Alexander Brunk

Data Scientist. School Board Member @Dist113. Dad of four. Aspiring Polymath. @GeorgiaTech and @Virginia_Tech Alum. All Opinions My Own. RT != endorsement.

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

“It’s the ship that did the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs” was a throwaway line and didn’t need decades of analysis followed by a spinoff film explaining it.

[Everything Price Sufferer (but especially eggs) @agraybee]

Give me your best Star Wars nitpicks. No reasonable criticisms or analysis, I'm talking real pedantic here.

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

@Zach23066 @drsbaitso1969 @mattyglesias The year MJ was gone (93-94) the Bulls took the Knicks to 7 games, then the Pacers took the Knicks to 7 games, then the Knicks took the Rockets to 7. That’s an enormous amount of parity. The Rockets had a 7 game series against the Suns but then beat the Jazz 4-1 in the WCF.

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

@drsbaitso1969 @mattyglesias Bulls only went to seven games twice during their six championship runs and neither time were in the finals. They also lost the ECF in seven to the 90 Pistons who won the finals in five. The west was probably better by 97-98 but not before.

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

@Kin_Loch I feel like this a response to the wrong tweet? I’ve never read DFW.

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

@umiami91 It has a credible case for being THE great American novel. Best thing ever written about American politics and one of the best (if not the best) novels about the American south.

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

Five favorite American authors:

Mark Twain
Raymond Chandler
Robert Penn Warren
Ray Bradbury
Lloyd Alexander

Honorable mentions to Zora Neale Hurston and Jack London.

[Bradley J. Birzer @bradleybirzer]

Five favorite American authors

Willa Cather
Ray Bradbury
H.P. Lovecraft
Nathaniel Hawthorne
James Fenimore Cooper

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

@mattyglesias And that was with Patrick Ewing missing the whole series after getting injured in the ECF. Knicks had no center who could play at the level of Robinson and Duncan. One of those big what ifs.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

Deep inner suffering inevitably arises when the human person is reduced to performance, consumption, or a statistical datum. Many young people today live under the yoke of expectations to perform, immersed in an exasperated competitiveness that generates anxiety, fear of not measuring up, and disorientation.

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

@aelfred_D Also loosely based on the real city of Vernon, California https://t.co/S5TtXroctk

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

@lymanstoneky @ModeledBehavior A tax system with high property taxes and no discounts for seniors means that while there are more houses for a 30 year old couple with a baby to move into, grandma and grandpa are long gone to Florida or Arizona by that point.

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

@lymanstoneky @ModeledBehavior The result here is as you would expect: people pay the taxes for the public schools and many sell and move as soon as their kids are in college. It helps with turnover but isn’t conducive to creating multigenerational communities with support systems for young families.

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

@JoshPhillipsPhD @StPeteBrando @booksoftitans @foucachon My issue with lists like these is that some of the titles (e.g. Faulkner) are chosen due to importance within literary circles but not to the wider culture. I’d argue that reading Stevenson or Jules Verne is more important for cultural literacy and more enjoyable for most readers

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

@malmesburyman All the Kings Men technically qualifies since it was published in 1946, even though it takes place in the 1930s. A great read though.

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler would be my other top recommendation.

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

@EsotericCD The real issue is that they made it as a historical epic that didn’t feature the Greek Gods. This required lots of small changes to the story like Menelaus dying.

But making a film _with_ the Gods would be really hard. The ceiling is higher but it hasn’t been tried for a reason.

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

@EsotericCD I think you can make a fair argument that there’s a superior film of the Iliad yet to be made.

But right now Troy is what we’ve got, and I dont understand the hatred for it. It’s worth watching for the thousand ships, Priam in Achilles’ tent, and little Easter eggs like Aeneas.

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

@CaptainVatican @BackwardsFeet This person clearly 1. Does not have children and 2. Is rage baiting for views and clicks.

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

@lymanstoneky Amen. Today it’s “Dad is this another castle” but the memories will last a lifetime.

[Alexander Brunk @AlexanderBrunk]

@John_Barach I agree, but the line between ‘classic’ and ‘pulp’ is also a lot fuzzier than some like to admit. Tolkien was one of the preeminent language scholars in the world and his books were still not considered literature in academic circles because “it’s just fantasy.”