Off-Topic Tuesday!

[icon_uk]

In 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.

Comments

[kamino_neko]

I was wondering what the origin of the 'future liberal want' thing was, but I wasn't going to trace it to an actual reactionary twitter. Was expecting something actually offensive like violence or bestiality or sommat.

[janegray]

Reminds me of Rush Limbaugh's little rant from last year.

“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!!!

[torberg]

"...very different people were minding their own business and coexisting..."

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.

[dustbunny105]

It's always been the "rape police" bit that gets me most about that rant. Like. Rush. Do you perhaps mean... the police?

[lamashtar]

...The 'police' are only also the 'rape police' if the target = nonwhite

Too many examples of nice-looking white boys of middle class families being helped out of a jam that might tarnish their futures..

[dustbunny105]

Still, on paper, rape is a crime which is dealt with by the police. Referencing "rape police" just goes to show how dismissive Rush and people like him are of rape.

[scorntx]

I will only be interested in [SPOILERS] returning to DW if, if they sound like evil Swedes again.
... 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?)

[icon_uk]

Yes, my guess is the voices will be as they were, which were terrifying in their unique way.

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.

[scorntx]

-terrifying in their unique way-
... 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...)

[trooper924]

I rather like Missy's look. Got kind of an Evil Mary Poppins vibe to it, but above all, it has a sense of classiness to it, which I feel every incarnation of the Master should have some measure of.

[icon_uk]

If she were the only "stern schoolmarm" character I'd be more impressed, but there's a long list in new Who, and especially in the Moffatt era

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.

[skjam]

Still looking for work.

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-strip-review-gunnerkrigg-court-volume-3-reason/

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-review-inferior/

[informationgeek]

Representative and man who doesn't understand how numbers and charts work Jason Chaffetz decided to speak about the GOP's new healthcare plan that's suppose to replace Obamacare, which surprise surprise benefits the rich over the poor. When asked questions about this, Chaffetz stated essentially that poor Americans would have to make wise financial decisions if they really wanted to have access to health care. Then followed it up with those quote:

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.

[minervasolo]

Someone on twitter pointed out that without insurance their insurance costs roughly an iphone a month. He's either massively overestimating the average disposable income or underestimating the cost of treating chronic illnesses.

[thezmage]

I got into another podcast this week. The Once and Future Nerd: http://onceandfuturenerd.com

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.

[yvonmukluk]

Gorillaz announced they're doing their own music festival on the 10th of June.

[informationgeek]

I'm so excited since maybe they'll announce their new album soon or around that time. I can't wait for it! Their last album came out in my last year of high school and I want to hear more of them!

[mrstatham]

Yeah, their last album came out in my last year of Uni, and while I didn't quite like Plastic Beach as much as Demon Days, it was still a great album. And I really liked Hallelujah Money; I've heard grumblings about Gorillaz 'going political' like it hasn't been a thing already, given, you know, they got Dennis Hopper to narrate a story about suspicious sorts invading a country to deprive it of resources, and countless other things.

[informationgeek]

My favorite song off of the Plastic Beach album was Empire Ants. Just so hypnotic and beautiful sounding that it still gets me today.

Also, yeah. I quite enjoyed Hallelujah Money myself. Haunting really sums up my thoughts on it quite well.

[locuatico]

Overwatch has a new hero! and this is her origin story, which i think is a pretty cool one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvm0of3iDUU
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.

[janegray]

I wish Overwatch were an RPG or something like that. I LOVE the story and characters, but I decided to never play games with no ending again after I realized that the 700 hours I spent playing Team Fortress 2 could have allowed me to beat (or at least start) the over 60 untouched games in my library (steam sales, humble bundles, gifts, borrowed from friends, etc etc).

[informationgeek]

I was so excited when I heard there was going to be an official graphic novel about Overwatch, since we can finally explore their universe in a story... but then it got cancelled!

Dammit, Overwatch has so much potential to branch out into other game types and in comic form. DO SOMETHING BLIZZARD!!

[janegray]

SECONDED!

[mrstatham]

Supposedly it only got cancelled because it didn't quite match up to their canon anymore, so I'm hoping we'll get a new announcement soon.

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.

[lissa_quon]

I sort of wish the game and the story background would mesh better with Overwatch. Everyone has lots of backstory and all these different factions and all the game is "move the payload" it feels really weird to be all "okay so this dude killed this guy - this guy was dead but is back - she is now brainwashed by an evil organization - these two are criminals or terrorists - this guy stole from this bunch whose represented in game by this lady - but by all means we are all on the same side - fighting duplicates of ourselves moving the payload across a random map." And I just find myself lost in why I'm supposed to care.

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"

[janegray]

Agreed.

Though, to be fair, the creators did address the story/gameplay inconsistencies in a recent panel.

https://theivorytowercrumbles.tumblr.com/post/157964346004/some-character-highlights-from-michael-chus-panel

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.

[icon_uk]

Can we get action figures then?

I mean, beyond the Tracer Nendoroid sort of a thing...

[icon_uk]

Is ti bad I kinda want to see her go on a date with Baymax?

[locuatico]

well yes, because then she wouldn't be dating Bastion/D.va's Meka! (kidding :P)

I wish I could be in San Francisco

[stubbleupdate]

...more so than usual, because Pure Bathing Culture are playing there this week



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

[icon_uk]

Ooh, I ADORE San Francisco (I've been a couple of times) and even moreso since reading Tales of the City... which has nothing to do with music, but I'll give PBC a try too! :)

Re: I wish I could be in San Francisco

[stubbleupdate]

...more so than usual, because Pure Bathing Culture are playing there this week

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･`)

[deh_tommy]

Well, this is probably the most unnerving (if not downright terrifying) thing I've read today.

Re: Trigger warning for stalking (´･ω･`)

[lamashtar]

That was absolutely addictive. The language seems totally wrong for Japanese translation, though.

Re: Trigger warning for stalking (´･ω･`)

[kamino_neko]

Not sure who's more worrisome, the OP, or the guy egging him on in the first couple threads...

[lordultimus]

This is semi-relevant to the site, but what's scans-daily's policy on posting leaks?

[icon_uk]

I think you'd need to define "Leaks" before we could answer that

[lordultimus]

Something like the early reveal of the fake Clark Kent in Action Comics, which will be released tomorrow.

I'll probably just wait for tomorrow, it just got me curious.

[lamashtar]

This site has gotten in trouble for posting spoilers against creator wishes before.

[icon_uk]

No, something like that should not be posted here, as it might attract undue attention to our fairly nebulous status.

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.

[llordllama]

Galavant full soundtrack? Colour this the most delightful news I've seen all day! Loved that show, as people who know me understand, as I've forced* many, many of them to watch an episode with me :)

*Er, strongly encouraged.

[icon_uk]

Likewise... I'm especially pleased as it means we'll get a proper release of "A Happy Ending (For Us)" from Season 1, one can only put up with youtube rips for so long you know!

[dewinged]

Might this come with a DVD/Blu Ray release?

[icon_uk]

We can hope!

[fiddlingfrog.livejournal.com]

This certainly sorts out what I'll be getting my wife for her birthday.

[icon_uk]

As long as she doesn't start playing "Maybe you're not the worst thing ever" and calling it "Our tune".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLYiyK7uqUE

[dr_archeville]

So according to this article, it seems the origin for the Amazons in the Wonder Woman movie will be an amalgamation of several different versions of the origins of the Amazons of Themyscira… except for the part where Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, or any other Greek Goddess has any hand in their creation. Because let’s just have it all be about Zeus and Ares.

Doom and gloom

[lamashtar]

If anyone is wondering where WW3 is going to come from, odds are still Syria.

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

[icon_uk]

AND bring peace to Israel and the Middle East.