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.

The Olympics has come to an end with Great Britain doing remarkably well in the medal stakes (Not that I'm gloating)

Germany has released plans to recommend Civil Defence precautions

Apparently ramen noodles are now a more valuable trade commodity than tobacco in US prisons... Who knew

Comments

[owlbrigade1]

Are there any German readers here? Political insight needed, is this just scaremongering, posturing, and trying to whip the public fear up for voting for someone like it would be in the US and UK; or is this something to genuinely be concerned about?

I wouldn't trust my politicians to tell which way is up on best out of three tries, but I don't know enough about German politics to know if it is the same there.

[speedingtortoise]

Not a German. BUT having a small stock of emergency food and water is never a bad idea, no matter where you live. So I don't know what the intentions were with that statement, but my practical side approves.

Sounds like scare mongering but....

[7dialsmystery]

.... if it makes you feel better make a disaster plan with friends and family and stow away a few days worth of non-perishable food and water.

Here are some websites which can help you prep for power outages or bad weather.

http://lifehacker.com/5943332/how-to-prepare-for-a-power-outage

http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/GUIDE/BOSAI/index.htm

http://lifehacker.com/5390502/put-together-a-winter-home-emergency-kit

[skjam]

I have paid the deposit on my new apartment and am scheduled to move 9/15/16. Wednesday morning I go into the Hennepin County offices to be interviewed for possible relocation assistance. (Don't count on it.)

My fundraiser is at 44%; please consider sharing it. https://www.gofundme.com/229z4ez8

[janegray]

I've decided to finally take on my MASSIVE movie backlog. I'm going to watch one movie every single day for a month, no skips. That way I should be able to scratch an acceptable fraction off the list.

[panelsarewindows]

Ooh interesting! Any particular films on that list, as in is it must-watch-classics people can't believe you've ever seen, or more obscure recommended films you've finally just decided to watch.

[janegray]

About a dozen Studio Ghibli movies (including classics like Howl's Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke, which I have been meaning to watch for over a decade and keep procrastinating), and a bunch of other "important" Japanese movies (like Paprika, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Wolf Children).

Then a bunch of animated superhero movies (stuff like War and Throne of Atlantis).

Then a bunch of Lupin III movies and specials.

Then a bunch of assorted anime OAVs and movies.

My list is almost all animated movies because I watch the live action ones when they come out at the theater. Since I have to go out of my way to watch the animated ones, and there are no reminders in the form of massive advertising campaigns, I always end up procrastinating and the backlog grows and grows >_>

[kamino_neko]

Then a bunch of animated superhero movies (stuff like War

War is, IMO, a major improvement on the comic arc it's based on. It takes the good parts, smooths the bad parts (well, unless you're a Hal fan and object to the whole 'doofus' thing he had going around then), and adds some interesting new material. (I rewatched it myself, just last week.)

[lb_lee]

Oh man, I LOVE Paprika! It's in my top three favorite movies. I hope you like it too!

[kamino_neko]

The Olympics has come to an end with Great Britain doing remarkably well in the medal stakes (Not that I'm gloating)

Canada, OTOH, is down at 20th...

Oh well, in 2 years when the Winters hit, we'll almost-dominate again.

[icon_uk]

And there are also the Paralympics Games in September! :)

[stubbleupdate]

There might be.

They spent a significant sum of money from the Paralympic budget to get the Olympics on track.

[cainofdreaming]

Well, Finland had the worst Olympics since the Finnish Summer Olympics got cancelled due to Second World War. So twentieth place doesn't sound that bad.

[thezmage]

I saw Suicide Squad this weekend. I was actually very surprised at how enjoyable it was. It used to be (IMO) that even bad action movies were still fun to watch, and this seems to be a return to that.
The plot was nonsensical, the tone wildly inconsistent, the characters change way too quickly, but the action was fun to watch and the humor worked.

[dustbunny105]

I've finally decided on going to TFcon in October, after waffling about it for a long while. It'll be my first time going to a convention, so I'm pretty excited. It'll also be my first time on a plane, which is... less exciting. It'll also be my first time traveling alone, which is less exciting than the con but more exciting than the plane.

[janegray]

Ah, I'm about to board a plane in five minutes XD

It's actually pretty fun :)

[dustbunny105]

I have heard it's fun, but I can't quite get over being that far off the ground. Lucky for me, it's only about a two-hour flight, so at least I'm being broken in gently, haha.

I hope you have a nice flight!

[icon_uk]

I was unsure whether I'd like flying before I tried it, but turns out I absolutely love the sensation! :)

[dustbunny105]

Well, here's hoping it goes the same for me! I've got a little bit yet to get used to the idea, at least.

[scorntx]

In a very bizarre moment, I found Armageddon 2001 issue 2 in a charity shop the other day, and in surprisingly good condition.
(There was also a lot of recent X-Titles. Make of that what you will.)

You can actually see the moment they had to change the big twist.
"CAPTAIN ATOM'S TURNED EVI- no, no, wait. False alarm. Ha, fooled ya. Those last fifteen pages were POINTLESS!"
(didn't buy it, by the way.)


Also, rewatched Korra Book 4 recently.
I still hate Kuvira.
And frankly, it is probably the weakest of the four books.

[mrstatham]

To be fair, trying to follow up on Book 3 of Korra, given how impressive the villains were for that piece? Kind-of a fool's task.

[informationgeek]

Eh, I find the second book the weakest, mostly due to the writing. So very very VERY flawed that season was.

[kamino_neko]

IMHO, it's the first quarter of book 3, when Korra and Tenzin are on their quest to find new Airbenders. Team Korra's never juggled the Idiot Ball near as much as there.

[q99]

"Apparently ramen noodles are now a more valuable trade commodity than tobacco in US prisons... Who knew"

Huh, neat!

I suppose it makes sense that something else would take it's place with smoking becoming less popular, but I wouldn't have called ramen!

[skjam]

For a while, it was foil packets of tuna.

[informationgeek]

First thing first, Comic Book Resources has gotten a new website makeover. And it... looks awfully generic, bland, and typical mobile website looking. Plus, their logo is awful.


Then there is Donald Trump. There is soooo much to say about this guy that someone has done a full, complete, profile on him. From the 50s, all the way to just yesterday (still constantly updating), we have a long profile on the Republican nominee. Pour yourself some coffee, but this is one LONG read.

[kamino_neko]

First thing first, Comic Book Resources has gotten a new website makeover. And it... looks awfully generic, bland, and typical mobile website looking. Plus, their logo is awful.

CBR's site has always been terrible. At least it's navigable, now.

The fact that the redesign seems to have fucked up the Comics Should Be Good subsite is my complaint...

[stubbleupdate]

I found navigating the old site alright.

Reading the solicits on the new one is now a chore because it's such an image-heavy page.

Have they managed to ditch the Buy Pile in the move?

[laughing_tree]

Am I missing something? I just went to CBR and I'm not seeing any major differences.

[kamino_neko]

They seem to have reverted. If the logo hadn't also reverted, I'd have assumed they set the clean version as the mobile version.

[kamino_neko]

And now the new layout is back, and it looks like it'll stay that way, since Brian Cronin has commented on CSBG not being separate any longer on the CSBG twitter.

[junipepper]

Cedexo, one of the largest suppliers of prison food, has in recent years expanded to university food services. Both Daughter One and Nephew One (at different colleges) have to eat that stuff, and they'd both like to know what they did to deserve it. It's terrible.

Ironically, both of them have made repeated requests for us to send them -- you guessed it -- ramen noodles. Among their other advantages, they can be prepared in a hot pot, a microwave, or even using hot water from the tap. So people that don't have access to kitchens really like them. Not sure if there's a ramen barter economy in place, but honestly I could see it happening.

[lb_lee]

Yeah, plus with ramen noodles, there's wiggle room with what you do with them. You can add seasonings easily, or other stuff--vegetables, cheese, whatever--and they're cheap, cheap, cheap!

I mean, there's only so much you do wrong with noodles. It's a good base to build other stuff off of, or you know, you can just scarf them as it. Makes sense to me!