Daniela Andrade “Biking” The keyboard and percussion parts the verses of “Biking” are so soft and subtle that it sounds like they’re nervously and very carefully tip-toeing around the vocal. This suits the lyrics perfectly, as Daniela Andrade is essentially confessing that she’s in love. She’s addressing the “you” that she’s fallen for, but I […]

The Army, The Navy “BBIDGI” The Army, The Navy are a folk duo with the same basic set up as Simon & Garfunkel – two singers, one guitar. The interesting thing with them, most especially on “BBIDGI,” is how their melodies and vocal harmonies are much closer in style and tone to mid 90s through […]

The Fiery Furnaces “Quay Cur” (Stuck In My Head version) I love Matthew Friedberger’s endless delight in reinterpreting his songs. It seems like for him it’s mostly a formal game, but I think it’s also kind of a flex in showing off the strength and versatility of his melodies and musical motifs. The new Fiery […]

Kassie Krut “Reckless” My friend Molly passed this along to me, telling me “this feels Matthew-core.” And she’s right, this is exactly the kind of song I’ve been looking out for on this site for over 20 years. Let’s go down the checklist – catchy but abrasive, big heavy beats, random bits of noise, a […]

The Smile “The Slip” It’s unfortunate that The Smile records have to carry the weight of questions like “wait, is there never going to be another Radiohead album?” and “hold on, so is this basically Radiohead from now on?” But what can you do? Those are big questions for anyone who’d want to listen to […]

La Femme “Clover Paradise” “Clover Paradise” would fit in very well on the What Was Schaffel? playlist I made earlier this year, which collected electro-glam music from the early 2000s. I’m a sucker for this aesthetic, particularly the way a severe grayish palette and ultra-precise shuffle beat complements a lusty, perverted vibe. It’s like the […]

Katrina Ford “World On A Wire” I’ve been writing about songs most days of my life for over 20 years and one thing I’ve learned from this is that a lot of the music I love most resists description. And of course it does – music is ultimately an abstract medium, something that exists to […]

Cleo Sol “Fear When You Fly” The majority of people making traditional 20th century-style R&B music today are young enough that, almost unavoidably, their frame of reference for the music has been filtered through five decades of sampling in rap. I feel like this gets filtered back into the traditional music in different ways – […]

No one expected the house cat to grow to the size of the Chrysler building. But when it did, we had to fight back. The Tin Robot project was controversial from the start, but, in the end, everyone agreed that we would have been destroyed without it. It all happened during the dead of night in New York City when the gigantic house cat went hunting for food. And by food, I mean anything that skittered across its clawed feet. The lasers fired out of the tin robot, lighting up the night like the sun, and the cat was dead. It fell into Hudson, almost displacing the entire river. That was the last of it. We wrap this cloth around our torsos today in remembrance of that day. $22 | URL | Paypal Credit | S - 2XL ')}

Being the big fan of Netflix that I am, I jumped at the chance to watch a new series from the same people who did Orange Is the New Black. I am now requesting every single one of you go see GLOW. It is, as this T-shirt suggests, a GLORIOUS way to spend your time. And after you get done watching a few episodes, go ahead and buy this T-shirt, 'cause you're gonna want to brag to all of your friends that you're up on the awesomest show on Netflix. $22 | URL | Paypal Credit | S - 3XL ')}

Vader really is the galaxy's greatest detective because he kills anyone who doesn't give him the answers he wants. Just watching him walk up to you, pipe in face mask, fire in his eyes, intimidates you into giving away who the murderer on Cherry St. is. Also, his Force sensitivity is greater than anyone else's. He can just sense if the killer is hiding in the cupboard under the staircase. He doesn't even have to look. He'll hold his lightsaber up to the door and activate it, making it thrust through the guy. This is the kind of shirt you wanna wear around your torso if you're in the middle of writing a genre-bending fan fiction. $7-21 | URL | Paypal Credit | S - 3XL ')}

In the game of thrones, you either win or you fall into a gap in the ground. I feel like this is basically what the "Beyond the Wall" episode was like. They weren't all Night Watch, but they all walked along the ice and faced Wights like they were video game baddies. And they even had gaps in the ground to fall in. Ya know what, this is something I hadn't considered before. Maybe Game of Thrones would make a good video game. The princess is always in another castle. The baddies go down easily with certain weapons but are otherwise unkillable. Or maybe it's only good enough to make a smarmy reference on an obscure T-shirt. Who knows. In either case, that T-shirt exists! Go get it! $19.99 | URL | Paypal Credit | S - 5XL ')}

Jon recently started a new project. When setting up his dev environment, one of his peers told him, "You can disable verbose logging by setting DEBUG_LOG=false in your config file."

Well, when Jon did that, the verbose logging remained on. When he asked his peers, they were all surprised to see that the flag wasn't turning off debug logging. "Hunh, that used to work. Someone must have changed something…" Everyone had enough new development to do that tracking down a low priority bug fell to Jon. It didn't take long.

const DEBUG_LOG = process.env.DEBUG_LOG || true

According to the blame, the code had been like this for a year, the commit crammed with half a dozen features, was made by a developer who was no longer with the company, and the message was simply "Debugging". Presumably, this was intended to be a temporary change that accidentally got committed and no one noticed or cared.

Jon fixed it, and moved on. There was likely going to be plenty more to find.

Horror movies, as of late, have gone to great lengths to solve the key obstacle to horror movies- cell phones. When we live in a world where help is a phone call away, it's hard to imagine the characters not doing that. So screenwriters put them in situations where this is impossible: in Midsommar they isolate them in rural Sweden, in Get Out calling the police is only going to put our protagonist in more danger. But what's possibly more common is making the film a period piece- like the X/Pearl/Maxxxine trilogy, Late Night with the Devil, or Netflix's continuing series of R.L. Stine adaptations.

I bring this up, because today's horror starts in 1993. A Norwegian software company launched its software product to mild acclaim. Like every company, it had its ups and downs, its successes and missteps. On the surface, it was a decent enough place to work.

Over the years, the company tried to stay up to date with technology. In 1993, the major languages one might use for launching a major software product, your options are largely C or Pascal. Languages like Python existed, but weren't widely used or even supported on most systems. But the company stayed in business and needed to update their technology as time passed, which meant the program gradually grew and migrated to new languages.

Which meant, by the time Niklas F joined the company, they were on C#. Even though they'd completely changed languages, the codebase still derived from the original C codebase. And that meant that the codebase had many secrets, dark corners, and places a developer should never look.

Like every good horror movie protagonist, Niklas heard the "don't go in there!" and immediately went in there. And lurking in those shadows was the thing every developer fears the most: homebrew date handling code.

/// <summary>
/// 
/// </summary>
/// <param name="dt"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static DateTime LastDayInMonth(DateTime dt)
{
	int day = 30;
	switch (dt.Month)
	{
		case 1:
			day = 31;
			break;
		case 2:
			if (IsLeapYear(dt))
				day = 29;
			else
				day = 28;
			break;
		case 3:
			day = 31;
			break;
		case 4:
			day = 30;
			break;
		case 5:
			day = 31;
			break;
		case 6:
			day = 30;
			break;
		case 7:
			day = 31;
			break;
		case 8:
			day = 31;
			break;
		case 9:
			day = 30;
			break;
		case 10:
			day = 31;
			break;
		case 11:
			day = 30;
			break;
		case 12:
			day = 31;
			break;
	}
	return new DateTime(dt.Year, dt.Month, day, 0, 0, 0);
}

/// <summary>
/// 
/// </summary>
/// <param name="dt"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static bool IsLeapYear(DateTime dt)
{
	bool ret = (((dt.Year % 4) == 0) && ((dt.Year % 100) != 0) || ((dt.Year % 400) == 0));
	return ret;
}

For a nice change of pace, this code isn't incorrect. Even the leap year calculation is actually correct (though my preference would be to just return the expression instead of using a local variable). But that's what makes this horror all the more insidious: there are built-in functions to handle all of this, but this code works and will likely continue to work, just sitting there, like a demon that we've made a pact with. And suddenly we realize this isn't Midsommar but Ari Aster's other hit film, Hereditary, and we're trapped being in a lineage of monsters, and can't escape our inheritance.

Eagle-eye fans in Discord spotted new tshirts and sweaters for the anime feature film coming in December.

Over at Hot Topic you can now order (or buy at the mall) new apparel and merch for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which just had a big kickoff at NYCC weekend of Oct 18-20. We previously reported on new Rohirrim Warhammer sets and other movie tie-in merch.

More LOTR Merch now available

There are even more Rohan inspired options at WB Shop!

Looks like the studio merch machine is ramping up like the days of old, which for many fans is a sign of confidence in the movie which is coming to cinemas in December. You can chat with fans in our dedicated Rohirrim channel on Discord.

Nerdist got the exclusive reveal of the official theatrical poster for the big new anime film coming in December.

All the details are spelled out over on Nerdist as they revealed the official new poster for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim coming to cinemas worldwide December 13, 2024.

Hot dwarves to hot horse lords?

Fans of course are finding their own inspirations!

https://twitter.com/sauronsrings/status/1849178036609970549

The Regal North Hollywood is holding a showing of the new feature-length anime The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim from 1.00pm on this Saturday (November 9) open to children aged nine to 14, and their parents. It's not entirely clear whether adult-without-kids can also attend, but I took a few moments to run through their pre-booking survey and it does seem that you get screened out if you state you're attending without kids.

T&Cs also state that no-one under the age of nine will be admitted (presumably because of MPAA ratings).

If this tickles your fancy (and you have kids 9 to 14), you can reserve (free!) your tickets here.

If you're unaware of the story, The War of the Rohirrim is set many years before the events of The Lord of the Rings and follows a historic event described by J.R.R. Tolkien in Appendix A of the book. As the filmmakers describe it, "...a sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan, and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg."

The anime debuts worldwide (in most locations) on December 13.

Early free screening details

Saturday, November 9th, 2024
Regal North Hollywood
6150 Laurel Canyon Blvd # 200, North Hollywood, CA 91606

1:00 pm. Open to children 9-14 and their parents
No one under 9 will be admitted.
Check-in will begin 60 minutes before the start of the show.

RESERVE YOUR TICKETS

Have you always wanted to delight hobbit passerby with a beautiful springtime flower display but don't feel confident in your green thumb? Then you're in luck! Kili is here to show you just how easy it is to plant and grow bulbs! Watch the new episode and read her tips below.

https://youtu.be/EfTKXG9ndSs

Bulb planting tips:

• Plant bulbs in the autumn so that they have time to chill over winter.
• Choose a spot with partial to full sun
• Bulbs need soil that drains well (so they don't turn to mush after prolonged exposure to moisture), so amend clay soil with perlite or other substances to aid drainage
• As a general rule, dig a hole twice as deep as the bulb is tall.
• Plant bulbs in the autumn so that they have time to chill over winter.
• After the flowers have finished, don't prune them off! Allow the plant to continue its lifecycle. The leaves will continue to create and store energy that the bulb will use the following spring! The will die away on their own in mid-to-late summer.

Happy Hobbit has brought Middle-earth to its viewers' daily lives since 2012! Learn more hobbity recipes, crafts, and more by watching new episodes and/or perusing the 10+ years worth of videos on their YouTube channel. ???? New episodes debut every other Saturday, so be sure you are subscribed to Happy Hobbit so that you don't miss out!

Get even more slow-living hobbit content by following Happy Hobbit on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok! If watching the show has left you with an appetite for more, know that Kili (Kellie) has a podcast where Tolkien is often mentioned called Forests, Folklore & Fantasy

Welcome to The Great Hall of Poets, our poetry feature showcasing the talent of Middle-earth fans. So come and join us by the hearth, and enjoy!

If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net  One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.

The Steward and the White Lady

by: Cassie Hughes

She lay bereft of all she loved and wished her life was done,
That King had never called her back from limbo’s darkened home,
Within these hallowed healing halls her heart felt caged anew,
What now for maid without a shield? No cause to cleave unto?

In waking dreams she wandered there a ghost in living form,
Her hopes and dreams dispersed as dust, her mind encased in storm,
‘Twas thus he first did spy her there caught up in moonlights glow
And from that moment lost his heart to Rohan’s greatest jewel.

Fair Eowyn he then pursued though she desired naught
But finding honour within death, this goal, her only thought,
With inner strength he persevered and piece by piece did steal
Away despair and hopelessness, her zest for life reveal.

At last the scales fell from her eyes, she finally perceived,
The wise and steadfast prince of men to whom her heart had cleaved,
The Steward and the Lady found at last their just reward,
A strong, enduring love in which to live in light restored.

~~ * ~~

I've included this following poem to commemorate Remembrance Day. It's one I wrote as part of my Literature degree in memory of my Grandfather. Lest We Forget

Grandad Speaks

by: Kelvarhin

They called me Jack,
Though my mates
Called me Snowy.

A hazel-eyed beauty,
From London’s east-end,
Became my life’s love.
Two adored daughters,
Completed our home.

War intervened,
To the R.A.F. I soared.
Not to drop bombs,
Or dogfight in the sky,
Dinghy Drop rescues
Were my choice to fly.

The fates made their call,
Rescuers missing,
Lost over North Sea.
Three simple words,
All that were shared.

Missing in action.

No body to mourn,
No grave to cry on.
A telegraphed epitaph,
My Loves only memorial.

~~ * ~~

New York Comic Con was a wonderful place to be for Tolkien fans! Other than the excellent coverage by staffer greendragon who interviewed several of the creatives behind the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (look out for the videos on TORn's YouTube and socials), Kili from Happy Hobbit got to chat with some amazing Tolkien-inspired artists on the showroom floor. You can hear their stories below and be sure to check out the links to their amazing creations! Watch the episode.

Featured Artists:

GeekifyInc

Geek Orthodox

Najarian Art

Happy Hobbit has brought Middle-earth to its viewers' daily lives since 2012! Learn hobbity recipes, crafts, and more by watching new episodes and/or perusing the 10+ years worth of videos on their YouTube channel. ???? New episodes debut every other Saturday, so be sure you are subscribed to Happy Hobbit so that you don't miss out!

Get even more slow-living hobbit content by following Happy Hobbit on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok! If watching the show has left you with an appetite for more, know that Kili (Kellie) has a podcast where Tolkien is often mentioned called Forests, Folklore & Fantasy.

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Countries are convening in Colombia to debate how they will achieve wide-ranging targets to stem biodiversity loss and how they plan to pay for it

Not all winged dinosaurs were necessarily capable of full flight, but this anatomical feature may have enabled them to travel further by flapping or gliding

The upcoming US presidential election will determine how the country regulates tech, combats the climate crisis and decides on access to abortion

A climate-cooling La Niña pattern was expected to develop in the Pacific Ocean months ago, but forecasters now say it won't appear until November

Despite talk of a green recovery, global greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise as the world emerged from coronavirus lockdowns

In the western US, the average maximum growth rate of fires has more than doubled over the past two decades

Rival tribes of bacteria armed with poison darts are fighting it out in your gut, with armies of traitors often winning the day

Large language models can be used to scam humans, but AI is also susceptible to being scammed – and some models are more gullible than others

Single-celled organisms called archaea can become multicellular when compressed, highlighting the role of physical forces in evolution

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Computer simulations of how influenza A moves through human mucus found it is ideally configured to slide through the sticky stuff on its way to infecting cells

In some recent years, the Amazon biome released more carbon than it absorbed, and further degradation could make it a permanent shift

Simulations suggest that when a quantum battery shares a quantum state with the device it is powering, the device can gain more charge than was stored in the battery to begin with

A massive undertaking to map cancer tumours is providing new insights into how the disease forms, evolves and develops resistance to treatments

The Renaissance artist Michelangelo had carried out human dissections, which may have led him to include women with breast cancer in some of his pieces

The infinite monkey theorem states that illiterate primates could write great literature with enough time, but the amount of time needed is much longer than the lifespan of the universe

Just under 5 per cent of the Wikipedia pages in English that have been published since ChatGPT's release seem to include AI-written content