Off-Topic Tuesday!
Mar. 7th, 2017 09:47 am![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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scans_dailyIn the comments to these weekly posts (and only these posts), it's your chance to go as off topic as you like. Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat amongst yourselves.
Okay, let's bracket the weird stuff with the fun stuff.
The BBC has released publicity photos from the shooting of the two part season finale for Season 10 of Doctor Who, which reveal a completely unexpected return of a particular monster. In case people are trying to stay spoiler-free I won't say which one, so treat this link as a spoiler. but let's just say that as a fanboy I am REALLY jazzed by this, and that it was probably written into Peter Capaldi's contract somewhere that he HAD to be allowed a story featuring these guys if he were to play the Doctor (and other photos showing up on twitter suggest that they are not alone)
After a brief belch of apparent presidential behaviour (IE stood up, read autocue, managed to not trip up or cause a diplomatic incident whilst doing so) from Trump, US politics is now back to it's now traditional, smorgasbord of "What?", "WTF?" and "You're kidding, right?"
Ben Carson, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in first major speech in the role, told agency employees about the virtues of the “can-do” American society and cited “immigrants” who “came here in the bottom of slave ships” as examples.
Historians were not impressed, NAACP were dumbfounded and Samuel L Jackson was just a LITTLE more direct.
In the UK, one feels that if anyone actually involved in negotiating the terms of Brexit had to sit a "Can you tell your arse from your elbow?" test, not a single one of them would pass. It's not even organised enough to be identifiable as chaos.
A right wing groups attempt at a meme, "This is the Future Liberals want" backfired exquisitely, as the picture of a woman wearing a niqab sitting next to a full blown drag queen on the New York Subway (Taken from an instagram account about embracing diversity) was embraced by anyone for whom the concept of religious freedom, mutual respect and a robust public transport system weren't innately anathema. (Others noted that this isn't the FUTURE liberals want, this is the present that they want to hold on to.) Trust me, google this one for yourselves, it's delightful.
In more positive news, a doctor has developed a new reconstructive surgery technique for victims of female genital mutilation.
The first woman in space, Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, reached the grand age of 80 yesterday.
Out of curiosity, has anyone been to see Kong of Skull Island? Any good?
And finally, Galavant will finally be getting a proper soundtrack CD release featuring ALL the songs from the much missed (by me at any rate) show.
Okay, let's bracket the weird stuff with the fun stuff.
The BBC has released publicity photos from the shooting of the two part season finale for Season 10 of Doctor Who, which reveal a completely unexpected return of a particular monster. In case people are trying to stay spoiler-free I won't say which one, so treat this link as a spoiler. but let's just say that as a fanboy I am REALLY jazzed by this, and that it was probably written into Peter Capaldi's contract somewhere that he HAD to be allowed a story featuring these guys if he were to play the Doctor (and other photos showing up on twitter suggest that they are not alone)
After a brief belch of apparent presidential behaviour (IE stood up, read autocue, managed to not trip up or cause a diplomatic incident whilst doing so) from Trump, US politics is now back to it's now traditional, smorgasbord of "What?", "WTF?" and "You're kidding, right?"
Ben Carson, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in first major speech in the role, told agency employees about the virtues of the “can-do” American society and cited “immigrants” who “came here in the bottom of slave ships” as examples.
Historians were not impressed, NAACP were dumbfounded and Samuel L Jackson was just a LITTLE more direct.
In the UK, one feels that if anyone actually involved in negotiating the terms of Brexit had to sit a "Can you tell your arse from your elbow?" test, not a single one of them would pass. It's not even organised enough to be identifiable as chaos.
A right wing groups attempt at a meme, "This is the Future Liberals want" backfired exquisitely, as the picture of a woman wearing a niqab sitting next to a full blown drag queen on the New York Subway (Taken from an instagram account about embracing diversity) was embraced by anyone for whom the concept of religious freedom, mutual respect and a robust public transport system weren't innately anathema. (Others noted that this isn't the FUTURE liberals want, this is the present that they want to hold on to.) Trust me, google this one for yourselves, it's delightful.
In more positive news, a doctor has developed a new reconstructive surgery technique for victims of female genital mutilation.
The first woman in space, Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, reached the grand age of 80 yesterday.
Out of curiosity, has anyone been to see Kong of Skull Island? Any good?
And finally, Galavant will finally be getting a proper soundtrack CD release featuring ALL the songs from the much missed (by me at any rate) show.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 11:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 11:46 am (UTC)“You can do anything, the left will promote and understand and tolerate anything, as long as there is one element,” the conservative talk show host said in comments posted online by Media Matters. “Do you know what it is? Consent. If there is consent on both or all three or all four, however many are involved in the sex act, it’s perfectly fine, whatever it is. But if the left ever senses and smells that there’s no consent in part of the equation then here come the rape police. But consent is the magic key to the left.”
The purpose of this rant was to bash the left as immoral. Really. It was meant to paint liberals as the bad guys, dangerous and insane. Really
It's literally Bizarro World inside of their heads. So they saw a picture were two very different people were minding their own business and coexisting peacefully, and their takeway from that was THIS IS A HELLISH DYSTOPIA!!!
no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 01:14 pm (UTC)Let's see if we can find the part in that phrase that encapsulates the problem in their minds:
"...very different people were [...]existing..."
Ah, there we go.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 05:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 03:52 am (UTC)Too many examples of nice-looking white boys of middle class families being helped out of a jam that might tarnish their futures..
no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 04:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 01:51 pm (UTC)... which, knowing Nick Briggs, having heard him voice them in the Big Finish stuff...
Yep. They will.
(Wasn't even interested in this year's Who, and now this... [angry muttering])
Though they do look maybe a little like fan-costumes. And not too jazzed about Her being in it.
Jus' saying. Gomez is great, but Moffat's handling of the Master is... ehhhhh...
Also think it's a crap deal for them to release spoilers about the damn finale.
If they do that, makes one wonder if this isn't one of those Moffat Moments where it's given a big buildup and then isn't actually important at all.
Like Gallifrey coming back not being as important as Clara.
(Plus, y'know, what's there to get all tense about? RTD didn't tell all and sundry the Master was coming back, did he?)
no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 02:01 pm (UTC)I have less issue with Moffat's handling of Missy than I do RTD's treatment of the Master, though I do wish they'd gone for a completely different look for her, rather than another woman with severe lipstick and a swept up hair.... maybe a 60's chick with a miniskirt and go-go boots just for a change of pace, or a creepy little boy (as we've seen elsewhere).
And that seems to be more of a teaser than a spoiler, you never know what ELSE might be showing up! :)
I'm relieved Gallifrey coming back wasn't a big deal (and the Doctor SHOULD be more invested in Clara, for whom he has his duty of care, than the Time Lords who he knew were back anyway), I just wish they'd never done it in the first place.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 02:15 pm (UTC)... sing-song Swedish voices are terrifying?
(Though given Briggs's work with them... yeah. They are very unnerving when Briggsified.
Not quite as unnerving as the ones that came after, mind...)
-You never know what ELSE might be showing up-
That's kind of the issue.
It could be one of those Moffat things where it's all "Oh, you thought it was going to be about this. Well, FOOLED YOU! They're only on-screen for two minutes and the next thirty are about something else. Who could've seen that brilliant plan coming, except for the fact it's what I'm always doing! NYA-HA-HA!"
-I just wish they'd never done it in the first place-
Too right.
(It's kind of darkly funny that RTD's reason for getting rid of the Time Lords was that they "just stood around and talked bollocks", then Moffat brought them back... and all they did was stand around and talk bollocks. And all without a trace of irony.
Well, not "ha-ha" funny...)
no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 06:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 07:02 pm (UTC)Off the top of my head,
Miss Foster in Partners in Crime
Miss Hartigan in The Next Doctor
Madame Kovarian in Season 6 (and who was intended to return in Season 7, but according to strongly supported rumour, flatly refused to come back)
Miss Kizlet in The Bells of St Johns
Ms Delphox in Time Heist
And given how the Doctor's approach to things changes so much from regeneration to regeneration, a Master or Missy who had a different approach to style would have been nice.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 01:55 pm (UTC)Also, still updating my blog. A look at a volume of the popular Gunnerkrigg Court series is here: http://www.skjam.com/2017/03/04/comic-
But some of you may be more interested in an upcoming book about the science of sex differences and how it's been misused: http://www.skjam.com/2017/03/04/book-
no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 02:18 pm (UTC)You know what, Americans have choices. And they’ve got to make a choice. And so maybe, rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and they want to spend hundreds of dollars on, maybe they should invest in their own healthcare.”
........
.....
...
Like I said, the man doesn't understand money and also, f him.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 07:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 02:47 pm (UTC)It sounds like another boring, cliche nerd power fantasy, but it's really well done, and actually explores the issues involved in the power fantasy, plus a significant number of queer characters treated with respect. The only real misstep I feel was when they tried to tackle the "friend zone," where it felt more like a "very special episode" than anything else.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 05:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 06:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 07:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 07:55 pm (UTC)Also, yeah. I quite enjoyed Hallelujah Money myself. Haunting really sums up my thoughts on it quite well.
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Date: 2017-03-07 06:51 pm (UTC)She is also available for PTR and was able to play a match as her. once you get the general idea she is plenty of fun.
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Date: 2017-03-07 07:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 01:52 am (UTC)Dammit, Overwatch has so much potential to branch out into other game types and in comic form. DO SOMETHING BLIZZARD!!
no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 12:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 07:46 pm (UTC)I mean, the characters are just.. They'd be SO easy to work as a full CGI movie, or a comic series. I'd buy the hell out of a series starring Tracer.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 06:37 am (UTC)The gameplay itself is fine for a online FPS but I need more than that to invest myself in it.
I guess 'm spoiled I love TF2 - I also loved how it hung a lampshade on the gameplay with the initial set up of "these guys are hired to do this sort of thing for stupid reasons - carry on"
no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 12:20 pm (UTC)Though, to be fair, the creators did address the story/gameplay inconsistencies in a recent panel.
https://theivorytowercrumbles.tumblr.
character lines and interactions in the game should be seen like a person playing with a set of action figures, that these are all things that characters could do and say, but the actual story and plot is all external. If the dynamics in-game are the action figures, the comics/animations/etc. outside it are the actual show that these action figures are inspired by.
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Date: 2017-03-08 12:39 pm (UTC)I mean, beyond the Tracer Nendoroid sort of a thing...
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Date: 2017-03-07 07:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 07:57 pm (UTC)I wish I could be in San Francisco
Date: 2017-03-07 07:02 pm (UTC)I have been listening to more Pure Bathing Culture this week. They are more delightful live than in the studio.
If you haven't heard them before, Ivory Coast is the best introduction, but it feels like an utter tearjerker
And for the sexy, slinking sort, give Pray for Rain a go (though the video is also sexy and slinking)
Re: I wish I could be in San Francisco
Date: 2017-03-07 07:04 pm (UTC)Re: I wish I could be in San Francisco
Date: 2017-03-07 07:05 pm (UTC)I hadn't heard She Shakes before I found their KEXP show
I have been listening to more Pure Bathing Culture this week. They are more delightful live than in the studio.
If you haven't heard them before, Ivory Coast is the best introduction, but it feels like an utter tearjerker. It just hits my sad nerve and I well up as soon as the vocals start
And for the sexy, slinking sort, give Pray for Rain a go (though the video is also sexy and slinking)
Trigger warning for stalking (´･ω･`)
Date: 2017-03-07 07:41 pm (UTC)Re: Trigger warning for stalking (´･ω･`)
Date: 2017-03-08 06:40 am (UTC)Re: Trigger warning for stalking (´･ω･`)
Date: 2017-03-08 11:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 09:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 10:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-07 11:04 pm (UTC)I'll probably just wait for tomorrow, it just got me curious.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 06:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 10:06 am (UTC)If something is part of an officially released preview then it's fair game of course (though it counts towards the four page rule when the title is released) but something like that which has leaked unofficially, no.
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Date: 2017-03-07 09:45 pm (UTC)*Er, strongly encouraged.
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Date: 2017-03-07 10:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 03:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 10:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 03:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 04:17 pm (UTC)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
no subject
Date: 2017-03-08 04:08 am (UTC)Doom and gloom
Date: 2017-03-08 06:47 am (UTC)So, not long ago Russians nearly bombed US-backed forces in Syria.
Now this from Foreign Policy (behind paywall):
"American, Russian, and Turkish troops are face-to-face around the Syrian city of Manbij, which is under the control of the U.S.-backed Manbij Military Council (MMC), a coalition of Arabs and Kurds formed to fight the Islamic State. Last week, the Syrian regime sent a “humanitarian convoy” to the city to head off a drive by Turkish troops and their Syrian proxies to take it — a convoy the Pentagon says included Russian troops and armored vehicles. In response, the Pentagon sent U.S. special operations forces to the area in a visible show of force, while the MMC continues to block the Syria/Russian column from entering the city."
Tell me again how Trump was going to fix all the US relationship to Russia..
Re: Doom and gloom
Date: 2017-03-08 10:07 am (UTC)