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.

Noted Republican Senator John McCain died this weekend, the day after announcing his decision to seek no further treatment for the brain cancer he had suffered for some time. He leaves a complicated legacy to say the least, an outspoken proponent of things he agreed with, even if it was not in the interests of his party (He voted against Trumpcare for example, and made no secret of his general disdain for Trump), but who voted along conservative lines most of the time and who accepted Sarah Palin as his running mate in the 2008 election, paving the way for the more outré element of the Republican party getting more attention.

He was also a prisoner of war during Vietnam, and refused early repatriation offered because his father was an admiral. No matter what one may think of his politics, he was a brave man, and brain cancer is not something I would wish on anyone.

POTUS 45, a sackful of weasels in a cheap suit, has been his usual mature self on the matter but you can look that farrago up yourself if you so wish.

In Germany, in the city of Chemntiz there have been two nights of rioting after far-Right groups united to protest a recent murder apparently committed by two migrants, and found Anti-Nazi groups also massed to stop them, and there were injuries on both sides from thrown objects.

Ironically, or sadly, possibly both, it's also the 55th Anniversary of Dr King's "I have a dream..." speech.

It's the birthday of Satoshi Tajiri, creator of the Pokemon franchise, and the reason the protagonist in the Japanese version is "Satoshi" (Though I didn't know before now that his rival "Shigeru", is named for Tajirir's mentor, Shigeru Miyamoto).

"Day of the Dumpster", the first ever Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers episode, debuted exactly 25 years ago today. As is common for these anniversaries, a special episode of the current season, Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel, featuring past Rangers is being broadcast.

I finished "The Good Place" and was blown away. I'd long been spoiled on the twist (though thanks to a Catholic upbringing, I suspect I'd have spotted it anyway), but the whole thing was quite superbly structured and performed. Back to "Disenchantment" and then who knows where!

Comments

[scorntx]

Apparently Iron Fist season 2 will only have ten episodes instead of the usual Netflix Marvel show thirteen.
The optimist in me thinks this might be because, judging by the trailer, they've spent more money on special effects, and that money had to come from somewhere. The cynic thinks the way season 1 was received might have something to do with it.
(And the fact the trailer looks like the return of Danygsty... blech.)

[lilacsigil]

Honestly, I think all of the Netflix series would be better slightly shorter, so I'm pleased by this.

[commodus]

I'm a bit irritated that they're so focused on Iron Fist but still haven't given us a Ghost Rider or Blade series. I have to believe they would be more popular, and more intriguing characters to use in crossovers with other shows.

[skjam]

Ah yes, Power Rangers. 25 years ago, but earlier in the year, my one published book, Allies, came out. In it was Zen Team, a group based on the sentai shows I'd seen. Then MMPR came out, and everyone I talked to who'd seen the book afterwards assumed the team was based on that.

Over at my blog, I review a book about Famous Bible Sayings. http://www.skjam.com/2018/08/26/book-review-fresh-eyes-on-famous-bible-sayings/

(frozen)

[katefan]

Things have gotten more insane and tasteless in the comic industry where Marvel/DC artist Robbi Rodriguez for reasons known only to him tweeted pics of his taint to Ethan Van Sciver. Classy.

(frozen)

[icon_uk]

Thankfully, we still have Bill Sienkiewicz on the side of the angels, casually ripping comicgaters a new orifice.

(frozen)

[cyberghostface]

No excuse for Robbi who comes off as a weirdo (was he the guy who threatened Cho over his Gwen cover?) but I know Ethan as the guy with the creepy (possibly racist) obsession with Rose Tico/Kelly Marie Tran so team no one.

(frozen)

[the_phantom]

Ewww...

Doesn't sending someone unsolicited pictures of your anus on Twitter fall under Sexual harassment or something?

[commodus]

Pre-ordered the new Spider-Man game! I really hope it's as good as it looks. I haven't been a fan of Spider-Man games since the 2000 PS1 game, because after 2000 most of the games started being based around the movies - despite how awful the voice acting was, or how inferior the character designs were to the comic versions.
So having a game based on the comics again is a huge deal for me, and I'm really hoping it captures that fun New York vibe which I always associate Marvel with.

[icon_uk]

I think the PS2 Spider-Man game was the first time I'd felt a real scale of environment to the New York setting, so Spidey could leap around an entire city, it impressed the hell out of me, even if I was crap at the game.

These days, the hubs are bigger than most games ever used to be.

[onsokumaru]

This summer was an opportunity to try many series, cartoons and anime.

The Handmaid's Tale.
As good as everybody was saying. And quite exhausting to watch. Also chilling considering similar things happened not so long ago and are still happening in some parts of the world.

Insatiable.
Watched half the series with a friend and that was a fun ride. The tone reminded me of Nip/Tuck.

Disenchantment.
Couldn't get pass the second episode. Old tired gags, lethargic animation, boring plot...

Adventure Time.
Last time I cringed so hard was when I tried to read Lumberjanes. Absolutely not for me.

Aggretsuko.
The sad and hilarous life of an anthropomorphic OL who gets rid of her frustration by singing death metal in a karakoke room. Now that was a good surprise. Lady Gorilla is a favorite of mine.

Overlord.
I don't get why this series is so popular. Half the episodes are just people singing the praise of the MC, licking his butt or lusting at him. And if it's a parody of power creep in anime, it's not even a fun one.

Saiki Kusuo no Sai Nan.
The story of a highschooler with huge psychic powers who just wants to have an quiet life and not be surrounded by idiots. Except he is surrounded by idiots who keep troubling his tranquility. Nothing deep here, just a hilarous gag anime.
The episodes are very short, It's perfect to take a break when I'm tired or upset and it always puts a smile on my face.

[locuatico]

Power Fantasy aside, I think it's the fact that there is no other series like it out there. One that focuses so primarily on the evil overlord.

The same thing would happen if it was a story centered around Palpatine and his daily routine of conquering the galaxy.

Also, I believe the light novels have a lot more world building, which appeals to plenty of people.

It could also just be the power fantasy aspect.

[dr_archeville]

I've recently joined a local D&D group, and this past Sunday I did something I've not done in about 12 years: I DMed! I was a bit (lot) nervous through it all, but they seemed to enjoy it.

[onsokumaru]

Power Rangers is 25 year old.
Damn. So the Great Cataclysm happened a quarter of century ago.

Before that, we had several super sentai and metal hero series in my country. OK, sometimes they didn't broadcast the whole series. Ok, the dubs were terrible. But we still had them. Bioman, Spielvan, Sheider, Liveman... Good times!

And then Power Rangers came, a series formated for people who don't like it when the main characters don't look like them and don't live in the same country as them. And it replaced every super sentai and metal hero, because my country has to ape every stupid thing the USA does.

[icon_uk]

If you care to share, which country are you in, I know of some like France that got the old Sentai shows.

I thought that given the restrictions of the source material, they've tended to do an adequate job of increasing the diversity signfiicantly. With a broader range of racial diversity in their first year than Sentai has managed cumulatively since it's launch. As well as gender switching a few character to provide more female represntation.

Then we have the fun of Japan re-importing some of the Power Rangers seasons, re-dubbing them into Japanese and screening them as a new show! :)

[informationgeek]

I've done it! I finally caught up on Ducktales and Steven Universe! Ducktales was fantastic and I look forward eagerly to the next season. Steven Universe was very good as well and, let me say this... White Diamond... just horrifying.

[janegray]

I heard Rockerduck is going to be in S2 of DuckTales. If they somehow manage to put Paperinik in it too, I'm going to spontaneously combust!

[nightauditguy]

There's going to be a Streets of Rage 4 game. Don't think I've even played the series

Alec Baldwin has joined The Joker movie and will apparently be Thomas Wayne

The Constantine cartoon that was the CW seed is going to be on the channel

Guardians of the Galaxy 3 has been put on indefinite hold

The last Blockbuster is getting a commendatory beer

And it seems the upcoming Big Trouble in Little China isn't a reboot but a continuation

And Roseanne's character is going to be killed off in The Connors

[cyberghostface]

Marvel’s treatment of Gunn is a total disaster. You can’t pretend that offensive jokes run counter to your policy while having Sarah Silverman (who I love) as a Disney princess. Heck she once joked “Is it still child molestation if the kid makes the first move”.

This is on top of abusers like Josh Brolin and Billy Dee Williams being cast in their films. Or Cate Blanchett or Chadwick Boseman who are rapist apologists.

If Disney were smart they would have done what Adult Swim did with Dan Harmon and it would have blown over.

[onsokumaru]

French ecology minister Nicolas Hulot resigned this morning.
That was the right thing to do, since the government is doing nothing for ecology.
In front of Trump, president Macron tries to appear virtuous and says things like "make out planet great again". But he and his governement of hiveminds have done nothing but bowing in front of industrials and hunters.

One year ago, I was stating that I'd rather regret voting for Macron than regret not voting against Le Pen. Well, I DO REGRET voting for Macron. Him and his drones are targetting the poors, pressuring the medias, attacking the secularism... He may be worse that Sarkozy was.

[icon_uk]

Sometimes you have to pick the least worst choice.

Would LePen have been any better, other than galvanising the Far Right in France?

[informationgeek]

Another deadly shooting this weekend... but leave it up to the NRA to victim blame.

GRANT STINCHFIELD (HOST): If you look at that video and can we play it with the audio up because I want to show you something that’s very, very important of that gaming video there. If we could pull it up. And I want you to listen to the shots as it happens. What I really want is the other video. You can hear the shots in the background here, I count 15 of them, but the other video where the cellphone is over the shoulder of the person as they’re playing. Just scroll through this for one second because, this is so important. Here it is.

If you listen over the talking that person doesn’t hear the shots. Why? Because their headphones are on. This is another example of people not being aware of their surroundings. I heard at least four, or five, or six shots while that person was taking a cellphone video of the game. There’s no running for cover, there’s not even any looking around. They’re still focused on the screen in front of them as someone is firing a handgun through the crowd. You’ve got to be aware of your surroundings at all places. I know it’s hard when you’re wearing headphones, but we talk about this all the time, whether you’re jogging and wearing headphones, whether you’re at a video game wearing headphones, if they’re so loud you can’t hear what’s going on around you, you are living in your own world. That can become deadly.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

Well, true freedom is always having to be ready for attack of any kind, anywhere in the world, regardless of circumstances.

Because human reflexes are faster than the sped of sound, duh!

[janegray]

I've been playing Ni No Kuni.

Hate to say it, but I'm finding it very disappointing. The gameplay can get really frustrating (what's even the point of making the enemies visible in the map, if they are so much faster than me that it's almost impossible to avoid them? And so I have to fight a bazillion super repetitive button-mashing battles with enemies that give little to no exp). The plot so far (30 hours in) has no twists, except for one I could see coming 100 miles away. The characterization is very shallow, the characters never step out of their archetypes. And the music is not to my taste at all.

[icon_uk]

I played Ni No Kuni for a good few hours, then got lost in a forest and had to fight the same guys over and over and over as iI tried to get out and then realised that there wasn't even a save point and just didn't care any more. Should probably give it another go.

The overall look and feel of it was fine, and the soundtrack I ADORE (Joe Hisaishi, who wrote the scores for Spirited Away), but the gameplay, not so much,

[spider_man6]

In some rather horrible news, a random jerk stole my bicycle yesterday afternoon when I was weeding at a relative's house. I'm feeling angry and disappointed, but I guess I'm just going to deal with it and move on. It's especially stinging because the day before, I went mountain biking on it with my dad, but life's like that sometimes. Here's hoping starting college in about a week helps me cope with it.

[icon_uk]

That;s most unfortunate, do you have any idea on the odds of it being recovered?

[owlbrigade1]

I'm very behind the times, but I've just started The Good Place and am only a few of episodes in but enjoying it immensely so far. I've also been spoiled for the twist, but I don't think it has affected me on it so far. I've also just finished bingeing on DC's Legends of Tomorrow and Star Wars: Rebels and have been very impressed with both (Legend's of Tomorrow's attempts to make me watch Arrow aside, which I just didn't like that much).

My only gripe with Star Wars Rebels is that the finale seemed to be doing a little much with too few episodes. If anyone who is more into Star Wars could tell me if they originally planned for a longer run, but was cut short or anything? I do wonder how that is going to affect the Thrawn books, or if that ending is going to have anything to do with the movies? I know Richard E Grant has denied playing Grand Admiral Thrawn in a curiously specifically worded denial.

I find it odd that out of the two franchies, DC and Star Wars, I'm enjoying their lighter and campier tv incarnations more than their movie iterations.

[donnblake]

My issue was that I found it completely uninteresting as a concept until I heard about the twist, and then really wanted to see it.

[cyberghostface]

Sharp Objects concluded this week. Anyone watch it? Without spoiling anything I thought the ending was unnecessarily abrupt compared to the novel which had an epilogue that imo better concluded the story.

Also anyone else here a fan of Gillian Flynn’s novels?

[stubbleupdate]

I read Gone Girl and once I got past the halfway point I sat down and didn't shift until I finished it. It was exciting to read, and pretty forgettable once I did.

She is very good at pacing, from what I remember.

[stubbleupdate]

I finished The Dark Forest, the 2nd book in Cixin Lou's Three Body Problem trilogy. It is bleak, clever and compelling. Before I get on to the final book I'm taking a break, either to read When we were villains or Vox.

[tripodeca113]

Started replaying Deus Ex, only to accidentally delete all my saves, but it had been a while since I last played, and I did mess some things up.

Also the University I go to got some more Hellboy, so now I've read up to The Storm and The Fury.

Walking Dead season 9 is going ahead, and its a good thing Rick and Carl weren't important characters in the comic, otherwise the show writers may be in an awkward situation.

[mrwalker]

I'm getting very hyped for Destiny 2's Forsaken expansion coming out next week. Was looking forward to getting out the sandbox changes they've already implemented, but looks like the update will still be downloading by the time I have to get up for work in the morning at this rate.

[captainbellman]

I just realised my .gif usage of a few months ago may have spoiled "The Good Place" for you, icon_uk. Sorry about that... :~/

[thezmage]

Did you watch both seasons of the Good Place or just the first one? I’d just like to know for spoiler avoidance purposes in one month when the third season starts