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Watching the Olympics in Ukraine

It was a heartbreaker this morning watching Canada take silver medals after losing to the United States 2-1 in three on three overtime. Nevertheless, we have much to be grateful for. This piece about watching the olympics in Ukraine keeps things in perspective.

The tone of the Ukrainian Olympic coverage is humane. Like other national commentators, the Ukrainians pay attention to their own athletes. But they do a better job than some of explaining the sports, of dwelling on the funny moments, of keeping things in perspective. Hockey fights and little scandals get abundant and amused attention. Commentators and correspondents seem unscripted, and they laugh spontaneously. A sign language interpreter brings the the banter to a broader audience.

And so, ironically, when I watch the Ukrainians covering sports, I can think about the sports. I get to have that distraction, that pleasure, that moment.

And this, of course, is what Ukrainians are doing for many of the rest of us, on a vast scale, the scale of life itself: buying us time, buying us moments, with their pain, with their lives.

Via https://links.daveverse.org/2026/02/21/2892/

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The Bad Review Revue

Melania: “The significance of Melania isn’t the contents of the film so much as the fact that it happened. It’s not impossible that it might be evidence in an impeachment trial. And in any case, it is an important document in the decline of American public life.” — Robert Hutton, The Critic

How to Make a Killing: “In this sadly stunted comic thriller, a delightfully depraved Glen Powell must kill seven of his family members to inherit $28 billion. Would you? By the end, the film commits the worst crime of all by killing our interest.” — Peter Travers, The Travers Take

Wuthering Heights: “It is difficult to recommend a movie that goes so far out of its way to be more racist than its 19th-century source material.” — Noah Berlatsky, Chicago Reader

Midwinter Break: “Midwinter Break should be titled Midwinter Boredom. The admirably talented of Lesley Manville and Ciarán Hinds are stuck in this lethargic drama about a married U.K. couple confronting their relationship problems during a trip to Amsterdam.” — Carla Hay, Culture Mix

This is Not a Test: “The film struggles to bring its non-zombie characters to life.” — Ross McIndoe, Slant Magazine

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Cabel Sasser on Photographing the Wes Cook McDonald’s Mural

I linked to Cabel’s talk when he originally posted it but today he’s filled in some of the missing details about photographing and recovering the mural. I love this so much.

After learning about “Vision 2020” from a collector — the McDonald’s initiative which, as a I note in the talk, you did watch the talk right?, would require all McDonald’s to remodel by 2020, and remove any trace of Ronald — I really began to sweat about the mural. So, I would occasionally email the franchisee, and see if there was anything I could do to preserve it.

Assuming the chance of saving the mural was slim, a high-resolution photo seemed like the next best saving bet.

And, amazingly, the franchisee agreed to let me do it!

I reached out to photographer Aaron Lee, who does wonderful work and seems always up for adventures, and asked if he could come up and do a multi-photo-stitched giant capture of the mural for permanent safekeeping.

We hit the road.

As a side note, within a couple of Cabel’s photos, I noticed that the McDonald’s had a Greg Olsen print on the wall. It turns out, that’s a painting of my friend’s friend. The pal in question, Geoff, had us over to his friend’s house where I saw the original painting hung over that same piano. It’s a very nice painting, and their house is filled with beautiful paintings, most of which (if not all) are by Utah artists.

This painting is called “Dress Rehearsal”. Unfortunately I can’t remember her first name but I remember the gist of the story. Her dad, Steve Lund, was friends with Greg Olsen, the artist, (read: he had purchased many of his paintings) and she and her sister posed at the piano where the painting would eventually end up.

I love the self referential nature of the artwork — if you look closely you can see the painting of the girls (more specifically the piano) in the top right corner of the painting. And that painting has the painting in it too.1 I believe it was my friend Geoff who took a photo of us in that room but I don’t know if I ever saw the print. I should ask him.

  1. and so on… for eternity, obviously.[↩]
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Apple Earnings Q1 – 2026

Apple’s earnings report today shows that the company is not slowing down with iPhone still bringing in all time records for revenue.

Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2026 first quarter ended December 27, 2025. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $143.8 billion, up 16 percent year over year. Diluted earnings per share was $2.84, up 19 percent year over year.

“Today, Apple is proud to report a remarkable, record-breaking quarter, with revenue of $143.8 billion, up 16 percent from a year ago and well above our expectations,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “iPhone had its best-ever quarter driven by unprecedented demand, with all-time records across every geographic segment, and Services also achieved an all-time revenue record, up 14 percent from a year ago. We are also excited to announce that our installed base now has more than 2.5 billion active devices, which is a testament to incredible customer satisfaction for the very best products and services in the world.”

The most notable part of the report is that iPhone is once again growing hugely in China.

Here are the Six Colors charts.

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Five O’Clock Somewhere

Today I officially became an iOS indie app developer. My first ever published app received final approval and is now available for free download now in both the US and Canada iOS app stores!

Five O’Clock Somewhere celebrates the universal tradition of the happy hour by connecting you with locations around the world where it’s currently 5:00 PM. Discover over 200 cocktail recipes, learn about different cultures, and enjoy a virtual journey around the globe, one drink at a time. Check out Five O’Clock Somewhere now!

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Most Democratic Action

I found this on the Lethbridge subreddit:

Nathan Neudorf says notwithstanding clause “the most democratic action the legislature could do”

Presumably this is an email response to questions about the democratic-ness of using Section 33, the notwithstanding clause, to rob teachers of their rights. It says:

Thank you for your email, I appreciate the opportunity to respond.

The use of the notwithstanding clause is perhaps the most democratically responsive action the legislature could do. The level of public debate, both in support and against, is almost unprecedented. People are talking to each other and to their MLAs everyday about these important issues. And unlike the courts, the MLAs who vote for or against the use of the notwithstanding clause will be held democratically accountable in the next election. People may disagree with the legislature’s decisions but they cannot say that this is contrary to democracy; if anything, this is the most democratic action the legislature could do.

The decision to use the notwithstanding clause is not one that is taken lightly. There is careful consideration that goes into making these decisions and how it will impact Albertans, including the consideration of the lives of those who will be impacted if it is not used.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feedback on this matter. As we move forward, I will take your view into consideration.

Sincerely,
Nathan Neudorf, MLA
Lethbridge-East
ALBERTA
Honourable Nathan Neudorf
Minister of Affordability and Utilities

Neudorf should know that the notwithstanding part of Section 33 means: notwithstanding that we know this goes against the Charter, we are going to do it anyway. It might be a technically legal loophole, that doesn’t make it right and it doesn’t make it “the most democratically responsive action the legislature could do.”