Mod Post! 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 Republic of Ireland vote on repealing their more or less complete abortion ban was met with a 66% vote to repeal, which took both sides by surprise as it had been expcted to be quite close.

Northern Ireland is now being pressured to change their laws to match (They are currently the only part of the UK where abortion is banned), but has the snags that A) The UK Government is saying that it is a matter for the Stormont based coalition government is currently not in place and there are no signs of it being restored anytime soon and B) The fervently anti-abortion Democratic Unionist Party are the group of MP's on whom Theresa May relies for her very narrow majority in the House of Commons, so she has no real leverage against them at the moment.

Italy is in political confusion, as the Far Right and Far Left parties which has formed a populist coalition and apppinted a Euro-sceptic Prime Minister, had their choice rejected by the Italian president, who has appointed an ex-IMF economist instead, and both sides have said they will reject HIM, which probably means new elections soon. At least that's what i think is going on.

The EU originated General Data Protection Directive (GDPR) came into effect and suddenly people are finding out a lot more about what the online interactions they have actually means, and companies which have any dealings with Eurpoe must conform to it (Facebook has quietly moved it's American based services outside the EU so Americans don't get this protection). Just as one example, Tumblr's "opt out" option requires unticking over 300 different boxes of, basicallt "trusted people we share your data with" and makign sure it stays unticked is proving an interesting challenge. Quite a few US based news sources do not conform and so have found themselves, probably temporarily, blocked fomr EU interactions.

In France, a remarkable man named Mamoudou Gassama, a Mali-born migrant, basically did a spontaneous, unassisted Spider-Man routine, scaling four floors on the outside of a building to save a child who was hanging from a balcony. For his courage (and let's face it, sheer bloody STYLE) he has been granted citizenship and has been personally thanked by President Emmanuel Macron. M Mamoudou has also offered a role with the fire service.

Starbucks in the US is closing over 5000 branches for several hours in the US today, so that all staff can go through "unconscious bias" anto-racism training, following a widely publicised incident where a member of staff called the police on a couple of people who were standing in the shop, not buying anything, the fact that the people were African-American was, I'm sure a complete and utter coincidence (/ironic tone).

For those who remember the tribute paid to Ginger Rogers "She could do everything that Fred Astaire could do, but she did it backwards, and wearing heels", we might have a new definition stretcher, as China saw a 'slacklining challenge' which I do not recommend to anyone who has even slight cases of acrophobia

It was Memorial Day in the US, where the fallen in wars and conflict are remembered by families and politicians alike (Europe tends to to do this on Armistice Day, 11th November). One would have thought that this would be a simple, straightforward process for even the current POTUS, something respectful and heartfelt, perhaps even a little anodyne, but pretty much hard to screw up, right? Guess what.... somehow he managed to turn it into a paeon to himself (as the Huffington Post put it "Putting the ME in memorial Day), and some veterans groups are appalled.

I'm not even going to touch on the current North Korea situation, because chances are it'll have changed by the time I push "Post to" button.

The fourth man to walk on the moon, Alan Bean, has died aged 86.

"Solo: A Star Wars Story", opened this past weekend to significantly lower ticket sales than expected. Personally I thought it a bit "safe, but was a fun, popcorn movie, which did what it set out to do in a very entertaining (if entirley predictable way... with the exception of one reveal which I won't spoil)

Netflix series from Guillermo Del Toro "Trollhunters" ended it's third and final season (or "Part" as it was referred to), with some interesting plot developments, un expected ending, Emile Hirsch doing a very good job taking over from the late Antone Yelchin, and David Bradley voicing one of the more pragmatic, unpleasant, selfish, manipulaitve SOB takes on Merlin that the screen has seen of late.
The new series set in the same "Arcadia" locale will be "3below" which has a slight backdoor pilot, will debut later in the year.
Oh, and in a time when every possible real world male role model appears to have been sullied by their own actions, a slight glimmer of light as George Takei's accuser has retracted their claims of being drugged and sexually assaulted by him

And in a last, last, last minute bit of news, Doctor Who spinoff "Class", which was cancelled after one season, is going to be continued in audio format, by Big Finish.

Comments

[skjam]

The new droid was my favorite character in Solo.

Training for my new job role is over, so it's on to full-time calls today.

Over at my blog, I review a children's SF graphic novel: http://www.skjam.com/2018/05/27/comic-book-review-zita-the-spacegirl/

[icon_uk]

There's a fun story about the casting of Phoebe Waller-Bridge as L3-33, apparently she auditioned for the role of "droid", without being aware of what a droid actually was, but they liked her oblivious audition, rather than the one she gave after she was informed it was a robot, so kept most of that approach in her performance.

Loved the character, but the voice kept reminding me of someone and I'm still not sure who, but it's not Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

[onsokumaru]

While it's definitely a good thing that Mamoudou Gassama got french citizenship, there are still dozen and dozen of migrants, some fleeing from war, who are treated like shit by our "neither left wing, neither left wing" government.
Let's hope that climbing buildings to save children doesn't become a requirement to be allowed to stay in France.

A shooting just took place in Liège, in Belgium. The shooter murdered two cops and a civilian before being killed.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/29/belgium-gunman-kills-two-police-officers-and-passerby-liege

[icon_uk]

Very true, though we could always flip it, so some right wing politicians have to try the same thing (no child endangerment involved, this would be more of a... proof of concept): If they can't/won't scale the building, they get kicked out of France.

[commodus]

I am sorry I haven't been on more. My Mum is still a bit sickly, but we're hoping all these appointments and scans will soon give us an answer to what caused her massive blood loss. They think it might be fibroids, so she may need a hysterectomy, but they're still not entirely sure.

[icon_uk]

You never need to apologise for getting your priorities right.

I hope they find the reason, and a treatment soon.

Mantrap: Last part missing.

[sisterofbloomerjunior]

So I watched parts 1 - 5 of ABC'S "Mantrap" a. k. a. " Julien Temple strings most of the 'Lexicon of Love"'s videos with a schlocky attempt at a Soviet spy story. ". Only Martin Fry - the singer - has an actual part in this story.

Uploaders claim the last part always gets pulled from YouTube due to copyright. If that's true, why are the first five parts still up?

[bradygirl_12]

I agree about Solo. Solid but not spectacular. Still, it was fun. :)

[janegray]

Beat The Last Guardian today.

Pros = Good story. Original concept. Lovable companion (a hell of a lot more likeable than Yorda for sure). Pretty environment (though I will say that the colours were too toned down imo, I think it would have benefited from something like more flowers in the ruins, remains of drapes and carpets, stuff like that to break the constant brown+green combo). Mostly good puzzles.

Neutral = I thought Trico’s AI was okay. I heard a lot of complaints that it is difficult to get him to do what you want, but personally I don’t see it, I thought he was reasonably responsive. Sometimes you have to repeat a command two or three times for him to get it, but generally speaking, he gets it.

Cons = The controls in general are not good. In particular, there are no words to express my utter and complete loathing for the fighting system. But in base terms, it fucking sucked. The kid stumbles everywhere, is slow and awkward to act with even slower recovery time, the constant button mashing when they grab you is increasingly irksome, and destroying the shields takes forever because the guard you tackle gets up quickly while the boy walks at a snail’s pace to carry the shield towards a wall to smash it (not smashing it is even worse because they immediately take it back to make Trico helpless). I absolutely dreaded the inevitable clashes with the guards because they were an exercise in frustration. I thought I was going to snap the controller in my hands in the final confrontation in the circular chamber. Also, the camera was bad, making it very difficult to judge the distance and position of hanging chains/ropes/tails. There is a section where I kept falling to my death again and again because I kept missing the damn thing. Look, I’ve been playing platformers for a long time and I’m good at them, I have a lot of experience with the genre, so if I fall to my death 70% of the time I try to grab a rope I’m blaming the game design here.

Dishonourable mention = the cage section should have been banned by the Geneva Conventions.

Conclusion = I’m glad I played this game because it’s definitely a very interesting and unique experience. But after beating it once, I’m not playing it again because if I have to fight the guards one more time I’ll have to buy a new controller.

[zachbeacon]

Well, there's nothing like a long weekend to fill you with regret over not having done enough with the extra day off. I really need to plan for these things instead of letting them sneak up on me.

I did finally watch Black Panther though. It was good but falls short of the hype. Having said that, I think I have a new contender for best Disney Princess.

[icon_uk]

Cinderella - I have a glass slipper

Belle - I have an enchanted rose

Jasmine - My boyfriend has a magical lamp

Shuri - PLASMA BLASTERS!!

Weekly reminder that the Spongebob Squarepants musical is fantastic (at least, in my opinion)

[deh_tommy]

I’m quite looking forward to the Summer LEGO Super Hero sets (particularly the Ant-Man and Brother Eye ones).

Does anyone have an opinion on the Forces of Destiny doll line? I was planning on buying one or two to go with the DC Super Hero Girls as well as the novelty of Leia as an actual doll á la Disney Princesses, but this video has me thinking otherwise. I wouldn’t mind seeing an L3-37 toy, though.

[captainbellman]

The Resident Chump has blamed Democrats for his administration's recently-announced policy to separate parents from their children if they are found to have crossed the border into America unlawfully.

This is, of course, sheer lunacy.

[icon_uk]

Ghaslty though the whole situation is, there's been an interesting counterclaim made about the claim that "1500! kids went missing" after being separated.

http://iconuk01.tumblr.com/post/174350767429/ruffboijuliaburnsides-important-twitter-thread

[captainbellman]

In less political news: I'm still working on launching an autobiographical webcomic, and am looking to draw people as anthropomorphic birds/animals. However, I am slightly afraid this will have me misconstrued as part of the Furry community (which I am most definitely not). Does anyone know of webcomics of a similar vein that somehow manage to skirt the whole "anthro" stigma?

[icon_uk]

If you're featuring real people in psuedo-furry form I can see where this might be an issue.

"Pogo", for example, didn't use actual people

[nightauditguy]

A bunch of people from Big Brother are going to be on the next season of The Amazing Race, including Josh and Paul from BB19. Remember that season? It was terrible.

[spider_man6]

I beat God of War's story a couple of days ago, which amounted to around 20 days. Really pleased with the game and excited to finish it.

Didn't like Solo that much, but it had its moments. I think the only time I was genuinely excited was when THAT cameo happened in the story. Really interested to see where they go with it, but in all honesty, I'd rather it be explored in a novel than in a movie.

Also, did anybody read Detective Comics' final issue from Tynion last week? Was anybody happy that SPOILER was alive and kicking?

[kamino_neko]

Also, did anybody read Detective Comics' final issue from Tynion last week? Was anybody happy that SPOILER was alive and kicking?

Yeah, but I was a bit disappointed by their fate, even so.

(Given it's Detective, I had a brief moment of wondering why you thought Steph might have died with your phrasing.)

[ironymaiden]

I saw Zombillenium at the local film festival this weekend. I loved it. Apparently there's a comic? Has anyone read it?

[malurette]

Yay Zombillenium!!
Yes there's a comic, three books at the moment, on hold since a couple of years, but thanks to the movie a fourth should be published later this year. It's a bit different--the main character is named Aurélien and not Hector, he was an accountant before getting forcibly hired by Zombillenium, he doesn't have children and his wife is still alive but cheated on him, prompting his accidental selling his soul to the Great Big Boss Under. And it's a bit darker--several monsters get fired and permanently die in the series.
I don't know if there are any translations, though?

[stubbleupdate]

Has anybody else read 84K, the new Claire North book?

It's not her best, but it's a good read.

[houtarouh]

I didn't get to see "Solo", plus, it seems that people didn't go see it because the fans were burned by the final product that is Rian Johnson's "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" and saying that because of that film and the new direction in LucasFilm/Disney under Kathleen Kennedy, "Star Wars" is lost (especially with Episode IX and apparently there were to have big plans, but Carrie Fisher tragically passed away in the crazy that was the year 2016). Some, especially this video is calling it the "Tomb Raider" effect, a situation in which people were hyped up with one movie, only to be burned by it and by the time the sequel rolls out and it's decently better than the first movie, no one went to see it (which is what apparently happened with the Angelina Jolie movie though I found both of them to be bad, especially "The Cradle of Life", but that's just me). I'm calling BS on that because those "Resident Evil" movies were churning out sequels after sequels until "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" and I see "Star Wars" is going to do the same thing, especially with their "A Star Wars Story" series. If a brand is popular, people will see it, regardless of the final product and it won't have the Angelina Jolie "Tomb Raider" effect.

I personally loved "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" for what it's worth, though some questions weren't explained (mainly about the lightsaber, Snoke, the Knights of Ren, the forming of the First Order and it's relationship to the Republic and the Resistance. Perhaps it's saving up for the next film or the canon novels that have the "Journey to ______" on the bottom of the logo). Fandom is getting crazy to the point that it's saying that the sequels lack good storytelling and that Lucas should have done Thrawn Trilogy in the 90s and saved the Prequels for the 2010s and that LucasFilm under Lucas was great because he was a genius of his craft, unlike Disney LucasFilm under Kathleen Kennedy. (I could go on, but I'm kinda tired right now, haha)

[arilou_skiff]

I am kind of ambivalent about the sequels. I didnt much like TLJ, but its less about THAT movie than about the stuff set up in the previous one, so there is that. (it had some good stuff, some remarkable clunkers (but then again, the prequels were pretty much ALL clunker) and a lot of baggage from the previous movie that didnt quite work.

I do think there is something to said for the fact that the Prequels, Warts and all, were clearly the product of one persons vision, while the sequels are made by different people bringing different things their interpreration of that vision.

I am not a "Star Wars is dead to me" but I am not exactly as in love with it as I was. (for all sorts of reasons. I feel kind of burnt out less on Star Wars than on the emotional toll of caring about Star Wars if that makes sense.

[dr_archeville]

Garnder Dozoi -- best known for being editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine (1984–2004) and of The Year’s Best Science Fiction anthologies (1984–present) -- passed away Sunday due to "an overwhelming systemic infection." He had been hospitalized for a minor illness and was expected to be released that evening. The decline was swift. He died surrounded by his family.
Here's a video of him on "The Secret History of Science Fiction" panel at Chicago WorldCon 2012.

I finally found a used book store that's willing to buy some of my books for cash (every other one I've talked to either isn't taking in items at all, or they'll only accept them for store credit). I've already got eight boxes worth loaded into my car, and probably another eight to go.

Jeff Bezos announced he's saved his favorite sci fi show, The Expanse, and season 4 will air on Amazon Prime. Season 3 is still airing on SyFy.

Starting today, Twitch Is streaming over 500 Episodes of Classic (1963-1989) Doctor Who in an epic marathon.

[thezmage]

Roseanne Barr called a black woman a monkey and a terrorist this morning. ABC apparently decided that this was more offensive than dressing up as Hitler and cooking human-shaped rolls in an oven because they actually cancelled her sitcom now. Not before Wanda Sykes could quit, though.

[zachbeacon]

It's weird to think that - not that long ago - Barr was one of the "nicer" judges on Last Comic Standing (which Sykes produced)

[kore]

Big Finish is pretty awesome.

[tripodeca113]

Well drat The Wolf Among Us 2, has been pushed back to 2019.

I also finished short point and click adventure game, Kathy Rain. I enjoyed it.

[scorntx]

After several months in horrible limbo, finally have a new CD player. I can finally listen to CDs again!
Once it's set up. However long that takes (probably need to find a goat to sacrifice to the dark magicks of The Damn Fiddly Wires first...)
... that I might have bought one of the second series of the Tenth Doctor audio adventures fae Big Finish is just coincidence.
(Did think about getting a Torchwood audio drama, but... it's Torchwood, so I was kinda hesitant.)

Started watching some more of Star Trek: Discovery the other day, and...
While it doesn't necessarily feel like Old Trek (where's the wobbly set?) it is engaging all the same.
Plus, there's That Bit That Happens in ep 10, and that sort of thing is my jam, yo.

In a fit of madness, found and bought TLK Nitro Zeus at a Smyths at the weekend.
Think they, like the Entertainer and Toys'R'Us have gotten a wee bit tired of Transformers, going by the way they were all shoved into a corner by all the Voltron stuff.
(Only one single peg for the Power of the Primes deluxes. One.)

[informationgeek]

I'm obsessed with Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition. I beat the main campaign and I'm 75% done with Adventure Map and 56% with the Great Sea Map. I can't stop playing, wanting to keep smashing through it so I can get powered up to take on the Termina Map. Send help!

[kamino_neko]

Has anyone here read both the 2003 and 2014 translations of Battle Royale (the novel)? I'm reading the 2003, right now (well, rereading, mostly...I read all but the last 100 or so some years back) and I'm interested in how different the 2014 is.