Tjack

Let's imagine... if you glimpsed the future, you were frightened by what you saw, what would you do with that information? You would go to... the politicians, captains of industry? And how would you convince them? Data? Facts? Good luck! The only facts they won't challenge are the ones that keep the wheels greased and the dollars rolling in.
 
But what if... what if there was a way of skipping the middle man and putting the critical news directly into everyone's head? The probability of wide-spread annihilation kept going up. The only way to stop it was to show it. To scare people straight. Because, what reasonable human being wouldn't be galvanized by the potential destruction of everything they've ever known or loved? To save civilization, I would show its collapse.
 
But, how do you think this vision was received? How do you think people responded to the prospect of imminent doom? They gobbled it up like a chocolate eclair! They didn't fear their demise, they re-packaged it. It could be enjoyed as video-games, as TV shows, books, movies, the entire world wholeheartedly embraced the apocalypse and sprinted towards it with gleeful abandon.
 
Meanwhile, your Earth was crumbling all around you. You've got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation. Explain that one! Bees and butterflies start to disappear, the glaciers melt, algae blooms. All around you the coal mine canaries are dropping dead and you won't take the hint! In every moment there's the possibility of a better future, but you people won't believe it. And because you won't believe it you won't do what is necessary to make it a reality.
 
So, you dwell on this terrible future. You resign yourselves to it for one reason, because that future does not ask anything of you today. So yes, we saw the iceberg and warned the Titanic. But you all just steered for it anyway, full steam ahead. Why? Because you want to sink! You gave up! That's not the monitor's fault. That's yours.

The only way to watch 2001 is with the remote in hand and your thumb firmly on the FF button.  Every time the classical music starts hit that button like it owes you money.  This brings the running time to 30-45 minutes.  After that the whole thing is just bad Star Trek.....The Original Series.    Kirk would have whooped HAL the same way he beat Landru and the M-5 computers before him.🖖

I always believed that those two movies were horribly misunderstood.
Hudson Hawk was incredibly mis-advertised.  The studio bought what they thought was going to be another Die-Hard.   What they got from producer Bruce Willis was a modern version of a Bob Hope/Bing Crosby “Road” picture. Silly plot, lots of gags and musical numbers. The whole schmere.
    So they just advertised it as another Die-Hard anyway and the public who were expecting chocolate cake but got tutti-frutti ice cream instead were upset.  They didn’t understand what was going on and trashed the film.
   
  WWW on the other hand.... I have said that the only thing wrong with that movie was the entire script.  Casting...Good. Set Design....Great.  Music...All right.  The idea of upping the Steampunk quotient...Fantastic.  Even the giant mechanical spiders...Acceptable.
 Both stars in drag, Ted Levine’s Southern General that made you long for his reserved dignified portrayal of Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs,  Mr Branagh’s awful accent and scenery chewing and sequences like escaping from the buzz saw shurikens of doom...........What brand of crack were you people smoking?
   The shooting script should have been used to smack the writers, producers and directors into unconsciousness and after they were released from enforced drug rehab they could take another shot at the whole thing.

It is a movie that is far beyond merely stupid. The main point of contention is that Ms. Lopez plays a lesbian who falls in love with Ben even though his character is an idiot.  (That’s not just an opinion, it’s a plot point that he’s stupid and inept.)  
    However there is a scene in this film that make it VERY rentable. In it Jenny from the block delivers a very seductive soliloquy on why she finds women desirable while doing yoga in tight exercise wear.
    Guys...find this on YouTube,  trust me.

This would actually make a pretty substantial list, if you include organizations that are only superficially described in various books. There are many that were added for the current Champions Universe, while others from earlier editions are excluded. I'll start with the current setting, focusing on named groups, excluding supervillain teams, and organizations which are essentially extensions of individual mega-villains like Dr. Destroyer or Mechanon.
 
Most of the major players are described in basic terms in the book, Champions Universe, but other books go into more detail about many of them, which I'll mention in connection to them.
 
Villain Organizations
 
VIPER: Worldwide criminal terrorist org like Hydra or Cobra, but more like Hydra in that it pursues extensive covert subversive activities as well. Fully written up in VIPER: Coils Of The Serpent.
 
DEMON: Supernatural counterpart to VIPER in many ways, using magic rather than high-tech, and with an underlying epic agenda. Extensively detailed in DEMON: Servants Of Darkness.
 
ARGENT: High-tech criminal group run like a global corporation. Some similarities to AIM from Marvel Comics, but more diverse and profit-oriented. Please follow the link in my signature for all published details.
 
Circle of the Scarlet Moon: Magic-using occult conspiracy, lacking the raw sorcerous power of DEMON but wielding enormous covert financial, social, and political influence. Substantial info about them in Champions Villains Vol. 2: Villain Teams, although they're much more organization than team.
 
IHA (Institute for Human Advancement): Genocidal anti-mutant conspiracy with strong American government ties, under the public facade of a lobby group. The first few posts on this thread summarize the published info about the group.
 
Cult of the Red Banner: Devoted to worship of one aspect of The Dragon, the source of all the profoundest evil impulses in the human psyche. Based in China but international in scope among the Chinese diaspora. Emphasizes martial arts but with significant magic elements. The Red Banner is detailed in the PDF mini-book, Martial Enemies Vol. 2. The Dragon is written up in the Fifth Edition villain compendium, Arcane Adversaries. (Other cults to the Dragon around the globe are briefly mentioned in the CU sourcebook, The Mystic World.)
 
Those are the biggest villain groups, but there are others covered, particularly in the organization compendium, Cops, Crews, And Cabals. I'll return to this topic as I have time, unless other people fully cover it first.
 
 
 
And Volume 3. They cover Master Villains, Villain Teams, and Solo Villains, respectively.

All right, let's look at major heroic organizations. Unsurprisingly, it's a shorter list than for villains.
 
UNTIL: The United Nations Tribunal on International Law is the premier global agency devoted to dealing with supercriminal and superterrorist villains and agencies, hostile aliens, and the like. It combines investigative, espionage, and military combat functions (kind of a mix of GI Joe and Marvel's SHIELD). Most nations have signed the Tribunal Treaty allowing UNTIL to operate on their soil in accordance with international and local law. The organization is thoroughly treated in UNTIL: Defenders Of Freedom.
 
PRIMUS: The Paranormal Research and Investigation Mission of the United States is a division of the Department of Justice like the FBI, and in some ways America's counterpart to UNTIL, performing many of the same functions with a national focus, and having been set up after the US government refused to sign the Tribunal Treaty (it did so years later). Unfortunately, a dedicated source book on it for the current official setting was planned but never written. The last such book, just called PRIMUS, dates from 1998 (still available in inexpensive PDF, and a fine book in its own right). The rather thin references to PRIMUS in Champions Universe have some similarities to the earlier book, but also differences.
 
(There are similar agencies in some other nations, such as the Steelhead Division of Canada's RCMP, and Japan's Bureau 16, 17 and 18.)
 
The Trismegistus Council: For over two centuries, the occult scholars of the Council have watched over the Mystic World and helped protect the Earth from supernatural threats. With over three dozen members around the world, the Council are among the most knowledgeable occultists on Earth, but are primarily scholars and researchers. Few of them wield magic comparable in power to even a beginning superhero. They primarily alert more powerful "supermages" to any threats they detect, and provide background information and consultation to them. Almost all the information about the Trismegistus Council is in Champions Universe.
 
DOSPA: Although most Americans probably think of PRIMUS when they think of their government's response to supervillains, the Department of Superhuman and Paranormal Affairs is far more important and influential. It's the Cabinet-level agency responsible for coordinating all American governmental research and responses related to superhuman and paranormal threats, and for managing America's superhuman assets, even if they're employed by another US government agency. DOSPA is outlined in fair detail in Champions Universe.
 
That pretty much covers the main orgs, but there are a number of others that are either smaller, more tightly focused, or more confined to specific regions of the globe. I'll note them here as time permits.

Does anyone have a picture of the Ukrainian Olympic Javelin Team?
 
edit: Nevermind, found one.

I trust you also instructed her to listen to Run-DMC w/Aerosmith while using it?

My wife got excited because of a delivery she received. She got a new heavy-gauge wok that she had her eye on for a while.
 
I asked her if she remembered to get the special footwear for it.
 
She looked puzzled for a moment. Then she sighed and said, “Okay, lay it on me. Tell me your dad joke.”
 
I said, “I don’t know what you mean by that, but it is my understanding that they have boots that are made for wokking.”

Bacon, onions & sage, all good.    Liver?   ‘Ya just shouldn’t eat the organs.   Yeeesh!😱

My boss at my last job used to quote The Fountainhead at me now and then. 

I was once able to speak at length with Craig Shaw Gardner, who had recently done the novelization of the first Keaton Batman movie.  He spoke also about the restrictions to follow the main plot of the film but that he enjoyed having the chance to fill in the backround with more detail than any movie could.

You mentioned one of my favorite series of all time.  The Pliocene Exile is fantastic.  Admittedly (and getting back to topic)  it took me several tries to get thru the first book but once it picked up steam I was hooked. All four of the first series. The two Intervention novels and the final Trilogy. I even had the overview book, but I lent that to a friend who passed away on me.   (Looks like you one that one Joe.  R.I.P. ‘ya big Wookiee.)

I admit that after the 3rd or 4th book in the series, I made snide comments about the next title coming out had better be Harry Potter and the Crying Need for an Editor.

One of the nice perks of working in a public library is Advanced Readers Copies. I found a few treasures that way (Soon, I Will Be Invincible) a few duds, and one that pissed me off. The Resurrectionist is one such book. Now that I try to look it up to get the author, I see there are a lot of books with that title, and I can't tell you which one to avoid. I hated it, but I really wanted to finish it because I thought it had to be leading up to a big finish. It did not. Awful. 

“Third base.”

Licensed novels depend heavily on the quality of the author. Those types of books are often done by writers just starting their careers or who can’t get their own novels published
  For instance the DC comics and Star Trek novels done by Greg Cox I’ve found to be excellent.  Try seeing if any of the franchises you enjoy have material by an author you’ve heard good things about.  Good hunting.

“Third base.”

I can (and have) go on at length about movies and TV shows I’ve despised, but while there are plenty of books I’ve started and put down in the middle (or before) or will simply never read again. (This is a big thing for me, because I’ll re-read something I enjoyed the same way I’ll re-watch an old movie.)  I can’t think of any that generated the same type of loathing.
   I mean I think Twinklight, and 50 Shades of Mommy Porn are stupid and The Hunger Lames was dull, but I have no venom to spew for them.  Maybe it’s because I know how hard it is to get the right words in a row for even as meager an effort as something like this is, that I’ve got respect for anybody who completed any writing at all, let alone had the balls to Fitz-Carraldo the boat over the mountain and actually get published.  (Thank you to Dennis Miller for that analogy)

She grew up in an Indiana town
Had a good lookin' mama who never was around
But she grew up tall and she grew up right
With them Indiana boys on an Indiana night
 
Well, she moved down here at the age of eighteen
She blew the boys away, it was more than they'd seen
I was introduced and we both started groovin'
She said, "I dig you, baby, but I got to keep movin' on, keep movin' on"
 
Last dance with Mary Jane
One more time to kill the pain
I feel summer creepin' in and I'm tired of this town again
 
Well, I don't know but I've been told
You never slow down, you never grow old
I'm tired of screwing up, tired of goin' down
Tired of myself, tired of this town
 
Oh, my, my, oh, hell yes
Honey, put on that party dress
Buy me a drink, sing me a song
Take me as I come 'cause I can't stay long
 
Last dance with Mary Jane
One more time to kill the pain
I feel summer creepin' in and I'm tired of this town again
 
There's pigeons down on Market Square
She's standin' in her underwear
Lookin' down from a hotel room
The nightfall will be comin' soon
 
Oh, my, my, oh, hell yes
You've got to put on that party dress
It was too cold to cry when I woke up alone
I hit the last number, I walked to the road
 
Last dance with Mary Jane
One more time to kill the pain
I feel summer creepin' in and I'm tired of this town again

Beneath this snowy mantle cold and clean
The unborn grass lies waiting for its coat to turn to green
The snowbird sings the song he always sings
And speaks to me of flowers that will bloom again in spring
 
When I was young my heart was young then, too
Anything that it would tell me, that's the thing that I would do
But now I feel such emptiness within
For the thing that I want most in life's the thing that I can't win
 
Spread your tiny wings and fly away
And take the snow back with you where it came from on that day
The one I love forever is untrue
And if I could you know that I would fly away with you
 
The breeze along the river seems to say
That he'll only break my heart again should I decide to stay
So, little snowbird, take me with you when you go
To that land of gentle breezes where the peaceful waters flow
 
Spread your tiny wings and fly away
And take the snow back with you where it came from on that day
The one I love forever is untrue
And if I could you know that I would fly away with you
Yeah, if I could you know that I would fly away with you

Feelin' better now that we're through
Feelin' better, 'cause I'm over you
I learned my lesson, it left a scar
Now I see how you really are
 
You're no good
You're no good
You're no good
Baby, you're no good
 
I'm gonna say it again
You're no good
You're no good
You're no good
Baby, you're no good
 
I broke a heart that's gentle and true
Well, I broke a heart over someone like you
I'll beg his forgiveness on bended knee
I wouldn't blame him if he said to me
 
You're no good
You're no good
You're no good
Baby, you're no good
 
I'm gonna say it again
You're no good
You're no good
You're no good
Baby, you're no good
 
I'm tellin' you now, baby
And I'm going my way
Forget about you, baby
'Cause I'm leavin' to stay
 
You're no good
You're no good
You're no good
Baby, you're no good
 
I'm gonna say it again
You're no good
You're no good
You're no good
Baby, you're no good
Oh, oh, no
 
You're no good
You're no good
You're no good
Baby, you're no good

I've been made blue,
I've been lied to,
When will I be loved ?

I’ve been turned down
I’ve been pushed round’.
When will I be loved ?

When I meet a new girl,
that I want for mine.
She always breaks my heart in two,
it happens every time.

I've been cheated,
been mistreated.
When will I be loved ?

When I meet a new girl,
that I want for mine.
She always breaks my heart in two,
it happens every time.

I've been cheated,
been mistreated
When will I be loved ?
When will I be loved ?