Joe Walsh

As mentioned upthread, I still think in Hero, but have had little time for gaming.  Hero has ruined me for all other game systems; I'm in a monthly 5e campaign over Zoom and although it's the best version of D&D since Expert, it's still clumsy and janky by comparison.

I'm surprised nobody's commented on She Hulk yet. Saw the first episode last night. Liked it. CGI looked better in the show than the trailers, IMO. 

Weeelll... while that's definitely possible, there are other explanations. One likely explanation is that Trump is lying, trying to drum up more outrage from his base to fuel their willingness to donate to his "defense." Another is that those passports were diplomatic documents from Trump's time as President, and therefore legally belong in the government's presidential archives.
 
But Old Man's assumption is very plausible, and shared by many in all media. If the FBI deliberately confiscated Trump's passports to keep him from fleeing, that would suggest the federal investigation into his activities is close to laying serious charges.

After reviewing the character sheet with friend, she gave me some great feedback. Notably, being able to read the headings and having the character portrait on the right instead of left. I think the final product came out well...hopefully it will attract new players to Hero System.

Takeaways from yesterday's Variety article:
Batgirl was shot for streaming, not theaters, leading to the poor screening results Reshooting Batgirl for theatrical release would be too expensive DC streaming releases appear to be almost entirely dead because Zaslav is an idiot The cancellation of Batgirl has pissed off the exec in charge of the DCEU No one else wants the job, which is viewed as toxic (see Miller, Ezra) Tl;dr: It's not looking optimistic for the DCEU.
 

I would say "we don't want to spend years building up viewers trust, we want their money now".

Bookmark skipping 16 minutes on Ezra's weird behavior, going to Zaslov's comments:
 

Xanadu and Grease...in honor of the memory of Olivia Newton John.

Reactionary philosophy...nobody has the right to tell me what to do, but I have the right to tell you what to do. It explains a lot.

For those of us who don't have 3 hours and 10 minutes, any time codes where the fascinating bits are?

This board needs a laugh-cry reaction option.

This board needs a laugh-cry reaction option.

Welcome to The Jungle.

OK, fair enough.  Flip side:  when we know that any efforts to interfere with the pursuit of every last buck, are made as difficult as possible, why is it surprising that so much does get by for so long? 

We need to send MREs. They'll likely defect to Ukraine for them.

That attitude was why I walked out on my job last year and turned down repeated attempts to get me back.

By waste, do you mean like $247 million in compensation for the CEO?

Excalibur....still the best version of Arthurian legend put to film.

Much of the $55-57 Billion debt was spun off from AT&T and stuck on the newly-merged company; it didn't all originate with Warner. David Zaslav was paid $247 million last year, including stock options and bonuses, and will, of course, make more bonuses by "enhancing synergies"* for the combined company.
 
 
 
 
*I believe that's corporate-speak for layoffs of people not in the E-Suite. You know, "cutting the fat".

I've certainly seen massive layoff rumors;  whether these are really separate, independent suggestions or simply the Internet Echo Chamber at work, we don't know.  
 
But if he does cut 70%, then many HBO Max subscribers will flee;  another big chunk will shift to a lower-cost, lower-access plan focusing on movie (especially older, movie library) access.  
 
I've been thinking that there would be some major shakeouts in the streaming marketplace, as we get major players moving heavily into the arena.  I didn't expect that one of em would be due to necrotically toxic management.

I think Cheney is just jealous because he didn't think of it himself.

Was going through some old stuff I had boxed up for a move a long time ago and came across this treasure.
 
I'm not sure why it looks black (lousy camera) but it is actually navy blue.  I wore this so much back in the day!  So proud to own it!
 
Happy gaming!
 
Laser
 

Of course I'm serious. I would not post it if I were not serious. However, I brought up the Bolsheviks only as an example of how a committed, disciplined group of radicals can achieve power without truly representing the popular will. I agree that compared to the likes of Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky, American conservatives are a bad joke. But then, many modern Americans are a lot softer and sillier than were the Russians of the time. American conservatives have also been working at this for a lot longer than the Bolsheviks did.
 
And I am also entirely serious in expecting that post-Trumpian conservatives, should they achieve the House-Senate-White House trifecta again, would become democidally dangerous. I'm sure at first they would follow Viktor Orban's model of "illiberal democracy," in which elections still happen but are so rigged that the opposition can't win. But much of what the base wants isn't politically possible. LGBT+ people are not going back in the closet. Black people will not touch their foreheads and say, "Yassuh," nor accept being addressed as "Boy." The mills will not re-open with plentiful jobs for semi-skilled labor. And many in the base will still feel the scalding sense that the educated, credentialed elites sneer at them. The Republicans will have to turn to repression, then violence, then terror.
 
I would rather avoid this. Since I don't think the country can be put back together again, I think there's value in exploring methods for an amicable separation.
 
Dean Shomshak