Tipping Point
Or, A Little Something To Cover The Emotional Wear And Tear.
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Happy to help!
Bless you, madam. May the cupboard under your sink remain orderly at all times.
CNN has a burning question for you lot over in the UK.
They have already said they want an American/Brit name for the kid, I am guessing Usuk is out, so maybe something historical like Bernard Law Eisenhower, maybe Bobby Ray Clive, or just split the difference and go with Mohammed.
Submit your own suggestions on an index card, offer not good in New Jersey or Sectors R or N after curfew.
That little sensation you felt at 1:35 GMT…that was me. Don’t let the other half tell you otherwise.
I vaguely recall there was very little super-doing and lots of moping about.
CW shows have a pretty meager budget, so that’s not inaccurate. As CGI gets cheaper it improves over the years (we are talking about a ten year run here) but early on there’s very much a “this season’s CGI effect” trope going on, much in the same way Hercules and Xena had their “this season’s giant prop” trope.
It also seemed to be the gayest not-technically-gay show on TV at the time.
It was certainly popular amongst the various gay SF fan groups, although I suspect that was for the same reason it was so popular among middle-aged housewives – they took every opportunity to make Tom Welling and John Schneider take their shirts off.
As far as I can tell, the demographics it was specifically intended to appeal to hardly watched it.
My name suggestion: Bubba.
I’ve been agitating for a Pope Bubba for years. Prince Bubba is almost as good.
Don’t let the other half tell you otherwise.
Bless you, sir. May you never wake to the sound of hoovering.
“I only got a ‘C’ on my maths test. Maybe I should have studied more.”
“Studying won’t help. It’s because of white supremacy.”
Western civilization was good while it lasted.
My name suggestion: Bubba.
I’ve been agitating for a Pope Bubba for years. Prince Bubba is almost as good.
Actually, that has already been King Bubba.
In other areas, I was indeed disappointed that a very clear precedent was not followed by a recent pope.
As everyone is quite aware, Pope John-Paul was clearly supposed to be followed by Pope George-And-Ringo.
Woman arrested at CIA headquarters after asking to speak with ‘Agent Penis’
Western civilization was good while it lasted.
Well, to borrow their own buzzword, the influence of the woke-lings is certainly toxic. Seen from outside, it’s a cultivated unrealism, in which the ideal is a kind of whiny preposterousness.
Which is why, for example, Everyday Feminism’s former managing editor Melissa Fabello isn’t an educated middle-class woman in twenty-first century America, which would be much too humdrum, but is instead, as she puts it, “a marginalised body that experiences the trauma of oppression.”
Oppression being defined as people disagreeing with me and pointing out my vanities.
This is not, I think, an attitude that leads to happiness, or on which a civilisation can depend. And as we’ve seen more times than I can count, this is the favoured trajectory of the type, the role they want to play.
A lot of those names look like something J.R.R. Tolkien would have come up with.
Which is appropriate since I just finished the annual Lord Of The Rings re-read.
The future is now.
Via Dicentra.
The future is now
Kid’s a genius. Excuse me, I have some furniture shopping to do.
The future is now
That kid’s going to be so nearsighted he’ll be walking into walls.
This is not, I think, an attitude… on which a civilisation can depend.
That.
Tip jar hit.
Tip jar hit.
Bless you, madam. May dust never gather on your hob extractor.
A running list of beloved sci-fi franchises that have been ruined in the past half decade or so:
-PREDATOR: It was wheezing terribly, but that last…”movie”…finally killed it for good.
-TERMINATOR: Stop. Please just stop making Terminator movies. It’s like being stuck in the middle of a drunken family quarrel at the funeral of a beloved grandparent.
-ALIEN: Prometheus was like doctor assisted suicide, gentle but still very fatal.
-STAR TREK: You know when terminal cancer patients go off chemo and consequently feel really healthy (JJ Abram’s lens flare fest), only to crash and tragically perish shortly thereafter (Star Trek Discovery)?
-STAR WARS: Disney didn’t kill SW so much as dig up its peacefully resting corpse then parade it through town Weekend At Bernie’s style.
-GAME OF THRONES: David’s cartoon perfectly describes the situation. I feel like I’m watching a relative in hospice, just hoping they leave the world with as little pain and humiliation as possible.
I think I left out a few, but these analogies are getting too dark so I’ll stop now.
but these analogies are getting too dark so I’ll stop now.
[ Rummages in lost property box. Hands Sam a rather soiled-looking teddy bear. ]
It’s probably best not to get it too close to your face.
Payday for me … so ping
Payday for me … so ping
Bless you, madam. Should you find yourself offering cups of tea to visiting workmen, may you never discover that the long-neglected teabags stuck at the back of a cupboard actually expired several months ago, resulting in the dilemma of whether to chance it, or offer coffee instead.
beloved sci-fi franchises that have been ruined in the past half decade or so
I was never a huge fan of Star Wars, so I can’t say much about the recent films, beyond the obvious Mary-Sue-ing and the almost nihilistic disregard for established character, coherent plotting, etc.
I saw a few episodes of Star Trek: Discovery and was actually quite amazed by how charmless – and borderline obnoxious – the lead character is, the one we’re supposed to like and root for. Again, lots of inept writing in the service of Mary-Sue-ing.
And regarding Alien, Ridley Scott seems oblivious to the fact that the more you fill in the Alien mythology, retconning furiously, the less scary, and more tiresome, it gets.
[ Added: ]
By endlessly embellishing the premise, backwards and sideways, Scott is somehow making the story less interesting. As with John Carpenter’s The Thing, the gaps, the unknowns, were a large part of the original film’s nightmarish effect. See also the remake of Battlestar Galactica, which had some remarkable early episodes and then buckled under the weight of the flabby and incoherent mythos subsequently bolted on.
Ping! And may your stock of weird but totally relevant blessings never fail.
Ping! And may your stock of weird but totally relevant blessings never fail.
Bless you, madam. May you discover a forgotten bottle of wine stashed in the dishwasher, which you never actually use for washing dishes and is instead full of takeaway menus, bin liners and unfathomable blender attachments.
Mary-Sue-ing
It’s fairly amazing to behold, actually. Many people will deny “Mary Sue” status or become outraged at the mere suggestion. Those that openly acknowledge they want a flawless female character in all their entertainment are at least honest in their aims, which is almost always to empower little girls and to make middle-aged women feel good about themselves.
So it’s worth examining if Mary Sues are actually uplifting to females and…they are quite the opposite. If you identify with a flawless movie character simply because you share the same nasty bits then you likely have a very fragile ego and tenuous grip on reality. As for little girls, the message is clear: you CANNOT have flaws or weaknesses because YOU’RE BETTER THAN THAT.
Overall this means lower quality entertainment in service of a counterproductive message. Woo hoo.
If you identify with a flawless movie character…
…you may fall into the trap of thinking you can succeed only if you are flawless.
…I was never a huge fan of Star Wars…
I enjoyed the first one, but never understood the mindset of adults who would go squeee! over the latest Star Wars (or Star Trek or whatever) movie. After all, they just movies and they’re generally not the most sophisticated and subtle of stories.
the dishwasher, which you never actually use for washing dishes
Is that a common thing in the UK, or are you revealing a small detail about your home life, David?
[ Exudes air of mystery. ]
pst314,
Agreed that some people get way too invested in entertainment, but the recent trend of ruining shows and movies due to politics and general incompetence is nearly as worrying as the destructive idiocy that infects universities. After all, not everyone goes to college (and not all who do are exposed to this nonsense) but millions upon millions consume this rotting media – which has outsized influence on the cultural zeitgeist.
BTW subtle and sophisticated =/= good or important. The Iliad, Dr Zhivago, Jane Austen novels, and Star Trek have all made profound impacts to certain people’s lives, for example.
I think I left out a few, but these analogies are getting too dark so I’ll stop now.
And you people twit me for watching Smallville.
Many people will deny “Mary Sue” status or become outraged at the mere suggestion.
When I have more time, I’ll opine on the Half as Hard, Twice as Good trope.
isn’t an educated middle-class woman in twenty-first century America, which would be much too humdrum
A friend of mine once described a similar person as “She’s trying so hard not to be ordinary”.
Many people will deny “Mary Sue” status or become outraged at the mere suggestion.
Making a character omnicompetent tends to limit any development, any arc. It’s hard to convey a sense of peril or accomplishment, a sense of things being earned. (See, for instance, Brie Larson’s one-note Captain Marvel, which isn’t so much a character as a pretext for an agenda.) You can just about get away with something approaching omnicompetence in Bond films because character development isn’t why people watch Bond films – and provided the way in which a trap is escaped and the villain defeated is suitably entertaining.
But in the recent Star Wars films, Rey goes from desert forager to puncher-of-men-much-bigger-than-she-is, plus ace pilot, plus ace engineer, plus mistress of the Force, all in a matter of minutes. How this instant and seemingly effortless success is supposed to be empowering, I’m not quite sure. I quite liked Daisy Ridley’s performance in The Force Awakens – I thought she was moderately charming – but the character’s unearned excellence at just about everything wasn’t helping on that front.
Sam, you will get no argument from me!
“the way in which a trap is escaped”
Like how Bosch used that guy’s eye socket as a bowling ball finger hole in epis…
Oh wait, spoilers.
So today was V-E Day, and not one fargin’ thing in the US media, even the innarwebs, about it. Pathetic.
So today was V-E Day, and not one fargin’ thing in the US media,…
Ironic given how the media has been telling us about how the far right fascists are one of the greatest threats we face today.
In some circles where V-E Day is still sacrosanct, there is a lot of focus on D-Day. This year is the 75th Anniversary of the Allied landing. My son plays in a Marching Band for teens. They are heading to England and France at the end of this month to play at official ceremonies at Juno Beach (we’re Canadian).
As part of their preparation, each member of the band is wearing the dog tags of a Canadian Soldier who fell during the invasion. They had to research, write and post a biography for their soldier. They will also attend the grave site of the soldier. There are around 200 Band Members, so that’s 200 soldiers who will be honoured.
In the grand scheme of things it’s a small number, but it’s these small efforts that will help keep the memories alive.
Steve E.
I’m heartened by this story. Bravo to your son and his band mates 👍🎶❤
When I have more time, I’ll opine on the Half as Hard, Twice as Good trope.
Well, don’t leave us hanging.
The phrase which came to my mind when trying to pin down why the performance was unsatisfying was “present, but not involved”.
“No, he’s not in trouble.”
The phrase which came to my mind when trying to pin down why the performance was unsatisfying was “present, but not involved”
I’m only familiar with Ms Larson’s acting in the Marvel films, but she seems rather limited in her range and devoid of anything approaching charisma. And in interviews, as herself, she’s vaguely obnoxious. Reliably so.
First time using Paypal. Hope it’s worked. 🙂
Hope it’s worked. 🙂
It has indeed. Bless you, sir. May you never know the dismay of breakfast cereal soddened with low-fat milk.
See, for instance, Brie Larson’s one-note Captain Marvel, which isn’t so much a character as a pretext for an agenda.
She’s not woke enough…
https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/sorry-brie-this-petition-demand-captain-marvel-be-a-gay-woman-of-color/
Just chucked a few coppers in your hat David.
Here’s a few titbits I’ve picked up this week…
A school in Washington D.C is becoming ‘whiter’, and apparently that’s a problem:
“.. The District is growing whiter, and the majority-white elementary schools that feed into Wilson have more students than ever. The school may become majority-white within a decade.”
The solution:
“Wilson should reserve seats to keep the school majority-minority. It must resist the racism of least friction.”
via Battle Beagle
Evidently, puberty has no effect on the human body:
“Deadspin, quoting a philosophy professor, argues that there is no scientific evidence puberty gives biological males any athletic advantages. Rather, this belief is “based entirely on social perceptions of gender.”
https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1126226674771795973
via Yeyo
The biter, bit:
https://twitter.com/OrwellNGoode/status/1126310578954412034
Just chucked a few coppers in your hat David.
Bless you, sir. May your car’s glove compartment contain only the thing you happen to need right now and not the usual landslide of sweet wrappers, sunglasses and accumulated crap.
Deadspin, quoting a philosophy professor, argues that there is no scientific evidence puberty gives biological males any athletic advantages. Rather, this belief is “based entirely on social perceptions of gender.”
At which point, one might say honk honk.
Deadspin, quoting a philosophy professor…
Not just any philosophy professor, a “World Champion Cyclist. Associate Professor, PhD. Tweets my own. Public Intellectual. Trans Woman, Queer Chick, Feminist.”
Not that this guy would in any way be biased or have an agenda, what with being a philosophy professor, female bike champion and all.
How this instant and seemingly effortless success is supposed to be empowering, I’m not quite sure.
Well, don’t leave us hanging.
Simplified version: stories for boys are The Hero’s Journey; stories for girls are Cinderella. Rey/Captain Marvel get given things just for existing rather than having to struggle or overcome anything, because that’s the equivalent of the fairy godmother giving them a dress and the Prince falling in love with them.
because that’s the equivalent of the fairy godmother giving them a dress and the Prince falling in love with them.
Heh.
[ Slides bag of crisps along bar. ]
Ignore the sell-by date.
…no scientific evidence puberty gives biological males any athletic advantages. Rather, this belief is “based entirely on social perceptions of gender.”
“When banal observations like “men and women are different heights” prompts the accusation that I’m both brainwashed and a Nazi, it’s clear that this was not good faith protest.”
The school may become majority-white within a decade.
Iceland bad, Turkmenistan good