. This happens, for example, in the three-issue 1990 mini-series of World's Finest Comics by Dave Gibbons, Steve Rude, and Karl Kesel. Like Metropolis, Gotham's location has never been definitively established; however, it is usually treated as also being a major city. The distance between the two cities has varied greatly over the years, ranging from being hundreds of miles apart to Gotham and Metropolis being twin cities on opposite sides of Delaware Bay, with Gotham City in the location of Cape May Point, New Jersey and Metropolis in the location of Lewes, Delaware.

In the TV series Smallville, Linda Lake, a columnist for the Daily Planet, once boasted that she could see Gotham City from her new office.

In Bronze Age stories that depicted Metropolis and Gotham City as twin cities, the Metro-Narrows Bridge was said to be the main route connecting Metropolis to Gotham City.

In The World's Greatest Superheroes newspaper comic strip, a 1978 Sunday strip shows a map of the east coast of the United States; the map places Metropolis in Delaware and Gotham City across Delaware Bay in New Jersey, with the Metro-Narrows Bridge linking the two cities.

A similar map appeared in The New Adventures of Superboy #22 (October 1981), with Smallville shown within driving distance of both cities (in post-Crisis comics, Smallville was officially relocated to Kansas). 1990's The Atlas of the DC Universe also places Metropolis in Delaware and Gotham City in New Jersey. - Wikipedia

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· May 30

BREAKING: Billy and the Boingers (formerly Deathtöngue) have pulled out of Freedom 250.

Photo of a band shirt for Billy and the Boingers (formerly Deathtöngue) featuring Bill the Cat on lead vocals and guitar (and lead tongue), Hodge-Podge on drums, and Opus on rhythm tuba, all dressed in metal regalia.

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· May 26

I've started a West Wing re-watch. It's incredibly affecting to watch this group of smart, talented, and funny public servants (played by smart, talented, and funny actors) working furiously to try to improve the common good, all the more so given the current climate. What a counterpoint.

Promo shot of the cast from the first season of The West Wing, including (clockwise from top left) Janel Moloney, Stockard Channing, John Spencer, Dulé Hill, Bradley Whitford, Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Martin Sheen, and Rob Lowe.

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· May 24

And the voyages continue.

Episode title card for Star Trek: Enterprise that reads "Did we ever really need Florida, anyway?"

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· May 23

Nope, the novelty hasn't worn off yet.

Title card for an episode of the original Star Trek series: "It's the Star Trek show, with tonight's guest star, Catwoman herself, Miss Julie Newmar! Yaaaaaay!!!"

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· May 23

Good pick! Shame about the ratings drop-off after Paramount pushed its time slot to make room for *this* drek as a lead-in.

Title card for an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation reading "The Riker Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show with Special Guests Data and Lore"

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· May 23

Title card for Star Trek: The Original Series with text reading "The One Where Someone Wearing a Red Shirt Dies Horribly"

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· May 23

Title card featuring the Enterprise traveling alongside an asteroid. Superimposed text reads "He was an asteroid. She was a starship. But their forbidden love spanned space and time."

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· May 23

Referencing a great pair of Star Trek short stories with this one: "Visit to a Weird Planet" by Jean Lorrah and "Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited" by Ruth Berman.

Title card featuring the USS Enterprise orbiting a planet, with the title superimposed: "Another freak transporter accident only this time
we swapped the bridge crew for a group of 20th century actors who play them on a TV show"

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· May 23

Great job, @bean525.bsky.social !

Title guard with the U.S.S. Voyager and the episode title, "Stuck Outside of Starfleet with the Delta Quadrant Blues Again"

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· May 22

Perhaps the EC Archives: Aces High volume?

Neil Polowin@neilpolowin· May 22

"I am in fact very much trying to deflect blame, and please allow me to introduce this very large bus as Exhibit A, under which I would like to throw Ms. Mecklenberg."