{"id":34797,"date":"2025-10-07T20:11:35","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T01:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/?p=34797"},"modified":"2025-10-07T20:11:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T01:11:35","slug":"as-seen-on-facebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/?p=34797","title":{"rendered":"As Seen on Facebook"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some recent ads on Facebook (and one on Instagram) caught my attention, and I wanted to share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oh, bother.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"438\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot_20251007-164251-438x640.jpg\" alt=\"Why, it's an unlicensed Washington Nationals City Connect jersey, the new light blue one, with Disney's version of Winnie-the-Pooh\" class=\"wp-image-34795\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes, Facebook thinks I&#8217;m <em>still<\/em> in the market for unlicensed Washington Nationals jerseys with pop culture characters.  To be fair to Facebook, I <em>did<\/em> buy <a href=\"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/?p=34576\">the Oasis Nationals jersey<\/a> (and had it customized for Sean Doolittle, whom I felt would be the National player, past or present, most into Oasis), and yes, I have a deep and abiding fondness for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/?tag=winnie-the-pooh\">Winnie-the-Pooh<\/a>&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But no.  I will not be ordering this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Props to Facebook for knowing me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For another example&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"447\" height=\"640\" data-id=\"34792\" src=\"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot_20251003-141931-447x640.jpg\" alt=\"It's a printed, button up shirt featuring Snoopy flying atop his doghouse into battle with the Red Baron. This one is blue.\" class=\"wp-image-34792\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"464\" height=\"640\" data-id=\"34796\" src=\"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot_20251007-164552-464x640.jpg\" alt=\"It's a printed, button up shirt featuring Snoopy flying atop his doghouse into battle with the Red Baron. This one is gray.\" class=\"wp-image-34796\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Really ugly Snoopy vs. the Red Baron button up shirts.  I can almost hear The Royal Guardsmen singing in my head&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I would literally never, ever wear this.  They are ugly as sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking of ugly&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"463\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot_20251005-155846-463x640.jpg\" alt=\"A Star Trek ugly sweater, in the yellow style uniform that Data wore on Star Trek: The Next Generation.\" class=\"wp-image-34794\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Star Trek<\/em> ugly sweaters!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There&#8217;s something that feels really fucking lazy about these, the way they&#8217;re just cosplay sweaters with <em>Star Trek<\/em> symbols printed on them.  The post-<em>Star Trek Nemesis<\/em> uniform top seen in <em>Star Trek: Picard<\/em> is an intriguing addition, but I will still pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe I was born an old fuddy duddy, but I&#8217;ve never understood the &#8220;ugly sweater&#8221; thing.  But if it&#8217;s your thing, enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, for an Instagram ad which shows how little Instagram&#8217;s algorithms know me&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"384\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot_20251005-122933-384x640.jpg\" alt=\"An ad for the Word on Fire Bible, from Word on Fire Catholic Ministries (judging by the user name)\" class=\"wp-image-34793\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A free Bible!  You know what?  I think I&#8217;m good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And now for something that is <em>not<\/em> an ad, but I found interesting enough to screenshot and share&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"426\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot_20251002-080034-426x640.jpg\" alt=\"A Facebook post about Amy Adams playing Mara Jade in an upcoming Star Wars film that's in production\" class=\"wp-image-34791\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hmm.  So, according to this, rumor has it that Amy Adams will be playing Mara Jade in the forthcoming film, <em>Star Wars: Starfighter<\/em>, starring Ryan Gosling and Matt Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While I think that would be interesting and bad ass &#8212; I&#8217;d never really considered casting Mara Jade from Timothy Zahn&#8217;s original <em>Heir to the Empire<\/em> trilogy &#8212; this seems incredibly unlikely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the problems with the &#8220;new canon&#8221; of <em>Star Wars<\/em> is that there&#8217;s no real room for Mara Jade to fit.  Her literary backstory doesn&#8217;t make sense within the new canon, her literary timeline doesn&#8217;t work.  Writers would have to move Mara Jade in time and change her history so much that they would be better off creating a whole new character that doesn&#8217;t have fan expectation baggage attached to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Timothy Zahn&#8217;s Thrawn, as he existed in the old Bantam novels, also doesn&#8217;t fit in the new canon.  The timelines don&#8217;t match, but Thrawn could be fudged enough that there is a Thrawn in the new canon (<em>Rebels<\/em>, <em>Ahsoka<\/em>, six new Zahn novels), and if you squint <em>just<\/em> so they can kinda fit together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I don&#8217;t think you can do that with Mara Jade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Frankly, I think this &#8220;rumor&#8221; is a case of some enthusiastic fans noting that Amy Adams has reddish hair, noticing that Mara Jade <em>also<\/em> has reddish hair, and drawing a connection based on nothing more than hair color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m a casual <em>Star Wars<\/em> fan at best.  I will probably <em>not<\/em> see next year&#8217;s <em>The Mandalorian and Grogu<\/em> unless reviews state that Sigourney Weaver kills the Mandalorian and Grogu in the first ten minutes and the rest of the film is about her kicking ass in the <em>Star Wars<\/em> universe.  Otherwise, I don&#8217;t care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Starfighter<\/em> has a more interesting cast &#8212; Gosling, Smith, Adams &#8212; and it&#8217;s being directed by Shawn Levy, so it probably will have more points of interest.  But it&#8217;s still a ways off, and my fickle moods may shift a dozen times before then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, while I will not say, &#8220;I will eat a hat if Amy Adams is Mara Jade,&#8221; I think one can definitively state that she will not be playing Mara Jade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some recent ads on Facebook (and one on Instagram) caught my attention, and I wanted to share. Oh, bother. Yes, Facebook thinks I&#8217;m still in the market for unlicensed Washington Nationals jerseys with pop culture characters. To be fair to Facebook, I did buy the Oasis Nationals jersey (and had it customized for Sean Doolittle,<a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/?p=34797\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">&#8220;As Seen on Facebook&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[5318,752,5319,4424,4100,5137,4114,4629,24,217],"class_list":["post-34797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-amy-adams","tag-facebook","tag-mara-jade","tag-roman-catholic-church","tag-snoopy","tag-star-trek-the-next-generation-2","tag-star-wars","tag-timothy-zahn","tag-washington-nationals","tag-winnie-the-pooh","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34797\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}