Nolgroth

Good for Ms. Larson. It IS a tired concept, leastways I'm tired of it. I was very happy that Wonder Woman did so well. Maybe we can ditch the whole "lady leads are for rom coms" attitude and embrace that females can play up just about any type of role. 

Nope.

It was a joke, but not a very good one. I was referencing "oops, I made a poopy". 
I'm perfectly content, given the policy aspirations of this administration, for them to continue their track record of success. I just wish they'd be less public about it, as it's in my opinion an embarrassment to the office.

My level of surprise about all that the video discussed is in the slight blip between 0 and 0.1. 
 
Spock's previously unmentioned step-sister? I never thought it was possible to jump the shark before the first episode even airs. I think STD just managed to do it.
 
But to be positive, that space suit armor thing looks pretty neat. And....yeah, that's all I got.

Good for Ms. Larson. It IS a tired concept, leastways I'm tired of it. I was very happy that Wonder Woman did so well. Maybe we can ditch the whole "lady leads are for rom coms" attitude and embrace that females can play up just about any type of role. 

Spriggan! *daedric sword of frostfire it to death*

Realistically, short of crapping his pants and giggling, "Oops I made a poopy!" I doubt that Trump is going to be removed because of his relative ability. More's the pity.

Back to '84/'85 for me,
 
Real Genius--a great popcorn flick.
 
Police Academy--I like Hightower's solution to car seats.

In order to do "proper" Espionage, impersonation alone might not be enough. You need to take out the person you plan on inpersonating. What if comitting violence (and taking someones live in particular) starts a slow "rotting" process? The ones in the secret service are willing to risk certain death, in exchange for the safety of their species.
 
It reminds me of something I watched:
The Delvians from Farscape had to overcome their agressiveness, or risk going insane. Having red eyes was a warning sign that they were gone too far:
http://farscape.wikia.com/wiki/Zotoh_Zhaan
http://farscape.wikia.com/wiki/Delvian
http://farscape.wikia.com/wiki/Rhapsody_in_Blue
 
Also the Liir from Sword of the Stars are somewhat similar. Being telepathic, taking a live is abhorent to them. Yet they still have a space navy. People that join the Navy are called "Black Swimmers" and considerd dead for their people upon joining - going as far as having a funeral.
"Do not expect to face a peaceful and idyllic race in battle.
The beings who helm the starships of the Liir navy count themselves among the dead.
They are not Liir — they are everything which is not Liir.
They are ruthlessness, they are destruction, they are death-dealers and plague-bearers.
They have become one with the black sea, deafened by its darkness — the void swallows all sound and they cannot hear you screaming."
http://swordofthestars.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Liir_Military
http://swordofthestars.wikia.com/wiki/The_Black_Swimmers

I believe that this is the entire problem CBS has with Trek right now. 
 
They are dishonest in both intent and how they deal with the existing fan base,, they repeatedly say one thing and do a completely different thing.  And then make believe it never happened. 
 
Is Star Trek (TV) their IP?  Yes. 
Can they do what ever they want with it?  Absolutely.
Is announcing the intent to do one thing and then doing something completely different a good sales tactic?  Nope, In the real world that is known as Bait & Switch and is considered a con.
 
The Prime Universe timeline has existed for over 50 years and has been embraced by millions.  Even when the original show had been written off as a failure, the fans were there and those same fans embraced and launched the moves and then TNG and the rest.   When they created the new movies (Kelvin timeline) some liked it some didn't, but the only controversy was the controversy generated by magazines and web-blogs desperate for clicks.
 
In this case CBS announced that the new series would continue in the existing Prime timeline ten years before TOS and then immediately changed everything.  Literally everything.
 
Like Twilight tried to transform Vampires from ancient evil entities into glitter dusted boytoys, the first look at STD has the hardened no nonsense Klingon warrior race transformed into pimped out somethings.  Their equipment went from tough utilitarian tools and weapons to gaudy for gaudy's sake. 
 
All technology follows functional reasoning.  Form follows function.  That is why there are so few overall changes.  A ship today and a ship built in the 1800's is still recognizable as a ship, with the biggest noticeable change being masts and sails.   But overall if you line them up, you can easily trace the evolution of the ship from the past to present. 
 
Fictional settings are not different.  You pick the parameters of the rubber science and go.  TOS was created in a TV era where continuity wasn't a thing and no effort was expended to try and make things fit.  But they did establish a few general "rules".   When the movies sparked Treks return the new series (TNG, DS9, etc) did try to maintain continuity and did so.  Each new series adding to the "rules" and the canon.  When they did ENT they realized that a major issue was blending into the timeline when TOS on screen tech was obviously behind real world current tech.  They set the new series 100 before TOS.  But even with the visual update the overall ship designs and uniforms did look like they could have been before TOS.  Any fan could take the ships and draw a progressing line from ENT to TOS to TNG to DS9 to VOY.  Fudging a little to compensate for Hollywood Tech they all still held up. 
 
But here comes STD.  Ten years before TOS and the ship design does not fit anywhere.  There is no path from ENT to STD to TOS. 
 
If they would have been honest up front and said they were creating a new stand alone Trek then they might have succeeded.  Fans would watch a new reboot for all the lamentations for a fans favorite series.   But they didn't.
 
1) They say that Axanar is great, and then when it looks to be a massive hit, they reversed and killed it.
 
2) They see Trek fans as a collective herd of stupid idiots who will automatically hand them money so they pander with the Bait & Switch promise about the Prime timeline.
 
3) They blithefully intone "Ignore our lies and subscribe to a web stream for only one show that isn't what we promised". 
 
4) They repeatedly make believe 1 through 3 didn't happen and anyone that doesn't like being mislead is a whiner, ensuring anyone that was on the fence gets pissed off and leaves.

Too late. 

But said president had trusted handlers who carefully vetted everything he said in public beforehand. Donald Trump has no handlers, nor any self-editorial function between his brain and his mouth.
 
His defenders' excuse for his latest remarks, as has often been the case, is, "It was a joke." He and they have to learn that every word out of the mouth of the President of the United States carries weight for everyone in the world, because everyone in the world is affected by him. His words will always be noted, scrutinized, and weighed, for clues to who he is and what he's going to do. Careless words will inflame passions and change people's course of action. And if we're supposed to treat everything provocative he says as a joke, the man himself will be treated as a joke.

As for me, I'm not watching this and I hope it dies. After what CBS and paramount did to Axanar I won't give either a cent.

When I'm in the shower
I'm afraid to wash my hair
I might open my eyes
And find someone standing there

When I'm in the shower
I'm afraid to wash my hair
I might open my eyes
And find someone standing there

To pretend that either side has some sort of moral superiority is flat out disingenuous. Both sides are responsible for where we are now. People from both sides have done reprehensible things. There is a distinct climate of "Us vs. Them" on both sides. The only difference as to who the bad guy is lies solely where you decide to define your allegiance.  It is so hard to pick a side when I see ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD GUYS in American politics. I see no good guys from the activists on either side. There may be some out there, but I'll be damned if I can name a single political entity that I consider morally good. Near as I can tell, the only good comes accidentally. The same goes for the media. I have watched bastions of Liberal thought and die hard Conservative media. Again, the only difference is who claims victory in an exchange and who has the fingers of self-entitled indignation pointed at them.
 
I can say a lot more but the simple truth of the matter is that people are looking for somebody to blame and hate for all the ills (real and imagined) that have been visited upon them. The dehumanization of the other side is so damn easy right this moment because of that. Just remember that the average Liberal and the average Conservative could likely meet up a restaurant, have dinner, talk about whatever recent sporting event they attended and then go home without ever realizing how different their political views are. I like to think that, without this thread, all of us would see the better parts of each other rather than the parts we decide to alienate. Yeah...I'll leave it there.

Espionage: There's Merle Rasmussen's Top Secret: New World Order on Kickstarter. And of course there's Classified (a James Bond retroclone, updated for modern tech), as well as DWD Studios' Covert Ops.
 
Post Apocalypse: Goblinoid Games has Mutant Future and Goodman Games has the current edition of Metamorphosis Alpha.
 
There have been several westerns recently. Aces & Eights has been mentioned, and there was another recent one. But the biggie to me is that the award-winning Swedish role-playing game Western is finally getting an English translation via Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1152089861/western-the-roleplaying-game
 
I'm sure there are others, but it's hard to keep up with the plethora of new products coming out all the time. The barriers to entry are so low in this market, we get tons of new product all the time, and they tend to stay around forever now, one way or another.

I believe the shadowrun thing is called Bright.

It'll be on Netflix outside the US. If you're in the US, you're stuck with the CBS streaming service. I plan to wait until the CBS service fails, then watch it when it finally makes it to US Netflix.

Part of it, for me, was the same reason I want to punch Chris Pine in most of the stuff he does. Wonder Woman was okay but I have not seen him elsewhere that doesn't "rub me wrong."

Hopefully we can get a Highlander or other immortal person series where the actor on screen looks the same for 20 years. Heck even a comic book series where the same voice actor provides the voice for an unchanging character for a long time. I could get behind that concept.

I have seldom wanted to punch an actor as badly as I wanted to punch Gary Cole. Not sure what it was, but everything about his performance rubbed me the wrong way.

I recall an old article by Stan Lee where he commented on fans who, whenever Marvel published a book that did not work out, accused them of "Letting down the fans", but whenever they published a hit, accused them of "Just grabbing the cash".
 
You can't have it both ways. "Fan service" is "customer service" is "giving the people what they want".

Watched some clips from different seasons of America's/Britain's Got Talent. Was especially touched by a deaf girl (Mandy something) getting, what I can only assume, was some sort of special bonus for her performance. There was a big gold button and a lot of confetti anyways. I have that video saved for when I feel really dark. It was like a little ray of hope on a gloomy, desolate day.
 
Also enjoyed performances by a really beautiful woman named Alice Fredenam, who called back to old school lounge singers, and this black guy sporting serious dreads that knocked Sinatra's "Under My Skin" out of the proverbial park. Almost makes me think I should start tracking down the shows and watching them live. A lot of good talent there. Of course, I'm really envious because I can't carry a tune with a wheelbarrow. One of the Universe's most twisted mockeries, I love music but have zero rhythm or talent.