Nolgroth

Oh crap!

That is an eerie photo Old Man. Poor folks.

Talk about a movie that didn't need a reboot....

Fair enough. Politics and I don't see eye to eye most times. Like almost everybody, I have my own bias and opinion. I also know that the boards are, proudly, Left leaning. We even had a discussion a few years back that included a "Where are you on the political spectrum" personality test. Most of our contemporaries proudly proclaimed their status as Left leaning. I am not going to change your hearts and minds and, to be quite frank, I value the opposing opinion. It keeps me honest and I respect that. For what it is worth, much of my recent opinion has been formed because I get to see the other side and that helps me pull back from the brink of my Jingoist tendencies. That doesn't mean that I won't call out something I see as outright intellectual dishonesty. Anybody here is welcome to their opinion, but when if I think it is wrong, I feel a need to say something. As far as other pursuits, I mean just about anything other than politics. Like I mentioned, our political ideologies are not going to often be changed here. Especially now, division wracks our nation and people are clinging to their comfort zones with all of their might. Why would I want to bat my head against that wall? I certainly have zero loyalty to the idiot in the POTUS office. I have less for my so-called elected, Republican, representatives in Congress. When I look across the aisle, I see people like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, both of whom I find detestable. Right now, all I see in the political field are enemies and very few neutrals. I don't see friendlies right now. I don't have some fanatical loyalty to anybody and the entire political scene right now is pretty soul crushing. I just think it is better to step back away from the whole Political discussion thread. It was by habit that I clicked on the link to bring me here and I have a lot of respect for you. Enough that I will not ignore a perfectly reasonable question. More specifically, I had to leave a very hostile work environment without the safety net of having a new job in place. It was either that or have a meltdown and probably beat the living crap out of the people that created that environment. So now, though I am starting to come down from that angry and hostile place in my head, I need to find a new job. Also, since I have some downtime, there is a project I want to try and finish before the end of September. Depends on how successful the job hunt is during that time. So without further ado, I am out. Let my twitch reflex reset itself and try to find that calm, reasonable voice again. I'll be back. I always come back. But for now I want to focus on the other topics here on the boards.

It's only "false" because of personal bias. Whatever. The phrase "false equivalency" is already becoming a tired refuge for the Left to hide behind. I could argue that Fox News and Rush Limbaugh are stringent Trump supporters but he has his detractors on the Right as well. Some of the Far Right criticize him for not being Conservative enough or for tangling too much in foreign affairs or for....the list goes on. I could call out the portrayal of all Right-wing media being devout fanatics in the Cult of Trump's personality as an outright false narrative. I could do that, but it isn't going to change hearts and minds. Quite frankly I have better things to spend my energy on. I am not a Trump supporter so I am not going to engage on his behalf. No horse in that race. Obama, who I never cared for, is no longer President and attacking him is not necessary. Whatever good or ill he did for the nation is done. Arguing about relative press relations is a pointless venture from my point of view. I stand by the statement in the message you quoted and I'll leave it at that. I rather like to continue having our non-political discussions stay friendly and politics has a way of creating rifts where there should not be any. Come to think of it, barring any specific legislation that would negatively impact my life, this whole presidential term is kind of a wash for me. I should really focus on other pursuits anyway.

Monsters - Watching this directly after Europa Report as one reviewer online indicated it was a direct sequel. The creatures look similar, but I'm not buying the direct link. I'm thinking head canon on the reviewers part. That said, great movie that was full of action, a little bit of humor, and some pretty good drama. There were parts of it that I did not like. They almost seemed like Plot Convenience Theater. Still, for the most part I thought it was pretty darn good. Couldn't be further from my opinion of Europa Report. I only wish Monsters: Dark Continent was on Netflix, as I understand that it is a sequel to Monsters. Gangs of New York - I am a sucker for period piece movies like this and I was impressed the first time I watched it. I think I enjoyed it even more this time.

I skipped through, more than watched, Europa Report. I didn't like it. As a found footage film, I had to expect what was going to happen but it still annoyed me. Movie was very long, even with a running time of 90 minutes, many of which I skipped over. EDIT: Deleted the cranky, half-delusional rantings from earlier.

Wait! There's a problem with using a fork to get a slice of bread out of a toaster? Why wasn't I informed of this!?

Cabin fever is starting to kick in. I've tried sleep, video games. watching movies (started like three before turning them all off), and chores. I feel antsy and discontented. I can't even think about developing many of my hanging roleplaying projects. Bah humbug!

Is that Mandela Effect hitting me again, because I remember 8 years or so where the most of the news agencies practically worshiped President Obama. This is really nothing new. Left-leaning media supports Left-leaning political figures and Right- leaning media supports Right-leaning political figures. That same cartoon above could have easily been about Obama and CNN. I guess I just don't get the angst.

At least it's a dry heat! - Hudson, from Aliens Sorry to hear about your cooler. Our A/C went down on one of those 105+ days and it took most of two days to get it fixed. We resorted to fans, cold showers, and freezing our t-shirts to get through it.

For the first time in my life, quitting a job eased my anxiety rather than created more of it.

I think the DCEU failed when the thread about it became about James Bond instead. Just sayin'.

Gah. It's bad enough that a major catastrophe hits. Do these jacktards use this as an opportunity to come together and do some good? Nope. They sail right into the storm of racist stupidity. Great job guys.

I also think that, for all but the most jaded and cynical of us, having an elected leader on the ground is a powerful symbol that leadership acknowledges the problem and an implied comfort that they will do something to fix that. The jaded among us wonder how much money will eventually line that politician's pocket when all is said and done.

We all cope with ignorance in our own ways. I, for instance, laugh bitterly and point at the idiots on parade. Not that I would always agree with you on who is ignorant, of course, but I think we can agree that the guy in the first link you posted is bonkers.

I blame the Mandela Effect. I've even experienced it, to whit... From Wikipedia... The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States on April 19, 1995... The thing is, I was in the Army during that time frame and I clearly remember driving home from college courses when I heard the news. The song Lightning Crashes was played as some sort of tribute/coping mechanism on the radio. Lightning Crashes wasn't released until 1994. I went to college in 1992 and this event is what spurred me to join the frickin' Army in 1993. Obviously the dates are the dates and somehow I am misremembering the events somehow, but my memory is rock solid in regards to the cause/effect this event had on my decision. My recollection is so strong, in fact, that it is hard for me to picture not having crossed over into an alternate reality.

Netflix's Death Note. I know it is based on a Japanese manga and/or anime property, but since I have little interest in either of those, this was the only way I would get to enjoy the story. That fact also means that the inevitable comparisons between the original work and this one will be completely lost on me. I got to experience it for what it is, not through the lens of a fanboy of the original work. Pretty interesting but nothing groundbreaking. I expected a twist or two based entirely on the concept of writing notes, almost like one-sided micro contracts, into a book. Well acted. There was some slow at the beginning, but it quickly picked up momentum. I enjoyed it. Definitely recommend if you have a spare couple of hours (actually less than two).

Yeah, Space Virus Vampir....er....Lifeforce was a pretty good flick. I enjoyed it for what it was and probably drew inspiration, at least subconsciously, from it. Sorry to hear about Mr Hooper.

In my Gemini Ascendant campaign, Hyperspace was called The Void and it had a sort of sentience to it. This powerful, if disjointed, mentality manifested as feelings of being watched or strong emotions that carried over to the people traveling. Psionically active people had to be sedated during travels through the Void or risk going mad. Insofar as physical objects, there was a persistent spacer legend about a mass of broken ships without the ability to open the portal to real space that banded together to form a makeshift space station somewhere in the Void. The players never got the chance to find out if it were real or just legend. The campaign went another way. There was also "debris left behind by failed journeys," though it was very rare to encounter that kind of debris. The Void almost seemed to have a current to it and there were a few reported (but not verified) cases of Void gates opening without the direct instigation of any nearby vessels. No direct purge of debris was observed, but the galaxy is a huge and largely unexplored place. There may well be dump spots where the Void dumps the debris back into real space.

It might be a stretch, but Difficult to Dispel seems like a good prototype for a Difficult to Heal effect. Failing that, an attack that Triggers when a healing power is used. The Hero literally risks killing the victim whenever they try to heal them.

On a less bad note, Hero of the day: https://twitter.com/shane_bauer/status/901910682030882816 I'm guessing that the brave person shielding the victim of that attack does NOT agree with his ideology but chose to place herself in danger to protect him. What an awesome person. I have to bow out of the Antifa discussion though. In a moment of epiphany, I realize that I do indeed hate them as much as I do the fascist scumbags. I cannot look at that topic with anything close to objectivity.

Jealous.

Fortunately, I have another job. Unfortunately, it comes with a pay cut. Now, instead of job related stress, I'll have financial stress. Going to really have to trim fat and tighten the belt but I think that life will be better now.