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Adam D. Zolkover

@zolkover.me
195 followers 527 following 397 posts

Instructional designer at the University of Pennsylvania. Soulless minion of orthodoxy. #StarTrek #SFF #Horror #woodworking #HigherEd #OnlineLearning

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 29/11/2025
It's been a dog's age since I ate at Langer's Deli. Their pastrami is absolutely as good as they say, though perhaps not quite as good as Hershel's in Philly's Reading Terminal Market. And it's the only place I know where you can get kishka. So that's worth the price of admission all by itself.
A wide-angle picture. In the foreground is a pastrami sandwich on rye with coleslaw. In the background is a second plate with 4 pieces of kishka and a cup of gravy.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 23/11/2025
A movie that takes place where you're from.
A movie poster for Absentia (2011). Features two women looking scared next to a missing poster.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 22/10/2025
Fun project that was more costly in time and blood than I bargained for. I really went all in on the inlays and I think it paid off. #woodworking
A hand mirror from the front. The frame is cherry, inlaid with geometric shapes in mahogany and maple. You can also see the mahogany clad handle.The back of the handmirror. Most of it is cherry, with a mahogany crescent moon inlay.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 19/10/2025
They Bloom at Night by Trang Tranh Tran is excellent and original. Coastal horror without being Shadow Over Innsmouth. Microbial creep without being Mexican Gothic. Like its protagonist, it finds its own skin. @hollylynchez.bsky.social you might like this one.
The book cover of They Bloom at Night. A vietnamese girl underwater with red tendrils around her.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 17/10/2025
No! We don't need a detailed mythology for every old thing. Pennywise is scary when he's a mystery. Add in the Great Turtle, and the Crimson King, and whatever other BS, and he's just boring. Learn from the X-Files, people. The truth is only interesting and fun when it's an object of speculation.
A news headline that includes a picture of Pennywise the clown with the headline "It: Welcome to Derry Blows Open the Legend of Pennywise. It'll Shock You."
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 24/09/2025
Obviously I am a sucker for anything with the Nine Inch Nails logo on it, even if it's plainly a marketing ploy. To be fair, the new songs on the soundtrack are *very* good. (I very much doubt I'll see the movie.)
The first record of the Tron:Ares soundtrack sitting on a gray turntable. In the background is the album cover. Both the record and the album cover have a red and black color scheme.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 29/08/2025
I adore my weirdo scrub plane. It seemed like a silly thing to build when I made it. But today I had to flatten a panel. And -- wow, life-changing! #woodworking
A wooden plane sitting on its side, on top of a cherry wood panel, with plane shavings spilling out.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 24/08/2025
Alright #woodworking bluesky: question. I made this plane from osage and maple. The bed and sole are flat. The wedge is a perfect fit. But I can't make the wedge and iron stay seated. I've tried tweaking the wedge geometry and making a new one out of a softer material and neither worked. Help?
A small wooden plane made from osage orange and maple. It's at a three quarter angle and has the blade seated.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 29/07/2025
If it wasn't for my policy of never posting on Reddit, I'd have responded there. When I first started listening to Fear Inoculum, it was without the track list in front of me. So my favorite songs on the album were "the wanton slumber one" and "the one that's the last half of Beowulf." #metalsky
A reddit post from r/ToolBand titled "describe a Tool song very poorly and I'll guess."
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 12/07/2025
Coffin smoother, made from cherry and maple. I'm still tuning it. But this has got to be one of my favorite things I've made. #woodworking
A small wooden plane made of maple and cherry, with shavings of white pine filling it
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 10/07/2025
Lust Hag is a wild ride and a great listen. Black Metal with high-energy percussion, good politics, and kind of a punk attitude. A nice change after a couple of somber and serious weeks exploring the Cascadian vibe. #metalsky
The album cover of Lust Hag's self-titled album. It has a photo of a woman in a tiara on a road in front of a conifer forest. Everything is tinted purple.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 28/06/2025
#woodworking mini project number 2 for the day: marking gauge out of cherry, maple, and brass. Drilling the beam to accept the sharpened nail was chaos, but I guess I got there in the end.
On the left, a joiner's mallet. On the right, a wood and brass marking gauge.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 28/06/2025
Made myself a new joiner's mallet from scraps from my last project. Maple head, cherry stripe, and mahogany handle. Also, probably the cleanest through tenon I've done. #woodworking
A joiner's mallet in three quarter view. It has a maple head with a cherry stripe and a handle made from mahogany.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 31/05/2025
Moirae is a very compelling album. Its atmospherics complement the howling, tortured vocals of black metal. (Excuse my ignorance for never having heard the term blackgaze before. Its existence as a genre helps some things make sense.) #metalsky
The album cover of Moirae by Hell is Other People. Features 3 wraith-like floating figures, over a buck's skeleton.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 29/04/2025
Otra might be my favorite new album of 2025, so far. Which is saying something, given how much I like the new Steven Wilson. I'm new to In the Woods... and I can't wait to listen through their back catalog. #metalsky
The album cover of Otra, by In the Woods... A sepia photo of the river Otra, with a rowboat in the foreground.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 12/04/2025
I know I'm, like, 30 years late to this party, but Edge of Sanity's Purgatory Afterglow is an outstanding album. Can't wait for the reissue of Crimson in June. #Metalsky
The cover of Purgatory Afterglow, showing a red tinted scene of the inside of a cave.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 30/03/2025
I've been really into making knife handles lately. I really like how both the knife and the box came out. Both are African rosewood and maple. #woodworking
A box that is sitting open, with a sheathed knife inside. The box and knife are red African rosewood with white maple accents.A box sitting open, with an unsheathed knife in the foreground. The box and knife are red African rosewood with white maple accents.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 20/03/2025
If you haven't read Record of a Spaceborn Few, read it. If you have, read it again. It doesn't matter that it's the third in a 4-book series, all of which are excellent. This is a singularly beautiful novel and having gotten to the final page, I just want to flip it over and start again. #booksky
Cover of Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 15/03/2025
Got excited about knife handles and one thing led to another. Sloyd style knives in 2 sizes: regular, done in African rosewood. And chunky style, done in cherry. The larger one is very ergonomic in my hand. The knife blanks are made by Morakniv. #woodworking
2 knives with wooden blades, crossed. On top is a smaller knife with a red African rosewood handle. On the bottom is a larger knife with a cherry handle and matching sheathA smaller sloyd style carving knife with a red wooden handle, being held lightly in a man's hand.A large sloyd knife with a cherry handle held lightly in a man's hand. The tip of the blade is out of frame.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 21/01/2025
In which a naive and well meaning nurse trainee has the worst first day of work ever. Overall, a good take on a tried and true formula. 📽️
A movie poster for The Power (2021), in which a nurse, with a distraught expression, looks over her shoulder.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 19/01/2025
In the Mouth of Madness (1994) is far from my favorite John Carpenter movie, but it might be my favorite movie in which Sam Neill is a harbinger of the apocalypse.
A movie poster for In the Mouth of Madness, featuring a distorted image of Sam Neill yelling over the pages of an open book.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 17/01/2025
This is the adorable face of a monster who crashed everything off my desk in the night and stole the ball out of my trackball. FFS cat.
The face of Morticia, the black cat. Her eyes are closed in pleasure as a hand reaches out to scratch her chin.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 11/01/2025
Finally got around to watching Hereditary (2018). Here's the thing: it's a great story, brilliantly written and acted. But also, it really falls down in the editing. We see things out of place. And though there's some setup, the ending feels out of left field. I want a director's cut! 📽️
Movie poster for Hereditary. In which we see 2 people's heads: an older woman and a child.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 07/01/2025
Sea Fever (2019) was a very pleasant surprise. Yes, it's Alien on a boat. But also, it's got great characters and a lot of heart. And it's a bit prescient in how hard it hits the importance of following quarantine procedures. (Ripley would be proud.)
A movie poster for Sea Fever. Features the silhouette of a scuba diver against a luminous blue background.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 04/01/2025
Shadow of the Vampire (2000) is a delightful movie and it's a shame that the only version streaming is so low quality that it looks like someone torrented it in 2003. Still worth it for Willem Dafoe and Eddie Izzard's performances. 📽️
A movie poster for Shadow of the Vampire, featuring overlapping images of John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe in costume as Count Orlok.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 02/01/2025
Tonight's movie: Lord of Misrule (2023). I've gotta say: this is the weirdest Midsomer Murders episode ever. 📽️
Poster for the film Lord of Misrule. Features an ominous mask with a jester cap and a tree in the background.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 01/01/2025
Prince of Darkness: the greatest John Carpenter movie? Or the greatest movie?
A movie poster for Prince of Darkness. A distorted face that's red, with green light coming out of the top of the head.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 25/12/2024
So Starve Acre is punishing. It is brilliantly acted and engages with folks horror in compelling ways. But also unrelentingly sad. I'd recommend for maybe a less festive night than this one.
The movie poster for Starve Acre, which features a painted image of a hare with branches growing out of it, staring directly at the viewer.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 22/12/2024
One last Christmas gift. Made from scraps of maple, zebra wood, African rosewood, and cherry. #woodworking
A small set of drawers, all closed, taken at a slight angle. It shows the face, which has zebra wood at the bottom and cherry at the top.The same set of drawers as in the other photo. This one mostly shows off the side and top, which is a continuous panel of multiple different woods that has been mitred so that the grain is continuous.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 15/12/2024
I have been making holiday gifts on and off since October. And this is the last one. Phew! #woodworking
A small box made of cherry and lined with maple. The top is most of the way off the box, and is cherry, with a panel of zebra wood in the middle.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 11/12/2024
I just finished this record cabinet and I'm really proud of how it came out. It might not look notable but the top may be the coolest thing I've ever made. I cut my own veneers from a piece of exotic hardwood and book matched them. So excited to have a place to put my stereo! #woodworking
A record cabinet seen from slightly above and at an angle. The frame is made of light maple, with brown panels and a red wood top.A closeup of the red wood top of the cabinet, highlighting a knot that resembles the eye of Jupiter.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 27/11/2024
Show me a picture on your phone that has your energy that isn’t a selfie.
A mashup of Garfield and a panel from the Watchmen where Doctor Manhattan is on Mars. Caption reads: I am tired of the Earth. These people. I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 09/11/2024
The Hole in the Ground (2019) is another one that's almost a really good movie. It almost -- but does not quite -- capture the uncanniness of its subject matter. Also, it seems like an Irish changeling movie needs to do a little more to contend with the history of changelings as a cover for abuse.
Poster for The Hole in the Ground (2019)
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 19/10/2024
Show me your pet and what they’re named after
A small black cat staring intently next to an open door.A gray cat staring through the slats in a stair railing.Delenn from Babylon 5, season 1.Kosh from Babylon 5.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 19/10/2024
Show me your pet and what they’re named after
2 black cats on a cat tree, one on top and the other one the rung below.A comic by Charles Addams. Gomez is coming up behind Morticia while she knits, with the caption "Darling!"
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 16/09/2024
A perfect album that came out when I was 21. Honorable mention to: Scarlet's Walk by Tori Amos In Absentia by Porcupine Tree
The album cover of Still by Nine Inch Nails. An abstract blue pattern with the words "And All That Could Have Been. Nine Inch Nails. Nine Inch Nails. Still. Still."
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 15/09/2024
Troll (2022) was surprisingly great. It's the right mix of openly absurd and really heartfelt. And it doesn't hurt that it's literate about Norwegian folklore and has a folklorist main character. I highly recommend it to scratch that kaiju itch.
Movie poster for Troll (2022). A giant troll face is staring directly at the viewer, with 2 tiny humans, one in red and one in blue, climbing it. At the lower right are the words: "a Netflix film. Troll. December 1"
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 12/09/2024
I was hoping to have a merciful hamburger for lunch but instead I got a...
A picture of a cardboard takeaway bowl, sitting on a desk. On top of it is a napkin with the logo for the chain restaurant Just Salad.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 06/09/2024
You‘ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last tv show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who is coming to save you? (I'm on the fence about whether this would help or guarantee my grim demise.)
The cast of the TV show Manifest with an airplane in the background.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 02/09/2024
Stopmotion (2023) is quiet and brutal and intense. It's about finding yourself at the end of your 20s and contending with your identity in a world that isn't what you thought. And also puppets made of meat. I don't know if I would have appreciated it more or less amid my own quarter-life crisis.
A poster for the film stop motion. It shows a woman from the shoulders up, whose face has been removed, with a wax puppet inside her hollow head.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 01/09/2024
I've been super excited about reclaimed southern yellow pine lately. Most of the material for this piece came from Manayunk Timber, who save wood from old Philadelphia homes and local downed trees. #woodworking
A chest of 2 drawers, the bottom one slightly open. The bulk of the wood is orange-ish or brown-ish pine.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 31/08/2024
Repo Man (1984) is a bizarre and delightful movie. I'm sitting here, scratching my head, wondering how I've never seen it before. I have to imagine there was a culture of kids my age who spent their teenage years quoting it incessantly to each other the way that I quoted Lebowski or Life of Brian.
Movie poster for Repo Man, featuring Emilio Estevez standing, arms crossed, in front of a Chevy Malibu.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 12/08/2024
A picture of San Francisco bay with a giant black orb and the caption: "Food for thought: if the US cut just 2 percent of its annual defense budget it could afford to construct a colossal obsidian sphere in the San Francisco Bay. On top of the obvious economic benefits it would be visible throughout all of northern California and emanate an ominous hum!
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 06/07/2024
Sad Kappa is sad and just wants to be your friend.
A line drawing of a Kappa, a Japanese water spirit. This Kappa has turtle-like features with a beak and shell, but also has hair on its head.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 30/06/2024
what is your favourite black and white movie? "In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."
Joseph Cotton standing in front of a ferris wheel in The Third Man (1949)
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 22/06/2024
Quote skeet with one of your fave films that isn’t a huge hit Amazing film. And once is the right number of times to watch it.
Movie poster for American History X. Has a photo of Edward Norton with a swastika tattoo on his chest and his hand over his heart.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 19/06/2024
Reskeet your mental state
A gif of Prof Farnsworth from Futurama pacing and saying "if anyone needs me I'll be in the angry dome."
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 09/06/2024
Learning a new #woodworking skill. By the time I finish placing the ninth one of these, I'm sure I'll be almost proficient.
A block of pine held in a vice with 2 butterfly keys inlaid at about half their depth. In the background, more wood and some chisels.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 02/06/2024
Show me a picture on your phone that has your energy that isn’t a selfie
A panel from a Nancy comic in which Sluggo is on the phone saying CATS as 8 cats inundate him.
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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 22/05/2024
"post a PERFECT album from the 90s that isn't nirvana or pearl jam or soundgarden or alice in chains" Okay! Here we go again! How about Spiderland, by Slint?
The album cover of Spiderland by Slint. 4 men swimming in a lake, in black and white.
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