Disqus - Latest Comments for grovberg

Re: The Oscars should actually award supporting performances

grovberg — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 12:30:47 -0000

Oh geez, yeah it's ALL user error from me from the start! My comment was intended as "Isn't it hilarious how I assumed this was about my personal soapbox even though that makes no sense? Boy did I feel dumb once I read the article." I mean, the actual topic of "supporting performances" is right there in the title!

Re: Two new campus comedies raise the question: Have TV writers ever been to college?

grovberg — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 12:12:49 -0000

I confess I clicked on the link to this article with a heart full of skepticism, but as someone who's worked in higher ed for 20+ years...yeah this article is pretty much spot on (and a really nice read). I'm starting to think this this Murray kid might turn out to be a pretty good writer.

Re: The Oscars should actually award supporting performances

grovberg — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 12:13:05 -0000

*See AV Club article about category fraud.

*"Oh yeah, this whole thing where dramadies keep getting put in the Best Comedy category just so they have a better chance of winning, effectively preventing comedies from winning the comedy award really needs to be addressed. The Best Comedy award exists as an explicit acknowledgement that comedies rarely get awarded in the broader categories despite often requiring deeper and more-specialized skill to successfully execute and therefore require a separate category of recognition. I'm really glad this issues is getting some media traction."

*Article actually argues for a third drama acting category between lead and supporting because minor roles aren't winnning Oscars very often.

*"Huh."

Re: The Oscars should actually award supporting performances

grovberg — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 11:55:51 -0000

I got briefly excited that they added Podcasts to the Golden Globes before my sanity kicked in and I realized they were just going to give it to the biggest celebrity with a podcast. Sometimes our enthusiasm overwhelms our concious mind.

Re: My Favorite Dusting Tool Is My Clothes Dryer

grovberg — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 08:31:45 -0000

Wait, pillowcases and blankets I get, but wouldn't a stiff fabric like curtains become incredibly wrinkled in the dryer?

Re: Epcot’s Test Track 3.0 Strives for Optimism at a Time When We Could Really Use It

grovberg — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 08:41:05 -0000

final outdoor lap that blasts you up to 65 miles per hour

Test Track is totally fun and genuinely thrilling, but their tendency to use this as a talking point has always felt deeply silly to me since most of us drove to the park in a real car that goes faster than that.

Re: The Best Games at PAX West 2025

grovberg — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 12:20:52 -0000

Calling it now—Terrible Lizards is secretly a FNAF spin-off. Looks fun tho.

Re: The 10 Best Attractions at Disneyland

grovberg — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 12:55:20 -0000

Borderline criminal that MRR isn't on this list (I would easily swap it out for Indy, no disrespect), especially as it embodies so many of the exact qualities called out in the article and canonizes the Rudish era of Micky Mouse cartoons (high-key the funniest/best Micky Mouse cartoons ever made). We rode it way more than anything else over our entire trip in the Fall. They only ride we were even tempted to ride as many times as that one was Rise of the Resistance, but it was broken down so much we didn't have the chance.

Generally speaking I gotta say as an east-coast lad and WDW frequenter who visited the west coast to see how the other half lives—DisneyLand absolutely has its charms:

* Just generally spotting the little differences is a fun game all its own.

* Half the reason we went was to see the NBC overlay on Haunted Mansion which did not disappoint and the virtual queue worked incredibly well even though it meant you could only ride once a day.

* Small World and PotC are genuinely better. Not in any radical way, but notably better. Mr Toad is a all-time banger.

But when it comes down to it there's really no comparison between the two US Disney vacation spots if you have to pick one. The daily "parade" at DisneyLand was some characters riding in a Jay Leno-style jalopy? Character meet and greets were slim outside the Halloween party in CA. TomorrowLand felt...slightly abandoned? Even the CA Halloween party was a lot of fun but slightly underwhelming and less well organized compared to WDW's. Again, DL is a great park overall but if you have to distance travel either way, it's hard to make an argument for going back to DisneyLand instead of WDW that isn't effectively "Well it was kinda relaxing that everything was so small and that there wasn't as much to do."

Re: Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Map Looks Weird Without the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island

grovberg — Tue, 05 Aug 2025 16:06:08 -0000

I mean, if we're going to have a "Why are they closing a beloved attraction to replace it with something else despite having an absurd amount of unused space immediately next to it doing nothing?" conversation, I will insist that the bulk of that conversation be aimed in the direction of Muppets 3D. On the other hand, my semi-recent trip Universal Hollywood for the first time has given me a newfound appreciation for the desire to keep everything as compact and on-brand as possible. I was genuinely stunned by how much time you have to spend walking through an entirely unthemed labyrinth of escalators, travelators, and pathways to get from one area of the park to another.

Re: The Best Soundbar | The Wirecutter

grovberg — Tue, 05 Aug 2025 10:24:16 -0000

Not sure how old this review is but the USB port on the Samsung is almost certainly intended to play MP3 files off of a properly formatted USB flash drive, not a laptop or phone plugged into it. FWIW, this can be a surprisingly handy option if you want to just throw some background music on during game night or whatnot without occupying your phone all night.

Re: Pinball Might Have Peaked in the Late ’80s with Cyclone and Williams’ System 11 Games

grovberg — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 16:36:45 -0000

That makes total sense I appreciate that context.

Re: Pinball Might Have Peaked in the Late ’80s with Cyclone and Williams’ System 11 Games

grovberg — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 16:06:35 -0000

I totally get where you're coming from, but I'm just so astonished and grateful that new pinball machines are even being made that it's hard to be too mad at them for going all IP-based—I just wish they played better. The modern Stern machines all have the exact same stiff feel and I suspect you'd have a hard time telling them apart without the theming. I always felt like the mid-90's Bally/Midway pinball machines had a lock on great feeling pinball, always blended interesting, novel, high-velocity action with incredibly smooth and satisfying controls and audio feedback. The IP-based ones (e.g. Addams Family) were always just as top-tier as their original concepts (e.g. Theater of Magic). I wish I saw more of them in all the barcades popping up—maybe they're harder to maintain or something?

Re: The Best Bean Bag Chairs

grovberg — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 20:44:17 -0000

I really really wanted to hate the Lovesac we got as part of a package and I'm here to tell you it's damn near impossible to be mad at this thing. They absolutely are eye-wateringly expensive but it quite literally might be the last one you ever need to buy. Both the Lovesac and the couch have held up in ways I genuinely thought not possible and you can effectively just continuously refluff them to like-new condition for the foreseeable future. That's not hyperbole—after owning one for over five years I genuinely believe I will give this thing to my kids someday.

Re: 10 Opening Day Disneyland Rides That Still Exist

grovberg — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 15:53:07 -0000

I'm really surprised the never replaced the Autopia cars with...like, tiny Lucid or Rivian electric cars. It even comes with a built-in sponsorship opportunity.

Re: Ranking Every Epic Universe Ride

grovberg — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 15:26:06 -0000

Really loving that theme park coverage is getting a little more visibility under the endlessmode imprint, so keep it up! I'm similarly afflicted in that I love theme parks and also love roller coasters in theory, but can tolerate them WAY WAY less the older I get.

We went to the newish Legoland in NY right when it opened a couple years ago and while the park overall was a bit sparse, they absolutely nailed the water-ride-where-you-shoot-other-riders attraction. We all had a blast with that one and took turns riding so someone could stay back and water gun them from the dock.

"Incredible queue and worldbuilding outside, loud blaring noise and weird wavy motion nonsense inside" is how I've felt about basically all the story-based Harry Potter rides. I litterally can not tell you a single thing that happens in Forbidden Journey.

Re: I’m Not Going to Judge Disneyland’s New Walt Disney Animatronic Until I See It in Person

grovberg — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 17:17:04 -0000

Anyone interested in this topic will almost certainly love the Defunctland retrospective on Disney Animatronics. It also handily demonstrates that this strong mixed reaction has been how basically every humanoid animatronic has been received since ancient times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjNca1L6CUk

Re: The Good, the Bad, and the Sean O’Malley of UFC 292 – (mma)²

grovberg — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 09:38:33 -0000

suggesting he box Gervonta Davis

The UFC is turning itself into a minor league farm system for celebrity boxing matches.

Re: Why Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz doesn’t actually matter

grovberg — Mon, 07 Aug 2023 19:49:12 -0000

"Jake Paul doesn't matter" says combat sports website whose front page is comprised almost entirely of articles about Jake Paul.

Re: The Best Ways to Make (and Flavor) Popcorn

grovberg — Thu, 25 May 2023 11:45:34 -0000

I know it's absurd that I came back to comment on this 3 years later, but I 100% absolutely love the atom popper and could not recommend it more highly. We don't make popcorn any other way now. Really appreciate the recommendation!

Re: Ask Wirecutter: Can You Help My Spouse Stop Misplacing Everything?

grovberg — Thu, 11 May 2023 13:00:36 -0000

Man, people seem to really love AirTags, but the Find My support in Apple's earbuds is so utterly useless I find it hard to believe they'll actually work when I need them to. And that's not hyperbole—I have quite literally never once successfully used Find My to local a pair of Apple/Beats earbuds, even after they've been found and I am physically holding both the phone and earbuds. Meanwhile, the $20 Skullcandy earbuds with Tile that I bought to use when I inevitably lose my Beats again and again work flawlessly every time. I would literally stockpile Beats Fit Pros that had Tile support.

Also, I am desperate for remote manufacturers to incorporate this kind of feature—taping a Tile to the TV remote is pretty ungainly, but boy is it nice to be able to make things beep when they're hidden under a couch cushion.

Re: The Best Qi Wireless Charger for iPhone and Android Phones

grovberg — Sat, 05 Feb 2022 19:40:21 -0000

The cradles have to be unique to each phone in order for the contact points (which have to be external) to line up perfectly. A single Qi charger can charger a large number of different phones, phones with cases, devices that aren't phones, etc... and will eventually lead to fully waterproof phones (we're close already).

Re: Why We Love the Logitech MX Master 3 Mouse

grovberg — Sat, 05 Feb 2022 19:30:19 -0000

For doing work, there's nothing better and once you get used to using the gestures every other mouse seems like a huge step down. I badly wish there was an equivalent for Windows, but I don't think there ever will be because its main downside (that you can't left and right-click at the same time) is such a dealbreaker for games.

Re: Ask Wirecutter: How Should I Clear the Piles of Dangerous Snow Off My Car?

grovberg — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 20:55:55 -0000

I will openly confess that absolutely thought they were recommending you spray standard WD-40 on your door seals. I appreciate your clarifying this point.

Re: Seeing the Light: When to Use a Smart Bulb, Switch, or Plug

grovberg — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 18:45:18 -0000

I have to say that I have personally kind of given up on smart lightbulbs. I've used expensive ones and cheap ones. I've tried mix-n-match and I've tried all one brand. I've tried hub and hub less systems. And in all that I haven't had a single brand or system that doesn't have bulbs regularly stop working at random. Sometime it just requires an on/off at the switch, but commonly it requires that I remove it from the app entirely and start from scratch with it. This is across three different locations as well so it's hard to imagine it's anything to do with the environment specifically. I'm just about to switch out all the lights with regular lightbulbs of various wattages and using smart outlets to control them all instead.

Seriously, is this just me? Are you guys all using your lightbulbs problem-free?

Re: A Guide for the Family IT Manager

grovberg — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 12:23:12 -0000

Can you clarify the benefits of groups a bit more? How is that better or worse than just adding my parents' computer to my account?