I hate place-holder code

dhromed

@Mason Wheeler said:

@serguey123 said:
@morbiuswilters said:
he end of the 4th season is utter shit.
We could make a law about this Length of Tv series inversely proportional to quality of ending or something like that

With Star Trek: TNG as the exception that proves the rule?

And SGU which was only 2 seasons and began rolling steeply downhill about 4 episodes into S2.

I really really really hated that stiff-ass Lucian Alliance tuff guy.

Oh, but wait! I really shouldn't discount the Grand Vengeance near the end. That was really fucking awesome. I don't want to do spoilers. You should probably go watch SGU entirely just for the character buildup to give that arc the impact that it should have. It's only 2 seasons. Y'all can do it. I have faith in you.

blakeyrat

@serguey123 said:

@da Doctah said:
I'd be interested in your take on Journey to the West. Ostensibly about a monk retrieving a set of sacred texts, the bulk of it is taken up with a digression into the adventures of his secondary characters

That is why people watch Saiyuki instead ;)

Monkey Magic is obviously the best adaptation. Mostly due to the theme song.

morbiuswilters

@boomzilla said:

The first time reading through, though, I couldn't keep Sauron and Saruman straight.

I had no problem with this. I dunno, Merry and Pippin seemed interchangeable to me.

@boomzilla said:

I cannot reconcile these two statements. The geography and the songs and everything else makes the world seem so much more than the tiny glimpse you get in the movies.

I'm not talking about tedious explanations of hobbit history. What I'm saying is that the movies set a tone which made the battle for Middle Earth seem epic. With the books, the whole thing felt so insignificant. I really didn't care if they stopped Sauron or not.

morbiuswilters

@serguey123 said:

@morbiuswilters said:
@serguey123 said:
@morbiuswilters said:
I couldn't keep Merry and Pippin straight

I always had my suspicion that they weren't

Oh no, serguey tried the veal!!

More Godfather's references?

boomzilla always adds a "try the veal" tag when he makes a lame joke. You made a lame joke, so I assumed you had eaten the proverbial veal.

dhromed

@morbiuswilters said:

@Anketam said:
Yet sci-fi geeks love to watch Big Bang Theory

I don't know any who do; it's a pretty awful show.

I regularly lol'd at it.

The first episode I caught didn't do much for me, because yes, the ooh nerrds pitch is pretty silly. But the humor itself is time- and genre-less and works just fine. I really don't see a problem with it.

dhromed

@boomzilla said:

The first time reading through, though, I couldn't keep Sauron and Saruman straight.

Me too!

@boomzilla said:

I had a similar experience with all of the Russian names in War and Peace.

For some reason, I have trouble when too many people are indirectly referenced in a sentence, as in:

"I told him that Joe needed to help me get him out of her clutches," she said

WHO IS WHO I DON'T KNOW

dhromed

Guys, I'm going to change my icon when I hit 10,000 posts.

serguey123

@morbiuswilters said:

I don't know any who do

I watched the first episodes, it was ok, then it went bad, really fast...
@morbiuswilters said:

it's a pretty awful show.

It also has a laugh track *rage

@morbiuswilters said:

boomzilla always adds a "try the veal" tag when he makes a lame joke.

Did not notice that

@morbiuswilters said:

You made a lame joke, so I assumed you had eaten the proverbial veal

Ohh, then is the Vegas thing. When I googled the result there were two types of hits: lame comedians and a Godfather youtube clip

rstinejr

@serguey123 said:

@morbiuswilters said:
You made a lame joke, so I assumed you had eaten the proverbial veal

Ohh, then is the Vegas thing. When I googled the result there were two types of hits: lame comedians and a Godfather youtube clip

I think it's a Borscht Belt thing? Stand-up comedians performing there purportedly would end their routines with "I'll be here all week. Tip the waiters, order the veal!"

But I could have that totally wrong; I grew up in the deep south, a place very different from the north east.

dhromed

@serguey123 said:

It also has a laugh track *rage

I believe most of these comedies are filmed before an audience, just like the Cosby Show, The Fresh Prince, Will & Grace, Home Improvement. So it's not canned laughter.

If you want fucking inane laugh tracks, try the old Scooby Doo cartoons. AFAIK They don't do shit like that anymore unless it's for ~~ironic~~ sarcastic purposes.

serguey123

@dhromed said:

it's not canned laughter.

So.. wait, do they torture the audience? Pay them? Slip laughing gas? Because some of those jokes are lame.

dhromed

@serguey123 said:

some of those jokes are lame.

The veal is worse.

Cassidy

@dhromed said:

OK guys, now talk about Dr Who, and that new Sherlock series that pretty much every tumblerer is such a fan of.

Moffet has fucked up Dr Who but excelled with Sherlock. I can't get my head around Matt Smith as the doc, he seems too foppish.

@dhromed said:

I already saw the first episode of Dexter. Two months ago.

I was going to ask you what you thought, but resisted the temptation to give anything away.

Last season was utter utter brilliant. It's not just Dexter, but the supporting characters that make it a rounded story.

morbiuswilters

@dhromed said:

But the humor itself is time- and genre-less and works just fine. I really don't see a problem with it.

I've seen maybe a dozen episodes. It seemed like boilerplate sitcom schlock. But, hey, if you like it, that's fine.

morbiuswilters

@dhromed said:

Guys, I'm going to change my icon when I hit 10,000 posts.

I'll be happy to welcome you there.

To 10,000 posts, that is.

Since I will be the first to 10,000.

PJH

@serguey123 said:

but Star Trek has been a dissapointment so far, Galaxy Quest on the other hand

Galaxy Quest? The film or was there a book, or (god forbid if they're like the film) a series? I found the storyline in the film somewhat.... crap. I know I've made my 'book to film' opinions public, but if GQ was a book I'd not be tempted to buy or borrow it.

da_Doctah

@serguey123 said:

@morbiuswilters said:
I couldn't keep Merry and Pippin straight
I always had my suspicion that they weren't

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!

@serguey123 said:

@da Doctah said:
Sort of like if you inserted sixteen hours of Wookiee history into the middle of The Empire Strikes Back.
They kind of did that in the Extended Universe.

That'd be where Harvey Korman did a cooking segment in drag and Bea Arthur ran the Mos Eisley cantina?

dhromed

@PJH said:

Galaxy Quest

was awesome.

dhromed

@morbiuswilters said:

@dhromed said:
Guys, I'm going to change my icon when I hit 10,000 posts.

I'll be happy to welcome you there.

To 10,000 posts, that is.

Since I will be the first to 10,000.

I see. So this is what it has come to.

...

(80's wave blur effect)

...

I lower my hat, my frown draped in shadow.

The camera cuts to the hip, fingers tensely hovering at the holster.

Short time-lapse of shadows growing shorter as noon approaches.

Slow low panning shot of the street. A single tumbleweed rolls in and out of the picture.

Cut to the church's clock, crisply announcing each second. Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock...

morbiuswilters

@dhromed said:

I see. So this is what it has come to.
...
(80's wave blur effect)
...
I lower my hat, my frown draped in shadow.
The camera cuts to the hip, fingers tensely hovering at the holster.
Short time-lapse of shadows growing shorter as noon approaches.
Slow low panning shot of the street. A single tumbleweed rolls in and out of the picture.
Cut to the church's clock, crisply announcing each second. Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock...

What's more likely is that I'll pass you at around 8200, then vanish for another 3 years. When I come back, you'll be over 20k and Blakeyrat will have transcended space and time to become a being of pure energy and disgruntlement.

blakeyrat

@morbiuswilters said:

What's more likely is that I'll pass you at around 8200, then vanish for another 3 years. When I come back, you'll be over 20k and Blakeyrat will have transcended space and time to become a being of pure energy and disgruntlement.

dhromed

@blakeyrat said:

@morbiuswilters said:
What's more likely is that I'll pass you at around 8200, then vanish for another 3 years. When I come back, you'll be over 20k and Blakeyrat will have transcended space and time to become a being of pure energy and disgruntlement.

I had no idea you posted this yourself because I didn't recognize the icon!

Nagilum wins some kind of prize for the worst graphics effect.

blakeyrat

@dhromed said:

Nagilum wins some kind of prize for the worst graphics effect.

He's number 8 on the Topless Robot list.

dhromed

@blakeyrat said:

@dhromed said:
Nagilum wins some kind of prize for the worst graphics effect.

He's number 8 on the Topless Robot list.

Sweet.

serguey123

@da Doctah said:

That'd be where Harvey Korman did a cooking segment in drag and Bea Arthur ran the Mos Eisley cantina?

Way worst. http://io9.com/5809073/the-weirdest-stories-and-moments-from-the-star-wars-extended-universe

token_woman

@morbiuswilters said:

I'm a man, so I never read the book

@morbiuswilters said:

It's a decent movie but far too prolix.

Outta here, Wintergreen. No-one who doesn't read says "prolix".

RTapeLoadingError

@token_woman said:

@morbiuswilters said:
I'm a man, so I never read the book
@morbiuswilters said:
It's a decent movie but far too prolix.
Outta here, Wintergreen. No-one who doesn't read says "prolix".

Is this a black eye or a feather in your cap?

error

@RTapeLoadingError said:

@token_woman said:
@morbiuswilters said:
I'm a man, so I never read the book
@morbiuswilters said:
It's a decent movie but far too prolix.
Outta here, Wintergreen. No-one who doesn't read says "prolix".

Is this a black eye or a feather in your cap?

T. S. Eliot.

Kittemon

@blakeyrat said:

@morbiuswilters said:
What's more likely is that I'll pass you at around 8200, then vanish for another 3 years. When I come back, you'll be over 20k and Blakeyrat will have transcended space and time to become a being of pure energy and disgruntlement.

Puma Kola projectile spew at monitor, barely averted

RTapeLoadingError

@joe.edwards said:

@RTapeLoadingError said:
@token_woman said:
@morbiuswilters said:
I'm a man, so I never read the book
@morbiuswilters said:
It's a decent movie but far too prolix.
Outta here, Wintergreen. No-one who doesn't read says "prolix".
Is this a black eye or a feather in your cap?

T. S. Eliot.

I'm confused - are we playing the same game?

error

	"T. S. Eliot," ex-P. F. C. Wintergreen said in his mail-sorting
cubicle at Twenty-seventh Air Force Headquarters and slammed down the
telephone without identifying himself.

	Colonel Cargill, in Rome, was perplexed.

	"Who was it?" asked General Peckem.

	"I don't know," Colonel Cargill replied.

	"What did he want?" "I don't know."

	"Well, what did he say?"

	" 'T. S. Eliot'," Colonel Cargill informed him.

	"What's that?"

	"'T. S. Eliot'," Colonel Cargill repeated.

	"Just 'T. S. -"'

	"Yes, sir. That's all he said. Just 'T. S. Eliot'."

	"I wonder what it means," General Peckem reflected. Colonel
Cargill wondered, too. "T. S. Eliot," General Peckem mused.

	"T. S. Eliot," Colonel Cargill echoed with the same funereal
puzzlement.

	General Peckem roused himself after a moment with an unctuous and
benignant smile. His expression was shrewd and sophisticated. His eyes
gleamed maliciously. "Have someone get me General Dreedle," he requested
Colonel Cargill. "Don't let him know who's calling." Colonel Cargill
handed him the phone.

	"T. S. Eliot," General Peckem said, and hung up.

	"Who was it?" asked Colonel Moodus. General Dreedle, in Corsica, 
did not reply. Colonel Moodus was General Dreedle's son-in- law, and 
General Dreedle, at the insistence of his wife and against his own better 
judgment, had taken him into the military business.  General Dreedle gazed 
at Colonel Moodus with level hatred. He detested the very sight of his 
son-in-law, who was his aide and therefore in constant attendance upon 
him. He had opposed his daughter's marriage to Colonel Moodus because he 
disliked attending weddings. Wearing a menacing and pre-occupied scowl, 
General Dreedle moved to the full-length mirror in his office and stared 
at his stocky reflection. He had a grizzled, broad-browed head with 
iron-grey tufts over his eyes and a blunt and belligerent jaw. He brooded 
in ponderous speculation over the cryptic message he had just received. 
Slowly his face softened with an idea, and he curled his lips with wicked 
pleasure.

	"Get Peckem," he told Colonel Moodus. "Don't let the bastard know
who's calling."

	"Who was it?" asked Colonel Cargill, back in Rome.

	"That same person," General Peckem replied with a definite trace
of alarm.  "Now he's after me."

	"What did he want?"

	"I don't know."

	"What did he say?"

	"The same thing."

	"'T.S.Eliot'?"

	"Yes, 'T.S.Eliot'.? That's all he said." General Peckem had a
hopeful thought. "Perhaps it's a new code or something, like the colors of
the day. Why don't you have someone check with Communications and see if
it's a new code or something or the colors of the day?"  Communications
answered that T. S. Eliot was not a new code or the colors of the day.

	Colonel Cargill had the next idea. "Maybe I ought to phone
Twenty-seventh Air Force Headquarters and see if they know anything about
it. They have a clerk up there named Wintergreen I'm pretty close to. He's
the one who tipped me off that our prose was too prolix."

RTapeLoadingError

@joe.edwards said:

"T. S. Eliot," ex-P. F. C. Wintergreen said...

Fair enough, you win joe.

PM me your address and I'll mail you the trophy.

dhromed

I so loved that book.

serguey123

@serguey123 said:

@Cassidy said:
Catch the latest film, the reboot. I thought it pretty good.

Sure I'll add it to my list but Star Trek has been a dissapointment so far

I watched the film the other day and here are my impressions but first a disclaimer

Disclaimer: I'm a sci fi fan but not a Star Trek fan so my opinion is biased but torn between my love for the genre and my indifference toward the series.

The good: Hmmm... I guess I can call it a satisfactory experience in absent minded kind of way with big explosions, gritty blue tinted scenes and lots of lens flare, also some good CGI and a big budget. So if you have nothing better to do and turn off your brain it can be tolerated.

However if you turn on your brain you might notice some stuff, for example:

They sent both Spock and Kirk to the same planet and within walking distance of each other... of all the planets in the fucking galaxy... seriously? Do all transporters have the same software provider? Do they have a default "SEND PRISIONER" setting coded by a lazy programmer with a hardcoded set of coordinates?

Scotty makes ship travel obsolete by creating the super transporter, so the crew of TNG in this universe are fucking hipsters... on second thought this explains so much.

The mediocre: The whole movie is another atempt by Hollywood to cash in like all recent superhero movies and Hasbro's toyline merchandise, the saddest thing is that it kind of worked as it generated the most revenue (even adjusting for inflation) of all the other Star Trek movies. The whole thing seems soulless.

The bad: Do I have to go there?

PJH

@serguey123 said:

The good: Hmmm... I guess I can call it a satisfactory experience in absent
minded kind of way with big explosions

Explosions? In space? Did you hear stuff exploding or just see it? (Cue TV Tropes....)

Anketam

@serguey123 said:

@serguey123 said:
@Cassidy said:
Catch the latest film, the reboot. I thought it pretty good.
Sure I'll add it to my list but Star Trek has been a dissapointment so far
I watched the film the other day and here are my impressions but first a disclaimer

Disclaimer: I'm a sci fi fan but not a Star Trek fan so my opinion is biased but torn between my love for the genre and my indifference toward the series.

The good: Hmmm... I guess I can call it a satisfactory experience in absent minded kind of way with big explosions, gritty blue tinted scenes and lots of lens flare, also some good CGI and a big budget. So if you have nothing better to do and turn off your brain it can be tolerated.

However if you turn on your brain you might notice some stuff, for example:

They sent both Spock and Kirk to the same planet and within walking distance of each other... of all the planets in the fucking galaxy... seriously? Do all transporters have the same software provider? Do they have a default "SEND PRISIONER" setting coded by a lazy programmer with a hardcoded set of coordinates?

Scotty makes ship travel obsolete by creating the super transporter, so the crew of TNG in this universe are fucking hipsters... on second thought this explains so much.

The mediocre: The whole movie is another atempt by Hollywood to cash in like all recent superhero movies and Hasbro's toyline merchandise, the saddest thing is that it kind of worked as it generated the most revenue (even adjusting for inflation) of all the other Star Trek movies. The whole thing seems soulless.

The bad: Do I have to go there?

You dont have to, but I would love to see 3 pages of posts of people ranting about it. Using artificial black hole technology to stop a super nova, seriously? That is like using a magnet to stop the shrapnel from an exploding grenade.

Anketam

I just had a fridge horror moment thinking about using the black hole technology on the explosion. For the sake of argument lets say it magicly worked and sucked in the entire galaxy threatening explosion. That same black hole sent spock and friends back in time... so should it not have sent the explosion back in time too, thus creating a paradox of death and doom for the entire galaxy?

blakeyrat

You should maybe just relax.

dhromed

@serguey123 said:

Scotty makes ship travel obsolete by creating the super transporter,

Wait did I miss that part?

I missed that entire part.

serguey123

@Anketam said:

That same black hole sent spock and friends back in time... so should it not have sent the explosion back in time too, thus creating a paradox of death and doom for the entire galaxy?

Maybe blackholes work like an upgraded version of time travel in the Terminator movies.

serguey123

@dhromed said:

@serguey123 said:
Scotty makes ship travel obsolete by creating the super transporter,

Wait did I miss that part?
I missed that entire part.

Not sure if you are being serious, however a short recap.

Transporters are a star trek gimmick to send matter but it only has a short range, that is why there are still ships in the Star Trek universe, however in this movie, Scotty sends Kirk into the ship while in warp so the ship is frikking far away, a few years of R&D to work out the kinks and you don't need ships anymore, so basically in that universe star ships got obsolete as medium of travel

Cassidy

@dhromed said:

@serguey123 said:
Scotty makes ship travel obsolete by creating the super transporter,

Wait did I miss that part?
I missed that entire part.

It was the "Simon Pegg is the weakest link in this film" bit - in conjunction where even those most avid fanbois had to shake their heads in disbelief.

dhromed

@serguey123 said:

Not sure if you are being serious

Why would I not be serious? You don't remember everything about a movie, several years after you've seen it. It happens. It's less common if it's a weird thing like you describe, but then it still happens.

I personally remember the ridiculous red Hoth-planet beast best. And the dumbass supermassive material or whatever the fuck it was. And the scene where they kill the Romulan council or something.

Aaand that's about it. I barely remember their faces.

I think you can tell I didn't think it was a very impressive movie.