PL Arango
@plarango.com
Screenwriter (Watch EXTRACURRICULAR on Tubi, Amazon, etc. Or don't. Either way is fine with me, honestly)
Creator of consumie.com
General weird movie and music enthusiast
He/him
Signal: pla.51
Creator of consumie.com
General weird movie and music enthusiast
He/him
Signal: pla.51
You now, I think I need another social media break. See you in six months or so.
September 14, 2026 at 12:05 PM
You now, I think I need another social media break. See you in six months or so.
Weirdly, I am less disturbed by someone buying Skinner on VHS twice than I am by someone buying True Colors twice
Your assignment is to decipher every tape from George Costanza's season 9 apartment. Are you up for the challenge?
September 13, 2026 at 2:34 AM
Weirdly, I am less disturbed by someone buying Skinner on VHS twice than I am by someone buying True Colors twice
Diana Wynne Jones is one of the big five authors of my childhood (along with Pinkwater, Sleator, Cooper, and Alexander). Personally my top books are Archer's Goon, Fire and Hemlock, Charmed Life, Time of the Ghost, and Howl's Moving Castle.
No mention of the mighty Diana Wynne Jones? Get thee out and read CONRAD’S FATE, FIRE AND HEMLOCK, THE MERLIN CONSPIRACY, and maybe HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE.
September 8, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Diana Wynne Jones is one of the big five authors of my childhood (along with Pinkwater, Sleator, Cooper, and Alexander). Personally my top books are Archer's Goon, Fire and Hemlock, Charmed Life, Time of the Ghost, and Howl's Moving Castle.
I like the "what's your favorite movie that came out when you were 20 years old?" prompt because when I look at the list of options, it's all movies that I saw in dollar theaters in various cities that year, so it's like getting to visit them all again.
September 2, 2026 at 11:36 AM
I like the "what's your favorite movie that came out when you were 20 years old?" prompt because when I look at the list of options, it's all movies that I saw in dollar theaters in various cities that year, so it's like getting to visit them all again.
Nice to read this on a day when I feel especially isolated from my coworkers due to their total adoption of AI. I don't understand the point of this job anymore.
I wrote an essay about why I'm done using AI for coding, even if it costs me my job and career: brettcodes.com/im-done-usin...
The basic gist is: AI made me a worse, apathetic programmer. I think it's bad for humanity, the planet, and the craft of software engineering. And I'm done using it.
The basic gist is: AI made me a worse, apathetic programmer. I think it's bad for humanity, the planet, and the craft of software engineering. And I'm done using it.
I'm done using AI
Why I'm stopping using AI for coding (and anything else) after using it earnestly for a year and coming to understand the harms it causes on personal, societal, and environmental levels.
brettcodes.com
September 1, 2026 at 9:14 PM
Nice to read this on a day when I feel especially isolated from my coworkers due to their total adoption of AI. I don't understand the point of this job anymore.
There were a lot, but the one that holds a special place in my heart was the one in Huntsville, Alabama (possibly named Silver Screen Video -- same shopping center as the Winn-Dixie) that had an extremely thorough cult section that I worked my way through when home from college for the summer.
Tell me about the video store of your past please
I have never felt older than the longing I just felt for weird little video stores because none of the films I want to watch are streaming in the US but I know I could've rented them on VHS if this was 1999!
August 31, 2026 at 1:31 AM
There were a lot, but the one that holds a special place in my heart was the one in Huntsville, Alabama (possibly named Silver Screen Video -- same shopping center as the Winn-Dixie) that had an extremely thorough cult section that I worked my way through when home from college for the summer.
I love that both Time Bandits and Labyrinth have elements from the story show up in the kid's bedroom at the beginning, but realized last night that things in Labyrinth could have taken a very different turn if Judge Dredd showed up partway through.
August 30, 2026 at 11:08 AM
I love that both Time Bandits and Labyrinth have elements from the story show up in the kid's bedroom at the beginning, but realized last night that things in Labyrinth could have taken a very different turn if Judge Dredd showed up partway through.
Reposted by PL Arango
My purpose in life is to get more people to watch Kōji Shiraishi movies.
August 28, 2026 at 8:32 PM
My purpose in life is to get more people to watch Kōji Shiraishi movies.
I think there have only been a couple books that legitimately changed my life, but Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy From Mars by @danielpinkwater.bsky.social is absolutely one of them
In honor of Dolly and her commitment to getting books to kids, tell me about a book you read as a child that changed your life.
I’ll start: so many, but tonight maybe I’ll say A WRINKLE IN TIME, a book that taught me anger wasn’t wrong.
I’ll start: so many, but tonight maybe I’ll say A WRINKLE IN TIME, a book that taught me anger wasn’t wrong.
August 26, 2026 at 3:04 AM
I think there have only been a couple books that legitimately changed my life, but Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy From Mars by @danielpinkwater.bsky.social is absolutely one of them
Is it good that 100% of the time when I ask a co-worker about something in their alleged area of expertise they just ask AI and send me the answer?
Meat proxy (noun): “A person who forwards AI-generated text, code, or other output without reading, understanding, or validating it. The person acts only as a relay between the AI system and the intended recipient.” [sfisms.org]
Meat proxy
A person who forwards AI-generated text, code, or other output without reading, understanding, or validating it. The person acts only as a relay between the AI system and the intended recipient.
sfisms.org
August 24, 2026 at 7:27 PM
Is it good that 100% of the time when I ask a co-worker about something in their alleged area of expertise they just ask AI and send me the answer?
For whatever reasons, I spent years trying to watch every TV pilot, so I saw basically every sitcom that premiered between 2004 and 2016. This was the worst of them by a hefty margin.
August 22, 2026 at 11:07 AM
For whatever reasons, I spent years trying to watch every TV pilot, so I saw basically every sitcom that premiered between 2004 and 2016. This was the worst of them by a hefty margin.
I keep encountering promo images for Lanterns and every single time my brain misidentifies Coach Taylor as Matt Farley
August 17, 2026 at 7:10 PM
I keep encountering promo images for Lanterns and every single time my brain misidentifies Coach Taylor as Matt Farley
I dreamed last night that I yelled at Pauline Kael so much and with such ferocity that I worried I'd killed her. In my defense, she did say "It's very important to learn about crypto currency."
August 15, 2026 at 10:10 AM
I dreamed last night that I yelled at Pauline Kael so much and with such ferocity that I worried I'd killed her. In my defense, she did say "It's very important to learn about crypto currency."
Reposted by PL Arango
Today's BA newsletter is about the work of two '80s/'90s edgelords, Adam Parfrey of Feral House and Jim Goad, and how a new anthology of Parfrey's writing reveals that their time has passed.
burningambulance.substack.com/p/twilight-o...
burningambulance.substack.com/p/twilight-o...
Twilight Of The Edgelords
Adam Parfrey, Jim Goad, and their vanished world
burningambulance.substack.com
August 11, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Today's BA newsletter is about the work of two '80s/'90s edgelords, Adam Parfrey of Feral House and Jim Goad, and how a new anthology of Parfrey's writing reveals that their time has passed.
burningambulance.substack.com/p/twilight-o...
burningambulance.substack.com/p/twilight-o...
It's probably weird that I've never actually heard the Dixie Chicks' version of "Goodbye Earl" but I listen to the Dennis Linde demo of it regularly
Cover songs that are so perfectly suited to the band that it's nearly impossible to believe that they weren't the original artist
"Goodbye Earl" - The Chicks
"Stone Cold Crazy" - Metallica
"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" - They Might Be Giants
Add your own!
"Goodbye Earl" - The Chicks
"Stone Cold Crazy" - Metallica
"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" - They Might Be Giants
Add your own!
August 10, 2026 at 10:12 PM
It's probably weird that I've never actually heard the Dixie Chicks' version of "Goodbye Earl" but I listen to the Dennis Linde demo of it regularly
I really like that my feed on here is roughly 20% posts about how good Her Private Hell is and they're all reposted by one person I follow. That is the correct level of enthusiasm.
August 6, 2026 at 3:51 PM
I really like that my feed on here is roughly 20% posts about how good Her Private Hell is and they're all reposted by one person I follow. That is the correct level of enthusiasm.
We did an outdoor movie screening of Time Bandits the other day, and my kid's 9yo friend was extremely excited when Mona from Who's the Boss showed up
this cannot possibly still be a thing since today’s kids just watch youtube all day. there’s no way 14 year olds now know anything about Laverne & Shirley
August 4, 2026 at 5:27 PM
We did an outdoor movie screening of Time Bandits the other day, and my kid's 9yo friend was extremely excited when Mona from Who's the Boss showed up
Got up early this morning and did a ton of work retooling a song I've been kicking around. It's about an existential crisis brought on by reading The Chronicles of Amber and ends up basically as this picture.
August 1, 2026 at 1:20 PM
Got up early this morning and did a ton of work retooling a song I've been kicking around. It's about an existential crisis brought on by reading The Chronicles of Amber and ends up basically as this picture.
I don't remember what adult told me as a child that people with multiple personalities could not be recorded because they messed up audio and video recording, but I unthinkingly accepted it as true until I repeated it out loud yesterday and realized there was no possible way that was correct
July 30, 2026 at 4:14 PM
I don't remember what adult told me as a child that people with multiple personalities could not be recorded because they messed up audio and video recording, but I unthinkingly accepted it as true until I repeated it out loud yesterday and realized there was no possible way that was correct
What really makes me sound old is that I'd have no choice but to say "Search it up, Kris" and then be left hanging when they don't reply "I'm about to!"
July 23, 2026 at 5:21 PM
What really makes me sound old is that I'd have no choice but to say "Search it up, Kris" and then be left hanging when they don't reply "I'm about to!"
While my wife was reading Paladin's Strength, I had an extremely vivid dream about a woman who turned into a bear, despite having no idea that was in the book, which I think speaks to that psychic power of that novel.
@tkingfisher.com has lowkey ruined most het romance for me with Paladin's Strength because *don't these people understand how much hotter it is when the female love interest is a giant werebear nun instead of a tiny delicate 'quirky' girl?*
Clara/Istvahn OTP
Clara/Istvahn OTP
July 21, 2026 at 11:57 AM
While my wife was reading Paladin's Strength, I had an extremely vivid dream about a woman who turned into a bear, despite having no idea that was in the book, which I think speaks to that psychic power of that novel.
I think I only remember walking out of a movie maybe 4 times, 3 of which were with my dad (The Gods Must Be Crazy, Jake Speed, Hardware - for very different reasons). The only one I remember was an adult was an Xmas Day screening of Django Unchained, because we couldn't take all the crying children.
July 17, 2026 at 7:51 PM
I think I only remember walking out of a movie maybe 4 times, 3 of which were with my dad (The Gods Must Be Crazy, Jake Speed, Hardware - for very different reasons). The only one I remember was an adult was an Xmas Day screening of Django Unchained, because we couldn't take all the crying children.
For years, I thought it was when my dad took me to see Revenge of the Nerds, but I saw Police Academy in theaters as well, and that came out five months earlier, so it must have been that.
Do you remember what *your* first R-rated movie was? I finally asked my mom (I couldn't remember), and she told me it was The Lost Boys when I was roughly the same age as my daughter (about 9). The movie traumatized her more than it did me, apparently
July 17, 2026 at 6:00 PM
For years, I thought it was when my dad took me to see Revenge of the Nerds, but I saw Police Academy in theaters as well, and that came out five months earlier, so it must have been that.
No, but he watches his brother's TV shows, so he got the gist
Do you think Christopher Nolan has read Julian Jaynes
July 17, 2026 at 1:24 PM
No, but he watches his brother's TV shows, so he got the gist
I had completely forgotten until the news today, but remembered that my now departed friend from college updated the prompt on his vax cluster login to read "jenniferfinch" instead of the default.
July 13, 2026 at 5:26 PM
I had completely forgotten until the news today, but remembered that my now departed friend from college updated the prompt on his vax cluster login to read "jenniferfinch" instead of the default.